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This is an introduction to Koan Study. Zoketsu discusses the history of Koans and their relationship to Zen practice in the Rinzai and Soto schools of Zen. He recommends Dogen's Genjo Koan as a guide in making this very life our central koan.
Koan Practice Introduction: Who Hears this SoundKoan study and Everyday Zen By Zoketsu Norman Fischer | March 13, 2001
Abridged and edited by Barbara Byrum and Cynthia Schrager
Last week I talked about concentrating on the breath in meditation practice – following, discriminating, vivifying, and questioning the breath. That last step of sitting with the breath with a questioning spirit begins at first with mechanically asking with each breath, "What is it?" After that, we sit with the breath with a spirit of inquiry, without thinking about it or saying any words. This is an example of koan practice. Since koan practice is, I think, more or less unique to Zen, in all world religious practice, I thought that I would say more about it. The word "koan," like so many other Zen words, comes from ordinary, Chinese vocabulary, rather than from technical, Buddhist vocabulary. The word koan, meaning "public case," was a legal term. A koan was a case that could be used as a legal precedent, because it was public and paradigmatic. There is a great irony in the Zen context, not because a koan is being used as a lynchpin in a subtle argument of discrimination of one thing from another, as a legal case would be used, but in exactly the opposite way, as a device to thrust us beyond discrimination to an experience of oneness. No doubt the old Chinese Zen fellows were quite aware of this irony, and they delighted in it. Zen koans were public records of a particular sort. Since the beginning, Zen proclaimed a declaration of independence from Buddhism. The earliest formula for the definition of Zen included phrases like, "Beyond words and letters," or "It is an existential truth pointing directly to the human heart." Zen did not have the aid of any normative doctrine, and it was beyond all forms of piety, including Buddhism. Therefore, it made no sense at all to quote scripture as a way to advance or justify religious understanding. Instead, it made sense that the everyday lives of the masters themselves would come to represent – rather than scripture – religious truth and authority. Their sayings and doings began to circulate, at first probably as rumors and wild tales. Later they were written down in the highly literary world of the Chinese Tang dynasty. In the end, they constituted a new, Buddhist literary tradition, done with a pithy, shorthand, and baffling style.There were many, many collected books of these stories. All of them were called Transmission of the Lamp. There were many different ones with similar titles. They were strung together pseudo-biographies and had a fake style of old Chinese histories. These brief biographical texts were always seen, I think, as religious teaching documents, rather than actual biographies. Little anecdotes were lifted and circulated in the monasteries. Eventually these stories found their way into dharma talks and were repeated by teachers.Buddhist in their fundamental thrust, this meditation practice was influenced quite a bit by Daoist thought and practice, which from the beginning, in the earliest texts of Daoism, loved paradox. For example, some random lines from the Tao te Ching: "Therefore, the master acts without doing anything." "He does without doing." "She teaches without opening her mouth." "Things arise, and she lets them come. Things disappear, and she lets them go." So that kind of paradoxical style became a kind of conditioning factor in the development of Zen meditation practice. Traditional Buddhist meditation is, in effect, a combination of two different practices called "stopping" and "seeing." Stopping, or calming meditation, focused the mind on a meditation object, so you could calm the mind and enrich it. Once you did that, which is a long process of getting the mind really clear and focused, next the practitioner was supposed to take this developed, concentrated mind and turn it toward introspection, until you could see the impermanence and non-conceptual characteristics of reality. This would take many, many lifetimes to do.In Zen meditation, the whole thing was collapsed into one practice and was highly intensified. The practice called for the powerful focusing of the mind on an object, not for the purpose of calming and enriching, but for the purpose of immediately seeing directly into the object and through the object; seeing not only through the object, but through all objective reality; seeing the mind itself and how the mind functions to create an objective world of suffering. You see how easily and naturally Zen meditation would have been applied to the new koan literature that was developing along side of it. The stories grew more and more simple and stripped down as they were used as this meditation object. Meditators would work with the stories, not as literature or articles of doctrinal understanding, but as seeing the stories, rather than understanding them as ideas. So you could see into them and the reality of the mind itself, thus releasing the mind from the compulsions and the sufferings that would be a consequence of grasping and false conceptions.D.T. Suzuki, the Japanese Zen scholar, first introduced this koan literature to the West. He presented koans as puzzles designed to subvert the logical mind, causing the practitioner to flip the mind into a new way of thinking and being. But most people who now work with koans do not emphasize, as Suzuki did, their irrationality. It's not so much that the stories are meant to short-circuit the rational mind, as they are pointing to a more intuitive kind of experience based on the feeling of being itself, rather than on thinking about being. Koans don't in and of themselves obviate logic. People can talk about koans that require a high, logical accomplishment, even though it may be a different style than the one we are used to. There were lots of ways of working with this material, depending on what master or lineage you were studying with. It wasn't until the 18th century in Japan, that the system of koan study that most Westerners are familiar with, was devised by the Japanese Rinzai monk Hakuin. It's a great system, full of jokes and pantomime. It emphasizes making the stories of the Ancients personal and immediate, almost physically so, giving up all abstraction and focus on doctrine. The system teaches that if it's not your own, it doesn't count. If you can't show it, and you can only explain it, then it isn't really yours. This makes for some pretty lively religion. These stories have baffled and frustrated Zen students, and we can imagine merry Zen masters ringing their little bells as a Zen student leaves the interview room in abject defeat. The other thing I consider not to be so great about the system is that it systematized the koans into a set curriculum. There are different set curricula, but basically they all had this idea of a whole curriculum of koans. The student would go from one koan to another, in progression over many years study, advancing towards some goal that became more and more, I suppose, enticing. The goal of completion in this very long course of study would apparently mean that the student would be sanctioned as an officially enlightened teacher and then ready to take on students as a master. But, of course, there were then, and still are, people who could, because of their great talents, complete the course of study of koans and still manage to remain totally deficient in the practical, human wisdom that it takes to be a spiritual mentor and guide – not to mention just getting through the day without getting into trouble! So there were then, and still are, brilliant koan practitioners who couldn't get it together in their lives. This has been the main criticism of the koan system. In other words, to what extent does it really produce wise practitioners, or to what extent is it a highly sophisticated religio-aesthetic game that fosters competition, arrogance, and corruption? To evaluate this question, we have to ask, "What is the experience of enlightenment or satori that seems to be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?" Satori is a spiritual opening, an authentic and personal realization of the oneness of things, the non-difference within difference of self and other. The experience of satori is not something that comes at the end of koan study. Usually it comes toward the beginning with the passing of the first koan. Satori is, no doubt, a major experience. Also, I think it's a crucial experience. Probably it is the