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U.S. Out of Vermont!
Last September, about 60 Vermonters met in the chambers of the house of representatives in Montpelier to celebrate the state's "independence spirit" and to discuss the goals of "environmental sustainability, economic justice, and Vermont self--determination." The speaker of the house had given up the space free of charge for the one-day conference. First at the podium was a Princeton-educated yak farmer and professor of journalism named Rob Williams, one of the organizers of the event, who at 9 A.M. opened the proceedings by acknowledging what he called "some unpleasant and hard truths." Amid the twin global crises of peak oil and climate change, the United States was "an out-of-control empire." It was "unresponsive to the needs, concerns, and desires of ordinary citizens."
Williams, who wore a T-shirt that said "U.S. Out of Vermont," did not advocate revolution. He was looking for a divorce. He wanted Vermont to secede. "Nonviolent secession," he said, "the detaching from empire and exercising our rights to independence, a deeply American right first expressed in the Declaration of Independence, is a right that demands re-exploration today." Williams noted that Vermont is one of only three states, along with Texas and Hawaii, that ever existed as an independent republic—in Vermont's case, from 1777 to 1791—and that as "a national leader on progressive political issues," the state was "uniquely poised to lead this national conversation on self-determination."
The murmuring response from the crowd suggested they'd heard it before. Williams and his fellow travelers—who constituted not quite a movement, he said, but more "a network of critical observers"—had been calling for separation from the U.S. since 2003. They had gathered in the ornate rooms of the state house to spread the word in 2005 and again in 2008 and now in 2012. Vermont had not yet separated, but the secessionists who were calling for a "Second Vermont Republic" had gained notoriety, and some small influence, across the state.
The conference's attendees included an ecofeminist named Lierre Keith, co-author of Deep Green Resistance, who reported that "capitalism is literally insane" and urged the collapse of industrial civilization; a man in a kaffiyeh who enthused over a recent story about a rural Vermonter who, faced with police harassment over his use of marijuana, mounted his tractor, drove into town, and crushed seven sheriff's cruisers under the treads of the behemoth machine; a musician who sang a tune called "Totalitarian Democracy"; a thespian garbed in 18th-century blouse and boots and cravat who re-enacted Ethan Allen, the farmer-soldier who led Vermont's war of secession against New York in 1777; and a troupe of female dancers from the radical Bread and Puppet Theater, dressed all in white, who chanted a series of poems about "upriser calisthenics."
The morning's keynote speaker, historian and author Morris Berman, drew on his latest book, Why America Failed. As he writes, "The principal goal of North American civilization is and always has been an ever-expanding economy—affluence—and endless technological innovation—'progress.'" That's made us "a nation of hustlers … a people relentlessly on the make." The hustling mentality, seeing no limits to acquisitiveness, founded on the delusion of permanent growth—otherwise known as the American Dream—produced permanent instability and crisis. A nation of hustlers, argued Berman, was bound to fail. It could do nothing else.
Williams was nodding along. "Only in Vermont," he told me, "would a legislature allow this sort of thing on its floor."
During the Obama years, secession has mostly been an antic folly of the political right, courtesy of Texas nationalists, Dixie nostalgists, white supremacists, "sovereign citizens," and gun nuts. There was no small amount of hypocrisy, of course, in this conservative rebellion. When Texas Governor Rick Perry in 2009 spoke publicly about a possible Lone Star secession, he billed it as a constitutional right in the face of overreaching government—though Republicans mostly hadn't complained when George W. Bush was demanding profligate budgets and stabbing the sacred document with pencil holes.
Yet here in granola-eating, hyper-lefty, Subaru-driving Vermont was a secession effort that had been loud during the Bush years, had not ceased its complaining under Barack Obama, did not care for party affiliation, and had welcomed into its midst gun nuts and lumberjacks and professors, socialists and libertarians and anarchists, ex--Republicans and ex-Democrats, truck drivers and schoolteachers and waitresses, students and artists and musicians and poets, farmers and hunters and wooly-haired woodsmen. The manifesto that elaborated their platform was read at the conference: a 1,400-word mouthful that echoed the Declaration of Independence in its petition of grievances. "[T]ransnational megacompanies and big government," it proclaimed, "control us through money, markets, and media, sapping our political will, civil liberties, collective memory, traditional cultures." The document was signed by, among others, its principal authors, a professor emeritus of economics at Duke University named Thomas Naylor and the decentralist philosopher Kirkpatrick Sale, author of Human Scale. "Citizens," it concluded, "lend your name to this manifesto and join in the honorable task of rejecting the immoral, corrupt, decaying, dying, failing American Empire and seeking its rapid and peaceful dissolution before it takes us all down with it."
Midway through the event, a bespectacled lawyer named Steven Howard, describing himself as a "liberty activist," took his turn at the podium and shouted, "Free Vermont!" The response was lackluster, so Howard cried louder: "Free Vermont!" There was yipping and clapping, and when it died down, Howard asked, "How?" Answers were not forthcoming, though this was the key question. No compelling mass of Vermonters favored secession; no marchers in Burlington or Montpelier were burning the American flag. In polls taken over the previous five years, no more than 13 percent of registered Vermont voters had expressed support for the idea. In 2010, nine secessionist candidates ran for state office and were rejected by the public. Their best showing was the candidacy of a 19-year-old college student named James Merriam, who received 14 percent of the vote for a seat in the state house of representatives. Until recently, Williams had published and edited a newspaper, Vermont Commons: Voices of Independence, which at its height in 2011 had a print circulation of 12,000 but was now, for lack of funding and advertisers, only a website. His network of critical observers briefly did a brisk business in selling the "U.S. Out of Vermont" T-shirts. The group even had its own silver "independence coin" embossed with a portrait of socialist agrarian Scott Nearing, forebear of the back-to-the-land movement in Vermont.
When the proceedings broke for lunch, I asked Morris Berman, who had been invited from his home in Mexico, what he thought of the conferees and their intentions. "There's no chance in hell that a secession is going to happen under current conditions," he said. "I'm a historian. I look at what's possible. If Vermont seceded, there would be troops in Burlington in two hours." Yet Berman was also hopeful. The Vermonters were reinventing secession. It would not be a mere political revolt, not simply a regional separation, but also, and probably more important, a revolt against the economy of empire, a move toward economic independence. "These people here," he told me, "are experimenting with a kind of monastic withdrawal that has political implications. Capitalism is eating itself alive, but as the system unravels you have all these little flowering buds appear."
Vermont's first modern-day proponent of secession was a professor of political science at the University of Vermont named Frank Bryan, who in 1987 published a comic account of the state's departure from the union, titled Out! The Vermont Secession Book. The book imagined a covenant, signed in secret by Ethan Allen and George Washington, that suggested Vermont had not joined the Union; the Union had, instead, joined Vermont. Now, "after two hundred years of bureaucracy, federal mismanagement, and un-Vermont-like actions, Vermont wants out," wrote Bryan and co-author Bill Mares, a state legislator.
In 1991, on the 200th anniversary of Vermont's joining the empire, the legislature gave Bryan funding to travel the countryside with a state supreme court judge to debate the benefits of secession at seven town hall meetings, including one in Montpelier. "It was all in good fun," Bryan says. The judge took the pro-Union position. All seven towns voted against remaining in the United States. "The reasons for not needing the federal government are pretty clear," Bryan says. "The only wild card is defense. But we're on the northern border with Canada. Who the hell is gonna bother us?"
In Vermont, Bryan says, there is "a commonality of people opposed to large distant bureaucracies telling them how to live their lives. It's the decentralist commonality of the libertarian right and what I'd call the communitarian left. The right opposes big government, the left opposes big business. It's really about governing on a human scale."
As Bryan notes, Vermont has radical genes, a history rife with alternative thinking. Ethan Allen fought against the British Crown as fiercely as he would fight the Americans. Vermont under Allen produced, in 1777, the first constitution in English to outlaw slavery and allow citizens without property to vote. Nearly two centuries later, Scott Nearing chose Vermont to escape what he called "the American Oligarchy, the American Way of Life, the American Century, the American Empire." When he published Living the Good Life in 1954, it became a touchstone for the first generation of the simple-living movement, the hippies and Luddites who in the 1960s flooded into the state to follow Nearing's example. Vermont went almost overnight from a right-wing backwater to a leftist mecca that eventually put in office America's only avowedly socialist senator, Bernie Sanders.
Another college professor, Thomas Naylor, who in 1993 had retired to a village near Burlington after 30 years of teaching economics at Duke University, took up Bryan's idea of secession. In 2003, he founded a think tank and citizens' network called Second Vermont Republic, its purpose to oppose "the tyranny of the United States government, Corporate America, and globalization." Second Vermont Republic would soon have several hundred members. "The time has come," Naylor wrote in his 2008 book, Secession, "for us peacefully to rebel against the American empire [by] regaining control of our lives from big government, big business, big cities, big schools, and big computer networks."
Naylor, who died at the age of 76 last December, was a native Mississippian, raised in Jackson in a family of what he described as inveterate racists. Revolting against the South of his forefathers, he had founded in 1969, with future Tennessee Attorney General Mike Cody, the L.Q.C. Lamar Society, whose purpose was to promote, as Naylor wrote, a "humane civilization" in a new South that had shaken off slavery, racism, and segregation but perhaps would keep something of the civility, the courtoisie of the Old South—its slowness, its opposition to hurried industrialism and the quick buck. The Lamar Society found its lineage in the Southern Agrarians of the 1930s, led by poet John Crowe Ransom and novelist Robert Penn Warren. Their co-edited anthology, I'll Take My Stand, featured some of the South's greatest living writers denouncing the "convulsions of a predatory and decadent capitalism." "The latter-day societies," Ransom wrote, "have been seized—none quite so violently as our American one—with the strange idea that the human destiny is not to secure an honorable peace with nature, but to wage an unrelenting war on nature."
At Duke, Naylor was known less as an economist than as co-creator, with theologian William Willimon, of a popular freshman course, "The Search for Meaning." He taught Camus, Kafka, Tolstoy, Faulkner, Erich Fromm's To Have or To Be? and Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death, among others. When he arrived in Vermont, he found in the far North what he had loved about the Old South: life "lived at a slower, more deliberate, more casual pace." He wrote of "the classic red barns, the covered bridges, the picturesque patchwork pattern of small farms, black-and-white Holsteins, tiny villages, little rivers, ridges, hollows, and dirt roads." There were "no cities, no big buildings, few shopping malls, no military bases, few big businesses." Vermont, as Naylor saw it, was not only tiny and rural and beautiful. It was humane.
Naylor became the face of Vermont secession. His friends said that with his longish white hair, his bald spot at the crown, his jowls, red cheeks, and horn-rimmed glasses, he resembled Ben Franklin. On cable news and on NPR he carried the banner. During an interview with the Iranian state television network in 2009, wearing his usual forest-green suit-coat and green dress shirt to honor Vermont as the Green Mountain State, Naylor assured the Iranians, who were glad to hear an American inveigh against the Great Satan, that the U.S. was "owned and operated by corporate America and Wall Street." He was joined on the program by the head of a Texas secessionist group called the Texas Nationalist Movement; both men agreed that they did not want to be part of the same nation. Naylor had issued similar proclamations while on Fox News with Bill O'Reilly, who offered him bus fare to Canada. Once, Naylor attempted to hold a meaningful conversation with Glenn Beck, an experience he described as "mentally debilitating."
