tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-94409382024-03-16T14:53:07.183-04:00The Daily AppleA few quick, interesting facts about a different topic each entry. It's like an apple a day: pleasant, good to have, and pocket-sized.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger813125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-2323697776611022562017-07-31T02:25:00.000-04:002017-07-31T02:27:43.856-04:00Apple #744: Birds of Paradise<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Yes, it's been a while. But I am moved to Apple this topic because a friend who has been a Daily Apple fan revealed a question and I would like to find the answer for him.<br />
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This friend, let's call him Shalom, moved to Hawaii not long ago and has been planting and growing many fabulous flowers. One of the flowers that bloomed recently is a bird of paradise. He posted a photo of it on his facebook page, and many of us marveled at its beauty and strangeness. I asked, "Do you know what pollinates that thing? Is it, like, a pelican?" and he said, "I have no idea how this flower works."<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K6xZfwueRBU/WX68vrgpBMI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/Rjnn5f2wI_kJJpd29mXeGQo44_XDG7AmwCLcBGAs/s1600/birdofparadise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K6xZfwueRBU/WX68vrgpBMI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/Rjnn5f2wI_kJJpd29mXeGQo44_XDG7AmwCLcBGAs/s320/birdofparadise.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shalom's bird of paradise.<br />
(the photo is Shalom's, which I stole from him) </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
What is an Apple Lady to do, but seek the answer?<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The flower of a bird of paradise, sometimes called a crane flower, looks complex, but once you know what all the parts are, you can see it works a lot like most flowers. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The green and red and purplish canoe-shaped things at the bottom are actually modified leaves, called bracts. The "petals" of a poinsettia flower are also called bracts, if that helps.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The bracts on a bird of paradise can be 4 to 8 inches long, depending on the age of the plant. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Most "normal" flowers have little green bits in between the petals called sepals. Before the flower blooms, when it's still closed up, it's the sepals that are closed up around the flower, protecting it. When the sepals relax and open up, the petals inside are revealed. On the bird of paradise, the sepals are the three gigantic orange things that stick up when the flower blooms.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>On the bird of paradise, the cluster of three vivid blue parts that jut out sideways from the orange sepals are the petals. There are actually three blue petals, but they join together to make an arrowhead shape and a little cup called the nectary where, as you would guess, the nectar is stored.</li>
</ul>
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<img height="344" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JaSnsyP20UQ/Tbrt4fTQHlI/AAAAAAAAEAs/HsMzk7kWp_s/s400/StrelitziaDSC_0504.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">A side view of the strange shape formed by the three blue petals. Inside that opening is where the flower's nectar is located.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo by seymourdaily at <a href="http://digitalbotanicgarden.blogspot.com/2011/04/bird-of-paradise-flower-strelitzia.html" target="_blank">Digital Botanic Garden</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<img height="266" src="https://maxpull-gdvuch3veo.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/Bird-of-Paradise-Plant.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Here's a different angle showing the way the three blue petals converge.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/bop/feeding-bird-paradise-plants.htm" target="_blank">Gardening Know How</a>)</span><br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>On "normal" flowers, the female and male parts of the flower are contained within the shelter of the petals. The female parts look like the male parts on people -- they are all contained on one long pointy thing. The male parts of the flower are the several wispy things that surround the long pointy thing.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jjjwM1Gw0oo/WX7BOjghulI/AAAAAAAAB0g/Iaq0TtVHOt85WIew93yDdCP0YIFWB9TWwCLcBGAs/s1600/parts%2Bof%2Ba%2Bflower.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="383" height="181" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jjjwM1Gw0oo/WX7BOjghulI/AAAAAAAAB0g/Iaq0TtVHOt85WIew93yDdCP0YIFWB9TWwCLcBGAs/s320/parts%2Bof%2Ba%2Bflower.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption">The female parts of a "normal" flower are labeled at the left: the stigma is the sticky thing at the top end of the style, which leads down to the ovary, which contains the ovule. All this together is the pistil. The male parts are labeled at the right: the anther is the knob on the end of each filament, and is where the pollen is produced. Anther plus filament = stamen.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<img src="http://botany.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/Wilson/d80/hdw03060803b.jpg" height="262" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The male and female parts within the blue parts of a bird of paradise: the long sticky-like pointy style, surrounded by filaments from which extend the anther, with the blue petals like a bird's beak around all of these. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://botany.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/imaxxsrz.htm" target="_blank">Texas A&M University's Vascular Plant Image Library</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>On a bird of paradise, the male and female parts are also housed within the petals. It, too has a very long pointy style that sticks out from among the petals and is surrounded by pollen-coated anthers that extend from filaments.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A flower is pollinated when pollen from the anther gets transferred to the sticky stigma at the end of the style and fertilizes the ovule at the bottom of the style. Same thing holds true for the bird of paradise.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The question is, what insect or creature braves the bizarre shape that is the bird of paradise to touch the pollen and get it onto the sticky stigma?</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Answer: in its homeland of South Africa, it's a sunbird. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://animalia-life.club/data_images/greater-double-collared-sunbird/greater-double-collared-sunbird4.jpg" height="295" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The double-collared sunbird, one of the species of sunbird that pollinates a bird of paradise flower.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://animalia-life.club/birds/greater-double-collared-sunbird.html" target="_blank">Animalia Life</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The sunbird's curved and slender beak makes it especially good at sucking the nectar out of flowers, which is exactly what it does to the bird of paradise. It also sucks the juice from figs and grapes and even bugs and spiders. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
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</div>
<div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xfuTT_PQ2b0" width="560"></iframe> <br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">This video demonstrates what happens when a bird lands on the blue petals, how the weight of the bird will cause that arrowhead-like pocket to flatten out and all the pollen on the filaments will then be exposed and can easily brush against the bird.</span><br />
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<br />
<img height="304" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/5a/65/05/5a650566daf2ae124270f63e9f6fde7c.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The bird in this photo is a Brown Honeyeater, and it's not standing on the blue petals but sticking its beak and pretty much its whole face into them. But you can see how it would get pollen all over its face, which would then be easily transferred to the next flower.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from this <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/352125264592270688/" target="_blank">Bird of Paradise Pinterest page</a>) </span><br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The sunbird stands on the blue petals -- maybe like a diving board -- while they insert their beaks into the nectary to suck out the nectar, and the pollen on the filaments is exposed and gets dusted on their feet. When the sunbird flies to the next flower, the pollen on their feet is transferred to the next flower, fertilizing it. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Sunbirds don't live in the US so if you have a bird of paradise in your garden, you'll need to pollinate it yourself. Here's how the San Francisco Chronicle says to do it:</li>
</ul>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Collect pollen by pressing on the arrow-shaped nectary [the boat-shaped thing in the blue petals] to expose the
stamens. Rub a clean cotton swab over the stamens. Find a plant that
comes from a different rhizome to pollinate. When you find a flower with
a shiny, sticky stigma at the nectary tip, rub the pollen-coated swab
across it. (<i>from SFGate</i>)</span></blockquote>
<div>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Each flower lasts only about a week, so you'll want to get to pollinating pretty soon after it blooms.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The fertilized bird of paradise flower will eventually dry up but within it will be seeds. When the seed pods open up, birds come and eat them and disperse them in the usual manner, allowing new plants to grow.</li>
</ul>
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<img height="251" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KqDFdRb4y28/StafOj4fgMI/AAAAAAAAAR8/VT622mLiixw/s400/IMG_0021.JPG" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Bird of paradise seed pods filled with black and orange-tufted seeds</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://majikphil2.blogspot.com/2012/10/giant-white-bird-of-paradise.html" target="_blank">Phillip's Natural World</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<img height="400" src="https://rocktheturtle.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/4-bird-of-paradise-seeds.jpg" width="299" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">This gives you an idea of the size of the seeds. Here, they look about as big as large blueberries.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="https://rocktheturtle.com/2012/07/14/the-realms-flora-goes-global/" target="_blank">The Adventures of Rock</a>)</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>If you're planting birds of paradise from seeds, soak them in water for 24 to 48 hours and remove the orange hairs before planting. It can take 8 weeks before germinating and once the plant is grown, it can be 4 to 7 years before it blooms. If you have to re-pot a bird of paradise, it can take a couple more years before it blooms again.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So if you're growing your own bird of paradise, be patient, be patient, be patient, and then act fast.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.outdoorphoto.community/gallery/data/523/20080411_Voels_13.JPG" height="240" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">This sunbird looks like it's thinking about whether or not it wants to sample the bird of paradise's nectar. Better make up its mind quick before the bloom is off the bird, so to speak.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.outdoorphoto.community/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=111668" target="_blank">Outdoor Photo</a>)</span><br />
<br /></div>
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Hope this is helpful, Shalom. May your birds of paradise bloom abundantly and often.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Sources</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The Flower Expert, <a href="https://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/aboutflowers/exoticflowers/birds-of-paradise" target="_blank">Birds Of Paradise</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;"><i>SFGate</i>, <a href="http://homeguides.sfgate.com/life-cycle-bird-paradise-76651.html" target="_blank">What is the Life Cycle of a Bird of Paradise?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Teleflora, <a href="http://www.teleflora.com/blog/exotic-flower-spotlight-all-about-birds-of-paradise/" target="_blank">Exotic Flower Spotlight: All about Birds of Paradise</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Animalia Life, <a href="http://animalia-life.club/birds/greater-double-collared-sunbird.html" target="_blank">Greater double-collared sunbird</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Outsidepride.com, <a href="http://www.outsidepride.com/seed/flower-seed/bird-of-paradise-flower-seed.html" target="_blank">Bird of Paradise Flower Seeds</a> </span><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com114tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-39659515478545999022017-04-23T23:08:00.000-04:002017-04-24T01:41:59.374-04:00Apple #743: How Do Birds Sing?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I have to be honest. It isn't just the insanity that has accompanied the new president that has thrown me off my Appling horse, it is also my job. I have a (relatively) new boss, and he has changed a ton of things about our department, and my workload has tripled. Where I used to be able to finish all my work ahead of schedule and under budget with great attention to detail, now I am scrambling just to complete all the tasks I'm responsible for. Most days I leave work late, exhausted, and dissatisfied because I have to leave things incomplete. I haven't had much time or energy left over for much else.<br />
<br />
This past week was an especially grueling one. I was working on one project that I knew would be complicated. Most projects of this kind typically take me about 5 hours. I expected this one to take me a day, maybe day & a half. It took a week and a half total, the final 3 days of which I spent solely and completely on it with my entire attention for a solid 8 hours, or 9 hours, or 10 hours.<br />
<br />
At the end of one of these days, I was staggering out of my building and the sun was going down, but I was pleased because most of the time when I leave work it is dark. I had that weird floating feeling you get when you've had insufficient sleep for a long time, and as I walked to my car, I was staring at the clouds edged with the peach of sunset and the vivid green of the grass and the potholes in the asphalt as if I had never seen any of them before.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img height="266" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/%281%29Sunset_Clouds_Sydney.JPG" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">The clouds on that evening looked something like this, though they were smaller than this. As we learned in my <a href="http://dailyapple.blogspot.com/2009/11/apple-420-sunsets.html" target="_blank">Sunsets entry</a>, no two sunsets are alike, from one location to the next, from one day to the next.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">(Photo of sunset over Sydney, Australia, from <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:(1)Sunset_Clouds_Sydney.JPG" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<br />
When I got to my parking lot, I heard a bird singing. There is a strip of grass in between two great expanses of asphalt and along this strip of grass is a row of pine trees trying valiantly to keep growing in spite of being surrounded by almost nothing. I don't know what kind of trees these are, actually. They look a lot like conifers, but they lose their needles in the fall and the whole concept of <a href="http://homeguides.sfgate.com/coniferous-trees-shed-needles-37831.html" target="_blank">deciduous conifers</a> just confuses me. Because their needles turn brown and fall off, they look sickly most of the time. Maybe they really are.<br />
<br />
But it seems as though they are trying to make some sort of comeback with the spring. They are sprouting some new needles that are that very bright yellow-green of new leaves and they look soft and not stiff & pointy yet. They are still sparse, though, so you can see the entire shape of the tree like a skeleton.<br />
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<br />
<img height="400" src="https://newfs.s3.amazonaws.com/taxon-images-1000s1000/Pinaceae/larix-decidua-ha-azinovjev.jpg" width="300" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Maybe the trees in question are European larches -- one of a very few deciduous conifers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">(Photo from <a href="https://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/species/larix/decidua/" target="_blank">Go Botany</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
At the very top of one of these trees sat a bird and it was singing and singing and singing. I couldn't tell what sort of bird it was because the light was behind it so it looked like a dark shape up there. But its song was complex, liquid, carrying, and beautiful. It sang a series of songs, like maybe 4 patterns, then paused. Then it sang another series of 4, but slightly different than the first 4, variations almost, then paused again. It did this over and over, but each series I heard was different. No pattern was exactly the same , though some of the sounds were repeated, like the way the letter "y" sounds one way when attached at the end of a word but another way when you put it at the front of a word.<br />
<br />
To my exhausted, drained ear, it sounded beautiful and delicious. It felt physically good to listen to it. I wondered if I could make it my job to listen to birds' songs all day, recording their patterns. Probably this is someone's job already, to listen to birdsongs.<br />
<br />
I also wondered, how do birds do that? They are such little things, how do they make a song so complex, that sounds like water bending around a curve? Tell me more about how birds sing.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Name That Bird </h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I tried to figure out what kind of bird I heard. The Smithsonian has a wonderful <a href="https://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/education/nasongsexpl.cfm#def">Guide to North American Bird Songs</a> that helps you narrow down the possibilities by choosing among major identifying factors, such as whether the song has one note or two or more than that.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I answered several questions and got to a final list of 15 birds it could have been. Listening to the sample clips of each one, I suppose it could have been any one of them. It might have been a <a href="http://dailyapple.blogspot.com/2005/03/apple-43-robins.html" target="_blank">robin</a>, or some kind of thrush, but I have never heard any robin sing quite like that before.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>It also might have been an indigo bunting. According to the <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Indigo_Bunting/id">Cornell Lab of Ornithology</a>, this bird likes to sing in the very tops of trees, and the bird I heard was doing exactly that. It's the males who sing, and they like treetops or shrubs, especially in places where shrubby roadsides meet forests. They sing to find a mate, defend their territory, or for other reasons unknown.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yH_jwhYTx6Q" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I'm not entirely convinced it was an indigo bunting, though, because the two birds in the video above include some rough almost growly notes, and the bird I heard did not do that. But maybe the bird I heard was different from its fellows in that way. Birders say that birds from different parts of the country have slightly different songs, the way people have different accents in different parts of the country.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
How Do They Sing Like That?</h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Birds can sing in ways that people can't because their equipment is different. Where we have a larynx (voice box) at the top of our throats, birds have a syrinx which is situated farther down the windpipe, in their chests.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>For us, the windpipe below the larynx meets up with the bronchial tubes which branch into two and connect to the lungs. For birds, the syrinx is closer to the lungs, and where our larynx has one chamber, their syrinx has two. With two chambers instead of one, naturally birds can make many more sounds than we could and they can do more complex things with the sounds, such as making two happen at once.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Here's another way in which the birds have us beat: we use only 2% of the air passing through our larynx to make sound. Birds use 100% of their air going through their syrinx. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://awaytogarden.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/AllAboutBirdBiology_songbirdsyrinx_ALeach.jpg" height="221" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">A sort of big-picture diagram showing the basics of the two-chambered syrinx and where it is located within a bird </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">(<a href="http://heathngordon.com/2015/10/19/october-birding-basics.html">Diagram from Heather's Site of Birding Basics</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.reed.edu/biology/professors/srenn/pages/teaching/web_2010/CG/images/Syrinx.gif" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">A more zoomed-in view of the syrinx, showing the trachial and bronchial rings which line the trachea and bronchial tubes respectively, and which help create various sounds. The two red blobs on either side of the two tubes, labeled the lateral labia, are bumps of muscle, I think, which constrict the tubes or open them, and that also creates variation in sound. They can regulate volume as well as pitch.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">(Diagram from <a href="http://www.reed.edu/biology/professors/srenn/pages/teaching/web_2010/CG/mechanisms.html">Biology 342 course materials at Reed College</a>, adapted from another source whose page is now defunct)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
<div>
<a href="https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/features/birdsong/how-birds-sing" target="_blank">The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has this wonderful interactive page</a> showing how the syrinx works and what it is doing during the songs of particular birds. You must investigate this. Watching the interactive pages will give you a much better idea of how the whole mechanism works than any description of mine could.<br />
<br />
But let me quote from this rather poetic passage from the British Library which explains how birds sing, and also, well, see for yourself:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
As air passes, so an acoustic disturbance is set up, the tympanum
vibrates and sound is created. The pitch (frequency) of that sound and
the loudness (amplitude) of it can be modulated. So far as the tympanum
is concerned, these two effects are usually coupled. The function of the
extendable little "bump" is believed to be to change the loudness
without having to change the pitch. Bear in mind that the bird may be
playing at the same time a second tune on his other half; also that this
description is considerably simplified. It will be clear, however that
such complexity is necessary to explain the amazing vocal gymnastics
certain "higher" songbirds display. "Lower" birds have a syrinx that is
of a rather simpler design. In either case the physiology and acoustics
of bird vocalisation are unique in the animal kingdom; further, birds
produce more complex sounds than any other animal, certainly including
man. <br />
<br />
One last point: birds do not sing only when inhaling. A grasshopper warbler <i>Locustella naevia</i>
may "reel" for over two minutes, a nightjar may chur continuously for
eight minutes, and a skylark may "pour forth its full heart" in
completely unbroken song for 18 minutes. To replenish their oxygen these
birds must breathe in; and must do so while singing. In the case of the
night jar, the bird discernibly alternates soft short trills with loud
long ones and these short trills are believed to be when the bird
inhales. Less continuous singers may also use air travelling in either
direction. The white-rumped shama, for example, is believed so to do. (<a href="http://www.bl.uk/listentonature/specialinterestlang/langofbirds16.html" target="_blank">British Library</a>)</blockquote>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
What about Owls?</h3>
A remark in that British Library passage reminds me that I'm also curious about owls. On other occasions, in a forest where I like to hike, I have heard barred owls hooting. But that word "hooting" sounds really tame compared to the sounds I've heard. The barred owl's call is typically rendered as <i>Who cooks for you?</i> But what I have heard was really frickin' carrying and echoing and loud. Like you could hear this call from two miles away. And usually it's more like <i>Who cooks for yooooooooooou?</i><br />
<br />
I have tried to duplicate this call, and every now and then other people walking in the woods have tried to call back to an actual owl. But it doesn't even come close to how full-throated the owl's call is. Ours sounds like a weak imitation while theirs sounds like it comes from inside a barrel and gets broadcast through a megaphone.<br />
<br />
In that British Library passage, I wonder if owls are one of the "lower" birds whose syrinx is less complex than the songbirds'. Because for all the volume and timbre of the owl's call it is not as complex as a songbird's song. The barn owl cannot even hoot or call as other owls do; it makes more of a rasping noise.<br />
<br />
I couldn't find much information about owl syringes (plural of syrinx; gotta love Latin). Apparently they are not as interesting as the voice boxes of other birds. But I did find some videos of owl calls.<br />
<br />
Here's a video with recordings of barred owl calls. I don't think you get the sense of volume, but imagine that this recording was made about a mile or two away from where the owl is roosting.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y5zc-NHIipw" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
Now here are some calls of several different types of owls. What I love about this and about the barred owl calls above is the variety of voices. Not only do the calls sound different from one species to the next, but they sound different from one individual owl to the next. <br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ezaBqCf0hv0" width="560"></iframe> <br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Parting Thoughts</h3>
Just as no two sunsets are alike, possibly no two birds' songs are alike. Though birds can sing way better than people can, they are like people in that each bird's voice is unique.<br />
<br />
So I may never again hear a bird's song like what I heard the other day. But I may hear another song some other day that is even more wonderful.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WZl2X4zjejA" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
Maybe what I heard was actually a robin. Everybody thinks they're so common, and they are, but I do love them. They remind me of long, good summer days when I was young and spent most of the day playing outside and the sun has gone down and I'm lying in bed, tired in a good way, being lulled to sleep by the soft breeze from the fan, while outside, the robins are singing their good-night songs. No better lullaby.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Sources<br />
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Indigo_Bunting/id">Indigo Bunting</a><br />
Audubon, <a href="http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/indigo-bunting">Indigo Bunting</a> <br />
The Guardian, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/sep/01/4">Mystery bird: Indigo bunting, <i>Passerina cyanea</i></a><br />
British Library, <a href="http://www.bl.uk/listentonature/specialinterestlang/langofbirds16.html" target="_blank">The language of birds 6. How does a bird sing?</a><br />
Wingmasters, <a href="http://www.wingmasters.net/hoot_article.htm" target="_blank">Who Gives a Hoot -- and Who Doesn't</a><br />
Frank B. Gill, <i><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=zM0tG5ApO0UC&pg=PA223&lpg=PA223&dq=owl%27s+syrinx&source=bl&ots=T0vJHAWDkf&sig=QY_xg9NNWp0eaJzxGGzWzOgLrfs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiu1P2siLzTAhVl0YMKHbJHDLAQ6AEIQDAF#v=onepage&q=owl%27s%20syrinx&f=false" target="_blank">Ornithology</a></i> p 223</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-31802880955962343302017-03-26T17:30:00.004-04:002017-03-26T17:32:09.141-04:00Apple #742: Spring Peepers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As faithful Daily Apple readers may have noticed, your Apple Lady has fallen off the ball. This is largely because I have been stumped by the Trump Effect. All week long, we are beset by news of whatever idiotic thing he's tweeted, whatever racist executive order he's made, whatever selfish and oblivious thing he's done, whatever outlandish lie he has told. Each weekend, I try to decide what I want to talk about in a Daily Apple, and all I do is flail.<br />
<br />
Do I choose <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-03-12/heres-why-new-epa-chief-pruitt-absolutely-wrong-about-co2-and-climate-change">some basic fact of science that one of his brainless minions has gotten completely wrong</a>, and explain how and why it's wrong? Well, it doesn't really matter to this administration whether they are right or wrong, only that they get their way.<br />
<br />
Do I choose the latest bit of information about the <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/3/3/1634738/-Evidence-of-Trump-s-Connections-with-Kremlin-Expanded-Now-with-Citations-Links">ever-growing list of connections between Trump and Russian financiers</a>, legitimate and not? While an illegal financial arrangement is there, I am sure of it, the money dots have not yet been connected, and in the meantime, it's such a swirling pool of individuals, I'm not sure which person or bank is the one to profile at this point, or if I'd only be contributing to the swirl.<br />
<br />
And there's the exhaustion of trying to keep up with all the ugliness of this administration. Do I really want to spend another day of my week talking about that ugliness? Would it be better to give people a break and talk about some normal thing from everyday life? But then am I only sticking my head in the sand and ignoring the thing that is in the process of changing all our lives so dramatically.<br />
<br />
Without a decision, I post nothing. And another week passes.<br />
<br />
But I think I found an answer it a tiny little thing.<br />
<br />
This weekend, I was walking in a park in my city -- a large, many-acre park with lots of trees and some streams and rivers and even a couple ponds. I took a little-used path deep into the trees, and it comes out to the edge of a pond at the far end of the park, and the air was ringing with the noise of the spring peepers.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz1P-CI41e_0KddXAVu3M4voaLfS79kMINx7VoW7RWIUCUBbndvVD2kcir5Vb_JGT4YWOC8tPJOK5Y' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
I hope the little video I took to record the sound will upload here. At first, you hear mostly the wind, but then the noise of the spring peepers emerges. It doesn't seem as loud on my video as it did in real life. There must have been thousands of them chirping away, super-piercing loudly. It was almost tactile in my ears, the noisy peeping from all directions.<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Spring peepers are tree frogs. They live in trees and shrubs and bushes. They have little sticky pads on their toes that help them climb.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>They come down to ponds or swamps or other watery areas to mate and lay their eggs.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>They could be any number of colors typical to frogs & toads -- brown, gray, green, yellow.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Their Latin name is <i>Pseudoacris </i>(<i>false locust,</i> for its call that sounds like the insect but isn't) <i>crucifer </i>(<i>cross</i>, for the X-shaped mark on its back). </li>
</ul>
<div>
<br />
<img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/33/43305010_fbe7b057ae.jpg" height="300" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 90%;">Spring peepers are small, usually about 3/4" long. The biggest they get is an inch and a half long.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 90%;">(Photo from <a href="https://yoopersteez.com/post/what-are-spring-peepers">Yoopers Teez</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
It occurred to me, these little peepers have no idea who the president is. They could care less. Well, they are certainly aware that the climate has changed and they're dealing with that, but they are getting about their business regardless. It is spring, time to mate, and that is for damn sure what they're doing.<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>It's only the males who peep. They make the peeping sound to attract and entice the females. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Most sites say they start their peeping at dusk, but every year I hear these peepers going at it in broad daylight.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A male frog won't peep until he's about three years old. Since spring peepers only live to be 3 or 4 at most, they've got to get their peeping right.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>They force a bunch of air into the vocal sac under their chin, and as that air passes over their vocal chords, it makes a squeak or a peep.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A male does this over and over, about 90 times per minute, for four hours in one day. The next day, they do it all again. This can go on for 4 to 8 weeks until everybody's got a mate.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Scientists theorize that they band together for their peeping because, even though it increases their direct competition with each other, they benefit from the combined volume of their calls. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The result is a gigantic chorus of peeping made by hundreds or perhaps thousands of tiny frogs.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lXfmubmx-qw" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
Year after year these frogs get together and do their thing. They put up this marvelous chorus which is unbelievably loud for their individual tiny size. They've done this for centuries, and they'll keep on doing so for centuries more.<br />
<br />
Yes, their habitats are threatened by over-fertilization and climate change and water shortages and everything else we hear about. But these frogs, like so many other animals and plants around the globe, are keeping on, regardless of who is president, regardless of what idiotic things get said or done in Washington. I have been coming to this park for I don't know how many years now, and every year, there are these peepers, peeping away like mad. Come spring, no matter what, as long as they've got life and breath in them, these frogs are going to show up and get to peeping.<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>When one female is especially interested in one mate, she walks up to him ("enters his calling area," as the scientific site puts it) and nudges him. Sort of like that old Monty Python sketch--nudge nudge, wink wink, know what I mean--except better.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The male climbs on the back of the female nudger and hangs on. She swims back into the pond and starts laying her eggs, with the male hanging onto her back the whole time.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>She can lay anywhere from 700 to as many as 1,200 eggs at one go, with Mr. Frog on her back the entire time. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The male fertilizes the eggs after they emerge from the female are laid.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Within 6 to 12 days, the eggs hatch and you get tadpoles.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>That's what it's all about. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<img height="320" src="https://naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/spring-peepers-mating-da8a0504.jpg?w=590" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 90%;">Male spring peeper atop a female. After she lays her eggs, she goes back into the woods. He stays in the water and keeps on singing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 90%;">(Photo from <a href="https://naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com/tag/pseudacris-crucifer/">Naturally Curious with Mary Holland</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<br />
Life goes on, see? These tiny little frogs, they make sure of it. So I decided that's what I have to do. Not, you know, breed like a spring peeper, but keep on. I can't let some nincompoop with an overlong tie and the stupidest haircut and the most wrongest ideas ever--I can't let a jackass like that stop me. I have to be like the peepers. I have to get on with my business. Help out where I can, do for others when I can, but I have to keep on with my own life too. Show up and do my Apple thing. So here I am, Appling.<br />
<br />
I hope you're able to find a way to keep on keepin' on too.<br />
<br />
Peep.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 90%;">Sources<br />
Penn State University New Kensington, Virtual Nature Trail, <a href="http://www.psu.edu/dept/nkbiology/naturetrail/speciespages/springpeeper.htm">Spring Peeper</a><br />
National Wildlife Federation, <a href="https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Amphibians-Reptiles-and-Fish/Spring-Peeper.aspx">Spring Peeper</a><br />
Farmers' Almanac, <a href="http://farmersalmanac.com/home-garden/2016/03/21/facts-about-spring-peepers/">Fun Facts about Spring Peepers</a><br />
National Geographic, <a href="http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/spring-peeper/">Spring Peeper</a></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-6677499743228740442017-03-01T12:18:00.000-05:002017-03-01T12:18:52.142-05:00Apple #741: This Is Not News<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last night was DT's first address to Congress. I didn't watch. I had to take a nap. I had bills to pay.<br />
<br />
After I woke up and paid my bills, I got on facebook. I came across this interview -- I shouldn't even call it that. Verbal mangling -- between Tucker Carlson and Bill Nye.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LKMxmYcfw8Q" width="560"></iframe> <br />
<br />
If you want a left-wing spin on this interview, here's <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/im-open-minded-youre-not-tucker-carlson-melts-down-after-bill-nye-schools-him-on-climate-change/">Raw Story's presentation</a> of it. If you prefer a right-wing spin, here's the <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/445338/tucker-carlson-bill-nye-debate-climate-change">National Review's presentation</a>. Whichever one tickles your fancy. <br />
<br />
I have seen "interviews" like this for years, decades. We all have. Every commentator on Fox has a show like this in which they "interview" people in just this way. This doesn't deviate from any norm that Fox established long ago. The difference is, I watched this with that brain-freshness you have when you just wake up. I took every bit of it in like every moment was essential to my survival. And what did I see?<br />
<br />
Nothing we don't already know, nothing we haven't already learned. I saw that Carlson is not really interested in anything Nye has to say. He pretends to; that is the pretense of his show and having the interview in the first place. But his pretense isn't even very well held. His only purpose is to have Nye on his show and somehow discredit him, humiliate him, show him up so Carlson's listeners can get past whatever Nye has to say and go back to thinking exactly what they were thinking before Nye began to speak.<br />
<br />
A true interview should engage, listen, learn from what people have to say. Then build on that person's expertise to help us advance, however slightly, in our knowledge of the world around us. Carlson's tactics are to interrupt, obfuscate, poke fun of, ignore, shut down. When Nye's statements threaten to break through Carlson's veneer, instead of responding, he returns to his initial question as if Nye has not answered it.<br />
<br />
This interview asks nothing of its viewers except to put up with the near-constant interruption (which is so rude and awful, a lot of people in fact can't put up with that and do not watch these shows). The pay-off is, you don't have to change anything about what you thought before. You can relax back into your comfortable wish that what Nye has to say, that human beings have accelerated climate change to catastrophic levels and unless we change our course of action double-quick, thousands of people are going to suffer. Nah, you don't have to hear that. All you have to pay attention to is how clever Carlson was to shut him down. Yeah, Nye can't answer a simple question. He was asked a simple question and he couldn't answer it. Yeah. Carlson says it 15 times so it must be true. Nye has nothing to say. He's ridiculous.<br />
<br />
Even when Nye does Carlson a favor and explains to him what is going on with the leaks in the White House and in the Republican party, Carlson is so baffled by this straight-up unfiltered information he dismisses it out of hand as ranting. He finishes with outright laughing at his guest.<br />
<br />
The lesson of this "interview" is don't listen. Don't engage. Stick to what you thought before you asked the question and persist in your unbelief.<br />
<br />
As I've said, this is nothing new. <a href="http://www.allsides.com/news-source/fox-news">Fox News</a> commentators have been doing this sort of thing since Rupert Murdoch started the network. And <a href="https://www.quora.com/Whats-so-bad-about-Fox-News">countless people</a> have <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=nqO_OifleVkC&pg=PT166#v=onepage&q&f=false">decried these tactics</a> since they first <a href="https://www.flowjournal.org/2006/05/fox-news-and-the-redefinition-of-objectivity-in-us-news-media/#_edn1">appeared</a> on the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418038/">media scene</a>. Rush Limbaugh has been doing this unimpeded for decades on the radio, and his imitators have been slavishly doing the same too. (By the way, Rush and his ilk could never have had a show had it not been for the removal of the "fairness doctrine" which required broadcasters to give equal time to differing opinions -- a doctrine removed during Ronald Reagan's push for deregulation. <a href="http://ritholtz.com/2015/05/how-fox-news-changed-american-media-and-political-dynamics/">This article by former staffer Bruce Bartlett</a> discusses this change in journalism and other developments in a pretty fascinating overview.)<br />
<br />
But in spite of calls to boycott Rush, in spite of experts pointing out why Fox News' tactics are so egregious, no one has effectively challenged this approach. If they had, these shows would not still be on the air. They would not have the viewership that they do. We would not have Donald Trump as our President.<br />
<br />
Because this mindset, of holding fast to your mindset, is comfortable. It allows us to be comfortable and to stay that way. It is so enticing, it has permeated everything about our culture. It's in our colleges. College, a place you go to have your brain challenged more than it's ever been challenged before and maybe ever will be again. A place where you are asked to do nothing but learn all day, every day. A place where you are to be molded by knowledge into a new being: an adult, ready to engage with the world and advance us a little further as human beings.<br />
<br />
Instead, students come to college not as students but as consumers. They sit in their chairs, and they expect to be entertained for six weeks and get an A at the end. They don't really want to learn. They've got their devices. They're plugged into their headphones. They're wearing their pajamas to class. They want to be comfortable. They're not doing anything our culture hasn't taught them all their lives.<br />
<br />
It's in our movies. <i>La La Land,</i> a movie so beloved it was nominated for I don't know how many Oscars (<a href="http://www.playbill.com/article/la-la-land-heads-into-academy-awards-with-14-nominations">14</a>) and came within a hair's breadth of winning best picture, asks nothing of its viewers. It presents one cliche after another, it presents only one relationship (what friends? they were only different-colored women in different-colored dresses. Ooh, diversity!), and a white man explains jazz. Jazz, a medium that requires and thrives on listening, is based on the very act of listening to what someone else has to say (musically), to take it in and respond, build on what you've heard, and create something new. I don't think the movie ever even plays actual jazz. Instead, it returns to a theme we heard at the beginning and replays it. The guy who's supposed to be a musician is played by a guy who can't sing very well, nor is he a very good dancer. Doesn't matter. We're not listening that closely anyway.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/event/article-4090948/La-La-Land-review-singing-feelgood-start-movie-year.html"><img src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/01/06/14/3BDDE34C00000578-4090948-It_s_a_fair_while_before_their_first_song_and_dance_number_toget-m-1_1483712819823.jpg" height="299" width="400" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">There are so many things wrong with this promo image, I don't even know where to begin. Obviously superimposed on a fake background, with a fake enormously outsized streetlight, and what are those wooden pier things doing there? There are so many versions of this image, some without a streetlight, some without their feet visible, some with the pair of them reversed, it's impossible to know which one is the "real" one. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">None of the images like this are even real, anyway. Below, is (I think) a screenshot from the actual movie. Messy hair and all.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/event/article-4090948/La-La-Land-review-singing-feelgood-start-movie-year.html">Daily Mail</a> above, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/la-la-land-musical-gets-dreamy-first-trailer-with-ryan-gosling-and-emma-stone-a7136391.html">Independent</a> below)</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/la-la-land-musical-gets-dreamy-first-trailer-with-ryan-gosling-and-emma-stone-a7136391.html"><img height="224" src="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2016/07/14/11/la-la-land.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
And when the movie is about to approach a sad ending -- which ISN'T EVEN VERY SAD. She marries a man whom she apparently loves and who apparently loves her, she has a daughter who is sweet, she is fabulously successful so she can go off and leave her child with someone else without fear or worry or any trouble about the expense or the social politics of it. The only thing that is sad is that she marries a different guy -- and just as it's about to face that slight bit of discomfort, it backs away, revisits the entire movie in faced-paced miniature, showing us exactly what we've just seen, and gives us the happy ending. So we get to escape from our escapism and have things just the way we want them. We get to have the happy ending, and we also get an easy-to-swallow dose of the bittersweet along with it. Nothing hard to accept or difficult or thought-provoking about any of it.<br />
<br />
People loved it.<br />
<br />
It's pap.<br />
<br />
It's in our radio stations, our TV stations. Hear something you don't like? Change the station. You don't have to listen to any music that's not to your taste, don't have to watch any movies not to your liking (yes, <i>La La Land </i>turned out not to be my taste, but I sure did learn a lot from watching it, if only how much our culture is drained of real engagement with any subject), don't have to watch any TV shows you don't like. You don't even have to scroll through channels. You can custom-stream whatever show you want direct to your tiny little device and watch that show over and over and over and over and over and over. Talk about tunnel vision.<br />
<br />
Hear some bit of science you don't like? <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/dinograndoni/trump-usda?utm_term=.fuPOPDjz1#.cgG1vVxQm">Shut it off</a>. Disable the organizations that put out the scientific data in the first place. We don't want to hear about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/22/nasa-earth-donald-trump-eliminate-climate-change-research">climate change</a> and the <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/epa-report-finds-fracking-can-impact-drinking-water-resources/">damage fracking is doing</a>, so we'll shut it all off. People have no clue how much science went into that egg on their breakfast table, that steak on their dinner plate. But why should they care? That egg is going to show up whether they know how it was made or not. Someone else will put it there. Someone else will take care of it. Someone else will think about it. I'm just going to eat it.<br />
<br />
And what about people you don't like? You can shut them off too. Don't like their religion? Don't let 'em in. Don't like the color of their skin? Kick 'em out. Put 'em in jail. Put them on the other side of the wall and us on this side. We want only people like us here. People who look like us, talk like us, refuse to think like us. Because that's what makes us comfortable.<br />
<br />
<i>Daily Show</i>-lovers are just as guilty of this. When Jon Stewart shows up, don't you feel that undeniable sense of "Ahh," of sinking into that mental Naugahyde lounger while you wait to be told just how wrong they are and just how right we are? Isn't it lovely? Isn't it rich?<br />
<br />
It's the height of privilege, this ability to choose what to hear. We can afford to buy the devices that enable that choice. We can afford to move out of neighborhoods we don't like, to drive away from a situation that frightens us, to fly to a country where we can drink fruity drinks by the pool and eat spicy foods and fly away again.<br />
<br />
No wonder our President is so privileged he has no idea how privileged he is. No wonder he rejects anything he disagrees with. No wonder he tells lies outrageous and small all the time, and gets away with it. The difference between truth and lies has not mattered for a very long time. No wonder he has kicked out news media he doesn't like; we do that all the time. No wonder he is kicking out ideas, people, religions, anything he doesn't like. We have done this for decades.<br />
<br />
Take a good long look at the man we have spent decades building. In front of our noses, behind our backs, in spite of us, because of us. We all had a hand in this creation.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.storypick.com/donald-trump-new-president-usa/"><img src="http://az616578.vo.msecnd.net/files/2016/07/23/6360489455192162291563850737_Trump.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a> <br />
<br />
If we want to dismantle him, we need to rebuild ourselves.<br />
<br />
