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Antique Roses in Lynchburg
Antique Roses in Lynchburg are in bloom in the Old City Cemetery! Each year Old City Cemetery gives the public the opportunity to purchase antique roses that are grown on the grounds. This is a great opportunity for you to add to your collection. If you don't have a yard but enjoy roses, April and May is the perfect time wander the grounds and enjoy the roses that are in bloom. The antique rose collection was planted in 1986 along the 500 foot remains of the 1860's old brick wall. The 60 varieties were chosen to represent the history of the rose from the mid 1500's through the 19th century. These roses came from around the country as well as Canada and include plants that were donated by local gardeners. Additionally there are numerous other varieties of antique roses throughout the rest of the 26 acre cemetery. All are botanically labeled at the site. If you are visiting Lynchburg or you live here, take time out of your schedule to stop and smell the roses.
The Old City Cemetery is located at 401 Taylor Street and is just 5 minutes away from The Carriage House Inn Bed and Breakfast. They are open daily and can be reached by calling 434-847-1465. This year, the cemetery is holding its 13th annual Antique Rose Festival May 17th from 9:00am to 2:00pm. Cemetery "rosarians"–rose experts will lead guided tours at 10:00am and noon. In addition there will be planting demonstrations and tips on how to care for rose beds throughout the day.
Please note that there is some degree of speculation as to the true identity of certain antique roses and the Cemetery welcomes expert opinions and enjoys the rediscovery of the mystery of these garden treasures.
The grounds of The Old City Cemetery has over a thousand plants, trees, flowers that are marked. There is something blooming in the Spring, Summer and Fall, not to mention the great fall colors, especially in the Confederate burial section. No wonder this is Lynchburg's most visited site.
Starting next month every Saturday morning throughout the summer there is a free walking tour of the cemetery. Wear comfortable shoes as the tour includes walking over uneven ground. One of the cemetery employees will lead the tour.
"Canstruction" Project in Downtown Lynchburg, VA
Using donated cans of food, the Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce Leadership Lynchburg team, downtown venues and businesses, scout troops and concerned citizens will provide hunger relief in our community through an event called "Canstruction"
On Saturday, April 13th 6-8 teams gathered to compete in creating unique artwork structures using canned food. Each team was mentored by an engineer, architect or contractor. The completed structures can be seen and admired in the following locations through Saturday April 20th: Amazement Square, Bank of the James, main lobby in the main street branch, City Hall, the Galleria, Holiday Inn Select and the downtown YMCA.
Canstruction Lynchburg is designed to benefit the area by providing an established competition to generate needed canned food supplies for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. All donated cans used in the canstruction projects and other canned goods donated by individuals from the community at the canstruction sites will fill a constantly increasing need in the Lynchburg area. The canstruction teams were also educated on the issue of hunger in our area to further help eliminate hunger in the future.
Be sure and visit the display sites this week, some of them are truly amazing.
The Tasting Room is Open!
Lovingston Winery is celebrating the beginning of spring (even though the weather is not co-operating!) and their new releases with their opening of the tasting room. Saturday, April 6th starting at 11 am until 5:00 pm the tasting room will be open for the season. Visit to taste their newly bottled Seyal-Blanc '12, their Petit Manseng '12 and their award-winning Estate Reserve 2009. Tastings are free and if you stay with us at The Carriage House Inn Bed and Breakfast you can make arrangements for a picnic lunch.
Lovingston Winery is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, about 30 minutes from Lynchburg. Over 8 acres of densely planted (1200 vines per acre) vines produce delicious Merlot, Pinotage, Rose and the wines that are recent award winners. The winery is built into the hillside and employs a gravity-flow production method that can be viewed from the tasting room.
Always a delicious and fun visit we have enjoyed Lovingston wines on many occasions.
For directions and more information visit their web site at www.lovingstonwinery.com And call us at 434.846.1388 to make your reservation at The Carriage House Inn Bed and Breakfast for a weekend or weekday visit and wine tasting.
Civil War Re-enactment and Living History
The Carriage House Inn Bed and Breakfast in Lynchburg, VA is approximately 20 miles from Appomattox Courthouse we wanted to make our blog followers and guests aware of a unique experience taking place just minutes from us in April.
"The Long Road Home – Fall of Richmond" re-enactment and living history weekend will take place April 5, 6 & 7, 2013 in the Clover Hill Village, just east of Appomattox, VA. Beginning at 9:00 am of Friday and lasting until 2:00 pm Sunday a unique set of events, activities and interactions will be taking place within the living history village. Visit with troops while they set camp. View battalion drills, trench work, battles and hospital scenes. Interact with Generals Lee and Grant, Presidents Lincoln and Davis. Attend a wedding and barn dance. Watch the medal presentation and pay call. Obtain an interesting perspective of life during the Civil War.
Unless you are a re-enactor and will be "camping" call us, 434.846.1388, to make your reservation and stay in comfort (indoor plumbing, central heat, a hot shower, our delicious 4-course breakfast, comfortable bed)! We'd love to host you while you experience the way things were.
For more detailed information and to see the full weekend schedule visit www.appomattoxhistoricalsociety.org Clover Hill Village is located at 5747 River Ridge Road in Appomattox.
Maple Syrup Tapping
Did you know that the maple trees in Virginia produced sap, which can be made into maple syrup, just like the trees in New Hampshire and Vermont?
Did you ever wonder how maple syrup is made?
If the answers to these two questions peak your interest then you will want to visit the Old City Cemetery, in Lynchburg, VA, on Saturday, March 2nd, 2013, between the hours of 10:00 am until 12:00 pm. The Cemetery's historic grounds supervisor will be conducting a demonstration on how the century old maple trees, on the Cemetery grounds, are tapped and the sap is converted into maple syrup. The maple syrup is then sold in the Cemetery gift shop throughout the year (very limited quantities, while supplies last!)
The sap is produced and tapped from trees at least 15 years old, or with a trunk at least 12-inches in diameter. Beginning in early February, when the temperatures start to warm up but the nights are still below freezing, small splines are placed into the trunks about 2-inches deep and usually on either the left or right side of the tree. The clear sap drips into bags which is collected until about the end of February. Once a sufficient amount of sap has been collected the sap is boiled to a temperature of 219 degrees and is a light amber color. From 2 gallons of sap about 1 cup of syrup is produced.
The Old City Cemetery is Lynchburg's most visited tourist site. The grounds are comprised of over 20,000 graves, most of which have long since lost their grave markers or headstones. Beautiful during each of the four seasons, the winter months bring a sense of starkness, quiet and contemplation. Great pictures can be taken throughout the Cemetery and will provide fabulous results.
Located at 401 Taylor Street, visit their website www.gravegarden.org for their calendar of events, directions or interesting facts and descriptions.
Come stay with us at the Carriage House Inn Bed and Breakfast and one morning you will delight in a 4-course breakfast featuring maple syrup! Visit our website www.TheCarriageHouseInnBandB.com to check our availability calendar and book your room. It'll be a fun weekend!
Montpelier, James Madison's Home
I had the pleasure to visiting James Madison's Montpelier, in Orange Virginia this week. A magnificent house , on 2,700 acres (originally almost 5,000 acres), with commanding views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Virginia countryside.
James' grandfather acquired the land and originally built a modest house for his family. James was born March 16, 1751. Between 1763 – 1765 James' father, James Madison, Senior had Montpelier built one-third of a mile from the original family home at Mount Pleasant. James attended the College of New Jersey (Princeton), served in the Continental Congress (1780-1783), participated in the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia (1787), drafted the Bill of Rights (1789-1797), was a member of the House of Representatives (1789-1797), served as Secretary of State under Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809), was our fourth President-elected for two terms (1809-1817), James died at Montpelier, June 28, 1836.
James married Dolley Payne Todd, September 15, 1794. Together they added on to Montpelier as their family grew expanding the original house to the 22 rooms you see today. The tour of the mansion includes the Drawing Room, filled with various pieces of art, the Dining Room, where the Madison's entertained important and influential guests, the Presidential Library filled with books and maps, the room where James Madison died and Dolley's kitchen, which is in the basement of the house.
The impressive grounds contain the family cemetery, where James and Dolley are buried, a slave cemetery, Mr. Madison's Temple (built over the year-round ice house), and a 200-acre old-growth forest, along with sites where the slave quarters were, the blacksmith shop site, a formal garden and the farm complex.
Although this historic house and property is about 2 hours north of Lynchburg guests staying with us at The Carriage House Inn could easily combine a tour of this house with either Thomas Jefferson's Monticello or James Monroe's Ashlawn and learn about two or three of our founding fathers, their lives, beliefs and what life was like at the dawn of our country. Additionally, Thomas Jefferson's summer home, Poplar Forest is just 20 minutes from us. — Kathy
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Launcher Update
Get the Desktop App for Battle.net Now
- All your games in 1 place
- Log in once
- Automatic game updates
Error: The File "C:\Program Files\Diabloe III\Updates\d3-0-9749-Win-final.MPQ" appears to be currupt. You may need to downlaod this file again.
any solutions? i dont wanna just delete the file.. i dunno if i can find a way to redownlaod it again or if it will just download its own with the Patcher..
GlacialBlack #1133
Posts: 1View profile
yeah i got the same message too when i was trying update to version 1.0.2. all i did was i reinstalled the game and it fixed the problem for me
I just deleted the file and re-ran the patcher worked..
xTH3xPH4S3Rx #6519
Posts: 3View profile
I deleted it and tried to re download and i got you do not have file () plz try your internet connection and try again later
Threats of violence. We take these seriously and will alert the proper authorities.
Posts containing personal information about other players. This includes physical addresses, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and inappropriate photos and/or videos.