He wanted to lead his movement beyond the confines of the political left and right. "What liberals and conservatives have in common," Naylor told me last fall, "is that they are both all about bigness and power—big government, big business. They are about owning, possessing, controlling and manipulating money, people, material wealth." Barack Obama, he said, is George W. Bush with a tan and diction and without the smirk. The "socialist" senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, is a "prostitute of empire" and a "collaborationist," because he took no firm stand against war and defense appropriations. National security was a shared delusion in service of homicide. "Left or right," Naylor asked, "who wants to be associated with such a shabby creature as the United States?"
In 2007, after seeing him on Fox News, a fifth-generation Vermonter named Dennis Steele, the son of working-class parents in the state's remote Northeast Kingdom, wrote Naylor that he wanted to join the secessionist cause. Steele had served in the U.S military, was tall and burly and handsome, wore Carhartts, drove a pickup truck, drank maple syrup for breakfast, and hunted deer for his meat. A master at chess, he had founded a successful website, Chessmaniac.com. At Naylor's urging, Steele declared his candidacy for governor in the 2010 race. "The gods of the empire," went his campaign slogan, cribbed from Ethan Allen, "are not the gods of Vermont." The eight other candidates on the secession ticket that year included a car salesman for Subaru, a former ACLU executive who had worked in the New York Legislature, a businessman in solar energy, and an ex-Army lieutenant who had been court-martialed for resisting the Vietnam War. "For the first time in over 150 years," Naylor announced at a press conference for the ticket, "secession and political independence from the U.S. will be front and center in a statewide New England political campaign."
Steele polled less than 1 percent. Naylor was embittered and exhausted. "I've been at this for close to seven years. Print promotion. Telephone calls. Money. I'm tired," he told me. At the secession conference in Montpelier, Rob Williams had introduced Naylor as the "reason most of us are in this room." But privately, Naylor wondered whether his approach to taking on the empire had been wrong all along. "I may have made a fundamental strategic error in bringing secession north," he said. "The paradigm was what I knew growing up in the Deep South, the language of secession, the process of secession that the South championed." Three months later, he was dead.
In the summer of 2010, I rented a room at a tiny Vermont boardinghouse called the Gather-ing Inn, in the town of Hancock at the foothills of the Green Mountains. The proprietor, a mirthful 67-year-old named Kathleen Byrne, had hosted three Vermont independence fund-raisers in recent years. "God, can't we just leave already?" she said when I asked her about secession. "It feels so right." On her property she kept chickens and tended fruit trees and a vegetable garden that fed the household and guests. She had a greenhouse for year-round production. It was a modest kind of independence, she said, meaningful because it was palpable.
A few days later, during the July 4 parade in Montpelier, I followed about two dozen secessionists—Thomas Naylor and Rob Williams leading the pack—as they carried a banner that said "200 Years Is Long Enough" and tossed copies of Vermont Commons into the crowd. Behind the secessionists were the Shriners in their go-karts and funny hats, and in front was a tall red, white, and blue layer-cake truck float representing the interests of Community National Bank, whose employees were dressed as Betsy Ross, Lady Liberty, and George Washington. I asked Washington, whose real name is Steve Gurin, bank vice president, what he thought about the gang of "seceshers" lurking behind him. Gurin laughed mightily, then peppered me with accusatory questions that were by now familiar: Where would revenues come from? How would we survive? "We'd be all alone," Gurin said. "We can't eat snow!"
I had often asked Naylor about these legitimate concerns. He wasn't interested in sweating the details of the divorce. "I imagine a free Vermont would be very much like the old Vermont," he said, "except that we wouldn't be involved in murdering women and children and supporting the empire." What kind of currency would the new republic use? "Oh, we'd stick with the dollar, or perhaps go with the euro, or the Canadian loony." What about Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, or the infrastructure currently funded by the federal government—the bridges, the roads, the interstate highways? Free Vermont would figure it out in the fullness of time. The state would get to keep its $2 billion per capita share of the cost of imperial upkeep and war-making, Naylor said, but Vermont would owe the federal government for the takeover of U.S.–owned property. It would owe its share of the national debt. It would face as well questions about the legality of secession. Nowhere in the Constitution is secession prohibited, Naylor said, and the colonist-rebels of the 1770s did not seek permission from the Crown to leave. They just did it.
That afternoon, when the parade was over, I visited Williams at his yak farm outside the town of Waitsfield in the Mad River Valley. The yaks lowed and moaned, and Williams, who is tall and lanky and fast-moving, carried a long wooden staff to herd them along a green hillside that seemed to steam from the summer heat. The independent Vermont, as Williams described it, would not descend into autarky. It would not shut the borders, stop trade. The idea was first to practice more independence where practical. If secession from the U.S. were not possible, its proponents would find other ways to secede from the corporatocracy. "The three legs of functional independence are food, fuel, and finance," Williams said. "Given peak oil, it might be smart to think of how to lessen dependence on energy-wasteful and socially wasteful systems. More food and more energy produced locally—which is to say independently. More local banks for local credit and capital for local food and energy production."
We herded the yaks down the hill to the evening pasture near the barn, closed up the gates, and ate dinner: yak steaks and produce from his garden. A yak, Williams told me over our meal, consumes less grass per acre per animal than a cow and ends up producing the same amount of nutritional energy. This was independence meat at the end of my fork.
The next day, to stave off the terrible humidity, we went for a swim in the Mad River, climbing a path through pines to a series of ledges where kids were leaping into the emerald water. We got to talking about the concept of the commons, which is central to Williams's notion of economic independence. He motioned at the water, at the sunlight, the air, the tall trees: "This is the commons." The idea dates back to Roman civil law, codified in the Institutes of Justinian, which stated that "by the law of nature these things are common to all mankind—the air, running water, the sea." Who owned the water we swam in, and together shared with the kids? No one and everyone.
How to measure it as a social good was the question Williams and others in the movement had been asking. Under current law, the value of the commons was not assessed to benefit Vermonters. In a 2008 study, secession advocate Gary Flomenhoft, a research associate professor of ecological economics at the University of Vermont, found that a system of fees, taxes, and other measures imposed on common resources—such as timber, spring water, and minerals—could raise $1.2 billion in state revenue. Vermont was a resource colony. Its hydroelectric energy plants, producing power for export, were controlled by Canadian shell corporations. Its timber was shipped to China so that residents could buy back shoddy furniture on credit. Most of Vermont's milk was exported, its cheese churned and packaged out of state. Its drinking water, worth hundreds of millions of dollars but handed over to Nestlé and Coca-Cola for a fraction of its worth, was bottled in other states and sold back to Vermonters at twice the price of gasoline.
The first step toward functional independence, then, was to secure the commons for the people of Vermont. The secessionists had helped to draft legislation toward that end, House Bill 385, which would have established a Vermont common-assets trust to set limits on the use of those assets and assess user fees in the form of resource rent. The bill, introduced in 2011, defined the commons in broadest terms: "undisturbed habitats, entire ecosystems, biological diversity, waste absorption capacity, nutrient cycling, flood control, pollination, raw materials, fresh water replenishment systems, soil formation systems, and the global atmosphere." The law stipulated that resource rent—presumably as much as $1.2 billion, a quarter of the state's operating budget—would go toward health care, public libraries, education, "start-up grants" for Vermonters reaching the age of 18, and a citizen dividend similar to the payout Alaskans receive from oil revenues under the Alaska Permanent Fund. Rob Williams described House Bill 385 as "revolutionary stuff."
A few months after the Montpelier conference, Williams invited me to attend a strategy meeting of the ten-member board of Vermont Commons, a nonprofit citizens cooperative. The board included a software consultant to Oracle named Robert Wagner; a marketing expert named Gaelan Brown, who was employed with the nonprofit 1% for the Planet; Flomenhoft, the principal author of the Vermont common-assets bill; and a housewife named Juliet Buck, who edited the Vermont Commons website. The subject of the meeting, which took place around a meal of string beans, feta cheese, and wine at Buck's house, was the food-fuel-finance triad.
"My people in Addison County are in survival mode," said Wagner, who had run for a seat in the state senate in 2010, lost badly, and was running again in 2012. "They know what's wrong with capitalism. They're hungry for something to do about it. What does independence mean?"
They talked about preparing for a transition society, a "Vermont lifeboat." They talked about the portent of climate change in Hurricane Irene, which devastated wide sections of Vermont. They cited lines from a Wendell Berry poem, "The Mad Farmer, Flying the Flag of Rough Branch, Secedes from the Union":
From the union of self-gratification and self-Annihilation
Secede into the care for one another
And for the good gifts of Heaven and Earth.
They talked about food sovereignty. Vermont imports 95 percent of its food, but the secessionists vowed they could invert that figure, producing tens of thousands of new farm and food-distribution jobs and 75 percent of all Vermont food in-state. They offered a litany of reforms: End price pressure on Vermont agriculture by removing the tax incentives and subsidies currently extended to those who speculate on agricultural land. End the federal regulations that burden small-scale raw milk and bread producers and those agrarians who survive by on-farm animal slaughter, processing, and distribution. Invest in regional centers for composting and food processing.
Vermont imports 100 percent of its fossil fuels, including $700 million a year in propane and heating oil. Gaelan Brown told me that the 250,000 homes in the state could be heated entirely with wood, using 1.2 million cords annually from a renewable supply of 117 million standing cords in Vermont's forests. He calculated that Vermont could produce some 70 percent of its electricity by 2020 through a combination of solar, wind, biomass, and hydropower. The state, Brown said, was already positioned for local energy production: upwards of 30 percent of schoolchildren—more than any other state—attended schools heated with locally sourced wood chips, which had cut fuel costs by 50 percent. Vermont was a leader in renewable energy. It was the only state that had attempted (albeit without success) to wrest control of nuclear power plant relicensing from the federal government.
The secessionists also envision a near--interest-free banking and credit system through a state bank along the lines of the state-owned Bank of North Dakota. A state-run bank, writes Hartwick College research scholar Adrian Kuzminski in Vermont Commons, would "provide low-interest capital to citizens [while] breaking the monopoly by private usurious lenders." Legislators floated a bill in 2011 to study the feasibility of a publicly owned bank. The bank bill awaits a committee hearing.
The urtext of the Vermont independence movement is E.F. Schumacher's 1973 book Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered. It was the product of Schumacher's experience in the 1950s as the chief economist at the British National Coal Board, when he came to the quite reasonable—but at the time unthinkable—conclusion that energy supply, including the coal that Great Britain was so ravenously burning up, could not satisfy unlimited growth. Growth for growth's sake, Schumacher concluded, was a suicide pact with planet Earth. We couldn't just keep growing. New paradigms were necessary. He offered a "Buddhist Economics," a middle path to develop economies along Buddhist principles, with "a new direction to technological development, a direction that shall lead it back to the real needs of man, and that also means: to the actual size of man." He wrote:
Production from local resources for local needs is the most rational way of economic life, while dependence on imports from afar and the consequent need to produce for export to unknown and distant peoples is highly uneconomic. … The Buddhist economist would hold that to satisfy human wants from faraway sources rather than from sources nearby signifies failure rather than success.
In Vermont, you can see an inchoate Buddhist economics. It is happening outside the purview of government, beyond the stamp of lawmakers. It's there on Rob Williams's yak farm as he wraps hay bales into his barn for feed and packs yak burgers for sale at his stall at the Waitsfield Farmers Market. It's there in the Vermont Sustainable Exchange, a system of credit among Vermont businesses. It can be found, secessionists say, in the fact that Vermont has the most organic farmland in use per capita of any state, the most widespread locavore food movement in America, the largest "sustainability focused" association of local businesses, the most microbrews and brewpubs per capita of any state. You can see it in businesses and organizations like Vermont Family Forests, the Vermont Land Trust, and the Biomass Energy Resource Center.