We can't bring back the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-fairness-doctrine-in-one-post/2011/08/23/gIQAN8CXZJ_blog.html?utm_term=.0226f9d28e24">fairness doctrine</a> and require media to give equal coverage to opposing viewpoints. Our media is too diffuse to enforce that regulation, if anybody would even support it. But we can do more to encourage critical thinking, demand critical thinking. Seek out opinions that differ from your own. Challenge yourself and see what you discover. Ask questions. Write to your TV station, your newspaper. Subscribe to a newspaper. Subscribe two: a local paper and one that does in-depth investigative reporting. Tell people about what you've learned. Talk to people who have different opinions than you do, and don't just talk. Ask why, and listen.<br />
<br />
Don't disengage. Engage.<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-61153154792967349952017-01-17T01:54:00.002-05:002017-01-17T02:07:59.996-05:00Apple #739: Anti-Corruption Laws and Blind Trust<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Maybe you've seen some of the news articles recently saying that our President-elect has some serious conflicts of interest that he needs to resolve prior to taking office. Maybe you even saw this statement from the Office of Government Ethics, which handles ethics issues in the Executive Branch.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R58fJ7Eetbg" width="560"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Office of Government Ethics director Walter Schaub making a statement that Trump's plan for dealing with conflicts of interest is inadequate, and why. This may seem at first to be boring and procedural, but in your Apple Lady's opinion, this is what speaking truth to power looks like: should be -- calm, thought-out, supported by evidence, and determined to do what is right no matter what the circumstances may be.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
For the sake of clarity and focus, I'm going to discuss only those conflicts that are related to our President-Elect's business holdings. I'm not going to get into all the stuff with Russia, even though talking about his business holdings can very quickly lead to the Russia morass.<br />
<br />
But that is in fact the very reason the conflicts of interest are a problem: when you have business deals with international governments and then you become a head of state, you may very quickly be faced with a situation where you have to decide which are you going to put first, the financial success of your company, or the political health of your country? The conflicts of interest clauses in the Constitution were created so foreign leaders wouldn't be allowed to bribe our officials, nor would our officials be put in a situation where they would even be tempted.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Is the President Exempt from Conflicts of Interest? Of Course Not </h3>
The President-elect has said, "The law's totally on my side, the president can't have a conflict of interest." Many of our laws dealing with conflict of interest fall into one group (<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/208">Title 18, Section 208 of the US Code</a>), and they include an exception for the president (<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/202">18 USC 202(c)</a> ) who touches so many parts of the government and the country's operations that it would be nearly impossible for the president not to have any conflicts of interest. To ban all conflicts would restrict so many people from the presidency that it wouldn't be feasible or desirable. Further, expecting the president to recuse himself or herself from any situation where there's a conflict of interest isn't workable either because there's no other person who holds that position who could act in the president's stead.. So, looking only at that part of the law, he is correct.<br />
<br />
However, there are many other parts of federal law and the Constitution which restrict the president from receiving payments from other entities. I'll discuss the three main places where corruption is specifically not allowed (though there are more anti-corruption laws than only these three).<br />
<br />
<br />
<img height="400" src="https://www.archives.gov/files/founding-docs/constitution-home-cropped.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">This is the first place that says -- twice -- that the president must not even have the opportunity to be corrupt.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo of the Constitution from the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs">National Archives</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<i>No Payments from Foreign Entities</i> </h3>
<br />
The founders were very concerned about keeping the office of the president free from corruption, or even having the appearance of corruption. So there is <a href="http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/1/essays/68/emoluments-clause">a clause in the Constitution</a> -- this is present since the very founding of this country -- that says<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[N]o Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall,
without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument,
Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or
foreign State. </blockquote>
<br />
This is usually referred to as the Emoluments clause, or the foreign emoluments clause. An emolument is any kind of payment, compensation, profit, or literally "bettering."<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.viceloungeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/hand_money.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">This is one kind of emolument.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.viceloungeonline.com/2011/05/you-want-hand-pay/">Vice Lounge</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<br />
Interpreted strictly, any money of any kind that comes from a foreign head of state and is paid to the president could be a violation, if Congress decides that it is. So let's say after Jan 20, the leader of Dubai stays at the hotel Trump owns in Dubai and pays his hotel bill. This is a payment from a foreign head of state to a business that is owned by the president. Violates the foreign emoluments clause, doesn't it?<br />
<br />
(In fact, following the election, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/digger/wp/2016/12/07/conservative-groups-foreign-leaders-flock-to-trumps-d-c-hotel/?utm_term=.c729769564cf">many foreign diplomats flocked to Trump's hotel in D.C.</a>, believing it would be beneficial to them to be able to say, "I stayed at your hotel." That <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-trump-meant-when-he-said-the-president-cant-have-a-conflict-of-interest/">hotel was even "pitching" itself to foreign officials</a>. Sure sounds more than iffy to me. But let's go back to the Dubai guy in the Dubai hotel.)<br />
<br />
Most people say yes that's a violation, but some people say no. They argue that the payment for the room wouldn't be a payment to the Office of the President; or they say, how could a busy president keep track of all his hotel tenants and be influenced by that; or, as one CEO who stayed in his hotel is quoted as saying, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/digger/wp/2016/12/07/conservative-groups-foreign-leaders-flock-to-trumps-d-c-hotel/?utm_term=.a50141b55b1a">“Do you think the president-elect knows who rents rooms for two hours?”</a><br />
<br />
Then Trump's tax attorney said, well, he'll just <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-updates-trump-plans-to-donate-hotel-profits-1484154101-htmlstory.html">donate all hotel profits from foreign governments to the US Treasury</a>. So, on the one hand, he can't keep track of who's staying in his hotel, but on the other hand, he'll donate all foreign payments to the Treasury. Uh-huh.<br />
<br />
You see how murky this can get.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<i>No Payments from U.S. States</i></h3>
<br />
There is also a domestic emoluments clause in the Constitution (<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleii">Article II Section 1</a>) -- again, the founders really did not want a corrupt president -- which prohibits the president from receiving any payment from within the United States: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a
compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the
period for which he shall have been elected, and <u>he shall not receive
within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of
them</u>. </blockquote>
<br />
So none of the states in the union can slip the president a Benjamin or two and get some kind of favorable treatment, like let's say more federal funds for that state's schools, or relaxed regulation on hospitality laws only in that state, or an executive pardon for every guy in the state of New York who's ever committed sexual assault.<br />
<br />
Another difference between this clause and the foreign emoluments clause is that receiving payment isn't allowed under any circumstance. In the case of
foreign payments, if Congress says it's OK, it's OK. With domestic
payments, never OK.<br />
<br />
So, in our running example, what if it's not the leader of Dubai but the governor of Texas who stays in his hotel, and it's for some sort of state meeting or conference. So the taxpayers of Texas would cover the cost of the governor's stay. So in paying that hotel bill, is the state of Texas making a payment to the president?<br />
<br />
Here's another example that is less directly covered by that clause, but is more realistic and no less problematic: Let's say a bill lands on President Trump's desk that, I don't know, bans some kind of building material that is found to be so hazardous it's been killing people, but his contractors used it in all of his hotels because it was cheap. Is President Trump going to sign that law and put his company on the hook for replacing all of that building material, or opening up his properties to huge liability lawsuits? That's a huge conflict of interest, where he would be asked to choose between the good of the public or the financial benefit of his companies. I think I know which action he would take, but I also think most of us don't even want a president to be in that situation in the first place.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<i>No Bribery</i></h3>
The emoluments clauses try to keep the president from being in a position to be corrupted. As legal scholars have pointed out, they say the president can't accept payments, period. With bribery laws, you have to prove that not only did someone receive money, they did something in return for that money. The emoluments clauses say you don't have to prove the action in return; they can't accept the money period, regardless of what happens afterwards.<br />
<br />
But there are bribery laws, and they do cover the office of the president. So even if he could skate past the emoluments clauses, if he were shown to take some sort of action in return for a payment, he could be found guilty of bribery. <br />
<br />
The Bribery of public officials part of the US Code (<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/201">18 USC 201</a>) is written in a very inclusive complex way, so I'll break it down for you into its digestible parts: <br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Any public official -- high or low, doesn't matter in what office</li>
<li>who directly or indirectly </li>
<li>receives or accepts, or seeks without ever receiving, or so much as promises </li>
<li>for themselves or for anybody else (like, family) or any other entity (like, their business)</li>
<li>anything of value </li>
<li>in return for</li>
<li>influence in how the public official performs his or her job, or</li>
<li>being any part of any kind of fraud against the United States, or</li>
<li>influence <i>not</i> to do something that is part of his or her job, or</li>
<li>influencing the testimony of a witness at any kind of trial or hearing</li>
<li>shall be punished as follows:</li>
<li>fined up to 3x the monetary value of the bribe in question, or</li>
<li>put in prison for up to 15 years</li>
<li>or both</li>
<li>and "may be disqualified from holding any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States."</li>
</ul>
So, to return to our first example, if it could be proven that the leader of Dubai's payment for staying in the Trump hotel in Dubai was directly connected to some kind of action Trump made or did not make that benefited Dubai or harmed the United States, then he would have violated the bribery laws.<br />
<br />
Or let's say a president accepted investments made to his business from foreign investors and then in return for those investments, he lifted sanctions on that country, or if he failed to take action against that country when it had been shown to have acted in a way detrimental to our democracy, or if he said he has no problem with their actions that violate international agreements of which our country is a part, or if he in any way performed his job in any way that was colored by those "investments," then he could be found guilty of having accepted a bribe, and he would be punished accordingly.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<i>Emoluments Clauses Precede the Bribery Laws</i></h3>
<br />
The anti-bribery laws are in some ways more strict, but they are more
difficult to prove because you have to demonstrate quid pro quo (you
give me this, so in exchange I give you that). The emoluments clauses
are like the watchdogs that try to keep the bribery from happening in
the first place. They try to keep the office-holder from being in a
situation where bribery could occur.<br />
<br />
So even though the anti-bribery law would absolutely apply to Trump should he violate it, the Emoluments clauses raise their heads first. That is why people are talking about these more than they are the bribery statutes.<br />
<br />
What complicates all this is that there is zero precedent for litigation
of the Emoluments clauses. No past president has violated them to the
extent that anyone wanted to take him to court over it. Some experts
aren't even sure if a lawsuit would be appropriate because they say you
wouldn't be suing the person, you would be suing the president, and that
becomes a political situation and something that should be handled not
in a court of law but by Congress. <br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
How Should the Conflict of Interest Laws Be Enforced?</h3>
I think we can all agree that we do not want our president accepting bribes. We don't even want to have reason to think that could happen. But unfortunately, Trump and his lawyers disagree with what several people are saying is necessary action for him to take to make sure he can't be found guilty of bribery, or even have the appearance of being in a bribe-able position.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferwang/2016/11/15/why-trump-wont-use-a-blind-trust-and-what-his-predecessors-did-with-their-assets/#7f17aaa77915">All past presidents have chosen to take steps</a> to avoid raising any kind of doubt about their susceptibility to corruption. They sold their assets before taking office, or they turned over detailed financial records and sat through hearings while members of Congress painstakingly combed through them, or they put their assets into a blind trust. The blind trust is the route that most people are saying Trump should take. Trump, through his lawyer, said he's not going to do that.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<i>Blind Trusts</i></h3>
<img src="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/615x200/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/i.ehow.com/images/a06/i1/tq/sign-legal-document-owner-corporation-800x800.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">This is what setting up a blind trust looks like on paper, har har. Really, it's the rules and the circumstances behind it that are crucial. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/615x200/cme/cme_public_images/www_ehow_com/i.ehow.com/images/a06/i1/tq/sign-legal-document-owner-corporation-800x800.jpg">eHow</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
A trust is a legal name for an agreement you make with someone else when you ask them to hang onto your money for you and manage it on your behalf. Like, your grandmother might put her bank accounts and all the stuff she owns (her estate) into a trust that is managed by a lawyer and then when she dies, the lawyer contacts you and says, Hey, your grandma left you all this money, and I've been managing it for her, but now that she's died, it's yours, what do you want me to do with it? That's the kind of trust most people are familiar with. But a trust can be much more general than that.<br />
<br />
Most trusts are set up so the person managing it talks to the owner and says things like, Hey, this stock price is tanking, do you want me to sell it? or Hey, this building you owned just got bombed, what do you want me to do with it? There is open communication between the trust manager and the owner (beneficiary) about what property is in the trust, how it's performing, and what the trust manager should do with that property.<br />
<br />
A blind trust is set up so the owner of the property (beneficiary) does <i>not</i> know what's going on with it. The trust manager has total decision-making control, and the beneficiary literally and totally trusts the manager to do a good job with the property until the beneficiary can take control of it again. Lots of public officials have used blind trusts because they allow the person to retain ownership of the stuff, but they can't see whether the stock in such & such a company just went up because they <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/after-calls-for-l-l-bean-boycott-trump-tweets-support-for-company/">tweeted some ridiculous remark</a>, or whether <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/story/13936352/1/lockheed-martin-stock-sinks-on-latest-trump-tweet-aerospace-expert-weighs-in.html">the stock in such & such took a nosedive</a> because they said they think that company shouldn't get any more government contracts. There is no danger of being accused of a conflict of interest because they don't even know exactly what is in the trust, let alone how it might be affected by their work as a public official.<br />
<br />
Another element to the blind trust is the beneficiary should not even know what's in it, let alone how it is managed. If you know you've got stock in BP, your response to the Deepwater Horizon fiasco might be different than if you didn't know you had that stock. So what a lot of public officials have done is not only create a blind trust, but also sell or convert what they have to cash prior to putting it into the trust, and then the trust manager takes that cash and re-invests it in a way that the beneficiary knows nothing about. That way, all the public official knows is that their money is being managed. They don't know what form that money has taken, if it's stocks or bonds or mutual funds, or bars of gold sitting at the bottom of the ocean.<br />
<br />
This is the course of action that some people, including Mr. Walter Schaub up there at the top, are saying Trump should take before assuming the Office of the President.<br />
<br />
Mr. Trump's lawyers are saying no, we're not going to do that.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<i>Trump's Proposed Trust</i></h3>
<img src="http://static03.mediaite.com/ln/up/2017/01/sheridillon-e1484158308722.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Trump's attorney Sheri Dillon delivering the news that -- surprise! -- they're going to do things their own way. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/trumps-conflict-of-interest-attorney-used-to-be-a-hillary-clinton-supporter/">LawNewz</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/11/us/politics/trump-press-conference-transcript.html">What Trump's lawyers say they are going to do</a> is as follows:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Convert the hundreds of entities into a single trust</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>To be managed by Trump's two sons plus a long-time Trump executive (these three are "the management team")</li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>An ethics adviser, as yet unknown, will be assigned to the management team, and the ethics adviser will have to approve everything the team does</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Trump has already sold his stock in publicly traded companies, so the cash from those sales will go into the trust. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>All the properties he owns -- golf courses, hotels, resorts, etc., -- he's going to keep, and those will go in the trust. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>All currently pending deals will be terminated, and no foreign deals will be undertaken while he's president.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Domestic deals will be allowed, but "will go through a vigorous vetting process" done by the ethics adviser. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Trump will continue to see profit & loss statements, but at a top-level only.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br />
His lawyer says it's ridiculous to expect him to sell everything because whatever price he got for his properties people would say was unduly influenced by his impending office.<br />
<br />
His lawyer says that he couldn't sell his businesses to his children because they couldn't afford it, so they'd have to get third-party investors, and that would raise concerns. Selling it to anybody else, well, apparently that is unthinkable because "President-elect Trump should not be expected to destroy the
company he built." In other words, It's my business and I'm not going
to get rid of it.<br />
<br />
He also says his brand is part of the business, and if he were to sell it, it would lose its value because it's not associated with him anymore. Conversely, he's also said that he couldn't really sell it because he would retain royalty rights for the use of his name, and he wouldn't be able to accept royalty payments. So gosh, gee whiz, and golly, I just have to keep my doggoned business.<br />
<br />
But there are enormous problems with all of this. Legal experts and ethics advisers across the country agree this plan is insufficient. <br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>His sons controlling the business along with a long-time executive -- that's not much of a blind wall there, is it? Especially since he asked for security clearance for all of his children.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Continuing to see profit & loss statements is not absenting himself from running the business at all, but maintaining an awareness of its performance. Not much trust placed in someone else, is there?</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>This ethics adviser to be named later, there's nothing to prevent this person from being a toady yes-man and approving everything the the management team does, regardless of ethics concerns.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The properties he does keep open up enormous conflicts of interest because any legislation he considers having to do with labor laws, environmental regulations, infrastructure, land use, banking regulations -- more -- would impact his properties, which he has a vested interest in wanting to protect.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Further, his properties with his name on them are a gigantic target to foreign terrorists. Some wackadoo in InsanityLand sees TRUMP on a building in their city, suddenly that's not only a sign of capitalism run amok, that's a direct connection to the President of the United States. Wackadoo terrorist bombs that Trump building, and he's carrying out a direct threat against the President. This puts the lives of all the people who work in those buildings are in danger. That's a nightmare that no one wants to see happen -- right?</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div>
(To see one suggestion about how Trump could resolve some of
these conflicts of interest without divesting entirely from all his
businesses, <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21714346-plan-put-trump-organisation-arms-length-doesnt-go-far-enough-donald-trumps">see what <i>The Economist</i> recommends</a>.
Recommendations include combining all businesses into one entity,
making its operations transparent to the public, and having it run by an
independent management group, not his children.)</div>
<br />
There are even more potential conflicts of interest than what I've listed here (<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/01/donald-trump-conflicts-of-interests/508382/"><i>The Atlantic</i> has described in detail</a> some of the more troubling international ones). The number and scope of issues is, to quote several experts on the subject, "staggering." And this is true only of the issues that we're aware of.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
We don't even know the full scope of the conflicts because we haven't seen his tax returns. We don't know to what entities he owes money. Whoever he owes money to, he has every opportunity now to see that he gets his debts forgiven. That would absolutely violate the bribery laws, but if we don't know what's in his tax returns, we won't know if he's broken the law, or at the very least, if he has motive. </div>
<div>
</div>
<br />
<div>
<img src="http://www.quotemaster.org/images/ce/ced5ea37d7b59650df5183fcc81883d4.jpg" height="188" width="400" /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Even a blind trust can be manipulated, as Mitt Romney expressed. But Trump won't even do this much.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
What You Can Do </h3>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/11/us/politics/trump-press-conference-transcript.html">Trump maintains</a> that the public doesn't care about this stuff. He says people don't want to see his tax returns, that only the media wants to see those, and the public isn't concerned about minor details like these.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I, for one, and extremely concerned. I am very worried that the only ones who have created a blind trust is us. By electing him president without seeing his tax returns, we have put our blind trust in him. We have blindly trusted this salesman and we are about to hand him the keys to the highest office in the land. If he turns the office into a pit of corruption -- or if he even <i>appears</i> to turn it into a swamp of shady dealings -- that is going to damage our country enormously, down to our very belief in our own democracy.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<img src="http://www.industryweek.com/site-files/industryweek.com/files/uploads/2013/07/Bribery%20map_0.gif" height="250" width="400" /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 80%;">This is what the world looked like in terms of levels of corruption in 2013. Our country looks very unusual on the world's scale in these terms. If we don't do something about this conflict of interest issue, I guarantee our country's level of corruption will increase.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image from <a href="http://www.industryweek.com/regulations/dealing-bribery-emerging-markets">IndustryWeek</a>) </span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Ethics experts say that since there is no history of litigation surrounding the emoluments clauses -- because no president has ever been sued for violating them -- and since it's not even certain in what capacity the president COULD be sued, the only real recourse we have to keep the president -- any president -- in line is Congress.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So if you are concerned about these conflicts of interest, if you would like to ask that more be done to protect the highest office in the land from even the suspicion of corruption as our founding fathers intended, start contacting your Congress people ASAP and let them know of your concerns. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Find your Representative in the House: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ </div>
<div>
Find your Senator: https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<img src="https://www.crln.org/files/images/Call%20Now%20(2).jpg" /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 80%;">An app called <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/22/call-to-action-lets-you-phone-your-congressperson-with-just-a-tap/">Call to Action</a> supposedly helps make contacting representatives in Washington even easier. </span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">See also embedded links in the entry</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2017/01/13/economy/new-plans-trump-trust-raise-new-questions-about-conflicts-interest">Marketwatch</a> Jan 13, 2017</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/11/us/politics/trump-press-conference-transcript.html">Complete transcript of Trump's press conference</a>, Jan 11, 2017</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/digger/wp/2016/12/07/conservative-groups-foreign-leaders-flock-to-trumps-d-c-hotel/?utm_term=.a50141b55b1a"><i>Washington Post</i>, Foreign leaders flock to Trump's DC hotel</a>, Dec 7, 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-updates-trump-plans-to-donate-hotel-profits-1484154101-htmlstory.html"><i>LA Times</i>, Trump plans to donate hotel profits</a>, Jan 11, 2017</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brianne-j-gorod/on-trump-conflicts-dont-f_b_13721348.html">Chief Counsel, Constitutional Accountability Center, On other emoluments clauses</a>, Dec 19, 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://fortune.com/2017/01/09/trump-emoluments/"><i>Fortune</i> magazine, Guide to the emoluments clause</a>, Jan 11, 2017</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2017/01/12/whats-a-blind-trust-anyway-and-why-wont-it-work-for-president-elect-trump/3/#6ee797162419"><i>Fortune</i> magazine, What's a blind trust anyway?</a> Jan 12, 2017</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferwang/2016/11/15/why-trump-wont-use-a-blind-trust-and-what-his-predecessors-did-with-their-assets/#7f17aaa77915"><i>Forbes</i>, Why Trump won't use a blind trust</a> and what his predecessors did, Nov 15, 2016 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/Legal%20Interpretation/2992B018CA57C5B985257E96006A91E8/$FILE/Report%20to%20the%20President%20and%20Congress%20on%20Ethics.pdf?open">Office of Government Ethics, Report on Conflict of Interest Laws</a> Relating to the Executive Branch, Jan 2006</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://congressionalresearch.com/RS21656/document.php">CRS Report for Congress, The Use of Blind Trusts by Federal Officials</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/01/donald-trump-conflicts-of-interests/508382/"><i>The Atlantic</i>, Trump announces plan that does little</a> to resolve conflicts of interest, Jan 11, 2017</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jan/13/blind-trusts-what-do-theresa-may-and-donald-trump-have-in-common"><i>The Guardian</i>, Blind trusts</a>, Jan 13, 2017</span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-727225760530473862017-01-02T00:59:00.002-05:002017-01-02T00:59:34.744-05:00Apple #738: Knocking on Wood<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have had a request! My friends & I were talking about 2017, and how we hoped it would be better than 2016 in many ways. One of our number, Kalonice, knocked on the table for good luck. Then she said, "Where does that come from, knocking on wood?" Naturally, I had to find the answer.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://wdy.h-cdn.co/assets/cm/15/08/54eaa0e28f519_-_09-wd1109-superstitions-2.jpg" height="236" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">(Image from<i> <a href="http://www.womansday.com/life/a1093/origins-of-13-common-superstitions-100353/">Woman's Day</a></i>) </span><br />
<br />
<br />
Before I do any research, I'm going to put forth a guess. I'm going to
say it has something to do with touching the wood of the crucifix.<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I am wrong! The custom goes back way before Christianity. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>As with many of our traditions that have been around for a very long time, no one can say with certainty what is the exact timing or origin of the practice. But it goes all the way back to pagan times when Europeans -- perhaps the Druids or the Greeks -- believed that spirits lived in trees. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.tanahoy.com/wp-content/uploads/251TreeSpirit.jpg" height="390" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">One rendering of what a tree spirit might look like.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">(Image from <a href="http://www.tanahoy.com/psychic-learning/tree-spirits/">Tana Hoy</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So when you spoke of your hopes for good luck, you'd touch or bang on the trees or the wood of your house or whatever wood was near to hand from which the spirits might spring. Researchers think original idea was possibly that you were asking the spirits to make this good luck wish come true. Or maybe you were acknowledging that they are in charge, and knocking on their wood is like saying, "Hello, I know this is up to you, so I hope you'll allow this wish to come true." </li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Over time, the tradition got co-opted by the non-pagans. Christians began saying that knocking on wood was a way of saying, This is up to Jesus, so I'm going to knock wood which reminds me of the crucifix. So I was kind of right, but there was a more-right answer that came first.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>At some point, the idea must have changed from propitiating
the tree gods or essentially praying to Jesus to give you good stuff and became a superstition that tried to keep
evil-minded spirits from bringing you bad luck. Around the 17th
century, when people said "knock wood" (or in Britain, "touch wood"), they would add the Latin phrase "absit omen," which means "may the omen be absent from me."</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Keeping away the bad luck seems to be the prevailing attitude today, so much so that I'm tempted to disagree with the researchers and bet that this might have been the idea from the beginning. Lots of societies hold the idea that if the spirits find out that you have too much good luck,
they'll foul things up for you. You know how this goes. As
soon as you think everything's cake, something drops out of the sky --
or maybe from the treetops -- and wrecks your cake.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img height="266" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2727/4451837798_3c2d3d5fa3_b.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Someone left the cake out in the rain -- not just bad but also bad luck.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">(Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dailyville/4451837798">Doris Rapp on Flickr</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Here are similar expressions in other languages. In some countries, the expression is meant to ward off evil spirits, and in others, it is meant to seek the protection of the good spirits.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Arabic: <b>امسك</b><b> </b><b>الخشب</b> (imsek el-khashab), means knock wood, but gets translated as "God is the Protector"</li>
<li>Brazilian Portuguese: bater na madeira</li>
<li>Czech: klepat na dřevo</li>
<li>Finnish: koputtaa puuta</li>
<li>Greek: chtipa xilo</li>
<li>Swedish: ta i trä </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>German lore has it that the devil can't touch oak, so if you knock oak, you're proving that you aren't the devil. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="https://metrouk2.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/touch-wood.gif" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Either Jack proves the German lore wrong, or that door is not made of oak. This seems especially creepy, though, knowing that knocking wood is supposed to keep the badness away, and here the bad guy is doing it, wanting to be let in so he can bring about more badness.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">(<i>The Shining</i> gif from <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2016/01/12/why-do-we-touch-wood-to-avoid-bad-luck-5617570/">Metro News</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>There's also a story from Jewish history. When they were being persecuted during the Spanish Inquisition in the 1490s, the Jews were hiding in synagogues and temples, which were made of wood. They devised coded knocks to indicate they weren't the bad guys so their fellow Jews would let them in. Knocking on wood was a thing that helped them, resulting in good luck. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I don't know if I buy this story because the only places where I've seen it recounted are on sites that don't have a Jewish focus. Sites maintained by people with a Jewish background say it's a Christian practice that they've adopted.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So while it's hard to say exactly when the practice started, and while some cultures mean it to keep the bad stuff away and others mean it to bring the good stuff, what does seem to be true is that cultures & languages throughout time and around the globe knock wood.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img height="400" src="https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-0a526cf272d4e3b6552acde05b3cc768-c?convert_to_webp=true" width="266" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Really going for the good luck, or touching wood all the way around the tree, hoping that 2017 will be better than the auguries currently show.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">(Photo posted by Shouvik Chatterjee at <a href="https://www.quora.com/Philosophy-of-Everyday-Life-Why-do-people-say-touch-wood-and-even-touch-wood-if-it-is-nearby-when-they-want-something-not-to-happen-Is-it-not-a-superstition">Quora</a>) </span><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Sources</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Mental Floss, <a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/50079/why-do-we-knock-wood">Why Do We Knock on Wood?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Today I Found Out, <a href="http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/01/knock-wood/">Why Do We Knock on Wood?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">The Phrase Finder, <a href="http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/knock-on-wood.html">Knock on wood</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Metro News, <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2016/01/12/why-do-we-touch-wood-to-avoid-bad-luck-5617570/">Why do we touch wood to avoid bad luck?</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Touch Wood for Luck, <a href="http://www.touchwoodforluck.com.au/history/">The History & Superstition of "Touch Wood"</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><i>Islam in Everyday Arabic Speech,</i> <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=CZr2RfGB5NcC&pg=PA115&lpg=PA115&dq=knock+wood+arabic&source=bl&ots=-yMNVScM5e&sig=v8VYVHUZQgHreycnCyhmmAbGriY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi8mNWR2qLRAhUn04MKHUvxDKM4ChDoAQggMAE#v=onepage&q=knock%20wood%20arabic&f=false">page 115</a></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-49872559650975887832016-12-12T00:56:00.000-05:002016-12-12T00:58:04.341-05:00Apple #737: An Election Re-Do?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
On Saturday, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/12/10/robert-baer-new-election-russia-hacking-nr.cnn">former CIA operative Robert Baer told CNN</a> that the information he's seen so far about Russian hacking suggests they did interfere in the US Presidential election with the express goal of helping one candidate (Trump) and hindering another (Clinton). He said, "When a foreign country interferes in your election and the outcome is in doubt, . . . I'm not a constitutional lawyer, but . . . I would like to see the evidence, because if the evidence is there, I don't see any other way than to vote again."<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="234" src="http://fave.api.cnn.io/v1/fav/?video=politics/2016/12/10/robert-baer-new-election-russia-hacking-nr.cnn&customer=cnn&edition=domestic&env=prod" width="416"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
So, is this possible? Could the election not really be over? Could we be going through the whole thing all over again?<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>One of the other things Baer said was that "If we [the CIA] had been caught interfering in European elections or Asian elections or anywhere in the world, those countries would call for new elections."</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Since all of this is on an international scale -- Russia involved in US politics, Baer using European or Asian countries as models -- I wondered what international law says about all this.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img height="200" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/538328216729968642/SdfeQXSM.png" width="200" /><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The UN does stipulate in its charter that violent or physical intervention by one country should not be used to sabotage an election in another. The UN went further in 1965, stipulating that “No State has the right to intervene, directly or indirectly, for any
reason whatever, in the internal […] affairs of any other State” and that that every “State has an inalienable right to choose its political,
economic, social and cultural systems without interference in any form
by another State.”</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>What this has meant in practice is that everybody agrees that no foreign country is supposed to go in and physically alter another country's vote or establish some coup to change the results of an election, or kidnap one of the candidates and assassinate them. That is, everybody pays lip service to that. But several countries -- including and especially the US -- have violated that agreement with little or no repercussions.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>This is when the interference is obvious or violent. But when it's more indirect -- distributing fliers with false information to get
citizens to vote a certain way, pouring millions of dollars into the
desired candidate's campaign -- the rules get a lot more vague. Nobody
seems willing to define exactly what constitutes this fuzzier kind of interference and what
doesn't, nor do they seem willing to do much to try to change such
behavior, or to interfere yet again to undo whatever interference
happened. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So there's been a lot of interference by a lot of countries, in spite of those rules. One of the most notorious offenders has been the US. Here is a short list of occasions when the US is known to have interfered with, unseated, or downright overthrown the government in another country (<a href="https://nacla.org/article/electoral-intervention-americas-uneven-and-unanticipated-results">NACLA</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/10/13/the-long-history-of-the-u-s-interfering-with-elections-elsewhere/?utm_term=.527d1428651e">WaPo</a>, <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/07/russia-dnc-hack-donald-trump-foreign-governments-hacking-vietnam-richard-nixon-214111">Politico</a>):</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>1906 US interfered in Cuba's presidential election </li>
<li>1945-1946 US interfered in Argentina's presidential election</li>
<li>1948 US interfered in Italy's presidential election</li>
<li>1953 US interfered in Iran's election for prime minister</li>
<li>1953 US interfered in the Philippine's presidential election </li>
<li>1954 US unseated Guatemala's sitting president </li>
<li>1961 US assassinated the ruler of Congo</li>
<li>1963 US supported a coup against the leader of Vietnam </li>
<li>1973 US supported a coup in Chile that put Pinochet in power </li>
<li>1984 US tried to sabotage Nicaragua's presidential election </li>
<li>2002 US interfered in Bolivia's presidential election</li>
<li>2002 US interfered in Nicaragua's presidential election</li>
<li>2002 US used the IMF to influence Brazil's presidential election </li>
<li>2004 US interfered in El Salvador's presidential election </li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://i.imgsafe.org/febeca287a.jpg" height="275" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">General Pinochet and Henry Kissinger shaking hands after the coup & killing of Chile's president. Pinochet's bloodthirsty head of secret intelligence, <a href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Former-CIA-Asset-Secret-Police-Head-in-Pinochets-Chile-Dead--20150807-0026.html">Manuel Contreras</a>, was a former member of the CIA.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image sourced from <a href="https://steemit.com/life/@steemtruth/henry-kissinger-s-war-crimes-body-count-and-nobel-peace-prize-truth-revealed">Steemit</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>As the US has done such things, so has Russia. One political scientist finds that US and Russia "intervened in 117 elections around the world from 1946 to 2000 — an average of once in every nine competitive elections.”</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So, first of all, it's beyond disingenuous for an ex-CIA guy to act all shocked and say that if we had interfered in another country, they would do their election over again. Um, no.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Also, pretty much the rest of the world is laughing at us for pointing at Russia and shouting, "Hey! They messed with our election!"</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But most Americans could give a rat's toothpick about international politics, or the UN, or what we did in the 1950s. As <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/08/dnc-hack-russia-election/493685/">Jack Goldsmith from Harvard Law</a> put it, this is <i>America </i>this has happened to. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Also, the interference seems different. They used computers. They hacked into our stuff. We've all got phones & computers & everything, so it's like those Russians touched all our stuff. Then they posted whatever dirty laundry they found (was it even that dirty?) about the candidate they didn't like on a site that some people considered to be rogue but maybe necessary. It seems like an invasion, a betrayal, and it's scary. Because if they did that, what else could they do?</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://gdb.voanews.com/8B20542A-3976-4938-B29A-EA9DF698FC2F_cx0_cy10_cw0_w987_r1_s_r1.jpg" height="224" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Screenshot of Fancy Bear website, boasting about having hacked the Olympics' anti-doping agency. No, the Russian government would have no interest whatsoever in the anti-doping agency being undermined.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image sourced from <a href="http://www.voanews.com/a/russian-fancy-bear-hackers-strike-again-leaking-new-confidential-athlete-data/3510143.html">VOA</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Another reason this situation seems new is that it seems possible that "a presidential candidate of one U.S. party, [<a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'15',r'493685'" href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/trump-pleas-for-russia-to-hack-classified-american-information/493244/">Donald Trump</a>],
might be working with—or at least supportive of—a major foreign
adversary’s efforts to covertly damage the rival presidential
candidate.” (again, Jack Goldsmith in the <i><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/08/dnc-hack-russia-election/493685/">Atlantic</a></i>)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In other words, was it at least partially an inside job? By the guy we have just elected president?</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>It may be very difficult to draw a direct and clear line from The Candidate to the Russians. The CIA seems to be having some difficulty drawing the line to the Russian government. They can talk about Fancybear all they want, but was that group operating under orders from Putin or his officials? If the CIA knows, they're not saying so far, perhaps because they don't want to reveal how they came by the information and risk exposing people working covertly in the field.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>If they find it difficult to draw one side of the triangle, it might not be possible to draw the other side, from the Russian government to Trump.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But maybe proving that wouldn't even need to be possible. Would it be enough to say the Russians interfered in our election, and we don't care what the UN or anybody else thinks, we want to have a re-do? Could we do that?</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I suppose we could do anything, if enough of us decided we wanted to. There have been election re-dos before. Here are a few very recent do-overs:</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>August 2016, a judge ordered <a href="http://fox2now.com/2016/08/31/court-case-over-absentee-ballot-fraud-in-st-louis-democratic-primary/">St. Louis to re-do</a> its Democratic primary</li>
<li>May-June 2016, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/panel-recommends-throwing-out-results-of-disputed-vote-in-haiti/">Haiti decided</a> to <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/06/06/haiti-to-redo-both-rounds-disputed-presidential-election.html">re-do its presidential</a> election</li>
<li>July-December 2016, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/austria-gears-post-brexit-election-battle-055554692.html?ref=gs">Austria re-did</a> its <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-austria-election-idUSKBN13S0W0">presidential election</a></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul> </ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In all of those situations, the reason for the re-do was because of evidence of some kind of ballot-related fraud, or even the perception of such fraud -- a suspicious increase in the number of absentee ballots, hundreds of thousands of votes untraceable to actual people, tens of thousands of ballots opened too early.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In this case, we don't have such ballot-related evidence. We have a lot of emails, though.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Oh, my word, there is a gigantic joke just sitting there.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But seriously, folks, a re-do just isn't very likely. There's no international body that would tell us we had to have one, we probably wouldn't listen to them anyway, and even if some internal group like the <a href="https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/u-s-election-assistance-commission">Election Assistance Commission</a> or perhaps some <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/federal-election-reform-congressional-committees">Senate committee on elections</a> recommended a re-do, the people who are in charge of things -- <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/29/opinions/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-illegal-electoral-interference-ariel-dorfman/">Congress</a> -- have to vote for a re-do. And we all know how Congress can hardly ever agree on anything, especially if what's at stake benefits one party over the other.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>And the problem we're talking about is that fuzzy kind of interference. What happened wasn't a direct kidnapping or coup, and it wasn't even like the Russians stole a bunch of ballots or changed them. As UC-Irvine Law professor Rick Hasen put it, “It is very rare for courts to declare a revote, and these do not look
like the circumstances where courts would declare one<i></i>. I have never seen anyone try to redo an election based upon the release of information which influenced voters.” (<a href="http://lawnewz.com/video/sorry-but-alleged-russian-influence-in-presidential-election-wont-lead-to-a-do-over/">LawNewz</a>)</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But even if the snowball's chance happened and Congress decided on a re-do, logistically, how could that even happen? It takes county boards of elections <a href="http://www.sampsonnc.com/document_center/Elections/Important%20Dates-2016%20Election%20Schedule%20%28new%29.docx.pdf">about 2 months</a> to <a href="http://www.votewayne.org/news/video-planning-election">100 days to prepare</a>