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subset: commoncrawl


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"One of the integrated IT and marketing tools we are currently using, through our partnership with Intouch Data, is HotelSnapshot and Axis Business Intelligence. This allows us to get a daily snapshot for each of our hotels, and with the Axis Business intelligence tool, we now have the ability and flexibility to slice and dice the data to suit our needs. Tools like these make our operations much more nimble, and more targeted in our whole-of-market activity."
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Did I make a whoopsy with Lettuce plants
Hello, question regarding my lettuces and spinach that I grew. I planted seed at the end of May here in Wisconsin Zone 5, Raised garden. I have rows growing; Red oak leaf, Red sails and spinach. I have no clue what happened to all my spinach plants. They never grew in except for one that has a big flower crown on it. That means that it is done growing in right? I is only 8 inches tall flower and all. Will the lettuce bolt on me soon? That area is a great place to grow more veggies if they are in fact growing in between seasons.
Thanks in advance,
Not a whoops. But you could make better use of your space and plant thick.
I've been harvesting weekly for about a month now in zone 5a...and plant a new row every week to keep it going. Next will be a heat tolerant blend as i have some bolting. But i do save seeds so bolting is fine if you have the room...
New rows are under the slats for shade and to help germinate.
I just keep cheap scissors in the garden, cut through the rows and get a second and third growth...
Still some good head lettuce under the closest shade frame but some arugula has bolted.
I'll clean that one out and start another few rows next weekend...i just let the weather determine what goes in...what comes out.
I make my own blends but many pre-mixed blends can be had from Johnny's and others...
Just an ounce of seed is around 10 bucks and can keep you in salads for most of the summer. Much better deal than little packets from box stores...
One of my salad rows is Johnny's spicy micro mix that i grew all winter indoors...
I like my greens and it is doing great in the garden...it is the 1/4 lb packet.
I like your slatted shade thingies! I might look into making something like that!
I just planted a 6 pak of a Hawaiian lettuce ( Don't remember the name, starts with an M, ends with an I, is about a foot long, has lots of vowels and a couple of n's and k's thrown in there!) ;)
It was pretty hot the day after I planted it, so I had to shade it. I'm hoping it will give me crispy lettuce when my other salad veges are getting ripe! Nancy
Hmmmmm, I picked up a play water/sand table for a few bucks (about 2'x4') I'm thinking I can get some lettuce started and keep it in the shade?
We do get into the mid 80s here, but I do have some full shade. Would this work? Nancy
It is a whoopsie. You should plant spinach as soon as the ground can be worked. Now the soil temperature is too high and the seed has gone dormant. Expect spinach plants in that bed next year. When they come up, write down the date, subtract 15 days, and you will get the best time for planting spinach in your area.
Lettuce seed is more heat resistant. It germinated, but it will bolt soon. Mine has already bolted and was replaced by beets June 17, just ahead of the last several days of rain. Plant lettuce as soon as the soil can be worked, too.


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Book Search
Tourism: A Community Approach (RLE Tourism)
Series: Routledge Library Editions: Tourism
Written in 1989 when the modern tourist industry had reached a crucial stage in its development, when increased mobility and affluence had led to more extensive and extravagant travel, and competition within the industry had intensified, this book is comprehensive examination of tourism...
Published March 10th 2014 by Routledge
The Business of Resort Management
How can owners and managers ensure that their considerable capital investments will return a competitive return on their investments? How can users and owners be sure they enjoy the promises of tantalizing marketing and real estate claims? Managing Sustainable Resorts Profitably combines business...
Published October 3rd 2007 by Routledge
Fragile Evidence
A Critique of Reading Assessment
Fragile Evidence--a critique of reading assessment informed by newly emerging conceptualizations of validity and reliability--brings psychometric theory, reading theory, and social critique to bear on reading assessment. Taking its lead from contemporary psychological theory and other fields which...
Published March 1st 1998 by Routledge


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Thursday, 26 March 2015
Book Review: Forgetting by Devashish Makhija
What makes one forget the past? Embarrassment? Inconvenience? Guilt? Because one doesn't give a damn? How easy is it to read about a new dam being built and not think of the consequential displacement of the people living in the hamlets that will soon be submerged? In one of Makhija's stories, an adivasi boatman is asked where his village is, as he rows a boat across the waters of a dam. 'Right below us,' he murmurs.
There are 49 stories in Devashish Makhija's recently released Forgetting, each of them a concentrated gem of pain or suffering or anguish or sometime just a memory. In the first story By/Two, Rahman and Rahim are identical twins who share an autorickshaw in Mumbai. The autorickshaw is langdi, the lame one, a beast with three legs, one that sends tremors up the driver's legs, like a cheap massage. One of the brothers is dumb and so the other is forced to play dumb as well – you see, only the dumb brother has a licence to ply the rick. To the entire world, the rickshaw has only one driver, a man who doesn't have the need for sleep, a legendary Duronto among other drivers. The brothers had run away from Akbarpur to Mumbai when they were young, to escape from the tyranny of their butcher father. From Akbarpur, 'a small filth-heap of a town that sprang up along the railway tracks soon after the East India Company ran the first train across the nations breasts.' To Mumbai, a Mecca that feeds those who live in its bowels, despite the lies they tell. Every time there is a blast in Mumbai, Rahim is picked up for interrogation, Indian police-style. Beatings, kicks, questions. Finally Rahim's heart gives way and the police tell Rahman that there's a body in his rick. Do the memories linger forever? I assume they do.
Makhija's writing is not pleasant. I don't think it's meant to be pleasant. It is messy and convoluted, just like memories and forgetfulness.
It's not only the oppressed and the victims who try to forget, or remember, if you will. There are many middle-class Indians who see, feel, smell and try to hold on to their memories. A few would rather not.
I'm trying to forget, but it isn't working. These stories are gonna stay in my head for a while, I think.
Posted by Winnowed at 05:45 No comments: Links to this post
Tuesday, 17 February 2015
Book Review: Miles To Run Before I Sleep, by Sumedha Mahajan
Our ancestors used to run to survive, to hunt food and to escape from predators. Human beings can run for sustained periods of time, unlike all other animals. Running is no longer so important for the modern human being, who lives in an integrated world with such an efficient food supply chain that one can consume all the food one wants without ever setting foot on a farm. We still use our legs and feet to move and it will be a long, long time before they atrophy and become relics of the past, if at all. Even though brute physical strength is no longer so essential for survival, we still enjoy competitions that require speed, strength and stamina. Of the various sports and games that we either participate in or at least watch, running races are among the most popular. We have them in schools and colleges. Almost all multi-sports events ranging from the Olympics to the Asian Games give pride of place to both short and long distance running events. Running events of various lengths, ranging from 10 kilometres to ultra marathons, are held almost all year round, all over the world.
What is it that forces so many otherwise normal men and women to rig their alarm clocks to ring before dawn, slip on a pair of trainers, a few of them very expensive and many not so, and run and run and run, before returning to a standard humdrum existence? What was it that made Sumedha Mahajan, a brave woman who has suffered from asthma since childhood, to run a Greenathon from Delhi to Mumbai, a distance of over 1,500 kilometres, along with five other similarly crazy people? A few months before Sumedha started her Delhi-Mumbai run, she had unsuccessfully participated in the 2012 Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. A month before SCMM 2012 which ended as DNF (Did Not Finish), Mahajan was the victim of a hit and run car accident. It was definitely a leap of faith for Mahajan, a leap into the dark, so to say, something the average human being, including yours truly, would not have the guts to commit oneself to.
I found Mahajan's Miles to Run Before I Sleep unputdownable. Written in simple, functional English, Mahajan has chronicled how she took up running and despite her asthma and other health issues, became a long distance runner who was invited by Milind Soman and others to join a team of six crack runners who would run a Greenathon from Delhi to Mumbai in 30 days, covering a distance of 1,500 kilometres, in a bid to highlight the importance of preserving the environment.
Mahajan's daily struggle on account of her various ailments and asthma as well as inadequate support from the crew as she ran 1,500 kilometres in 30 days makes Miles to Run Before I Sleep a compelling read. At times I was reminded of Robert Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole, except that Mahajan was successful and Amundsen's trek would probably be a better comparison. Mahajan combated bad food, diarrhoea, stress fractures, disputes with the crew, bad weather, unruly highway traffic, pollution and periods. I am not going to disclose more here, but will leave it to you to read this wonderful book for yourself and find out more.
Miles To Run Before I Sleep offers its readers a study in human behaviour. The six runners and their crew set out on their expedition on the best of terms and spirits, all noble intentions and all, but things soon began to disintegrate. The crew was composed of non-sportsmen who did not understand what running is all about. This I think is a common refrain across various sporting events and organisations in India. Almost all sporting bodies are run by non-sports persons, usually politicians. Most marathons are organised by businessmen or politicians who have an agenda. As TRPs generated for the run failed to meet expectations, the journalists accompanying the runners became disinterested. When runners across cities flocked to accompany the six runners for brief stretches, the crew failed to extent any hospitality to the guests. Was this really the crew's fault, I wonder? Were they warned in advance of the guests' arrival and were they expected to have additional supplies for the new arrivals? Mahajan does not make this point very clear.
Raj Vadgama was one of the six runners and Mahajan tells us that on Day 25 he had a serious fight with the crew when they served cold coffee – only to Milind Soman and denied it to the other five runners. Soman tried to calm things down, but he was unsuccessful. Vadgama left the team and ran on his own, but he did complete the run. Recently Vadgama has been in the news on account of his Bharathon.
Mahajan's first marathon was the SCMM 2011. We are told that though Mahajan ran without a clear plan and forgot to hydrate herself for the first half of the race, she ran in under five hours and came 15th in her category. A few months later, she ran a marathon in Malaysia and came 6th. The same year, she ran the 75-kilometre Bangalore Ultra and was the winner in her category. When it seemed that the sky was the limit and the next SCMM was barely a month away, fate willed otherwise and she was hit by a speeding car. An injured Mahajan bravely took part in the SCMM 2012, but did not finish. She also abandoned her plans to run the Comrades Ultra in South Africa, but that did not stop her from accepting Milind Soman's invitation to take part in the 1500 kilometre Greenathon!