I asked writer and activist Bill McKibben, a neighbor of Robert Wagner's in Addison County—they live down the road from each other in the village of Ripton—what he thought of these Schumacherite models in practice, given the resource shocks that Vermont can expect in coming years. "Small and distributed will fare better than centralized and oversized," he said. "Places with strong communities will fare better than others—the wake of Irene demonstrated powerfully that simple fact."
Yet it seemed to me the secessionists were demanding a shift that went beyond mere re-localizing, and this was the historic challenge they presented. Growth for growth's sake is a suicidal delusion, the seceshers were telling us. The solution is relative austerity, which implies a life lived within our means. The American Dream, in other words, would have to die, and Americans would have to do the killing. But this language runs against the grain of the entire Euro-American experiment. It is the language of scarcity, and by their honest speech I wondered if the seceshers would hang themselves.
Still, resource stress is not some oddball fantasy. "Historically speaking," Morris Berman told me, "it's the last 200 years of industrial expansion and uncontrolled fossil-fuel consumption that have been aberrant—sort of like a drunken sailor out on the town. Really, what are the choices at this point? Sustainable society or no society at all."
Toward this end—a sustainable society that is also politically realistic—Kirkpatrick Sale, no small fan of Schumacher, suggests a middle path: Vermont, embracing the doctrine of states' rights, might pursue nullification of federal laws that go against its interest as a transition society. States' rights would no longer be the exclusive province of the gun nuts and anti-abortionists. "Vermont won't secede," Sale says. "It's just not happening. Yet, as a decentralist, I do appreciate the move toward independence in as many spheres as you can. We're likely to see more examples of nullification than secession. Look at what's been nullified so far. Real-ID is virtually dead because it's been nullified. Marijuana laws in the states have effectively nullified federal prohibition laws. With Obamacare, states are just not setting up their own statewide exchanges.
"The more serious Vermont gets about being self-sufficient, the more they might run up against federal regulations. That's a good way to go—to see if they have power to nullify. Because ultimately when you combine all the powers to nullify, you come up with secession."
On the day before the balloting last November 6, secessionist candidate Robert Wagner went looking for votes in the village of Hancock. When he rang at one of the homes, an old man came to the door and told the candidate that his nephew had been killed in Afghanistan. "We get sucked into these wars halfway around the world, when there's no sense to it," said the man. "It's not about terrorism. It's all about the oil. These people in D.C. are not thinking about their own people. Maybe we'd be better off as our own country."
Wagner, being wary of the word when door-knocking, hadn't mentioned secession. "I don't push it," he told me. "I'll let them get there themselves."
Wagner described to me what had happened when Hurricane Irene hit Hancock in 2011. The White River rose, swept away entire homes, and disinterred the corpses in nearby cemeteries. A wall of water out of the mountains shredded Route 100, leaving 20-foot canyons, isolating the village. National Guard helicopters were slow to arrive. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was nowhere to be seen. The residents held potluck dinners and planning sessions by candlelight, deputized a leadership, heaved pebbles and gravel in backhoes to begin the repair of the roads—they had no permits to do so—and sent emissaries on foot to outlier settlements, checking on the old and the infirm. Rick Gottesman, who lives with Kathleen Byrne at her inn and who told me he was a "quiet secessionist," wrote about Irene in an e-mail: "There was palpable pride in the town and its people and a distinct we-ain't-waitin'-for-no-gubmint attitude. With rivers bursting with water, forests full of firewood, abundant gardens and most of all each other, we could have easily continued for several more weeks and longer."
A week after the ballots were counted, I called Wagner to get the results. He had lost for the second time. But he had snagged 18 percent of his district—more than four times his votes in 2010—and had won the village of Hancock. He vowed to run again in 2014.
Tue, 2013-03-19 14:39
Hey all these Lefties and Righties are free to secede themselves if they choose. There are plenty of countries that more closely reflect their values and they are free to join them. America is truly a dream-come-true for dissidents. But we grow tired of their blather.
Since the Great Depression of '07 everything has changed; the rules have changed; the policies need changing. But don't expect me to stand and salute this constant nagging about American society as if nothing else has changed.
We know what the deal is. We have a pretty good idea who is at fault here. What is lacing is the collective will of the American people to make profound changes. Why? Because our ever-increasing balkanized country - including privately-educated elites who think they have answers for everyone! - succeeds in convincing us that any effort to reform our government is against our best interests.
Only someone educated at Princeton thinks he has the all the answers for everyone else about what is wrong with America. Limousine liberals are killing this country with their junk ideology.
Tue, 2013-03-19 14:43
Ketcham's piece is of a type he's written before about the moribund Vermont secession movement, notable as much for what he leaves out as for what he massages into a partial truth. I'll give a few examples:
1. He alleges that Naylor's Second Vermont Republic attracted a few hundred members; he leaves out that after I began blogging about the SVR's various ties to the white supremacist, neo-Confederate movement including the numerous members of SVR's advisory board from the League of the South (a hate group according to the Southern Poverty Law Center), Naylor, after receiving complaints from members over the documentable board ties to the neo-Confederates and Italy's racist, anti-immigrant Lega Nord, ended memberships and he embarked on a purge of SVR critics along with his then co-chair Rob Williams, both within and outside of SVR's ranks.
2. The two secesher candidates that Ketcham singles out for praise for their results weren't as successful as presented. Each ran in a race without a Republican or other independent candidate in the race. Commenting on Wagner's 2012 showing, Middlebury College professor and political analyst Eric L. Davis told the local paper, The Addison Independent,
Wagner's beefed-up numbers likely came from tallies tossed to him by Republican voters who did not have a GOP candidate to vote on in this year's race for state senate.
The same could certainly have been said as well about James Merriman's 2010 run. He's seen the light and no longer carries the Vermont secesher standard in elections.
3. Probably the most dishonest representation in this piece is that there ever was a time when 13% of registered voters in Vermont supported secession. During an appearance of his on the racist, Holocaust denying, homophobic Internet radio program The Political Cesspool, Naylor promoted the poll that these results came from to the interviewer, James Edwards, and admitted for the first time that he had paid for each of the questions used. Naylor, Williams and Ketcham have never released the questions. I obtained the questions from the 2006 poll and released them in March of 2007; you can read them here and decide for yourself if the methodology used was of a style commonly called a "push poll." When the seceshers ran their gubernatorial candidate, Dennis Steele, in 2010, 99.24% of Vermonters voted for someone other than the secesher candidate. Like Merriman, and despite a concession piece wherein he promised to stay involved, Dennis Steele has disappeared from the political scene, something else that Ketcham has left out of his piece.
I really expect better from The American Prospect than a puff piece by a longtime, ardent Vermont secesher supporter like Ketcham. The truth is that the Vermont secesher movement, or what little remains of it, is thoroughly discredited with the Vermont body politic (note the fact mentioned in the above article that its few remaining candidates no longer bring the topic up when canvassing for votes) and only seems to have a remaining foothold among out of state readers (and editors) who find the whimsy involved with the idea Vermont seceding somehow deserving of attention.
Flying Fig
Tue, 2013-03-19 15:02
Ha... Mr. Ketcham might want to reconsider revisiting Vermont again before publishing his book. That Mr.Rowley summed it up nicely, but the fact is, other than the same few deadenders, the Vermont Secessionist movement is nothing more than a forgotten punchline to a very bad joke. Ketcham fits right in with this article, as they love their revisionist histories that leave out, you know, inconvenient facts. I certainly hope his publisher has a fact-checker. Did the Prospect even bother to check up on whether or not this fluffing is even accurate? Methinks not.
Tue, 2013-03-19 16:36
You are correct, Mr. Fig.
Here's another fun fact that Ketcham left out of his piece above: After the December, 2010 drubbing that the seceshers received from the Vermont electorate (Wagner only got 4% when there was also a Republican in the race) they held a "plenary" session at their newly declared provisional capitol in Hancock, VT at the B&B Ketcham mentioned. He left that bit of secesher crazy out of his piece; he left a lot of the secesher crazy out of his piece.
You'd think they'd have fact checkers at The American Prospect that would have picked up on the many omissions from Ketcham's wet kiss to the tiny Vermont secesher group that he's been up to his eyeballs in promoting for years.
Anyone interested in the whole truth about the Vermont secesher movement can read about them at my blog.
Wed, 2013-03-27 16:54
MORALLY FOUNDED SYSTEMIC OVERSIGHT is also a conceptual possibility; but it would imply a level of real political power above the popular vote itself, of individuals appointed in service to society much like supreme court justices whom the military would necessarily consider as their supreme commanders; these people, once they are free of the need to procure their own political survival, would owe there lives-their very vitality-and their talents (of a humanistic as well as technical nature) to their fellow man and to World Society Itself. And money would no longer be in a position to override individual well being and social evolution-no matter how many billions of dollars in a Cyprus, Swiss or Caiman Island account one may have. Sure, you can be a buisnessman-but only that, what you do best, but you will never again be at the center of the decisions of collective, world governance, like you are now-to the greatest and sorriest detriment of humanity.
Will Stark
Mon, 2013-04-08 23:03
Talk about tunnelvision ! The article mentions damage from Hurricane Irene but leaves out a few minor details.
"In my home state, Vermont, where the storm devastated the landscape, destroying or damaging 200 bridges, more than 500 miles of road, and 100 miles of railroad, the National Guard airlifted in free food, water, diapers, baby formula, medicine, and tarps to thousands of desperate Vermonters trapped in 13 stranded towns—all free of charge to the victims of the storm.
The damage to Vermont was estimated at up to $1 billion. Yet the state only has 621,000 residents, so it could never have raised all the money needed to rebuild alone. Vermont businesses, individuals, and foundations have donated at least $4 million, possibly up to $6 million in assistance, an impressive figure, but not a fraction of what was needed. The state government immediately released $24 million in funds, crucial to getting its system of roads rebuilt and functioning, but again that was a drop in the bucket, given the level of damage. A little known state-owned bank, the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank, also offered low-interest, low-collateral loans to towns to aid reconstruction efforts. But without federal money, which covered 80 percent to 100 percent of the costs of rebuilding many Vermont roads, the state would still be an economic basket case. Without aid from Washington, the transportation network might have taken years to recover.
As for flood insurance, the federal government is pretty much the only place to get it." http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175494/tomgram%3A_christian_parenti%2C_big_storms_require_big_government/
They were only able to raise about 10 percent of the funds needed but hey, they were able to hold candlelight planning sessions, heave pebbles & gravel and send emissaries on foot, so I guess they're totally self-sufficient.
Will Stark
Mon, 2013-04-08 23:35
Actually the level of ignorance displayed by these presumed adults is staggering.
"We'd stick with the dollar, or perhaps go with the euro, or the Canadian loony." The dollar or loony I could see but the EURO ?!? Have you been following the news at all the last few years?
If Bernie Sanders is a "prostitute of empire," there are mighty few virtuous men.
Do they seriously believe that seceding from the "immoral, corrupt, decaying, etc. etc. American Empire" will save them from being taken down if "the Empire" does fail ? Please tell me these people aren't eligible to vote!
If you think that government is too intrusive, I understand. If you seek to prevent living under a corporatocracy, I'm with you. But any decent Model UN or Junior City Council could poke half a dozen holes in this harebrained scheme.
You need to be logged in to comment.
(If there's one thing we know about comment trolls, it's that they're lazy)