for an election, and that's when they have a lot of advance notice when
one is coming. How would we round up all the voting machines and poll
workers and everybody else in time to have a re-do vote before January
20?</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://images.indianexpress.com/2016/11/haiti-elections_759.jpg" height="222" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">It took Haiti more than a year to re-do the election that was declared to be fraudulent.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(AP Photo by Ricardo Arduengo, from <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-news/haiti-presidential-election-redo-goes-well-long-vote-count-begins-4386878/">Indian Express</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So, for all these reasons and more, I think that Robert Baer guy was full of it. He's generally regarded as knowing his stuff when it comes to CIA matters. But in this instance, I think he's off the mark. My suggestion is don't count on a re-do. Focus your energies elsewhere.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/12/10/robert-baer-new-election-russia-hacking-nr.cnn">CNN</a> Robert Baer's remarks </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://lawnewz.com/video/sorry-but-alleged-russian-influence-in-presidential-election-wont-lead-to-a-do-over/">LawNewz</a>'s opinion on Robert Baer's remarks</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.mjilonline.org/russian-hacking-and-the-u-s-election-against-international-law/">Michigan Journal of International Law</a>, Review of UN laws on foreign interference in elections </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.foreignpolicyi.org/content/fpi-conference-call-russian-interference-foreign-elections">Foreign Policy Initiative</a>, discussion on Russian interference in foreign elections </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/08/dnc-hack-russia-election/493685/">Atlantic</a>, opinion on Russian interference, w remarks by Goldsmith</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/12/09/what-happens-if-russia-did-interfere-in-our-election/?utm_term=.260545dcd8f2">Washington Post</a>, opinion on Russian interference, w/ remarks by Tokaji & Lewis</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://nacla.org/article/electoral-intervention-americas-uneven-and-unanticipated-results">NACLA</a>, history of US interference in foreign elections </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/07/russia-dnc-hack-donald-trump-foreign-governments-hacking-vietnam-richard-nixon-214111">Politico</a>, history of US interference in foreign elections</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/10/13/the-long-history-of-the-u-s-interfering-with-elections-elsewhere/?utm_term=.527d1428651e">Washington Post</a>, history of Us interference in foreign elections</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://fox2now.com/2016/08/31/court-case-over-absentee-ballot-fraud-in-st-louis-democratic-primary/">Fox2Now</a>, St. Louis election fraud</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://fox2now.com/2016/09/02/judge-orders-new-election-for-st-louis-state-representative-race/">Fox2Now</a>, St. Louis election fraud part 2</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/panel-recommends-throwing-out-results-of-disputed-vote-in-haiti/">CBSNews</a>, Haiti election re-do</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/06/06/haiti-to-redo-both-rounds-disputed-presidential-election.html">FoxNewsWorld</a>, Haiti election re-do part 2</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/austria-gears-post-brexit-election-battle-055554692.html?ref=gs">AFP via Yahoo News</a>, Austrian election re-do</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-austria-election-idUSKBN13S0W0">Reuters</a>, Austrian election re-do part 2</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.sampsonnc.com/document_center/Elections/Important%20Dates-2016%20Election%20Schedule%20%28new%29.docx.pdf">Sampson County, NC, Board of Elections</a>, timetable for election preparation</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.votewayne.org/news/video-planning-election">Wayne County, Ohio, Board of Elections</a>, video on planning for an election</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-3395059054414828232016-12-04T18:13:00.002-05:002016-12-04T18:13:54.417-05:00Apple #736: Cabinet Appointments<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
With all the news about Trump's picks for this or that cabinet position, and particularly about the response to his choice of <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/14/politics/white-nationalists-on-bannon/">white supremacist Steve Bannon</a> as his official strategist, I realized I had no idea how this cabinet appointment process works. Lots of people are sending their opinions about Bannon to members of Congress and to Trump himself, but I've been thinking, if these are appointments, what's Congress got to do with it? Can't Trump just do whatever the heck he wants? Another politician might listen to people sending reams of letters and postcards to his mailbox, but I doubt Trump would.<br />
<br />
So, first, how does the Cabinet appointment process work, and second, if you seriously object to a particular appointee, what can you realistically and effectively do about it?<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img height="226" src="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/images/Administration/People/Cabinet_800x452.jpg" width="400" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">President Obama's Cabinet attending a meeting in the White House Cabinet room.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo from the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/cabinet">White House</a>)</span></div>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
The Few Basic Rules of Appointments</h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li> As with <a href="http://dailyapple.blogspot.com/2016/02/apple-727-supreme-court-justice.html">Supreme Court Justice nominations</a>, there aren't many official rules that govern the process, and the rules that do exist are rather vague and unhelpful.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li> The same rule that says the President nominates a Supreme Court Justice "with the advice and consent of the Senate" also governs cabinet appointments. <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleii">The president picks 'em and the Senate OKs 'em.</a></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Another rule also applies to cabinet positions, and that is a law that was created in 1967 to guard against nepotism in the cabinet. Some people say the law was passed because LBJ didn't like it that JFK made his brother, Bobby, Attorney General. Others say it was created because the office of the Postmaster was staffed with all sorts of cabinet officials' wives.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/3110">This 1967 law says</a> any public official may not appoint a relative to any civilian position in a department which the official oversees. So, if you're president, you oversee any cabinet position, so all of those are off-limits.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But it contains a second provision which says that if the official appoints a relative anyway, in spite of this rule, then that relative cannot be paid. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>(Presumably Bobby Kennedy & those pesky wives were already in those positions so they said let's just take them off the payroll.)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The upshot of this law is that, theoretically, Trump could appoint all of his children to cabinet positions, and if the Senate said OK, they could hold those positions but not draw a salary.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RZ1dhHEBbw8/WESbnaMNC1I/AAAAAAAABz0/Eo-i7vjWMKAejgUT-UIFOv3AFolf1wjmQCLcB/s1600/djt_family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RZ1dhHEBbw8/WESbnaMNC1I/AAAAAAAABz0/Eo-i7vjWMKAejgUT-UIFOv3AFolf1wjmQCLcB/s320/djt_family.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Slightly edited photo of the Trump children & their spouses, and Melania.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I think Barron would probably not be confirmed as a Cabinet appointee.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(original at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/meet-donald-trumps-five-children-2015-7">Business Insider)</a></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Other than these two laws, the President can pretty much appoint as he or she sees fit. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Most Executive Branch Appointments Are President-Appointed Only </h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>There's an exception to the Senate-approval requirement, and that is, in general, if the cabinet position is part of the executive branch, or part of the White House, the Senate has no say. Those are all straight-up presidential appointments.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>Some executive branch positions do require Senate approval, such as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the US Trade Representative, the Director of Science & Tech Policy (vacant as of 2012), the Chair of Environmental Quality, etc. But the vast majority are Presidential appointments, and many are even career appointments.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But all of this means that the Senate has no say whatsoever over who the President chooses to be White House Chief of Staff, or Strategic Advisor, or almost any other White House office position.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Which further means that however many e-mails or phone calls or postcards that you may have made or sent to your Senator saying how objectionable you find Steve Bannon's appointment to the White House, your Senator can't really take any action. You may feel better having registered your opinion with some government official, and doing something to get your opinion heard may be better than keeping silent. Just don't expect your Senator to be able to take any particular action on this point.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Why not? Separation of powers, is what it comes down to. One branch of government can't dictate to another everything it can & can't do. One of the cornerstones of how our country works.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="http://www.rightsofthepeople.com/education/government_for_kids/images/icons/branches.jpg" height="252" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Diagram from <a href="http://www.rightsofthepeople.com/education/government_for_kids/3-5/government/branches.php">Ben's Guide to U.S. Government</a>)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Many Cabinet Positions are President-Appointed, Senate-Approved </h3>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But there are many cabinet positions that do depend on Senate approval for confirmation. Some of those positions include pretty much any office with the word "Secretary" at the start of it. There are scads of presidential appointed-senate approved positions. Here is a very incomplete list of some of them:</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>Secretary of Agriculture</li>
<li>Secretary of Commerce (vacant as of 2012)</li>
<li>Director of the Census Bureau</li>
<li>Under Secretary of Commerce for NOAA</li>
<li>Secretary of Defense</li>
<li>Secretary of Education</li>
<li>Secretary of Energy </li>
<li>Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (vacant as of 2012) </li>
<li>Chief Financial Officer for the Dept of Energy (vacant as of 2012)</li>
<li>Secretary of Health & Human Services</li>
<li>General Counsel to most governmental departments</li>
<li>etc.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img height="332" src="https://staffweb.psdschools.org/bkatz/OM11/Gov/GovU3/cabinet.gif" width="400" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The big-name cabinet positions</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Image from <a href="https://staffweb.psdschools.org/bkatz/OM11/Gov/GovU3/mobile_pages/GovU312.html">Poudre School District</a>) </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<ul>
<li>There are over 2,000 upper-level positions Cabinet departments and agencies in the federal government. I'm not sure what percentage of those positions are ones that Trump is supposed to fill, whether or not the Senate approves them, but I would guess maybe 20%?</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>If you want to see a complete list of all US Government positions along with an indication of whether it's a presidential appointee or a senate-approved position and what the pay grade is, check out this ginormous list of positions, better-known as the <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-PLUMBOOK-2012/pdf/GPO-PLUMBOOK-2012.pdf">Plum Book (last updated 2012)</a>.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>For those positions that require Senate approval, the nominee first of all has to fill out 4 sets of rather exhaustive background paperwork, and one of those sets gets passed to the Senate.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The Senate parcels the nominations out to those committees that have jurisdiction over the agency in question. For example, the nominee for Secretary of Education gets referred to the Senate Committee on Education. That committee reviews the nomination and may or may not choose to hold hearings to discuss the nominee's qualifications or anything else about the potential appointment.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>This process of reviewing the nominee by the relevant committee is a de facto way of ensuring that the nominee is qualified for the position for which they're being considered. There is no actual rule in place that says the nominee needs to have any experience whatsoever related to their position. But up to now, that's just what Presidents did. Until the forthcoming administration, Presidents typically nominated people who did have experience, because they didn't want to waste everyone's time by nominating someone who didn't know what the heck they were supposed to be in charge of.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>Even if an unqualified nominee were proposed, the Senate committee could recommend that the nominee not be approved based on lack of qualification, but there is no agreed-upon standard of qualification. Some Senators might think that a person who was involved in supporting charter schools but had no involvement in public schools whatsoever is qualified to lead the US Department of Education, and there would be little hard & fast basis on which to object to this opinion.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>If the nominee passes the approval of the committee, the nominee's appointment is put on the general Senate calendar, and the nominee is considered by the Senate in general at that time, and then voted on.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The record of the votes is of course duly recorded in the <i>Congressional Record,</i> and the President is also notified of the results of the votes.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>It used to be that it took 60 yea votes for a nominee to be confirmed. But in 2013, the Democrats voted on and passed the "nuclear option" which changed the rules so that only a simple majority of the Senate was required to confirm a nomination.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>Republicans warned Democrats when they were discussing this bill that they might not like it so much when they no longer had a majority in the Senate, but Democrats insisted on it, saying there was no other way to get around Republican obstructionism. Harry Reid, who proposed the bill, said he still stands by it and that the voting record will show which Senators support which candidates, however unfit they might be, and the voting public will hold them accountable for that. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So if you really want to object to a particular cabinet appointment that requires Senate approval, methinks you'd better contact <a href="http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?OrderBy=party&Sort=ASC">Republican Senators (scroll down)</a>, especially if you are a constituent of one of theirs. Telling a Democratic Senator of your objections might be somewhat important, but you'd probably be preaching to the choir. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img sc="http://4694-presscdn-0-85.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/201311140025.jpg" /> </div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><img src="http://4694-presscdn-0-85.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/201311140025.jpg" height="266" width="400" /> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">This is what Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's confirmation hearing looked like. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo by <a href="http://www.petemarovichimages.com/2013/11/14/janet-yellen-faces-senate-confirmation-hearing/">Pete Marovich at Bloomberg</a>)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
It All Takes a Long Time </h3>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A wrinkle in all of this is bureaucracy. The business of filling appointed positions is tedious, protracted, inefficient, and it takes forever besides. (Yes, I'm being redundant. I'm demonstrating the facts with my language.)</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The appointee process is such a problem, there is a project called the <a href="http://www.politicalappointeeproject.org/reforming-the-appointment-process.html">Political Appointee Project</a> whose sole purpose is to review the system, track its inefficiencies, and try to recommend improvements. At least 6 independent research groups have conducted numerous studies of the process and issued reports and bulletins highlighting the problems and recommending ways to change and improve the system. Unfortunately, very few of their recommendations have been implemented.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>One of those problems I've obliquely referred to earlier. When someone is nominated for a position, that person has to fill out 4 exhaustive questionnaires: </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/public-forms/oge278">Complex, detailed record of their finances</a> (gee, ya think we could require this much of a Presidential candidate, if we're going to require it of a Cabinet appointee?)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>National security clearance questionnaire</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>Personal data statement to be used by the White House</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>Separate background questionnaire for the Senate's review </li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>It took an act of Congress -- literally -- to revise these forms so people didn't have to provide their name & address & birthdate etc. on each of the 4 forms, but that that information would be asked for only once and it could be shared among all the parties who need it. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In addition to the 4 forms, each nominee is investigated by the FBI to determine if they have any skeletons in their closet. Perhaps you have some potential lawsuit-worthy deeds in your background, or maybe you have an addiction, or maybe you have some blackmailable offense that somebody could use against you, or "Do you belong to a club that excludes women or minorities?" (Hmm)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>If the FBI turns up something problematic that you should have indicated on your national security clearance questionnaire, you could be found guilty of committing a felony and fined up to $10,000, or sentenced to up to 5 years in prison, or both.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>Has anyone asked Trump to complete the National security clearance questionnaire, especially with respect to his <a href="http://www.snopes.com/trump-server-tied-to-russian-bank/">dealings with Russia</a>?</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>With all these forms that have to be reviewed, and background checks conducted, with this department and that agency and that office needing to review and rubber-stamp all the materials, the process takes a really freakin' long time.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Because of this bureaucracy, according to <a href="http://www.politicalappointeeproject.org/the-federal-appointments-process-the-problem-and-our-proposed-solutions.html">findings by the Aspen Institute</a>, on average in recent administrations, only about 1/3 of the most vital leadership roles in the government were filled within the first 100 days of a new administration (by May 1).</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Even if a Departmental Director is installed relatively quickly, they can't do much without a senior staff, and many of those positions remain unfilled for a really long time after the start of a new administration. For example, of the 35 most important appointees responsible for national security there are on average only about 9 in office by May 1.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img height="329" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/US_Department_of_Justice_Organizational_Chart.png" width="400" /> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">For example, nearly every office shown here in the Dept of Justice is a Presidential-Appoint, Senate-Approve position. But there are boatloads more that aren't shown here that also require Presidential appointment/Senate approval, including but not limited to the US Attorneys for each state, and many states have more than one. The US Atty for Northern Illinois, Obama's home region, is vacant as of 2012.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Diagram from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice">Wikipedia</a>)</span></div>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The <a href="http://www.politicalappointeeproject.org/the-federal-appointments-process-the-problem-and-our-proposed-solutions.html">Aspen Institute recommends</a> that Presidential candidates begin preparing appointees well before the election, so that if they win, they have a team ready and installed as quickly as possible. Obama and McCain both started these preparations very early, while they were still candidates. As a result, "The Obama administration was able to nominate and have confirmed
more appointees in the first 100 days than any other President in recent
times."</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Even so, several positions remain vacant, even as late as 2012. Even for the guy who is uber-prepared and efficient, understands how government works and tries to choose people who will get approved, it's still really difficult to fill all the necessary positions.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Trump, on the other hand, is woefully unprepared. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-obama-meeting-2016-11">It was news to him that he had to appoint people to work for him in the White House</a>. Chris Christie was on the ball when he signed the memorandum of understanding that would allow the Obama administration to share sensitive information with the Trump transition team, but when Ivanka's husband sacked Christie because he prosecuted his father & put him in jail, that rendered the MOA obsolete, and it took a couple weeks before Pence signed a new form (see <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/16/us/politics/trump-transition.html?_r=0">NYT</a>).</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So Trump is already behind schedule. Which means even if he does get his major positions figured out somewhat soon, he will still need to get tons of people hired who will actually do the work for his Secretaries of Education and Defense and Commerce, etc. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Which means it might take a while for more of the wheels to start falling off. And maybe those of us who are not in favor of unqualified, racist, misogynist people being put in positions of power might be able to find local, small-government ways of keeping them from instituting policies that make American more mean than it has already become in such a short time. <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/all-resistance-is-local-a-plan-of-progressive-action-for-the-trump-years/">Here are some general and somewhat vague thoughts on local-government action</a>.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
So, even knowing more about how this whole process work, I don't have many specific recommendations for actions to take that can have real effects. I guess my general suggestion is, be vocal but also be local. Here are some resources:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Contact info for your governor: <a href="https://www.usa.gov/state-governor">https://www.usa.gov/state-governor</a> </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Contact info for agencies that affect you, and their particular offices in your state: <a href="https://www.usa.gov/contact-by-topic">https://www.usa.gov/contact-by-topic</a> </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://oversight.house.gov/subcommittee/full-committee/">Members of the HR Committee on Oversight & Government Reform</a>, charged with determining whether the President has any conflicts of interest and requiring resolution of any such conflicts, and use this <a href="http://www.house.gov/representatives/">Directory of Representatives</a> to find contact info for anyone you'd like to reach.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Georgetown Law Library, <a href="http://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/executivenominationprocess">Executive Nomination Process Guide</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/11/25/there-are-three-rules-of-cabinet-appointments-will-donald-trump-break-them/?utm_term=.0f6a951d53bb">[The Plum Book, or] United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions</a>, 12-1-2012 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Washington Post, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/11/25/there-are-three-rules-of-cabinet-appointments-will-donald-trump-break-them/?utm_term=.0f6a951d53bb">There are three [unwritten] rules of Cabinet appointments. Will Donald Trump break them?</a> 11-25-2016</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Washington Post, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/11/18/president-trumps-cabinet-picks-are-likely-to-be-easily-confirmed-thats-because-of-senate-democrats/?utm_term=.11897fd2a023">President Trump’s Cabinet picks are likely to be easily confirmed. That’s because of Senate Democrats.</a> 11-18-2016 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.napawash.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/SurvivorsGuide2013.pdf">A Survivor's Guide to Presidential Nominees</a>, 2013 edition</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.politicalappointeeproject.org/reforming-the-appointment-process.html">The Political Appointee Project</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Aspen Institute, <a href="http://www.politicalappointeeproject.org/the-federal-appointments-process-the-problem-and-our-proposed-solutions.html">The Federal Appointments Process: The Problem and Our Proposed Solutions</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Quora, <a href="https://www.quora.com/Which-laws-been-enacted-to-prevent-family-members-of-a-president-from-serving-in-his-cabinet">Which laws been enacted to prevent family members of a president from serving in his cabinet?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Huffington Report, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-cabinet_us_5824c2b2e4b05cf6a6435663">No, Donald Trump Can’t Appoint His Kids To His Cabinet</a> [actually, he can], 11-10-2016</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Business Insider, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-obama-meeting-2016-11">Report: Trump was unfamiliar with the scope of the president's job when meeting Obama</a>, 11-13-2016</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The New York Times, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/16/us/politics/trump-transition.html?_r=0">Firings and Discord Put Trump Transition Team in a State of Disarray,</a> 11-15-2016</span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-31327067839086028472016-08-23T02:16:00.000-04:002016-08-23T02:16:08.183-04:00Apple #735: Truck Weigh Stations<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have had a request! Daily Apple reader Jamal and his friend Monique wanted to know how trucking weigh stations work. That seemed like a pretty simple question, but when I conversed some more with Jamal, it turned out that he and Monique were wondering, what is to prevent some truck from driving a ton of explosives into some city and blowing it up, as happened in Nice. They were wondering if those truck weigh stations, by virtue of how they work, would catch something like that.<br />
<br />
The second part of this question turned out to be really hard to figure out.<br />
<br />
In pursuit of the answer, I have read a ton of truck-driving websites, training manuals, and chat rooms. I've learned a fair bit about truck driving, a whole lot about truckers' antipathy for the police, the complicated and sometimes adversarial relationship they have with the companies for whom they drive, and I've read more than a few trucker tales (they weren't as good as I was hoping for, or I'd have shared some). I'll try to distill what I've learned into some usable bites for you to nibble on. Hopefully by the end of this, we'll have arrived at or close to the answer Jamal and Monique were seeking.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://blog.lantech.com/hubfs/Weigh_Station.png?t=1470318836835" height="306" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Trucks lining up to get weighed at a weigh station.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://blog.lantech.com/blog/4-things-you-need-to-know-about-overweight-trucks">The Lantech Blog</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
What Weigh Stations Are For</h3>
I thought I knew how these things work, just from having seen them in action as I drove past. I was wrong.<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Originally the weigh stations were constructed to make sure that commercial trucks of 26,000 lbs & above were paying their required fuel taxes. The weigh stations were built to weigh the trucks to make sure that people weren't trying to dodge those taxes even though their trucks might weight more than 26,000 lbs.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Now, fuel taxes are collected quarterly, so the primary purpose of the weigh stations is to make sure the trucks are not exceeding unsafe weight limits. </li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Each of the 3 axles of a commercial interstate truck has a weight limit, as does the total truck: </li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Steer axle -- front tires on the truck -- < 12,000 lbs </li>
<li>Drive axle -- back tires on the truck, beneath the front of the trailer -- < 34,000 lbs</li>
<li>Trailer axle -- tires beneath the back of the trailer -- < 34,000 lbs</li>
<li>Gross vehicle weight -- truck, trailer, all cargo -- < 80,000 lbs (sum of the 3 axles)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Some of those weights vary in different states, but those are generally correct for most states. If your total weight exceeds 80,000 lbs, you need to get a special permit which costs money and which takes a lot of time, which can be expensive in its own way.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>From what I've gathered, these weight limits are in place to protect the safety of other vehicles (more weight = more devastation in a crash) but mainly to keep the roads from getting driven deeper into the ground.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>These rules about axle weight result in the drivers having to be obsessed not just about how much weight they're carrying, but about how it's distributed over the axles. You can't just shove all 950 crates of potatoes in the truck and take off; you have to make sure it's distributed throughout the trailer so that none of the axles exceeds its weight limit -- and it also has to be secured so it won't slide around while you're driving. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Weighing a Truck </h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>If one of your axles comes in over weight, you might think that all you need to do is to re-balance the load, but you have to take into account the weight of the fuel, your weight personally when you're in the cab, the weight of the tires themselves, etc. Sometimes the guy who loaded your crates of potatoes with the forklift has gone off to help someone else, so you've got to figure out a different solution. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>One trick is to use what's called the tandem sliders to change the position of the trailer axle (farthest-back tires) beneath the trailer. Moving the trailer axle closer to the front means it takes weight off the drive axle and more weight onto itself. Moving it farther back means more of the weight falls on the drive axle.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://somanymiles.wordpress.com/2014/07/30/scales-and-weigh-stations/">One trucker, Robin Grapa, describes</a> having re-balanced her load and having shifted the trailer axle and she still can't get the load to come in under weight on all axles:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I need to move the [trailer tires] back – but just a little bit. It takes me a
couple of tries, and I find that I’m stuck between two positions. On
one, the drives are over, on the other it’s the trailer.
Adam and I discuss options. We’re SO close. Maybe a DOT officer won’t
care about 100 pounds. But maybe he will. That’s a violation and a
fine. Both our record and our company’s record gets a ding for it. I
don’t want to take the chance. We joke that Adam could lay across the
dash when we go through weight stations. We figure we can leave our fuel
below 3/4 of a tank to help. </blockquote>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The fine for being over weight limits starts at $300 and goes up, plus you get a citation on your commercial driving record, which can make it more difficult to get a job with another company. They're not sure they want to take the risk, so they decide to check their weights on certified scales, or CAT scales. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<img height="400" src="https://somanymiles.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/wpid-img_20140731_152403.jpg?w=1117" width="255" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Certified CAT scale, typically available at larger truck stops. Costs $10 to weigh your truck. Drive up, park, go tell the scale operator your trailer number, then get your weight ticket.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="https://somanymiles.wordpress.com/2014/07/30/scales-and-weigh-stations/">Somanymiles</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Most shippers have their own scales on site, but they're not certified to be accurate so they can be a little off. If you want an official, totally reliable weight, you can drive your truck to a certified CAT scale. If your truck comes in with a different weight at a weigh station and you get hit with a fine, CAT will pay the fine.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>CAT scales are at larger truck stops, and you do have to drive your loaded truck to get to one, so you have to hope there's one close to where you are, and especially for there not to be a weigh station in between you and the CAT scale.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Our trucker Robin took her truck to the CAT scale, paid the $10 to use it, and the weights came in just under.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The time it took to shift the cargo, re-balance the axles, weigh, re-balance, weigh again etc. until getting to an acceptable weight: 8 hours.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The CAT scales give you an official ticket, showing the weight of the 3 axles and the gross weight. You have to have this with you in your truck in case you get stopped, either by a DOT officer or by a state police officer or by local police. More on this ticket in a bit.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<img height="400" src="https://somanymiles.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/wpid-img_20140728_190407.jpg?w=2000" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Ticket from a CAT scale showing the 3 axle weights and gross truck weight. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="https://somanymiles.wordpress.com/2014/07/30/scales-and-weigh-stations/">Somanymiles</a>) </span></div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Types of Weigh Stations and What Happens There</h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>You've seen weigh stations along the highways a million times. There's an exit ramp with a weigh station sign that says open or closed. When it's open, the trucks have to pull off the road onto the ramp, drive slowly in front of the little house-like thing that is the station, something mysterious happens, then they drive slowly away. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Sometimes the stations get really backed up with waiting trucks, sometimes only a few are being weighed and other trucks are passing by, and sometimes the thing isn't even open.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<img height="237" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fhQawm9cBXw/U-scxKNNdNI/AAAAAAAAGko/K58RpAV1o0Q/s400/IRD_WeighStationChile.jpg" width="400" /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Weigh station in use</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.weighingreview.com/2014/08/ird-awarded-34-million-automated-truck.html">Weighing Review</a>) </span></div>
<div>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Different weigh stations work differently. The old-school kind weigh one axle at a time. These are time-consuming, since you have to drive one axle onto the scale, get that weighed, inch forward so the second axle is on the scale, get that weighed, then pull farther forward to get the final axle weighed, and then all 3 are added together.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Other weigh stations are "one-stop" scales, meaning you pull your entire truck onto the scale and it takes all the weights at once. You do still have to come to a complete stop, though.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A newer method which is becoming more common is the "weigh-in-motion" scale or WIM. With these, you drive slowly over the scale but you don't have to stop. Some stations don't even require the trucks to pull off the road; the scales are installed beneath the highway so the trucks can drive over them at speed, and the scales record the weight.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Another new technology allows trucks to bypass the weigh stations. They work like the E-Z Pass that you buy to let you go through toll stations because you've already paid ahead of time.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>First there's a thing with sensors in it that hangs out over the road and scans the vehicles going under it. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="https://jodiandmike.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/ez-pass-detector1.jpg?w=300&h=225" /></div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
<img src="https://jodiandmike.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/ez-pass.jpg?w=300&h=225" /><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<span style="font-size: 80%;">EZ-Pass system used to tell truckers whether or not to pull over & get weighed. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photos from <a href="https://jodiandmike.wordpress.com/2012/11/03/how-do-you-go-through-a-weigh-station/">Baby & Honey Bear</a>) </span></div>
<div>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Then there's the part in the vehicle, in this case, a transponder. If you've got a transponder in your truck, the sensor arm thing will communicate to the transponder. If it flashes green, you don't have to stop. If it flashes red, you do. If you blow past the weigh station even though your thing flashed green, the DOT cruiser will come after you and pull you over and the officer will not be happy.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>If you do have to stop to get your truck weighed, yours can be one of the lucky trucks that is randomly or not-so-randomly told to pull over for an inspection. If this happens, you will let loose a stream of curse words, and then try to put on as polite a face as possible when the officer begins speaking to you.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The list of things for which your truck may be in violation is very long. I'm sure I haven't uncovered even half the things that could get you flagged for an inspection. But here are some of them:</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Improper placarding of cargo -- if you've got hazardous stuff on board, you have to have a placard displaying such</li>
<li>Equipment is in disrepair -- could be anything from a bad ball bearing to missing reflective tape to rust or chipped paint. This could be your company's fault, as they may not keep up with maintenance as they should and they require you to drive a truck in bad shape. Too bad for you; you'll be on the hook for the fine.</li>
<li>Not having a spare tire in the rack beneath the trailer </li>
<li>Unsecured tandem sliders -- this is legitimately dangerous</li>
<li>Evidence of erratic or improper driving -- pretty much the same sorts of things that get cars pulled over: seat belt not on, speeding, improper lane changes, failure to signal, etc.</li>
<li>Signs of possible impairment due to drugs or alcohol </li>
<li>Something about you looks funny</li>
<li>You're hauling something the officer wants -- one officer told a guy that, the next time he came through the weigh station, have one of those honey-baked hams he was hauling on the front seat. He did, the officer took the ham, and the trucker didn't get a fine.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Once you've been told you're getting inspected, the officer will ask you for all sorts of documentation that you'd better have handy. Most truckers have a binder that contains all the official documents they need. Those documents may include</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Commercial driver's license</li>
<li>Cab card -- you are licensed to drive this particular cab</li>
<li>Proof of insurance</li>
<li>International Fuel Tax Association license (IFTA) -- proof that your company is paying those fuel taxes</li>
<li>Scale ticket -- remember the ticket you got from the CAT scales? That thing.</li>
<li>Bill of lading -- record describing the cargo the truck is hauling, where it was loaded, and its final destination</li>
<li>Medical certification -- this is for truckers hauling greater weights or hazardous cargo; proves that you don't have seizures or aren't going to have a heart attack any moment, that sort of thing</li>
<li>Log book -- where you record who the shipper is, what time you left, if you stopped, where & when, etc. All your movements. You can't have driven for more than 11 hours at a time; you are required to stop and rest so you don't get fatigued and increase your risk of accidents. If your company has an electronic log, they recommend you keep a duplicate paper log too.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.iowadot.gov/mvd/images/iftaCabCardSample.gif" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Sample IFTA license, showing where you're allowed to drive your truck because your company has paid fuel taxes in those locations.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image from <a href="http://www.iowadot.gov/mvd/motorcarriers/ifta/license.htm">Iowa DOT</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<img height="251" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Truck_driver_log_book_(example).JPG" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Sample log record showing what the truck driver did when while hauling this load. You're not allowed to exceed 11 hours' driving time so you don't wind up too tired to drive safely.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hours_of_service">Wikipedia</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>If anything about any of these documents looks funny, you could get a fine. If the weights come in too high, you could get a fine. If the truck has a rust spot and the officer picks at it and finds there's a greater problem going on, you could get a fine. If you look cross-eyed at the officer, you could get a fine. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The fines are not small. They can be $2,000 or more. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>From what I've gathered, it's usually the driver who has to pay these fines, not the company they drive for. Plus, you get a citation on your CDL record. Too many of those -- and it sounds like it doesn't take many before it's too many -- and your company could decide you're too much of a risk and give you the boot. Not only does that put you out of a job, but you might also have a hard time finding somebody else willing to take you on.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>There's also the time issue. The time you're stopped at a weigh station, waiting to get weighed, getting weighed, being pulled over and getting inspected -- all that is lost travel time. It means your cargo might arrive late at its destination if you don't find some way to make up for it. Some janky entitled Target customer like me is going to be ticked off that her vacuum cleaner didn't arrive exactly on time because you got pulled over and inspected for having rust on your back bumper. Janky customer yells at Target, Target yells at the trucking company, trucking company yells at you, and you get fired.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>To hear truckers tell it, the chance of getting inspected is a total crapshoot, but if it happens, chances are that it won't be good. Truck drivers hate being inspected, hate being told essentially that they're doing their job wrong, hate the time it takes, hate even risking getting inspected. So a lot of truckers will do what they can to avoid weigh stations.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Avoiding Weigh Stations </h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Truckers call weigh stations "coops" because they look about as small and not-sturdy as chicken coops. There's a site called coopsareopen.com that tells you all sorts of stuff about the weigh stations in each state -- where they're located, how much the toll roads charge, where the cops lie in wait to look for speeders, etc. If you pay to join, you can find out which weigh stations are open and which aren't, and what route to take if you want to dodge the weigh station entirely.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.coopsareopen.com/images/maps/illinois.gif" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Typical Coopsareopen map, showing the major highways in each state -- this happens to be Illinois -- with red dots indicating the presence of weigh stations. You have to pay extra to find out if they're open or not. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Map from <a href="http://www.coopsareopen.com/illinois-weigh-stations.html">Coopsareopen</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>This is very valuable information because not having to stop or even slow down to get weighed saves you time. Avoiding open weigh stations also dramatically reduces the chances you could get flagged for an inspection.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Some truckers who know they're over weight but can't fix that problem will take another route to avoid weigh stations. If they know their company's equipment is shoddy and won't get it fixed, they'll avoid the weigh stations. A few of them do it just because they hate cops (and yes, some truckers still call the cops "smokey" or "the bear"). </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Avoiding weigh stations is so common in some parts of the country -- there are certain highways in Texas where it's really easy to avoid highway weigh stations by driving on surface bypass roads -- that those communities are trying to figure out how to pass legislation to keep truckers from doing this.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
From the Officer's Point of View </h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>All this is from the trucker's point of view. They're the ones talking online the most about weigh stations and how they work and what to do while you're going through them, etc. The police don't say very much, publicly, about that sort of thing. So there's some guesswork about what they're thinking.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But I did find <a href="http://www.policemag.com/channel/patrol/articles/2014/03/stopping-big-rigs.aspx">one page that's written from a police officer's point of view</a>. It tells local police officers not to be intimidated by the "big rigs." It says they can't afford to be afraid to pull over the commercial trucks when necessary because they may be hauling illegal drugs, or smuggling some contraband, or involved in human trafficking.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Especially near the Mexican border, human trafficking can be a real issue, as <a href="http://forums.sandiegouniontribune.com/showthread.php?t=112739">smugglers will pack people looking to get to the US in the back of a locked-up and stifling truck</a>, drive them across the border, and sometimes abandon them without opening the trailer, or dump them somewhere, or do some other nefarious thing.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>It's also happened that trucks that have stopped at rest stops near the border crossing will have smugglers stash narcotics or other illegal stuff on the truck without the drivers' knowledge. Occasionally, smugglers will force drivers to carry stuff for them, on threat of violence.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So, this police site tells officers, when you stop a big rig to inspect it, you may possibly be preventing two crimes, one intentional and one not.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://images.policemag.com/articles/M-WinningEdge0314.jpg" height="280" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">State police cruiser having stopped a semi-truck on the highway.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.policemag.com/channel/patrol/articles/2014/03/stopping-big-rigs.aspx">Police Mag</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The site gets into detail about things to look for, and it lists a pretty wide range of stuff. But ultimately it comes down to one thing: does anything look suspicious? Are there cross-outs on the bill of lading, or hand-written notes on it? Do any of the documents look less than official? Are there any unauthorized passengers? Does anything about the truck itself look less than official?</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>This goal of possibly uncovering truly illegal activity might be the real reason why they're so anal & picky about the placards on the side of the truck, or rust on the bumper, or whatever. They might be thinking, hey, this could be a sign that this trucker's not legit, or the stuff he's hauling is illegal.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The big tip-off, they say, is how the trucker looks and is acting. Here are some tips they describe:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Is the driver nervous? Is he sweating? Is he rubbing the back of his
neck? Did he just urinate on himself when asked what his shipment was?