essential religious experience, but also it is a momentary experience, by no means final and decisive. It's a glimpse, not a steady gaze. It certainly does not exhaust the range of religious experience, which must include things like ethical conduct, wise and accurate expression, kindness, empathy, self-knowledge, personal integrity, and healthy doses of courage, attitude, and common sense. In fact, it is also said by traditional Zen teachers that satori is just a good beginning to spiritual practice. It is the opening of the door. It's not the end. It's not the culmination. On the other hand, it is probably true that working systematically with koans over a long time might help to develop some of these other qualities that I am speaking about. Koan work does take persistence; it does take self-confidence; it does take self-surrender; it does take imagination; it does take courage. But it is clear that working with koans over a long period of time is no guarantee that these qualities will be present in the person in their lives, outside the context of the koan practice, outside the meditation hall. So I personally think that this marvelous system of religious cultivation is useful. It is really a lot of fun – at least that is what I have found in my limited experience of it – but I don't think it is fundamental or necessary. What about the actual technique of meditating on a koan? In a more down-to-earth way, it would be like this: you would establish your strong meditation practice, calm your mind, still your thoughts, focus yourself, and then hold the koan out in front of you. The best way to do this is to memorize it and then reduce it to something very simple. Case One of Mumonkam is great, because it is already as reduced as you could get: one syllable [mu], which is easy to hold with each breath. So you sit with a very intense focus, breathing into the one word, until it loses all sense and all meaning. You get tired of all speculation and thinking about it. You even lose all sense that the word mu is an object separate from yourself. You try to stay with it and identify with it, all during a retreat, all day and all night long. You give up expecting any results and being clever. You have to burn through your desire for success and your fear of failure. You even have to get rid of the person who might desire and fear, just sitting with "mu, mu, mu," or whatever koan it is that you are working with until, as Master Mumon says, "it becomes clear to you." In the classical, Hakuin system, you are doing this practice in the context of lengthy meditation retreats. You are making frequent, intense trips to the teacher's room with your inevitably feeble answer to the koan. [Laughter] But these many trips are very important, because the teacher – either on purpose or by mistake – gives you hints, and the hints will help a great deal. When you finally do come in, and your answer is accepted, you will be really happy. Master Mumon was not exaggerating when he said, "Joy of the unexpected discovery."You could see why a lot of the Chinese Zen masters dismissed the whole idea of an elegant, literary, progressive curriculum of koan study, which seemed to present spiritual awakening as if it were a college course. They gave their students, instead, a single, endless koan, which they were to meditate on for the course of a lifetime. Basically, just stay with this one. They would have koans like, "Who is it?" or "What is it?" or the koan I mentioned at the beginning of this talk and last time, "What is it as the breath?" Dogen also devised a kind of koan practice that is particularly useful to contemporary practitioners, who might want to work with koans outside the context of regular retreats or daily, temple life. In other words, people like us. He called this method Genjo Koan of the Present Moment, as I like to translate it. He explains this quite thoroughly in the essay that we all know about by that title. It is a beautiful piece of writing. It is the first Dogen fascicle that was translated into English, and it conditioned the way that Dogen was received in the West for many years afterward. In this essay, Dogen says, in effect, that the experience of being itself, moment after moment, is itself a koan. It ought to be approached that way. In other words, every moment of time is a koan, because it exists at the intersection of time and eternity. To be able to experience time in this way, with all its dimension and inconceivability, is to appreciate the practice of the koan in the present moment. In actual meditation practice, it might mean sitting with a spirit of strong inquiry, without the use of any devices other than just being there. In the case of daily life practice, it might mean taking personal issues or themes that arise within one's life as koans for contemplation, rather than as objective issues that one is trying to work through for personal ease or advantage. I personally find the idea of Genjo Koan really useful in that it affords us a way to view our lives as deep, spiritual journeys, rather than as mundane distractions to be transcended. Fundamentally, koan practice–and Zen practice in general—is not seeing our lives in that way. It is the recognition that our small lives are only small, because we have made them so, by our conceptualizations of them. In reality, we don't know what our lives are. We can't say what they are. They are chimerical containers that hold everything that we could ever wish for or imagine. They are temporal analogues for the infinite.


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Whilst eating some red berries... I got berrie thing at Gerard Mulot to paint... But I ate it :) I wanted to buy anemonies from my favorite fleuriste
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I decided to try my luck and get the best waffle/gauffre in Paris yesterday.

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The search for the perfect beautiful woman has come to an end now. My name acecilia for me every person in the world is unique and special, you be ready to have with me one of the best moments of your life. I am the ideal person to present my sexy and addictive world, I take care of my body and my health every day to be the best person for you. Education, respect and class are my main points. With me, you will have a natural and warm encounter that you will not forget. I can be your intimate muse, girlfriend or dominatrix. What distinguishes me from all the others is not only my femininity, but rather the details of my skin, my kisses... I like to take you away from the stress of the world for a few hours, I'm a call away from you... call me! My beauty is what will seduce you when you lay eyes on me, but by the touch, the smell of my skin, the taste of my lips is what you will remember long after we part. You will find that I am fun-loving, witty and reliable. I am seductively provocative while being a beautiful, chic and intelligent woman who wants to satisfy all your desires. If you are a beginner do not hesitate to call me and I will receive you with great kindness and attention. I attach great importance to discretion.
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Very different from the traditional massage, it is performed on a naked body and takes into account the entire body, including the genitals. However, the genitals are not seen as erogenous zones to be avoided or aroused, but as


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If you love fantasy and guinea pigs this digital stamp is perfect to color and enjoy. Very easy to color, print several and make some thank you cards, or birthday cards or tags! The possibilities are endless.
* Please note:
- .
—- You will received one 300 dpi png file. The images will be in white with transparent background.
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This digital stamp has been hand drawn by Patricia Alvarez. Copyright ©Patricia Alvarez. All rights reserved.
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Jason Marquis threw over the head of Matt Kemp in the first inning, but the Dodgers kept their cool. Zack Greinke hit Carlos Quentin in the sixth inning, and Quentin, the punk, charged Greinke. Greinke took the blow of Quentin with his non-throwing shoulder forward, but Quentin's charge fractured Greinke's collarbone. Benches cleared, but the damage to the Dodgers will last well beyond this game.
Juan Uribe (who now LEADS the Dodgers in HR, for pete's sake) hit a game-winning PH HR in the top of the eighth to break the 2-2 tie (Dodgers had opened up a 2-0 lead in the first with a Carl Crawford leadoff single and a soaring Adrian Gonzalez two-run HR). That held up when Kenley Jansen worked a 1-2-3 ninth. Dodgers take the series from the Padres.