text: Eco-Green Sustainable Landscapes The nation spent the first half of the year complaining about expensive oil. It's now enjoying the cheapest gas in four years, at levels a third of those last July. But what will happen next? Energy analysts say the reprieve will be short, and predict a price hike once the global economy recovers. More

subset: commoncrawl


text:
MISSION MATTERS: Who Are The Others We Serve?
By Paul Stark S.J.
Vice President of Mission and Ministry
In nearly every Jesuit institution, in this country and across the world, we often hear that we are, or we are becoming, men and women for others. Seldom, if ever, though, are those others specifically named, or ever really identified, or ever really understood.
When we think of serving this often nameless other, we are drawn to those experiences when perhaps we travelled some distance physically and mentally to find them, often far from our sense of here and now, away from our immediate experience--physically and psychologically. In our experience, those elusive others are often outside our normal lives, outside the ordinary paths we take; they are at a comfortable distance from our world, really, so we can visit them, and then safely retreat, then, perhaps, but we do not necessarily have to live with them, to accompany them in their lives, to find any solidarity with their experience.
Maybe this is not the true meaning of other... maybe the true ideal of serving others, or the service of humanity, really calls us to look at ourselves and each other and our worlds from a more challenging point of view and attitude. Maybe we are called to see the other in those around us in our daily lives, next to us, near us, our family members, our co-workers, in class, on the road. Maybe, more challenging, they are around us all the time and we must serve them. Sometimes, maybe, we are our own others, the good parts of us we try to enhance, the not-so-good aspects we work hard to improve--the wise and the other-wise parts of each of us.
The Bible, and all other sacred texts, tells us that the others are not just those at a comfortable distance from us, but, in fact, they are the least among us, the people with whom we regularly live, and work, and interact. They are other students having hard times and needing someone to talk to; the co-worker who needs a little--or a lot--of our time. They are the people on the other side of our counter or desk who come at an inconvenient time, with a problem that will call us to give some--or a lot--of our time and effort. They are members of our families, or our group of friends, who need some attention from us when we have had not the best of days. The others can have the faces we see each day, all part of our real, daily, here-and-now lives.
Jesus tells us and his disciples, in many ways, in word and in deed, that we are to serve the other; not just the others at a distance, but, maybe even more, the others who may be easy to name, and difficult to deal with, the others whose faces we already see and know, the others we see every day.
Ignatius calls us to seek God in all things, and all people. So we know, then, that the service of others is not something we do far away, or just for special events, but the real way we're called to live our lives, every day, in communion with every person around us. We can work to see all things in God, in all things.


text:
this wiki
Terraria Server
A Terraria server is a program that makes available an open game world that others can join. To run a server, a user can run TerrariaServer.exe.
By default, the TerrariaServer.exe can be found in: (SteamAppsDirectory)\common\Terraria. Alternative try Terraria Dedicated Server Gui to manage your dedicated Server.
A player then may join the server from game menu, choosing Multiplayer.
The server runs on port 7777 by default. The default number of max players is 8. You can set a password for your server if you only want to play with your friends too! This can be changed during server startup and in the server configuration file: serverconfig.txt.
IP Addresses
- To host a server, you need to give others your external IP address for them to be able to join. If you don't know your external IP address, you can easily check it on WhatIsMyIP.com or Smart-IP.net.
- If your IP address starts with 192.168 or 172.16, that's your internal IP address, and it won't work for people outside of your house/work environment. When hosting a server, do not give other people your internal IP address as it won't work for them.
- The address 127.0.0.1 is known as localhost, a loopback reference to your computer. You cannot host a server at this address, other people will not be able to join it.
- Also note that, if your IP starts with 192.168 or 172.16, you are probably behind a router, and you will need to open/forward some ports (default: 7777) to make it work. This process is different for each brand of router. To learn how it works, you will need to do a Google search for the brand of your router and look for information about port forwarding. You can also look for your router on PortForward.com for detailed instructions.
If you see a sign you should read it. It could be telling you someone lives there, you get permission to go somewhere/someones house, and the rules of the server.
TShock may be useful when you are hosting a server, for anti-griefing purposes.
You can manage your TShock server from your web browser at TServerWeb.com and to easily get more players from the server list for free!
Server owners can post their servers for free on the Terraria server list : Terraria-Servers.com
or via the Terraria Online Forums.