(It happens.) Several years ago a large cash seizure was made from a tractor-trailer
on Thanksgiving Day. The big rig was being operated by someone who
didn't have a commercial driver license (CDL), and was wearing Bermuda
shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, flip flops, and multiple gold chains. Other
than the big indicator of not having a CDL, the huge indicator was the
fact that the driver did not look, dress, or act like a trucker. Just as
you do when you're out stopping cars for drug interdiction, ask
yourself, does the story match the person?<br />
<br />
Understand that most truckers are hardworking souls just trying to make a
living, but they do commit traffic infractions, and some are involved
in criminal activity. (from <a href="http://www.policemag.com/channel/patrol/articles/2014/03/stopping-big-rigs.aspx">Police Mag</a>) </blockquote>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>This is fairly typical probable cause-type stuff, with exhortations to be on the lookout for any indicators that all is not as it should be.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
But Does It Work?</h3>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So there's no concerted, let's-sweep-all-semis-from-here-to-Chicago-for weapons, but that might violate a constitutional amendment or two, and various other laws about search & seizure. What the police can do is pull over or ask to inspect a truck that has apparently violated some rule or other.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>This doesn't seem like a very reliable way of catching seriously bad stuff. The potential for someone to sneak by without being caught seems pretty great.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>On the other hand, the police have caught criminals on their way to doing some pretty nefarious things, and the criminals did give themselves away. Here are a few examples:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Oct 11, 2015, El Reno, OK -- An Arizona truck driver was pulled over for swerving and weaving while driving. He said he was exhausted from driving all the way to Georgia to help his girlfriend move. So the police suggested he pull over to take a nap. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Then, out of nowhere, Vasconcelos told authorities he wasn't a criminal and they could check his truck if they wanted to."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Deputies figured they'd better take him up on that, so they searched his truck. They found a loaded pistol on the front seat, and a large metal box forced into the mechanism of the engine which contained $3 million worth of heroin. (<a href="http://kfor.com/2015/10/16/man-tells-police-to-search-his-truck-more-than-3-million-worth-of-drugs-recovered/">KFOR News channel 4</a>) </blockquote>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Here's another example:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
June 21, 2016, New York City -- Police pulled over this vehicle as it was about to enter the Holland tunnel because it had a cracked windshield.</blockquote>
<br />
<img height="265" src="https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/160621-holland-tunnel-truck-embed.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=664&h=441&crop=1" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(<a href="http://nypost.com/2016/06/21/3-arrested-with-loaded-guns-body-armor-at-holland-tunnel/">NY Post</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Once pulled over, the officer noticed a pistol on the front seat and asked the driver to exit the vehicle. He discovered that, in addition to the pistol in plain view, the driver had been literally sitting on a loaded .45. Further searching found a cache of weapons including an AR-15 assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, 4 semiautomatic handguns, multiple ammunition clips totaling 2,000 rounds, including one labeled "Merica." </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The driver and his friend traveling with him said they were on their way to a heroin hotel in NYC to rescue his daughter who was hooked on heroin, and any other addict who wanted to be rescued. (<a href="http://nypost.com/2016/06/21/3-arrested-with-loaded-guns-body-armor-at-holland-tunnel/">NY Post</a>) </blockquote>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So, no terrorism connections here, but a pretty obvious indicator that something less than legal might be about to happen.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
The Upshot</h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So there's nothing about the weigh stations that is specifically scanning the cargo of a locked truck to see if it's carrying weapons or explosives or anything like that.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But what does seem to be going on is the DOT officers who operate the stations and the state and local police who patrol the highways are keeping their eyes open for any indicators that there might be something shady in the back of that truck -- and that could be anything from weapons to drugs to people, and in one case, <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/08/state_troopers_pull_over_truck.html">rotten food</a>. Most often, if there's something illegal in the truck, it's drugs.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So the truckers might absolutely hate and despise weigh stations for the way they can wreck their run and possibly their jobs. But it seems we do need somebody keeping an eye on things, for that rare exception when somebody really is doing something terrible and should be stopped.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Bonus material: Here's a trucker story posted on <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1pqs6b/truckers_what_are_your_best_stories_from_years_on/">Reddit</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
My Dad is a truck driver and he likes to tell a story about a Keebler
cookie driver who was getting teased on the CB once: he said that the
other drivers kept asking him questions, like "Do elves really make the
cookies?" And "Are you an elf?" And "How tall are you, anyway?" Dad
says this truck driver let the good natured ribbing go on for a while,
and then he said, in a deep voice, "Listen, I only drive this truck for
the paycheck. I don't ask any questions. I just back the truck up to
the tree, and they fill it."</blockquote>
<br />
<img src="http://www.whitingdoor.com/images/IMG00430-20101014-0923.jpg" height="300" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo posted at <a href="http://www.whitingdoor.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.display&page_id=81">Whiting Door</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
<a href="http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/civil/question626.htm">Howstuffworks: Weigh Stations</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://brokensecrets.com/2010/06/18/what-are-truck-weigh-stations-for/">What Are Truck Weigh Stations For?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://jodiandmike.wordpress.com/2012/11/03/how-do-you-go-through-a-weigh-station/">How Do You Go Through a Weigh Station?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://somanymiles.wordpress.com/2014/07/30/scales-and-weigh-stations/">So Many Miles: Scales and Weigh Stations</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek0wIptbV9Q">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek0wIptbV9Q</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkG4H2ZS_TE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkG4H2ZS_TE</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://accidentlawyersnc.com/truck-accident-news/truckers-avoid-weigh-stations-by-dodging-the-scales/">Truckers Avoid Weigh Statsion by Dodging the Scales</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.coopsareopen.com/">Coops Are Open</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/threads/dodging-scales.44220/">Trucking Industry Forum: Dodging Scales</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.otrprotrucker.com/2013/09/23/trucks-and-drug-smuggling-a-dangerous-combination/">OTR Pro Trucker: Trucks and Drug Smuggling, a Dangerous Combination</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/08/state_troopers_pull_over_truck.html">Cleveland Plain Dealer: State Troopers Pull Over Truckloads of Rotten Food</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://nypost.com/2016/06/21/3-arrested-with-loaded-guns-body-armor-at-holland-tunnel/">NY Post: 3 arrested with loaded guns, body armor at holland tunnel</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.flhsmv.gov/fhp/cve/2013TruckingManual.pdf">Florida Highway Patrol: 2013 Trucking Manual</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.dol.wa.gov/driverslicense/docs/cdlguide.pdf">Washington State Dept of Licensing: Commercial Driver Guide</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=22440">Illinois Standard for Overweight Trucks</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://kfor.com/2015/10/16/man-tells-police-to-search-his-truck-more-than-3-million-worth-of-drugs-recovered/">KFOR: Man Tells Police to Search His Truck, More than $3 Million Woth of Drugs Recovered</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.policemag.com/channel/patrol/articles/2014/03/stopping-big-rigs.aspx">Police Mag: Stopping Big Rigs</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.landlinemag.com/Magazine/2006/May/News/Search-Seizure.aspx">Land Line: "You Don't Mind if I Look Inside Your Truck, Do You?"</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.truckingtruth.com/cdl-training-program/page33">Trucking Truth: Staying Alert and Fit to Drive</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://forums.sandiegouniontribune.com/showthread.php?t=112739">San Diego Tribune Forum: $3.59 Million to Haul Cargo of Illegal Immigrants</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.lifeasatrucker.com/operating-illegally-upon-owners-request.html">Life as a Trucker: Operating Illegally upon Owner's Request</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.lifeasatrucker.com/Crazytruckerstories.html">Life as a Trucker: Crazy Trucker Stories</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2010/november/cargo_111210/cargo_111210">FBI Archives: Inside Cargo Theft</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://hereandnow.legacy.wbur.org/2013/09/26/truckers-contraband-cargo">WBUR Here & Now: Trucking Companies Try to Prevent Contraband Cargo</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.truckingtruth.com/truckers-forum/Topic-1493/Page-1/should-drivers-be-blamed-if-criminals-or-shippers-put-illegal-cargo-in-their-trailers-">Trucking Truth: Should Drivers be Blamed if Criminals of Shippers Put Illegal Cargo in Their Trailers?</a></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-18550495610739043032016-08-01T01:06:00.000-04:002016-08-01T09:35:57.662-04:00Apple #734: To the Bernie or Busters Who Plan to Not Vote<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm breaking from my usual M.O. to deliver what I think is an important public service message.<br />
<br />
To those of you who ardently supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary campaign, kudos to you for turning out, for making your voices heard, to surprising people all around the country with your will to carry on. Now that your candidate did not make the final cut -- and yes, I've seen the reports about the dealings of the DNC; welcome to politics -- many of you are saying, Screw it, this country's politics are rigged, I'm not voting for either of those corporate shills [or insert other insult here], I'm not voting for anybody, I'm staying home.<br />
<br />
My response to you is, really? <i>That's </i>your revolution? The guy who lit the fire in you didn't achieve his first goal, and so now you're giving up? Did you only believe the things he said because it was Bernie who said them, or did you believe the things he said period? Did you agree with him about the need for reform, about the need to do something about the increasing gulf between the 1% and the rest of the country, about campaign finance reform, actually addressing climate change and energy production?<br />
<br />
If did agree with all that, and you're going to stay home and not vote, then it must be you sure change your mind in a hurry, or else you give up way too easily. <br />
<br />
<br />
<img height="266" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/353/19829127853_688bb66ebe_b.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">You showed up for this, how hard could it be to show up at your polling place and cast a ballot?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bkerensa/19829127853">Benjamin Kerensa on Flickr</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
The contest for the President of the United States will not be the only item on your ballot come November. Depending on where you live, there will be races for Senate seats, or House of Representative seats, or representatives in your state government. There may be local initiatives about how your schools are funded, or your libraries, or your police and fire department. By staying home, you are saying none of those things matter.<br />
<br />
If you think those local contests don't matter, pay attention to how you are treated the next time you go to renew your driver's license. The next time you go to your public library. The next time you pick your kid up from school. The next time you turn on the water faucet in your kitchen sink. Then tell me that local politics don't matter.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_large/public/headlines/grossflintwater.jpg?itok=qDsUxei7" height="209" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Water from a faucet in a Flint hospital, October 16 2015.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo by Joyce Zhu, sourced from <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/01/13/epas-hush-hush-response-flint-water-crisis">Common Dreams</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
Maybe you have decided to not vote because you don't want to support a candidate you disagree with. OK, that might sound high and mighty, but in reality, by not voting, you are letting <i>somebody else decide for you.</i> Hasn't Bernie's campaign been all about taking control, using your voice, making sure you're heard? And now you're just going to drop that whole idea because you didn't get your way in this one race this one time? You are going to be the one to silence yourself?<br />
<br />
People fought for centuries for the right to vote. If you are a woman or a minority, those who came before you sure as hell fought two and three and ten times as hard for that right. In some parts of this country, people still have to fight to be allowed to cast a ballot. And you, because your feelings are hurt, are going to <i>stay home?</i><br />
<br />
How would Bernie have become a Senator and gotten the chance to speak up as he did if people had <i>stayed home</i> and not voted for him?<br />
<br />
Maybe your response is, Well, the Democratic machine stole the nomination from Bernie and gave it to Hillary, they just do whatever they want, so what difference does it make how I vote in anything? To that I say, that's sour grapes bullshit. It's true, the machine of politics is not a white-glove business. Scores of TV shows -- House of Cards, Scandal, The Good Wife, etc. -- have been telling us this for years. But another truth about how politics works is that <i>the fewer people involved, the easier it is to mess with it.</i> The more people who vote, the more people who actively participate, ask hard questions, investigate what happens and how it happens, the harder it is for others to get away with crap.<br />
<br />
If you're so convinced that it's all nefarious back-room dealings that are doing you wrong, then you are doing exactly the wrong thing by throwing up your hands and walking away. The best way to respond to double-dealing is to stay in the game and make sure it doesn't happen again. In fact, <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-democrats-suppress-the-vote/">according to this article from the FiveThirtyEight</a>, by showing up to vote in those little elections, or by voting in those smaller down-ballot contests, you might actually be sticking it to the DNC.<br />
<br />
I'm not going to tell you which presidential candidate to vote for. You can vote for your mom if you want to. (Literally, you can vote for your mom.) There are all sorts of arguments people make about how a vote for this candidate is really a vote for that candidate, or my vote is going to be canceled out by this other person's vote--blah blah blah, talk to the hand. The important thing is that you vote. All those Trump supporters turned out and voted, and look what happened. <br />
<br />
You have the right not to vote, of course. That is a choice you can exercise. But keep in mind
that if you don't vote, if you don't participate, then you are
guaranteed to get back exactly what you put in, which is nothing.<br />
<br />
There's a lot of time between now and November, so you've got a lot of time to think. In these coming months, ask yourselves this: was Bernie's revolution about just one man, or was it about something bigger than that?<br />
<br />
If you think it was about something bigger, imagine what change you can bring if you vote for candidates and issues that affect your neighborhood streets, your city schools, your state educational system.<br />
<br />
Maybe you could still have your revolution.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img height="266" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Bernie_Sanders_before_a_crowd_in_Conway,_NH,_on_August_24,_2015_(20876809366).jpg/1280px-Bernie_Sanders_before_a_crowd_in_Conway,_NH,_on_August_24,_2015_(20876809366).jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">See all the people in this photo? They are the reason Bernie got heard for as long and as often as he did. They -- you -- are the people with the power, whether you know it or not.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo from <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bernie_Sanders_before_a_crowd_in_Conway,_NH,_on_August_24,_2015_(20876809366).jpg">Wikimedia</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
This message has been brought to you by the Daily Apple. The Apple Lady is solely responsible for the content of this message.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>See also </i><a href="http://dailyapple.blogspot.com/2008/11/apple-349-voting.html">Voting</a> <br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-20924482931830329842016-07-11T02:20:00.003-04:002016-07-11T02:24:45.752-04:00Apple #733: Zika Bites<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<div>
There's been so much going on in the news lately -- a lot of it distressing. I've been trying to come up with a way to respond to that in the context of the Daily Apple, and I have obviously failed. I'm not sure how I can give some sort of positive message in response to all these people being shot for various reasons, without sounding all Polyanna-ish, and without saying something you haven't already seen 9,000 times elsewhere. Just know that your Apple Lady is cogitating on all these events and looking for some way to be helpful.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, I know one thing I can do that is useful, and that is to find out about Zika mosquito bites. (I am cringing even as I type this, knowing that people are dying from horrific gunshot wounds and here I am talking about mosquito bites. But it's all I've got at the moment, and I have to remind myself that it is more important to contribute something than to do nothing.)<br />
<br />
So, my question is, <u>when you've been bitten by a mosquito, can you tell if you've gotten a Zika bite?</u><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<img height="266" src="https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OcSrQpp3jzcQ6OAGvxoOoSmhq5A=/1x0:696x463/1280x854/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48773447/Wikimedia_Commons_Aedes_aegypti_mosquito.0.0.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 80%;">The <i>Aedes aegypti</i> is the primary vector -- thing that transmits -- the Zika virus. Only the females sting, so it seems that we're safe from over half the total population of mosquitoes. The trouble is, the <i>Aedes aegypti</i> are extremely common in all sorts of places around the world.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from Wikimedia Commons via <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/2/10/10955222/zika-virus-americas-outbreak-causes-dengue-west-nile">The Verge</a>)</span></span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>No. Bites from a mosquito infected with the Zika virus look and act the same as bites from any other mosquito.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>You might suspect you've got the Zika if you've got a mosquito bite and you also have</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>a low fever, less than 102 degrees</li>
<li>itchy pink rash</li>
<li>bloodshot eyes resembling pink eye</li>
<li>sensitivity to light</li>
<li>headaches</li>
<li>joint pains </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<img height="400" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Zika.Virus.Rash.Arm.2014.jpg/800px-Zika.Virus.Rash.Arm.2014.jpg" width="299" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 80%;">This is what the rash from Zika looks like.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zika_virus">Wikipedia</a>) </span></span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But those symptoms can seem like something else, or there may be only a few present, or you may have been bitten by a Zika mosquito and you could have no symptoms of the virus at all. In fact, 4 of 5 people who've been bitten by a Zika mosquito do not show any symptoms.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The only way to know for sure if you've gotten a Zika bite is to have a blood or urine sample tested within two weeks. But if you have no symptoms, you have no reason to think you'd need a test done, so you may never know if you've gotten a Zika bite.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
WHY SHOULD I CARE?</h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>You may be thinking, if all the thing does to me is make me feel like I have the flu for a week or so, or maybe I feel nothing at all, then what's the big deal? Who cares whether I get the Zika or not?</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Because fetuses as young as 19 weeks old whose mothers become infected with the Zika can suffer a very rare type of brain damage that is so severe, their brains stop growing and so do their skulls. Not only are they born with very small heads, but often the nerves that connect with the eyes and ears do not work properly, they may experience frequent or constant seizures, and they may be unable to move their arms and legs properly.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>This condition is called microcephaly (very small head). There is no cure. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>If a pregnant woman gets the Zika, how likely is it that her unborn child will get the microcephaly? Experts aren't sure. Right now, their guesses are anywhere from 1 to 5 percent of pregnancies with Zika resulting in microcephaly. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<img height="225" src="https://www.statnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/MicrocephalyBaby_AP_437892559077-1024x576.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 80%;">This is Sophia. She is 2 weeks old and she has microcephaly. She's having a nap before her physical therapy session at a hospital in Brazil.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo by Felipe Dana from the AP, sourced from <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2016/05/25/zika-microcephaly-what-is-risk/">Stat</a>)</span></span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Sometimes the babies of Zika-infected mothers are born with other types of brain defects including Guillain-Barre syndrome. In this lovely scenario, a baby's immune system will attack its nerves that control muscle movement, pain, temperature, and touch. Results can range from persistent tingling to loss of movement to paralysis and difficulty breathing. It is possible to recover from this syndrome, but it is not fun and for babies it can be very dangerous.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>If you're a man, you should care because it's possible you could transmit the virus sexually. More often, the virus is transmitted by mosquito bites, but somewhere around 10% of cases have been transmitted through sexual contact. Vaginal and anal sex are more likely sources of transmission than oral, but transmission by oral sex is still possible.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>There is no vaccine for the virus, no way to stop its activity once its infected someone. If you've got the Zika, the only thing to do is let it run its course. </li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The good news is that if a woman has had the Zika and recovered, and the virus has left her bloodstream, and <i>then</i> she gets pregnant, the baby will not be affected. She will have developed an immunity to the virus.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br />
<div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
PREVENTION IS KEY </h3>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Even though it is beneficial to be immune to the Zika virus, researchers and medical professionals certainly do not want people going around trying to infect themselves so they become immune. There have been too few cases for researchers to be certain you might not be exposing yourself to some as-yet-unknown risk. Making yourself sick on purpose is just asking for trouble.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The best way to protect yourself against the Zika is to</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>try to avoid getting it in the first place</li>
<li>try to avoid passing it on if you've got it</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><u>Avoiding getting the Zika means</u></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li><u>Controlling mosquito populations outside your house</u>.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Don't give them a place to breed. Since mosquitoes lay eggs in or near shallow water, make sure you don't have places where standing water can develop and be accessible to mosquitoes. This means</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>Get rid of or cover things like birdbaths, flowerpots, old buckets or trash cans, etc.</li>
<li>Tightly cover water barrels</li>
<li>If a container cannot have a lid, cover it with wire mesh with holes smaller than a mosquito. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<img height="265" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2749/4422127646_fd7d0f6627_b.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 80%;">This is just the sort of environment mosquitoes love. Standing water, a perfect place to lay their eggs. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/samhames/4422127646/">Sam Hames on Flickr</a>) </span></span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>They also tend to hang out in dark, humid places. Spray outdoor insect spray in likely areas, such as under patio furniture, under a deck, behind the garage, etc. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li><u>Controlling mosquito activity inside your home</u></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Install or repair screens on windows</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Use air conditioning if possible</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Drape a mosquito net over your bed </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li><u>Protecting your person from mosquito bites</u></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Use an <a href="https://www.epa.gov/insect-repellents/find-insect-repellent-right-you">EPA-registered insect repellent</a> that contains any one of these ingredients</li>
<ul>
<li>DEET</li>
<li>picardin</li>
<li>IR3535</li>
<li>oil of lemon eucalyptus*</li>
<li>para-methane-diol*</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>The above ingredients are listed in order of effectiveness (DEET is the most effective). </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>* = don't use on children younger than 3 years old</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Don't use insect repellent at all on babies younger than 2 months old. For them, make sure their clothing covers all exposed skin and keep their cribs and strollers covered with mosquito netting.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><u>Avoiding transmitting the Zika means</u></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>For 3 weeks after having been in an area where the Zika virus has been identified, </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li><u>Practicing safe sex by using condoms</u>.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Or don't have sex at all. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li><u>Following the steps listed above to control mosquitoes</u> and to try to keep from being bitten and thus infecting a mosquito who could pass the virus on to someone else.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><u>Where have Zika cases been identified?</u></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>This information changes frequently. As of this writing, areas range from Mexico and Central and South America, to Egypt and several countries in Africa, India, Pakistan, and Indonesia, and several countries in Southeast Asia.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>It has recently also been identified in most states in the US. Utah is the first state to have seen a fatality from Zika.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>For current information, check these pages from the CDC:</li>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/united-states.html">States where Zika has been reported, and rates of incidence</a></li>
<li><a href="http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/zika-travel-information">Countries where Zika has been reported, and information for travelers</a></li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
WHAT IS ZIKA ANYWAY? </h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The Zika virus has been known to exist since the 1940s when it was first isolated from a rhesus monkey in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/06/world/africa/uganda-zika-forest-mosquitoes.html">Zika Forest in Uganda</a> -- hence the name. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>(Originally it was spelled Ziika. The word means "overgrown.")</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The virus was first identified in a human in the 1950s.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>It is in the same family of viruses as dengue fever and West Nile and some 60 or so other viruses. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Incidence was restricted mainly to Africa and tropical parts of Asia. But in recent years, the virus has spread rapidly.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Reasons for the virus's rapid transmission may include</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>increased global travel</li>
<li>urbanization (more people moving into mosquito-rich areas)</li>
<li>climate change (more areas becoming warmer and friendlier to mosquitoes)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>It seems that the number of microcephaly cases have risen because the number of Zika cases have risen to a correspondingly increased extent. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<img height="184" src="https://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_-OUC-a_v3gc9plIMbg1XX939us=/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/6298187/Screen_Shot_2016-04-06_at_12.32.29_PM.0.png" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image from the <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i>, sourced from <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/4/6/11348908/zika-science">Vox</a>)</span></span><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
As the Wesley twins said, much to their own surprise, "Safety first."</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Or as one infectious disease specialist who's been studying the virus said, "It's not a verbal exercise. It's people's lives. Babies' lives and welfare are at stake."</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Sources</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/zika/index.html">Zika Virus</a> -- a multitude of resources here </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;"><i>The New York Times,</i> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/health/what-is-zika-virus.html?_r=0">Short Answers to Hard Questions About Zika Virus</a>, June 24, 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Alana Romain, Romper, <a href="https://www.romper.com/p/does-a-zika-mosquito-bite-look-different-than-normal-mosquito-bites-7294">Does a Zika Mosquito Bite Look Different than Normal Mosquito Bites?</a> [No] March 16, 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">PBS Newshour, <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/how-many-zika-infected-infants-will-develop-microcephaly-and-other-faqs/">How many Zika-infected infants will develop microcephaly and other FAQs</a>, May 20, 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">World Health Organization (WHO), <a href="http://www.who.int/emergencies/zika-virus/timeline/en/">The history of Zika virus</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The Verge, <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/2/10/10955222/zika-virus-americas-outbreak-causes-dengue-west-nile">Climate change and urbanization are spurring outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases like Zika</a>, February 10, 2016 </span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-1960808601554639332016-06-06T03:19:00.004-04:002016-06-06T03:54:55.116-04:00Apple #732: Title IX History and Overview<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
I love Title IX. Thanks to this law, there was a girls' softball team at my high school for which I could play. We weren't very good because our school didn't put much money into softball as compared to, say, football or swimming, so our coaches were pretty much deer-in-the-headlights and so we sucked. But at least I got to play. Prior to Title IX, there wouldn't have been any such team.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/home/advocate/~/media/General/large_meta_data/title_ix/historyoftitleix_rally01.ashx" height="244" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo of a rally in support of Title IX held in 1979. For a long time, the only context in which people talked about Title IX was women's sports. But it has affected way more than just athletics.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo sourced from <a href="http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/home/advocate/title-ix-and-issues">Women's Sports Foundation</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
Title IX has emerged in the news over the past few years as the basis from which groups of college women are demanding that their schools get better at handling allegations of sexual assault on campus. I say, more power to 'em, literally. When I was an undergrad, the prevailing attitude was, hey, you put a bunch of late-teens, early-twenties kids together and give them alcohol, of course women are going to get raped. What are you gonna do? That attitude, in my opinion, is a reprehensible abdication of responsibility, and it has got to change. Title IXers, for working to change this culture to make college campuses safer for everyone, I applaud you.<br />
<br />
More recently still, Title IX is the policy behind which various governmental institutions are requiring that public bathrooms accommodate transgender people. There's been a lot of outcry against this, and as far as I can tell, the primary argument is that pedophiles and perverts will use this license to wreak havoc on our innocent ones when they are perhaps most vulnerable and defenseless. To this I say, if the problem is the pedophiles and the perverts, maybe we should be doing something about them, as opposed to discriminating against the transgender among us?<br />
<br />
In short, there have been a lot of references to and invocations of Title IX in a variety of contexts. Hearing it so often has made me wonder, Title 9 of what? What's Title 8? Where did this thing come from, and whom should I thank for making it a rule in this country that people have to abide by?<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The person to thank, apparently, is Richard M. Nixon. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Title IX is one part of Public Law 92-318, which was signed into law by President Nixon on June 23, 1972.</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/bd/34/03/bd3403afc93dbf43e0433159e03e6554.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Richard Nixon, signing something into law</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo sourced from <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/hebronapgov/richard-nixon/">Pinterest</a>, which is not so reliable at providing provenance)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Another person to thank is Patsy Mink. She was Japanese-American, and a Congressional Representative from Hawaii, and she helped draft the language that would become Title IX, and she pushed for its passage.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<img src="http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/home/she-network/education/~/media/General/large_meta_data/SHENetwork/SHE_PatsyMink.ashx" height="244" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">At center: Patsy Mink, first Asian American and woman of color to serve in the US Congress, was a key force in the passage of what we now call Title IX.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo sourced from the <a href="http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/home/she-network/education/patsy-mink">Women's Sports Foundation</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The law is broken up into parts-- well, Titles, then Parts, then Sections. So if you wanted to refer to some major part of the bill, you might refer to it by the Title under which it is organized. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The general purpose of the law was to amend various existing laws having to do with education, from elementary schools all the way through higher education, and including vocational education. The goal was to expand opportunities to education to people of all backgrounds across the country.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>More specifically, Public Law 92-318 set aside hundreds of millions of dollars -- literally -- in the form of grants or loans that could be applied for by all sorts of people. In many cases provisions for these grants were already in place but this law expanded the range of people who could apply, or re-upped the funding, or increased the amount of funding. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
TITLES I through VII</h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Most of the titles within the law dealt with this funding in support of new or increased educational opportunities.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Grants or loans were funded or expanded upon for all sorts of educational purposes, including </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>nurses who wanted to go to college</li>
<li>veterans of Vietnam (the law says "Indochina") and Korea who wanted to go to college</li>
<li>students in vocational education schools</li>
<li>people who wanted to study the causes of environmental pollution</li>
<li>training for people who want to become librarians, or resources to be purchased by libraries</li>
<li>fellowships and internships for people who want to teach at the higher education level</li>
<li>students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who want to go to college</li>
<li>tutors of educationally disadvantaged children</li>
<li>training of teachers, teachers' aides, and teachers of migrant children</li>
<li>schools that serve Native American (the law says "American Indian") children, particularly those with special education needs, and also schools that provide education to adult Native Americans </li>
<li>the study and teaching of the ethnic heritages of all sorts of ethnic groups in the country, along with bilingual assistance where appropriate</li>
<li>the development of educational TV programs for children (<i>Sesame Street </i>started in 1969, but this funding certainly would have supported its continuation)</li>
<li>people who want to go to school to pursue a career in public service </li>
<li>work-study and community service programs </li>
<li>undergraduates who want to study a foreign language or travel to a foreign country for educational purposes</li>
<li>new or financially struggling undergraduate or community colleges that are trying to improve or expand their teaching staff</li>
<li>the construction of new undergraduate, community, and technical colleges </li>
<li>the construction or rebuilding of schools in major disaster areas </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>It also established the Student Loan Marketing Association, a private corporation funded with an initial $5M in government start-up money, that would serve as the marketplace for student loans insured by the government. This made loans to would-be college students much easier to come by because before this Association -- what we now call Sallie Mae, and what many people curse up and down and left and right -- it was really difficult to get a loan to pay for college because banks saw it as a bad risk. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>It encouraged the reform of postsecondary education so the schools would be run in
a more cost-effective manner, the retention of more members of faculty, and expansion into new areas of study such as communications.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>It directed the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to conduct a full and complete investigation of youth camps around the country to determine to what extent any injuries that happen to children there are preventable, and how could local laws be modified to improve safety. (Investigations of sexual abuse were not spelled out but in retrospect, one wishes it had been.)</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So the law covered a boatload of expansions aimed at improving educational opportunities all over the place. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
TITLE VIII - No Money for Busing (almost there)</h3>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Title VIII seems out of keeping with the nature of the rest of the law. This title specifically and categorically states that <u>no funding whatsoever</u> could be used to pay for busing students to another district in support of desegregation. </li>
<ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>It's pretty remarkable how the language of the law in this title changes to No all over the place, where before it had been a lot of "shall".</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<img src="http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/FastFetch/UBER2/adec_0001_0008_0_img1115" height="273" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The debate about whether children should be bused to different schools to counteract segregation was hotly contested across the country. Here is one protest against forced busing in Boston. Looks familiar, doesn't it?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo sourced from <a href="http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/uhic/ReferenceDetailsPage/DocumentToolsPortletWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&jsid=db00450ffd615a750d11d54b52a9175a&action=2&catId=&documentId=GALE|CX3468302737&u=seat24826&zid=20801dc2e9e0cd890624077a62207d06">U.S. History in Context</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>We don't normally think of Nixon as a champion of the rights of the disadvantaged, but he was royally ticked off about this part of the law. When he signed the bill into law, he didn't talk about all the great things the law was doing; instead, he listed all the stuff he'd asked Congress to do but they hadn't. He said, </li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="displaytext">In the amendments dealing with the busing of
public school children, however, this measure is most obviously
deficient. Had these disappointing measures alone come to this
office--detached from the higher education reforms--they would have been
the subject of an immediate veto. </span></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="displaytext"><span class="displaytext">We asked the Congress to draw up new
uniform national desegregation standards for all school
districts--South, North, East, and West. The Congress determined to
allow the existing inequities and injustices to remain. </span></span></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="displaytext"><span class="displaytext">We asked
the Congress to provide uniform guidance to Federal judges so that
court-ordered busing to integrate public school systems would be used
only as a last--never a first--resort. The Congress apparently declines
to provide such guidance. </span></span></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="displaytext"><span class="displaytext">He went on like this, with more "We asked the Congress"es followed by statements saying, They didn't do it. He finished his remarks with this: </span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="displaytext"><span class="displaytext"></span></span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="displaytext"><span class="displaytext"><span class="displaytext">Confronted with one of the burning social
issues of the past decade, and an unequivocal call for action from the
vast majority of the American people, the 92d Congress has apparently
determined that the better part of valor is to dump the matter into the
lap of the 93d. Not in the course of this Administration has there been a
more manifest Congressional retreat from an urgent call for
responsibility.</span> </span></span><br />
<span class="displaytext"><span class="displaytext"></span></span></blockquote>
</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="displaytext">End of remarks. He might as well have done a mic drop.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
TITLE IX - Here we are</h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In the midst of all this stuff about what shall be funded and how much should this program get and how shall it be administered is the part you've all been waiting for, "TITLE IX -- Prohibition of Sex Discrimination," and it begins</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="chapeau">No person in the United States shall, on the basis
of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of,
or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or
activity receiving Federal financial assistance.</span></blockquote>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="chapeau">That's it.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<span class="chapeau"><img src="https://mholloway63.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/042811titleix.jpg?w=560" /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="chapeau"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Sourced from <a href="https://mholloway63.wordpress.com/2016/04/23/a-1970s-time-capsule-from-atozchallenge-t-is-also-for-title-ix/">If I Only Had a Time Machine</a>) </span></span></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<span class="chapeau"> </span></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="chapeau">Among page after page of language about how much money should go to this group and that group, and how it should be awarded, and how it should be insured, and what administrative bodies should be created to carry out this and that provision -- then appears this one sentence that may have changed more lives for more generations than all the rest of it put together. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="chapeau">There are some exceptions (schools with a religious affiliation, schools with longstanding single-sex admissions) and there have been some amendments that add a few more exceptions (fraternities and sororities, father-son or mother-daughter activities).</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="chapeau">There's also a bit that says the same thing about the blind -- no discrimination by schools that receive federal money. Why and how this provision got put under a provision having to do with sex discrimination, I cannot explain.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="chapeau">But out of that one sentence, here are just some of the things that have come about:</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="chapeau">Athletics -- girls in high school varsity athletics</span></li>
<ul><ul>
<li><span class="chapeau">1971: 295,000</span></li>
<li><span class="chapeau">2001: 2.8 million, or 41.5% of all varsity athletes</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="chapeau">Athletics -- women in college athletics</span></li>
<ul><ul>
<li><span class="chapeau">1966: 16,000</span></li>
<li><span class="chapeau">2001: 150,000, or 43% of all college athletes</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="chapeau">Academics -- women earning law degrees </span></li>
<ul><ul>
<li><span class="chapeau">1972: 7% women</span></li>
<li><span class="chapeau">1997: 44% women</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="chapeau">Academics -- women earning medical degrees</span></li>
<ul><ul>
<li><span class="chapeau">1972: 9% women</span></li>
<li><span class="chapeau">1997: 41% women</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="chapeau">Academics -- pregnant girls and women</span></li>
<ul><ul>
<li><span class="chapeau">1972: usually expelled from school</span></li>
<li><span class="chapeau">post-Title IX: schools are not allowed to expel pregnant girls and women, and if they do provide separate classes for expecting mothers, participation must be voluntary and the programs must provide comparable education</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="chapeau">Academics -- programs of study</span></li>
<ul><ul>
<li><span class="chapeau">1972: girls encouraged to become wives, mothers, secretaries, nurses, or teachers, while boys were encouraged to study math and science and "harder" subjects</span></li>
<li><span class="chapeau">post-Title IX: significant gender disparity still exists, but the number of girls taking upper-level math and science classes is on the rise, and schools are launching concerted efforts to attract girls and women to STEM courses and programs of study.</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="chapeau">Academics -- standardized testing</span></li>
<ul><ul>
<li><span class="chapeau">1972: girls consistently scored lower than boys</span></li>
<li><span class="chapeau">post-Title IX: gender disparity still exists, but if a standardized test results in consistently lower scores for members of one sex, it can be challenged as unlawful.</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="chapeau">Sexual harassment in schools</span></li>
<ul><ul>
<li><span class="chapeau">1972: for those women who did go to college, if they were harassed (or perhaps I should say when they were harassed) they could expect little or no redress from the authorities at their school</span></li>
<li><span class="chapeau">post-Title IX: the Supreme Court ruled that schools and colleges are required to prevent and respond to harassment against girls and women, regardless of whether that objectionable behavior is done by peers, teachers, or administrators. It is also under this aegis that women are seeking to compel colleges and universities to curtail and punish campus rape.</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span class="chapeau">Also springing from Title IX is the debate about which bathrooms transgender people should be allowed to use. </span></li>
<ul><ul>
<li><span class="chapeau">(For one discussion of some of the complexities of this issue, see Jeannie Suk's opinion piece from <i><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/public-bathroom-regulations-could-create-a-title-ix-crisis">The New Yorker</a></i>; there are some elements that I for one had not considered. I do think it is worth underscoring this comment: "</span>The common denominator in all of these scenarios is fear of attacks and
harassment carried out by males—not fear of transgender people.")</li>
<li>It is too early to say how this debate will be resolved, but I think the fact that we are having this debate at all is a hopeful sign.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Girls and women still face gender disparity in all sorts of areas -- in the classroom, in hiring, in compensation, in what men say to women online or in person, in how politicians respond to their questions, and on and on. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But we have made great progress thanks to Title IX. Without Title IX, I probably wouldn't have an undergraduate and two graduate degrees. I might have had just as much curiosity, but not much of a venue where I could exercise it. I probably wouldn't be typing this right now. Your Apple Lady probably would not exist.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>And thanks to Title IX, we can continue to make more progress, to chip away at the institutional norms that bolster sexism and allow it to persist not just in education but throughout the entire lives of girls and women. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Thanks, Richard Nixon and Patsy Mink.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">US Department of Education, <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/tix_dis.html">Title IX and Sex Discrimination</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The US Department of Justice, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/title-ix-education-amendments-1972">Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Cornell Legal Information Institute, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/20/1681">20 US Code § 1681 - Sex</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">US GPO, <a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-86/pdf/STATUTE-86-Pg235.pdf">Public Law 92-318 as enacted June 23, 1972</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">UC Santa Barbara, The American Presidency Project, <a href="http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=3473">Richard Nixon - Statement on Signing the Education Amendments of 1972</a>, June 23, 1972 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Title IX Info, <a href="http://www.titleix.info/history/history-overview.aspx">History of Title IX</a></span> <br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, <a href="http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/seventies/essays/impact-title-ix">The Impact of Title IX</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Athletic Scholarships.net, <a href="http://www.athleticscholarships.net/title-ix-college-athletics-3.htm">Bridging the Gender Gap: The Positive Effects of Title IX</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Title IX Info, <a href="http://www.titleix.info/10-Key-Areas-of-Title-IX/Access-to-Higher-Education.aspx">Ten Key Areas of Title IX</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Jeannie Suk, <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/public-bathroom-regulations-could-create-a-title-ix-crisis">The Transgender Bathroom Debate and the Looming Title IX Crisis</a>, <i>The New Yorker,</i> May 24, 2016 </span></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-66535843079239228602016-04-25T01:18:00.000-04:002016-04-25T01:26:42.632-04:00Apple #731: Prince and His Entourage<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Like so many people, I've been rather stunned by the news of Prince's untimely death. I was never a huge fan, but the man had some serious songwriting skills, and he seemed about to embark on a new realm of creativity, and his music and style and persona were a huge part of the cultural landscape in my formative years. People who are so famous, whose work and image and music and everything else are everywhere, you forget that they can do something so human as to die. It's kind of a shock.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9koaPLqY-qs/Vx2CLl2I0gI/AAAAAAAABy8/5-0MRLNrY3MBNCXWLH7twfmy32sIwpFhQCLcB/s1600/prince_closeup_yellowjacket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9koaPLqY-qs/Vx2CLl2I0gI/AAAAAAAABy8/5-0MRLNrY3MBNCXWLH7twfmy32sIwpFhQCLcB/s400/prince_closeup_yellowjacket.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from this <a href="http://www.soundi.fi/uutiset/purpe-rain-vai-purple-haze-isle-of-wight-promoottori-kaavailee-princelle-jimi-hendrix-tribuuttikeikkaa/">Finnish news page</a>)</span><br />
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Like so many people, I am remembering personal experiences when this man's music was the soundtrack. Dancing to "Purple Rain" with a crush-object who was on the track team. Recording "When Doves Cry" off the radio onto my tape recorder in my bedroom and trying to match his falsetto "Ooh-hoo"s and failing completely. A girl on my softball team listening to "Darling Nikki" on her headphones as we rode the van to an away game and cracking up and passing the headphones around because of how dirty the lyrics were. But my most vivid and complete Prince-related memory does not even involve him, but someone who impersonated him.<br />
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<img src="http://leftcall.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/4120769341_9eb97ede36_b.jpg" height="376" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The real Prince and his band in 1982, from <i>1999</i> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo sourced from <a href="http://leftcall.com/10193/the-year-is-twenty-thirteen-not-two-thousand-thirteen-got-it/">The Left Call</a>)</span><br />
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My freshman year, our high school had a cover-band dance. You could get your friends together, dress up like some famous band, and then at the dance, pretend to be them and lip sync to a recording. One bunch of guys wore taped-up trash bags and they were Devo. A few stoner dudes were a rather disorganized Van Halen. A gaggle of popular girls was The Go-Gos. It was funny to see this person or that person you knew from your math class or wherever, all dressed up and acting the part, but kind of missing the mark and still obviously them.<br />
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But then the lights went out in the gym entirely, except for spotlights playing around the door, as if frantically searching for who might enter next. A buzz of excitement swept through the crowd as everyone speculated about who it might be. A hum of music picked up over the loudspeaker, and you could feel it thrumming through your body, and the anticipation built. The doors opened, and the spotlights picked out a crew of people, it was hard to make out who they were, there was lace and the flash of necklaces, there was a guy wearing scrubs -- was that David H from my Latin class? -- and he was holding out his hands to keep the crowd from pressing too close. Excited murmurs went through the crowd. "It's Prince, that's Prince. I can't believe it, it's Prince."<br />
<br />
Among the entourage was this skinny dark-haired guy wearing an improbable get-up of a long black shiny coat, white gloves, his hair in some kind of curly pompadour, and a black satin mask over his eyes. It wasn't really Prince, was it? It sure as hell looked like him. His crew were leading him to the stage, and it made no sense at all that he was masked and couldn't see a thing, but everyone was going NUTS. People were screaming and losing their minds and this guy hadn't even reached the stage yet. But when he did, wearing tight black pants and a white shirt with a huge collar unbuttoned to his navel, people went INSANE. His posse in that motley collection of lace, necklaces, underwear, and scrubs took up their posts at the keyboards and guitars, and they started to play. "Let's Go Crazy," I think it was, and that was exactly what everybody did.<br />
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<img src="http://www.ripopmusic.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BB-Prince-Syracuse-March-30-1985-Purple-Rain-tour.jpg" height="287" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Part of the real Prince's entourage/performance group always included several women who were either musicians, back-up singers, or dancers, or a combination thereof. Often they wore lacy or super-revealing or skin-tight outfits. Here they are performing in Syracuse in 1985.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.thedawnexperience.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3964">The Dawn Experience</a>)</span><br />
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The guy at the center of all this was not, in fact, Prince. It was Fran Fazzina, another guy from my Latin class who was of indeterminate race. In my blindingly white high school, being anything other than white meant you were on the outside looking in. He wasn't a stand-out in my Latin class in any way. He didn't say much, didn't do especially well or poorly on our weekly tests, just showed up, did what he had to do, and left. <br />
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But after he was Prince, his world changed. People high-fived him in the hall, they wanted to talk to him, they wanted to be around him. I talked to him in Latin class and discovered he had a whiplash sense of humor lurking under there, and I couldn't keep up with his ironic wit. I developed a crush on him. I still remember the scent of his cologne. He got invited to parties. There were rumors about parties at his house. People said his house, which was a two-story colonial, had an elevator going up the middle.<br />
<br />
Google Fran's name now and what comes up is a poker player living in Los Angeles. I have no idea if he's the same guy or not. Interestingly, there are no photos of him. Just as real-life Prince was very protective of his privacy, real-life Fran seems to be that way too.<br />
<br />
But this guy only PRETENDING to be Prince got that kind of reaction. Imagine what it must have been like for the actual, real and true Prince.<br />
<br />
One of the best tributes I've read is from Paul Westerberg, of Replacements fame, whose career grew up alongside Prince's in Minneapolis. When a guy whose talent you admire says of a fellow musician the first time he saw him perform,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
I was next to another musician, a couple other guys that were up-and-comers and that thought they were hot shit, and we were watching Prince. The guy turned to me and said, "I'm fucking embarrassed to be alive." And that's how I felt. He was so good. It was like, "What are we doing? This guy is, like, on a different planet than we are." It was showmanship, it was rock & roll, it was fun, it was great. (from <i><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/paul-westerberg-remembers-prince-i-cant-think-of-anyone-better-20160422?page=2">Rolling Stone</a></i>)</blockquote>
and<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I've spent more time with Bob Dylan, and I've got to say that I was more in awe of Prince. (from <i><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/paul-westerberg-remembers-prince-i-cant-think-of-anyone-better-20160422?page=2">Rolling Stone</a></i>)</blockquote>
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you know he was the real thing.<br />
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People were in awe of his talent, of his presence, of him. They wanted to be around him, to get close to him and whatever magic he had.<br />
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I know that all celebrities have "people" but that seemed to be especially the case with Prince. Pretty much every news article about him mentions his "entourage." "His people told TMZ he was battling the flu." "Prince's entourage will be questioned in investigation of his death." "In his final years his entourage was smaller than it had been at the
height of his stardom. He had a couple of assistants, a manager and, of
course, bodyguards. There wasn't a huge entourage of friends hanging
around."<br />
<br />
I think what made Fran-as-Prince's performance so successful was the presence of that entourage. When he was surrounded by a group of people (by the way, that's what <i>entourage </i>means, etymologically speaking, "surrounded by"), everyone wondered, who is that guy, that he either needs that many people to protect him, or that so many people just want to be around him?<br />
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I was going to do a whole thing about entourages, about other famous people and their entourages (Oprah Winfrey, Frank Sinatra, <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/massive-entourage-what-takes-bring-7811042">President Obama</a>, Jesus), but I don't want to wander that far from the main subject, which is Prince himself. One of the things I've been thinking about is what's it like to be a member of an entourage? Do you still feel like you have a personality of your own, or how much of yourself do you give over to this person whom you've dedicated yourself to surrounding?<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It was like being around the biggest boss and icon all at the same time.