But really, fuck Carlos Quentin. He's a disgrace to Stanford.


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Xoana González
Looking for a hot lady who's into cuckolding in Gonzalez. 38 years old and up only!
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First name: Lucelia,
Age: 38 yo,
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We are a friendly couple and my name is Lucelia. We love going on libertine dating sites to have fun between kinky people. I want a cool guy who is well-endowed and will make me orgasm with my man because I am a very hot girl who loves having 2 cocks for herself. We love sadomasochism. For me, the best is when I am tied up so that my man can watch you make love to me and I will orgasm like never before. We will be available this weekend. We don't mind coming to your place, or if you prefer we can meet at our place. If our libertine ad catches your attention, then please contact us. We are very happy to be on this libertine site. See you soon.
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I'm looking for an unfaithful plan with a man who makes erotic games. I want someone who is especially imaginative in order to enjoy myself. I would like a man with a large penis. Someone to enjoy very hard without taboos. We can see each other on Gonzalez and its surroundings. I can usually meet you in the evening for a meeting. I want to meet this guy who can make all my libertine desires come true. I am looking forward to reading your responses. Kisses until we meet again. See you soon.
A new couple wants to try out the libertine lifestyle in Gonzalez
Xoana González
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Age: 42 yo,
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We do a lot of things in libertinism and all that since forever with dignity and hygiene. However, we prefer soft bdsm with an experienced man. I prefer guys who are tbm and fairly athletic, but don't worry this is just a wish. I, on the other hand, demand a good fuck like my bichon. I want to moan like never before. We prefer to have a date at our apartment but if you want we can move around Gonzalez and its surroundings. We are mainly available in the evening for this trio. Now we want to discover your most naughty advances. In the hope of seeing your messages. Kisses! See you soon.
Nana, still young Gonzalez is looking for a night of sex
Xoana González
First name: Sevin,
Age: 31 yo,
City: Gonzalez (FL)
My name is Sevin, I'm 31 years old from Gonzalez and I work in a temp agency. Now, I don't complicate my life, I do what I want with who I want. The moon is a beautiful thing. The moon is a beautiful sight. I'm a naughty girl who loves to flirt and collect guys. I am free and live a totally naughty life. I don't hide from my close friends that I regularly have affairs with people who I don't know very well. I'm sort of a sex expert. I love getting fucked hard for hours and hours. Ideally, I would like the men who contact me to be brown and preferably handsome. The boy I'm looking for will also need to be patient because I expect a lot sexually. I love spending an entire weekend lounging under the covers, if my lover knows how to please me. I am available at the end of the week and in the evening. You can have a date at my place. I'm just looking to have some fun with a nice guy. If you're interested, leave a comment. I would be happy to provide you with my email or phone number so we can exchange. See you soon.
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Age: 27 yo,
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We offer a lot of accessories. I'm attracted to well-endowed, thin pigs, but don't worry it's just a desire. However, I require a type that is enterprising like my Bichon. I want to scream like never before. My boyfriend and I really enjoy going to swingers clubs in Gonzalez to meet new couples. It's first for me because I'm very hot with the m'sieux and I have few limits. Now that you know what I'm looking for, feel free to leave me a comment. I'm sure we'll have a good time together. I'll see you soon. Kisses.
Looking for a good licker, 33 year old brunette
Xoana González
First name: Ratil,
Age: 33 yo,
City: Gonzalez (FL)
For this hot encounter, I'm okay with giving you a date in a public place. If you wish, it is possible to arrange a meeting in a forest. I'm a girl who loves to suck dick so you have a nice hard on. I also really enjoy trying out unconventional sexual practices like anal sex. I want a very tough boy. Someone to enjoy themselves very much without holding anything back. To finish, I think I'm going to have some good rendezvous with a cutie. First of all, you have to give me an appointment. I hope to meet you soon! Big kisses.
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First name: Lee-lou,
Age: 47 yo,
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I want to see you in your apartment because I have to be very discreet. However, I am available in the evening for this date with you. Since I'm feeling more like a Cougar, I only want to date younger guys, or at least a man who is much younger than me. From now on, I just want to have fun. I love getting fucked hard for hours and hours. I don't hide from my friends that I regularly have liaisons with men that I don't know very well. I am alone and living a fully liberated life. I am, so to speak, a sex expert. To cut to the chase, it's better not to be a novice if you want me in your bed. If you fulfill my aspirations, you will be rewarded.
One hour meeting for a beautiful redhead very good in bed on Gonzalez
Xoana González
First name: Clothilde,
Age: 31 yo,
City: Gonzalez (FL)
Welcome to my ad, I'm Clothilde and I'm 31 years old. I am separated and I am looking for a good lay to discover new sexual practices like swingers or others. We can meet up, I'm available every evening. You can choose the place but only on Gonzalez. I am a beginner in the libertine lifestyle, I need someone who is experienced and knows how to show me the ropes. Why not submit to me during this hookup and be my object so you can have your way with me and we both reach orgasm? I have no taboos when it comes to erotic games like group sex or others. I therefore want to discover several of these things with a guy who has experience. So if you want to meet me, contact me. I hope you understood me and that you will be able to meet my needs.
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First name: Léhanna,
Age: 19 yo,
City: Gonzalez (FL)
We're available to meet and have fun on weekends. We would like to schedule an appointment with you at our office if that is okay. We prefer a man who is approximately the same age for this naughty plan. I'm a very playful woman, I need a real man to enjoy it all together. We love sadomasochism. I love it when I'm tied up so my guy can see me while you lick me and make me come like crazy. In short, we will read your proposals for this evening of sex. Looking forward to seeing you on Gonzalez! I kiss you! See you soon.
Looking for a third to join us in our mélangisme. My girlfriend is very gourmande and I'm hoping to find someone who can keep up with her!
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First name: Cindelle,
Age: 34 yo,
City: Gonzalez (FL)
We are available on weekends. We don't mind moving, or if you prefer we could meet at our apartment. I'm attracted to naughty guys who are well-endowed and tall, but this remains a preference. However, I want a good blow like my Bichon. I want to have a good time. I practice candaulism because I love playing with another kinky person, but only when my husband is watching. I'm really hot when I get laid and I especially like it when someone licks me slowly. To conclude, we simply want to have some fun with another couple. We are quite open-minded. We are waiting for your comments. Big kisses.
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Healthy Recipes - Strawberry Spread
We're not talking about making preserves here, just a quick spread to refrigerate and use within a week. Stir it into vanilla yogurt—it's better than fruit on the bottom.
