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Natixis Asset Management and Dorval Finance strengthen their strategic partnership.
After six years of fruitful cooperation, Natixis Asset Management and Dorval Finance are strengthening their strategic partnership. On 9 September, Natixis Asset Management increased its stake in Dorval Finance from 25% to 50.1%.
For Dorval Finance, a specialist in conviction-driven flexible management, the goal is to accelerate its development in France and internationally with private wealth clients, independent financial advisers and institutional investors. For this purpose, Dorval Finance will rely on both Natixis Global Asset Management's global distribution platform and the French banking networks of Groupe BPCE. Dorval Finance will also continue to benefit from the assistance and expertise of Natixis Asset Management's support functions while preserving its autonomous and independent investment management.
Pascal Voisin, Chief Executive Officer, Natixis Asset Management explains : "Taking a majority stake in Dorval Finance is in line with Natixis Global Asset Management's strategy of extending its multi-affiliates model in Europe to offer investors a broad range of high-performing and innovative solutions".
Louis Bert, Deputy CEO and CIO of Dorval Finance adds : "Since we first set up our strategic partnership with Natixis Asset Management, we have achieved a fivefold increase in assets under management. Today, our new ambition is to reach $1 billion in assets under management by 2017. To reach this goal, we benefit from the sales force of the distribution platform of Natixis Global Asset Management, one of the world leaders in asset management, as well as the powerful networks of Groupe BPCE, France's second-largest banking group".
Press contacts
Sonia Dilouya
Natixis Asset Management
Stéphanie Mallet
Dorval Finance
Colette Aubry
About Dorval Finance
Dorval Finance is an asset management company authorised by the AMF (French securities regulator) since 1993. Dorval Finance implements a conviction-driven investment approach focusing on wealth management, characterised by an active management strategy, not benchmark-driven. The company has notably developed a flexible management approach in response to market volatility and uncertainties: depending on their market expectations, the fund managers can adjust the equity allocation from 0 to 100%, constantly striving to preserve investors' capital.
Dorval Finance offers a range of seven complementary funds: a European equity range comprised of Dorval Manageurs, Dorval Manageurs Europe, Dorval Manageurs Small Cap Euro, and a flexible range comprised of Dorval Convictions, Dorval Convictions PEA, Dorval Flexible Monde, Dorval Flexible Emergents.
Thanks to its partnership with Natixis Asset Management, Dorval Finance's fund range is marketed through Natixis Global Asset Management's international distribution platform as well as the French banking networks of Groupe BPCE.
Dorval Finance had €500 million in assets under management as at 30 June 2014.
About Natixis
Natixis is the corporate, investment and financial services arm of Groupe BPCE, the 2nd-largest banking group in France and 36 million clients spread over two networks, Banque Populaire and Caisse d'Epargne.
With more than 16,000 employees (excl. financial stakes), Natixis has a number of areas of expertise which are organized in three main business lines: Wholesale Banking, Investment Solutions & Insurance and Specialized Financial Services.
A global player, Natixis has its own client base of companies, financial institutions and institutional investors as well as the client base of individuals, professionals and small and medium-size businesses of Groupe BPCE's two retail banking networks.
Listed on the Paris stock exchange, it has a solid financial base with a CET1 capital under Basel 31 of €13.2 billion, a Basel 3 CET1 Ratio1 of 11.2% and quality long-term ratings (Standard & Poor's: A / Moody's: A2 / Fitch Ratings: A).
1 Based on CRR-CRD4 rules published on June 26, 2013, including the Danish compromise - no phase-in except for DTAs on loss carry-forwards
Figures as at June 30, 2014
About Natixis Asset Management
As asset management company for Groupe BPCE, Natixis Asset Management meets the financial savings and investment needs of the individual, professional and SME investors within the Group's banking networks.
With assets under management of €307.8 billion and 588 employees, Natixis Asset Management ranks among the leading European asset managers. Natixis Asset Management is organized into 6 investment divisions: Fixed income, European equities, Investment and client solutions, Structured and volatility developed by Seeyond1, Global emerging, and Responsible investing developed by Mirova2.
Source: Natixis Asset Management – June 30, 2014.
1 Seeyond is a brand of Natixis Asset Management. 2 Mirova is a wholly owned subsidiary of Natixis Asset Management. An SA with a share capital of €50,434,604.76 - Paris Trade Registry No. 329 450 738 - AMF Approval No. GP 90 009
About Natixis Global Asset Management
Natixis Global Asset Management ranks among the world's largest asset managers based on assets under management1. Its affiliated asset management companies provide investment products that seek to enhance and protect the wealth and retirement assets of both institutional and individual investor clients. Headquartered in Paris and Boston, Natixis Global Asset Management's assets under management totaled €679.6 billion at June 30, 2014. Natixis Global Asset Management is part of Natixis.
Source: Natixis Global Asset Management – June 30, 2014.
1 Source: Cerulli Quantitative Update: Global Markets 2014 ranked Natixis Global Asset Management as one of the largest asset manager in the world based on assets under management at December 31, 2013.


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The state attorney general has ruled that the Costa Mesa Sanitary District may sue to remove one of its directors because of a potential incompatibility in his prior service to both the district and the city's Planning Commission.
Kamala D. Harris and Deputy Attorney General Daniel G. Stone wrote in their public opinion Tuesday that Jim Fitzpatrick, in accepting a four-year reappointment seat to the Planning Commission in January 2011, may have forfeited his concurrent seat on the district's board of directors.
An earlier headline on this story incorrectly stated that Jim Fitzpatrick couldn't choose to remain the Sanitary District board. In fact, the attorney general said only that the district could proceed with a lawsuit against Fitzpatrick in an effort to remove him.
Fitzpatrick was elected by voters to the district in November 2010. He served on both boards from December of that year until May 2012, when he resigned his planning seat in an effort to keep his district position. Though he felt the action was adequate, the board did not and continued to seek legal action against him.
Bob Ooten, the district's board president who is paying part of the legal costs in the case, applauded Harris' opinion.
"The basic opinion was Fitzpatrick did not win on a single point," he said. "They actually increased their concerns for his incompatibility of office."
He called the opinion "a substantial verification of what the board of directors has asked for."
"That's what I've contended all along. It's not [Fitzpatrick's] choice which office he holds," Ooten said.
Fitzpatrick said he was targeted by political opponents who did not like the questions he was asking about district policies.
"I am disappointed the board decided to call a short-notice special meeting to deliberate in closed session, behind closed doors, so close to the holidays when few members of the public are focused on government," he said. "The voters who elected me like me. Too bad some of my board colleagues do not."
He also pointed to Councilman Gary Monahan as an example of someone who previously served on the City Council and a special district at the same time.
In a Costa Mesa Sanitary District news release, counsel Alan Burns wrote that the attorney general's opinion "makes it clear that an office holder cannot pick and choose which compatible position is kept, but that by 'leapfrogging' positions, the first incompatible office held is forfeited when the second one is accepted."
Both positions pay a stipend, but neither position is full time.
Assemblyman Allan Mansoor (R-Costa Mesa) said in a letter Wednesday that when the Legislature convenes in January, he will introduce legislation to show that service on a city planning commission is inherently compatible with service on a sanitary district.
He said the attorney general's opinion defined "legislative body" too narrowly as it applied to a Health and Safety code section.
Mansoor said Assembly Bill 198, passed in 1970, is evidence that any "activity within the scope of a city's legislative body is compatible with service as a sanitary district director."
The Sanitary District directors are holding a special closed-session meeting to discuss their options at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the district's headquarters, 628 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa. The five directors will also conduct their regularly scheduled meeting.
In his Planning Commission resignation letter, Fitzpatrick contended that his fellow directors were using ratepayer funds — tens of thousands of dollars — to sue him personally and as a director.
"I have become a political piñata and it needs to stop," he wrote. "Our ratepayers shouldn't have to bear the cost of political grudges."
Twitter: @bradleyzint

subset: commoncrawl


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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
Palestinian terror group and elected political party Hamas likes the way things worked out in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange. Hamas' popularity is set to soar after it managed to secure the release of over 1,000 blood-soaked terrorists from Israeli jails in exchange for a single Israeli hostage.
With that kind of market value, it is no wonder Hamas is already planning its next abduction.
Gilad Shalit "will not be the last soldier kidnapped by Hamas," announced group spokesman Abu Obaida, noting that there are still thousands more Palestinian terrorists in Israeli jails that must be freed.
"The one and only solution is...more abduction of Israeli soldiers and settlers," Khalil al-Hayya, a Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament, told the Al Quds satellite network.
Many Israeli security officials have noted that while it is a good thing to return Gilad Shalit to his family, Israel is likely to again find itself in this situation sooner rather than later, as Palestinian terror groups increasingly view the abduction of Israelis as an imperative part of their nationalist movement.
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A guarantee against youth unemployment
The Youth Guarantee ensures that all young people under 25 get a good-quality, concrete offer within 4 months of leaving school or becoming unemployed.
To fight youth unemployment, the Youth Guarantee states that the offer should be for a job, apprenticeship, traineeship, or to continue in education and it should be adapted to each person's needs and situation.
To make sure the Youth Guarantee is developed and put into place, there needs to be a strong cooperation between all those involved (public authorities, employment services, education & training institutions, business, employers, trade unions, etc.). With the support of the European Commission, EU countries are developing their own national Youth Guarantee Implementation Plans.
Published: Thu, 19/12/2013 - 18:10
Related links
Info for young people in the western balkans


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Sharada Hall necesitaba un nuevo diseño de otro y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 1 diseños de 1 diseñadores freelance.
Sharada Hall Ayurveda & Acupuncture
I am a Doctor of Oriental Medicine in Santa Fe, NM. I am offering a treatment program that is new to Santa Fe. It is an all natural homeopathic injection skin care program from Italy. I try to bridge between natural and glamorous. I also bridge between traditional and modern medicine. I try to present traditional medicine from the East in a modern way.
Women over 35 who are customers of Botox and have disposable income.Who frequent spas, get facials, want anti-aging treatments. Who want to do things naturally but also want to look their best and can afford to.
Should include photos of beauty, women, facials.
Should include my contact info and the text attached:
Sharada Hall Ayurveda & Acupuncture
110 Delgado St. Suite D
Santa Fe, NM 87501
505.982.4183 ext. 3
Should have my contact info on both sides.
Document Trim Size
3.74" x 8.27"
95mm x 210mm
1122 x 2481 pixels
Full Bleed Size
3.86" x 8.39"
98mm x 213mm
1158 x 2517 pixels
Finished artwork should use the full bleed dimensions for best results.