Everyone who worked for him knew him and respected him; they all
believed in him and worshipped him. He was just so capable, he was
always right, and he really was. (anonymous assistant of Prince's, quoted in <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/758982/inside-prince-s-private-world-the-man-behind-the-legend-from-those-who-knew-him">ENews</a>) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[H]e had this smile, it's the smile that your dad or your teacher would
give you. It was all you needed to say that you've done a good job. That
would be enough. (Michael Kronick, Prince's memorabilia manager, quoted in <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/758982/inside-prince-s-private-world-the-man-behind-the-legend-from-those-who-knew-him">ENews</a>) </blockquote>
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But of course the corollary to that is, what's it like to be the focal-point of that entourage? Are you able to retain your own personality, or how much of your true self becomes subsumed in this version of yourself that you've created and that other people are maintaining for you? How exhausting is it to try to meet those expectations all day every day, even when you're supposed to be relaxing and out of the limelight? How are you then able to pull it together and summon the enormous magic that works like mad in front of thousands of people?<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The more famous he became, the further and further it would take him
away from the person he was before he became famous. I am not sure if
anyone really knew the real Prince, we all loved him, but I don't know
how much we really knew him. (anonymous friend, quoted in <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/758982/inside-prince-s-private-world-the-man-behind-the-legend-from-those-who-knew-him">ENews</a>) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
</blockquote>
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I was just watching this video, talking about the rainstorm the night of Superbowl 2007 when Prince performed, and how incredible it was that he was able not just to pull it off but to make it look like the whole thing was planned, part of his show, to be the consummate professional and entertain the hell out of everybody. If you missed the performance in 2007, or even if you did see it at the time, check this out. It's really quite impressive.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7NN3gsSf-Ys" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3555292/Prince-s-former-drug-dealer-reveals-extent-addiction.html">They're saying now</a> that Prince was taking painkillers for years, as a way to help him deal with stage fright and crowds. Some people are saying this destroys their vision of him, or how could have been on drugs, he was a Jehovah's Witness. I say, no one is immune to addiction. And I say, however talented he may have been, the man was still human. I say, God bless him for wanting to keep bringing it full-bore to people, even though it cost him more than most of us ever will ever know.<br />
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<img src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/de96be156d4c6f7b126531f72c9698b21286d425/c=567-0-1693-847&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2016/04/21/TXNMGroup/LasCruces/635968615366012165-Concert-book-Prince.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Signed album owned by Corrie Stone-Fielder, sourced from <a href="http://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/2016/04/21/music-lovers-recall-prince-concerts-las-cruces/83351316/">Las Cruces Sun-News</a>)</span><br />
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P.S. to David Bowie fans, <a href="http://music.blog.ajc.com/2016/04/14/concert-review-prince-enchants-at-intimate-fox-theatre-show/">"Heroes" was on his encore set-list</a> at performances he gave this month.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 80%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;"></span>
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Sources</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">If you want to read about other entourages & such</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">ENews, <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/758982/inside-prince-s-private-world-the-man-behind-the-legend-from-those-who-knew-him">Inside Prince's Private World: The Man Behind the Legend from Those Who Knew Him</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The Bert Show, <a href="http://thebertshow.com/like-working-prince/">What It's Like Working With Prince: A Former Member Of Prince's Entourage Calls In</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Nozo, <a href="http://nozo.ca/en/1/blog/entouragelife/">What is it like to be part of a famous person's entourage?</a> [blue on black, really hard to read] </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The Richest, <a href="http://www.therichest.com/expensive-lifestyle/entertainment/ridiculous-jobs-of-celebrity-entourage-members/?view=all">Ridiculous Jobs of Celebrity Entourage Members</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Mental Floss, <a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/19973/7-entourages-changed-world">7 Entourages That Changed the World</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Online Etymology Dictionary, <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=entourage">entourage </a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Celebuzz, <a href="http://www.celebuzz.com/photos/top-10-worst-celebrity-entourages-of-the-decade/snoop-dogg-entourage-in-the-2/">Top 10 Worst Celebrity Entourages of the Decade</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Wonderwall, <a href="http://www.wonderwall.com/celebrity/photos/celebrity-cliques-the-stars-real-life-entourages-32361.gallery?photoId=10000001">Celebrity Cliques: The Stars' Real-Life Entourages</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Daily Mirror, <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/massive-entourage-what-takes-bring-7811042">This massive entourage is what it takes to bring Barack Obama to Britain</a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-6626798564425290162016-03-21T01:26:00.003-04:002016-03-21T01:29:50.946-04:00Apple #730: White Rose Resistance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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You may have seen the news recently that the hacker group calling itself <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UXQpfm_Ytw">Anonymous said they were going to hack Donald Trump</a>. They released some basic personal information -- <a href="http://gawker.com/call-donald-trumps-cell-phone-and-ask-him-about-his-imp-1720472577">his cell phone number</a>, Social Security number, and some other easy-to-find stuff -- and invited anyone who wanted to take a crack at hacking him or his businesses to do so.<br />
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In one part of their message, they said, <span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">"Many
of you have said to yourself that if you were alive in Nazi Germany,
then you would have done something, you would have resisted, like the
White Rose Society resisted. Now is the time to prove
that. The White Rose Society has risen again in the United States."</span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">I never heard of the White Rose Society, so I was curious to know what it was. I Googled it and, wow, quite the story.</span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"><img src="http://hdwallpapersfit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/beautiful-white-rose-hd-wallpapers.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925" style="font-size: 80%;">The original White Rose group did not have a logo or an insignia; they were not that sophisticated. They called themselves "White Rose" for reasons that remain obscure.</span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"><span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://hdwallpapersfit.com/beautiful-white-rose-hd-wallpapers.html">HD Wallpapers Fit</a>) </span></span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"><br /></span>
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<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">It's been referred to as the White Rose Society, or the White Rose Resistance, or more accurately, simply as "White Rose." It was a small group of German medical students in their early 20s who got together in 1942 and 1943 and printed 6 pamphlets speaking against Hitler and Nazism and urging others to resist what had become a totalitarian regime.</span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">This might not sound like such a big deal, but it was. Let me break down the details.</span></li>
</ul>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"> </span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"><img src="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/images/scholl.jpg" /></span> </span><ul style="text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: 80%;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Hans
Scholl (left) was 24, his sister Sophie was 21, and Christoph Probst, a
mutual friend of both, was 22. Photo was taken in 1942 when the White
Rose began.</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"><span style="font-size: 80%;">(photo from the US Holocaust Museum Archives, sourced from the <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/rose.html">Jewish Virtual Library</a>) </span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"> </span><ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">First, this happened in 1942. By this time, the Nazi regime was operating at full strength within Germany, as was the Gestapo (secret police). They had clamped down on any kind of speech that was against the government in any way, shutting down newspapers, and rounding up and killing or sending off to concentration camps anyone who spoke out against the government.</span></li>
</ul>
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<li>People couldn't speak freely among friends or neighbors because if you spoke against the government in any way, the person you thought was your neighbor and trustworthy would rat you out to the Gestapo, and there you were getting beaten or jailed or sent away, etc.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Telephone
calls could be listened in on at any time, mail could be opened and
inspected, and your person could be searched at any time for any reason.</span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">The Gestapo was keeping track of even the sale of stamps. If anyone bought a whole bunch of stamps, that person got investigated by the Gestapo and depending on what they learned about how the stamps were used, that person got beat up or thrown in jail or sent off to a concentration camp or killed. The same was true about purchases of a lot of paper. And Envelopes. And printing presses, of course.</span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">It was in the midst of this thoroughly repressive situation that this group of students started meeting and talking together. There were only about 4 or 5 of them, all medical students at the University of Munich, and at first they talked about music, or literature, and philosophy -- especially philosophy. Soon they ventured into discussing politics with each other, which would have been a rare treat to be able to do such a thing and feel safe.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">In the early years of the war, the students were like many of their fellow Germans, supportive of their government, willing to participate and do what they could for the cause of their country. Some of these young medical students had ev</span>en been members the<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"> Hitler Youth. The leaders of this small group were:</span></li>
</ul>
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<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Hans Scholl, 24</span></li>
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Alex Schmorell, 25 </span></li>
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">J</span><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">ürgen Wittenstein, 23 </span></li>
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Sophie Scholl - Hans' sister, 21</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"><img src="http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/images/Alexander%20Schmorell.jpg" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 80%;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Alex Schmorell, one of the leaders and founding members of the White Rose, was 25.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from the <a href="http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/whiterose.html">Holocaust Research Project</a>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 80%;"><img src="http://spartacus-educational.com/00wittenstein1.jpg" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 80%;">Jürgen Wittenstein had been about to leave Germany in 1939 but instead drove two stranded Jewish teenagers to Berlin in the hope that, from there, they could leave the country safely.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://spartacus-educational.com/GERwittenstein.htm">Spartacus Educational</a>) </span></div>
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<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">After having lived through four years of the government's increasingly repressive and brutal tactics, these medical students were justifiably disturbed. Schmorell and Wittenstein attended the very popular lectures of their university's philosophy teacher, Kurt Huber, and they took his teachings very much to heart. So they decided to do something to resist.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">In June of 1942, Hans and Alex wrote a leaflet, which they planned to be the first of many, and which they called "Leaflet [or leaves] of the White Rose." </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">They went to their philosophy teacher, Kurt Huber, for advice in writing the pamphlet. At first he thought it would do no good except to risk their necks, but in the end he decided to help. He advised them on the wording of the leaflets and talked with them at length about what they wanted to accomplish, challenging them and making sure they were aware of the risks they were taking.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"><br /></span></div>
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<img src="http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/images/Kurt%20Huber.gif" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Kurt Huber had had diphtheria when he was young and emergency surgery had cut his throat and left him with difficulty in speaking, a limp, and a tremor in his hands that only subsided when he played the piano. His students said they did not notice his impairments at all when he lectured, his speeches were so learned and absorbing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from the <a href="http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/whiterose.html">Holocaust Research Project</a>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 80%;"><img src="http://spartacus-educational.com/00huber2.jpg" height="320" width="234" /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Another photo of Huber, this from 1941. He was 48 when this photo was taken.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://spartacus-educational.com/GERhuberK.htm">Spartacus Educational</a>)</span><br />
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<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Some websites suggest Huber was consulted very early on in the group's formation, while others say he did not get involved until later. Either way, it seems clear that though he was involved, the group was not his idea but that of his students'. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">The first leaflet was a few paragraphs long, invoking the ideas of philosophers such as Goethe and Schiller and Aristotle, and encouraging readers of the pamphlet to resist.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Excerpts from this first pamphlet will give a sense of the atmosphere of the time:</span></li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">If the German people are already so corrupted and spiritually crushed that they do not raise a hand, . . . if they abandon the will to take decisive action and turn the wheel of history and thus subject it to their own rational decision; if they are so devoid of all individuality, have already gone so far along the road toward turning into a spiritless and cowardly mass - then, yes, they deserve their downfall. <br /><br />[. . . ] every individual, conscious of his responsibility as a member of Christian and Western civilization, must defend himself against the scourges of mankind, against fascism and any similar system of totalitarianism. Offer passive resistance - resistance - wherever you may be, forestall the spread of this atheistic war machine before it is too late. . . . <br /><br />Do not forget that every people deserves the regime it is willing to endure. [. . . ] <br /><br />Please make as many copies of this leaflet as you can and distribute them. </span></span></blockquote>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"><img src="http://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/White-Rose-1.jpg" height="320" width="220" /></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925" style="font-size: 80%;">This is what the leaflet looked like, page 1 of 2. Just a piece of paper with a bunch of words typed on it. Nothing fancy. But those words are highly charged and dangerous. Across the top it reads, "Leaflet of the White Rose I."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo sourced from <a href="http://flashbak.com/sophie-scholl-and-the-white-rose-rebellion-55957/">Flashbak</a>)</span></div>
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<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Hans and Alex made only about 100 copies of the leaflet, typing each one on a typewriter. They left them in telephone boxes, mailed them to students and professors across Germany, and carried them by train to other towns in the country and left them there.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">I'm not sure who said this, but it was apparently one of the members of the White Rose: </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">"Some of us traveled in civilian clothing, hoping for the best, some with forged travel orders, I myself used false identification papers (my cousin's with whom I shared a certain resemblance). We left the briefcases which contained the leaflets in a different compartment, for luggage was routinely searched. Mostly, however, leaflets were taken by female students who were not subject to such scrutiny."</span></blockquote>
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</ul>
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<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">35 of the first set of pamphlets wound up in the hands of the Gestapo. But the rest reached their intended recipients, some as far away as Austria. And though the Gestapo knew about the leaflets, they could not figure out who was producing them.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Hans' sister Sophie enrolled in the University of Munich, also as a medical student, shortly after the first pamphlet was distributed. She found out about the White Rose group and wanted to join. At first her brother wouldn't allow her to because of the danger, but she persisted. Another friend of theirs, Christoph Probst, also joined at this time.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">They wrote and distributed three more leaflets. Sophie and other young women helped distribute them, since the Gestapo tended not to search women as often as they did men.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Here are more excerpts. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Leaflet Two: </li>
</ul>
<img src="http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/images/Printing%20press%20used%20to%20create%20the%20leaflets.jpg" height="296" width="320" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">By this time the group had got hold of a duplicating machine -- this one, to be exact. It had to be cranked by hand, which they did at night when people were sleeping.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from the <a href="http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/wrleaflets.html">Holocaust Research Project</a>)</span><br />
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</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">If at the start, this cancerous growth in the nation was not particularly noticeable, it was only because there were still enough forces at work that operated for the good, so that it was kept under control. As it grew larger, however, and finally in an ultimate spurt of growth attained ruling power, the tumor broke open, as it were, and infected the whole body. <br /><br /> [. . . ] Now the end is at hand. Now it is our task to find one another again, to spread information from person to person, to keep a steady purpose, and to allow ourselves no rest until the last man in persuaded of the urgent need of his struggle against this system.<br /><br />[. . . ] only by way of example do we want to cite the fact that since the conquest of Poland three hundred thousand Jews have been murdered in this country in the most bestial way. Here we see the most frightful crime against human dignity, a crime that is unparalleled in the whole of history. For Jews, too, are human beings. </span></blockquote>
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<ul>
<li>Leaflet Three:</li>
</ul>
<img src="http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/images/Leaflet3%20page1.JPG" height="320" width="224" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The top of it says it's a Leaflet of the White Rose, III, followed by "Salus publica suprema lex" -- the public good is the supreme law.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from the <a href="http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/wrleaflets.html">Holocaust Research Project</a>)</span><br />
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<ul>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">our present "state" is the dictatorship of evil. "Oh, we've known that for a long time," I hear you object, "and it isn't necessary to bring that to our attention again." But, I ask you, if you know that, why do you not bestir yourselves, why do you allow these men who are in power to rob you step by step, openly and in secret, of one domain of your rights after another?
</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">[. . . ] And now every convinced opponent of National Socialism must ask himself how he can fight against the present "state" in the most effective way:</span></span>
</blockquote>
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</div>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /><i>Sabotage </i>in armament plants and war industries, sabotage at all gatherings, rallies, public ceremonies, and organizations of the National Socialist Party. <i>Sabotage </i>in all the areas of science and scholarship which further the continuation of the war - whether in universities, technical schools, laboratories, research institutions, or technical bureaus. <i>Sabotage </i>in all publications, all newspapers, that are in the pay of the "government" and that defend its ideology and aid in disseminating the brown lie.</span></blockquote>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li> Leaflet Four:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Every word that comes from Hitler's mouth is a lie. When he says peace, he means war, and when he blasphemously uses the name of the Almighty, he means the power of evil, the fallen angel, Satan. His mouth is the foul-smelling maw of Hell, and his might is at bottom accursed.</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">[. . . ] We wish expressly to point out that the White Rose is not in the pay of any foreign power. Though we know that National Socialist power must be broken by military means, we are trying to achieve a renewal from within of the severely wounded German spirit. </span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">[. . . ] To set you at rest, we add that the addresses of the readers of the White Rose are not recorded in writing. They were picked at random from directories. </span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: 80%;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace!</span></span></blockquote>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>After they wrote and distributed these 4 pamphlets, the students reached the end of the school term. The university decided to send its medical/military students to the Russian front to give them experience with treating patients in field hospitals.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>While at the Russian front, the medical students witnessed the fighting conditions, saw the Warsaw Ghetto, saw a group of naked Jews being shot in an open pit, saw Ukrainian soldiers being "hired" to shoot whoever was pointed at for the price of a pack of cigarettes, and you know, just the basic horror show that is war, and this war in particular.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li> Also, another medical student, Willi Graf, met the Scholls and became their friend and, once back at school, joined the White Rose.</li>
</ul>
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<img src="http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/images/Willi%20graf2.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Willi Graf, another member of the White Rose, was 25. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from the <a href="http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/whiterose.html">Holocaust Research Project</a>)</span><br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>When they got back to school in Munich in the fall, they distributed more pamphlets, now with the goal to find more students at more universities to join their cause. Graf was particularly involved in trying to recruit more members from beyond Munich.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In addition to writing and distributing more leaflets, Hans, Alex, and Will also painted graffiti on buildings throughout Munich, which shouted things like </li>
<ul>
<li>Freedom! </li>
<li>Down with Hitler!</li>
<li>Hitler is a Mass Murderer!</li>
<li>and they painted Swastikas with great big cross-outs </li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Again, these things might seem tame to us now, but again, it was extremely dangerous. To paint these things on the walls, one had to do this in public, with the possibility that anyone looking could see and report the matter. The buildings they chose were along a very busy street in the middle of Munich, where the graffiti would be sure to be seen -- and where they might very easily have been seen putting it there. </li>
</ul>
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<img src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VRejQerbKa4/TQmSyos2HtI/AAAAAAAAD3w/25cjsY6UFCg/s1600/sixth%2Bleaflet.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The Sixth Leaflet. The title is translated, "A German leaflet." It was much fancier, and they had managed to make somewhere between 1500 and 1800 copies of it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Sourced from <a href="http://canadiansinafghanistan.blogspot.com/2010/12/sixth-leaflet-of-white-rose-resistance.html">Canadians in Afghanistan</a>)</span><br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The sixth leaflet was the last one written. Hans and Sophie took copies of it to the university in a big suitcase, and they left stacks of them in the hallways for students to find when they came out of class. They still had some left, so Sophie went up to the top floor and, looking down the stairwell atrium, flung them into the air.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The custodian, Jakob Schmid, saw this and called the police. Hans and Sophie were arrested by the Gestapo, and so were the other members of the group.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The members of the White Rose were tried -- if you can call it a trial. A special court, of the kind called "the People's Court" -- I am not kidding -- was convened to hear this case. It was run by Berlin judge Roland Freiser, who was not so much a judge as a screaming prosecutor.</li>
</ul>
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<img src="http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/images/Freisler.jpg" height="227" width="320" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 80%;">"Judge" Roland Freiser, center, at the People's Court in Germany</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from the <a href="http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/whiterose.html">Holocaust Research Project</a>)</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Freiser shouted abuse at the accused, and said he was baffled how young people from such good families could turn out so bad, how could their minds have gotten so warped, etc. Their defense attorney was useless, saying only "Let justice be done."</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Sophie stood up and said, "Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare to express themselves as we did."</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/prisoner-scholl.png" height="162" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The Gestapo's photos of Sophie Scholl, taken February 18, 1943, upon her arrest.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo sourced from <a href="http://flashbak.com/sophie-scholl-and-the-white-rose-rebellion-55957/">Flashbak</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>After 4 hours, the leaders of the group were convicted and sentenced to death. Sophie was led to the guillotine first. (Ladies first? WTH?)</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>"A witness described Sophie as unflinching as she walked to her death. The executioner also remarked that he had never seen someone meet the end of life as courageously as she did."</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Christoph Probst, closest friend of Hans and Sophie, with a wife and three children, and who had helped edit and distribute the leaflets, was next. He shouted, "We will see each other in a few minutes!" before he was executed.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Hans' last words before he was executed were "Long live freedom!"</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Later trials ended with more convictions and executions. Alex Schmorell was turned in by an ex-girlfriend, convicted, and executed. Willi Graf and the Kurt Huber philosophy teacher were also convicted and executed. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>One student who had tried to collect money to support Huber's widow was also arrested and convicted. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Of the primary members of the White Rose, only one survived: Jürgen Wittenstein.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://media.independent.com/img/photos/2015/07/09/Wittenstein-1943.jpg" height="185" width="320" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Jürgen (George) Wittenstein in 1943, taken when he expected to be arrested and executed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo by Wittenstein, sourced from the <a href="http://www.independent.com/news/2015/jul/09/george-jurgen-wittenstein-1919-2015/">Santa Barbara Independent</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Wittenstein was arrested and questioned by the Gestapo. The only reason they let him go was because his army commander who knew him from his compulsory military service intervened on his behalf.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Wittenstein had been the one to alert Hans and Sophie's parents to their arrest, and managed to get them into the prison so they could see their children one last time. Had it not been for Wittenstein, Hans and Sophie's parents would have learned of their children's deaths only after the fact.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Wittenstein later emigrated to the United States, where he attended Harvard and became a practicing and research surgeon, performing complex heart operations, and helping to establish new cardiac facilities at other hospitals.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/projects/whiterose/images/sbnp108__6wittensteinCr350pxw.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Jürgen Wittenstein, in 2010 at age 91, at a reunion held with the two teenagers he helped in 1939. They had left Germany and settled in New York.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from the <a href="http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/projects/whiterose/GeorgeWittenstein.htm">Santa Barbara Independent</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>"When later asked why he risked his life repeatedly, Wittenstein, always
surprised at the question, would answer 'Someone had to do it.'" <br /><i>(from the <a href="http://www.independent.com/news/2015/jul/09/george-jurgen-wittenstein-1919-2015/">Santa Barbara Independent's obituary of Wittenstein</a>, July 2015)</i></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: 80%;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Sources</span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"><i>US News & World Report</i>, <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-17/anonymous-launches-offensive-against-trump">Anonymous Launches Offensive Against Trump</a>, March 17, 2016</span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"><i>Time Magazine</i>, <a href="http://time.com/4264029/donald-trump-anonymous-hacker-social-security-number/">Secret Service Investigating Claims That Anonymous Hacked Donald Trump</a>, March 18, 2016</span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Global Nonviolent Action Database, <a href="https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/white-rose-resistance-hitlers-regime-1942-1943">White Rose Resistance to Hitler's Regime, 1942-1943</a> </span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team, <a href="http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/whiterose.html">The White Rose</a> </span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Jewish Virtual Library, <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/rose.html">Holocaust Resistance: The White Rose - A Lesson in Dissent</a> </span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Spartacus Educational, <a href="http://spartacus-educational.com/GERwittenstein.htm">J</a></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"><a href="http://spartacus-educational.com/GERwittenstein.htm">ürgen Wittenstein</a> and <a href="http://spartacus-educational.com/GERhuberK.htm">Kurt Huber</a> </span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">The United States Holocaust Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia, <a href="https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007188">White Rose</a> </span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">History Is a Weapon, <a href="http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/whiterose.html">The Six Pamphlets of the White Rose Society</a> </span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">Flashbak, <a href="http://flashbak.com/sophie-scholl-and-the-white-rose-rebellion-55957/">Sophie Scholl and the White Rose Rebellion</a>, February 22, 2016 </span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">History.com, <a href="http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nazis-arrest-white-rose-resistance-leaders">Feb 18, This Day in History: Nazis arrest White Rose resistance leaders</a> </span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925">The History Learning Site, <a href="http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/nazi-germany/the-white-rose-movement/">The White Rose Movement</a> </span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"><i>Santa Barbara Independent</i>,</span> <a href="http://www.independent.com/news/2015/jul/09/george-jurgen-wittenstein-1919-2015/">George (Jürgen) Wittenstein: 1919-2015: A Member of WWII’s White Rose</a>, July 9, 2015<br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-4414f459-8674-6298-9710-269dd64bd925"> </span></span>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-34581434916522385492016-03-14T01:55:00.000-04:002016-03-14T01:55:15.179-04:00Apple #729: Political Terminology<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Your Apple Lady has been flummoxed. I've been hard-pressed to find something to talk about that <i>isn't</i> the Presidential primaries. I have some pretty strong opinions about one of the candidates who is running, but I haven't wanted to turn this blog into my personal soapbox. Much as I want to rail against this particular candidate who I think is an anathema who threatens our entire political system to its very core, I think we've heard enough rants for the time being. I also think a little information could be a useful thing.<br />
<br />
[<i>EDIT:</i>] Well, I had some more high-falutin' statements here saying that I would try to be even-handed in my choice of terms and how I handled their definitions. But my biases show through, hard as I tried not to do that. I didn't want to be accused of being just another member of the liberal left-wing media (see "dog whistle" below), but I guess that's just how it's going to be.<br />
<br />
And now, in alphabetical order, I give you the buzzwords of Primaries 2016.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://dailyapple.blogspot.com/2010/11/apple-490-fallacious-arguments.html">AD HOMINEM</a></h3>
<img src="http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Clear_Thinking/Informal_Fallacies/Ad_Hominem/againsttheperson.gif" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Very clear depiction of what happens in an ad hominem response</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Diagram from <a href="http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Clear_Thinking/Informal_Fallacies/Ad_Hominem/ad_hominem.html">Hebrew for Christians</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
Actually, this term itself has gone largely unspoken this campaign season. But we have seen a plethora of examples of it, and more often, a multitude of statements that go beyond ad hominem. The Latin phrase literally means "concerning the man." Once considered a hallmark of a weak debater and the sign of a poorly constructed argument, an ad hominem is a tactic in debate which shifts the focus from the matter at hand and instead attacks the character of the person who has presented the argument.<br />
An ad hominem falls just shy of name-calling. Instead of saying, "I'm not going to bother addressing your point because you're a liar," an ad hominem <i>suggests</i> that the other person is a liar: "You want to know how I would fix our trade agreements? Well, why should I bother answering that, when you said you were going to vote one way on trade but then you later voted another."<br />
<br />
The person has given no answer to the question, which was about trade agreements, but instead turned the topic to be about the trustworthiness of the person who asked the question.<br />
<br />
This tactic can be effective in derailing a question, but it is actually a weak defense. Putting this technique in schoolyard terms, it boils down to, "Oh yeah? Your mother!"<br />
<br />
The kinds of things we've heard in debates over recent months blow right past ad hominem and go straight to the schoolyard insult.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
DEBATE</h3>
<br />
<img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/11/30/opinion/filibusterRFD/filibusterRFD-custom1.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">How actual debates probably should be conducted. As opposed to what's been happening more often in presidential primary debates.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image by André de Loba at the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/12/02/do-filibusters-stall-the-senate-or-give-it-purpose"><i>New York Times</i></a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
There are lots of different kinds of debates.<br />
<br />
First, is the <u>classical debate</u>, in which two people or two teams of people take opposing positions on one subject, such as "the right to bear arms is more important than individuals' safety," or "ice cream is a better dessert than cookies." Each side presents their position in a series of timed Q&A and speeches.<br />
<br />
In the first round, the affirmative position (e.g., "yes, the right to bear arms is more important than individuals' safety") delivers a prepared speech outlining the reasons for that position. Then the negative position (e.g., "no, the right to bear arms is more important than individuals' safety") gets to ask questions of the positive position in an attempt to expose flaws of reasoning in the opponent.<br />
<br />
Then they switch and negative is allowed to give its speech, after which affirmative asks questions of negative. Then they each get the opportunity to rebut (argue specifically against) the other side's position.<br />
<br />
The judge or judges decide the winner based on the strength of the arguments presented, the method of delivery, and in some cases, the ethical position taken by one side over the other.<br />
<br />
Clearly, very different than Presidential debates. <br />
<br />
There is also the <u>debate which takes place in the Senate</u> and the House. When members of Congress are considering whether or not to pass a bill, one of the things they do to determine how to vote is to debate the bill's merits or drawbacks. They debate according to all sorts of rules, including:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>No Senator is allowed to interrupt another Senator without consent.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>No Senator may speak more than twice upon any one question in the same legislative day without permission from the Senate.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>All debate has to be germane and confined to the specific question at hand. (Stick to the point; no diversionary tactics.)</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>No Senator may suggest, directly or indirectly, that another Senator engaged in conduct unbecoming of a Senator. (No insults or name-calling allowed.)</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>When a Senator is called to order, he or she must sit down and not talk again until recognized by the Chair. (If you're out of line, you'll be told to sit down & shut up.)</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>No Senator will call attention to any occupant in the galleries (You can't point out anyone in the audience.) </li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Again, very different than the Presidential debates.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<u>Presidential "debates"</u> -- I'm not sure they should even be called debates, but rather question and answer sessions -- don't adhere to a fixed set of rules. The rules are established by the moderator or the organization hosting the event, and they may change from one event to the next. The amount of time each person is allowed to speak may vary, and whether someone else is called upon to respond to an assassination on his or her character may vary, and how well the moderator is able to control the proceedings may also vary. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
But all sorts of low-blow tactics and discourtesies are allowed and, judging by audience reactions, even encouraged. Interrupting, ad hominems and name-calling, expressions of disgust, and so on, which would never be allowed in actual debates are now common practice. Emphasis on "common." Way to respect the highest office in the land.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
DEMAGOGUE</h3>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<img height="300" src="https://santitafarella.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/100_1755.jpg" width="400" /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Sourced from <a href="https://santitafarella.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/ecstacy-of-the-demagogue-is-vp-pick-sarah-palin-americas-new-william-jennings-bryant/">Prometheus Unbound</a>)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<br />
"A leader who gains popularity by appealing to prejudice and basic instincts. Considered manipulative and dangerous" (from the <a href="http://democracy.org.au/glossary.html#d">Australian Glossary of Political Terms</a>) <br />
<br />
"a person, especially an orator or political leader, who gains power and popularity by arousing the emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people" or as a verb, "to obscure or distort with emotionalism, prejudice, etc." (from <a href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/demagogue?">Dictionary.com</a>)<br />
<br />
"the key thing about demagogues, historically, is that they have been
people who, by way of their very popularity, threaten the populace. They
undermine the stability of a 'by the people' form of government
particularly by turning <i>'</i>the people' against each other. They represent a
danger not just to electoral outcomes or political parties, but to
democracy itself." (from <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/12/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-demagogues/419514/"><i>The Atlantic</i></a>)<br />
<br />
Bad news, in other words.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
DOG WHISTLE</h3>
<br />
<img src="http://www.petmountain.com/photos/product/giant/114420S519838/-/dogit-silent-dog-whistle.jpg" height="320" width="320" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">This particular dog whistle is available from <a href="http://www.petmountain.com/product/remote-training-for-dogs/11442-502679/dogit-high-pitch-dog-whistle-with-ultrasound.html">Pet Mountain</a> for $3.20. But this is not the kind of dog whistle we're talking about here.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Slang.</i> An actual dog whistle, when blown into, emits a sound so high-pitched that people can't hear it, but dogs can. The idea behind the slang is that some trick of language or short-hand buzzword has a particular, often highly-charged, meaning for a sub-group within the larger population, and the intent is that the subgroup will react to the highly-charged unstated meaning.<br />
For example, instead of saying, "You need to be really afraid of black people so we'd better put them in jail," politicians will say instead "We've got to clean up our inner cities." People who are also afraid of black people will not think, oh, that politician means more street-sweepers and trash pick-up and filling in of potholes, but will understand that putting more black people in jail is what is meant.<br />
<br />
Or instead of saying, "I'm scared to death of the legalization of gay marriage, and we have to reverse that at all costs," politicians will say, "We must defend religious freedom." People who are opposed to gay rights will interpret "religious freedom" to mean not actual freedom for all people regardless of what religion they practice, but rather laws that will uphold the cultural adherence against homosexuality held by Christian conservatives.<br />
<br />
Or instead of saying, "I feel really threatened by all these brown-skinned people who are showing up here," politicians will say, "We've got to stop all this illegal immigration." People will read between the lines and assume that the illegal immigrants in question are not coming from Canada or Europe but from Mexico, and that they're all criminals and bad people and terrorists and rapists, and so it's perfectly acceptable and even preferable that we treat them as though they have no rights whatsoever.<br />
<br />
Or instead of saying, "The newspaper is publishing some really terrible things about me, and I want you to discount all that, so I'm just going to call the reporters a bunch of liars," politicians and would-be-media bedazzlers will say, "That's just more claptrap from the mainstream media." People in the know have heard "mainstream media" slammed so many times as being left-wing, biased, and therefore untrustworthy, when they hear "mainstream media" they automatically equate that to "liars." <br />
<br />
Certain candidates who proclaim proudly that they are not politicians don't even bother with the dog whistle but rather come right out with the prejudicial, egregious, and inflammatory statement.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
POPULISM</h3>
<br />
<img src="http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/hist140/images/4/4c/Populism.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120430070008" height="302" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">A course on Latin American History has posted this photo of the crowd supporting Juan Perón in Argentina as an example of populism in action. Elected in response to an oppressive economic situation, Perón did improve his country's economic and political situation for a while. But the Depression happened, Argentina owed boatloads of war debt, and then Perón started firing and having arrested all sorts of people who disagreed with him -- professors, union leaders, and political figures. Things didn't end well.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo sourced from <a href="http://hist140.wikia.com/wiki/Populism">Hist140 Wiki</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
Probably the best definition of this term comes from -- where else? -- the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/populism">Encyclopedia Britannica</a>. I have sampled what seem to be the most cogent bits from its definition.<br />
<br />
"The term <i>populism</i> can designate either democratic or authoritarian movements. It is a political program or movement that champions the common person, usually
by favourable contrast with an elite. Populism usually combines elements
of the left and the right, opposing large business and financial interests but also frequently being hostile to established socialist and labour parties.<br />
<br />
"Populism is typically critical of political representation
and anything that mediates the relation between the people and their
leader or government. In its most democratic form, populism seeks to
defend the interest and maximize the power of ordinary citizens, through
reform rather than revolution.<br />
<br />
"In its contemporary understanding, however, populism is most often associated with an authoritarian
form of politics. Populist politics, following this definition,
revolves around a charismatic leader who appeals to and claims to embody
the will of the people in order to consolidate his own power."<br />
<br />
The definition goes on to refer to Populist politicians who rose to power in Latin America -- Juan Perón and Hugo Chávez, for example -- and who used that power not to be a champion for their people as promised, but rather to line their own pockets, solidify their power, and strangle the voice and the will of the people who elected them.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
SUPERDELEGATES</h3>
<br />
<img src="http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/OnlyObvious/Dems/superdelegates_sac0213cd_zps231gfo1h.jpg" height="310" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">That donkey could also be an elephant, if you know what I mean.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Cartoon sourced from <a href="http://apgovernment2010.yolasite.com/ch9.php">St. John's School AP Government Study Guide Website</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
This term gets used almost exclusively in reference to the Democratic Party, though the Republican Party also has these. But before we talk about superdelegates, let's talk about delegates in general.<br />
In Presidential primary elections, states hold either a caucus or a primary. In a <u>caucus</u>, people physically gather at a meeting-place (a gym, for example), and they physically group together to show their support for a particular candidate. People can try to persuade each other to leave one group and join another. When time is called, whoever has the most bodies grouped together wins. If you don't have a proportionally high enough number in your group, your candidate is out of the race.<br />
<br />
In a <u>primary</u>, people go to the polls to vote. In a closed primary, you must be a member of the Party to choose with candidate you want to go forward. In an open primary, you don't have to be a member of the Party to vote. More states are using primaries rather than caucuses because the vote-counting process is more accurate and verifiable.<br />
<br />
In either a caucus or a primary, though people have voted for a candidate, what happens more immediately is that delegates get assigned. Delegates are party officials who go to the party convention where the party's final candidate for the Presidency is announced. These delegates are acting on behalf of the regular joes who voted in the primaries. So how the delegates get assigned is a bit crucial.<br />
<br />
Democrats assign delegates proportionally. Let's say the state of Alafornowa gets 20 delegates to go to the Democratic convention, and there are 3 candidates for the Democratic nominee.<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Candidate 1 got 50% of the vote</li>
<li>Candidate 2 got 30% of the vote</li>
<li>Candidate 3 got 20% of the vote </li>
</ul>
Delegates would be assigned proportionally: </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Candidate 1 gets 50% of the delegates or 10 people</li>
<li>Candidate 2 gets 30% of the delegates or 6 people</li>
<li>Candidate 3 gets 20% of the delegates or 4 people</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
The Republican Party allows states to choose how they will assign their delegates. Some states are winner-take-all, meaning whichever candidate wins the majority of the popular vote gets all the delegates from that state. Other states assign delegates proportionally. <br />
<br />
Now to this picture we add superdelegates. Superdelegates were created in 1982 when the Democratic National Committee decided that a new group of experienced Party members would go to the 1984 convention "uncommitted" -- that is, not having announced their decision to vote for any particular Party candidate. These Superdelegates would represent about 14% of the Party vote at the convention. The thinking was that these more experienced Democrats would be more moderate and would keep the more passionate, swing-like members from putting forth a candidate that might have a harder time winning the general election. In 1984, what this meant was that the party nominated Walter Mondale as opposed to Jesse Jackson or Gary Hart.<br />
<br />
The superdelegates go to the convention in addition to the delegates that have already been assigned proportionally based on the votes that were cast in the primaries or caucuses. The number of superdelegates today is equal to 20% of the number of delegates that will attend the convention.<br />
<br />