The Greenathon started on 20th April 2012, when summer was already underway. Why didn't they choose to run in the cooler months, I wondered? Mahajan does not offer any explanation.
Mahajan does not seem to be one of those people who follow specific diets or plans. We are told that as preparation for the Greenathon, she used to eat 500 grams of homemade paneer, a lot of yoghurt, peanuts dates, spinach and fruits daily. Though she does not say so, one gathers that she is a vegetarian, but not a vegan. There is very little discussion about the merits or de-merits of any diet or exercise regime. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Listen to your body and eat what you feel like in moderation. That's me, not Mahajan, though I'm sure Mahajan would endorse my statement.
Mahajan is highly observant and her various comments regarding the places she ran though are very interesting. A number of towns and large sections of the highway were extremely polluted, causing Mahajan to wonder about the cost we are paying for India's development. The sad truth is that India's poor are paying a disproportionately high price for this so called modernisation, though they stand to gain little in the short term. In various parts of Rajasthan, Mahajan was an item of curiosity as she ran wearing clothes which were considered unsuitable for women! It was not just illiterate villagers who disapproved of Mahajan's run. Even Mahajan's parents had initially felt that she ought to stay at home and think of having a baby, before Mahajan won them over to her side!
I have a friend who is chauffer driven to work daily. Most days, on his way back, he runs part of the way, around five kilometres and his car trails him. Sometimes he runs the entire distance of around eight kilometres. Though this works well for my friend, the environment gains nothing on account of my friend's run, in terms of cutting down on fossil-fuel usage and carbon emissions. Most long distance runs are supported runs. The Greenathon runners required extensive support – they were tailed by a large crew in buses and cars carrying their supplies – it could not have been otherwise, though the idea was to draw attention to environmental issues and the need to preserve the environment. In an ideal world, a really fit runner ought to be able to run from Delhi to Mumbai, taking breaks on the way, buying food and water from clean wayside restaurants and dabhas, serving hygienic food and water. "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will live as one." I'm sure Mahajan would endorse this quotation.
Posted by Winnowed at 20:39 No comments: Links to this post
Labels: Book review, Marathon
Thursday, 12 February 2015
Book Review: The Persecution of Madhav Tripathi by Aditya Sudarshan
A Nice Quiet Holiday and Show Me A Hero, has come up with his third novel. When I finished reading the first page of The Persecution of Madhav Tripathi, I had started to believe that Sudarshan's latest offering is a gently flowing story with a simple mystery or crime to be solved, something on the lines of his first (A Nice Quiet Holiday), not unlike an Agatha Christie, with maybe a touch of Wodehouse.
However, after I turned a few more pages and found out that Madhav was an important officer in the Ministry, I thought I detected a hint of George Orwell's 1984. As I read further, it seemed I was a bit off the mark. There was no Big Brother and I didn't know where I was headed, until I realised that I was in a Matrix. You know how it is. One can't explain the Matrix. You've got to read it for yourself to find out.
Persecution comes in various forms and intensity levels. Usually it is the weak or meek who are persecuted. Minorities may feel persecuted when they are denied their rights. However, Madhav Tripathi is a successful bureaucrat, in good health, a week short of his thirtieth birthday and does not really have an excuse to feel persecuted. Also, it's not just Madhav who is persecuted. Even Shivani, his pretty girlfriend, is targeted.
Can one be persecuted by one's own thoughts? If yes, would that be the result of one's guilt? And why should Madhav or Shivani feel guilty? Sudarshan does offer a few clues – the country-side has been devastated by something, possibly famine. Humans live like animals, having possibly mutated. No, we are still in India, an India with slums and dirt and a lot of riff-raff, a place almost unrecognisable to the reader. Would a murderer feel persecuted by his victim's relatives who may possibly be searching for him, in their quest for revenge? Should Madhav Tripathi feel persecuted as he works his way up the ranks of the Ministry, under the tutelage of the ever-so-powerful Secretary?
Madhav Tripathi's oppressors are a determined lot. They do not wilt under pressure. Though they seem to be working class, they seem to be everywhere. Madhav's friends and well-wishers are equally determined and they too take casualties. Unlike Sudarshan's first two novels, The Persecution of Madhav Tripathi has a lot more violence and dead bodies, though most dead bodies do come back to life.
I liked Nisha a lot. Nisha is Madhav's previous girlfriend and she reminded me of a character from the French Revolution, strong, powerful and determined. At times, The Persecution of Madhav Tripathi seemed to be set in the cusp of a violent revolution. Does Madhav's guilt on account of his own success and the poverty around him cause him to image the revolution and persecution?
Sudarshan writes very well and I'd say that he has definitely evolved as a writer. His prose is limpid, yet beautiful. The Persecution of Madhav Tripathi is a brilliant and cunning fantasy novel that leads to nowhere and yet takes the reader places.
However, after I turned a few more pages and found out that Madhav was an important officer in the Ministry, I thought I detected a hint of George Orwell's 1984. As I read further, it seemed I was a bit off the mark. There was no Big Brother and I didn't know where I was headed, until I realised that I was in a Matrix. You know how it is. One can't explain the Matrix. You've got to read it for yourself to find out.
Persecution comes in various forms and intensity levels. Usually it is the weak or meek who are persecuted. Minorities may feel persecuted when they are denied their rights. However, Madhav Tripathi is a successful bureaucrat, in good health, a week short of his thirtieth birthday and does not really have an excuse to feel persecuted. Also, it's not just Madhav who is persecuted. Even Shivani, his pretty girlfriend, is targeted.
Can one be persecuted by one's own thoughts? If yes, would that be the result of one's guilt? And why should Madhav or Shivani feel guilty? Sudarshan does offer a few clues – the country-side has been devastated by something, possibly famine. Humans live like animals, having possibly mutated. No, we are still in India, an India with slums and dirt and a lot of riff-raff, a place almost unrecognisable to the reader. Would a murderer feel persecuted by his victim's relatives who may possibly be searching for him, in their quest for revenge? Should Madhav Tripathi feel persecuted as he works his way up the ranks of the Ministry, under the tutelage of the ever-so-powerful Secretary?
Madhav Tripathi's oppressors are a determined lot. They do not wilt under pressure. Though they seem to be working class, they seem to be everywhere. Madhav's friends and well-wishers are equally determined and they too take casualties. Unlike Sudarshan's first two novels, The Persecution of Madhav Tripathi has a lot more violence and dead bodies, though most dead bodies do come back to life.
I liked Nisha a lot. Nisha is Madhav's previous girlfriend and she reminded me of a character from the French Revolution, strong, powerful and determined. At times, The Persecution of Madhav Tripathi seemed to be set in the cusp of a violent revolution. Does Madhav's guilt on account of his own success and the poverty around him cause him to image the revolution and persecution?
Sudarshan writes very well and I'd say that he has definitely evolved as a writer. His prose is limpid, yet beautiful. The Persecution of Madhav Tripathi is a brilliant and cunning fantasy novel that leads to nowhere and yet takes the reader places.
Posted by Winnowed at 18:02 No comments: Links to this post
Saturday, 17 January 2015
Book Review: Red Handed – 20 Criminal Cases That Shook India, by Souvik Bhadra and Pingal Khan
Around 15 months after the release of leading corporate lawyer Zia Mody's 10 Judgements That Changed India, two young and enterprising lawyers have brought out a book on criminal cases that caused India to shudder. Souvik Bhadra and Pingal Khan's Red Handed – 20 Criminal Cases That Shook India, cannot be called a thriller since the twenty cases analysed in the slim paperback volume are well-known to most Indians. However, what makes it a worthwhile read is the analysis and comments that intersperse the well-known facts.
Most cases involve a murder or two and the death penalty. One meets Dhananjoy Chatterjee, the cruel watchman in Kolkata who tormented and later murdered young schoolgirl Hetal Parekh. Santosh Kumar Singh who murdered Priyadarshini Mattoo and Manu Sharma who shot and killed Jessica Lal aren't missing. Baby faced Ajmal Kasab, Auto Shankar, Charles Shobraj, they are all there. The one person who I expected to find, but didn't was Commander Kawas Nanavati. I guess the author had to leave out a number of big-time baddies and most probably there is some soul-searching going on in hell on account their omissions.
The best thing about 20 Criminal Cases That Shook India is that Bhadra and Khan have done an excellent job of summarising each of the twenty cases and presenting them in a single-gulp capsule, garlanded with their commentary. For example, I had heard of Auto Shankar but had forgotten what exactly he had done (which was to run a few brothels and murder many prostitutes). Be it white collar offenders like Harshad Mehta, Ketan Parekh or Abdul Karim Telgi or events such as the attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001, the reader is presented with a summary which is concise, to the point and lays open the various social and legal issues arising out of the case.
With the explosive growth in technology and information services, the media is all powerful and pervasive. Therefore, every time a sensational case comes up for trial, the media comes up with its verdict in a matter of days, if not hours, something which might be a problem since the judicial system takes many months if not years to produce a verdict and in the meantime, the media trial may influence or even prejudice the judges, making it impossible for the accused to have a fair trial. Bhadra and Khan tell us that trial by media was a concern in the Dhananjoy Chatterjee murder case. The only available evidence against Chatterjee was circumstantial and the media frenzy made it impossible for the trial to be held in a sterile environment. Bhadra and Khan wonder if the judges were affected by the sensational reporting that took place. They too are human, after all.