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Hubert Bray
- Professor of Mathematics
- Professor in the Department of Physics (Secondary)
Mondays, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Research Areas and Keywords
Geometry: Differential & Algebraic
Mathematical Physics
Professor Bray uses differential geometry to understand general relativity, and general relativity to motivate interesting problems in differential geometry. In 2001, he published his proof of the Riemannian Penrose Conjecture about the mass of black holes using geometric ideas related to minimal surfaces, scalar curvature, conformal geometry, geometric flows, and harmonic functions. He is also interested in the large-scale unexplained curvature of the universe, otherwise known as dark matter, which makes up most of the mass of galaxies. Professor Bray has proposed geometric explanations for dark matter which he calls "wave dark matter," which motivate very interesting questions about geometric partial differential equations.
Professor Bray has supervised 8 math Ph.D. graduates at Duke from 2006 to 2017. He is currently supervising one math Ph.D. student and one physics Ph.D. student. His most recent Ph.D. graduate, Henri Roesch, proved a Null Penrose Conjecture, open since 1973, as his thesis. While the physical motivation about the mass of black holes is the same as for the Riemannian Penrose Conjecture, the geometry involved is almost unrecognizably different, and may be viewed as a fundamental result about null geometry.
Selected Grants
Time Flat Curves and Surfaces, Geometric Flows, and the Penrose Conjecture awarded by National Science Foundation (Principal Investigator). 2014 to 2018
Scalar Curvature, the Penrose Conjecture, and the Axioms of General Relativity awarded by National Science Foundation (Principal Investigator). 2010 to 2014
Geometric Analysis Applied to General Relativity awarded by National Science Foundation (Principal Investigator). 2007 to 2010
Scalar Curvature, Geometric Flow, and the General Penrose Conjecture awarded by National Science Foundation (Principal Investigator). 2005 to 2008
Bray, H. "On the Positive Mass, Penrose, and ZAS Inequalities in General Dimension." Surveys in Geometric Analysis and Relativity in Honor of Richard Schoen's 60th Birthday. Ed. H Bray and W Minicozzi. Beijing and Boston: Higher Education Press and International Press, 2011.
Bray, H. "The Positve Energy Theorem and Other Inequalities." The Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics. 2005.
Bray, H, and Chrusciel, PT. "The Penrose Inequality." The Einstein Equations and the Large Scale Behavior of Gravitational Fields (50 Years of the Cauchy Problem in General Relativity). Ed. PT Chrusciel and HF Friedrich. Birkhauser, 2004.
Bray, H, and Schoen, RM. "Recent Proofs of the Riemannian Penrose Conjecture." Current Developments in Mathematics. Somerville, MA: International Press, 1999. 1-36.
Sormani, C, Bray, HL, Minicozzi, WP, Eichmair, M, Huang, L-H, Yau, S-T, Uhlenbeck, K, Kusner, R, Codá marques, F, Mese, C, and Fraser, A. "The Mathematics of Richard Schoen." Notices of the American Mathematical Society 65.11 (December 1, 2018): 1-1. Full Text
Bray, H, and Roesch, H. "Proof of a Null Geometry Penrose Conjecture." Notices of the American Mathematical Society. 65 (February 1, 2018).
Bray, HL, Jauregui, JL, and Mars, M. "Time Flat Surfaces and the Monotonicity of the Spacetime Hawking Mass II." Annales Henri Poincare 17.6 (June 1, 2016): 1457-1475. Full Text
Martinez-Medina, LA, Bray, HL, and Matos, T. "On wave dark matter in spiral and barred galaxies." Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics 2015.12 (December 14, 2015). Full Text
Bray, HL, and Jauregui, JL. "On curves with nonnegative torsion." Archiv Der Mathematik 104.6 (June 29, 2015): 561-575. Full Text
Bray, HL, and Jauregui, JL. "Time Flat Surfaces and the Monotonicity of the Spacetime Hawking Mass." Communications in Mathematical Physics 335.1 (January 1, 2015): 285-307. Full Text
Bray, H, and Goetz, AS. "Wave Dark Matter and the Tully-Fisher Relation." (September 2014).
Bray, HL. "On Dark Matter, Spiral Galaxies, and the Axioms of General Relativity (Accepted)." AMS Contemporary Mathematics Volume 599.Geometric Analysis, Mathematical Relativity, and Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations (2013).
Bray, HL, and Jauregui, JL. "A geometric theory of zero area singularities in general relativity." Asian Journal of Mathematics 17.3 (2013): 525-560. Full Text
Bray, H. "On Wave Dark Matter, Shells in Elliptical Galaxies, and the Axioms of General Relativity." (December 22, 2012).
Bray, HL, and Parry, AR. "Modeling wave dark matter in dwarf spheroidal galaxies." 2015. Full Text
Bray, HL. "A family of quasi-local mass functionals with monotone flows." January 1, 2006. Full Text
Bray, H. "Black Holes and the Penrose Inequality in General Relativity." International Congress of Mathematicians. Beijing, China. 2002.
Bray, H, and Morgan, F. "An isoperimetric comparison theorem for schwarzschild space and other manifolds." 2002. Full Text
Bray, H. The Penrose Inequality in General Relativity and Volume Comparison Theorems Involving Scalar Curvature. 1997. (PhD Thesis)
Flatly Foliated Relativity: Gravity without Gravitational Waves. Geometry and Relativity Conference. Erwin Schroedinger Institute. August 2017
From Pythagoras to Einstein: The Geometry of Space and Time. 6th Annual Rockwell Lectures. University of Iowa. March 27, 2017
The Intersection of Geometry and Physics. 6th Annual Rockwell Lectures. University of Iowa. March 27, 2017
Geometric Aspects of Special and General Relativity. Invited Address, AMS Southeastern Sectional Meeting. American Mathematical Society. March 12, 2017
Flatly Foliated Relativity: Gravity without Gravitational Waves. Union College Math Conference, Special Session on Geometric Analysis. December 2, 2016 - December 4, 2016
Part I: Flatly Foliated Relativity, Part II: The Null Penrose Conjecture. "Geometric Analysis and General Relativity" conference. Banff International Research Station. July 17, 2016 - July 22, 2016
An Elliptic Theory of Gravity between Special and General Relativity. Research Seminar. Stanford University. May 13, 2016
Flatly Foliated Relativity: Gravity without Gravitational Waves. Geometry Seminar. University of California, Santa Cruz. May 11, 2016
On Wave Dark Matter and the Axioms of General Relativity. Colloquium . Mathematics Department, University of California, Santa Cruz. May 10, 2016
Organizer (with Otis Chodosh, Greg Galloway, and Pengzi Miao). Special Session in "Geometric Analysis and General Relativity" . American Mathematical Society. March 10, 2017 - March 12, 2017
Organizer (with Andrew Cooper). AMS Special Session on Geometric Analysis. American Mathematical Society. November 8, 2014 - November 9, 2014
Organizer (with Greg Galloway, Rafe Mazzeo, and Natasa Sesum). Park City Mathematics Institute Summer Program on Geometric Analysis. June 30, 2013 - July 20, 2013
Organizer (with Mark Stern, Lenny Ng, Carla Cederbaum, Luca DiCerbo, and Chris Cornwell). 27th Annual Geometry Festival. April 27, 2012 - April 29, 2012
Organizer and Presenter at Duke University (along with Andriy Badin). Dark Matter Awareness Week. December 6, 2010
Organizer (with Benoit Charbonneau, Dick Hain, and Patrick Eberlein). 23rd Annual Geometry Festival held at Duke University. April 25, 2008 - April 27, 2008


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Arthritis Information and MSM Supplement Center.
Arthritis MSM Supplement Center
Toll Free: 1-800-903-0309
only the purest form of MSM for better results.
Contact Webmaster
We offer Arthritis Information-MSM-Supplements-Discount-Vitamins-Herbs-Glucosamine-Chondroitin-Coral Calcium-CLA Tonalin.
A copy of the certificate of analysis is available upon request.
Disclaimer: The information provided to you in this website has been compiled from numerous journals, research papers and studies for the sole purpose of offering consumers and professionals like you information about our MSM products. None of the information herein should be construed as a claim for cure, prevention or treatment of any disease. The statements in this website may be produced in any manner for public or private use without written consent from Arthritis MSM Supplements, Inc. 1-800-903-0309. Copyright 2001. The above statement has not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.


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Morrison Hotel Gallery Celebrates The 50th Anniversary of The Beatles Arrival in New York
Photos of photos by G.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Beatles landing in America, Morrison Hotel Gallery has a special exhibit of Beatles photos on display curated by Julian Lennon. 25 photos are on display in New York and a further 25 are being shown in Los Angeles.
Many of these photos have never been seen before and as you can see in the above photo of Paul McCartney, it is absolutely stunning.
Pattie Boyd, who took the above photo of the Beatles circa "The White Album" was in attendance at the opening night reception. More on Pattie in a moment.
The Morrison Hotel Gallery is located in its new space at 116 Prince Street, Second Floor in Manhattan.
As a bonus photo, the Ed Sullivan Theater, where the David Letterman Show now tapes, commemorated the Beatles 50th anniversary by posting this flashback sign above the theater, which I froze my little buns off to photograph for you, my dear readers 🙂
Now back to Pattie Boyd. Pattie was married to George Harrison and was with George on the night that George and John Lennon took LSD for the first time, which is arguably one of the most important events in music history as the night totally changed the Beatles sound into something much more experimental which of course has influenced every band to come out since. She is the inspiration behind tracks such as "Something" and "For You Blue" and as she was later married to Eric Clapton, she is also the inspiration for "Layla." WOW! She attended the opening night reception and was extremely nice. See what the gorgeous (and still gorgeous) Pattie Boyd looks like after the jump.