2 cups strawberries
1/4 cup sugar (or 3 tbsp. granulated sugar substitute)
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Put berries in a small saucepan. Add sugar (or sweetener) and lemon juice. Cook on high just until the mixture starts to boil. Turn heat to medium and stir frequently, mashing berries with a spatula, to keep from burning or sticking to the bottom of the pan.
After about 15 minutes, most of the liquid should be cooked off. When you reach your desired consistency, let it cool and pour into a container to refrigerate.
Makes about 1 cup
Each tablespoon serving contains about 18 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g cholesterol, 0 g sodium, 5 g carbohydrate, less than 1 g dietary fiber, 4 g sugars, and 0 g protein.


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Something has changed.
I was a happy Adult Swim viewer a few years ago, discovering Family Guy for the first time during the stoner hour on Cartoon Network every night, when Fox Television rejects were resurrected like Lazarus by a geeky Jesus. And I was a happy Fox Television viewer when Family Guy was resurrected like Jesus, seemingly out of its own being, because of the good it had contributed to the world, the sacrifice it had made for the cultural benefit of us all: the satirical lens focused on everyone, and actions or trends were ridiculed with the fierceness Christ displayed in the Temple when he discovered the unconscionable practices going on behind those doors.
The show has appeared to lose something in its new incarnation, as though instead of being happy with the time it was given to do more good works it is desperate to prove that it deserves more than a short coda. The new jokes are concentrated stoner-joy, but at an hour the stoners aren't paying attention to. And I think desperation has sunk in. Like South Park, which decided that it wasn't enough to push arbitrary cultural and political boundaries and instead began trying to trigger America's gag reflex with a Paris Hilton-Mister Slave gross off, Family Guy has become too hard to watch.
I'm not talking about the extended Conway Twitty performance on tonight's episode (either a desperate time-fill for a show whose writers are dry, or a genuine joke for a show whose writers are boring). I didn't even see that part of tonight's episode, because I had already turned the show off.
Tonight Seth McFarlane decided that it would be great (hilarious? controversial? thought-provoking? satirical?) to joke about Peter shaking his first son, Peter Jr., to death because he wanted the baby to be quiet.
I couldn't watch any more of it after that.
Although I've been writing this as though what's changed is the show, really it's me. I doubt that three years ago I'd have seen that segment and reacted at all severely. But it's clear that I am no longer Family Guy's audience. Because Seth McFarlane and his writers don't have respect for the same things that I do. Maybe we agree about a wide range of cultural practices that can be mocked or satirized. Maybe we agree about politicians and entertainers being fair game for ridicule. But I can't hear a shaken-baby joke and think "hilarious!" or "yeah, stick it to those parents, taking infant mortality so seriously! Lighten up." It's clear that I don't have the same sense of humour anymore.
This isn't a "come boycott Family Guy" with me message. It's not a "Family Guy needs to change!" message. I don't care, at all, what Seth McFarlane has to say on his show anymore; I'm not starting a crusade to get it off the air. I'm not even sure that the joke itself is unconscionable or anything so dramatic. It just occurs to me, now, that I am a different person and this is part of what it means to have a child of my own.
It means I laugh when my daughter says "ribbit!" for no reason whatsoever.


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Paul Elias Sunday, 25 August 2013 09:43 AM EDT
When the mayor of Richmond, Calif., and a gaggle of activists and homeowners showed up at the Wells Fargo Bank headquarters in downtown San Francisco this month, they were on a mission to speak with the bank's chief executive.
They wanted the bank to drop a lawsuit aimed at stopping Richmond's first-in-the-nation plan to use the government's constitutional power of eminent domain to "seize" hundreds of mortgages from Wells Fargo and other financial institutions.
As Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and the plan's backers approached the bank building, security guards locked the doors. After a bank official told her there would be no meeting then and that someone would call her later, she grabbed a bullhorn.
"I am absolutely not backing down," McLaughlin said, as curious tourists and lunching office workers milled about.
Wells Fargo, three other banks and even the Federal Housing Finance Agency think otherwise.
The banks have filed two lawsuits alleging that the plan is an illegal abuse of eminent domain, which allows governments to seize private property for public use — like a house in the path of a new highway or a piece of land needed for a new park.
The banks argue the plan would "severely disrupt the United States mortgage industry" because many other cities would likely adopt the same program to help homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth.
So far, Richmond has sent out more than 600 offers, but has not yet begun any eminent domain proceedings. Newark, N.J., North Las Vegas, Nev., El Monte, Calif., and Seattle are considering similar plans, according to Wells Fargo's lawsuit.
While the housing industry is recovering slowly, Richmond, a city of roughly 100,000 people, is in the middle of a housing crisis, as plummeting home values and rising crime has left many worried that an era of urban blight is upon them.
McLaughlin said cities are considering the program because they are desperate. Nearly half the mortgages in Richmond, for example, are "underwater," where the owner owes more than the house is worth.
The plan is the brainchild of Cornell University law school professor Robert Hockett and here's how it works:
"The fact of the matter is that underwater loans do default at massive rates," Hockett said. "Underwater loans are a major drag on the economic recovery. We have got to do something."
Richmond, working with San Francisco-based Mortgage Resolution Partners, offers $150,000 to buy a $300,000 bank loan on a house that is now worth $200,000 and is in danger of foreclosure.
If the bank agrees, the city and the company then obtain the loan at $150,000. Richmond and the company then offer the homeowner a new loan of $190,000, which, if accepted, lowers the monthly payments and improves the owners' chances of staying.
In such transactions, the company receives $4,500 for each completed sale and splits any additional profits with the city.
If the bank refuses to sell the loan to Richmond, then the city invokes its power of imminent domain and seizes the mortgage. It would then offer the bank a fair market value for the home.
Mortgage Resolution Partners, the company partnering with the city, puts up the money and had promised to pay all Richmond's legal costs. City officials have not said how many homes they hope to refinance through eminent domain.
McLaughlin is a Green Party candidate who beat back opposition from the city's police and fire unions to win a second term in 2010.
She said she fears homeowners will begin to abandon their homes, leading to blighted neighborhoods and the draining of public coffers to the point of municipal bankruptcy experienced by Stockton, Calif., and Detroit.
"The city is stepping in where Wall Street and where the federal government have been unable or unwilling to do so," she said.
Federal regulators said eminent domain isn't the answer. The Federal Housing Finance Agency said plans to seize loans "present a clear threat to the safe and sound operations Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks."
Tim Cameron, a Washington, D.C., lobbyist with the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, said there is more at play than a single person's underwater loan.