What happens when the murderer is someone powerful or related to someone powerful? Santosh Kumar Singh who continually harassed and later raped and murdered Priyadarshini Mattoo was the son of a respected police officer. If he weren't the son of a well-known police officer, would he have been acquitted by the trial court, though the trial court pointed out flaws in the CBI's investigation? In the case of Nitish Katara's murder, the accused Vikas Yadav was the son of influential politician D. P. Yadav. Similarly, Manu Sharma who murdered Jessica Lal, was the son of a Congress politician and Rajya Sabha MP. He was also distantly related to former president Shankar Dayal Sharma. Incidentally, in all these cases where justice was finally done, even though it took public protests to get there, the victims were also either middle-class or enjoyed some degree of respectability in society. For example, Nitish Katara was the son of an IAS officer. If Priyadarshini Mattoo had been a slum dweller instead of a middle-class girl, would she have got justice, I wonder? The Nithari Killings case illustrates this point. There, the victims were children of migrant labourers and the murder trial brought to the fore the lackadisical manner in which police respond to any crime involving poor people. However, the sheer depravity of the murderer made it impossible for the police to maintain their inertia. The murderer, Surinder Kohli, is still on death row.
Sometimes when the offence committed is particularly heinous, the accused, even if powerful, well-connected and rich, is left high and dry by his fair-weather friends, as happened to politician Sushil Sharma who murdered his wife Naina Sahni and had her burned in a tandoor. Unlike in the Priyadarshini Mattoo murder case, Sushil Sharma was sentenced to death by the trial court. The High Court confirmed his death sentence. However, the Supreme Court, rightly in my opinion, commuted the sentence to life imprisonment, pointing out that mere brutality does not justify a death sentence. Sushil Sharma's actions were not premeditated, he had shot his wife dead in a fit of rage and his brutality was to the corpse.
P.V. Narasimha Rao was another politician who seemingly got away with corruption. The case arose when during a no-confidence motion in July 1993, cash bribes to the tune of Rs. 3 crores were allegedly paid to MPs from the Jharkand Mukti Morcha and other parties to defeat the motion. When in the dock, Rao invoked the defence of Parliamentary privilege. He also claimed that politicians were not public servants and hence not covered by the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1986. Though his conviction was overturned due to lack of sufficient evidence, the court did not fall in line with Rao's arguments.
In some cases, it would appear that the final verdict shielded the mighty and powerful. In the Auto Shankar case, the accused took his secrets to the grave, possibly shielding some powerful politicians. In the Jain Hawala Case, many high profile politicians like Sharad Yadav, L. K. Advani and Arjun Singh were involved. It was held by various high courts and the Supreme Court that there was insufficient evidence to convict them. Can the prosecution successfully prosecute people who control it, Bhadra and Khan ask?
Even death row convicts are entitled to rights. What happens when a convict awaiting execution suffers from the Death Row Syndrome? It is perfectly understandable that a condemned prisoner would undergo severe trauma while waiting for his or her execution. In the Rajiv Gandhi murder case, the death row syndrome was sufficient cause for the commutation of death sentences to life imprisonment.
20 Criminal Cases That Shook India is not restricted to murder cases. The infamous Telgi stamp paper scam, a case involving stamp paper forgery on a massive scale, led to many reforms in collection of stamp duty in Maharashtra, E-stamping is a direct consequence of this case. Charles Shobraj was a killer and a conman, but he successfully filed cases against the government seeking better prison conditions and rights for prisoners.
Not surprisingly, the Sanjay Dutt case finds a place among the top twenty. After all, how many famous film personalities can claim to have had been in touch with Dawood Ibrahim and his brother Anees and hidden a chache of weapons on their behalf? However, 20 Criminal Cases That Shook India does not discuss the matter of Sanjay Dutt's frequent furloughs from jail.
It can be argued that rape is as heinous a crime as murder. Hanufa Khatun was a visiting Bangladeshi national who was raped inside a waiting room in a railway station. Chandrima Das, an advocate practising in Kolkata, filed a writ petition seeking compensation, making it possible for the Supreme Court to opine on important questions such as whether compensation may be claimed from the government for harm suffered on account of the private acts of government employees and whether a foreign national may file a writ petition against the Indian government. The Vishaka Case was filed by a number of women's organisations subsequent to the Bhanwari Devi gang rape and it led the Supreme Court to define sexual harassment at workplaces and prescribe guidelines to prevent it.
Nothing exemplifies the need for a good witness protection programme as the Best Bakery Case. Immediately after the targeted slaughter at Best Bakery during the 2002 Gujarat riots, nineteen year old Zaheera Sheikh, daughter of the bakery's owner, filed an FIR. The prosecution did not win any brownie points during the trial, at the end of which 21 accused were acquitted. 37 out of 73 witnesses turned hostile, including Zaheera who had lost so much during the attack. An outcry followed and the case was moved to Mumbai. Later Tehelka showed Zaheera receiving an 18-lakh bribe from a BJP MLA. The Best Bakery Case exposed so many flaws in the Indian judicial system and emphasised the importance of witness protection programmes, something which is lacking even now.
Bhadra and Khan call the Nitish Katara murder an honour killing. What's more, I got the impression that it was described thus even by the trial court. Wikipedia, which is my main point of reference for almost everything these days, describes an honour killing as 'the homicide of a member of a family by other members due to the perpetrators' belief that the victim has brought shame or dishonor upon the family or has violated the principals of a religion'. In other words, when a man is killed by his girlfriend's or fiancée's family members, it is not an honour killing. Just nitpicking!
Bhadra and Khan have reserved the best, or rather the most interesting case, for the last. Afzal Guru was hanged in February 2013 after he was convicted of having played a central role in the attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001. Was Afzal Guru really involved in the attacks, the authors wonder? The only link between Afzal Guru and the deceased militants was that the latter seemed to have made calls to Afzal Guru's mobile phone. I am not going to divulge any more here. Please read this excellent book to find out for yourself.
20 Criminal Cases That Shook India at times ventures into issues which are very much outside the scope of crime and punishment. For example, while discussing the Naina Sahni Tandoor murder, Bhadra and Khan ponder over how the case 'brings to light the consequences of living in a society where choices are often dictated by religion. If Naina could have married the man she truly loved, she would have still be alive.'
On the whole, 20 Criminal Cases That Shook India, is well-written and is an excellent read, especially for non-lawyers who want to hear it from the horses' mouths.
Posted by Winnowed at 07:17 No comments: Links to this post
Sunday, 4 January 2015
Book Review: Pirates of Bollywood, by Kalyan C. Kankanala
All of us living in Indian towns and cities have seen pirated books and CDs being sold at traffic signals and on sidewalks. I'm sure many of us wonder why the police doesn't take any action against an activity which violates the law so blatantly. True, piracy is an offence which only harms the owners and creators of the literary creations which have been pirated. A number of human beings make a living out of piracy and pirated goods are much cheaper than the real stuff, which makes a number of buyers happy. Another important reason is the general lack of awareness regarding intellectual property rights.
In Kalyan C. Kankanala's latest IP blockbuster Pirates of Bollywood, Arjun Mamidi, once again plays the lead role. Those who read Kankanala's previous novel Road Humps and Sidewalks, would be familiar with Arjun, the clever IP lawyer from Hyderabad. Arjun's pretty wife Shreya, Associate Jose and guide dog (Arjun is blind) Neo also make an appearance. Since Pirates of Bollywood is all about piracy of Bollywood movies, a number of actors and producers make it to the cast. All of Kankanala's characters are very Bollywoodish, with a fair dose of masala thrown in. This applies to the police officers as well, especially the pretty Helen Joseph.
The plot revolves around the attempt by Ganesh Shan, the Chairman of Tunes, one of the largest production houses in Bollywood, to execute Project Pi, with assistance from Krish and Khan, a management consultancy firm. Project Pi would see a multi-pronged assault on piracy of Bollywood movies. Naturally, there are many who do not want Project Pi to take off and as the project gets underway, the bodies start to pile up.
As may be expected from Arjun Mamidi's fans, there are some courtroom scenes where Arjun gets to display his erudition and knowledge of law. Just as in Road Humps and Sidewalks, Arjun gets into harm's way more often than not.
Kankanala introduces the concept of piracy rights. In case you haven't heard of it before, piracy rights enable to holder of those rights to sell pirated copies of the movie or book or other intellectual property, with the blessings of the copyright holder, who would take stringent action against all pirates, except the holder of piracy rights. I guess piracy rights are awarded when a copyright holder believes that piracy cannot be stopped and would rather channelize it fruitfully. All of this is illegal of course. I'm not going to explain any more here, because if I do, I'd give away the plot. I'll leave it to you to read this very interesting novel and find out for yourself.
Kankanala writes in simple English, though there is a surfeit of adjectives and clichéd phrases. None of that detracts from the plot or the suspense as the story unfolds. A very interesting read, I would recommend Pirates of Bollywood to everyone interested in knowing more about the status of intellectual property rights in the Bollywood film industry.
Posted by Winnowed at 12:58 No comments: Links to this post
Wednesday, 31 December 2014
Book Review: Warrior by Olivier Lafont
There are novels and novels and novels. Realistic literary novels bring to you the grime of real life, the sweat dripping off the brow, smiles and tears, joy and sorrow, usually in moderate measure. The beauty of the narration, the quick turn of phrase and the author's eye for detail, if administered properly and in the right measure, could make the literary novel a pleasure to read, for readers who appreciate such stuff. Chicklits and thrillers are essentially fantasy novels, but attempt to persuade the reader to identify with the hero or heroine and also cling on to the faint hope that all of it could happen in real life. A genuine fantasy novel on the other hand takes the reader to a fantasy land and keeps him or her there on the strength of the fantasy. The characters and settings are so far off from reality that the reader is under no illusion that the story could come true. Just as in the case of thrillers, the prose may not be up to the mark all the time and the writer's strength of imagination needs to be supremely high and fascinating in order to carry the story.