text:
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text:
This guy has lost it. It's a terrible shame. Like Pat Madrid, I once had a phone conversation with him, in the 90s. Frank had become Orthodox, but the magazine he edited, The Christian Activist, was notorious for its anti-Catholic rants (see an example of a typical article, documented in a paper of mine, in the section, "Orthodox Anti-Catholicism"). I had written a letter to the editor, decrying this, and Frank called me up and we talked for a good 45 minutes (well, mostly I listened; couldn't get many words in): mostly about what he detested as liturgical mediocrity in Catholicism (but I hadn't written about liturgy; I was protesting the anti-Catholicism in his magazine). I also heard him speak once, since his conversion to Orthodoxy.
This recurring anti-Catholicism was the first indication that something was seriously awry in Frank Schaeffer, who had long since exhibited the characteristics of the typical "angry young man" -- with a complex over having such a famous and eminent father (a person who had a huge positive influence on many evangelicals, including yours truly).
Frank's rhetoric (even when I admired him) always did have, I thought ever since I became familiar with him, a certain sophomoric tenor and flavor, along with his trademark angst. Most of us who have followed his "journey" through the years probably thought that he would eventually outgrow this: you know: the usual zeal, lack of prudence, and excesses of youth. But we were wrong. It's far worse than mere "sophomorism."
Last September, Schaeffer put out his book, Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back, in which he essentially renounced his past and trashed his father and mother. It was one of the most astonishing displays of ungratefulness and betrayal of one's parents (and the movements one was a part of) in memory. He had done a similar thing to a lesser extent in his semi-autobiographical novel Portofino (2004). His mother Edith has expressed extreme anguish and hurt over this, and longtime Schaeffer family friends are outraged by how Frank has behaved. See, for example, family friend Os Guinness' scathing review of this book and a further comment by Dr. Jim Eckman.
He had previously made no bones about his early support of Barack Obama: the most pro-abortion presidential candidate ever, and wrote a patently ridiculous article, "Why I'm Pro-Life and Pro-Obama" (7 February 2008). Some remarkable highlights:
Today when I listen to Obama speak (and to his remarkable wife, Michelle) what I hear is a world view that actually nurtures life. Obama is trying to lead this country to a place where the intrinsic worth of each individual is celebrated. . . .Thus, he had renounced his evangelical background (in a way that very very few converts to Catholicism or Orthodoxy ever do; most remain warmly affectionate toward what they experienced and learned in those circles -- which is very much my own perspective), his own parents, the conservative political movement, the pro-life movement and its tactics, and now at length he has adopted a so-called pro-choice position and has blamed pro-lifers for the murder of the notorious late-term abortionist / childkiller George Tiller. Needless to say, all the major pro-life groups have renounced the murder of Tiller (see the statements; the US Catholic bishops have also uniformly condemned the murder). No one supports it.
The society that Obama is calling us to sacrifice for is a place wherein life would be valued not just talked about. . . .
Regardless of the official position of the Supreme Court on abortion, a country in which all Americans are offered some sort of dignity and hopeful future would be a place conducive to the kind of optimism each of us must hold in our hearts if we are to welcome children into this world. . . .
Similarly the Republicans have also been hypocrites while talking big, for instance about their pro-life ethic. But what have they achieved? First, through their puritanical war on sex education they've hindered our country from actually preventing unwanted pregnancy.
Schaeffer wrote in January 2009:
When I say that I think abortion should remain legal, what I mean is that the tactic of putting all this energy into overturning Roe, is, I think, just whistling in the dark. There's been a lot of simplistic thinking on this. The time has come to really understand that that part of an absolute black and white position is not going to happen.This is how he describes evangelicals in an article from October 2008:
You know, just to put it frankly, the evangelical movement that I grew up in as a child used to be a fairly respectable and respectable—respectful group of people. They regarded themselves as Americans and part of the system. And now, I really think it's been taken over by a group of people that have to be described fairly as just wing nuts.In another article from April 2009, Schaeffer contends that evangelical Protestants are rightfully characterized by "hatred":
The word 'evangelical' became synonymous with Republican. And then it became synonymous with right-wing Republican. Picture Christ. Christ is bearing the burden of being identified exclusively with evangelicals. And then evangelicals jump on his back carrying the burdens of the Republican Party. And the Republican Party is driven to the right by those very same evangelicals who bring their moralistic crusades on everything from gay rights to abortion to the table. When those things fail or they are hypocritically used, for example, as fund raising measures rather than actually doing something about the issue, they indulge in hatred or homophobic behavior. "A month earlier he had blasted the Republican party as practically the be-all and end-all of all evils. Note how Schaeffer described the Republican candidates for president and vice-president (with literally breathtaking disdain and utter lack of any restraint whatsoever) in September 2008:
All of a sudden, Christ has the Republican Party, the evangelicals and their hatred and their failed policies on his back.
Senator Obama won scholarships to America's top academic institutions, was voted by his peers to be editor of the Harvard Law Review, is a family man with an exemplary and obviously loving marriage, has a wife who is a brilliant charismatic woman, two lovely children, is a churchgoing born-again Christian comfortable with his faith, has avoided making the fast buck in the new gilded age of greed when he could have, served his community, is thoughtful, considered in his opinions, slow to anger, proved right in his judgment about the Iraq war, looks at every side of a question before making a decision, and is not given to grandstanding. He would be vastly ahead in the polls, even in polls of Evangelical voters who, after all, are also watching their savings and home values evaporate... unless he happened to be... black. . . .The very title of the above article tarred both evangelicals and Republicans as a whole, as "racist hypocrites." And again in October 2008, he spewed out more gems of charity about entire groups of people:
Turns out the Evangelicals would rather vote for a pagan reprobate compulsive gambler windbag philanderer of mediocre intellectual capability than for a well qualified fellow Christian (both in word and deed) because the reprobate windbag is white and their fellow Christian is black.
Everything else is just an excuse. Why? Because everything the Evangelicals and "conservatives" claim they are against is what McCain is. And everything they say they are for-compassion, justice, mercy, decency, family values, clean living, prudence and even temperament -- is what Obama is. (Note: Former diplomat African-American Alan Keyes, perpetual far right, the Rapture is on the way, support Israel, kill all Arabs, all-abortion-is-murder-from-zygot on, free-market purist, anti-welfare, anti-affirmative action Republican pro-Wall Street, trickle down, lower-taxes-on-the-rich candidate, never got more than tepid support from the same Republicans that have wildly embraced equally loony -- and white -- ideologue, Sarah Palin. So much for being "correct" on the issues!)
My point here is to cast a light on the gross hypocrisy of the Evangelical/Republican base using their own standards.
John McCain, . . . Stop! Think! Your rallies are beginning to look, sound, feel and smell like lynch mobs. . . .Lo and behold, Schaeffer had worked to get McCain elected in 2000, and McCain had endorsed one of his books. So it is (do we detect a theme by now?) more anger towards a former colleague . . . Now he has reached a new low (even for him), having opined in yet another Huffington Post column of 1 June 2009, entitled "How I (and Other 'Pro-Life' Leaders) Contributed to Dr. Tiller's Murder":
John McCain and Sarah Palin, you are playing with fire, and you know it. You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice, to the peril of all of us. . . . stop stirring up the lunatic fringe of haters, or risk suffering the judgment of history and the loathing of the American people—forever.
And the dangerous thing about Sarah Palin is, is that there's a very direct line from her to the kind of extremism that would literally destroy this country. . . . are we going to give the right-wing evangelical/fundamentalist wing nuts of all stripes, of the Sarah Palin types, a voice in literally destroying this democracy? . . .
So, you know, my problem with McCain now is that by nominating Sarah Palin and, as I talked about in this editorial, by opening the floodgates of hate because of his ambition to win, basically doing whatever it takes to do that, he's clearly choosing to try to empower the America that will destroy the real America. . . .
And you know what? It's an imperfect world, but I would rather have a president that I disagree with on the issue of choice who's fit to be president than an old man who has just shown such a lack of judgment as to literally connect himself to the lunatic fringe of the lunatic fringe. It isn't just someone you disagree with politically.
My late father and I share the blame (with many others) for the murder of Dr. George Tiller the abortion doctor gunned down on Sunday. Until I got out of the religious right (in the mid-1980s) and repented of my former hate-filled rhetoric I was both a leader of the so-called pro-life movement and a part of a Republican Party hate machine masquerading as the moral conscience of America. . . .Far better is the response of television talk show host Bill O'Reilly, in an article printed in the Huffington Post on the same day:
I believe that abortion should be legal. But I also believe that it should be re-regulated according to fetal development. . . . As I say in my book today I believe that abortion should be legal but more regulated than Roe allows. I also think that we should do what President Obama calls for: use sex education and contraceptive distribution and programs to help women and children in a way that results in less abortions. . . .
The same hate machine I was part of is still attacking all abortionists as "murderers." And today once again the "pro-life" leaders are busy ducking their personal responsibility for people acting on their words. The people who stir up the fringe never take responsibility. But I'd like to say on this day after a man was murdered in cold blood for preforming abortions that I -- and the people I worked with in the religious right, the Republican Party, the pro-life movement and the Roman Catholic Church, all contributed to this killing by our foolish and incendiary words.
I am very sorry.
On Monday night, Bill O'Reilly responded to accusations that he helped fuel hatred and violence against Dr. George Tiller, the abortion doctor shot and killed on Sunday.I agree all down the line with Patrick Madrid's analysis:
O'Reilly has mentioned Tiller 29 times on his show since 2005, calling the doctor guilty of "Nazi stuff," a moral equivalent to NAMBLA and al-Qaida, and saying that Tiller "has blood on his hands."
O'Reilly spent most of the segment accusing the "far-left media" of exploiting the murder of Tiller and refused to apologize for his previous comments, proclaiming to his critics: "No back-pedaling here."
At the outset, O'Reilly stated, "Clear-thinking Americans should condemn the murder of late-term abortionist Tiller even though the man terminated thousands of pregnancies. What he did is within Kansas law."
But then he quickly launched into his argument, saying "When I heard about Tiller's murder, I knew pro-abortion zealots and Fox News haters would attempt to blame us for the crime and that is exactly what has happened." [video inserted into the article]
O'Reilly took aim at New York Daily News reporter Helen Kennedy, Huffington Post bloggers, Daily Kos and Kansas City Star columnist Mike Hendricks, accusing them of exploiting the murder to attack him. He claimed, "Everything we said about Tiller was true."
I can't tell if they are the words of a man who has lost his moral bearings altogether (he now says abortion should remain legal and demonizes the Prolife Movement, and in particular, the Catholic Church, as a "hate machine"), or if he's just a coward who has abandoned his convictions because, had he remained faithful to them, he would earn only opprobrium and rejection from the fashionable, "progressive" Huffington-Post crowd he consorts with now.This is a tragic descent into moral cowardice. It's a sad day for evangelicalism: especially of the noble sort championed by Francis Schaeffer, for Orthodoxy, for the pro-life and conservative movements; even for Catholics (because he was an ally of sorts, for many causes that we believe in). It's a scandal all around. For those of us who have loved the inspiring work of Francis Schaeffer, as I have for over 25 years, it is particularly depressing.
As an aside. Let's not forget that Christians who want to remain popular and "in" with the "In Crowd" will be tempted to sacrifice their allegiance to the truth for the sake of human respect. Tragically, some give in to that temptation and make a wrong turn, gambolling down that wide and well-traveled road which Christ warned us away from, a road that leads directly toward a dark horizon.
I would like to set forth another theory that, I think, makes sense of seemingly absurd, incomprehensible developments in Frank Schaeffer's life. How does a man of his background possibly arrive at the viewpoints he is now expressing? Let me submit a hypothesis, as to how it happened. This is a man who has always been characterized by unseemly, out-of-control anger: of a type that borders on literal hatred or at the very least, a strong disdain and detestation: not just of false ideas but of the people who hold them. Christians are never justified in hating people or seething in resentment against them: no matter how sinful they may be. Frank seems to have poorly understood, all along, the clear, solid line between hating the sin and hating the sinner., and the command to gently defend our faith (1 Peter 3:15-16). The supreme importance of being vigilant about never crossing that line is manifest now in the frightening path of compromise and loving the accolades of (liberal, secularist) men, that Frank has chosen.
This has undeniably been a leading motif or trait in his life, ever since he has been in the public spotlight. I was reading articles as far back as 1983, that described Franky (as he was then known) as the "angry young man of evangelicalism" and so forth. Indeed, the title of his first major book (1984) was, quite appropriately, A Time for Anger. Back then he was very angry (i.e., in the excessive sense I have outlined above) at pro-abortionists, liberals, secularists, folks who were ignorant about culture, etc.
Then when he converted to Orthodoxy (in the early 90s, I believe), he had to have another target (besides the evangelicalism that he had left), and it was Catholicism. Hence, the virulent anti-Catholicism that dominated his rag, The Christian Activist (I know, because I used to receive it regularly in my mail). It wasn't enough to commend the virtues and glories of Orthodoxy. Frank had to be "against" something else. He even had to go after his fellow Orthodox. When I heard him speak in person, he was belittling certain shortcomings of Orthodoxy having to do with ethnic provincialism, as "counting how many pounds of baklava one can eat" and so forth.
Now, as he "progresses" through life, he has in turn "dissed" and sweepingly condemned without the least restraint, his own parents and upbringing (in a truly pathetic, pitiful display that violates even one of the Ten Commandments), the Catholic Church, pro-lifers, conservatives, Republicans, and the evangelical Protestants he was once one of. It all fits the pattern of his life. Whenever he believes a certain thing, he has to demonize others outside of the movement he is part of. It's not just about the ideas for Frank(y). It's about a guttural anger and derision towards people who differ from him. If anyone has been conceivably guilty through the years, of "hatred" and lack of charity, and an uncontrollable tongue, it is Frank(y) Schaeffer.
How ironic, then, that he seals the absurdity of his intellectual odyssey towards secularist liberalism, by now accusing everyone under the sun of hatred and complicity in murder. He admits himself that he was formerly guilty of these shortcomings, by referring to his "former hate-filled rhetoric". The mistake he makes, however, is projecting his own ongoing faults and besetting sins of uncontrolled, unbridled anger onto everyone else he was ever associated with. And he does this precisely (obviously) to court approval with the enemies of traditional Christianity and traditional moral values, whether Catholic, Orthodox, or evangelical.
The truth, however, is that not everyone goes through life like Frank(y) Schaeffer does: motivated by always having to demonize everyone who disagrees with him, and writing public books and articles that exhibit his own demons of seeming radical personal insecurity (for those who are secure in themselves have no need to do this). Most of us who are Christians feel pretty good in our own skin, because we know that God loves us and has forgiven us, and has a plan for our lives. We can disagree with folks, without recourse to uncharitable rhetoric in the extreme. If Frank's own anger has caused, in the past, nuts like the murderer of George Tiller to become emboldened, then that blame rests squarely on his own back, not on everyone under the sun, that Frank(y) disagrees with and becomes incensed about in public.
I suggest (not that he would care what I think, on the remote chance that he ever reads this), that he leave the public eye, go into seclusion and examine his own soul and motivations for, maybe, five or ten years, if this is the best he can come up with in public utterances: sweeping, ultra-critical, literally prejudiced excoriations of huge groups of people (most of whom he has been involved with) and serious public compromises with traditional Christian morality. If that is all that can come out of his mouth anymore, he ought to shut it whenever a microphone or reporter or book editor is near and remove himself to the seclusion of a quiet, unpopulated place, where his sinful anger can be channeled into something remotely constructive and edifying. I hope and pray that there is enough of a robust Christian conscience left in him, for him to realize that drastic measures are now necessary, for his own sake, and for the sake of those he is influencing.
"Abortion Should Remain Legal" says Prominent 'Conservative' Frank Schaeffer
Time to Work with Obama to "Reduce Abortions" (Lifesite News, 13 January 2009)
Catholic Prof and Evangelical Leader Blame Catholic Church, Republicans, "Religious Leaders" for Tiller's Murder (Lifesite News, 2 June 2009)
That Sound You Hear is Francis Schaeffer Rolling Over in His Grave, Patrick Madrid