While the Republican Party does not have superdelegates (or at least, they don't use that term), it does send delegates to the convention in addition to those that were assigned based on primaries and caucuses.<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A few are "complete free agents" as the <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/the-g-o-p-s-fuzzy-delegate-math/?_r=0">NYT</a> puts it, and are chosen RNC officials or leaders -- very like the DNC's superdelegates. But some will announce their preference before the convention. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Some delegates are selected by the RNC, unconnected with the popular vote. They are officially not assigned to a particular candidate, but they have been chosen to be a delegate probably because the Party expects them to vote for one candidate in particular. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Some caucuses also choose delegates in addition to and separate from the presidential candidates. These people are also allowed to vote however they like, but in practice they are chosen by the caucus-goers for a known preference for one candidate. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Some primary states, including Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, conduct "loophole primaries" in which voters choose the Presidential candidate and also a group of delegates who are known to support one of those candidates. Same as the caucus-voted-delegates, the loophole primary delegates are chosen by popular vote and are often similar to the way the popular vote goes. These delegates are also not required to vote a certain way, but they tend to vote according to what they've telegraphed before the primary. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I'm not too clear on how many Republican extra delegates there are. In 2012, the RNC had 2,286 total delegates. Of those, 680 were officially unassigned -- about 30% of the total -- and the rest were assigned based on popular votes for candidates. I don't know if the numbers will be exactly the same in 2016, but it's likely they will be. <br />
<br />
If all 30% actually voted any mysterious way they wanted, the RNC could have more superdelegates in play than the Democrats. But it's likely that, since most of the unassigned delegates indicate how they will vote before the convention, there won't be as many delegates whose votes will be unknown beforehand.<br />
<br />
For both the Democratic and Republican Parties, these superdelegates or candidate-unasssigned delegates may play a crucial role in the conventions of both parties. The Republican National Convention is July 18-21 in Cleveland, and the Democratic National Convention is July 25-28 in Philadelphia. I think it's going to be crazy times until then, and probably after then too.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Sources<br />
MIT, <a href="http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/comparative-media-studies-writing/21w-747-classical-rhetoric-and-modern-political-discourse-fall-2009/study-materials/MIT21W_747_01F09_study13.pdf">Lincoln/Douglas Debate Format </a><br />
Todd Hering, Minnesota Debate Teachers Association, <a href="http://old.mdta.org/cgi-bin/mdta/file/Learning/Learning_Classic_Debate.pdf">Learning Classic Debate</a><br />
United States Senate, Committee on Rules & Administration, <a href="http://www.rules.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=RuleXIX">Rules of the Senate, Debate</a><br />
Democracy (Australia), <a href="http://democracy.org.au/glossary.html">Glossary of Political Terms</a> <br />
Urban Dictionary, <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dog%20whistle">dog whistle</a> <br />
The Root, <a href="http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2014/03/_racial_code_words_8_term_politicians_love.html">8 Sneaky Racial Code Words and Why Politicians Love Them</a>, March 15, 2014<br />
Encyclopedia Britannica, <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/populism">Populism</a><br />
CNN, All Politics, Chicago 1996, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/conventions/chicago/facts/rules/index.shtml">Democratic Rules</a><br />
Council on Foreign Relations, <a href="http://www.cfr.org/elections/us-presidential-nominating-process/p37522">The U.S. Nominating Process</a><br />
Vote Smart, Government 101: <a href="https://votesmart.org/education/presidential-primary#.VuZADuYXcvY">United States Presidential Primary</a><br />
Howstuffworks, <a href="http://people.howstuffworks.com/superdelegate.htm">What are superdelegates?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Nate Silver, <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/the-g-o-p-s-fuzzy-delegate-math/?_r=0">The G.O.P.'s Fuzzy Delegate Math</a>,<i> The New York Times,</i> February 25, 2012 </span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-767586528501998062016-02-22T00:24:00.000-05:002016-02-22T00:24:07.956-05:00Apple #728: Elephants<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today I saw a little video on facebook of an elephant picking up a couple pieces of trash and putting them into a trash can. I can't find the video now, no idea where it was filmed or any context for the elephant doing this. But it got me thinking about elephants.<br />
<br />
You may remember an entry I did a while back on <a href="http://dailyapple.blogspot.com/2012/01/apple-565-elephant-feet.html">Elephant Feet</a>. I just re-read that entry, and there's a lot of interesting stuff in there that I had forgotten. Tracts! Varying numbers of toenails!<br />
<br />
Anyway, I really like elephants. Fascinating, and rather marvelous that they've put up with us as long as they have. They're probably the most recognizable animal of all, and we think we know all the basic things there are to know about them. So I want to put together some facts about elephants that maybe you don't already know.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img height="266" src="https://maryhorsburghendangeredearth.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/fam.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">A herd of elephants in the forest. Look how closely together they're all standing. Nobody but nobody is getting past them. African forest elephants are now considered to be a completely separate species than African savanna elephants.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="https://maryhorsburghendangeredearth.wordpress.com/2015/06/19/save-the-forest-elephants/">Endangered Earth</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Just as we are right- or left-handed, elephants are right- or left-tusked. The tusk that the elephant uses more often will be smaller than the other due to wear.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.wildaid.org/sites/default/files/photos/elephants_Peter%20Knights.JPG" height="271" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Looks like that largest elephant is probably left-tusked.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.wildaid.org/elephants">WildAid</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Adult elephants eat 300 to 400 pounds of vegetation per day. They eat
grass and leaves, as I'm sure you know, but they also eat the roots, and
the bark, as well as bamboo and cultivated crops like bananas and sugarcane,
especially if their grasslands have been taken over by farmers.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>An adult elephant drinks 30 to 50 gallons of water per day.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>This is why elephants spend so much of their time on the move, looking for water and vegetation to eat. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxford/styles/ow_content_width/public/media_wysiwyg/Satao%208March14.JPG?itok=SeBmPNfD" height="400" width="386" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Holy bananas, that's an enormous animal. This is Satao, a bull elephant who has coated himself in red dust. Sadly, Satao was killed for his ivory in 2014. Unfortunately, you can't really talk about elephants without talking about the killing-for-ivory.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from Colorado State University, sourced from the <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2014-08-19-100000-african-elephants-killed-three-years">University of Oxford</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Elephants cool themselves off in several ways:</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>their huge ears radiate heat</li>
<li>they spray themselves with water using their trunks</li>
<li>they
coat themselves with dust or mud to protect themselves against sunburn (the dust also helps protect against parasites and insects)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/24/90/37/2490373fbc703c2e3cc3b0a7f2b66571.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Look at that happy bathing elephant.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/484137028665005402/">Pinterest</a>, looks like it was posted by Pat Galipeau in Nepal)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Elephants don't sleep very much. They can lie down to sleep, but not for very long since their internal organs will get crushed by their own body weight, or the weight of their bodies pressing against the ground can get really uncomfortable on, say, the hipbone or the side of the face. So they only sleep lying down for maybe 30 minutes to 1 hour at a time. They lie down on one side, sleep for 30 minutes, get up, then lie down on the other side for another 30. They'll do this for about 4 hours and then they're on the move again, looking for more food.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>They can sleep standing up -- most fully grown elephants only sleep standing up -- but again, not for very long stretches. Sometimes they're being vigilant, or perhaps it's only that they're used to sleeping for short periods of time.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://static.neatorama.com/images/2011-04/elephant-sleep.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Doesn't look very comfortable, does it?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://charliescrib.net/2015/02/28/the-strange-science-of-sleep/">Charlie's Crib</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Elephants are extremely important to their landscape. Not only do they alter it enormously by tearing down tree branches and uprooting trees, but they also disperse the trees' seeds. It is estimated that at least 1/3 of the species of trees in central Africa's forests depend on the elephant to disperse their seeds for them. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Elephants do not like bugs. If an acacia tree is infested with ants, elephants won't eat its branches. This is because they do not want to get ants crawling up their trunk. (Augh! Can you imagine? That would be awful.)</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>They also don't like bees and will avoid beehives. So farmers are now protecting their crops against elephants by establishing beehives along the borders of their farmland. This doubly helps their crops because they get pollinators as well as protection. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The mother elephant carries her elephant baby for 22 months. That's the longest gestation time of any mammal. A calf weighs 200 to 250 pounds at birth and stands 3 feet tall. That means the mother elephant is carrying around a 100-pound baby for over a year.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A baby elephant's trunk has no muscle tone. That means the baby can't use the trunk at all for several months, until it develops those muscles. From birth, it suckles from its mother by mouth.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://wonderopolis.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/herd-of-African-elephants_shutterstock_54180163.jpg" height="266" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Elephants use their trunks like straws when they drink: they suck water partway up their trunks and hold it, then bring their trunks to their mouths and squirt the water in. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/do-elephants-ever-forget/">Wonderopolis</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But the elephant's trunk is pretty much indispensable. Its eyesight is quite poor, but its trunk with its 150,000 muscle parts is profoundly capable. The trunk can grab and pull things with great strength, or it can caress another elephant's face with great gentleness, the trunk can smell food a great distance away, and of course the trunk is the tube through which the elephant trumpets, calls, tweets, and makes those sonic rumbles that are too low for humans to hear, but which the elephants can detect from up to 5 miles away.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The way that elephants detect those rumbles, by the way, is with their feet. The sound travels into their feet, up their legs, and ultimately to the middle ear. They use echolocation, determining how long it takes for the signals to arrive at each of their front feet as an indicator of the distance of the origin of the sound. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>An elephant's sense of smell is extremely sensitive -- they are the best smellers in the animal kingdom. They can smell water from up to 12 miles away.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But it turns out that if an elephant is using its trunk like a hand to hold onto something, that truncates some of its smelling capabilities, and it also keeps the elephant from being able to feel around for the food with the end of its trunk. This is why experiments designed by humans to test elephants' ability to pick up sticks to get to food often were not successful.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://listverse.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/elephant-painter.jpg" height="266" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">I guess this means that the whole time elephants are painting (to please us, mind), they can't smell too well.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://listverse.com/2012/02/24/10-human-attributes-found-in-animals/">Listverse</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Other tests that gave elephants the opportunity to roll objects into position and stand on them like stepstools to reach the food have been much more successful. Recent research of this sort has proven that elephants at least match chimps in terms of use of tools and problem-solving abilities.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Video below shows Kandula, an 8-year-old Asian elephant at the Smithsonian zoo, rolling a cube into place to reach food dangling from above. No one showed him how to do this; he smelled the food, found the cube, and put 2 & 2 together. </span></div>
<div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u5sFxcxoy3Q" width="560"></iframe></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>We have also come to understand that elephants experience and express a wide range of emotions and associated actions -- grief, consolation, stress, depression, joy. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Elephants have been seen inspecting the bones of a dead elephant, snuffling them with their trunks, kicking sand or even laying palm branches over them. They do not do the same thing for the bones of other animals.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>However, after one man who studied and lived with a herd of African elephants died, the herd arrived at his house and demonstrated signs of mourning him.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Females live in highly social herds that cooperate with each other to solve problems, including one instance when a young elephant bounded into the wrong herd and was effectively kidnapped by the new herd. Her original herd banded together to confront the kidnapping herd, and they released her.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Video below shows a baby elephant collapsing in a road and several elephants from its herd coming to help. It looks like the baby elephant is having trouble standing, or something's not right with its balance, and eventually the elephants figure out he needs help on one side, and they support him on that side until he's able to stand and walk off the road. This is one of the things I love about elephants: they're so enormous and powerful, but they can be so gentle with each other.</span><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d-GdNAnVweE" width="560"></iframe> <br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000.IEmJpcgAW0/s/850/850/20080610-africa-02474.jpg" height="265" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">A baby elephant among its herd looks like a pretty good place to be.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Award-winning photo by <a href="http://blaineharrington.photoshelter.com/image/I0000.IEmJpcgAW0">Blaine Harrington</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>About 1 in 3 elephants recognize themselves in a mirror. This may not sound like much, but only about 1 in 5 chimps recognize themselves in a mirror. This suggests that elephants' self-awareness is better than most other mammals'. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Adult males tend to live most of the time on their own, but they are not as completely solitary as people have thought. They often encounter other males on their search for food and water, and they may band together in groups of 12 or 15.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>For more description of the social habits and intelligence of elephants, <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-science-is-in-elephants-are-even-smarter-than-we-realized-video/">this article from <i>Scientific American</i></a> is a good read.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Video below shows Shirley and Jenny, two circus elephants being reunited after 20+ years at an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. Whoever thought there should be bars between them did not know much about elephants. The way they embrace each other with their trunks at the end, you can't tell me that's not love. </span><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lF8em4uPdCg" width="420"></iframe> <br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>And for the big finish: elephants don't actually like peanuts.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Sources<br />
Ferris Jabr, <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-science-is-in-elephants-are-even-smarter-than-we-realized-video/">The Science Is In: Elephants Are Even Smarter Than We Realized</a>, <i>Scientific American, </i>February 26, 2014<br />
<i>Smithsonian</i>, <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/14-fun-facts-about-elephants-14572816/?no-ist">14 Fun Facts About Elephants</a> <br />
World Wildlife Foundation, <a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/elephant">Elephant</a> <br />
Defenders of Wildlife, <a href="http://www.defenders.org/elephant/basic-facts">Basic Facts about Elephants</a> <br />
National Geographic Society, <a href="http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/african-elephant/">African Elephant</a> <br />
African Wildlife Foundation, <a href="http://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/elephant">Elephant</a> <br />
San Diego Zoo Animals, <a href="http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/elephant">Elephant</a> (they have a live elephant cam. As I type this at 11:15 at night, they elephants are walking by.)<br />
Fact Slides, <a href="http://www.factslides.com/s-Elephants">28 Facts About Elephants</a><br />
Modern Ghana, <a href="https://www.modernghana.com/news/331008/1/do-you-know-elephants-stand-to-sleep.html">Do You Know Elephants Stand To Sleep?</a> </span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-12030788366576039222016-02-16T01:37:00.000-05:002016-02-16T01:37:01.281-05:00Apple #727: Supreme Court Justice Nominations<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/14/us/antonin-scalia-death.html?_r=0">The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia</a> has prompted all sorts of speculating and bloviating about how the next Justice should or should not be chosen. In particular, the hot-button question is whether President Obama as an outgoing President should abstain from nominating another Justice and let the next President make the nomination, or if he should proceed with appropriate speed and put forth his nomination as soon as possible.<br />
<br />
This is a hornet's nest of political grandstanding and finger-pointing and barbs of all persuasions. I, your intrepid Apple Lady, am going to don my helmet of information-gathering, enter the hornet's nest, and sort out the fact from the bloviating. Because this is what your Apple Lady does in the name of knowledge.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img height="300" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Oblique_facade_3,_US_Supreme_Court.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The United States Supreme Court. Of the three branches of the US government, this one is my favorite. They wear robes, and they say, Hey, I don't care what you've been doing, from now on, you have to be decent to each other. Most of the time, that's what they say.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Supreme_Court_Building">Wikipedia</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>The most important thing to know about the rules governing the nomination of Supreme Court Justices is there aren't any.</b></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>The only official document that discusses the nomination of judges to the Supreme Court is the US Constitution, and it does so in a dependent clause within a very long sentence about all sorts of nominations the President shall make to all sorts of posts. <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleii">The part pertaining to the Supreme Court</a> is very small, so to get at it you have to elide a bunch of other stuff. And you wind up with this:</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>The President "shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to . . . nominate . . . judges of the Supreme Court. . . ." </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>That's it. The Senate has to advise the President on his or her choice, and the Senate has to agree to that choice. No instruction about how that advice is to be given, or how the agreement is to be made, or anything like that. So a majority of Senate votes determines confirmation.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Tradition and party politics has added complication to the process, but none of those extras is required or mandated by the Constitution or any other legal document.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://simplebooklet.com/userFiles/a/2/7/9/1/4/5/4v9Ch8ECrY2FFsBttBWD0V/YMyovnnF.jpeg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Article II, not shown here in its entirety, but this is where the minimal rule appears about how Supreme Court judges are chosen.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image from <a href="http://simplebooklet.com/publish.php?wpKey=4v9Ch8ECrY2FFsBttBWD0V#page=0">Simplebooklet</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>There is no rule that says nominations must be made within a certain amount of time after a vacancy on the Court opens.</b></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>One thing that I thought would be a consideration is that you might not want to have a seat on the Court to be vacant for very long. But there is no rule that says the vacancy can't last for a certain amount of time. The vacancy could theoretically be indefinite.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>In case you're interested, statute dictates that the Supreme Court
convenes the first Monday in October and continues sessions until late
June or early July (the term is actually supposed to continue until the day before the first Monday in October, but the judges typically get through their caseload by July). So this opening has occurred in mid-session. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>There is no rule that says the Court cannot convene with an empty seat.</b></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>If a seat is not filled, does that put the Supreme Court on hold? Can they hear cases and make decisions with less than their usual 9 judges? </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>The short answer: yup.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Rules established by the US Code say there must be a quorum, which is 2/3 of the total participants, which is therefore 6. So they could still decide cases with 1 seat empty.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>In 1971, there were 2 seats empty after John Marshall Harlan resigned and Hugo L. Black died. Before that, there were 2 vacancies in 1957. One of those 2 seats was vacant for several months, after the resignation of Justice Sherman Minton.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/highsm/12500/12515v.jpg" height="316" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Inside the US Supreme Court. Imposing, isn't it?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2011630709/">Library of Congress</a>. I'd just like to point out that Getty is selling this exact same photo with their name on it and charging people to use it.)</span><br />
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>In fact, the number of judges seated on the Supreme Court has fluctuated over the years. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>The Judiciary Act of 1789 established that there would be 6 judges (5 associates and 1 chief). Subsequent acts of Congress that changed the total number of judges are as follows:</li>
<li>1807: 7</li>
<li>1837: 9</li>
<li>1863: 10</li>
<li>1866: 7 (and prevented then-President Andrew Johnson from making any appointments) </li>
<li>1869: 9</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>If Congress decided on a number other than 9, quorum would therefore also be a different number.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>So there's nothing that says President Obama (or any President) must nominate a new Justice within a certain time-frame.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>There is no rule that says an outgoing President cannot nominate a Justice in the last months of his or her term, but must leave that privilege to his or her successor.</b></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>This is the hot-button issue at the moment. A lot of politicians who are not fans of President Obama and who think his nominee would be someone whose political positions they also dislike have been maintaining that, because our current President is in the waning months of his 8-year-elected term, he should not be allowed to nominate someone. Or should be discouraged from doing so. Or should not have his nominee considered. Etc.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>I haven't read all the articles that take this position, but I suspect they are doing so on the basis of what is known as the "Thurmond Rule."</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>In 1968, Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) made the statement that a judicial nominee should not be confirmed in the months prior to an election. He said this in the context of, and as one rationale for, blocking the confirmation of LBJ's nominee Abe Fortas to be promoted from an associate Justice to Chief Justice. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>In fact, the majority of the arguments made against the confirmation of Fortas had to do with objections on the basis of his religion/ethnicity (he was Jewish), concerns about his ethical position, and concerns that he made decisions that were too consistently liberal, and that he was politicizing the Court. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/docs/2013/thurmond.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.). A guy who said some stuff. Including the longest filibuster on record, against the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo sourced from <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/lists/longest_filibusters/strom_thurmond.html">Real Clear Politics</a>)</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Regardless of the primacy(or lack thereof) of the Thurmond Rule at the time, it has been invoked since then as though it were some regulation that must be adhered to. But it isn't actually a rule, nothing has ever been codified or signed into law. It's just something that one Senator said should be a practice.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Since this statement has never been codified or signed into law, no particulars have been set as guidelines. Within how many months before the end of the sitting President's term does this "rule" come into play? Is it only when the President becomes a lame-duck? If so, that does not apply here, since an office-holder only becomes a lame duck when his or her replacement has been elected. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Furthermore, politicians invoke the "rule" when it benefits them and they argue against it when it doesn't. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li> <a href="https://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/statement-of-senator-patrick-leahy-d-vt-ranking-member-senate-ju2diciary-committee-on-judicial-nominations">Patrick Leahy (D-Vt)</a>: In July 2008, the Senate Republican caucus held a hearing solely
dedicated to arguing that the Thurmond Rule does not exist. At that
hearing, the senior Senator from Kentucky stated: “<b>I think it’s clear
that there is no Thurmond Rule. And I think the facts demonstrate
that</b>.” Similarly, the Senator from Iowa, my friend who is now serving
as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, stated at that hearing that the
Thurmond Rule was in his view “plain bunk.” He said: “The reality is
that the Senate has never stopped confirming judicial nominees during
the last few months of a president’s term.” That was certainly the case
when Democrats were in the majority in the last two years of the George
W. Bush administration. I served as Chairman of the Judiciary
Committee then, and I can tell you that Senate Democrats confirmed 22 of
President Bush’s judicial nominees in the second half of 2008. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>Interestingly, on another occasion, Leahy himself apparently argued exactly the opposite, that there is a Thurmond Rule, and it should be upheld. Because in 2004 <a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/595078786/Griffith-to-miss-Demos-deadline.html">Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) responded</a>: "<b>There is no 'Thurmond Rule,' " Hatch said</b> about Leahy's contention
that the committee since Thurmond led it has shut down confirmations
after the first party convention in an election year. "Strom Thurmond unilaterally on his own . . . when he
was chairman could say whatever he wanted to, but that didn't bind the
whole committee, and it doesn't bind me," Hatch said. "He (Leahy) raises the 'Thurmond rule' to remind us
that Sen. Thurmond, who was inconsistent in applying his own ideas,
should bind the whole committee, but it doesn't," he said. "To make a long story short, we're going to keep on
pushing ahead on judges and hopefully get a number of them through
before the end of the year," Hatch said.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>I have every confidence that a scrutiny of the remarks made by several Senators from either party will reveal arguments in favor of or against the Thurmond Rule, depending on whether that position happens to benefit that Senator's party at the time.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>In other words, politicians use it as an excuse, or an expedient. It is not a law or even a rule that must be followed.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Anyone who argues that the Thurmond Rule has been followed in the past, and therefore should be followed now, is ignoring history. Election-year nominations in the 20th century are as follows:</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>Mahlon Pitney, nominated by William Taft on March 13, 1912, and confirmed March 18, 1912</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>Louis Brandeis, nominated by Woodrow Wilson on January 28, 1916, and confirmed June 1, 1916</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>John Clarke, nominated by Woodrow Wilson on July 14, 1916, and confirmed July 24, 1916</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>Benajmin Cardozo, nominated by Herbert Hoover on February 15, 1932, and confirmed February 24, 1932</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>Frank Murphy, nominated by FDR on January 4, 1940, and confirmed January 16, 1940</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>Anthony Kennedy, nominated by Ronald Reagan on November 30, 1987, confirmed February 3, 1988</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>There is no rule that says the nomination cannot be made while the Senate is in recess.</b></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>In fact, if the President wanted to, he could wait until the Senate is not in session and nominate whoever he wants.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>In fact, the only other rule about the Supreme Court nomination process that the Constitution does state is that a nomination CAN be made while the Senate is in recess. Also from <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleii">Article II</a>: </li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>"The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen
during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall
expire at the end of their next session."</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Recesses used to last a lot longer, in the 1700s and 1800s, when it took Senators much longer to get to D.C., and then they'd want to go home to be with their families. So it was a bigger deal if a vacancy opened up in a key post while they were home plowing their fields or writing their memoirs or whatever they were doing. So the Constitution allowed for the President at least to get someone in position while the Senate was away. Then when the Senate came back in session, that temporary appointment would expire. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Usually the President would ask, once the Senate was back in session, if they'd approve the nomination of that temporary appointee to a full term for real. When this happened in the Supreme Court, in every case but 1, the Senate agreed to the lifetime appointment. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Recesses are now much shorter. The Senate gets weekends off, and they get a week or two off here & there. They have this week off, actually, and they get a couple weeks off at the end of March, and another week off at the beginning of May. You know, around the major holidays.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>It would be legally allowed for President Obama to appoint a a new Justice while the Senate is having a recess. But the appointment would only last for the week or two of the Senate's absence. Historically, that appointment would probably have been confirmed. But given today's political climate, the Senate would probably be so mad he did that, they'd reject the nominee even if it was Oliver Wendell Holmes himself--and with vitriol.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>There is no rule that says the Justice has to have been born in the United States.</b></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>There can be no "birther" objections here.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<img src="http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/5-decision/images/frankfurter-lg.jpg" height="400" width="313" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Austrian-born Justice Felix Frankfurter told the Senators on his nomination committee that “a nominee’s record should be thoroughly scrutinized by the
committee,” but the nominee should take no part in that
scrutiny. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo via <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/5-decision/detail/felix-frankfurter.html">Separate Is Not Equal</a>)</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>There is no rule that says the Justice has to have a certain level of qualification or education.</b></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li> A Supreme Court Justice doesn't even have to have a law degree. But every judge who has sat on the Court has had a law degree. That is the only thing all the Supreme Court Justices have in common.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>There is no rule that says the Justice must be a particular age.</b></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>The youngest Justice was Joseph Story who was 32 when he was appointed. The oldest Justice was Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., who was 90 when he retired. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I think you get the point, how few rules govern the nomination of Supreme Court Justices. But one other point caught my eye: <b>There is no rule that says a nominee must answer a Senate committee's questions. </b></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Justices are not supposed to be politicians. They are supposed to make decisions based on the rule of law, not based on anything to do with party platforms or vote-garnering or anything like that. In fact, the American Bar Association's Code of Conduct stipulates that they're not supposed to make political statements: judges“shall not make . . . statements that commit or appear to commit
the candidate with respect to cases, controversies or issues that are
likely to come before the court.”</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>This applies to any judge being considered for any office. Many state codes of conduct have adopted this same language.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Because judges are allowed and even encouraged to avoid making political statements, Supreme Court nominees are not even required to appear at the Senate Judiciary committee hearings to determine their confirmation. They could skip the whole clown show if they wanted to.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The upshot: President Obama can nominate whoever he chooses, if he wants to. But he doesn't have to nominate anybody if he doesn't want to. It's up to him, as the elected President of the United States to decide whether or not to nominate someone. And if people don't like that decision, well, I guess they'll have to reject his nominee, or re-write the Constitution. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<br />
<img height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Seal_of_the_United_States_Supreme_Court.png" width="200" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">E pluribus unum, baby.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image sourced from <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seal_of_the_United_States_Supreme_Court.pnghttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seal_of_the_United_States_Supreme_Court.png">Wikimedia</a>) </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Cornell University Law School, Legal Information Institute, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleii">U.S. Constitution, Article II</a> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">USHistory.org, <a href="http://www.ushistory.org/gov/9d.asp">How Judges and Justices Are Chosen</a> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Leadership Conference, <a href="http://www.civilrights.org/judiciary/courts/nominations.html">Federal Judicial Nomination Process</a> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Congressional Research Service, <a href="http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/50146.pdf">Supreme Court Appointment Process: Roles of the President, Judiciary Committee, and Senate</a>, July 6, 2005</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Congressional Research Service, <a href="https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44234.pdf">Supreme Court Appointment Process: Debate and Confirmation Vote</a>, October 19, 2015 </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Supreme Court of the United States, <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/about/procedures.aspx">The Court and Its Procedures</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Supreme Court of the United States, <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/ctrules/2007rulesofthecourt.pdf">Rules of the Supreme Court of the United States</a> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://grprofessionals.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2016-Senate-Schedule.pdf">2016 Senate Calendar</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">SCOTUS Blog, <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/02/supreme-court-vacancies-in-presidential-election-years/">Supreme Court vacancies in election years</a>, February 13, 2016 </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">United States Senate, <a href="http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/reference/nominations/Nominations.htm">Supreme Court Nominations, present-1789</a> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Tom Curry, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6694744/#.VsEve-YXcvZ">A guide to the Supreme Court nomination</a>, NBCNews, November 5, 2005</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19711023&id=u9ZjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eH8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6976,5394766&hl=en">How Court Posts Are Filled</a>, <i>The Desert News,</i> October 23, 1971</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">History.com, <a href="http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/7-things-you-might-not-know-about-the-u-s-supreme-court">7 Things You Might Not Know About the U.S. Supreme Court</a>, October 8, 2013</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Alliance for Justice, <a href="http://www.afj.org/blog/judicial-confirmations-in-2016-the-myth-of-the-thurmond-rule">Judicial Confirmations in 2016: The Myth of the Thurmond Rule</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Lee Davidson, <a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/595078786/Griffith-to-miss-Demos-deadline.html">Griffith to miss Demos' deadline</a>, <i>The Desert News</i>, July 21, 2004</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">US Senator Patrick Leahy website, <a href="https://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/statement-of-senator-patrick-leahy-d-vt-ranking-member-senate-ju2diciary-committee-on-judicial-nominations">Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee, On Judicial Nominations</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The New York Times</i>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/07/obituaries/ex-justice-abe-fortas-dies-at-71-shaped-historic-rulings-on-rights.html?pagewanted=all">EX-JUSTICE ABE FORTAS DIES AT 71; SHAPED HISTORIC RULINGS ON RIGHTS</a>, April 7, 1982</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Politico Magazine, <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/02/scalia-republicans-abe-fortas-precedent-beware-213640">Republicans, Beware the Abe Fortas Precedent,</a> February 15, 2016</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-71264069403734206692016-01-31T19:12:00.002-05:002016-01-31T19:18:47.513-05:00Apple #726: Honeydew Melon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
Let's talk about Honeydew.<br />
<br />
I know, it's the blah placeholder in hotel and restaurant fruit salads. I know it's filler. I know that its blah-ness has annoyed people to the point of outrage. <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/kirstenking/this-fruit-is-garbage#.tvoO1kYz4">Kirsten King on BuzzFeed</a> said, "It's about time we acknowledge the havoc honeydew melon is wreaking on all of our lives."<br />
<br />
(No hyperbole there.)<br />
<br />
<img src="http://producegeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/081610honeydew.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Honeydew melon. Not actually wreaking havoc on anyone's life, and actually capable of being delicious.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://producegeek.com/2010/08/eat-this-now-081610/">ProduceGreek</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<br />
King goes further, saying, "honeydew has this magic* ability to stay unripe [This, by the way, is categorically untrue] and taste like you're biting into a ball of spa-flavored Styrofoam." Her asterisk takes you to another asterisk which says "*shitty". <br />
<br />
Then she puts gigantic capital red letters over various stock photos of people, shouting things like, PUT HONEYDEW IN MY SALAD AND I WILL CUT U. Over a picture of a couple happily eating fruit salad on a beach balcony she wrote, FINDS HONEYDEW IN SALAD, GETS DIVORCE.<br />
<br />
OK, that last one is funny.<br />
<br />
The point is, people are annoyed by honeydew. I get it. I've lost patience with it too -- in those crappy pre-made fruit salads. Even <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/upshot/that-honeydew-melon-looks-good-but-does-anyone-eat-it.html?_r=1"><i>The New York Times</i></a> is fed up with honeydew (or maybe just Josh Barro at the NYT): "Every time I see a fruit platter at a hotel or a conference, I ask
myself the same question: Where does all this honeydew melon come from,
and does anyone actually want to eat it?"<br />
<br />
Dawn Eisner, who used to be head of the buffet at the Radisson Plaza in Kalamazoo, Michigan (rather an odd source for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/upshot/that-honeydew-melon-looks-good-but-does-anyone-eat-it.html?_r=1">Barro's article</a>, but OK), said, “Nobody eats the green melon.” So why even serve it? “It looks nice next to watermelon, cantaloupe and pineapple.”<br />
<br />
In other words, who cares what it tastes like? It looks good. That's its sole purpose on the plate. Can you imagine the aneurysm Tom Colicchio would have if he heard such a statement?<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://images1.dallasobserver.com/imager/u/original/7024492/tom_colicchio1.jpg" height="400" width="300" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">"You put something on the plate just for looks? And you don't care how it tastes? That's criminal." </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo of Chef Tom Colicchio from Bravo, sourced from the <a href="http://www.dallasobserver.com/restaurants/before-his-super-bowl-return-tom-colicchio-talks-about-changes-in-kitchen-at-craft-dallas-7024493">Dallas Observer</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
One sentence tucked into the midriff of Barro's article says, "Partisans emphasized to me the importance of finding the <i>right</i>
honeydew melon; under their theory, those of us who think we dislike
honeydew are just scarred from all the hotel breakfasts and conference
buffets where it is served underripe and out of season."<br />
<br />
This theory is correct.<br />
<br />
Ladies and gentlemen, don't blame the melon. In fact, never blame the fruit. Just as rock-hard <a href="http://dailyapple.blogspot.com/2012/08/apple-600-peaches.html">underripe peaches sold in chain grocery stores across the country are giving peaches everywhere a bad name</a>, so too are these hunks of underripe honeydew dumped into piles of fruit that lazy-ass hoteliers and cheap-ass restaurant owners want to call a fruit salad. That is not fruit salad. That is a bowl of laziness and food maltreatment that they want you to <i>think</i> is fruit salad. That's somebody trying to work a Jedi mind trick on you and failing miserably.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://c7.alamy.com/comp/B4F8E5/florida-orlando-international-drive-the-peabody-orlando-hotel-b-line-B4F8E5.jpg" height="294" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The hotel & restaurant miserable fruit cup. Giving a bad name to good fruit everywhere.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Yes, this is a stock photo that I did not pay for. That's what these lousy fruit cups are worth. And what the heck is that meat on the plate? From <a href="http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-florida-orlando-international-drive-the-peabody-orlando-hotel-b-line-20004941.html">alamy</a>.)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
Think about it. Fruit is nature's sugar-enticement. Fruit is intentionally designed to make you want to eat it. That plant's continued survival depends on you eating its fruit and fertilizing its seeds. It is a matter of life and death for that plant that it must taste good. If a fruit doesn't taste good, nobody eats it, the plant dies.<br />
<br />
By serving these lousy, underripe, half-frozen, tasteless hunks of what never had the chance to become full-fledged honeydew, wedding caterers and buffet managers everywhere are contributing to the death of a species -- <i>Cucumis melo,</i> to be exact.<br />
<br />
So, let's get to some truths about honeydew melon and maybe we can rescue it -- and ourselves -- from perdition.<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Honeydew was first grown in the tropics of West Africa, and then the French discovered it. They cultivated it in southern France and most particularly in Antibes. The name of the cultivar that we now grow in California and Arizona is called the White Antibes.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<img src="http://www.sunhatfrance.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Antibes.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Antibes in southern France is on the coast of the Mediterranean between Cannes and Nice. Napoleon lived here for a while, at first by choice and then in prison. For centuries, this has been a favorite spot for celebrities, everyone from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Madonna. You think these people are going to eat lousy melons, or do you think they're going to eat some of the most delicious melon in the world?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.sunhatfrance.com/miscellaneous/biot-and-antibes/">SunHat France</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Honeydew is also popular in China. It was an American who introduced honeydew to the Chinese -- finally, something we brought to them instead of the other way around. It was a former US Secretary of Agriculture, Henry A. Wallace, who had founded his own seed company, Pioneer Hi-Bred, who gave seeds of the honeydew to some Chinese planters when he was there on a visit.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Let's put that in perspective too. A guy who had been in charge of the entire US Department of Agriculture, who knows all the good stuff that can be grown in this country, and starts his own seed company, gives what to the Chinese? Honeydew. "I think this is good and I think you'll like it too" -- and he's saying that about honeydew.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In China, honeydew are sometimes called Wallace melons, after the guy who gave them the seeds.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>(Wallace went on to become Vice President of the United States under FDR.)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.cherrygal.com/images/Honeydew1.jpg" height="300" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Honeydew grow on the ground among vines, like their relatives the cantaloupe and pumpkin and cucumber. It is possible to grow them off the ground on trellises, but the melons get so heavy, it's best to support them with <a href="http://www.botanical-journeys-plant-guides.com/images/nettedmelon.jpg">specially-made slings</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.cherrygal.com/melonhoneydewheirloomseeds2014-p-13167.html">Cherry Gal</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A lot of people say if they're going to eat melon, they'd prefer to eat cantaloupe rather than honeydew. I think they think the cantaloupe is sweeter. But in nutritional terms, honeydew & cantaloupe are the same. Same amount of sugar per slice, same amount of calories. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Cantaloupe is also often victim to being served underripe or cut too close to the rind. But since it's easier to tell when you're doing that to cantaloupe, because the flesh of the melon will be an obvious green versus orange, that doesn't happen as often as it does with honeydew. Even so, a lot of places do serve green-edged cantaloupe.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="https://www.citiclean.com/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Ripe-Melon-small.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">If you look closely, you can see that the edges of the cut chunks of this melon are green. This is a major violation in melon-eating. If you get a fruit cup and it's got cantaloupe with green corners on it like this, send it back. Don't stand for this unripe melon business anymore!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="https://www.citiclean.com/Blog/how-to-know-when-a-cantaloupe-is-ripe/">CitiClean</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In fact, those green corners on cantaloupe are, to me, the bellweather indicator for how good or lousy a fruit salad is going to be. If I see those green corners in a container of fruit, I won't buy it. Somebody doesn't care enough to get the cantaloupe right, they're probably not going to get anything else in the salad right either.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Even if they did get the cantaloupe right, they probably didn't get the honeydew right. One of the ways they may have gotten honeydew wrong is they may have frozen it. This is just outright idiocy, but some people do it.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Don't freeze the honeydew. You might as well suck all the flavor right out of it and call it a sponge. There's no resurrecting it after it's been frozen.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>More often, people serve honeydew when it's just plain not ripe. To be fair, it is not always easy to tell if a honeydew is ripe. Here are some of the indicators to look for:</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>The outside skin should be a creamy, near-yellow color.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>If it's white, it's not ripe</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>The skin should feel almost waxy, not fuzzy.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>The melon should feel really heavy when you pick it up. (The cashier said after she'd bagged my honeydew, "Feels like you got a head in there." And no, I do not mean the dirty pun -- either of them.)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Press the round spot on either end of the melon. (I think of this as the fontanelle.) It should give a little to pressure. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Run your hand over the surface of the melon. If you can distinguish fine wrinkling, it's ready. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Smell it. If you don't smell anything, it's not ripe. If you smell the soft scent of melon, it's ready. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>If the outside is creamy-colored but it's dinged up and looking a little bruised, it's probably overripe. But if you're going to eat the whole thing today and every other melon is not even close to being ripe, that might be the best choice in the bin.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The Produce Guy says the honeydew is probably the easiest melon to tell when it's ripe, but interestingly enough, he kind of gets his selection wrong in this video. His method (45 seconds in) is to wet his thumb & wipe it off on his clothes to remove the oils present in his skin, and then rub his thumb on the outer surface of the melon. He says if it squeaks, the melon is ripe. In my opinion, there are a lot of reasons why this method could produce faulty results, and it looks like that's what happened in this instance.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fxPeQKFURGY" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Something else to consider is the time of year. Honeydew <i>does</i> have a season, in spite of the fact that it seems to be always present in produce sections and fruit cups all year long. Honeydew are best at the end of summer, beginning of September. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The good news is, once you get a honeydew home from the store, it will continue to ripen at room temperature. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I just want to highlight this statement because it directly contradicts Kirsten King's hyperbolic and crude and factually incorrect remark that honeydew have some magic ability to stay unripe. In fact, honeydew are the <i>only </i>type of melon that will ripen after it's been picked, even if it has been picked way too early.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Since most melons (and most fruit in general) that are sold in grocery stores are sold in a very underripe state, it may take a couple days before your honeydew is fully ready.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>If you want it to ripen faster, put the honeydew in a paper bag. This will trap the chemicals the fruit emits during the ripening process, and you'll hasten ripening maybe by about a day's worth or so.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>If you want to delay ripening, or keep your ripe melon from becoming too ripe, that's when you put it in the refrigerator. But in most cases, once you've got your melon home, refrigeration won't be necessary.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>After you cut it open, then you'll want to refrigerate it.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://everydayhealthyeverydaydelicious.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Lusciously-Ripe-Honeydew-Melon-1.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">This honeydew is overripe. See how the flesh has turned dark in places, almost to a liquid? You could still use this, I suppose, but the flavor will be a