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Thursday, June 11, 2009
Better Know a Kofer - Abandoning Eden
Can you describe the religious environment that you came from?
I grew up in a right wing modern orthodox household, in a community in Northern New Jersey. We kept strict kosher and shabbas, my mom covered her hair whenever she left the house (but not when inside), I was not allowed to wear pants and neither did she. We were more modern in that we had a tv and a computer with the internet, although my parents were very restrictive in the type of shows I was allowed to watch, the types of websites I could visit - no chat rooms - and the amount of time we could watch tv or spend on the internet.
My father ran a gemarah shiur out of our dining room every shabbas afternoon and we all went to shul every shabbas, usually on both Saturday morning and Friday night (and sometimes Saturday afternoon too). My dad would daven at home during the week. My parents were very upset when as a 15 year old I started dating someone, because they expected me to "only date for tachlis." I went to a modern orthodox all girls yeshiva high school.
Can you highlight an example of an incident, experience, or idea you encountered that made you question your upbringing?
Well I questioned Judaism throughout my childhood - one question that came up for me time and again was that Jewish people believe that they are the chosen people and that their religion is the right one - but so does every other religion. So how can we know that Judaism is the 'right' religion? I spent a lot of time trying to come up with an answer to that, but never could.
Then, the night before my 15th birthday, I was spending shabbas at the house of a friend of mine from school, and we were hanging out with some friends of hers. One of her friends told me about how he likes to write poetry, and somehow it came up that he keeps strict shabbas - unless he has a really good idea for a poem, and then he would write it down so that he wouldn't forget it. I knew non-Jewish people, and I even knew non-religious Jews (including some distant cousins), but that was the first time I was aware of the possibility of growing up orthodox and then not being strictly orthodox anymore. Once I thought about that, it was like all my doubts kinda clicked into place, and I realized that if I didn't think Judaism was the right religion, I had the choice to not follow it anymore! By that summer (my birthday is in May) I was breaking both kosher and shabbas laws to some degree, although it took years before I was completely "off the derech."
Can you highlight one of the very first ways you crossed the halachic line?
One of the first things I remember transgressing in is tearing toilet paper on shabbas. We usually kept tissues in the bathroom, and I hadn't noticed that there wasn't any left before using the bathroom. I felt guilty about it and kept waiting for something to happen to me to indicate that god was angry at me for tearing the toilet paper… but it never happened.
How did you family react to your leaving? What is your relationship like with them now?
As those who read my blog know, they have not reacted very well. I first told my parents that I wasn't religious anymore at the age of 17. My parents initially reacted by being in complete denial about it. When I first told them my dad asked if that meant I ate shrimp now - and I didn't - so he took that to mean that I was just "going through a teenage rebellion phase." I had to tell them about 5 times over the course of that year before it really 'stuck' with my dad, and I don't think it ever really stuck with my mother until about 2 years ago.
When I was in college my parents agreed to pay my tuition and dorm fees under the condition that I come home every weekend for shabbas so that they could be sure I was still keeping it. After college, when I moved away to grad school (and obtained financial independence), my mother continued to act as if I was religious (always asking where I was going for shabbas meals and holidays), while I continued to remind her that I wasn't religious, and then the same thing would happen the next week.
A little over two years ago I started dating my husband, who is not Jewish (he grew up Catholic and is now an atheist like myself). I told my parents about him around 2 months after we started dating, since I already knew at that time that my relationship with him was heading in a pretty serious direction. My parents initially tried to convince me not to date him by sending me all sorts of letters and giving me all sorts of speeches. When we got engaged last year in July, my mother reacted by not saying anything at all (I called her on the phone to tell her), and then saying "I have nothing to say, you know how I feel." We talked about 3 more times on the phone after that, and the last time she told me that if I wanted to talk to her I could never mention my husband (then my fiancé) or anything about him or our life together. I haven't called her since then. In January she sent me an email saying that if I choose to get married to my fiancé we can no longer have a relationship with each other. My dad has been a little less extreme, but neither of them came to the wedding and neither of them have met my husband (by their choice, not mine). About 6 weeks before my wedding I attended a cousin's wedding, and my mom saw me and said hello and then did not acknowledge me at all for the rest of the night. My dad tried to get us to talk to each other, which resulted in two minutes of awkward conversation about where we had parked our cars.
I also have 2 brothers - one is very religious and lives in a yeshiva where he learns all day - he did not come to the wedding either and he called me up a few months ago to tell me that a rabbi had told him that if I got married to my husband, either "we would break up, he would convert to Judaism, or he would be dead within the year." My other brother is not religious either, and he came to the wedding, and was the ring bearer and one of our official legal witnesses.
As for the rest of the family... I haven't told many people in my parents' and grandparents' generation that I am married, just because we don't normally have a very close relationship, and hardly talk at all except at family events. I told one of my aunts, and she never responded to my email. An uncle of mine called me up the morning of my wedding to tell me "Even though we don't agree with your decision, we still love you, you're still a part of our family, and we wish you the best." My cousins on the other hand have all been really cool about it - surprisingly so. I have now heard many stories of people in my family secretly dating non-Jewish people and not telling anyone else about it. Even my charedi cousin who got married through a shidduch at the age of 18 (and now at 22 has 3 kids because she believes using birth control is against halacha) was very cool about it - we still keep in touch via email on a semi-regular basis, and she sends me pictures of her kids and I sent her pictures of the wedding.
What connection do you currently have to Jewish identity, religion, or culture?
Not much. Many of my close friends are also lapsed orthodox Jews like myself, but that's not really an identity or culture or religion. I haven't kept any religious aspects of Judaism since I moved to graduate school 5 years ago. I will sometimes have some Jewish holiday-related food (like latkes on Chanukah or challah with honey and pomegranates on rosh hashana), but I don't go out of my way to get that stuff- usually it's because I've been invited to a party somewhere or a chabadnick on my campus is giving out food. Lately me and my husband have been talking about our future theoretical children and what we would teach them about our backgrounds - I think I would teach them the historical stuff (like that my grandparents are holocaust survivors, and a little about Jewish history), but not the religion or anything about the culture. We will probably continue to celebrate secular Christmas (gift giving and a big meal, no church or talk of religion) and rosh hashana in our non-religious meal eating way. If I have a boy we do not plan to have him circumcised.
You know, many people would find that, the decision to not circumcise a child, the ultimate act of turning your back on your tradition.
Well, my family has a whole lot of traditions I have turned my back on - for instance, my family has the 'tradition' that men get high-paying jobs (we have a lot of medical doctors and lawyers in my family) while women go to college, then get married, and become a stay at home mom. I've turned away from that tradition, along with all their other religious traditions. Why would circumcision be different?
Personally, I have read and thought a LOT about the circumcision issue, and after much discussion with my husband, we have decided that cutting off part of our future theoretical son's penis is an irreversible decision, and not one we feel comfortable making on behalf of our future children. If they want to be circumcised once they grow up, we would happily pay for the procedure at that point.
But circumcision is characteristically THE mark of a Jew (even for those who are not observant). Isn't it important that your child have that part of Jewish identity?
Well, no, it's not very important to me that my children identify themselves as Jews. I don't even identify myself as a Jew anymore - on surveys when they ask "religion" I now put "atheist." Although most people who know me know I grew up orthodox Jewish... kinda like the way I know one of my friends grew up fundamentalist Christian, but she isn't anymore.
And besides, why can't kids identify themselves as Jewish if they aren't circumcised? It's not like people are going to pull down their pants and do a penis check :)
How do you currently view the religious community you came from?
Probably something close to hostility, but I think that's because I assume that people in that community will be hostile to me (and most have been), so I am preemptively hostile. I guess a better word would be 'defensive.'
Do you still believe in some form of God or in some version of Judaism?
No and no.
What are some of the drawbacks of your decision to leave? Do you regret it at all? Is there any guilt?
Well I guess the major drawback is that I no longer have parents that I can call on in times of need, although I have awesome in-laws, and a great community of friends that have been a better family to me then my actual family has ever been. I don't regret leaving at all, and I don't feel any guilt at this point in my life, although I can't say that has always been true (about the guilt, not the regret).
Can you name something significant which you are currently doing in your life, or that you've experienced, which would have been difficult, if not impossible, in your former life?
Getting a PhD! Because I was not religious, I did not want to go to Stern college, to which my parents were very adamant about me going (especially since I outright refused to go to Israel for a year of seminary). I lied to my parents and told them that I sent in an application, and didn't tell them that I hadn't sent one in until it was too late to apply. I then ended up at a CUNY college, that I originally told my parents I was applying to as a "backup." If I hadn't gone to that college, I wouldn't have taken Sociology 101 with an awesome professor who encouraged me to go to graduate school, I wouldn't have started doing research with another professor who is still my mentor and close friend, and I doubt I would have ended up on the path that led me to pursue a PhD.
Even if I had ended up here, I doubt I would have gotten through my first 3 years of grad school if I couldn't work on Friday nights and Saturdays - at that point I was working 7 days a week, 10+ hours a day, and there literally wasn't any other day on which I could have gotten that work done. I still usually work on Saturdays for at least a few hours. Additionally, there is a lot of networking opportunities I would have missed out on - some of my best professional contacts have been people I have met at dinners with my professors and their friends, and I couldn't have gone to these dinners if I kept kosher - or at least it would have been awkward and I would be the weird person not eating anything. A lot of conferences I have presented at have been on Saturdays, or have involved travel on Saturdays.
Also, obviously, it would be impossible to have married my husband. And he is pretty awesome. And this summer we are going on a cruise around the Mediterranean sea for our honeymoon, and I don't think if I was religious I would be doing a lot of traveling to exotic places with no kosher food.
What surprised you most about the world outside ultra-orthodoxy?
Well I was never 'ultra-orthodox' but what surprised me most about non-Jewish people and non-religious Jews is how nice people can be! Growing up I was always told that non-Jewish people hate Jews, and that anyone who wasn't orthodox didn't have morals and was just interested in materialistic things, anyone who wasn't Jewish was never really my friends, even if they were friendly they would eventually turn their back on me, etc. And not a single one of those things have been the case.
What is one misconception or stereotype about ex-frum people that you'd like to correct?
That we are all 'teenage rebels' who will eventually grow out of it, or 'bums' who stop being religious because we are lazy or we are just failures at life. This is not a teenage rebellion - I've been living this way for 12 years, and it is impossible for me to imagine circumstances in which I would ever become orthodox again. I didn't stop being religious because it was too hard to keep religion and I was lazy, I stopped being religious because I stopped believing it was the right way to live. And I only have a year left until I have a PhD from a top 10 university, so I think that qualifies me as NOT a failure in life. :)
Can you give an example of something that has completely changed in your way of thinking since you left?
Gender; growing up I pretty much always expected that I would go to college and get a degree, but that I would then get married and become a housewife/stay at home mom. Pretty much every woman in my family is a stay at home mom, and I never thought that I (or any woman) really had the capability to have a career that would be more fulfilling then staying at home with my kids. This was likely due to the attitude I saw amongst family and community members that girls weren't as smart as boys, women didn't have careers and men did, etc.
Now I am married and if all goes as planned, I will be the primary breadwinner while my husband will be a stay at home dad/part time worker. I love my career, and while I will make the time to spend time with my kids, the thought of leaving my career is not even in the realm of possibilities.
What's the best thing about not being frum?
Well, in general the freedom to do pretty much whatever I want, whenever I want, as long as I'm not hurting other people. Also the food is pretty great - I'm a big foodie, and there are so many foods/restaurants I would never have been able to try if I kept kosher.
If you could change one thing about the community you left, what would it be?
The xenophobia, and the attitude that anyone who diverges from the path of their parents has to be ostracized.
Is there anything else about your life you'd like to elaborate on?
I guess part of the point of this series is to show that people who go OTD are not all failures at life/drug addicts/miserable/whatever, so I'd like to elaborate a little more about my achievements:
Although I almost flunked out of my modern orthodox high school because in my senior year I stopped going to any of the religion-related courses (and I had to retake hashkafa, chumash, and navi finals over the summer before they let me have my diploma), I flourished in college, and graduated summa cum laude from my college's honors program with a whole stack of awards and honors. I then went on to a top 10 university in sociology, where I have been working on a joint PhD in Sociology and Demography for about 5 years. I am ABD (which means I've completed all my program requirements except my dissertation) and I expect to defend my dissertation in January 2010. I have a masters degree as well as 3 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and a few other publications in less prestigious places. I won a major national-level fellowship competition, which included over $100,000 in funds for my PhD program. I've taught my own college level course several times, and received excellent teaching reviews. If the academic job market doesn't fall apart next year, I expect to move on to a tenure-track assistant professorship position beginning in Fall 2010; if it does fall apart, I've already been offered a post-doctorate position for 2010-2011.
On top of that I'm in a wonderful relationship with a wonderful man who completely supports my career and who takes care of all the housework when I need to work 70 hour weeks (which I do occasionally). I am generally very very happy with my life. When people complain about getting older, I don't really get it - because for me, every year I've gotten older, my life has been better.
Well, that does sound really wonderful! Are there any parting words you'd like to tell the frum world?
Lighten up, and quit worrying about how other people live their lives so much! It'll make you happier, I promise!
42 comments:
- B. Spinoza said...
"what surprised me most about non-Jewish people and non-religious Jews is how nice people can be!"
Did you you really think otherwise? I mean, you did grow up Modern Orthodox in the USA, which means you were exposed to all different types of people, either directly in person, or through television and movies. I personally never really bought the things spoken about non jews in the frum community. It could be because my family never thought that way
- June 11, 2009 at 11:20 AM
- The Hedyot said...
> Did you you really think otherwise? I mean, you did grow up Modern Orthodox in the USA, which means you were exposed to all different types of people, either directly in person, or through television and movies.
I can't speak for how this issue is taught in MO circles, but where I grew up the widespread attitude is that the majority of non-Jews are immoral, back stabbing, money-hungry, sex-depraved hedonists. They were preferably to be kept at a distance; if one ever to meet a nice non-Jew, it was either a) an exception to the rule or b) they were just hiding their true nature very well.
To this day, my family is utterly baffled how I can be living in a house with non-Jews. They always ask, "But how can you be sure that they're not some crazy murderer?!" I kid you not. I've gotten asked this numerous times.
I suppose that in MO circles things wouldn't be as bad, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that certain segments of the MO world might have adopted the prevailing chareidi attitudes on this issue.
- June 11, 2009 at 11:33 AM
- Abandoning Eden said...
I actually had very little exposure to non-jews before I went to college. I didn't have any non-jewish or non-religious friends growing up, and in fact when I was around 10, one of my best friends' parents got divorced and his mom decided they would not be orthodox anymore (she became orthodox for her husband, who then cheated on her), and my mom stopped letting me hang out with him. As for tv and movies...that's tv and movies, not real life, and I knew that.
My family members DID think that way- I was constantly being told that all non-jews were anti-semetic and would pretend to be nice to your face but would turn on you eventually (It probably didn't help my grandparents were holocaust survivors, and very distrustful of all non-jews- for good reason in their case). I grew up on stories about my parents moving out of brooklyn because they were subject to anti-semitism because my dad wore a kippa, and I actually saw a fair amount of anti-semitism growing up, which reinforced those views. For instance the shul I went to had their front windows broken multiple times, and I remember once when I was very young a jewish cemetery in the next town over was messed with- a bunch of gravestones were knocked over and swastikas were drawn on them. In fact, when I was around 6 years old the neighbor's kid egged our house and screamed out something about 'dirty jews' as he was running away. My parents held all these instances up as examples of how you can never trust anyone who wasn't jewish, and I didn't realize until much later that this was NOT the norm among non-jewish people.
In fact, when I started dating B, my dad sent me a big letter trying to convince me not to date him, and one of the things he said was that B may be secretly anti-semetic and it would come out some day if we had a fight or something. And that his parents will probably never accept me because I was jewish.
That being said, I don't fault my parents for this- I think my parents were just trying to teach me to be cautious based on their own experiences, kinda like a Black person might teach their children to be cautious of racism.
- June 11, 2009 at 11:43 AM
- B. Spinoza said...
I too was exposed to these stupid views. Some of my Rabbayim in high school were pretty bad in this way. But I just never took it seriously.
I will say again that my family was pretty liberal regarding the non Jewish world, which obviously influenced me.
I remember we once invited our non Jewish Catholic neighbor to the Pesach seder when I was younger. Which I think is a pretty awesome thing. I don't know how many frum families would do that
- June 11, 2009 at 11:51 AM
- DYS said...
B Spinoza:
There's MO and there's MO. I know that my version of Modern Orthodoxy growing up was of the Brooklyn sort and no, we didn't really mix with other people. even if my parents didn't say that non-Jewish people weren't nice, there was a subtle message from community that that was the case (and a not-so-subtle message from rabbeim in school saying the same thing.)
- June 11, 2009 at 11:52 AM
- The Hedyot said...
> I will say again that my family was pretty liberal regarding the non Jewish world, which obviously influenced me.
This is probably the key difference. My family fully subscribes to these toxic views. When I was telling my 10 year old nephew about the classes I take in college, he turned to me, incredulous, "You have goyim in your class?!"
- June 11, 2009 at 12:37 PM
Thanks Da'as Hedyot and AE, I found that interesting :)
- June 11, 2009 at 5:54 PM
- Bruce said...
Hi AE. Thanks for posting --- great interview.
My standard two questions come to mind.
1. Did you consider a non-Orthodox form of Judaism? Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist are generally welcoming of people who have non-traditional and non-fundamental understandings of God. Judaism as practiced by these movements would resolve many of your particular objections to Orthodoxy, although it may create other problems or be undesirable for other reasons.
2. (A sociology / demography question). Of the people you grew up with and went to school with, about what percentage remain Orthodox, identify as non-Orthodox Jews, or are completely non-religious?
- June 12, 2009 at 12:52 PM
- Abandoning Eden said...
1) Yep I went to conservative services on rosh hashana and yom kippur for a few years, and I also tried out reform and reconstructionist services. One of my friends is married to a reconstructionist rabbi, and I've gone to many a shabbas potluck at their house. In college I was pretty involved with hillel, and I went on birthrite in college with a Hillel group. I also went to chabad "Lunch and Learns" throughout college, and went to a couple of seder's at chabad.
Nothing about any of these other types of judaism was ever very attractive to me, and I didn't really enjoy being at any of these things, and just felt uncomfortable most of the time, but went for a while out of a sense of obligation. I liked Hillel in college, but that was before I was fully off the derech, and still had a foot in the orthodox community (in part because I was still going to my parents' house every weekend for shabbas). The hillel at my school was also mostly focused on jewish culture, and very little about the religious aspects of judaism. Even so, I don't think I would feel very comfortable there now. In part because I feel that by my presence at these events I am implying that I have a shared common belief system with the people there- which feels very dishonest to me, because I don't.
2) That's really hard to say, in part because I know a lot of people and I'm not about to count them all and calculate percentages, and in part because after I started going off the derech I started hanging out with a group of other people who had grown up orthodox and were in the process of going off the derech, which is a pretty biased group. Probably around 75% of those people are no longer orthodox, although most still self identify as jews. Around 25% went to a year in israel and 'flipped out' as we called it, and/or got married and went back to being orthodox, or never really were off the derech but were open minded/liked hanging with the 'bad kids' and just kept on being religious.
As for people I went to school with...I don't really keep in touch with many people from school, but from what I can tell from facebook, the vast majority are still orthodox. The vast majority of women in my high school are now married to jewish people, have kids, and clearly have pictures of themselves covering their hair, etc, implying they are still orthodox. Of course, not everyone I grew up with is on facebook, and not everyone on it is definitely still orthodox, but it's hard to tell.