Cameron said pension funds, banks and other groups that made loans in Richmond stand to lose millions of dollars if the city is allowed to use eminent domain to force lenders into accepting less than the original terms of the loan.
He also predicted that cities using eminent domain will make lenders wary of doing business there.
"There's a domino effect in play here," he said.
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And as the pounds melted away and the waist shrunk, so did Dow et al. Perhaps my waist size is a market indicator? I should warn all that I plan to "shrink" a bit further... :)
On markets: My view is that we are currently in the "But things can't really get any worse, can they?" phase. Another way to put it is that hope dies last - and there is still plenty of hope around. For economic indicators, I keep a close watch on employment, particularly the jobless claims numbers that come out every Thursday.
As I have often said before, it is earned income (or rather, the lack of it) that is key to what is happening to an economy that kept piling debt upon debt in order to keep the pigs flying. The failure of financial institutions is just the sound of some of them crashing to the ground.
How stupid is a "system" that:
a) Demands that working people keep their salary and wage demands low in the name of "competitiveness" and,
b) Then encourages them to substitute debt for income and,
c) Then asks them to keep consuming?
Darned stupid, if you ask me...


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This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. On this edition, it's not just Santa making a list, it's our TV critic David Bianculli and film critic David Edelstein, who are here with their lists of the best and worst of the year. Let's get started with what David Bianculli has to say about the year in television.
Hi, David, it's always good to talk with you in person.
DAVID BIANCULLI, BYLINE: I love this time of year.
GROSS: So before we get to the 10-best list, just overview: good year, bad year for TV?
BIANCULLI: Good year for TV again in terms of cable, I think an even worse year for broadcast TV.
GROSS: Worse than last year?
BIANCULLI: Worse than last year, which I wouldn't have thought possible 12 months ago. But broadcast TV really didn't do much, and that has to change, or they've just given up the entire fight.
GROSS: And now to prove your point, let's get to your 10-best list.
BIANCULLI: OK, I'm going to do it from number 10 to number one so we have dramatic impact. And tied for 10 is a show that's just about to begin again in January, "Justified" on FX, which I think doesn't make a lot of people's lists because they have to remember all the way to last winter. But it was a wonderful show. So - and one that just ended, "Homeland" on Showtime, which last year was near the top of my list, and I still think it's a very good show, but this year it went from having an episode where it did one of the best and most surprising things I've seen a TV show do in a while to coming up near the end.
And I'm not going to reveal anything, but the momentum of the last few episodes was different than the first few episodes. And I'd actually like to play a clip. There's one pivotal episode that the third - you know, like three episodes in on this season, and you have Claire Danes as Carrie, who is this CIA agent who spent all of last season suspecting this other character of being a terrorist working for al-Qaida, when he's actually a returning POW Marine.
And Damian Lewis plays him - it's Brody, and - so last year there was that whole cat-and-mouse. Well, this year, you would think, or at least I thought, that it was going to be this whole big deal that was drawn out where they used him and just kept tabs on him. But they pivoted it so suddenly that that episode was a shocking thing to watch.
It's like she goes into his hotel room, which is already bugged, and so her co-workers are watching, and you'll hear them watching what's enveloping in the room. She goes back up to the room, to what you think is a seduction, but it isn't.
DAMIAN LEWIS: (as Nicholas Brody) You still have your twisted theories about me, don't you?
CLAIRE DANES: (as Carrie Mathison) Not theories anymore.
LEWIS: Look, I'm sorry I called. I guess I thought we could be friends.
DANES: Friends? Ah, yeah, yeah, do I want to be friends with a demented ex-soldier who hates America, who decided strapping on a bomb was the answer to what ailed him despite his daughter, his son, people who loved him in real life, not in the (beep) world of Abu Nazir - who in the end didn't have the stones to go through with it but had no problem sending me to the nuthouse? Yeah, no thanks. I don't think I need a friend like that.
LEWIS: OK, not friends.
DANES: So what are you going to do now? Are you going to kill me? Are you going to blame it on rough sex maybe? I mean how long can you get away with something like that?
LEWIS: I've had a pretty good run so far.
DANES: It's true.
LEWIS: I seem to be good at this, if nothing else.
DANES: You're special.
LEWIS: I liked you, Carrie.
DANES: I loved you.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Police! Hands behind your back. On the floor. Are you good?
DANES: If only the circumstances had been wildly different. You are a disgrace to your nation, Sergeant Nicholas Brody. You're a traitor and a terrorist, and now it's time you pay for that.
BIANCULLI: See, they, like, skipped a whole half-season by jumping that quickly and forcing the plot to something that you didn't expect her to do that soon. But I think - go ahead.
GROSS: I haven't been keeping up. So what happens to the character now that we know he's a terrorist?
BIANCULLI: Well, I don't know how much to tell. This is where I get stuck.
GROSS: Oh, don't tell.
GROSS: All right, moving on.
BIANCULLI: I know, but so without saying anything specific, I'll just say that because they burn through their material so fast on "Homeland," I mean they have just, you know, they are on the accelerator the whole time, I think there were times in this second season where they vamped a little bit, and things weren't as tight and cohesive as they were the first year. So that's why it's down near the bottom instead of the top.
But television is so good, making the top 10 at all to me says it's still a very, very good show. All right, so to go through the rest of them: number nine, "Modern Family" on ABC, number eight, "Walking Dead" on AMC, number seven, "Parenthood" on NBC, you know, a real drama about the sort of things we can all relate to, and I love that. This year was great for that.
"Louie" on FX is a fabulous comedy. That's number six. Number five, "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Comedy Central, terrific year for that crew; number four, "Good Wife" on CBS, great writing, great performing. It wasn't even their best year, and it still ranks that highly. Number three, "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central, again an election year, but boy, he did great stuff off-camera with superPACs and on camera.
Number two, "Mad Men" on AMC; and number one, also on AMC, "Breaking Bad," my favorite show on television.
GROSS: When is "Breaking Bad" coming back?
BIANCULLI: Oh, it's not soon enough. It's next spring or summer. But it will be ending when it comes back. So I'm already looking forward to it with dread, like it's the last piece of pie from that pie.
GROSS: This is a fairly new but increasingly popular way of ending a series, that you decide OK, next season we're through, we're going to have a dramatic ending, and that's that, as opposed to just continuing it until no one's watching it anymore.
BIANCULLI: I love this. I think it's one of the few positive developments in terms of scripted television in the last few years is the idea that more and more producers are saying I'm going to end it or pull the plug, or we're going to agree that one season, two seasons, and we're done. So they can write it with a particular shape.