There are writers and writers and writers. There are real writers and there are ghost writers who write autobiographies for celebrities, or help out those who want to be known as writers, but can't really write. It is rare to find a celebrity (other than a famous writer) write well. Olivier Lafont, of mixed Indo-French heritage, known to Bollywood fans as Sunit Tandon of the 3 Idiots fame, is one of the delightful exceptions to this rule. A well-known personality in the Indian movie and TV circuits, Lafont's debut novel Warrior, an adventure fantasy, has been published by Penguin India very recently.
The initial part of the novel is set in Mumbai, in suburbs such as Mahim and Bandra and well-known roads and landmarks such as Turner Road, Carter Road, Linking Road, Pali Hill etc. The end of the world seems to be neigh and Lord Shiva's son Saam's blissful existence is thrown into turmoil. Saam leads a humble, non-descript existence as a watch mender, with his live-in girlfriend Maya when the monsoon brings, of all things, snow to tropical Mumbai. There is turmoil and there are riots. People panic and godmen and charlatans reign. The Peerless meet to take stock of the situation and it falls upon Saam, the only demi-God in attendance, to save the world. To do so, Saam who has been living on earth for a few centuries in various guises, has to risk all that he has. Saam's bout of indecision (before he finally makes up his mind) reminded me of Arjun's dilemma in the Mahabharat. Arjun had Lord Krishna to help him make up his mind. Saam doesn't have anyone.
By the time Saam is ready to start his crusade, Mumbai has had heavy showers, not of normal rain, but showers of blood. Saam sallies forth with a few companions and Maya. One of his companions is Ara, his half-brother with whom he has a love-hate relationship. The companions are a disparate bunch – some of them like Lalbaal, Moti and Fateh are very strong and powerful and are not mere mortals, but the scholar Fazal is not only human, but also rather frail. Saam has to locate the Kaal Veda if he is to save the world. What follows next is an advanced version of Star Trek, mixed up with a lot of genuinely good original stuff as Lafont stretches his readers' imagination to unbelievable levels and takes them to the ends of this earth on steeds which have received the Supreme Blessing and are invincible. And when I started to think that I couldn't possibly take anymore, Saam and his companions take the Ship of Worlds in search of the Kaal Veda for a trip out of the known world, into a different dimension in terms of space and time. During the voyage, they pick up another companion, Lieutenant Goeffery Gordon, formerly of the British Indian army and its Afghan campaigns. The Lieutenant carries an old fashioned Baker carbine. The carbine and the Lieutenant stay loyal to Saam till the end. Some of his other companions don't.
Warrior moves back and forth in time and as Saam has brushes with the Marathas, the Portuguese and the Colonial British, Lafont demonstrates his mastery over Indian history and mythology. Time and again Warrior reminded me of the Mahabharata, as the demi-god Saam and other immortals and extra-terrestrials battle each other as the earth lurches towards its end. Lafont's descriptions of battles are impeccable and there are no repetitions, no easy task when the entire 374 page tome is peppered with fights and battles. As I've mentioned earlier, the best thing about Warrior is the way it pushes the limits of credulity. For example, while on the Ship of Worlds, Saam is forced to explain Earth and its inhabitants to a being who hails from a place mostly composed of metals and hard minerals, where carbon is a rare and prized element found only in the deep earth. 'We are carbon-based creatures. On our world, most creatures subsist on a combination of oxygenated water or air, and a complex mix of molecules. We are organic. That is to say, we develop and grow from absorption of basic elements. In time, we grow old and lose out earlier functionality, till we die.'
Warrior is what we Indians call paisa vassol. It is pure entertainment and despite a story line vaguely similar to the Mahabharata, does not come with a goody-goody message. I do not want to disclose more and give away the ending and spoil it for other readers, but I strongly recommend this novel to everyone who wants his or her imagination to be taken for a soaring, topsy-turvy, stomach-churning and terrifying ride.
Warrior was shortlisted for the Tibor Jones South Asia prize.
Posted by Winnowed at 09:55 No comments: Links to this post
Sunday, 28 December 2014
Book Review: The Aryavarta Chronicles, Book 3: Kurukshetra by Krishna Udayasankar
Kurukshetra is the third and final book in Krishna Udayasankar's Aryavarta Chronicles trilogy. As was expected and as the book's title suggests, the Great War takes centre stage and the book is almost entirely devoted to it.
As the war unfolded, I wondered what shape it would take. Would it be a violent ancient battle fought by sturdy men who lived and died violently, battle axes and bows in hand and no technology at play? Or would it involve advanced weaponry, arrows intercepting other arrows, warheads raining death and destruction, involving technology which would not be out of place in the modern day battlefield. As mentioned in my reviews of the first two books in this trilogy, namely Govinda and Kaurava, Udayasankar has mortalised all the characters in the Mahabharata, with the gentle suggestion that those brave and exceptional beings later became legends over the millennia. This approach led me to expect a battle without any shock and awe technology. On the other hand, I remembered that Udayasankar had retained a trump card in the form of Firewrights, the secret order of inventors and craftsmen who created technology which was out of the world, for that day and age. The Firstborns may have crushed the Firewrights, but their technology survives, as do many Firewrights in disguse. We are told that Drona and Ashvattama were Firewrights, as was Govinda Shauri, aka Krishna.
Ultimately Udayasankar treads a fine line on the battlefield, as she keeps her characters very much mortal, but reluctantly gives them occasional access to Firewright technology, which allows arrows to intercept arrows, missiles loaded with black nitre to be launched and poison gas to be deployed. Udayasankar's approach works well and one is treated to a realistic narrative of an ancient battle involving modern day technology.
The Kurukshetra War has a number of sub-legends such as Abhimanyu's attempt to enter the chakravyuh and his consequent death, Jayadrath's death at the hands of Arjuna, Grand Sire Bhisma's fall, the duel between Syoddhan (Dhuryodhan) and Bhim etc. and Udayasankar deals with all of these with elan. I waited for Dharma to say Aswathama Hatha Kunjara, but those exact words were missing in Udayasankar's realistic narrative, though Dharma does come close to saying those words.
I had never heard the story of Bhagadatta and his war elephant Supratika and I would say that Udayasankar's execution of this particular sub-story is possibly one of the best sections of Book 3. I could feel the terrible fear experienced by the Pandava line as Bhagadatta's war elephants charged towards them, but as the great Supratika fell, I couldn't help, but feel extremely sad. The duel between Syoddhan (Dhuryodhan) and Bhim is almost equally good.
During the Second World War, as Nazi Germany baulked at the idea of mobilising its women, the Soviets went all out inducting women not only into factories, but even to the battlefield. The USA and UK followed suit, but to a lesser extent. Udayasankar takes a leaf from the Allied diary and tells that that the Pandavas did the same by enrolling commoners who were not Arya by birth. However, the Pandavas are still vastly outnumbered by the Kauravas and each day on the battlefield depletes their army, whilst the Kauravas take far fewer casualties. Consequently, the ratio of Kauravas to Pandavas is further skewed as the battle progresses.
Were Hidimba, Hidimbi, Ghatotkacha and other Rakshasas really non-humans, ogres or giants as the legends have made them out to be? Not according to Udayasanakar who offers a perfectly rational explanation for the gentle forest dwellers (she calls them Rishasas) who ended up fighting on the side of the Pandavas. Similarly, Udayasankar tells us that the brave warrior Shikhandin (Shikandi) was not a eunuch, but rather the victim of calumny by his ex-wife.
If Panchali walked away with the honours in Book 2: Kaurava, Uttara does the catwalk in Book 3: Kurukshetra. Just like Panchali, Uttara is showed to be a strong female, one who gets her husband Abhimanyu to treat her as an equal and grow to love her. However, Uttara gets on better with demure Subhadra than with strong-willed Panchali. I'll not disclose any more here, but will leave it to you to read this fantastic book and find out for yourself why this should be so.
Just as in the first two books, almost all characters in Kurukshetra come in shades of grey. Yudhistir or Dharma, as Udayasankar calls him, continues to be an object of derision, though he too shows a few redeeming qualities.
Towards the end, Udayasankar discloses the identity of the Secret Keeper of the Firewrights, which is yet another reason to pick up book 3. Go on, do buy this fantastic book and read it and if you haven't already read the first two books in this trilogy, do read them beforehand, even though it is perfectly possible to enjoy Kurukshetra without having read Govinda or Kaurava.
Posted by Winnowed at 05:37 1 comment: Links to this post
Labels: Book review, Mahabharata
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Lost Art x Nike SB "The Old and the New of Liverpool City" by Zack Schlemmer 0 Comments
August 3, 2011 BY Aaron Hope / 0
Earlier today, Sneaker News scooped you on a 'Below the Line' Blazer Low SB that you can only get at Nike SB retailers while teasing you that another in-store exclusive lowtop has also just popped up. And with no further ado, the newest Nike SB Zoom Bruin: a Binary Blue suede design whose golden Ginger textile accents have these leaning toward the various jeanswear themes we've seen executed in recent months. But rather than trying to replicate another item, this pair's style is fairly effortless and a suitable punctuation to perhaps a wider variety of styles without details like rivets or leather patches. Just good old fashioned two-toned skateboarding beauty, and you can find it right now at Nike SB retailers like Primitive.
Nike SB Zoom Bruin
Binary Blue/Ginger-White
Filed under: Just Released Nike SB Skate
Tags: Nike SB Zoom Bruin
Nike SB Bruin SE "Game Royal" by Patrick Johnson 0 Comments
Nike SB Bruin SE "Team Red" by Brendan Dunne 0 Comments
Nike SB Presents the SE Pack by Brendan Dunne 0 Comments
Nike SB April 2014 Footwear by Aaron Hope 3 Comments


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Who should choose school board members? The governor or the people?
Please sign this petition immediately and share this with your friends and neighbors.