People I went to shul with- other then the "Off the derech" crowd that I hung out with at shul (about 10-15 people), everyone else in my generation is still orthodox as far as I can tell.
Out of all the people I grew up, I'm the only person I know of who married someone not jewish. Pretty much all of my OTD friends still only date jewish people. Although one of my best friends (actually, the guy who first told me about writing poetry on shabbas) has been dating a non jewish woman for about 3 years, but she is now in the process of getting an orthodox jewish conversion. My brother also is dating someone not jewish.
- June 12, 2009 at 5:32 PM
As a religious Jew, reading your blog (and your interview) makes me very uncomfortable.
Lost her faith, married a goy, and now isn't going to bring her children into the Covenant of Abraham...
You fit perfectly in the catagory of "Meshumad l'Torah b'kula".
It's frightening because this isn't what Jews are supposed to do.
You have totally cut yourself off from the Jewish people. Your children won't even know that they are Jewish. In fact, halachically, they probably aren't.
Let me explain that. When a Jewish woman marries a non-Jew and they separate, we do not require a get. But, the Talmud asks, what if the goy was a member of the lost tribes? (Therefore making the marriage between two Jews and necessitating a get)
The answer is that we do not consider the decendants of the ten tribes Jewish at all, based on Hoshea (4:7)"They have betrayed G-d, for they have begotten strange children."
I hope I haven't come across as offensive. I'm not trying to cause you pain. I'm trying to honestly inform you what this issue looks like from my perspective.
Given that me and you differ on first principles, I don't expect you to be able to understand what I say. Let me clarify that: You understand the content, but you cannot understand what would prompt someone to say it.
Please, though, don't dismiss the horror we feel out of hand.
- June 12, 2009 at 9:43 PM
- Abandoning Eden said...
"It's frightening because this isn't what Jews are supposed to do."
O RLY!?! I hadn't heard that! :)
Don't worry, you don't offend me. I understand why you are saying what you are saying, after all I used to believe everything (or a lot of what) you believe. But from my perspective now, your comment is just hilarious.
- June 13, 2009 at 9:06 AM
- Ginx said...
"You have totally cut yourself off from the Jewish people. Your children won't even know that they are Jewish."
The Jewish people cut her off. Our children will know their mother is Jewish. They will also be told at an appropriate age what that means. They will be allowed to make their religious decisions independent of us.
I see religion is something adult, like sex. It is not something to trivialize by discussing it with children, it is something for mature minds. I don't care what sexual positions my children are going to try, and I feel the same way about their spirituality.
-Ginx, AE's heathen husband
- June 13, 2009 at 11:00 AM
How much does how religious people have treated you impact your views toward God?
In the sense that, would you be more open to believe in God if you didn't come from fundamentalist backgrounds?
- June 13, 2009 at 11:43 PM
- jajogluck said...
Fascinating story! It's also definitely a success story and I feel motivated and envious a bit. But I also don't blame myself for falling far short from the achievements AE has made in career and family since I hail from the UO (ultra-orthodox) world and as such it's MUCH MUCH more difficult. I had to learn English at age 19 virtually from scratch.
I'd also like to note that I experienced the VERY SAME thoughts AE had in regard to question of "why are the Jews the chosen nation, and how can I genuinely justify this claim". I spent many hours contemplating this question and it was a significant catalyst in the process that led to my Transtion.
Lastly, about AE's dad warning her that her hubby's dormant anti-semitism might rear its ugly head in a domestic fight. From his perspective he's definitely justified in raising this possibility, but I think that in general this is statistically a serious possibility. Of course, I don't know who AE's hubby is. She knows him best and she may have determined that he's intelligent enough not to become emotionally carried away with antisemitism in such situations.
From my experience, "average" christians (meaning uneducated, sports-obesessed commoners), especially those who live in traditional mid-western and upper-class suburbans WASP communities tend to "gloss over" a lingering antisemitic feeling, just as they do so with their anti-black sentiment. They are civilized enough not to insult such minorities in their face but after having several beers in a WASP party they are perfectly capable of cracking some anti-jewish and/or anti-black jokes.
The only reason I am pointing this out here is that Idon't want potential OTD's to have this glorified image of "mainstream Americans" in mind once they become enlightened enough to know that gentiles are indeed not evil, but then when they encounter lingering antisemitism, they may view that as a reason to "return to their heritage".
- June 14, 2009 at 12:11 AM
- Mari bar Rachel said...
"In fact, halachically, they probably aren't [Jewish].
Let me explain that. When a Jewish woman marries a non-Jew and they separate, we do not require a get. But, the Talmud asks, what if the goy was a member of the lost tribes? (Therefore making the marriage between two Jews and necessitating a get)
The answer is that we do not consider the descendants of the ten tribes Jewish at all, based on Hoshea (4:7)"They have betrayed G-d, for they have begotten strange children.""
As a right wing yeshiva educated orthodox Jew and the child of an intermarriage, I must write that although I certainly sympathize with your opinion, I must tell you that halachically you are mistaken.
According to virtually all opinions the child of a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father is a full fledged Jew. See, for example, Kidushin 71b Tosfos D"H "Kan," Yevamos 45a "zeel gali," and the associated mephorshim and poskim. I don't have the time to look up everything right now, but those sources are a good starting place. (Some achronim maintain that the understanding of the Gemara of Rashi and possibly some of the Ba'alie Tosfos result in the offspring being non-Jewish, and there have been isolated incidents if Batei Dinim requiring a geirus mechumra-I believe that the Haifa Bais Din issued such a ruling some years ago-but let me emphasize that the geirus was only a chumra, and a chumra worthy of hilchos gittin at that.)
The absolute only thing proven by the verse in Hoshea is that the husband is not assumed to be Jewish, a point which I believe was never under contention.
- June 14, 2009 at 3:25 PM
My guess is that outside the New York metro area, this mistaken perception of non Jews as uniformly bigoted or depraved individuals, is not as pronounced. This is based on my own childhood "out of town," raised in a fairly yeshivish family. Although to be fair, my parents were balei teshuva, so perhaps their exposure to non Jews made them aware that all people are basically the same.
- June 15, 2009 at 10:18 AM
"I felt guilty about it and kept waiting for something to happen to me to indicate that god was angry at me for tearing the toilet paper… but it never happened."
All the chachamim say that this should occur within thirty years of the aveiro.
- June 15, 2009 at 12:15 PM
...and let me add, the divine sign of approval, it is taught, must be midah k'neged midah, so that you will eventually either have some toilet paper stuck to your shoe, or it will clog your toilet, or the like.
- June 15, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Yes! This makes total sense! Last week when my toilet got clogged from my fressing at the chulent table at my shul's kiddush, I kept asking myself, "Why?! Why me?! Why is God punishing me like this!?" My faith in Him was truly shaken.
Thank you Alex, for restoring my faith in God's justice.
- June 15, 2009 at 1:41 PM
I found the article very interesting. I myself am a Chabad Shliach and have a brother who is traditional but not observant anymore. I found the end of the post where you describe what you are doing in life a nice contrast to the main part. The post as a whole left me quite sad. I hope you can have a meaningful relationship with your family and that you have only happiness in your life.
- June 15, 2009 at 2:06 PM
- Abandoning Eden said...
"How much does how religious people have treated you impact your views toward God?
In the sense that, would you be more open to believe in God if you didn't come from fundamentalist backgrounds?"
hmm, well my journey towards atheism was kind of a separate but parallel journey to the one out of orthodox judaism. For several years I believed there was a god, just that Judaism had it wrong. It was only when I was in my early 20s, after being OTD to some extent for over 5 years, that I started questioning whether there was a god at all.
I don't think the way religious people have treated me has impacted my atheism. But I do agree that it has to some extent impacted me becoming not religious.
If I felt like I fit in well with the jewish community, I think it would have been much harder for me to have become openly not religious, because I would have alienated a lot of my friends. But for some reason i never really fit in well with the religious...maybe cause I asked too many questions or talked back to much for a girl or something? :) Not sure why, but I never had a lot of orthodox friends, and when I met that group of other people who were OTD, I finally found a group of people who thought the same way as I did, and whom I felt comfortable being myself around. I'm not saying that's the reason I went OTD (especially cause I was OTD to some extent before I met them, and of all those people I am the furthest OTD at this point in our lives). But it probably made it easier for me to do. Not that it was easy either... :)
- June 15, 2009 at 3:14 PM
- Abandoning Eden said...
jajoggluk- yeah I can imagine how hard it must be, and for someone who didn't speak English until 19, you write very well! I was very luck in that my family valued secular education as highly as religious education (they were really into torah umadah, my dad has a Phd in a secular topic, although he got it at YU)
My husband is actually from the midwest, as is most of his extended family. They may have secret anti-semetic views, but if they do, I don't know about them, and they have never made me feel anything but welcome in their homes and in their family. No one has ever really commented on the fact that I'm Jewish at all, as far as I know. I have, on the other hand, gotten made fun of cause I'm an east coast academic (but in a good natured way). :)
Contrast that with everyone is my family, who refuses to meet my husband cause he isn't jewish. Who really cares what people are secretly thinking- I think it's their actions that count.
- June 15, 2009 at 3:25 PM
- Abandoning Eden said...
Ari- you may be right, I grew up outside of NYC but definitely within the metro area, and my parents are from brooklyn/queens (both from heavily jewish areas)
- June 15, 2009 at 3:27 PM
- Abandoning Eden said...
yisroel- I hope so too, but at this point it is their choice and not mine that we are not close.
- June 15, 2009 at 3:29 PM
- The Hedyot said...
Isn't it odd that people are concerned more by some secretive, latent anti-semitism of AE's husband and family, for which there is no evidence whatsoever, more than they are bothered by the overt and blatant intolerance and prejudice that AE's family has shown to her husband and even to AE herself?
- June 15, 2009 at 3:56 PM
- chanief said...
Thanks for the wonderful interview Hedyot. AE thanks for sharing with us :o)
- June 15, 2009 at 4:56 PM
- Shawn said...
Many thanks for your thoughts and I have read your blog assiduously and appreciate your insight and journey. Having said that, your comparison of circumcision to what women in your family have done throughout the years is patently silly and a bit ridiculous. I might feel similarly as you with respect to circumcision, but an ancient tradition, like DH said, that is practically from the begging of organized Judaism, does not warrant a comparison to a familiar situation that is both contemporary and narrow. Again, congrats on the wedding, and your journey has been inspirational but the way in which you defended your decision to not circumcise your future son--by relying on a hackneyed comparison and vague notion of tradition that your family has for women in respect to professional careers-- was not worthy of comparison to something as heady and as traditionally important to ortho's as circumcision...
- June 15, 2009 at 8:34 PM
- Abandoning Eden said...
Perhaps that comparison was flippant. Well then a more serious tradition...for thousands of years (or so they tell me) my family has kept kosher and shabbas. I don't. I don't keep any other part of the jewish religion. Why would I think differently about circumcision and do it for the sake of tradition, when I don't follow any of my family's religious traditions? To me the traditions are all the same- not relevant to my life. I need a different reason besides "it's tradition" to do anything I do.
Furthermore, to me, having my child circumcised would require an even higher level of belief than keeping Kosher or Shabbas, because it is potentially harming another person who can't give consent (definitely harming in the short term, and possibly in the long term), and forever altering their body without their consent, which is against my personal moral code.
- June 15, 2009 at 8:46 PM
- Yonason said...
i'm continualy suprised at the level of thought that goes into rejecting judaism...
and starting to be of the opinion that all jews would be better off moving into communities where jews form a small minority. i suspect that it would cut the OTD rate to a tenth or less
the problem isn't that you're rejecting judaism, its more that you're rejecting that monster that seems to thrive in NYC and its surroundings.
they feed you a bunch of lies and when you find out you throw the baby oyt with the bathwater.
and do you not realize that you also believe your way to be the right one? so perhaps your way is also wrong.
(and maybe everyone is wrong, or maybe everyone is right, or just maybe, everyone is fulfilling their intended purpose in the world.)
and btw, nothing wrong with a religious girl getting a Ph.D. My kallah wants to get one, and so do I. (i'm quite proud of her.)
- June 16, 2009 at 2:47 PM
> i'm continualy suprised at the level of thought that goes into rejecting judaism...
Surprising, isn't it? Since the popular view that most frummies tend to buy into is that it's not rational at all, and purely based on taivos....
> and btw, nothing wrong with a religious girl getting a Ph.D. My kallah wants to get one, and so do I.
Pleeeeease. When are people going to realize that just because one frum community lets its adherents do something, it doesn't mean others also think it's legitimate! When was the last time a frum person accepted the excuse to be meikel on something with an explanation of "Hey, those more modern rabbis say it's ok, so we should be allowed to do it too!"
- June 16, 2009 at 4:41 PM
- yoni said...
Surprising, isn't it? Since the popular view that most frummies tend to buy into is that it's not rational at all, and purely based on taivos....
Suprising in that i seriously overestimate how much "rational" thought goes into the decision. . .
but then on, people aren't rational creatures to begin with, and frequently do irrational things because they feel good. For instance speeding durring intracity travel.
- June 16, 2009 at 5:38 PM
- yoni said...
to quote my father's favorite T-shirt "lord what fools these mortals be"
- June 16, 2009 at 5:40 PM
- Abandoning Eden said...
Yonason- I would agree with you on the NYC thing but for this- when I first moved out of the NYC area to the place I live now (which is not in the NYC area) I at first got somewhat involved in the local Jewish community- which is a lot more open minded than the one in NYC, and Jews of all different denominations/level of belief hang out with each other and actually treat each other like human beings (shocking, I know).
Even so, I didn't find anything in that community that made me think Judaism might be right after all, and even though everyone was very nice welcoming to me, I didn't particularly enjoy hanging out with jewish people and doing jewish things (like shabbas meals, etc), and didn't get any benefit from it really. In fact, it got to the point where I started having panic attacks on the way to shabbas meals on a regular basis..I'm still not entirely sure why, other than that I really didn't want to go anymore but I kept forcing myself to, but after about a year of that and long discussions with a therapist, I decided to stop going to jewish-themed events (although I still hang out with some of my friends I met through those events, and I have attended some things like shabbas sheva brachot of a friend since then).
And perhaps at first when I was 15 I didn't give it a ton of rational thought, but it's been 12 years since then and I am continually questioning and re-evaluating my actions and my belief system. I went back and forth with my level of involvement in the jewish community throughout college/early grad school. In fact once I got to college I had the same thought you did- that I probably hated judaism becuase of my particular experience with my family/ community, so I should try to let go of that baggage and get involved on my terms. But I never really got anything out of it (other than a few friends, which was nice, but I never got anything out of the religious or cultural aspects of judaism). I spent years journaling and blogging about god and judaism (apart from this blog I have an older friends-only one I've been keeping since 2001). At each step along the way (becuase it is a series of steps, and it took years) I thought for a very long time about what my next step would be, what I believed in, etc. I kinda glossed over that stuff in the interview, but hey, I can only write so much. :)
- June 16, 2009 at 6:57 PM
- Abandoning Eden said...
Also, I think I could have gotten a phd and stayed frum if I had a lot of gumption and stuck to my guns, etc. However, I don't think I would have, for several reasons, apart from the "going to stern and not actually meeting the people who led me to get a phd" thing.
For one, I was engaged to an orthodox man when I was 21, who was somewhat OTD, but still believed in judaism/god (so he just felt guilty all the time). During our engagement, when i was learning about jewish marriage/ taharat hamishpacha laws, was a time of rapid change in my level of observance (downwards) as I became more and more cynical of judaism as I tried to find a religious justification for all these wedding rituals, and had a hard time finding any.
In part because of our growing religious differences, we broke up about 4 months before we were supposed to get married. Anyways, my point is, he was also very against the idea of me applying to graduate school, and firmly put his foot down and said he would not move with me if I wanted to go to grad school, that his career was too important to move, etc. So if I had stayed religious and therefore married him, i would have been limited to the schools in the NYC area (none of which specialize in my area of focus). If we had stayed together, I doubt I would have gone to grad school.
Anyways, that's just one example among many. I could have gotten a phd, but it would have been a lot harder. If you can do something, but it's a lot harder to do, it's just less likely to get done. It's like that metaphor about a bird cage and racism/sexism/any ism..you can look at one pole in the cage and be like "well, how come the bird can't just fly around it, that doesn't look like it could stop any bird from doing anything." But when you have a bunch of poles like that, it ends up being a cage.
- June 16, 2009 at 6:58 PM
- yoni said...
part of the issue i think for most off the derech and BTs (and indeed FFbs and born non-frums) is whether or not they were happy in the enviornment of their upbringing.
The damage that can be done by a stifling upbringing is extremely hard to overcome with anything other than the distance and healing afforded by time.
We are, after all, irrational creatures, and as much as we pretend to be guided by higher thoughts, we don't generaly tend to actualize them so long.
reconsidering these things may take decades, not years. If you reconsider them at all.
I am strongly suspicious that almost all off the derech or on the derech behavior relates more to a rejection of what you had growing up than anything else.
and any and all intellectualizing of things is usualy a facade for the same.
- June 16, 2009 at 8:11 PM
- The Hedyot said...
I happen to agree. I believe that for most people (but not all), emotional factors play a very significant role in their decision to leave Orthodoxy. (I write as much repeatedly on this blog.) However, this doesn't make the decision any less legitimate.
In addition, the flip side of this idea is that it's just as much a non-rational decision to become/stay frum. Very few people who are frum are so because they've pondered whether it really is right or not. They are that way simply because being frum works for them, and like you say, any and all intellectualizing of things is usually a facade to cover up that fact.
- June 16, 2009 at 8:30 PM
- yoni said...
as I have said before, i am not going to begrudge people their going off the derech.
Often the very air of brooklyn makes me want to escape the confines of its viewpoints.
- June 16, 2009 at 9:44 PM
- yoni said...
and again, my decision to stay frum, if i had to be honest, was likely largely dependent upon my connection (as a 3-6 year old) with my morah (the local chabad rebbetzin and kindergarten teacher) and my rejection of many of the things going on in my family in the years since i was taken out.
at this point, i'm set in terms of being frum.
and what i watched in public school, the scorn, torture, and ridicule and petty stupidity only reinforced it.
- June 16, 2009 at 9:47 PM
"One of the first things I remember transgressing in is tearing toilet paper on shabbas. We usually kept tissues in the bathroom, and I hadn't noticed that there wasn't any left before using the bathroom. I felt guilty about it and kept waiting for something to happen to me to indicate that god was angry at me for tearing the toilet paper… but it never happened"
What a foolish comment. Do you think you do a transgression and GOD strikes you with lightening. Geez! Your punsihment will come in the world to come, so enjoy your life now, later, well.... if I only had a front seat in the heavenly courts.
- June 17, 2009 at 3:37 PM
- yoni said...
one thing to add, usualy, in my experience, the ones who assert their leaving the derect to be purely intelectual, are the least intelectualy driven of the lot.
I have only met one person who's decision to leave struck me as purely intellectual, and she was quite frankly disturbing.
To put her case mildly, her going off the derech was essentialy a cold, hard, analytical calculation: "My chances of acheiving my dreams are higher elsewere."
there was no fight, nothing. the fight happened after the decision in order to accustome herself to her new chosen life. Nor was there much bitterness by the time i met her.
the decision possessed no more emotional meaning to her than whether or not one uses a4 or letter paper. it just was.
- June 17, 2009 at 10:31 PM
- The Hedyot said...
I've met many people for whom the decision to leave was rooted primarily in intellectual factors. They came from happy homes, they enjoyed frumkeit, and they wanted desperately to keep believing, but they couldn't deny what their mind was telling them was the truth.
And even for those people who have a significant emotional component affecting their decision (such as myself), there is still a serious intellectual part that can not be easily discounted. Like I wrote in my own interview, I was very miserable for quite a while, but convinced that it didn't really matter - I still had to stay frum, no matter how I felt. It was only when I started appreciating the flaws in Judaism that I allowed myself to fully act on my emotions.
- June 18, 2009 at 1:14 AM
- yoni said...
and then you have people like me, who in general is extremely intelectual (iq 160s) and learned about yiddishkeit only from books, both secular and religious and still intelectualy believes judaism.
i still remember the first time i read about DH at about the age of 7 and thinking "these guys must be idiots! how can they come up with theories so appaulingly stupid?!"
(and mind you i was fairly free with the appelation stupid, i didn't generaly cow tow my opinion to anyone simply because they were "authority" i was far to prone to doing my own research and comming to my own conclusions, and regularly told my teachers that they are wrong.
But then the fact that i was not in a jewish school and was free to approach the sefarim and otherbooks as i pleased may well have made a segnificant influence in my staying frum. (long story) with noone telling me what i had to believe or did not have to believe.
- June 18, 2009 at 8:43 AM