little off, not quite as light and delightful as it should be.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo from <a href="http://everydayhealthyeverydaydelicious.com/agua-fresca-simply-refreshing/">Everyday Healthy! Everyday Delicious!</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;"><img src="http://everydayhealthyeverydaydelicious.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Cubed-Honeydew-Melon-featured-image.jpg" height="115" width="400" /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Here's the overripeness in cube form. The points on some of these chunks are kind of a yellowish-green. They've gone too soft, almost pithy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://everydayhealthyeverydaydelicious.com/agua-fresca-simply-refreshing/">Everyday Healthy! Everyday Delicious!</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;"><img src="http://www.auntmids.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Honeydew.png" height="267" width="400" /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Also not what you want to see in cubed honeydew. Pale, almost white, no juicy glisten, unripe tough green at the corners. Unappetizing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.auntmids.com/food-service-products/">Aunt Mid's</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;"><img src="http://www.freshstartfoods.com/east/productpics/5029.jpg" height="278" width="400" /> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">This is what cubed honeydew should look like. Mostly green, glistening with juice, firm but with a little bit of softness at the part where the seeds grew. Much more appealing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.freshstartfoods.com/east/pages/cashopdisplayproducts.asp?mcat=PRE-CUT+FRUIT+AND+VEGETABLES&cat=HONEYDEWS">Fresh Start Foods</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>When you cut open your honeydew, scoop out the seeds only from the part you're going to eat. Leave the seeds in the other portion, wrap it snugly in plastic wrap, and put that in the fridge. The seeds will help the melon stay a little fresher longer.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Once you've scooped out the seeds from the part you're going to eat, when you cut away the rind, aim for about 1/4 inch away from the rind. You don't want to cut too close to the peel because the flesh tends to be tougher there and have less flavor. That tougher flesh also looks whiter than the rest of the melon, so cut off whatever looks white and keep what looks green.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>(That's another thing the Produce Guy got wrong; he cut way too close to the rind.)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://i0.wp.com/www.fitbrains.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/honeydew_melon.jpg?resize=400%2C300" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">See how the flesh of the cut melon gets lighter right next to the rind? That's what you want to cut away. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.fitbrains.com/blog/recipe-melon-slices/">fit brains</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>You can eat every part of the honeydew, by the way. The <a href="https://goodbadgirlpreserves.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/807/">rind can be pickled</a> and the <a href="http://vanessachamberlin.com/2012/05/31/roasted-honeydew-seeds/">seeds you can roast</a>, the same way you do with pumpkin seeds.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>As with any fruit, you can assist the flavor of the cut honeydew by sprinkling it with sugar and lemon juice. Let it sit in the sugar & lemon for a bit, and it will start to break into the fruit and release more flavor. Chefs call this "macerating" the fruit, which sounds either violent or sexual. But it's only lemon juice & sugar. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>If the fruit is fully ripe, that shouldn't be necessary. The fruit should be juicy & sweet enough on its own. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>All that should pay off with this: the taste of a ripe, delicious, juicy honeydew. When you cut into the melon, juice will run out and you'll be able to smell its light, sweet fragrance. When you bite into a piece, it will be soft and giving, and the taste will be somewhat delicate but still sweet, with a kind of light green lusciousness. It has almost a pear-like texture but without the graininess. It will be smooth, cool, juicy, delightful, sweet, lovely, and lush.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Now<i> that's</i> a honeydew.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<img src="http://rampages.us/palesisa/wp-content/uploads/sites/2548/2014/10/Honeydew1-1024x682.jpg" height="266" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">I got a honeydew from the store today, knowing I was going to do this entry. I'm going to go downstairs right now and see if it's ripe.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://rampages.us/palesisa/2014/10/16/honeydew-melon-as-sweet-as-it-sounds-by-anthony-palesis/">Food for Thought</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
P.S. I almost forgot to tell you my favorite honeydew joke!<br />
What did the two melons say to each other?<br />
"Sorry, dear, I cantaloupe."<br />
"Oh, honeydew."<br />
Ba-dum-ching!<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Sources<br />
Josh Barro, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/upshot/that-honeydew-melon-looks-good-but-does-anyone-eat-it.html?_r=1">That Honeydew Melon Looks Good, but Does Anyone Eat It?</a> <i>The New York Times, </i>August 2, 2014 <br />
WebMD, <a href="http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/honeydew-7-healthy-facts">Honeydew: 7 Fun Facts</a><br />
University of Arizona, Collecge of Agrciulture and Life Sciences, <a href="https://cals.arizona.edu/fps/sites/cals.arizona.edu.fps/files/cotw/Honeydew.pdf">Honeydew Melons</a> (use to this source with caution; there are a lot of contradictory and even incorrect statements here) <br />
Tucson Community Supported Agriculture, <a href="http://www.tucsoncsa.org/2011/09/about-honeydew-melons/">About Honeydew Melons</a> </span></div>
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 80%;">ProduceGreek, <a href="http://producegeek.com/2010/08/eat-this-now-081610/">Eat This Now for the Week of 8/16/10</a> <br />
SFGate, <a href="http://homeguides.sfgate.com/melons-ripen-once-picked-66366.html">Do Melons Ripen Once They Are Picked?</a></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-28619120723541208352016-01-25T00:20:00.001-05:002016-01-25T00:20:15.428-05:00Apple #725: Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've had a request! Daily Apple reader Millicent wants to know, in short, what's the deal with stinkbugs. She said:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What is up with so-called stink bugs? I just moved one out of the house yesterday, not handling it directly but with a Bounty paper towel, and my hands still stunk afterwards. A friend and I were talking about them this weekend, and we both think that these bugs weren't around--certainly not in these numbers--even ten years ago. </blockquote>
<br />
I'm a little surprised that Millicent discovered one of these bugs in her house in January, because I'm willing to bet that, like <a href="http://dailyapple.blogspot.com/2015/05/apple-711-do-ladybugs-bite.html">ladybugs</a>, they hunker down and sleep for the winter and emerge in spring. I'm also willing to bet an enormous amount of money that these are a non-native species that arrived here recently and have no predators, and that's why they're suddenly everywhere. Ten thousand dollars, that's what I'll bet.<br />
<br />
I asked Millicent to send me a picture of the bug she saw because often the common name one person has for a bug is different than another person's common name, so I wanted to make sure I was going to talk about the bug she meant.<br />
<br />
She sent me a link to a general Google search page for "stink bug," so I am 95% certain that the particular stink bug she saw is the Brown Marmorated Stink bug.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/3d8c54954660338292c9352fe1d88a33ba8a04a0/c=145-6-1427-971&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/USATODAY/GenericImages/2013/10/10/1381439295000-Brown-Marmorated-Stink-Bug-L0O9225.jpg" height="240" width="320" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The stink bug in question -- Brown Marmorated, that is.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo by Thomas V. Myers, National Pest Management Association, sourced from <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/10/12/stink-bug-weather/2961425/">USA Today</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
And it turns out, your Apple Lady is correct on all points. I'll take that $10,000 now, please.<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>There are some 4,700 stink bug species in the world, and about 250 of them are native to the US and Canada. We never paid much attention to any of them because they weren't here in hordes. Then the Brown Marmorated stink bug (<i>Halyomorpha halys</i>) showed up.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The Brown Marmorateds are native to several countries in Asia -- China, Japan, Korea (North and South, presumably), and Taiwan. They made their first recorded appearance in the United States in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1998. It is presumed that they traveled here on some sort of shipping container.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Billy Joel should probably write another verse about the stinkbugs showing up in Allentown.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BHnJp0oyOxs" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>This species of stinkbug does have predators that are native to the US and Canada -- other types of stink bugs, assassin bugs (yes, there is such a thing), and parasites that feed on their eggs. But these predators also prey on several other bug species, so there aren't enough of them to tackle the ever-expanding Brown Marmorated population.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>They have now been sighted in at least 40 states, and in very high numbers in 19 of those 40.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>They pretty much eat everything. They like just about every kind of fruit that grows on a tree -- citrus fruits, apples, peaches, plums, mulberries, persimmons, figs, you name it they eat it -- plus sweet corn and field corn, ornamental trees, soybeans, lima beans -- pretty much every kind of bean -- green peppers, and weeds.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>They will poke a straw-like appendage through the skin of the fruit and suck up the sap, leaving behind clusters of brownish white badness. Some people say the damage they leave behind is often in the shape of a cat face, but I think those people are a little creative with their visualizations.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<div>
<br />
<img src="http://ento.psu.edu/images/SB-1300c.jpg/image_full-width" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Damage to an apple caused by the pernicious Brown Marmorated stink bug.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/brown-marmorated-stink-bug">Penn State University Department of Entomology</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>When the bugs are frightened or disturbed or squashed, they emit a very unpleasant stink from their glands. It can be difficult to get the stink off your hands or your clothes. Some people are allergic to it.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>They're otherwise harmless to people -- they don't sting or bite -- but they can be annoying as all get-out, especially because of the stink. And they're hard to get rid of.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Most pesticides don't work on them, including the kinds of sprays that are sold to the general public for in-home use. If you smash them as you would any other bug, you'll get the stink on your skin or your clothes or your carpet or your furniture. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>People suggest using a vacuum to suck them up, but if you get enough of them in your vacuum, they can stink up the vacuum.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>One entomologist from Cornell University says a better way to kill these stink bugs is to fill a household spray bottle with a solution of soapy water, which is about 1% or 2% soap. Dish soap is probably the easiest thing to use. Spray 'em to death.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>For commercial agriculturalists, entomologists have developed <a href="http://www.stopbmsb.org/more-resources/video-series/">special traps that are supposed to resemble trees and entice the stinkbugs into a jar</a>. But the stinkbugs are wily and can sneak out of the jar, so they also have to use an insecticide.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The best thing to do is to make sure the stink bugs don't get in your house in the first place. Seal up cracks along window frames or around doors with caulk, use those shields you can stick on the bottom of your door, do as much as you can to stop up any crevices a stink bug could sneak through.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>They'll most likely want to get into your house before winter comes so they have a place to sleep through the cold weather. Then when things warm up in spring, they'll start stirring again. That's when most people notice them out and about. If you happen to catch them just after they've woken up, it won't take much to bump them off because they'll still be groggy and hungry and slow. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The good news is, it looks like some birds here in the US are beginning to develop a taste for the Brown Marmorateds, and people have also reported seeing some lizards eating them too. So maybe more natural predators will emerge and help us keep these stink bugs from eating every last thing in sight and stinking up the joint besides.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Normally, I include more pictures in an entry, but these bugs are not so attractive looking, and <a href="https://extension.umd.edu/sites/default/files/styles/extra_large/public/_images/photogalleries/2013-01-11/bmsb_eggs_nymphs_raupp.jpg?itok=ewRxP3QM">photos of their eggs</a> or of them <a href="http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/photos/brown_marmorated_stink_bug_house.jpg">swarming</a> give me the willies. So I'll provide links for those who don't mind looking at such things and move on.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Sources</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Penn State University, Department of Entomology, <a href="http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/brown-marmorated-stink-bug">Brown Marmorated Stink Bug</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Bill Cary, <i>Indianapolis Star</i> via <i>USA Today</i>, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/03/stink-bug-season-get-rid/25273925/">It's stink bug season: Here's how to get rid of them</a>, April 3, 2015</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Doyle Rice, <i>USA Today</i>, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/10/12/stink-bug-weather/2961425/">Ding, dong, stink bugs calling on warm, cozy homes</a>, October 15, 2013 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers, <a href="http://njaes.rutgers.edu/stinkbug/faq.asp">Brown Marmorated Stink Bug FAQs</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Orkin, <a href="http://www.orkin.com/other/stink-bugs/">Stink Bugs</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;"><a href="http://www.stopbmsb.org/">Stop BMSB</a></span><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-71743964234668341262016-01-11T00:10:00.003-05:002016-01-11T00:14:32.779-05:00Apple #724: Champagne and Headaches<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I was talking with a co-worker about various Christmas and New Year's celebrations we each had in the past month or so, we discovered we'd both had some champagne. She said, "I don't usually drink champagne because it always gives me a headache."<br />
<br />
I said that was usually true for me too, but this particular time, I didn't get a headache. I suspected this was because the champagne that was purchased for the group was higher-quality than what I've had at New Year's celebrations in the past. <br />
<br />
My co-worker and I aren't alone in this champagne-gives-me-headaches business, I know. I've heard other people say that of champagne. But why is that? Is it something to do with how champagne is made compared to other wines? And please don't say it's the bubbles.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img height="266" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Pouring_champagne.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Champagne: festive beverage, or headache producer? This champagne is from Château de Bligny in France.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pouring_champagne.jpg">Wikimedia</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>First of all, let's get it off the table right now that if you drink too much of any alcohol, you're going to get a headache. That's a given. But I'm not talking about hangover headaches, I'm talking about drink half a glass and bang, you've got a headache. This happens to me only with champagne and with no other alcohol that I've tried.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>There are a lot of theories out there that say various compounds in this or that wine may give you a headache. Most of the compounds are those that are present in red wines -- sulfites or tyramines, or tannins from the barrels in which the red wines are aged or fermented -- but champagne is a white wine, so none of those can be the headache-inducing culprits in champagne.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The other compounds which people say could be a factor are histamines. Yes, the same thing that can trigger allergic reactions or make you sneeze. If you drink a wine that has lots of histamine in it, your blood vessels could dilate in response to the histamine, and bang, you've got a headache.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>However. Sources disagree about whether white wine has more or fewer histamines than red wine. Histamines come from the grape skins, one source says. Champagne does not have grape skins, as you'll learn, so there won't be histamines there. Histamine comes from bubbly wines, another source says. But how can there be histamine in carbon dioxide? I smell a poorly-researched explanation that's just getting passed around the internet without any rigorous inquiry.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I also think the histamine explanation is kind of bogus. It smacks of Americans' tendency to view food and drink as a vitamin-resource or a curative thing or a nutritionally problematic thing, and if you eat this like a pill or drink that like a restorative draft you'll be healed. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The theory that holds more water with me is that most champagne is bad liquor. It's not the champagne that's giving you the headache, it's the badness of it.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The reason I think this is probably the truth is I discovered this about gin. If I had some well gin, the next day I'd have a powerfully bad headache. But when I upgraded to Tanqueray, the headache the next day was not so bad. I upgraded further to Bombay Sapphire. Barely a headache, if any at all the next day. So Bombay Sapphire is my gin of choice and I've enjoyed all the gin & tonics I've had since.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.bacardilimited.com/Content/uploads/brand/bombay/bombay_glass.jpg" height="400" width="292" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Bombay Sapphire. Fewer headaches than the well gin. It's their big selling point.<br />
(Photo from <a href="http://www.bacardilimited.com/our-brands/bombay-sapphire-gin">Bacardi Limited</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Back to the champagne.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>People who actually know things about wine (this is not me) say that most of the stuff that's drunk on New Year's Eve or other celebratory occasions is not actually champagne. It's white and it's bubbly, and it's got the word champagne on the label, but it's a distant imitation of the real stuff.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Real champagne is first of all made not in California or Australia or who knows where else, but in the northeast region of France called Champagne.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>This is not just the French being snooty; actual champagne from Champagne has several characteristics that make it unique -- and better, compared to sparkly stuff made elsewhere.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://wineloversvillage.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Champagne-France.jpg" height="266" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The northern region in France called Champagne includes the town of Riems, which is the visually impaired Dom Pierre Pérignon's Benedictine monastery was located.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Map from Wine Lovers Village)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>To explain this, let me tell you a story. In the late 1600s, the only wine being made was red wine. A nearly blind Benedictine monk named Dom Pierre Pérignon (Dom is an honorary title for monks) took over as cellar master for his monastery. The red wine that his monastery was producing was coming out as a pinkish red because of the cooler temperatures of the region where they lived. The king was preferring a darker red wine from Bourgogne -- a Burgundy -- so Pérignon wanted to try to make his wine competitive.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Worse, not only was his wine turning out pink, it had bubbles in it. This was a mistake! Wine is not supposed to have bubbles! </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The cause of the bubbles was the same as the reason for the pink color: the region's cooler temperatures (Riems is at about the same latitude as southern Canada). When the monks bottled their pink wine, the cooler temperatures halted the fermentation process. Then when spring came along and warmed up the wine in the bottles, the fermentation started up again. The resulting gases could not escape inside the sealed bottles, so the wine became bubbly.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The bubbles were causing all kinds of problems, actually. Come springtime, bottles of wine were exploding in the cellar, shattering glass and spraying wine everywhere. If the glass wasn't exploding, the stoppers that were made of hemp and oil were shooting out and wine was spraying everywhere. The Dom had to do something to fix the problem.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img height="266" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Mo%C3%ABt_%26_Chandon_Dom_Perignon_Sculpture_2.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Statue of Dom Pierre Pérignon</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Champagne">Wikipedia</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Pérignon made various alterations to try to get rid of the bubbles: he removed the skins of the grapes, and he declared that the grapes should be pressed quickly and efficiently to keep any part of the skin out of the resulting juices. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>He also experimented with blending three types of grapes: Pinot Noir (red grape that hails from nearby Burgundy), Chardonnay (white wine grape also from Burgundy), and Pinot Meunier (red wine grape which, by itself, does not produce stellar wines).</li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>He further dictated lots of quality improvements: the first press (cuvée) of grapes should be achieved only by the weight of the grapes piled on top of each other. Any bruised grapes were to be rejected. Harvesting was to be done only in the cool of the morning. The vines should be pruned so as to grow no taller than 3 feet, which would produce small, flavorful, and easily harvested yields.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Legend has it that when Pérignon tasted his new 3-grape blend (the first white wine, by the way), he said, "Come quickly, brothers! I'm tasting stars!" (True champagne enthusiasts will dismiss this story as <a href="http://dailyapple.blogspot.com/2015/11/apple-721-wrong-side-of-bed.html">hogwash</a>.) His new wine was lighter in color and although the bubbles weren't entirely gone, he found the new wine so delightful, he decided to keep going with it. The king apparently found it delightful, too.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Pérignon came up with still more improvements. He changed the shape of the bottle and used heavier glass, which kept the bottles from exploding. He also had stoppers made of cork shipped from Spain, and the cork did not shoot out of the bottles as the other stoppers did. So he and his monastery continued to produce champagne -- the wine named after the region where they lived -- to great success.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>About a hundred years later, a young Frenchwoman whose husband died unexpectedly took over the running of his champagne house. She improved her husband's product still further. This was the Widow (<i>Veuve,</i> in French) Clicquot.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>She had her cellar master rotate the bottles once a day to reduce the build-up of bubbles. She also had the bottles stored on their sides so the sediment collected there, and then she had the bottles uncorked during the second fermentation period (in the spring, when temperatures warmed up again). The bubbles that had accumulated would force the collected sediment out of the bottles, and then they would be re-corked to retain the wine.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://ekaloria.com/wp-content/uploads-ekaloria-en/2013/05/Champagne-Remuer-600.jpg" height="268" width="400" /><br />
Champagne bottle tipped sideways, sediment visible at the bottom. This is what they would uncork the bottle to get rid of.<br />
(Photo from <a href="http://ekaloria.com/champagne-the-most-delightful-and-romantic-wine-in-the-world/">Ekaloria</a>)<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ekaloria.com/wp-content/uploads-ekaloria-en/2013/05/stojaki-na-butelki-szampana.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Champagne bottles are stored on special racks that allow the neck to tilt downwards. Each day the bottles are rotated and the racks are tilted so that by the end of the process, the bottles are almost entirely upside down.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://ekaloria.com/champagne-the-most-delightful-and-romantic-wine-in-the-world/">Ekaloria</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>These two procedures, called riddling and dégorgement respectively, are still undertaken in houses that produce the real French Champagne (together, these processes are called the méthode traditionelle). It's very expensive to have somebody turn each bottle of wine each day, and then undertake the tricky business of getting rid of the sediment and re-corking the bottles without losing the wine. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Places that produce the cheap stuff don't do these things. Or they may do the riddling and the disgorging, but they don't use the particular 3-grape blend (most omit the lesser-known Pinot Meunier). The worst offenders use the cheapest white grapes/wine available, they dump a crapton of sugar into it, they don't put the wine through a second fermentation period but rather inject the bubbles into the wine, and they don't even age the wine in bottles but use vats.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>You see? Once you know how the real stuff is make, the pretend process seems pretty offensive, doesn't it?</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But people buy the cheap stuff because it's much more affordable than the real thing. Unfortunately, with the cheap stuff you get headaches. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I return to my initial question, why should that be?</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://juicing-for-health.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/hangover-headache.jpg" height="209" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Och, if only I'd gone for the actual champagne instead of the cheap-o sparkling wine!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://juicing-for-health.com/hangover-cures.html">Juicing for Health</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Any cheaply made liquor is going to be harder on the noggin than better-made stuff because the better-made stuff has gone through more processes that remove the impurities. The liquor has gone through extra distillation or filtration of some sort so that the sludgy by-products of fermentation have been removed. When you buy a more expensive bottle of liquor or wine, the extra that you're paying for is mostly someone's time to make the contents of the bottle better.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The bad by-products of fermentation that the better houses filter out can't be processed by our bodies. Our bodies therefore interpret those by-products as toxic. Poison. Drink a little of it, you get a headache. Drink a lot of it, you throw up. The more poorly-made the thing is that you're drinking, the faster you're going to hit those toxic levels and get a headache or other Reject signals from your body.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So I'm going to recommend that, if you're going to go with champagne, choose the higher-priced and probably better-made stuff if you can. The truly good stuff can go for around $100 to $200 a bottle, so that may not be the best choice for most people.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The true French Champagnes are made by vintners you've heard of: Mumm, Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin, Perrier-Jouet, Moet et Chandon, Louis Roederer, etc. But they are often really expensive. Are there other options to choose that might be tasty and non-headachey but that aren't so pricey?</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>There are some vintners in California which are owned by French wineries. They grow their grapes in the Champagne district and ship them to California where they use nearly all French grapes and maybe some California grapes to bottle and produce the wines there. These California-produced wines are called champagne, even though they don't entirely originate in Champagne. These French-American champagnes include</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Domaine Cameros (owned by Taittinger in France)</li>
<li>Domaine Chandon (owned by Moet and Chandon in France)</li>
<li>Mumm Cuvee Napa (owned by G.H. Mumm in France)</li>
<li>Piper Sonoma (owned by Piper-Heidsick in France) </li>
<li>Roederer Estate (owned by Louis Roederer)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Also, it is better to choose the Brut (dry) champagne because this means it's not as sweet. Extra-dry is a little sweeter than Brut. Sec or demi-sec and it's downright sweet. The sweeter the champagne, the more likely it is to make your head hurt. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>If the bottle says cuvée, that means it's made from the first press of grapes. Like extra virgin olive oil, that means it's the good stuff. If it says faille, it means it's from the second press. Not so good. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>If the bottle says "charmat bulk" or just plain "charmat," that means it was fermented in a vat. Put that bottle down and run in the other direction.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.fodors.com/wire/7418-l.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Once the champagne is poured, the bubbles are an indicator of its quality. The bubbles should be small -- pinpoint size or smaller -- and they should travel in a trail up from the bottom or along the sides of the glass. Large bubbles mean more gas, which means more impurities in the champagne. Bubbles that cling to the glass as opposed to traveling indicate a lower-quality champagne -- and in fact, it's probably only a sparkling wine.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.fodors.com/news/long-weekend-in-champagne-france-7418">Fodor's Travel</a>) </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Even those California/French hybrids can be costly, so some people will choose the even less expensive stuff anyway. But be warned, if you choose a cheap
masquerader instead of the real thing, your body will start giving you
the Toxic Alarm (headache) signal way sooner than you'd like, and you
won't enjoy it much at all. And the whole point of champagne, after all,
is to enjoy it.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Finally, a serving tip: If you do serve true champagne, do not wrap a towel or napkin around the label. This may seem to us now like a tried & true convention, but it's only become common when waiters were instructed to hide the cheap-o label so the host could pass it off as the good stuff. Richard Nixon was famous for serving himself Chateau Lafite Rothschild or similarly super-expensive wines and then serving his guests dreck and having the waiters cover the label so they'd assume they were getting the good stuff too. The practice of obscuring the label for this purpose is called "pulling a Nixon."</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://pad2.whstatic.com/images/thumb/2/24/Pour-a-Glass-of-Champagne-Step-3.jpg/670px-Pour-a-Glass-of-Champagne-Step-3.jpg" height="266" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">If you're going to go to all the trouble of purchasing a real Champagne, don't go hiding the label with a towel. You wouldn't want anyone to suspect you of pulling a Nixon, would you? Pour the champagne as you would any wine, but keep the towel handy to catch any condensation drips.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Pour-a-Glass-of-Champagne">WikiHow</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>P.P.S. Some research suggests that compounds in the 3-grape blend in Champagne may improve spatial memory, our ability to navigate and perform complex tasks. Researchers are investigating champagne as a substance that may delay or possibly even prevent <a href="http://dailyapple.blogspot.com/2016/01/apple-723-dementia.html">dementia</a>.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Sources<br />
champagnebythebottle, <a href="https://champagnebythebottle.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/champagnes-bad-rap/">Champagne headache (Why you don't get them from Champagne)</a><br />
Wine Searcher, <a href="http://www.wine-searcher.com/grape-96-champagne-blend">Champagne Blend Wine</a><br />
Etiquette Scholar, <a href="http://www.etiquettescholar.com/dining_etiquette/gourmet_guide/drink/champagne.html">Champagne</a><br />
Laurel Hiestand, <a href="http://thechampagneopener.com/trivia.html">The Story of Champagne</a><br />
The Wine Company, <a href="http://www.thewinecompany.net/sparkling-wine-vs-champagne/">Sparkling Wine vs. Champagne</a>, December 6, 2012<br />
About Food, <a href="http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/champagnehistry.htm">Champagne History</a><br />
Ekaloria, <a href="http://ekaloria.com/champagne-the-most-delightful-and-romantic-wine-in-the-world/">Champagne -- The Most Delightful and Romantic Wine in the World</a><br />
CNN Money, <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/07/luxury/krug-champagne-expensive/">Why this champagne costs $2,000 a bottle</a>, November 7, 2014<br />
Veni, Vidi, Vino, <a href="http://venividivinoitaly.com/2013/07/21/wine-faq-why-do-some-wines-give-me-headaches/">Wine FAQ: Why Do Some Wines Give Me Headaches?</a> July 21, 2013<br />
Gizmodo, <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5966569/why-cheap-booze-makes-your-hangover-so-horrible">Why Cheap Booze Makes Your Hangover So Horrible</a>, 12/7/2012<br />
<i>The Wall Street Journal, </i><a href="http://guides.wsj.com/wine/wine-tips-and-tricks/why-do-i-get-headaches-from-wine/">Why Do I Get Headaches From Wine?</a><br />
MigreLief, <a href="http://www.migrelief.com/dont-start-the-new-year-with-a-champagne-hangover">Don't Start the New Year with a Champagne Headache</a>, December 28, 2011<br />
David Wolfe, <a href="http://www.davidwolfe.com/preventing-dementia-and-alzheimers-disease-with-champagne/">Preventing Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease with Champagne</a></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-51682543676638161002016-01-03T22:48:00.001-05:002016-01-03T22:48:56.232-05:00Apple #723: Dementia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been looking up all kinds of thing about dementia and Alzheimer's Disease because it seems more and more apparent that my family is looking down the long barrel of what is most likely Alzheimer's where my mom is concerned. She hasn't been officially diagnosed as having that (it's <a href="http://www.prevention.com/print/health/alzheimers-diagnosis-not-disclosed">unfortunately common for a doctor not to tell a patient when he or she may have Alzheimer's</a> because it's an upsetting diagnosis), so I could be wrong (but I don't think I am), or maybe I'm speaking too soon. But I don't think it's ever too soon to get information.<br />
<br />
And I figured, as long as I'm looking up all this stuff, why not share some of what I'm learning with you. Since we're all living longer, chances are better than good that most of our parents will experience some form of dementia at some point. So while I'm one of the first among my friends to be facing this in my parents, I'm sure that many of my friends will soon be entering this territory too.<br />
<br />
It's not really a fun place to be.<br />
<br />
But information helps, as much as anything can. It helps to understand what's going on and why, helps to know that the changes that are happening are not the result of some conscious decision but are rather the result of some uncontrollable change in brain biology. So that's why I keep looking up stuff, and that's why I think it might be helpful for someone else to read what I'm learning.<br />
<br />
One of my big questions is, what is dementia, exactly? People keep throwing this word around and I'm having a hard time getting a fix on what the word actually means. I get especially confused by how people use the word in relationship with Alzheimer's.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.rcslt.org/about/DementiaNew" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">A good visual representation of dementia</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image from the <a href="http://www.rcslt.org/clinical_resources/dementia/dementia_video_series">Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists, London</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Definition of Dementia</h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A lot of sources will say that the difference between dementia and Alzheimer's is that dementia is a generic term that refers to a set of symptoms, and Alzheimer's is a specific disease. But then when they further describe dementia, they describe it as being characterized by symptoms, so I get confused. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>One site calls dementia a syndrome, and based on what I've read elsewhere, I think that's probably the best way to think of it. So let's go with that, and I'll break it down further from there.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Dementia is</li>
<ul>
<li>A generic term that may apply in several circumstances</li>
<li>A syndrome, or a combination of symptoms that together indicate dementia</li>
<li>A term used to describe a significant loss of cognitive function </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In order for the symptoms to add up to dementia, at least two of the following have to be present:</li>
<ul>
<li>Memory loss</li>
<li>Difficulty finding the right words</li>
<li>Inability to focus or pay attention </li>
<li>Problems in logical reasoning </li>
<li>Problems with problem-solving, such as planning or organizing or carrying out complex tasks </li>
<li>Difficulty with physical coordination and motor functions</li>
<li>Disorientation issues, such as getting lost</li>
<li>Problems with visual perception </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The symptoms need to be significant and lasting, as opposed to occasional or passing or temporary.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The symptoms do not resolve with changes in medication, or the cessation of an illness or an infection.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://lifestyleoptions.com/portals/0/Images/Common-Symptoms-of-Dementia.jpg" height="285" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Another problem with trying to understand dementia is that everybody's list of symptoms is slightly different. But the major elements are often the same, and they all indicate significant, noticeable cognitive impairment. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image from <a href="http://lifestyleoptions.com/resources/caring-for-dementia">LifeStyle Options, Inc.</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Additional symptoms may include psychological changes, such as</li>
<ul>
<li>Inappropriate behavior</li>
<li>Agitation</li>
<li>Paranoia</li>
<li>Hallucinations </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A lot of people equate dementia with aging, or they think it's just a normal part of aging. This is partly because it has become so common. About 1% of people aged 65 have some form of dementia. In people age 80, it's around 11%.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>That may not sound like much, but in 2012, about 41 million people in the
US were 65 or older. Applying those percentages of frequency of
dementia within certain age groups, somewhere between 410,000 and 4
million people had dementia in 2012.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.queensbury.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Seniors-on-the-Go-2-400x225.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Somewhere between 1% and 10% of people over 65 have dementia. Looks like there are about 30 people in this photo. Taking this as a representative sample of the general population, 1 to 3 of the people in this photo would have dementia.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from the <a href="http://www.queensbury.net/2015/11/queensbury-senior-citizens/">Town of Queensbury</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So, dementia is common, but that doesn't mean it's normal. In fact, dementia is a sign that something is wrong. Pain is something else that's common, but just because lots of people have pain for any number of reasons, that doesn't mean nothing's wrong. In fact, pain is the alarm bell that something is wrong. Same is true of dementia.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Causes of Dementia</h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A lot of different types of illnesses or conditions can cause dementia. These illnesses or conditions each have their own suite of cognitive symptoms. There is a lot of overlap in the symptoms of each of the causes, but the causes are often distinguished from each other in terms of which symptom appears first, or which of the symptoms is most prevalent.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Things that can cause dementia:</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Alzheimer's Disease -- the most common cause of dementia</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Lewy Body Dementia -- similar to Alz in terms of the protein bodies in the brain, but with this, short-term memory is OK, but you get hallucinations.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Parkinson's Disease -- primarily characterized by muscle rigidity and tremors, plus the dementia</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Vascular Dementia -- in most cases, this means caused by a stroke. This kind of dementia looks very similar to Alzheimer's, and some people may have both. Some symptoms that may be different than Alz include laughing or crying inappropriately, loss of bladder or bowel control, or hallucinations. Second-most common cause of dementia.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Other medical conditions such as alcoholism, thyroid disease, thiamine deficiency, electrolyte imbalance, or HIV infections </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Drug interactions or toxicity</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Brain injuries or illnesses other than stroke, including infections like meningitis or syphilis or fluid build-up in the brain, or brain tumors, or Pick's disease which is due to atrophy of the brain.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<img src="http://payload81.cargocollective.com/1/8/273179/3933274/proportion-pie.jpg" height="238" width="400" /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Of the possible causes of dementia, Alzheimer's is the most common</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Pie chart from <a href="http://cargocollective.com/ritamaldonadobranco/Visualising-dementia">Cargo Collective</a>)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Isn't this fun? All the things that can go wrong with your brain? Egad. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The point is, if you think you are experiencing dementia, or if you think someone you know has dementia, it's important to get thee to the physic to get it diagnosed. Dementia means there's a problem in the works someplace, and it's important to identify the cause of the problem.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In some cases, the cause of the problem is really depressing and not very treatable. But in other cases, it is treatable and it's important to act sooner rather than later. And for those conditions which aren't treatable, it's helpful to start making plans sooner rather than later, so nobody's scrambling later on.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Also, if you need to start looking for resources to help you help someone who has dementia, the <a href="http://www.n4a.org/">Area Agencies on Aging</a> is a good place to start. This agency has offices located throughout the country, in accordance with a 1973 federal law that says we have to do more for our aging family members. They are there to help people of all income levels find resources and support for the challenges we all face as we age. They have to be there, and they have to help, so take them up on it.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Sources<br />
WebMD, <a href="http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/basics-of-dementia">Dementia</a> and lots of other related pages<br />
Mayo Clinic, <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dementia/basics/symptoms/con-20034399">Dementia</a><br />
Alzheimer's.org, <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dementia/basics/symptoms/con-20034399">What Is Dementia?</a> and lots of other related pages<br />
<i>Prevention Magazine</i>, <a href="http://www.prevention.com/print/health/alzheimers-diagnosis-not-disclosed">55% of Doctors Keep a Patient's Alzheimer's Diagnosis Secret</a>, April 1, 2015 <br />
Alzheimer's Disease International, <a href="https://www.alz.co.uk/adi/pdf/prevalence.pdf">The Prevalence of dementia worldwide</a><br />
Ortman, Velkoff, and Hogan, US Census Bureau, <a href="https://www.census.gov/prod/2014pubs/p25-1140.pdf">An Aging Nation: The Older Population in the United States</a></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-41604829478676161402015-12-13T22:24:00.000-05:002015-12-13T22:24:26.498-05:00Apple #722: Chip Cards<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This entry may not seem very Christmas-y, but as I've been out & about Christmas shopping, I've encountered a lot of different kinds of credit card readers, so maybe this is timely. So, here's the question at hand: what's up with the new credit cards with the chips in them? How come sometimes I'm supposed to swipe them as always, but other times I'm supposed to stick them into the reader and let them stay there a while?<br />
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<img src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9fd2c6045cb1d508868ab1b0850cd59b9998c24f/c=516-0-1144-472&r=x408&c=540x405/local/-/media/2015/01/01/USATODAY/USATODAY/635557257031524928-02-POS-GROCERY-0273-REV-1600X475.jpg" height="300" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">More credit card terminals are starting to look like this. They could allow you to swipe the card at the right, or insert it into the slot beneath the keypad. How do you know when to do which?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo by VISA, sourced from <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2015/10/01/transition-chip-and-pin-credit-cards-what-you-need-know/72571816/">USA Today</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
What Are These Cards?</h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The new chip cards are referred to by the industry as EMV credit cards. EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard, and VISA. These three big-wigs in the credit card industry got together and settled on this technology for all of them to use going forward.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Other names for these cards include</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>chip cards</li>
<li>smart cards</li>
<li>smart-chip cards</li>
<li>chip-enabled cards</li>
<li>chip-and-choice cards</li>
<li>chip-and-PIN cards</li>
<li>EMV smart cards</li>
<li>EMV cards </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://mauimaui.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/credit-card-with-chip.png" height="250" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Generic chip card. The computer chip is the shiny silver thing at the left above the numbers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image from <a href="http://mauimaui.org/2015/10/11/travel-wallets-that-protect-chip-credit-cards/">Maui Maui.org</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>For years -- too long, actually -- credit cards in the U.S. have used the magnetic stripe on the back as a way to communicate information from the card to the user's account. Every time the stripe gets swiped, it communicates the same information. This is what made it very easy for thieves to skim the data and use it again, nefariously and fraudulently.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Credit card companies in Europe switched over to the chip years before the companies here did. (Why did the U.S. companies delay? 'Cause it would cost money, that's why.) Finally, after a lot of really enormous and expensive thefts, the U.S. companies got their act together and decided to make the upgrade.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The new cards have a computer chip in them. Where the magnetic stripe sends the same information with every transaction, the computer chip creates a more complex code unique to each transaction. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://assets.nerdwallet.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/best-emv-chip-credit-cards-750x420.jpg" height="224" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The chip may look like any of these shiny squares or circles on the front of the card.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image from <a href="http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/top-credit-cards/nerdwallets-best-emv-chip-credit-cards/">NerdWallet</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Let's say you bought a doughnut maker at Target and paid for it with your chip card, and then some nefarious thief got hold of the data from that transaction. If the thief tried to use that information from your doughnut maker transaction for his own purposes, let's say to buy many rubles' worth of dog food, it wouldn't work because that particular complex code had already been used in your doughnut-maker purchase.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In other words, the data from the chip cards is much harder to counterfeit. So until the hackers figure out a way around this, we will hopefully have fewer enormous and costly data breaches for a while. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
How Do You Use Them? </h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Use the chip cards in any circumstance when you would use any credit or debit card. The difference depends on the type of reader the retailer has.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The plan is for every retailer to have a terminal that is updated to accept the chip cards and use them in the way they're meant to be used. It's taking a while for everybody to make the transition.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>With the updated terminals, instead of swiping the card, you'll stick the card into a slot in the terminal. Then you have to let it sit in there for a while because two things have to happen. The terminal has to read the chip's information, and then the chip in the card and the terminal have to talk to each other so the transaction can be verified.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Most terminals will beep or do something to let you know when it's OK to remove the card from the reader.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img height="400" src="https://www.visa.com/chip/merchants/grow-your-business/payment-technologies/credit-card-chip/images/More-information-on-Visa-chip-credit-cards.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Using a chip card reader, or "dipping."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="https://www.visa.com/chip/merchants/grow-your-business/payment-technologies/credit-card-chip/index.jsp">VISA</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>This business of inserting the card into the reader is referred to as "dipping" or "chip-and-dip."</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Once you take the card out of the reader, in most cases you will still have to sign the receipt. Your signature is another level of verification that yes, you are the person who conducted this transaction and yes, you approve it.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Debit cards will be getting the chips in them too, though it's going to take more time for banks to get this technology in place. When you get your chip debit card, you'll still have