That happened back in 1967 with "The Fugitive" when they knew they were going to get canceled, and so they said, well, we'd better wrap this up. We've been chasing the guy for, like, nine years. But now every show - well, "The Sopranos" didn't really end, it stopped.
BIANCULLI: But that sort of gave us...
GROSS: It just faded to black.
BIANCULLI: Right, that just gave us the idea. But you really do get a lot of richness by knowing that your story is going to end. I think that what could save American television is to do more of the British model and do fewer episodes each year and do them for only X number of years.
GROSS: So correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think there's one show on your top 10 list that's new.
BIANCULLI: No, there isn't. Oh, there definitely isn't, yes.
GROSS: And that says...
BIANCULLI: Well, that says that the networks had a terrible production year, and even cable didn't have a spectacular new one. There isn't a new show. I do have - if you can allow me to just do a super-fast list of other shows that I watch every episode of that I really like so that maybe...
GROSS: Yeah, yeah, run through it.
BIANCULLI: So people won't feel bad that I haven't mentioned - here we go: "Downton Abbey," "Call the Midwife," "Sherlock," "Moyers & Company" - all right, that takes care of public television - "Treme," "Girls" and "Newsroom," "Real Time with Bill Maher" on HBO; "Parks and Rec" and "30 Rock" on NBC", "60 Minutes" on CBS, "American Masters," "American Experience," "Great Performances," more PBS shows but a different kind.
I watch all those all the time, which means...
GROSS: You watch a lot of TV.
BIANCULLI: I have no life, is what that means.
GROSS: David, let's talk about what you think are the worst series of the year.
BIANCULLI: There were a lot, but here for different reasons are the bottom five. The fifth-worst is a CW game show called "Oh Sit," S-I-T, and it's basically musical chairs mixed with "Wipeout," which was one of my worst shows of a few years ago. And "Wipeout" is just they find ways to beat up people and throw them in water and get - it's an obstacle course, and then they have a live band playing, and when the band stops playing, they have to run the obstacle course and get on a chair.
And your face, which only I can see, says it all.
BIANCULLI: But yeah - no, and that was a whole - that was an actual primetime show. Number four was "Neighbors" on ABC, it's sort of like "My Favorite Martian" or "Mork and Mindy" in reverse. Instead of having one person who's an alien, surrounded by humans, this is a gated community where everybody's an alien except for this human group, this one couple, this one family that moves in. It's horrible.
"Mob Doctor" on Fox - she's a doctor, but she also has to do things for the mob. And so it's like we'll be "Grey's Anatomy" and "The Sopranos," but we weren't either one of those.
BIANCULLI: And then this is the month that we finally saw the end of "Jersey Shore," the TV show, not the actual location, and I'm - I couldn't be happier to say goodbye to Snooki and company.
But the number one really worst one, "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" on TLC. It's a spinoff of, like, the "Toddlers and Tiaras," where it's, you know, mothers with their little babies in these, you know, little baby pageant things. Honey Boo Boo is Georgia - how can I say this? Her - the accents of the family are so Deep South, that they are subtitled.
These are not people from a foreign country or a different language, but everything they say is subtitled so you have a chance of understanding it. And in the clip I'm going to play you, what's happening is that the mother, in order to help her daughter become more refined, her daughters, one of them is Pumpkin and then the other one is the Honey Boo Boo, invites an etiquette expert to come in and help.
And when the etiquette expert drives up to the home, they're holding one of their new pets, which is a squealing little pig.
JUNE SHANNON: When Alana didn't win anything in the pageant this past week, the judges said that she needed to be more refined, what the hell ever.
SHANNON: I know, shh. I really want to come back and win at the glitz pageant in six weeks. So we decided to invest in some etiquette lessons. And I think that out of all my kids, I think Pumpkin needs to be the more refined because she needs to be able to learn manners. So maybe this lady will help today with that.
BARBARA HICKEY: This is one of those pet pigs. Hi, I'm Mrs. Hickey. I'm Barbara Hickey, and I own the Etiquette School of Atlanta.
SHANNON: This is Glitzy(ph).
HICKEY: Glitzy? Interesting.
HICKEY: And is this a baby because she...?
SHANNON: It's a teacup piggy.
BIANCULLI: That's plenty. Honey Boo Boo is something you can't unhear or unwatch, and...
GROSS: Until now I didn't need to. No, because I'd never seen it. I even heard President Obama make a Honey Boo Boo joke, and I'd never seen it. I didn't really know the show. So thank you so much, David.
BIANCULLI: I feel like this is my job, to bring you...
GROSS: Can I just ask you before we move on, you know, this is a TLC show, which, you know, used to stand for The Learning Channel. What happened?
BIANCULLI: It's happened with a lot of networks.
GROSS: Bravo.
BIANCULLI: Yes, I mean History Channel.
GROSS: Bravo was like the arts channel.
BIANCULLI: Yes.
GROSS: It's a lot of reality now.
BIANCULLI: A lot of them have given things up. Even Syfy runs wrestling.
GROSS: Oh, I didn't know that.
BIANCULLI: Yes, it's - there's a lot of - you know, very few cable networks at this moment have stayed true to their original vision. I mean C-SPAN is one. Turner Classic Movies is another, you know, Nickelodeon, The Disney Channel, some of them - and certainly ESPN - have stayed true to what they were going to do. But a lot of these that were more all-purpose, like USA and TLC and E! and VH1, oh my. They've changed.
GROSS: If you're just joining us, I'm with David Bianculli, our TV critic, and we're talking about the year in television. Let's take a short break here, and then we'll be back and talk some more. This is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is our TV critic David Bianculli, and we're talking about the year in television. So of course one of the biggest stories of the year, on TV and off, was the presidential campaign, and before that of course the primaries. Did you see anything new this year in terms of cable or network news or comedy coverage of the presidential campaign that, you know, that you hadn't seen before?
BIANCULLI: In news, no, and I was really disappointed. I thought this was going to be the year where the political debates really stepped up because they were important, and people were watching them in pretty good numbers, but the formats that they used, they're not tried and true. They're like tried and false. And we just sort of endured them all, waiting for a gotcha moment instead of actually going policy stuff back and forth.
In terms of humor, that's always sort of encouraged me and discouraged me at the same time because we have comedy shows, which are going back into the vaults and playing old clips to put things in perspective along with new ones when they're dealing with politics and politicians.
GROSS: Colbert and Stewart.
BIANCULLI: Yeah, Colbert and Stewart. And why don't the networks do more of that? It just boggles my mind.