text:
WASHINGTON, April 26 (UPI) -- Catholic protesters greeted U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., when he delivered a lecture Thursday at Georgetown University in Washington.
Members of Catholics United held up a banner that read "Were you there when they crucified the poor?" -- a takeoff on the spiritual "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" -- and two protesters describing themselves as GOP Jesus read the "Me-attitudes" instead of the Beatitudes, the National Catholic Reporter said.
Ryan delivered the Whittington Lecture at the Jesuit university's Public Policy Institute a few days after 90 members of the faculty wrote an open letter criticizing his proposed federal budget. They accused him of "continuing misuse of Catholic teaching to defend a budget plan that decimates food programs for struggling families, radically weakens protections for the elderly and sick, and gives more tax breaks to the wealthiest few."
Speaking before a small audience, Ryan defended his plan, saying it is in line with Catholic beliefs.
"The overarching threat to our whole society today is the exploding federal debt," he said. "The Holy Father, Pope Benedict, has charged that governments, communities and individuals running up high debt levels are 'living at the expense of future generations' and 'living in untruth.'"


text:
Ariana Taylor
Ariana Taylor's Details
Ariana Taylor's Likes
I like people who have the ability to help me turn my dreams into reality. Those that impel me to materialize my illusions, fantasies, purposes and goals. I like to travel to places where I feel there are no limits to dream. I enjoy the company of people who do not limit themselves when they get what they want, they do not make mistakes when it comes to a relationship. Someone so unique that the impact of knowing me raises my mind. I love the people with whom I can have a good conversation and at the same time be able to bring out my greatest fantasies
My Fantasies
To shine my naughty part and see you there; feel your hands, your voice and your eyes on me try to generate me the most impression, then, do not know how to describe it . tell me your fantasy, let's get together, devote time and make it real.
Additional Info
I like to visit restaurants that I have never been to. I enjoy group outings, the collective of people, share with friends, listen to life stories, know in depth the personality of the people around me, just a good personality to generate a good body chemistry. I like nature and the interaction with it. Live all the humanly possible experiences in each enjoyment of my day.
My Fetishes
Anal, Anal Training, Domination, Humiliation, Nipple Biting, Nipple Play, Rope Play, Slaves, Teasing, Tickling
My Sex Toys
Ball Gag, Butt Plug, Handcuffs, Nipple Clamps, Tickler, Vibrator, Whip
Role-Playing Scenarios
Cheerleader/Jock, Dirty Talk, Master / Slave, Student/Teacher