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Posted 07 December 2012 - 15:04
Posted 07 December 2012 - 15:19
Yup, this thread has the potential to be pretty inflammatory! It should test quite a few of these "personalities" if this heats up and follows the path that many topics on Neowin do....
What do I think of the above? Not much that I can really add.
Posted 07 December 2012 - 15:36
Posted 07 December 2012 - 15:39
There are some here that are just die hard Mac users. Spirit Dave, .Neo, kev (whatever the "Apple developer's" username is - he's the guy that is using his new 'external' SSD). But, this is primarily a Windows oriented forum.
Biggest Apple Fanboy award goes to: no one... even though apple haters say they are everywhere, i can't honestly say i have noticed a single one on this board.
Posted 07 December 2012 - 15:41
Posted 07 December 2012 - 15:41
I don't know, Marshall seems to be giving Rappy a good run for his money in that department...not that I visit those threads, of course, or even know what you're referring to...
Me either, Rappy, it's OK. You'd just get "biggest perv" for the 10th year running anyway
Posted 07 December 2012 - 15:41
Posted 07 December 2012 - 15:46
No Personal Attacks or Retaliation
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Tag Archives: salvador dali
A Slice of the 20th Century – The Bernard Gotfryd Photograph Collection
Written by staff on August 21, 2013 — 2 Comments
This post was written by Twila Rios, Intern in the department of Prints, Photographs and Architectural Collections. It's tempting sometimes to define history as only items no longer in living memory. Items over 100 years old usually fit into this definition. But as an archival student, I've often heard the opposite: "History happens under our […]
Posted in Photographs | Also tagged adlai stevenson, alice cooper, Anton the Dove Fancier and other Tales from the Holocaust, bernard gotfryd, dag hammorskjold, ed sullivan, georgia o'keefe, holocaust, max ascoli, missionaries of charity, mississippi john hurt, mother theresa, newsweek, poland, Queens, the beatles, world war ii


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1965: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones were fined five pounds for urinating on the wall of a London gas station. They were charged with "insulting behavior."
1977: Elvis Costello's first album, "My Aim Is True," was released in the UK. It was released in the US in October of that year.
1983: Diana Ross performed a concert in New York's Central Park. A show the night before had been rained out.
2005: Country singer Mindy McCready attempted suicide by ingesting two unidentified substances and drinking alcohol at a hotel in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida.
Today's Birthdays: Actor Orson Bean ("Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman") is 86. Actress Louise Fletcher is 80. Singer Chuck Jackson is 77. Actor Terence Stamp is 76. Game show host Alex Trebek is 74. Singer George Clinton is 73. Singer-actor Bobby Sherman is 71. Actor Danny Glover is 68. Writer-director Paul Schrader is 68. Singer Don Henley is 67. Actor-comedian-director Albert Brooks is 67. Composer Alan Menken ("Little Mermaid," "Little Shop of Horrors") is 65. Musician Al Di Meola is 60. Actor Willem Dafoe is 59. Singer Keith Sweat is 53. Singer Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls is 51. Actor-comedian David Spade is 50. Actor John Leguizamo is 50. Bassist Pat Badger of Extreme is 47. Actor Rhys Ifans ("Notting Hill") is 47. Musician Daniel Jones (Savage Garden) is 41. Singer Rufus Wainwright is 41. Actress Franka Potent ("The Bourne Identity") is 40. Actor Keegan Allen ("Pretty Little Liars") is 27. Actress Selena Gomez ("The Wizards of Waverly Place") is 22.