GROSS: MSNBC does a lot of that, and I think they maybe picked it up from Jon Stewart, but the MSNBC shows really do juxtapose what a politician said last year or five years ago with what they said yesterday or today. What about election night? What network or anchor or commentator do you think did best?
BIANCULLI: Well, I have to watch them all and like to watch them all. I don't know that there was a best. The big election night moment for me was Karl Rove on Fox news, when his own network called Obama's re-election because of Ohio, and he just wasn't quite ready to let go.
GROSS: And what is doing now? Is he affiliated at all with Fox anymore?
BIANCULLI: I don't know. He doesn't call; he doesn't write.
GROSS: So David, what do you think? My impression, in terms of the presidential debates, was that the debates that were set up by networks, by TV networks, encouraged, like, applause, and, you know, like just like hearing the audience, whereas the other debates just were much more, like, please hold your applause until the end. It wasn't about, like, you know, getting that visceral response and being more of, like, a TV show with people taking sides.
BIANCULLI: That's a fair point, and another thing is that some of them, you know, were so desperate to get interactive, like here's a question from a Twitter person, here's a question from - you know, and it's like look, why don't you just get some of the best journalists around and have them ask the questions, although the town hall meeting debate stuff, that's a completely different thing, but that's a dynamic, and it's actually as much a performance as anything else by the politicians.
GROSS: One of the most unfortunate things in terms of television this year is the amount of time that networks, you know, had to spend covering just horrific tragedies like in Newtown and the horrible shooting in Aurora in the movie theater, and, you know, the shootings at the Sikh temple.
You know, I watch the coverage of these events and almost can't turn off the TV, but at some point I always ask myself, am I crossing the line at any point as I watch it into not getting any new information but wanting to watch it because it almost becomes like a reality show about grief.
BIANCULLI: Yeah, no, I...
GROSS: Do you know what I mean? I...
BIANCULLI: I know exactly what you mean, and actually - TV critic for like 35 years or something. This is the first time I was in a position, because I'm not writing for a daily newspaper anymore, that I was able to say, watching the Newtown coverage, I've had enough. You know, I didn't have to keep watching. Once I realized no new news was coming out and checked all the different outlets, it was affecting me so much emotionally that unlike 9/11, you know, this one I was able to say no, I'm going to turn off the television set for a while because it's just too sad, and it's getting to me.
And some people say that television has desensitized us to violence. I don't think that's true in these real-life cases because the ones that you mentioned and others that you can think about, they stop everything, and the networks go 24 hours, and we are horrified by them and fascinated by them for the exact reason that they do affect us, and they are still unusual and tragic.
GROSS: Our TV critic David Bianculli will be back in the second half in the show as we continue our best and worst of the year edition. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. Before we hear David Edelstein's list of the best and worst of the year in film, let's get back to our conversation about the year in television with our TV critic David Bianculli.
Every year, David, when we talk about the year in television, we talk about how new technology is changing how we watch what we watch, and how what we watch is measured by the networks and by, you know, anybody trying to get information for advertisers, or whatever. So what are the new developments on that front this year?
BIANCULLI: Oh, they're going crazy on that front. They've succeeded in having not only measurements of what people are watching when they're watching live, but now it's a plus-three day sort of thing, or even up to plus-seven days. So if you record it and you watch it within three days, that the program gets credit for that.
GROSS: So, like, if you DVR something, they're going to be able to tell that if you've watched it in the next three days.
BIANCULLI: Yes.
BIANCULLI: But the trick about this: Let's say that you're advertising a movie on Friday, you know, in TV show that airs on Friday. You have Thursday or Friday night movie ads, and you want people to go for the weekend. If they don't see that until Sunday or Monday...
GROSS: Oh.
BIANCULLI: ...that does you no good. So the movie - you know, some of the advertisers are saying, well, I don't want to pay as much for plus-three as I do for regular, because it doesn't help me. So those rules are changing.
But the other one that I didn't see coming that's really fascinating is all these DVD box sets that have gotten bigger and better and more ornate, they may be an endangered species now, just as we're getting the hang of doing them well, you know, because of cloud, because of Netflix, because of Hulu Plus. You know, people don't have to store their own libraries if they know that they're somewhere they can check it out whenever they want to.
GROSS: Huh. Interesting. OK.
BIANCULLI: And that's scary, actually.
GROSS: Why? Because you're a hoarder?
BIANCULLI: Well...
BIANCULLI: Ow. Et tu? Yeah. No, but I...
BIANCULLI: No, it's horrible, because it's sort of like...
GROSS: I shouldn't talk.
BIANCULLI: No, no. Listen. But if everything's out there and people don't know, if there's no place to actually go get it, this is just going to die. Every year, when I teach, there are a few fewer people percentage-wise, 20-year-olds, that have seen "The Honeymooners," you know, that have seen even "I Love Lucy." And that's a shame. And once it's not playing in syndication, where will they see it, and why?
GROSS: Yeah. And it's also nice if somebody gives you, like, a DVD box set of - as a gift of a program that you didn't intend to watch or download, and maybe you'll watch it and find out you really like it.
BIANCULLI: Are you kidding? That's my gift-giving you've just described. Here, "The Singing Detective." You're going to love it.
GROSS: Any other big shifts in television this year you want to talk about?
BIANCULLI: I think that's the biggest shift, except overall, I don't understand what broadcast television is doing.
GROSS: You've been saying that the past few years, and about how they've just moved from scripted TV to reality TV and to sitcoms that aren't that...
BIANCULLI: Yeah, maybe it's because it's easier for them to replicate "American Idol" by doing "The Voice," you know, than it is to try to replicate "Lost," which they're still trying to replicate. But it's just - they should realize that strong, original scripted programming is one of their strengths, and they don't. They seem to be giving it up, just as they gave up the TV movie, they gave up the miniseries. It seems like now, dramas and comedies, most of the best ones are on cable.
GROSS: David, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you about your year and your year in television, because this year, you had some health issues...
BIANCULLI: Yes.
GROSS: ...that kind of forced you to take some time off from work, and gave you, I think, a lot of opportunity to watch television just as a watcher and not as a critic. And my guess is that you were going for a kind of comfort-food TV, which might be just a little bit different than what you'd watch as a critic, and that you might also just have perceived it differently.
BIANCULLI: It's absolutely true. That was sort of a revelation. I spent, you know, probably close to a month in the hospital in two different visits. I'm fine now, by the way. But the idea is that I didn't even have - they didn't even have Turner Classic Movies on the cable, the hospital where I was. So, to me, this is, like, third-world health care, you know.