text:
News & Events
For the Media
Clarkson University Freshman Athletes Pitch Gripping Business Concept
Several Clarkson University freshman athletes have turned their passion for sports into a business concept and plan to develop a spray-on adhesive to improve a hockey stick's grip.
Each year, groups in Clarkson's Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation class -- freshmen only a few weeks into their college career -- spend the fall semester developing a business concept. This year's class presented their ideas to a panel of alumni and faculty in November; some groups were awarded Clarkson Business School loans to further develop their proposal.
A team of five Clarkson men's hockey players and one baseball player received a $2,000 loan to research and develop a product designed to improve the grip on a hockey stick. The team of business majors are goalie Andrew Hunt, forwards Christian Finch, Todd Christian and Patrick Megannety, defensemen Paul Geiger, and Connor Martin, an infielder on the baseball team.
"This is the first year that we have had a business concept formed exclusively by student athletes," says School of Business Instructor Marc Compeau, who teaches the class. "It seems obvious given the importance of the team, the work ethic and the follow through that comes naturally to a student athlete. I think these guys have the potential to do something pretty exciting, on and off the ice."
The product, called Shaft Takk, would allow hockey players to better customize their grip. It would be manufactured in aerosol cans or pump spray dispensers and sold to professional and junior hockey teams, the students said.
The athletes said it wasn't difficult to brainstorm a business idea early in their college careers: they simply thought of a problem they found while playing their sport and tried to find a solution for it.
"We're not doing it just to do it. We're kind of interested in it too," Todd Christian, a freshman hockey forward, said of the project.
The group is working with Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering professor Don H. Rasmussen, who is advising the students on the science behind the product. The students may have found a niche by developing a product intended for the cold conditions of an ice rink, Rasmussen said.
"Depending on how dedicated they are to getting it where they want to get it, they can do it," Rasmussen said. "It's a great effort on their part."
Several other student groups also received loans to pursue their concepts further, including "Campus Cuts," an on-campus haircut and styling business and Know B4U Go, a mobile application allowing students to view cameras of campus dining centers on their mobile device to check on crowds before deciding where to eat. "Feroz'en Yogurt," a frozen yogurt business proposal, and Campus Market Exchange, a Web site allowing students to post products for sale, also received loans.
"This year's concepts were not only diverse but much more complex compared to the past few years," Compeau said. "We have adjusted our approach to building a foundation of understanding opportunities and basic business modeling this year, but the credit goes to a great group of students who clearly are up to the challenge. I can't wait to see what they do next."
Clarkson University launches leaders into the global economy. One in five alumni already leads as a CEO, VP or equivalent senior executive of a company. Located just outside the Adirondack Park in Potsdam, N.Y., Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university for undergraduates with select graduate programs in signature areas of academic excellence directed toward the world's pressing issues. Through 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, sciences and health sciences, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo, and connect discovery and engineering innovation with enterprise.
[A photograph for media use is available at http://www.clarkson.edu/news/photos/shaft-takk.jpg.]
Photo caption: A group of Clarkson freshman athletes and business students are working to develop an adhesive spray to improve a hockey stick's grip. Pictured back row: Men's Hockey forwards Todd Christian, Patrick Megannety, and Christian Finch. Front row: Defenseman Paul Geiger and Connor Martin, an infielder on the baseball team. Not pictured: Goalie Andrew Hunt.