For further information on why partisan elections are the best system for vetting candidates, please see these resources:
Partisan School Board Election Arguments
Partisan School Board Resolution Debate
Responding to charges against partisan school board elections
HB 5, "Student Success Act" turns federal strings into chains
You thought No Child Left Behind was bad… Just wait till the feds "fix" the problem they created in the first place. Here comes the 600 page HB 5, the Student Success Act. What a nightmare. The intro to the bill states:
"To support State and local accountability for public education, protect State and local authority, inform parents of the performance of their children's schools, and for other purposes."
After you read the information below, you're going to need to immediately email and call your state representative and urge him/her to oppose this bill. Here are their contact pages (Utah reps only. Other states go here: https://www.congress.gov/contact-us).
Please do this Monday morning. They will most likely be voting on this in the next couple days.
Rob Bishop – http://robbishop.house.gov/contact/zipauth.htm 202-225-0453
Chris Stewart - http://stewart.house.gov/contact/email-me 202-225-9730
Jason Chaffetz – https://chaffetz.house.gov/contact-me/email-me 202-225-7751
Mia Love – https://love.house.gov/contact/email 202-225-3011
The below information is pulled from Christel Swasey's blog, though several other sources are available online. (Anita Hoge's first exposing of this, Anita Hoge's large summary on NewsWithViews, Wendy Hart's blog)
Here are highlights with pages, sections and direct quotes:
Subpart 4, Section 6561 (page 564 on the pdf) says:
"STATES TO RETAIN RIGHTS AND AUTHORITIES THEY DO NOT EXPRESSLY WAIVE" –How will a state "expressly waive" its authorities and rights? –Answer from the bill: simply by having a state legislature accept federal money.
A state that acts "inconsistently with any requirement that might be imposed by the Secretary as a condition of receiving that assistance" will waive its authority because the legislature of that state would have "expressly approved that [federal] program". If a state's or a parent's rights conflicted with a requirement, too bad: the federal bill claims authority to enforce obedience from states because the states take the money.
Read: "…nor shall any authority of a State have any obligation to obey… unless the legislature…. approved that program and in so doing, have waived the state's rights and authorities to act inconsistently with any requirement that might be imposed by the Secretary..." So states have no obligation to obey unless they approved federally promoted programs (which the states have done in multiple ways).
As Ann Marie Banfield wrote: "What is going on here? The Secretary of Education can't enforce any requirements under the program that would violate states' rights UNLESS the state legislature gives its consent to participate in the ESEA, which encompasses around $25 Billion in aid to states. Essentially, participating in the program to receive funds requires states to waive their states' rights and those of the parent over their child if they conflict with ANY requirements of the program."
On page 567, Section 6564, we read that "…Other than the terms and conditions expressly approved by State law under the terms of this subpart, control over public education and parental rights to control the education of their children are vested exclusively within the autonomous zone of independent authority reserved to the states and individual Americans by the United States Constitution, other than the Federal Government's undiminishable obligation to enforce minimum Federal standards of equal protection and due process."
By tying inalienable parental rights to the receipt of funds and federal "obligations," the bill just claimed authority to take parental rights away, under conditions it has just defined.
Even in the statement of purpose on page 11, the bill minimizes parents and maximizes itself, by "affording parents substantial and meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children".
To reduce parents to a recipient of government-granted "opportunities to participate in" the education of a child is de-parenting. It's far, far different from Utah's legal code, which states in multiple places that: "A student's parent or guardian is the primary person responsible for the education of the student, and the state is in a secondary and supportive role to the parent or guardian."
Read pages 78-82. It mandates that private schools: "ensure that teachers and families of the children participate, on an equitable basis, in services and activities… SECULAR, NEUTRAL, NONIDEOLOGICAL.— Such educational services or other benefits, including materials and equipment, shall be secular, neutral and nonideological."
What's a private Catholic, Jewish, Mormon, Baptist, or any other private religious school to do? –Alter its beliefs to match mandates for altered materials, equipment and services?
This is the price we pay for "school choice" and "backpack funding," folks. It's not what they make it out to be. Where federal money goes, federal chokeholds follow.
The federal government has no right to mandate that private schools must give services that are secular and non-religious. (See page 79: it includes in its definition of services: one on one counseling, mentoring, educational television, computer technology and more).
An ombudsman, if you haven't heard the term, is a paid position, a role in which a person investigates and mediates official complaints for a living. This bill mandates that private schools will be assigned a state-appointed ombudsman to monitor private schools: "The State educational agency involved shall designate an ombudsman to monitor and enforce the requirements."
On page 82 the bill states that the LEA (school district) must consult with private school officials and must transmit results of their "agreement" to a state-appointed ombudsman. On page 86 the federal bill allows a private school to complain to the government: "private school official shall have the right to file a complaint with the State educational agency that the local educational agency did not engage in consultation that was meaningful and timely". These are private schools. They never, ever have had any legal mandate to report to, complain to, speak to, or even think about state or federal governments. These are private schools; private means not public, not under government mandates.
On page 535, the bill slashes freedom by mandating equity for private and public schools. "Benefits provided under this section for private school children, teachers, and other educational personnel shall be equitable in comparison to services and other benefits for public school children, teachers, and other educational personnel". The government has no right to command a private school to give more benefits, nor to withhold benefits, from private school teachers, staff or children. The same page states: "Expenditures for educational services and other benefits to eligible private school children, teachers, and other service personnel shall be equal to the expenditures for participating public school children." The ombudsman's job, according to page 80, is to "monitor and enforce" such "equity for private school children".
SB 204 – Parent Rights Update – Stronger Opt Out Rights
Senator Aaron Osmond has listened to a lot of parents this past year and the sometimes horrible situations schools have put their children in forcing them to take tests they were opted out of, lying to children and telling them it was the law and they had to take it, etc… With the recent USOE memo trying to tell parents what they could or couldn't opt their children out of, this bill is a major relief to parents. Here's the changes being made. You can find the full text here:
Words that have a line through them are being removed and if it's underlined it's being added.
(f) providing that scores on the tests and assessments required under Subsection (2)(a)
89 and Subsection (3) [shall] may not be considered in determining:
90 (i) a student's academic grade for the appropriate course [and]; or
91 (ii) whether a student [shall] may advance to the next grade level.
53A-15-1401. Definitions.
132 As used in this part:
133 (1) "Individualized Education Plan" or "IEP" means a written statement, for a student
134 with a disability, that is developed, reviewed, and revised in accordance with the Individuals
135 with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.
160 (2) An LEA shall reasonably accommodate a parent's or guardian's written request to
161 retain a student in kindergarten through grade 8 on grade level based on the student's academic
162 ability or the student's social, emotional, or physical maturity.
163 (3) An LEA shall reasonably accommodate a parent's or guardian's initial selection of a
164 teacher or request for a change of teacher.
165 (4) An LEA shall reasonably accommodate the request of a student's parent or guardian
166 to visit and observe any class the student attends.
167 [(5) (a) An LEA shall reasonably accommodate a written request of a student's parent
168 or guardian to excuse the student from attendance for a family event or visit to a health care
169 provider, without obtaining a note from the provider.]
170 [(b) An excused absence provided under Subsection (5)(a) does not diminish
171 expectations for the student's academic performance.]
172 (5) Notwithstanding Chapter 11, Part 1, Compulsory Education Requirements, an LEA
173 shall record an excused absence for a scheduled family event or a scheduled proactive visit to a
174 health care provider if:
175 (a) the parent or guardian submits a written statement at least one school day before the
176 scheduled absence; and
177 (b) the student agrees to make up course work for school days missed for the scheduled
178 absence in accordance with LEA policy.
192 (9) (a) Upon [the] receipt of a written [request] statement of a student's parent or
193 guardian, an LEA shall excuse the student from taking [a test that is administered statewide or
194 the National Assessment of Educational Progress.]:
195 (i) any summative, interim, or formative test that is not locally developed; or
196 (ii) any test that is federally mandated or mandated by the state under this title.
197 (b) An LEA may not:
198 (i) require a meeting as a condition of excusing a student from taking a test described
199 in Subsection (9)(a); or
200 (ii) specify the form of a written statement under Subsection (9)(a).
201 (c) A written statement to an LEA to excuse a student from taking a test under
202 Subsection (9)(a) remains in effect across multiple school years until:
203 (i) further notice from the student's parent or guardian; or
204 (ii) the student is no longer enrolled at the LEA.
205 (d) An LEA may not reward a student for taking a test described in Subsection (9)(a).
217 (11) An LEA shall reasonably accommodate a parent's or guardian's request to include
218 in an Individualized Education Plan elements that the parent or guardian believes are in the best
219 interest of the child.
Second Parent Member of Utah SAGE Test Review Committee Speaks Out
From: http://whatiscommoncore.wordpress.com/2014/11/24/second-parent-member-of-utah-sage-test-review-committee-speaks-out/
This is the second in a series of posts to be added by members of Utah's Common Core SAGE test's parent review board. Parent Molly Hunter spoke out previously and is joined now by fellow mom Christine Ruiz as a SAGE parent review committee member who also wishes to set the record straight and to expose the objectionable aspects of the tests.
SAGE Parent Review Committee Member Speaks Out
By Christine Ruiz
In 2013 the Utah Legislature mandated parental review of SAGE test questions and established what is now called the SAGE Parent Review Committee. It was a response to concerns that the computer adaptive tests could include biases or agendas that are objectionable to Utah family values.
Much has been written about the committee and unfortunately some of it has been misleading. Consequently many Utah parents are misinformed about the review committee and are making decisions with that 'bad information'; decisions that affect their children.
I am one of those committee members and I'd like to correct the record.
The statute, 53A-1-603, is vague as it relates to our duties; "…a committee consisting of 15 parents of Utah public education students to review all computer adaptive test questions." Yep, that's it. Talk about your nutshell.
So, here's what we did and didn't do.
WE DID review all questions (about 1500 each).
WE DID flag questions for a variety of reasons (grammar, typos, content, wrong answers, glitches, etc.).
WE DID sign nondisclosure statements (agreeing not to discuss specific test questions and materials).