BIANCULLI: Because I would have been totally happy with just Turner Classic Movies. I wouldn't have needed to change anything, and that would have been comfort food 24 hours a day.
But it got to be where when "Andy Griffith Show" would show up on TV Land in the morning, that was really important to me, and made it easier to get through that hour. And I forgot how soothing television can be, because I watch so much of it and take it for granted and teach it and everything like that. But just watching Andy and Opie was huge for me.
GROSS: What are some of the other shows that you found really pleasurable to watch?
BIANCULLI: Oh, this is not going to help my reputation. "SpongeBob SquarePants" really helped me in the hospital. It was just goofy enough and just light enough. And once I could get to a cycle where you had Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, it was like friends had come by to visit. And that meant a lot.
GROSS: Yeah. Yeah. So let's close with your favorite TV moment of the year, which is...
BIANCULLI: Which is, for the second year in a row, it's "Parks and Recreation," and for the same selfish, stupid reason that it was last year, is that I got an unexpected little shout-out in it. And so, last year, I said that I'm the only person that this would be the favorite moment of television for. This year, I believe that it could also be Ken Tucker's favorite moment in television.
BIANCULLI: So it's Dan Castellaneta as public radio host, and I love the way he makes fun of...
GROSS: And he's from "The Simpsons."
BIANCULLI: Yes. And he's from "The Simpsons." And he - you know, you have Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope on as a guest. But the way he makes fun of public radio, I just find absolutely hilarious, and I hope anyone listening now will, as well. But, for me, I get the added kick of hearing my name in there somewhere, and so does Ken Tucker.
GROSS: Well, David, I want to wish you happy holidays, and a happy and healthy New Year.
BIANCULLI: All right. Thanks so much. Yeah, I want a healthy one, too. And thanks. These debriefings are so much fun.
GROSS: For me, too.
BIANCULLI: Thanks.
DAN CASTELLANETA: (as Derry Murbles) Welcome to "Thought for Your Thoughts." I'm your host, Derry Murbles, sitting in Nina Joplin, who is touring the country performing a spoken-word opera about pear-shaped women. My guest today is city councilwoman Leslie Knope.
AMY POEHLER: (as Leslie Knope) It is a pleasure to be back, Derry. Your show last week on dolphin lactation was just riveting radio. Derry, my team and I are trying to build a park, and we need input on the design from you, the citizens of Pawnee. So I guess I'm here to send out the Bat-Signal.
CASTELLANETA: A Bat-Signal, for listeners who might not know, refers to the children's character the Batman, a strong gentleman who fights crime nocturnally.
POEHLER: That's correct. Well put. This park is going to be a celebration of Pawnee, by Pawnee and for Pawnee. So, you know, send in your plan or your resume, and quick. Please. Hurry. This is all going to fall apart if you don't hurry.
CASTELLANETA: Coming up after the break, movie reviews with Ken Tucker, who is filling in for David Bianculli, who's in New York filling in for Ken Tucker. Leslie, would you like to introduce the next segment?
POEHLER: OK. Now it's time for "Jazz Plus Jazz Equals Jazz." Today, we have a recording of Benny Goodman played over a separate recording of Miles Davis.
CASTELLANETA: Research shows that our listeners love jazz.
GROSS: OK. Well, you'll find our TV critic David Bianculli's list of the best and worst TV shows of the year on our website, freshair.npr.org. David is FRESH AIR's film critic and film critic - well, he's the founder and editor of the website TV Worth Watching, and he teaches TV and film history at Rowan University.
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Active women are at least twice as likely to suffer serious knee injuries as men, but it's not just athletes who are at risk.
Although female athletes at the high school and college level can suffer serious knee injuries, women who play recreational volleyball or participate in step aerobics also can injure their knees, says the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). A mother who carries her child down a flight of steps and misses the last step also can injure her knee. In short, a knee injury can happen to any woman, no matter how athletic she is.
The chief movements that cause knee problems in women are pivoting and landing from a jump, the AAOS says.
Luckily, women can help protect themselves by getting into better shape, knowing their strength, controlling their weight, and exercising their leg muscles.
Why are women's knees, in a sense, their Achilles heel?
Since a woman has a wider pelvis, her femur (thigh bone) descends into the knee at an inward angle.
When a woman becomes fatigued, as during an athletic event, the angle on landing becomes more pronounced, further increasing the chance of injury.
A band of fibrous connective tissue called the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) passes through a "notch" in the lower end of the thighbone that forms part of the knee. The ligament, one of several that attach the upper and lower leg bones, is about the same size for a woman as a man—but the notch is up to 20% narrower in women. That makes the woman's ligament more susceptible to tearing.
A woman's hamstring muscles, at the back of the thigh, are often weak compared with her quadriceps, the muscles at the front of the thigh. The quadriceps pull the bones of the lower leg forward, and the hamstrings pull them back. Hamstring muscles help protect the ACL from injury. When the pulling power is out of balance, the knees suffer.
The muscle imbalance tends to be far worse in women than in men. The imbalance may begin to happen during childhood if girls engage in less physical activity. Exercise can help overcome the problem.
Risk of injury to the ACL appears to be higher during ovulation, when estrogen levels are highest. The ACL appears to respond to estrogen by decreasing cell activity to repair basic ligament fibers called collagen.
Strengthening exercises are especially important for your hamstrings. Try hamstring curls: Lying on your belly, draw your lower legs upward, and try to touch your heel to your buttock. Use resistance equal to about 10% of your body weight. Do a few sets of 10 to 15 repetitions; hold them a second or 2.
Jumping exercises are also critical for building strength and preventing knee injuries. When you land from a jump, keep it soft. Come down on the balls of your feet and slowly roll back to the heel. Keep your knees bent and your hips straight. Try to keep your knee in line with your foot.
Hopping over a cone side to side and forward and backward builds strength and control:
Place a 6-inch cone on your left. Hop over the cone with both feet, concentrating on a soft landing. Repeat by hopping back over the cone to the right. Repeat for a total of 20 hops.
Place the cone in front of you. Hop over the cone with both feet, then hop backward over the cone. Keep your knees slightly bent when you land. Repeat for a total of 20 hops.
Repeat the above forward and backward exercise, but hop with 1 leg at a time. Again, keep your knee slightly bent when you land. Do 20 hops on each leg.
Improve your overall strength and fitness.
Know your level of fitness and the demands of your sport or activity.
Control your weight. When you walk, each extra pound adds 4 pounds of pressure to the kneecap. That pound adds 20 pounds of pressure when climbing steps.
Buy sturdy shoes made for your activity, and replace them when the inner or outer soles appear worn.
© 2024 Stanford Medicine Children's Health


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