text:
Hi guys
I am playing Marathon 2 via AlephOne on Mac OS Sierra.
In level What About Bob? I cannot activate the switch to the immediate right of the terminal to raise the walkways.
Usually this would be done with TAB. Nothing works.
Any help is greatly appreciated, so that I can indulge more in this beauty…


text:
Attractions - Attractions nearby the Point Pleasant Beach area
Beach Info - Beach description and access to the shore
Boardwalk - Visit the famous Point Pleasant Beach Boardwalk! Includes description and visitor information
Event Schedule - Find out what's happening on YOUR next visit to Point Pleasant Beach!
Fishing - Fishing information covering the bay and ocean waters
Scuba Diving - Are you a diver? Then click here and see what the underwater world around our town has to offer!
Seafood Festival - Information on the popular Festival of the Atlantic held each September in our downtown area!
Transportation - Transportation to and from Point Pleasant Beach, NJ by train, car or yacht!
Point Pleasant Beach Municipal Website
Advertising Information
Shore Advantage Contact Information
Accommodations - Directory of Hotels and Motels and Inns of the Point Pleasant Beach area
Activities & Entertainment - There's never a lack of things to do in the Point Pleasant Beach area - click here for a few ideas!
Antiques - Point Pleasant Beach offers antique shoppers a large selection of shops and boutiques
Bait and Tackle - Here are some area bait & tackle stores - stop in before you sail to get your supplies and local information.
Charter & Fishing Boats - Our complete directory of nearby top fishing charters and party boats sailing out the Manasquan Inlet year round
Health, Fitness and Beauty Spas - Point Pleasant Beach has some health, fitness and spas that you can use as a local resident or while vacationing!
Marinas - Boating Marinas featuring Kens Landing. Dockage with quick access to the ocean via the Manasquan Inlet
Multimedia - Lifestyle, History & Education in Point Pleasant Beach
Nightlife - Listing of establishments offering entertainment during the evening hours
Realtors - Looking for a shore home? Here's a listing of realtors covering the area
Restaurants & Family Dining - Directory of many fine local restaurants for your dining pleasure. Seafood, Italian, Mexican and more!
Water Sports - From parasailing to to kayaking and Jet skiing, you'll find it here!
Seaside Heights - Visit our neighbors at www.seasideheights.net
Copyright ©1997-2012 • New
Jersey MetroNET, Inc./Shore
Advantage • Revised
August 25, 2016
Updated 5/13/2019


text:
David Akermanis necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 171 diseños de 40 diseñadores freelance.
Spinal Cord Connections
Spinal Cord Connections is a combination of:
- the latest evidence-based information and scientific research on spinal cord injury and management
- information on, and links to, local community resources; and
- a national online support network for people with SCI.
It will Provide valuable information to individuals with SCI to support them in managing their own care and maintaining good health. At the same time, it will help to increase the knowledge of local health and service providers with a goal of improving the care and support they provide.
Empower individuals to learn more about spinal cord injury in order to make informed choices about their health, recovery and well-being;
Enhance overall quality of life and participation in society by facilitating and supporting community building;
To Help inform and facilitate the provision of quality care for individuals with SCI in the community by supporting community-based providers in the delivery of quality care and support.
• People who have experienced a spinal cord injury
• Their family members and friends
• Caregivers, health professionals & researchers
Spinal Cord Connections will be inclusive of people with diverse cultural and educational backgrounds.
The logo should be simple & uncluttered, and should be either a wordmark/logotype or a combination of a symbol and text that reads, "Spinal Cord Connections".
The logo should fit in the banner space shown in the attached page mockups where it currently says "site name". Do not include the tagline shown in the sample.
The overall look should be simple, fresh, reassuring and life-affirming. Ideally, the colors would be green or blue, with a white background. See the attached page mockups for examples of the greens / blues currently being used.
Please avoid visual associations with spines or wheelchairs - we'd prefer the logo tap into the emotions/concepts associated with our objectives - Community, Well-being, Living, Knowledge, Empowerment, Quality of Life etc.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
A collection of JUnit tags for performing unit tests written in Jelly script.
The <suite> tag allows a test suite to be created and then test cases can either be individually ran or the whole suite ran.
The <case> tag allows a single test case to be created as part of a suite.
The <run> tag can be used to run a given Test, TestCase or TestSuite
There is an example of these tags in action here
See the tags for more information.