Now the important part …
WE DID NOT 'approve' the test. We were neither tasked to nor qualified to approve the test in any aspect.
It has been erroneously suggested that "…we all feel comfortable with the test" in an article by the Deseret News (Nov 2013). That's a misleading quote from only one member of the committee. That statement was actually contradicted by another member later in the same article. But it's no surprise here; we expect that from the media.
However, the Utah State Office of Education (USOE) perpetuated that myth when it plastered that same quote all over its SAGE informational brochures. We/ I expect more due diligence from USOE.
I never received a phone call to verify that I concurred and I suspect the same is true for the rest of the committee. It was either an act of deliberate deceit or jaw-dropping negligence to tell parents across the state that the Parent Review Committee gives its blanket approval of the test. Neither option comforts me in the slightest.
I shudder to think that some parents may have decided to let their children take the SAGE because 'we' said it's okay. That's on me and every other committee member that feels the same as I, and didn't speak out sooner.
This myth and any others perpetrated in the future will no longer go unanswered by this committee member. That's a promise.
Christine Ruiz
state statute 53A‐1‐603
(a) The State Board of Education shall establish a committee consisting of 15 parents of Utah
public education students to review all computer adaptive test questions.
(b) The committee established in Subsection (8)(a) shall include the following parent members:
(i) five members appointed by the chair of the State Board of Education;
(ii) five members appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives; and
(iii) five members appointed by the president of the Senate.
(c) The State Board of Education shall provide staff support to the parent committee.
(d) The term of office of each member appointed in Subsection (8)(b) is four years.
(e) The chair of the State Board of Education, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and
the president of the Senate shall adjust the length of terms to stagger the terms of committee
members so that approximately 1/2 of the committee members are appointed every two
(f) No member may receive compensation or benefits for the member's service on the committee.
First Parent Member of Utah SAGE Test Review Committee Speaks Out
Email from Molly Foster (written to the other members of the 15-parent committee to review SAGE test questions)
… In the spring when I was made aware of the USOE putting words in my mouth I contacted Judy Park several times, through email and phone messages to no avail until I sent a more honest email to her one day, she immediately responded. I will enclose our emailed conversation.
…The results of the SAGE test across the state were not surprising for the 5 Supers I spoke to in southern Utah. Judy Park herself told them in training that the students would fail until they got all the curriculum aligned, this could take years, and quite frankly by then they will have another mandatory program they are shoving down each district's throat, keeping everybody busy testing instead of teaching, and most importantly nurturing human relationships within their own schools and communities… Let's not forget that the test scores are also tied to school grades, and teacher performance pay.
Arne Duncan: "Phase out the authority of the states"
(Oak note: As we have repeated said, the problem with Common Core isn't so much the standards, but the federal overreach and takeover of our education system. This latest development should be a major wake up call to all of Utah.)
Christel Swasey wrote this post at:
Have you seen the new regulations that just came out of the White House?
Americans who see these must run screaming to legislators for protection against the Department of Education.
The new regulations declare that Secretary Arne Duncan will amend ESEA to "phase out the authority of States to define modified academic achievement standards and develop alternate assessments based on those modified academic achievement standards in order to satisfy ESEA accountability requirements. These amendments will permit, as a transitional measure, States that meet certain criteria to continue to administer alternate assessments… for a limited period of time."
"Phasing out the authority of the states" has been precisely the point for every last one of Duncan's promoted education reforms, from Common Core to Common Data Standards to State Longitudinal Database Systems to P-20 programs to Common Core Assessments to teacher and school evaluations.
It's been the shared vision of non-governmental education reformers as well, from Marc Tucker to Michael Barber to Linda Darling Hammond to the Center for American Progress.
Utahns Against Common Core have been pointing out this phase-out of local authority for over two years. Others have been saying it for decades.
But fat cats (Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, School Improvement Network, Prosperity 2020, Education First, Pearson Inc., Microsoft) –each of whom wants to sell fat educational products to the fat, "uniform customer base of Common Core" (as Gates put it) will not listen, and will mock and scorn critics because they want to get fatter and fatter on the taxpayer's dime.
Why does such a supposedly conservative state allow the educational authority of the state to be "phased out" –because of businesses' greed and lack of care for our children? Where are our children's educational defenders when we need them? Where is the action behind all the flag-waving speeches that we've heard, now, Governor Herbert, Education Advisor Pyfer, Senator Stephenson, Representative Powell?
Why doesn't our Governor, our legislature, our state school board, lift a finger to fight for our Constitutional right to educational self governance?
I cannot understand the apathy and the complacency and the tolerance– even at the legislative level– of all reforms aligned to the Common Core.
Is it not tragically crazy that we, as a state, willingly allow liberties –guaranteed under the supreme law of the land– to slip so easily out of our lives? We allow ourselves to be lied to by our leaders, who cradle these education reform lies in positive, appealing language, and only for one reason: cash flow. Not for our children, at all.
When will Utah, when will America, wake up to this devastation of liberty and education?
-Christel Swasey
Anti-God Indoctrination in 8th Grade St. George Class
Last week, an 8th grade class in St. George began the day with this excerpt on the board………. Kudos to the student who took these photos and shared them with her mom! Please note this is not Common Core, just the secular humanism religion that is allowed in our public schools.
Catch-up Update
Getting ready for the Agency-Based Education conference this weekend has been a big job and made it harder to send out updates but there is a ton that has been happening. If you are not on the UACC Facebook Group, all of these have been posted there in the last week or so. Join now if you want up to date information about what's happening. This post will need to last you for the next week or so, so just keep returning here and read the next item. The critical ones have a * next to them.
*Dr. Gary Thompson: SAGE/Common Core Tests Break Basic Codes of Test Ethics (Why SAGE testing is not only harmful but violates ethical standards)
*Gates Is at It Again: The Common Core-Centered "Collaborative for Student Success" (I never thought I'd say this… Thank goodness for the Huffington Post. This article lays it all bare. Read it, share it.)
*Leaked Letter: Utah Teachers' Evaluations (Pay) Will Depend On Common Core Test Scores in 2015 (Hello and welcome to Common Core's enforcement mechanism)
*VP of College Board's AP U. S. History Course Discredited (Gotta love a good takedown)
*Video: NJ Symposium to Stop Common Core: Drs. Stotsky, Tienken, Pesta, Williams, Borelli and Borelli (from a recent conference, watch some great videos here)
States Listen as Parents Give Rampant Testing an F (about standardized testing in Florida)
DOJ grants $63 million for social justice school discipline promoted by Bill Ayers (shocking, I know)
Be "That Parent" (this one will motivate you)
Your children deserve better than this, first-grade teachers tell parents (stop high-stakes testing on little kids)
What missing class in Kindergarten means for high school (There are a variety of reasons children miss school. However, ending compulsory education laws would do more to ensure children were enticed to school, rather than enforcement mechanisms and social programs to make sure children don't miss.)
Are you ready to have national science standards in UT?
Have you ever been told 'we would NEVER adopt the national science standards'? I have; numerous times from many elected officials.
I started to push back against the Common Core reforms in early 2012. We warned this wasn't simply about a set of standards. We warned there is more coming down the pipeline. The move to centralize and control education is moving at a rapid pace. We warned there were national science and social study standards waiting in the wings. We later warned there were national sex ed standards. We warned and warned and warned.
More often than not our pleas seem to fall on deaf ears….at least with decision makers.
In September of this year I was appointed to serve on the State science standards review committee.
The committee consists of 5 parents appointed by the Senate, 5 parents appointed by the House, and 7 subject experts appointed by the board chair. On paper that sounds like a measured and balanced approach.
The committee doesn't have the feel of a parent committee, more like a who's who in science committee with a couple of "regular" parents thrown in. Arguably, they are parents too, but that wasn't the intent of the committee.
These committees can be manipulated to pick and choose who are the chosen few to have a real say in what is happening. The law already required parental input so I don't feel the committee is necessary.
I know the state office was frustrated so many "anti-common core" parents were chosen and I'm concerned the USOE (UT State Office of Education) is manipulating the process.
First, they sent a list of parents they recommended as being chosen to the Senate and House. Isn't that sweet?
Second, prior to the meeting I was sent a link to the current science standards with the assignment to thoroughly review the standards. I knew that the state office had already started working on new standards so why spend so much time looking at standards that are already on their way out.
Third, prior to the meeting we were also sent a pro-common core propaganda piece to help prepare for my meeting. That really bugged.
Fourth, upon arrival at the meeting we were assigned seats. I'll never know for certain if our names were carefully arranged or not but it did seem to be that the "parents" were surrounded by "experts". I just happened be to sitting by the lead writer of the national science standards.
Fifth, two members of the "writing" committee were also on the "review" committee. Does that even make sense?
Sixth, a good portion of the beginning of our meeting was devoted to explaining the purpose of the meeting and they made it clear the meeting was definitely NOT to talk about Common Core. Do they realize the entire reason the committee exists is BECAUSE of Common Core?
Seventh, we were strongly encouraged not to speak to each other outside of the meeting in smaller groups and to only communicate with the entire committee because this was a "collective" effort.
Eighth, we were repeatedly encouraged NOT to blog about the meeting because that would just be awkward at our next meeting…oops.
In all seriousness, I planned on following their request because everyone was really nice and I enjoyed the conversations I had with committee members but the more I thought about the meeting and how manipulated it was the more resolve I felt to let people know.
Ninth, we spent over an hour going over the current, intended to be thrown out, standards.
At 11 AM, one hour to the close of our meeting, we finally received the draft standards and broke up into committees to discuss. That does not leave enough time to look much at content. The staff was going to close comments at the end of our meeting but I cited the law and asked that we have more time to submit feedback.
******Sorry for the bitter tone, everyone was very nice BUT I did feel manipulated and that bothered me.******
Now on to the standards….
The proposed standards are…….dun, dun, dun….