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Moderators: Jason, Toothy, Tonyblack
Jan Van Quirm wrote: this kind of bean-counting cr@p
Trish wrote:Uh, dumb American here.
What is the Likert Scale?
Dotsie wrote:Ah Jan. I think you might be taking it a bit too seriously. I won't be collating & publishing this data you know
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Garden statuary is an important part of backyard decor. Statues play a big role in adding character to the green space behind a home or business, can highlight its natural appeal, and can help to turn that backyard into a peaceful oasis. Among the many types of garden statues are realistic animal garden sculptures, statues of angels, and depictions of dragons. Each of these plays a role in certain decorating themes but can also be used together to create a decorating style that puts the focus on all things majestic.
"Majestic" in this sense of the word refers to decor that is outstanding in terms of size, splendor, and the impression it makes on visitors to the garden. These are sculptures fit for a royal garden and include such fantastic animal garden statues as the Regal Lion Sentinels of Grisham Manor and grand scale statues like the nearly eight foot long Bengal Tiger Sculpture. The lion statues are similar to sculptures that flank the entrances to huge Victorian mansions and have a similar, royal effect. The Bengal Tiger sculpture is an outstanding, majestic item on account of its life size proportions and realistic appearance.
Awe inspiring animal garden statues such as these are best paired with the most outstanding of angel sculptures. Although there are several angel statues in our collection that match that description, the Angeli di Luce statues stand out for their dramatic beauty, realism, and striking demeanor.
Find majestic garden statuary fit for royalty at Design Toscano today.


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Date of county meeting changed
At their June 5 meeting, county commissioners voted unanimously to move the Tuesday, June 17 meeting to Monday, June 16. This will allow commissioners to attend the legislature's mandated ethics training.
The meeting will be at 9 a.m. in the commission meeting room in the Annex Building at 34 Forbes Street in Apalachicola.
'Digital Kids" next week at Gulf/Franklin
Digital Kids, an exciting class for young students to learn the skills they need to be successful in today's increasingly digital world, will be offered at the Gulf/Franklin Campus of Gulf Coast State College on Thursday, June 19 from 9 a.m. until Noon.
Geared for students age 7-10, the class will provide students with the opportunity to learn keyboarding skills and computer skills through a variety of fun, hands-on activities.
The cost for the class is $29 per student. You may register for the class on line at www.gulfcoast.edu/corpcollege/registration or by visiting the Gulf/Franklin Campus at 3800 Garrison Avenue, Port St. Joe. If you have questions or need additional information, please call the Gulf/Franklin Campus at 227-9670.
Hurricane reentry tags in Carrabelle
On Wednesday, June 18, a representative of Franklin County Emergency Management will visit the Carrabelle Municipal Center, 1001 Gray Avenue, to distribute disaster reentry tags. These tags simplify reentry of the county after an evacuation.
To get a tag, you must furnish proof of residence (ie. utility bills or other mail with a street address) and a current photo ID. You can also obtain a tag online at www.franklinemergencymanagement.com. If you have any questions, call 653-8977.
Bear-proof dumpster for Seventh Street
On June 5, Carrabelle city commissioners voted unanimously to order a bear proof dumpster for the end of Seventh Street because bears have repeatedly raided the existing dumpster. The city currently pays $62 quarterly for the dumpster in use. The cost of the bear-proof dumpster is $88 quarterly.
Tap fee waived for Carrabelle church
At Carrabelle's June 5 city commission meeting, Commissioner Olivia Massey asked that the $3,260 tap fee to connect the Carrabelle Church of God to the city sewer system be waived.
"The church has gone from 20 members to 120. They are overflowing," she said.
The commission voted unanimously to waive the fee.
GUSC on track in Carrabelle
On Thursday, June 5, Gulf Unmanned Systems Center CEO Bruce McCormack signed the closing papers for the purchase of the old Gulf State Bank complex on US 98 in Carrabelle, which is now headquarters for GUSC.
On the same day, GUSC finalized the lease on the old Hexaport factory on Airport Road which is now GUSC operations center.
At the city meeting held later that evening, GUSC Chief Financial Officer Lisa Spooner told the assembly that GUSC now has 10 fulltime employees. Six are from Carrabelle and all reside in Franklin County.
Spooner said GUSC will now begin work on landscaping for both headquarters and operations center and will locate a contractor to link the two facilities with secure fiber optic cable.
McCormack said he is in discussion with several potential clients.
Carrabelle museum promised $50,000 for renovations
At the June 5 city commission meeting in Carrabelle, Tamara Allen, president of Carrabelle's Historical Society, said the Waterfront Partnership has been awarded a $50,000 grant to fund phase II of the restoration of the museum building, formerly city hall. She said the money will be used the seal the exterior plaster and paint the building.
Allen said she has contacted a "high level paint contractor from Tallahassee" for an estimate.
County to purchase more Eastpoint waterfront
At their June 3 meeting, county commissioners voted unanimously to purchase a sliver of land on the Eastpoint waterfront located between the Eastpoint Pavilion and the Patton Drive Boat Ramp.
The owner, David Diehl offered the property for sale. The county will pay the assessed value of the land, $9,720, with funds from capital outlay.
This parcel is a wedge with some 60 feet of waterfront. The county will now have 350 feet of waterfront with this purchase.
County Planner Alan Pierce said the cost is roughly equal to the amount received from the Eastpoint Minimart for an encroachment onto county land in the same area, so in some sense that will balance out the withdrawal from capital outlay.
County to hire temporary office worker
County commissioners voted unanimously to let the planning office hire a temporary worker for August and September, since one of the front staff will be out for six to eight weeks with knee replacement and another staff person has some extended time they will be off.
The temporary worker will not receive any benefits and will be paid the same as other part-time workers at $10 an hour.
Emerald Warrior granted a discount
County commissioners voted unanimously to reduce the amount Visual Awareness Technologies and Consulting (VATC) must pay for leasing the former Bay City Work Camp.
VATC wrote the county to say that although they had leased the facility for 12 days earlier this spring, they had only used it for six days due to bad weather. Commissioners voted unanimously to charge them for nine days of use.
Director of Administrative Services Alan Pierce said VATC had not used the facility for the full span. He said they were late in picking up the keys.
Pierce suggested that in the future, a clause be included in contracts to lease the facility stating county policy in the event of bad weather.
Lighthouse association elects new board
Officers and directors of the St. George Lighthouse Association were elected at the annual meeting held in Lighthouse Park on May 22.
Officers for 2014 are Dennis Barnell, president; Jim Kemp, vice president; Terry Kemp, secretary; and Phyllis Vitale-Lewis, treasurer.
Directors are Brant Banks, Dennis Barnell, Vito Bell, Bud Hayes, Bob Heide, Jim Kemp, Terry Kemp, Fred Stanley, and Phyllis Vitale-Lewis.
Brant Banks, the newest board member, is a resident of Apalachicola and teaches history at the Apalachicola Bay Charter School. Outgoing directors are Richard Saucer and Kristy Branch Banks.
At the annual meeting, Barnell introduced new Lighthouse Keeper Mark Vail, who succeeds retiring Keeper Stanley Colvin. In his report at the meeting, Vail said that visitation to the Lighthouse in 2013 was up by about 10 percent over previous years.
More than 92,000 people have climbed the Lighthouse since its opening in Dec. 2008.
Gift Shop Manager Carol Talley announced the successful implementation of a Quick Books Point of Sale system, and invited members to browse the new summer merchandise in the shop.
Secretary Terry Kemp reported that as of the annual meeting date, SGLA membership stands at about 450 members.
Volunteers needed at lighthouse museum
The St. George Lighthouse association has vacancies for docents at the Lighthouse Museum.
Docents perform a valuable service by educating visitors about the lighthouse, answering questions about the island, and preserving order in a small space. Docents can volunteer for a regular weekly shift, generally three hours, or fill in as their time is available.
To volunteer, call 927-7745.


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Moderators: Tonyblack, Jason, Toothy
janet wrote:Tomorrow? Moi?
Wondered if you'd thought of doing things to order at the show Chilli? Take the order with a deposit....ready in an hour (or whatever it takes)....two birds, one stone, sorted Practical demo and money in pocket.
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Xpand Universal 3D Glasses
We finally clapped our peepers on the long-awaited Xpand universal 3D glasses at the recent IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin. The active shutter specs have been designed so that they can be used with any brand of 3D television, unlike the glasses supplied, which only work with their parent TV. That means that if any of your affluent mates have already splashed out on a 3D TV, then you can invite yourself round for some 3D viewing and bring your own glasses with you.
Offering full 1080p 3D to both eyes, the battery-powered glasses are said to offer up to 100 hours of use, and are designed to support both passive and active 3D images, so that you can use them with 3D-capable laptops, as well as at compatible cinemas.
The specs are available in a range of colours and are supplied with two extra CR2032 batteries, a microfibre bag and three nose-pieces so that you can find the best fit for you.
We only got to try them out on one TV and a laptop at IFA, but we were impressed by the performance that they offered. 3D images were suitably multi-dimensional in appearance, while the colours retained their vibrancy and sharpness. And they didn't even give us a headache.
For a full list of compatible TV models, check out www.xpandcinema.com/3dtv


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Will & Grace: Season 3 DVD
Price: $19.98
- Technical Specs
- Format: DVD
- Rating: Not Rated
- Number of Discs: 4
- Run Time: 560 Minutes
- Region: 1
- Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen
- Language: English
- Studio: Lions Gate
- DVD Release Date: September 7, 2004
- Audio: ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Stereo [CC]
- Color: Color
Season 1 Outtake Reel
Season 2 Outtake Reel
Season 3 Outtake Reel
Themed Featurettes
Interactive Menus
Wisely, the writers swiftly returned the pair to roommate status and got Grace out of her ongoing relationship with Will's former boss (Gregory Hines), bringing the show's focus back on how the pair sublimate their love lives with the cozy intimacy of friendship--one particularly strong episode flashes back to how they first met in college, replete with godawful 80s fashion. But, as ever, it's Jack and Karen who up the comic ante; Mullally and Hayes are shamelessly self-absorbed and shallow, exploiting and abusing everyone around them. Jack forces Will to play Cyrano, feeding him pick-up lines over his salesperson headset; Karen, worried that some experimental plastic surgery might turn out badly, manipulates another socialite into getting it first. Not all plotlines fly--Grace gets into a relationship with an obnoxious neighbor (Woody Harrelson) that never becomes more than stunt-casting--but the racy wit flies fast and furious, the slapstick is topnotch, and Karen's hairdo towers magnificently.