text: Believe it or not, that's actually several thousand cheaper than the first iteration of the Surface. This second version is 4-inches thick, and uses Gorilla Glass so it can withstand all manner of finger-smears and prods. On sale later this year, Microsoft's already sold some to Red Bull, Royal Bank of Canada, Fuji Film, Dassault Aviation and Sheraton Hotels and Resorts. [ZDNet]


text:
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The 1st Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC)
Lesson Plan Competition
2nd Place
Ericka Gainor
Carol City Middle School
Miami Gardens, FL
This instructional agenda encourages tolerance, mutual respect and unity. During
this lesson student will become familiarized with Carifesta, a culturally diverse occasion
organized by countries of the Caribbean. The primary focus of this lesson is to acquaint
students with the diversity of the United States as well as the Caribbean Islands. Also,
pupils will be exposed to several methods of propelling unanimity within a country or
region while closely examining the objectives of Carifesta. Last, patriotism will be a
primary component in this lesson.
Lesson Goals and Objectives
According to the Florida Sunshine State Standards there are required ideologies
that must be taught in all middle grades (6th- 8th) Social Studies classes in Florida. This
ensures that no child is left behind when transferring from one school district to another
within Florida. The topics addressed in the Sunshine State Standards are known
as benchmarks and each benchmark is assigned a number. For example, the following
benchmark number and standard correlates with the instructional lesson, Carifesta:
SS.7.C.4.2- Demonstrate an understanding of contemporary issues in world affairs, and
evaluate the role and impact of United States foreign policy.
The goal of today's lesson is as follows: Exemplifies understanding of the
purpose of Carifesta as well as recognizes diversity of the Caribbean Islands and the
United States of America. The objectives that will allow the goal to be manifested are as
follows: 1) 95% of the students will be able to illustrate the goals of Carifesta and 2) 95%
of the students will be able to demonstrate knowledge on the diversity of the Caribbean
Islands and the United States of America. Through an intensive look at the symposiums
expressed at the Caribbean Festival of the Arts, such as: global marketing and trading,
prejudices, health concerns and regional alliances, students will acquire knowledge of
contemporary issues in world affairs. This lesson will be administered from the historical
perspective of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and colonization which clearly explains the
diversity in the Americas. Thus, all aspects of benchmark, SS.7.C.4.2 will be discussed
when this lesson is completed.
Historical Background
The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea and its' islands.
Throughout history most of these islands were territories of larger countries such as:
France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States. A few Caribbean
countries still remain as territories.
Before the Columbian Exchange, the invasion of Europeans in the Americas,
Native Americans were plentiful in the United States and the Caribbean Islands. After
contact with the Europeans war and disease led to a decrease in Native American
population. During the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade it is estimated that about half of the
10 million slaves brought to the Americas had been taken to the Caribbean Islands. The
majority of the Caribbean has a population of mainly West African descent. In contrast
the United States of America which has a population of mostly European ancestry. Due
to the past of the two regions they are extremely diversified.
Carifesta, or the Caribbean Festival of the Arts, was designed to embrace the
many cultures of the Caribbean in an effort to forge closer ties between peoples of the
region. There is various community activities throughout the United States intended to
enhance awareness of one's culture. For example, New York City's Puerto Rican Day
Parade and Miami's Goombay Festival. Unlike the Caribbean, there is not a single
event in the United States where all races and ethnicities are invited to take part in an
effort to build closer relations between people.
After the Columbian Exchange, named for Christopher Columbus, the world
ceased to remain the same. New ideas, goods and people were transported to the
Americas. After this land was discovered, cities, countries and continents arose with
people of all different nationalities. In the Americas persons of different ethnicities
intermarried linking the entire world together. South America heavily colonized by
experienced intermarrying among the Native Americans, Spaniards and West African
slaves. In the United States of America and the Caribbean Islands Britons, Dutch,
French, Native Americans, Spaniards and West African slaves all intermarried and
This exchange of ideas, people and goods gave birth to the United States of
America, a land founded upon the principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Although some instances of the past have not always echoed the principles of our
founding fathers, provisions have been set in place to make past injustices easier to bear.
For example, The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 awarded each surviving Japanese American
forced to live in Interment Camps during World War II $20,000.
The world is far more advanced than it was over 500 years ago when the
Columbian Exchange began or even 70 years ago at the start of World War II. There is a
need for "preventive healthcare". Cultural differences must not only be addressed in the
Caribbean Islands but, also in the United States and the entire global community.
The Caribbean Festival of the Arts, known as Carifesta, started in 1952, is an
excellent beginning to connecting the world's people through their differences.
Works Cited
McPherson, James M., et al. The American Journey. New York, New York: The
McGraw- Hill Companies, Inc., 1998.
Target Audience
The Caribbean Festival of the Arts Educational Agenda may be presented to all
Middle Grades Social Studies Classes. Middle grades usually include 6th 8th. Social
Studies curriculums taught in middle grades include, but are not limited to, World
Geography, Civics & Government and United States History.
Required Materials
The required materials for the Caribbean Festival of the Arts Instructional Agenda
are as follows: The History and Evolution of Carifesta (DLOC), Civics Today textbook, a
publication of the McGraw- Hill Companies, Inc. and one worksheet explaining a brief
synopsis of each Caribbean island.
Teaching Activities (90 minutes)
Step I: Review goal and objectives of the Caribbean Festival of the Arts
(Carifesta) Instructional Agenda. (5 minutes)
Step II: Teacher will introduce the lesson Carifesta, a multicultural event, by using
a K-W-L chart (a three column worksheet where each tier presents a
different idea). The subject that will be displayed on this handout is the
Caribbean Islands.
K- What you know; W- What you want to know; L- What you learned
Instruct kids to complete L- What you learned at the close of the
assignment (10 minutes)
Step III: Read "The History and Evolution of Carifesta" through the process of
chunking. Chunking is a technique where sections of the text are divided
for better understanding. The text may be divided into 4-6 sections among
4-6 groups of evenly distributed students. Next, students will discuss their
findings with the entire class. During this step students may also refer to
the Caribbean islands worksheet for a brief synopsis of each island.
(25 minutes)
Step IV: Read Civics Today textbook (pages 19-23) using the Reciprocal Teaching
1) Predicting, 2) Questioning, 3) Clarifying and 4) Summarizing
(25 minutes)
Step V: Creative Writing Assessment: Create an annual event similar to Carifesta
that may be used in the United States to unify diverse groups of people.
Be creative. Who will be invited? What are your goals? Where will the
celebration take place? How long is the event going to be? (25 minutes)
At Home Activities/ Home learning: Research an event in the United States that
celebrates diversity {one page summary}.
Grading Assessments
This is an imaginative assignment. Assessments will vary based on the child's
creative ability. The following rubric within this instructional packet will fairly assess all
Reflection (Measured Impact of Lesson Plan)
The instructional agenda, Carifesta, was presented to an Eighth Grade United States
History class. Out of 30 students enrolled in the course 28 were present. 16 were males and 12
were females. The students range between the ages of 13 15 years old. About 25% of the
pupils' parents were born in the Caribbean Islands. Most of them had never heard of the
Caribbean Festival of the Arts or Carifesta.
The curriculum proved to be both appealing and thought provoking. The majority of the
students were not aware of the diversity within the Caribbean Islands. They assumed all people
from the West Indies were ancestors of West African slaves. Students were unfamiliar with the
many settlers from all over the world that established a "new beginning" in the Caribbean
Islands. They were also unaware of the countries that once colonized the region. Furthermore, a
small number of countries in the Caribbean still remains as territories of much larger countries.
As the lesson progressed; they began to compare the diversity of the Caribbean to the United
States of America. This was one of the goals of the lesson being manifested.
After reviewing background information with the students, I began using a teaching
strategy known as Socratic Questioning in an effort to introduce United States foreign policy.
"Why do you think Great Britain, France or the United States would want to possess another
country?" Most students declared for financial gain. There were others who believed the larger
countries only interfered when the well-being of another nation was at stake.
The students read about Carifesta with enthusiasm. They viewed the Caribbean Festival
of the Arts as a 2-3 weeks party. I immediately focused their attention on the symposiums held at
this event. This discussion allowed the second goal of the lesson to be obtained, students being
able to exemplify the purpose of Carifesta. This instructional agenda provided me with
information about the Caribbean Islands that I was not aware of. I enjoyed teaching it and due to
the creativity of the assessments I received, the students enjoyed learning about the Caribbean.


text:
America's wolves need our help!
America's wolves were nearly eradicated in the 20th century. Now, after a remarkable recovery in parts of the country, our wolves are once again in serious danger.
- Federal sharpshooters are preparing for aerial wolf killing in Northern Idaho.
- In Montana, the anti-wolf Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife are offering a $100 bounty per dead wolf.
- Wyoming is moving forward with a plan that would allow wolves to be shot on sight across much of the state, including in National Forests and in some of the best available gray wolf habitat in the state.
- Politicians in the Southwest are preventing the release of Mexican gray wolves into the wild – despite critically low wolf numbers that threaten a second extinction in the wild for these rare wolves.
Defenders of Wildlife continues the fight to promote common sense wolf management, working with federal and state officials and private land-owners to ensure that science -- not politics -- guides decision-making about the future of these wild American icons.


text:
That's the definition of a one-shot: going from full health to 0 in one attack.Mykro9 wrote:Granted it does insta-kill a pet if it hits,
Being able to kill a pet in 3 turns (while having 325 speed and likely going first) is overpowered from a damage-per-turn perspective. If it were 4 turns with lower speed, that would be a lot closer to balanced. But being a one-shot is still problematic because it makes healing worthless. Too problematic? I don't know. That problem is overshadowed right now by the sheer damage-per-turn, and since they're taking FFF's Wind-Up away altogether, we probably won't ever know if Wind-Up plus 5.2 Supercharge would have been ok.