IDENTICAL to the Next Generation Science Standards! (NGSS) Is anyone surprised? Yeah, I didn't think so.
I went to the meeting expecting to see this.
I would give you proof with a side by side comparison but in order to be able to leave the meeting with the draft copies, I had to sign a non-disclosure statement that I wouldn't make any digital copies. Lucky for you they're publicly available online for your perusal and enjoyment.
Feel free to download a copy here: http://www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards
Currently, UT is only changing our 6-8th grade standards so look at Middle School Standards.
The "writing" committee carefully reformatted each page and only put one standard on a page instead of multiple.
Each page contain the same few basic elements.
- The standard or Performance Expectation
- Clarification Statement
- Assessment Boundary
- Cross cutting Framework
Here is an example of one page from the NGSS:
Now let's take a closer look:
The red arrow points to the standard's identity and the green box outlines exactly what the standard or performance expectation is.
The green box is outlining the clarification statement.
The Assessment Boundaries are now outlined in green.
Below is a portion framework developed by the National Research Council.
From the A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas ( 2012 ):
The National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers have developed "Common Core State Standards" in mathematics and language arts, and 43 states and the District of Columbia have adopted these standards as of early 2011. The anticipation of a similar effort for science standards was a prime motivator for this NRC study and the resulting framework described in this report.
To maintain the momentum, the Carnegie Corporation commissioned the nonpartisan and nonprofit educational reform organization Achieve, Inc., to lead states in developing new science standards based on the NRC framework in this report. There is no prior commitment from multiple states to adopt such standards, so the process will be different from the Common Core process used for mathematics and language arts. But it is expected that Achieve will form partnerships with a number of states in undertaking this work and will offer multiple opportunities for public comment.
Sound familiar? Same players, same tune…
Underneath the colorful framework boxes is listed the Common Core standards that go along with each standard.
There were some changes made in the proposed draft and I'll list them out generally here and will be able to get more specific at a later date.
- UT added a Root question to help arrange the standards by topic
- THE STANDARDS or PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS ARE IDENTICAL
- Clarification Statements- the majority are the same but the writing team did add to, delete (minimal), re-order and rephrase
- Assessment Boundaries – some changes but very little
- Framework – IDENTICAL
The important part is that the standards are 99.9 % the same with the exception of one word that was left out. I've been communicating with the State Board of Ed and it doesn't appear that any board member knew the national standards were being used. Most seemed to think we were updating our old standards.
The Next Generation Science Standards were scored a C by the Fordham institute.
Fordham said that the current UT standards were clearly superior to the NGSS. In fact there are 14 states with clearly superior standards. If this were truly about raising achievement, those state standards would be our guide not sub-par standards with a very clear political bent.
Here's the full review:
In fact, Utah's current standards are rated higher than NGSS. Why are we intent on lowering our standards?
Citizens in Kansas are currently suing their state board of ed. From their website:
The Complaint alleges that the implementation of NGSS "will have the effect of causing Kansas public schools to establish and endorse a non-theistic religious worldview," in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Start researching now and be prepared to comment during the 90 day public comment period.
Public comment begins in December but there is no reason we can't urge the state board to throw these out and start over. Elections are next week, find out where the candidates stand on the Next Generation Science Standards. Call, text, write and plead with the current state board to go back to the drawing board. Utah students deserve better.
Another ASD Principal Gets Political – John Burton's turn
Orem High School Principal Mike Browning sent this email out to faculty on Tuesday, which looks very appropriate.
From: Mike Browning_ohs <email@example.com>
Date: Tue, Oct 28, 2014 at 3:31 PM
Subject: Politics and Public Education
To: OHSFaculty <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Just a quick reminder that as we enter the election window, ASD employees are encouraged to study the issues and involve themselves in the political process. Since questions occasionally arise regarding appropriate political involvement by school employees, the following reminders may be helpful:
- Engaging in political activities during contract time or at school functions by district employees or school parent councils is not appropriate.
- Employees may engage in political activity as private citizens as long as the activity does not involve the use of public funds (equipment, Internet connections, and supplies).
- Political information should not be displayed or distributed via schools.
Great work on a successful first term of the school year! Have a good week,
The problem is, Mr. Browning is a hypocrite.
I spoke with a teacher last night who informs me that at the faculty meeting at the beginning of October, Mr. Browning told the faculty that he is very involved in politics and that he had a meet the candidate event at his home and one of the candidates is critical in some regard to some issues in Alpine School District (it was unclear if Chris Jolley had actually been invited to this event). He then pulled out a card (pictured at the left) and proceeded to say how great the Alpine School District is and what it gives to the communities.
This teacher explained to me, "Mr. Browning said, here we have PLCs, collaboration, and such, and encouraged us to have the cards in our wallet and when people were critical of the Alpine School District show them that we support the district and what it does for us and for our communities. While Mr. Browning's speech wasn't "technically" a political speech his words were almost, exactly the same as what was said by Mr. Conley in his now infamous very political email sent to his faculty. It is very evident that both of these principals got their information from the same sources, mainly the administrators in the district. I came away from that faculty meeting knowing full well where Alpine District's wants were concerning this upcoming election. It's very evident that the district is on a public relations push to show just how much good the district is doing and that major changes are not needed. This is a way, non-political of course, to show where they stand concerning the upcoming elections. The cards, the words to the principals, which are trickling down to the teachers, all show that the district administration is very concerned about the possible change of direction if John Burton and JoDee Sundberg are voted out."
Here's some more information that came out after yesterday's post. It appears current Board President and former long time Alpine School District administrator John Burton may have his own set of problems to deal with. Rick Armknecht posted this in the comments section.
Sadly, the emails shown here may include violations of law on the part of a great many public servants.
Look at the "To" section of the principal's email: firstname.lastname@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com
ALL of these recipients were put on notice of the principal's illegal campaigning as of last Friday (the 24th) morning (assuming that they read their emails every 2 hours or so during work hours). What did they do about it? Looks like one became a "whistle blower." But what about the others? IF they read the email sent to them and IF they knew (or reasonably SHOULD HAVE KNOWN) about the illegality of the email AND if their position would imply that they DO something to stop the illegal conduct but they failed to take any action (yes, I know — a string of "ifs" there), then there is a violation of Utah law:
- 76-8-101. Definitions
For the purposes of this chapter:
. . .
(5) (a) "Public servant" means any officer or employee of the state or any political subdivision of the state, including judges, legislators, consultants, and persons otherwise performing a governmental function.
- 76-8-201. Official misconduct – Unauthorized acts or failure of duty A public servant is guilty of a class B misdemeanor if, with an intent to benefit himself or another or to harm another, he knowingly commits an unauthorized act which purports to be an act of his office, or knowingly refrains from performing a duty imposed on him by law or clearly inherent in the nature of his office.
So: What did John Burton know and when did he know it?
It seems to me that ASD has a pattern of doing what they want without any fear of repercussion. The ends (them maintaining power at all costs) justifies the means (violations of ethics and the law, particularly in the case of Ms. Sundberg and Principal Conley). Will there be enforcement of the law? It's doubtful unless people rise up and say the law matters.
If Mr. Burton is OK with knowing this is going on under his watch as a publicly elected school board member and having been a long time administrator at ASD, he should resign his position and withdraw from the ballot. Nobody knows election ethics more than school administrators and the fact that this is knowingly allowed and even encouraged by inaction is a big problem.


text:
State Police are investigating a reported bear attack on a 16-year-old man near in the Town of Andes on Jan. 1. Brendan Porfido, a New Jersey resident, told police that he was walking in the woods with his two dogs near Tunis Lake about 10:15 p.m. when he came across a bear.
by Gail Hillriegel
Well, we just finished the last birthday before Christmas here at Regal-Hill. Yes, George just had his birthday. Allegra made his cake, an orange-raisin kind that his mother used to make. Then I just made an ordinary uncooked white frosting for it.
There will be a benefit concert on January 10 to raise funds for area youth and adults who will be traveling to West Africa in July to help some of the neediest children of Ghana. The concert will be at p.m. in the home of Justin and Barbara Mellon Kolb outside of Fleischmanns and will feature performances by Justin Kolb, Patricia Dell and Kent Brown.
Delhi — Delhi Bank Corp. last week announced that its board of directors, at a regularly scheduled meeting held on December 18, approved a three-for-two stock split to be effected in the form of a stock dividend.
Albany — New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commis-sioner Pete Grannis today reminded New York residents to exercise great care when using wood stoves in their homes. With the winter heating season now fully upon us, many New Yorkers have begun using wood-fired stoves to take the chill off their homes.
By Jay Braman Jr.
Maverick West Family Health expects to close its Phoenicia office early next year and relocate to larger facilities in Boiceville.
by Bill Birns
"Off with the old year, on with the new!" So read the headline in the Catskill Mountain News 100 years ago this week, as the second decade of the 20th Century was about to begin. That exuberant line appeared below a pen and ink drawing featuring the exciting newness of the time – Old Man 1909 driving away in one of those new-fangled automobiles, and Baby 1910 arriving in an even newer-fangled bi-plane flying machine.
By Jay Braman Jr.
U.S. Representative Mau-rice Hinchey has told the state Department of Environmental Conser-vation (DEC) that he has numerous concerns about drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation in the Catskill Mountains and has issued comments outlining 11 steps that he believes must be taken before any drilling is allowed.
The Pine Hill Community Center will be hosting application and testing sessions for work with the U.S. Census Bureau every Wednesday morning through January at 10 a.m. sharp. These jobs are temporary and begin towards the spring of 2010. They pay quite well and also reimburse mileage.
They will take walk-ins but strongly encourage you to reserve a spot by calling 866 861-2010.
Jonathan Dykstra, a senior at Roxbury Central School, has been awarded an academic honor scholarship from Northwestern College, Orange City, Iowa, for the 2010-11 school year.
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