to enter your PIN with the chip card readers the same way you do with
the magnetic stripe readers. Like a signature, the PIN is your verification that yes, you are the person who made this person and yes, you approve it. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Variations on the Dipping Process</h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Retailers are still in the process of switching over to the new terminals, and they are allowed to make that transition gradually. So you may encounter a machine that has a slot in the bottom of it, but the retailer isn't ready for people to use that yet, so you'll still have to swipe your card.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>One thing to note is that if the terminal has a card slot but accepts swiping-only, it's recording the static magnetic information, as opposed to doing the more complex chip-enabled transaction. So you're not getting the increased level of security that the chip card can provide.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Other retailers may decide to go with contactless card readers. These smaller readers use near-field communication technology and are mainly designed to be used for mobile payments (with your phone). They still use the computer chip technology to create the transaction code; they just handle the business of collecting the information from your card in a different way.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<img height="224" src="https://diyfqze5s92fh.cloudfront.net/publish-web/2015/Jul/accept_nfc-1438298785202.jpg" width="400" /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The contactless chip reader (this one made by The Square) still uses chip card technology for each transaction, but allows you to do so with your phone.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="https://squareup.com/townsquare/emv/">The Square</a>)</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Contactless readers also have a slot into which the plastic cards can be inserted. These would be very handy for the small business person or artist who's working at a fair or someplace where they don't have a lot of room or aren't working from a fixed location.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In the future, all the chip cards will also be required to have PINs as an additional level of security. This is expected to be phased in about two or three years from now. Some retailers, especially those in Europe, are ahead of everyone else and they're already requiring PINs. So you may be asked for a PIN for your chip credit card. But this isn't happening very often yet in the U.S.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
When Will the Transition Be Complete? </h3>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>It's hard to estimate when most retailers will have the chip-enabled terminals in place and working as they should. But the industry has already given one deadline: As of October 1, 2015, whichever party in a transaction is the least EMV-compliant will be liable in the event of fraud.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>That is, if you paid for your doughnut maker after October 1, 2015 with a card that had a chip in it, and the store where you bought the doughnut maker did not have a chip-enabled reader but only a magnetic-strip reader, and someone stole your credit card data and bought something with it, then the store has to reimburse you for the amount that was stolen because they didn't have the EMV reader enabled at the time of the transaction.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Up to now, it's always been the credit card company who paid for the cost of the fraud. But now that they have this advanced technology, they're putting some of the burden back on the stores. It can get really expensive really fast to cover the cost of credit card fraud, so it's in the stores' interest to convert to the new machines and get them working with the new chip technology as they should.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Other types of credit card readers have other deadlines associated with them. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>ATMs -- liability switches to the owner of the ATM (could be a store, could be a bank; wherever the ATM is situated) October 1, 2016 </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Gas pumps -- liability switches to the gas stations October 1, 2017</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>No store or ATM or gas station is <i>required</i> to switch to a chip card reader. Because the cost of covering credit card fraud can get very expensive very fast, it would be cheaper in the not-very-long run for them to do so. But they don't have to make the switch. If you go to a store and they don't have a chip card reader and you really wish they did, you can't go yelling at them about it because it's their choice not to offer that technology.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>You could put pressure on them, though, and ask when they'll have their readers chip-enabled. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Or you could pay with cash. That will really throw them for a loop. At a coffeehouse last night, I paid for my $2.10 mug of tea with a $5 bill. The cashier could not make change. She had no idea how much to give back to me. She said she needed a piece of paper and a pen to figure it out. Someone came to help her, and she still got it wrong. Technology, slowly making us all dumber.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<img height="198" src="https://images.gasbuddy.com/images/blogimages/20091106021055pay_at_the_pump..gif" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Gas pumps are going to get chip card readers, too, but probably not for a couple years yet. This person is paying with a card that has a chip in it, but the reader in the pump is still a magnetic stripe reader. So the customer is not getting the benefit of the additional security that the chip card could provide.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo was at <a href="https://blog.gasbuddy.com/date/November-2009.aspx">Gas Buddy in November 2009</a>, but they've removed the post) </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Sources<br />
CreditCards.com, <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/emv-faq-chip-cards-answers-1264.php">8 FAQs about EMV credit cards</a><br />
Chase, <a href="https://www.chasepaymentech.com/faq_emv_chip_card_technology.html">FAQ: Chip-Enabled Card Acceptance (EMV)</a><br />
The Square, <a href="https://www.chasepaymentech.com/faq_emv_chip_card_technology.html">Everything You Need to Know About the Switch to Chip Cards</a><br />
NerdWallet, <a href="http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/top-credit-cards/nerdwallets-best-emv-chip-credit-cards/">NerdWallet's Best EMV 'Chip With Signature' Credit Cards</a><br />
Verifone, <a href="http://lp.verifone.com/media/2146788/emv_key_dates_chart_021213.pdf">EMV Key Dates Chart-Card Networks</a></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-36255412767104722452015-11-22T23:43:00.000-05:002015-11-22T23:45:06.077-05:00Apple #721: The Wrong Side of the Bed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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For quite a while now, I've been getting up on the wrong side of the bed. I mean that metaphorically. As the old saying goes.<br />
<br />
But where does that saying come from? And just what is the wrong side of the bed, anyway?<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="https://vaporizergus.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/every-side-of-the-bed-is-wrong_259831-500x.jpg?w=300&h=223" /><br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Well. As with most sayings and customs that have been passed around with no attribution whatsoever, 1) nobody is really sure where it comes from and 2) there are a lot of ideas out there presented as fact which are a lot of hogwash.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li><i><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=hogwash&searchmode=none">hogwash</a> - </i>kitchen swill, or slops fed to pigs (<u>not</u> the disgusting remnants left over after washing a hog), or in general, the refuse from a kitchen or brewery. Later, an insult referring to cheap liquor. Still later, an insult referring to "inferior writing."</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<img height="378" src="https://lifevine.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/bullas_-_hogwash.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;"><u>Not</u> actual hogwash. Or if you like, a metaphorical demonstration of hogwash, in the sense that it is inaccurate.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image from <a href="https://lifevine.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/pearls-on-pigs/">Lifevine's Blog</a>)</span><br />
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<img src="http://www.wafflesandsteel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Ride-Report-23_0427.jpg" height="300" width="400" /> </div>
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<span style="font-size: 80%;">Actual, for real & for true hogwash.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo of a bucket of pig slop, as ferried on the back of a man's bicycle in China from <a href="http://www.wafflesandsteel.com/uncategorized/ride-report-sucking-the-wheel-of-the-pig-slop-guy/">Waffles & Steel</a>)</span></div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Back to the wrong side of the bed. The saying means you wake up grumpy for no apparent reason, so you might as well explain it by saying you got up on the wrong side of the bed.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>(I haven't been waking up grumpy, I've been waking up out of sorts, unhappy, sometimes downright inconsolable. But this makes about as much sense as being grumpy due to getting up on the wrong side of the bed, so I'll just say I've been getting up on the wrong side of the bed.)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://image.slidesharecdn.com/wrongsideofthebed-110722041539-phpapp02/95/wrong-side-of-the-bed-1-728.jpg?cb=1311310287" height="300" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">This for sure would be the wrong side of the bed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Sourced from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/kierandonaghy/wrong-side-of-the-bed-8661696">SlideShare</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Some recent news articles refer to a mysterious "study" conducted by Sealy UK (you know, the people who make mattresses). I've looked at Sealy's website and their blog where they publish little press releases about the results of their "research," and I don't see anything on either site about this "study." But let's pretend that it was published, and let's pretend that it was done with at least a modicum of scientific rigor.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>According to this mysterious "study," Sealy UK found that in the case of couples who sleep together, there really is a "right" and "wrong" side of the bed. That is, the person who sleeps (and therefore wakes up) on the left side of the bed is 10% more likely to have a positive outlook on life, and to be 8% more likely to enjoy their job. The person who sleeps on the right side of the bed is, as you might therefore expect, more pessimistic and more likely to dislike his or her job.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>This ephemeral study further says that for those who are not in a relationship, if they don't have many friends, they sleep on the right side of the bed. Those not in a relationship who do have a large circle of friends sleep on the left side of the bed.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>My big question which goes unanswered in the articles that quote this ethereal study is which side of the bed is the left and which is the right? The left as you face the bed, or the left as you're lying down in it? I suppose, since we're talking about sleeping in the bed and getting up from the bed, it would be the left as you're lying down in the bed. But we need to know these details. Otherwise, how will we rescue ourselves from pessimistic loneliness, since apparently all it takes is sleeping on the <i>other</i> side of the bed?</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
<li>In case you can't tell, I have more than a healthy dose of skepticism about this so-called study and its purported results.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.therobertd.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/rightside.bed_.png" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">This kid got up on the wrong side, and is skeptical of everything besides. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.therobertd.com/how-to-always-get-up-on-the-right-side-of-the-bed-2/">The[Robert]D.</a>)</span><br />
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<br />
<img height="300" src="https://reinventingtheeventhorizon.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/dscn4793.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Our conventional wisdom about the wrong side of the bed says it's on the left. Is that what this photo is saying, or not?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="https://reinventingtheeventhorizon.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/bad-bed-seven-a-week-on-the-wrong-side/">Reinventing the Event Horizon</a>)</span><br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><ul>
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</ul>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>If this "study" of Sealy's is correct, it flies in the face of centuries of commonly-held wisdom about what is the wrong side of the bed.</li>
</ul>
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</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>A lot of other sources on ye olde internette claim that the wrong side of the bed is the left side. These hogwash purveyors say that the reason we have this phrase at all is because for a long time we -- or perhaps it was ye olde Romans, since some say this phrase is as old as the Roman Empire [we are awash in gallons of hogwash here] -- were very superstitious about anything <a href="http://dailyapple.blogspot.com/2012/04/apple-577-left-handednesskurt-coba.html">left-handed</a>. The thinking here is that, since people used to be terrified of the lefties, if someone was plagued by mysterious bogeymen throughout their day, then it must have been that they got up on the cursed left side of the bed. Or at least, that's what those silly superstitious people used to think, way back in the day.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.wafflesandsteel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Ride-Report-23_0427.jpg" height="300" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">[Cue the buckets of hogwash here.]</span><br />
<br /></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Other sources don't try to stake out which side of the bed is the bad side, or why, only that those silly people long ago thought that there were ghouls or demons lurking under one side of the bed, and they infected you as you arose from your slumber. So you spent your day fighting off the grumpy-making demons, and your day was screwed.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Now, there might seem to be some logic to the idea that the wrong side of the bed would be the left side. Because the word <i>wrong </i>does mean the opposite of <i>right</i>. However, <i>wrong</i>'s oppositeness to <i>right</i> is in the sense where <i>right</i> means moral, just, fair, etc.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Digging further into the opposites, etymologically speaking, the word <i>right</i> does not have anything to do with the right-hand side, but rather it means straight or even (it comes from the Latin <i>rectus</i>). <i>Wrong </i>does not come from any word having to do with the left-hand side, but rather it means crooked, not straight. A wrong, for example, could mean an unjust thing done to another person, but it could more concretely mean the crooked branch of a tree, or the curved rib of a ship.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So, making the claim that there is some etymological reason why the wrong side of the bed would be the left-hand side would be, er, wrong.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Further, those who say the phrase dates back to Roman times are also (say it with me) wrong. The <i>OED</i>, the reference book that has been one of my dearest loves for decades, says that the first recorded published instance of the phrase "the wrong side of the bed" is from 1801. Let me give it to you in all its finest <i>OED </i>detail:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>To get up</i> or <i>out of bed (on) the wrong side,</i> with allusion to the supposed disturbing effect on one's temper. <i>colloq.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>1801</b> <i>Marvellous Love-Story</i> I, 167 You have got up on the wrong side this morning, George. </blockquote>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0198612583/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0198612583&linkCode=as2&tag=thedaiapp-20&linkId=T7E72KRLHPFE3SOU" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" src="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0198612583&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thedaiapp-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=thedaiapp-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0198612583" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The <i>OED</i>. This may be my desert-island book--if I'm allowed to bring both volumes.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 80%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0198612583/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0198612583&linkCode=as2&tag=thedaiapp-20&linkId=T7E72KRLHPFE3SOU" rel="nofollow">The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary, Complete Text Reproduced Micrographically (in slipcase with reading glass) (v. 1-20)</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=thedaiapp-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0198612583" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Other examples from later dates follow, but there you have it. First published usage is from 1801. Don't you think, if this phrase dated back to Roman times, there might have been another published instance of it before 1801?</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>What the incomparable <i>OED </i>does not tell us is why this phrase exists, what gave rise to it. And that's really what we want to know.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I suspect that the reason we don't have a definitive source from which this phrase springs, or a particular reason for its existence lies within the nature of the phrase itself. I believe what the phrase initially intends to express goes, in long form, something like this: </li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
Geez, George, you're in a bad mood, and it looks totally random and out of the blue as far as I can tell. You're acting like you just woke up this way, that it's got nothing to do with anything happening around you, you're just plain cranky today. That makes no sense, really, so what put you in the bad mood to begin with must be something that makes about as much as sense -- like getting up on the wrong side of the bed. </blockquote>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Looking for an explanation of the phrase might make about as much sense as looking for an explanation for the bad mood. You'll find it on the wrong side of the bed. Wherever that is.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>As far as whether or not this entire blog post is hogwash, in the "inferior writing" sense of the term, I leave that to you to decide.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Sources<br />
<b>Hogwashy</b><br />
New Zealand Herald, <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11549342">Left side of bed may be the 'right' side for best sleep</a>, November 22, 2015 <br />
<i>Daily Mail</i>, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3328150/Woken-grumpy-really-got-bed-wrong-FINALLY-know-is.html">Woken up grumpy? It really could be because you got out of bed the wrong side (and we FINALLY know which side that is)</a>, November 21, 2015<br />
Sealy Blog, <a href="http://www.sealy.co.uk/about-sealy/inside-sealy/sealy-blog/?category=sleep+research">Sleep Research</a><br />
Grammar-Monster, <a href="http://www.grammar-monster.com/sayings_proverbs/get_out_of_bed_on_the_wrong_side.htm">What Is the Origin of the Saying "To Get Out the Wrong Side of the Bed"?</a><br />
Bloomsbury International, <a href="http://www.grammar-monster.com/sayings_proverbs/get_out_of_bed_on_the_wrong_side.htm">Get up on the wrong side of the bed</a><br />
<i>Woman's Day,</i> <a href="http://www.womansday.com/life/a850/the-origins-of-12-common-idioms-83098/">The Origins of 12 Common Idioms</a>, August 10, 2009<br />
Ask Men, <a href="http://ca.askmen.com/daily/austin_100/138b_fashion_style.html">Weird Expressions & Their Origins - Part 4</a> <br />
<br />
<b>Non-Hogwash</b><br />
Online Etymology Dictionary, <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=wrong+side+of+bed&searchmode=none">wrong</a>, <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=hogwash&searchmode=none">hogwash </a><br />
World Wide Words, <a href="http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-wro1.htm">Wrong side of the bed</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0198612583/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0198612583&linkCode=as2&tag=thedaiapp-20&linkId=T7E72KRLHPFE3SOU" rel="nofollow">The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary, Complete Text Reproduced Micrographically (in slipcase with reading glass) (v. 1-20)</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=thedaiapp-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0198612583" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-43927627102680354352015-10-11T21:46:00.000-04:002015-10-11T21:51:58.889-04:00Apple #720: October, the Eighth -- er, the Tenth Month<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
I've recently been battling the effects of too little sleep and too much work for too long, so my posts have been spottier than usual lately. I'm starting to make inroads on the exhaustion, though, so I thought I'd give you another Daily Apple. This one is about a little inconsistency I noticed this afternoon.<br />
<br />
October is the tenth month in our calendar. But clearly, <i>octo-</i> means eight. How did a month named "eighth month" wind up in the tenth spot?<br />
<br />
And wait a minute. September = 7, November =9, December = 10. But they are in the 9th, 11th, and 12th month positions. How did that happen?<br />
<br />
<br />
<img height="320" src="https://i.imgflip.com/q8940.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Even Philosoraptor wants to know.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Meme from <a href="https://imgflip.com/i/q8940">imgflip</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
The Short Answer</h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>As you might guess, it's because of the transition from an old calendar to the calendar which we now use.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In the very old Roman calendar, October was the 8th month. When the Roman calendar was revised, more months were added, and that pushed October into the 10th slot.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
The Complete Answer</h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Regular Daily Apple readers will know that a three-sentence answer to any question is probably not the entire answer. The complete answer may take longer to get to, but therein lie the oddities, and therein lies the fun.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>First of all, the Romans didn't quite have it all down pat when it came to their calendar. They got their ideas about their calendar from the Greeks, but they added their own special flair to it.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Initially (before 700 BCE or so), their calendar had 10 months. Nice, round number. Easy to work with. The months were ordered thusly:</li>
</ul>
<div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Martius</li>
<li>Aprilis</li>
<li>Maius</li>
<li>Junius</li>
<li>Qunitilis</li>
<li>Sextilis</li>
<li>September</li>
<li>October</li>
<li>November</li>
<li>December</li>
</ol>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>You can see the Romans trying to be logical. They were creative with the first 4 months' names, and then they gave up and named the months after their position. But that made things easy to keep track of.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The problem was, the earth's rotations and the months and days don't fit nicely into a 10-month package. The Romans wound up with 61 days that didn't belong to any month at all.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I don't know what people did for those 61 days. Went around holding their breath, I suppose, or saying, "We are in the monthless days," I don't know.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Then Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome--this was before there were emperors or even a republic--came along. He ruled from 615-673 BCE, after the first king, Romulus, had died. He decided to reform the calendar and account for those rogue 61 days.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.crystalinks.com/numa.jpg" height="200" width="176" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Sculpture of Numa Pompilius. I'm talking about him as if he were an actual person, and he was, but he lived so long ago, and so many stories have been told and re-written and exaggerated that it's difficult to know what he actually did and what was done by other people and got attributed to him. From what I gather, he's sort of a catch-all figure for Things People Did During the 700 BCE years.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image from <a href="http://www.crystalinks.com/pompilius.html">Crystalinks</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Numa added two more months, January and February, at the end of the calendar. So his months went like this:</li>
</ul>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Martius</li>
<li>Aprilis</li>
<li>Maius</li>
<li>Junius</li>
<li>Qunitilis</li>
<li>Sextilis</li>
<li>September</li>
<li>October</li>
<li>November</li>
<li>December</li>
<li>January</li>
<li>February </li>
</ol>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>He preserved the logic of the months' names and their positions, and his calendar came closer to the actual solar year, but it fell a little short at 355 days long.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>To correct that problem, he said that every other year there should be an inter-calendar month of 22 or 23 days, whichever was necessary, called Mercedinus. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>You would think that Mercedinus would be inserted after February, but that's not quite how it went. Numa said Mercedinus should be inserted within February, after the 23rd or 24th, and then once Mercedinus was over, they'd go back to February and finish that month. So in practice his calendar went more like this:</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>1. Martius</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>2. Aprilis</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>3. Maius</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>4. Junius</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>5. Qunitilis</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>6. Sextilis</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>7. September</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>8. October</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>9. November</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>10. December</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>11. Januarius</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>12. Februarius</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>(no number). Mercedinus for a while</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>12. back to Februarius </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Numa also declared that the previous practice of figuring out what day it was solely by what the moon was doing was too fuzzy. From then on, every month would have 31 days. Er, mostly. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The Romans liked 31 because they believed that odd numbers were lucky. But not every month could have 31 days and keep the calendar corresponding with actuality, so Numa said some months would have 29 days. Keepin' it odd.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But even with these improvements, the Roman calendar was still messed up. The months wound up moving slightly as time progressed so a month that used to be in spring, after a certain amount of time, would wind up in summer. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Also, since the priests were still in charge of announcing when it would be the Ides or when it would be the Kalends, they were messing with the decrees to make parts of a month longer or shorter so the rulers they liked would be in power longer. There were decrees being made left and right, changing the length of months all the time. The whole thing got pretty jacked.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/imagesFolder/romanCal/fastiONE.gif" height="400" width="326" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Replica of a fragment of a Roman calendar (one of the <i>Fasti</i>), showing January through May. Days were reckoned by the new moon (Kalends) and how many days had passed since that, the first quarter (Nones) and how many days after that, and the full moon (Ides) and how many days had passed since then. Crystal clear, right?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Figure from <a href="http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-roman.html">Calendars through the Ages</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>When Julius Caesar came along, he said, "I'll fix this." He asked an astronomer for advice and based on what that guy told him, in 45 B.C.E. he established a new calendar that had 365 days (10 more than the Roman calendar) divided into 12 months. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/imagesFolder/images2009/shutterstock2699814.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Julius Caesar, perhaps decreeing that we should all abide by his new and improved calendar.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-christian.html">Calendars through the Ages</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>He made January the first month of the year. This was in keeping with a practice that many people had been following for about 100 years already because January 1 was the beginning of the civil year in Rome, when the elected consuls would begin their one-year term. (Sort of ironic that Caesar, who inaugurated the empire and put an end to the Republic, would codify a practice associated with the rule of the republicans).</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>He didn't change the order of any of the months, just shifted the beginning of the year to January. So his calendar went like this:</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Januarius</li>
<li>Februarius</li>
<li>Martius</li>
<li>Aprilis</li>
<li>Maius</li>
<li>Junius</li>
<li>Qunitilis</li>
<li>Sextilis</li>
<li>September</li>
<li>October</li>
<li>November</li>
<li>December</li>
</ol>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>We follow this order of the months today (except now we call the seventh month July after--guess who?--Julius, and the eighth month <a href="http://dailyapple.blogspot.com/2008/08/apple-332-welcome-to-august.html">August after another emperor, Augustus</a>). </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So that's how the eighth month wound up being the tenth month.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
But Wait, There's More </h3>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>After a few years, the astronomers discovered the Julian calendar wasn't right. So they added a Leap Day at the end of February every third year. But then after a few more years it became obvious that still wasn't right, so they changed Leap Day to every fourth year. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>After more time passed, they discovered that this still wasn't right. An extra day was getting added every 128 years. So every 128 years, they had to shift the calendar to skip that extra day.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Even so, that calendar was pretty popular and some parts of the world or some scholarly disciplines still use it.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In 1582 during the tenure of Pope Gregory XIII, a new calendar was adopted, which we call the Gregorian calendar after the Pope, even though it was an Italian astronomer who came up with it.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www1.adnkronos.com/IGN/Assets/Imgs/L/luigi_lilio_del_pittore_ianni--400x300.jpg" height="240" width="320" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Luigi Lilio, the Italian doctor/philosopher/astronomer who came up with the calendar we call Gregorian and which we use today.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Image from <a href="http://www1.adnkronos.com/IGN/News/Cultura/Cinquecento-anni-fa-nasceva-Luigi-Lilio-padre-del-Calendario-Gregoriano_545108819.html">adnkronos</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The Gregorian calendar was pretty much the same as the Julian calendar, except the number of days in each month were a little more flexible -- no need to stick with that lucky odd number anymore -- and the months were adjusted so the first day of a new season fell on the 21st, or as close to that as possible, and the way Leap Day was calculated was more nuanced.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Leap Years would not be every fourth year absolutely, but would occur only if the year is evenly divisible by 4. But if the year is evenly divisible by 100 it is not a leap year, unless the year is also evenly divisible by 400.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>This got rid of that problem of an extra day every 128 years, and it also helped keep the months more closely aligned with the seasons each year. It is the calendar we follow today.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>By the way, English-speaking folk took longer to switch to the Gregorian calendar. It wasn't until 1752 that Great Britain and the then-colonies began counting their days the Gregorian way.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The Gregorian calendar still isn't perfect, by the way. It adds an extra 27 seconds each year, which amounts to 1 extra day every 3,236 years. In a few thousand years, somebody will have to tweak our calendar some more. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<img height="210" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Gregoriancalendarleap_solstice.svg/800px-Gregoriancalendarleap_solstice.svg.png" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Another indicator of how the Gregorian calendar still contains errors. You can see how the calendar date of the summer solstice falls at various times relative to June 21.5 as the years progress, and then gets readjusted with the divisible-by-400 leap shifting. If our calendar has this much variation in it, imagine how much variation there must have been in the Roman calendar compared to seasons and equinoxes.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Chart from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar">Wikipedia</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Bonus Fact </h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In the very early days of the Roman kings, a priest (<i>pontifex</i>) would keep track of what the moon was doing and when a new moon started, the pontifex would announce that a new month had begun. The verb for "to solemnly announce" is <i>calare</i>, and it is from that verb that we get our word <i>calendar.</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Sources</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Calendars through the Ages, <a href="http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-roman.html">Early Roman Calendar</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Timeanddate.com, <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/months/october.html">The Month of October</a> and <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/julian-calendar.html">The Julian Calendar</a> and <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/gregorian-calendar.html">The Gregorian Calendar</a> and <a href="http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-christian.html">The Christian Calendar</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Times News, <a href="http://www.tnonline.com/2013/oct/19/october-was-once-eighth-month">October was once the eighth month</a>, October 19, 2013</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Infoplease, <a href="http://www.infoplease.com/spot/newyearhistory.html">A History of the New Year</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 80%;">The Calendar FAQ, <a href="http://www.tondering.dk/claus/cal/julian.php">The Julian calendar</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Lawrence A. Crowl, <a href="http://www.crowl.org/lawrence/time/months.html">A History of the Months and the Meanings of their Names</a></span></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440938.post-36782375539838198132015-09-21T01:02:00.000-04:002015-09-21T01:10:25.173-04:00Apple #719: People Leaving Syria<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Like most of you, I've been hearing more and more news reports about the refugees who've left Syria. I was kind of taking it in, kind of not. Then I heard one news report on the radio say that an estimated 5,000 people are leaving per day. <i>Each day</i>. That number stunned me so much, I decided to find out more.<br />
<br />
My big question was, if you were in charge of a country where people were so desperate to leave that 5,000 people each day would rather abandon their homes, the places they grew up, the food and the customs and the music and their friends and their family and their places of worship and the places where family members are buried -- they would rather leave all that, and put themselves in the hands of complete strangers to guide them into completely foreign lands and risk being taken advantage of, kidnapped, raped, or left to suffocate in a truck, or who knows what else -- 5,000 people each day would rather risk all of that than to stay in your country, wouldn't you start to think that maybe something's wrong with the way you're running your country?<br />
<br />
Mm, apparently not if you're the guy in charge of Syria.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://cdn1.pri.org/sites/default/files/styles/story_main/public/migration/PriMigrationsDamanticWordpressAttachmentsImagesMigration/www.theworld.org/wp-content/uploads/RTR3DNGY-e1363030979571.jpg?itok=iKDJUhQ7" height="244" width="432" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Syrians in a refugee tent in Nizip, Turkey in 2013. Apparently, Bashar Al-Assaad would rather blow up his country than have these people stay in it. Just look at those threatening children.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from Reuters, sourced from <a href="http://www.pri.org/stories/2013-03-11/number-syrian-refugees-may-grow-three-million-end-year">PRI</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
I don't want to give you a history of all that's happened in Syria. Lots of other sources out there have done a much better job of that than I could (see Sources at the end of this entry). Instead, I'm going to give you some facts here & there that you might not know (I didn't know these things). Because everybody's saying this is the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.<br />
<br />
In reading about the refugee situation, I discovered I got kind of tone
deaf to all the numbers being tossed around. They're all so big, it
doesn't take long before they start to get meaningless. I had to find
reference points for those numbers so I could get a picture of just how
big they are. So I'll give you some of those numbers along with the reference points, too.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img height="260" src="https://salaamculturalmuseum.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/syria-refugee-map.jpg?w=640&h=416" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">I know this map is hard to read, and it's outdated from 2012, but my point is the arrows. They're pointing to all countries on all sides of Syria. Meaning that people are taking any and every route possible to get out of the country.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Map from somewhere on <a href="http://newsaggregator.ga/map-of-syrian-refugee-camps.html">News Aggregator</a>) </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
The Numbers</h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Syria is about the size of Arizona. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Arizona's total population is about 6.7 million people.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Syria's total population -- difficult to estimate given how many people are leaving -- is somewhere around 22 million people.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>22 million people is everybody who lives in Florida plus everybody who lives in Iowa.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Since 2011 when the civil war started, an estimated 2 to 3 million people have left Syria. That's somewhere between all of Houston leaving the country, or all of Chicago leaving the country.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Millions more people have not left Syria but have been displaced from their homes. This is a nice way of saying their houses got bombed or destroyed, or their farmland was burned, or there's no longer any usable water, or for some other drastic reason they had to leave home and find someplace else to live.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>That number is estimated to be anywhere from 4 million to 11 million people. </li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>4 million people is all of Los Angeles plus more. 11 million people is all of New York City plus all of Chicago. Looking for someplace else to live, all at once.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Imagine everyone in all the five boroughs of New York leaving their homes and looking for someplace else to live. Because all five boroughs have been bombed or destroyed or have otherwise become unlivable. Oh, plus all of Chicago too.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Another way to think of that 11 million is that it equals half of the entire country's population. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<img height="245" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/An_Aerial_View_of_the_Za%27atri_Refugee_Camp.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">One of the refugee camps specifically for those who have left Syria. This one is in Za'atari, Jordan, as of 2013. The camp is 30,000 square meters and can hold up to 113,000 people. Over 600,000 refugees from Syria have come to Jordan.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from the US State Department, sourced from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugees_of_the_Syrian_Civil_War#/media/File:An_Aerial_View_of_the_Za%27atri_Refugee_Camp.jpg">Wikipedia</a>) </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
What's So Terrible?</h3>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>For that many people to leave, things must be pretty bad.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The dude who runs Syria, Bashar Al-Assad, is pissed off and he is bombing his own people.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.presidentassad.net/images/2014/28-1-2015/2/Bashar-Assad-interview-15-1-15-18.jpg" height="400" width="300" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Looks like your basic nerd, doesn't he, with the sleeves of his jacket too long and everything. He was trained to be an ophthalmologist. But apparently this is what a desperate villainous dictator looks like. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.presidentassad.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=289&Itemid=494">Bashar Al-Assad's personal website</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>He rules his country in one of those pseudo-democracies that are really dictatorships that also have a religious component. Since he's in charge, his religion is the only acceptable one to practice, and he denies various rights to or persecutes people who practice religions other than his.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>His religion is a small branch of Islam (Alawite). Other Islamic branches which have more people, both in the world and in his country, his government has repressed in some way. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>For example, political parties that are allied with one of the unacceptable Islamic religions or some other religion are illegal, and if you're found doing political things associated with those illegal parties, you could be jailed or worse. People have been beaten, kidnapped, disappeared, etc.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So in 2011, a bunch of people attempted their own Arab Spring and rebelled against his government.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>His father used to be in charge of Syria, and when his father faced an uprising from another Islamic group, he dealt with that by destroying entire neighborhoods where that group was centered. I mean, he leveled everything like a tornado.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img src="http://www.presidentassad.net/images/Hafez%20Face.jpg" height="352" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">This is Bashar's dad, Hafez. How many people must suffer because of Bashar's daddy issues?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="http://www.presidentassad.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=243&Itemid=492">Bashar Al-Assad's personal website</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>So Bashar tried to do the same thing. He got his army to kill or kidnap or "disappear" the people involved in that revolutionary effort. But when he tried his dad's technique, it didn't work. His attempt at repression backfired. It only made the rebels fight back harder. And then so did he.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>He's bombed his own cities, he's burned people's farms, he's had people kidnapped or murdered, his army has raped women and killed children, and then of course you remember the sarin gas incidents when he gassed his own people. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>He got rid of the sarin after the international community made all kinds of threats, but reports say he's now using chlorine and ammonia. Plus, he's recently gotten funding from Russia so he's dropping even more bombs -- including barrels full of ammunition dropped from helicopters -- onto places that may or may not house rebel forces. So he's killing or injuring lots of civilians in the process.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Meanwhile, ISIS has seen this chaos and destruction as a prime opportunity for them. So they've moved into Syria and they're conducting their brutal recruitment tactics with their lovely beheadings and so on, forcing those people whose heads they have not cut off to join them. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Hospitals have been destroyed, water lines have been blown up so there's not much clean water, in some towns there aren't enough people to bury the dead, and as for food, even before the war people were having to smuggle things in through underground tunnels and now those tunnels have been blown up in places so it's very hard to get decent food, or for anyone to deliver supplies to them.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;"><img src="http://www.usnews.com/dims4/USNEWS/4c529d2/2147483647/resize/652x%3E/quality/85/?url=%2Fcmsmedia%2F7a%2F35%2F9ea8e2db4827bc305e3d365c47ad%2F150108-editorial.jpg" height="266" width="400" /> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Syrian residents in a refugee camp within Damascus waiting for food to be distributed. These are people who have left their home somewhere in Syria and come to this camp for the displaced in Damascus. The food aid being given out is not from their own government but from the UN and other relief agencies.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency / Getty, sourced from <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/01/09/syrian-refugee-crisis-challenges-international-aid-organizations">US News</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>There have been attempts at a peace agreement, but the rebels don't believe that Bashar will keep any agreement he makes, so nothing sticks.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>With no end of the destruction in sight, more and more people are saying, Time to GTFO.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
The Initiating Event</h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>What triggered all of this? What was the event that set all this in motion? </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Some teenagers painted revolutionary slogans on a school wall.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The teenagers were arrested and beaten and tortured. Always the appropriate response to graffiti.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Demonstrators protested.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Government security forces shot at the protestors and killed several.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>That only led to more demonstrations, and ultimately thousands of people filled the streets demanding Bashar's resignation.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>But of course Bashar would not give up his power. Apparently he would rather destroy his entire country than give up his power.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>All this from some words that some teenagers painted on a wall. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>What did they write? "The people want to topple the regime" and "It's your turn, doctor."</li>
</ul>
<br />
<img height="283" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Anti_Assad_graffiti_on_walls_march_2011_syria.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">This graffiti, painted in 2011 during the initial uprisings, says "Down with Bashar."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo from <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/8605011@N02/5614565122">jan Sefti on Flickr</a>, sourced from <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anti_Assad_graffiti_on_walls_march_2011_syria.jpg">Wikimedia</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.theyucatantimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Syrian-Refugees-and-the-Heartlessness-of-Europe-AFP_Getty-160475678.jpg" height="266" width="400" /><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">Syrian children in a refugee camp in Za'atari, Jordan</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 80%;">(Photo by <a href="http://www.theyucatantimes.com/2015/09/mexican-senators-want-to-keep-open-borders-for-syrian-refugees/">Jeff J Mitchell / Getty</a>)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.usaid.gov/crisis/syria">This page lists all the organizations (primarily US) that are providing some form of aid</a> or support to Syrian citizens or refugees.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Summaries of the Conflict</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">BBCNews, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26116868">Syria: The story of the conflict</a>, March 12, 2015</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">BBCNews, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-17258397">Syria's war</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Washington Post, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/08/29/9-questions-about-syria-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask/">9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask</a>, August 29, 2013</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Numbers</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">CIA World Factbook, <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sy.html">Syria</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">World Population Review, <a href="http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/syria-population/">Syria Population 2015</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">CNN, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/11/world/syria-refugee-crisis-when-war-displaces-half-a-country/">War has forced half of Syrians from their homes. Here's where they've gone</a>, September 11, 2015</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Situation</i> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The New York Times, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/16/world/middleeast/for-those-who-remain-in-syria-daily-life-is-a-nightmare.html?_r=0">For Those Who Remain in Syria, Daily Life is a Nightmare</a>, September 15, 2015</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Economist, <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/06/economist-explains-6">Syria's Humanitarian Crisis</a>, June 8, 2015</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Newsweek, <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/syrian-refugees-all-you-need-know-373475">Syrian Refugees: All You Need to Know</a>, September 17, 2015 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The New York Review of Books, <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/oct/10/syrias-refugees-catastrophe/">Syria's Refugees: The Catastrophe</a>, October 10, 2013</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Spark</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The New York Times, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/world/middleeast/a-faceless-teenage-refugee-who-helped-ignite-syrias-war.html">A Faceless Teenage Refugee Who Helped Ignite Syria's War</a>, Februrary 8, 2013 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">CNN, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/01/world/meast/syria-crisis-beginnings/">Daraa: The spark that lit the Syrian flame</a>, March 1, 2012</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Open Doors, <a href="https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/stories/tag-blog-post/graffiti-on-a-wall-sparked-syrian-conflict/">Graffiti on a Wall Sparked Syrian Conflict</a>, March 9, 2015</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2