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james+burgundy wrote:VirusU571
Where does he live?
Moderator: Tuefish
OneEye589 wrote:I vote it be in Ithaca, as said before. Probably because I'm really close to there.
And Buttermilk Falls is really nice.
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- Musician's Friend Best Selection, Price & Service. Guaranteed.
Call our Gear Heads
at: 800-449-9128
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Patented titanium compression driver with 1" throat diameter.
This Grind electric bass case fits many standard size solid body basses.
Replacement diaphragm kit for the 14XT™ driver.
Sturdy and convenient stand for the Peavey Escort portable PA system.
Package includes two black powder coat stands with adapters for use with Peavy Messenger speakers only....
Pearloid picks come in 12-pack of assorted Jack Daniel's logo designs.
Our product catalog varies by country due to manufacturer restrictions. If you change the Ship-To country, some or all of the items in your cart may not ship to the new destination.


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Could using this head ever look....female? If you were going to make a female Beast...code name: She-Beast what would you do? What head would you use as a base?
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CB2001 wrote:Honestly, the figure's head is too masculine to be used for a female version of the Beast. You'd have better luck taking a female figure's head and then use sculpty to make the hair and any additional details.
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Advance 49
Offering unprecedented playability and unrestricted manipulation of any virtual instrument with our exclusive interactive, full-color display, complemented by performance-friendly hardware controls.
APC40 mkII
Almost every aspect of the original APC40 has been deliberated, reworked, and improved to provide extended controller functionality, countless musical capabilities, and a smarter Ableton Live workflow.
Expand your creative performance capability with AFX, a versatile 4-deck FX controller for advanced Serato DJ performance.
MPC Renaissance
Fusing Akai Professional's legendary MPC layout and workflow with the power of your computer, MPC Renaissance is an unrivaled instrument for music production.


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Written for both the layman and the professional scientist, The Dimensional Structure of Consciousnessopens an astounding world and points out that further progress of science depends upon a transcendence of the material world.
Samuels Avery opens a 'Pandora's box'... and presents a 'through the looking glass' glimpse of the structure of consciousness as the basis of our human experience.
Written by Samuel Avery, author of The Buddha and the Quantum.
©2003 Samuel Avery (P)2012 Wetware Media
I have a science background and I am fascinated with epistemology.
"Outstanding Wordcraft"
Andrew Mulcare does a superb narration. Every word is clear and concise and delivered in a very receivable manner .
This book will please anyone with an interest in modern physics or consciousness.
Andrew Mulcare delivers his narrations in a manner that is never tiring and easily ' easy-to-follow ,While driving or walking.
The place of conscious observation in modern physics. What does meditation have to add to be careful contemplation of physics .Samuel Avery has well thought out, reasoned the issues of quantum mechanics and relativity theory and has applied it to meditation experience, to propose a new mythology.. .
I would like to meet Sam Avery, and talk to him more about his books I've read or listen to several of his audiobooks and have watched a presentation on the Internet.I wonder if he has read Guilio Tononi's recent book , Phi ? The integration of information to the highest level but no higher ( Phi) is discussed or paraphrased in Avery's booksThe Being or the observer in us all is the mythology waiting for a scientific theory. Tononi thinks that it's all contained in the cranium.
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Mirror Disk
Originally, the bronze disks in this case were attached to wooden handles to form mirrors. At the time of burial, the mirrors were stored in linen covers. Over the centuries, both the handles and the bags disintegrated. The smaller of these two disks still shows an impression of the linen, created by the material's interaction with the bronze.
This text refers to these objects: ' 13.1043; 13.1044
- Medium: Bronze
- Place Excavated: Tomb D303, Abydos, Egypt
- Dates: ca. 1938-1700 B.C.E.
- Dynasty: XII Dynasty-early XIII Dynasty
- Period: Middle Kingdom
- Dimensions: 3 11/16 x 4 3/8 in. (9.4 x 11.1 cm) (show scale)
- Collections:Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
- Museum Location: This item is on view in Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity, Temples and Tombs, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
- Exhibitions:
- Accession Number: 13.1043
- Credit Line: Gift of the Egypt Exploration Fund
- Rights Statement: Creative Commons-BY
- Caption: Mirror Disk, ca. 1938-1700 B.C.E. Bronze, 3 11/16 x 4 3/8 in. (9.4 x 11.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Fund, 13.1043. Creative Commons-BY
- Image:
- Record Completeness: Good (78%)


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Journal Abstracts
Unlimited access to full-length articles is included with membership. Click memberships to become a member.
This article attempts to apply Rank?s concept of individual birth trauma to the history of ancient Israel as depicted in the Bible. The birth of the Jewish people as reviewed in the relevant Biblical texts demonstrates recurrent and significant traumata at individual, family, and large-scale collective levels, indicating that the early Israelites did experience collective birth trauma. Ramifications of this for a greater understanding of the Bible and of Jewish history and cultural practices are explored.
Rizzuto and Freud consider that the origins of God representations can be traced to early parental relations, but Rizzuto postulates that Freud underestimates the ?complexities of this derivation, especially the role of the mother? (Wulff, 1997, pp. 343-344). To what extent is Rizzuto right in agreeing with Freud? Is there any evidence to support how God can be represented in pre and perinatal terms, within a psychodynamic framework?
The intention of this paper is to introduce interdisciplinary research challenging the foundations of self-growth fields and leading to the birth of a new humanity. The paper briefly summarizes relevant literature and introduces new adult verbal and nonverbal typologies with origins in four key preverbal developmental stages (conception, prenatal, birth and bonding). Interdisciplinary contributing fields included are embryology, neurobiology, attachment theory, body-centered psychotherapy, somatic psychology, and prenatal and perinatal psychology.
This article presents a very basic challenge with regard to the way in which human beings enter into this world. This is not just a challenge to the medical model, but to ?natural childbirth? methods as well. It addresses the fundamentals of language that have guided our core concepts of sexuality and birth. It is not limited to the English language, but points out the roots of words from many languages that have contributed to world-wide attitudes and concepts.
This paper reports on a study designed to explore factors contributing to better outcomes for substance abusing pregnant and parenting women in residential treatment, and, as a result, contribute to better outcomes for their children. The setting was three live-in units focusing in supporting both abstinence from substances and mother-child relationship. Participants were 18 mother-baby pairs in treatment from perinatal phase to 4 months of child's age.
This study examined the relationship between maternal prenatal attachment and postnatal infant sleep. Ninety first-time pregnant mothers, between 35 and 40 gestational weeks, completed the Prenatal Attachment Inventory (M?ller, 1989), which consists of 21 items and assesses the mother?s prenatal attachment to her fetus. After the birth of their infant, the mothers charted their infant?s sleep for three consecutive 24-hour periods when the infant was 1 week and 3 months old, using the Sleep/Activity Record (Barnard, 1999).
An Interactional Model of Maternal-Fetal Attachment was empirically studied to analyze contributions of fetal characteristics and psychoanalytic and ecological components. Ninety-nine women during their third trimester were administered questionnaires about themselves, their environment, and their fetus to identify predictors of maternal-fetal attachment. Whether the woman knew the fetus? gender and fetal age were the best predictors of the strength of maternal-fetal attachment.
Abstract:The rapidly developing science of pre-birth psychology is casting a new light on some old problems. One such is morbid obesity, some aspects of which can possibly be explained in the light of prenatal theory. This article sets out the hypothesis that firstly, obesity may represent a self-destructive personal choice. Secondly, there may be a psychological reason why the possibly fatal consequences of that choice are largely ignored by the obese person. Thirdly, the choice and its consequences comprise a style of eating behaviour that seems to re-construct a particular pre-birth experience.
The Black Hole: Exploring the Schizoid Personality Disorder, Dysfunction and Deprivation with their Roots in the Pre and Perinatal PeriodAbstract:The relationship between traumatic events from conception to birth and the Schizoid Personality Disorder, Dysfunction and Deprivation is explored. From extensive experiential work with clients, based on the work of the British psychiatrist, Dr. Frank Lake, and her own personal experiences, the author discusses the very painful schizoid personality dysfunctions and deprivations relating to traumas of great severity in the first trimester of life. Loss of bonding and fear of intimacy are explored, along with dissociation and boundaries, seen as learned behaviour in the womb.
Abstract:Economic analysis of human capital?the abilities and skills a person brings to community and work force?suggests that investing in early childhood programs is much more cost-effective than dollars spent intervening later in life. Even with increasing knowledge of the importance of early intervention programs, there still appears to be a mental divide separating the prenatal and birth period and infancy. Programs that begin during infancy or later may not address the fundamental origins of the increasing issues we face regarding our children.