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All BlueAnt devices are designed to reach volumes of up to 100 decibels (some BlueAnt devices are designed to reach volumes over 100 decibels). Prolonged use of a BlueAnt device at high volumes may affect your hearing capacity. Use for extensive periods may result in noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). Turn off the power to your device when not in use.
Do not listen at high volumes. Remember that your ears will adapt to the volume level and if you change to higher levels your ear may feel no discomfort but damage to your hearing may be occurring.
Should you experience any discomfort after using the product, stop using it immediately. If the problem persists seek medical assistance immediately.
Please ensure that the device and any associated components such as ear gels or chargers are stored safely and that any packaging or unwanted contents are disposed of thoughtfully. Do not place the product on the floor or leave it in a place where young children could access it, or someone could trip over it.
Your BlueAnt headset will come with ear gels or foam tips that are designed to provide a secure fit in your ear while providing high quality audio.
Note that non-compliance, misuse or forcing the ear gel or foam may cause damage to your ear canal or eardrum, or may otherwise cause bodily harm.
Check the laws and regulations on the use of mobile devices and accessories such as your BlueAnt device in the areas where you drive. Always obey them. DO NOT USE MOBILE DEVICES AND ACCESSORIES IN AREAS WHERE THEIR USE IS PROHIBITED. ENSURE THAT YOUR USE COMPLIES WITH ANY RESTRICTIONS.
Your BlueAnt device lets you communicate by voice when wireless service is available and safe conditions allow. When driving a car, driving is your first responsibility.
If you choose to use your Bluetooth device while driving, remember the following tips:
Your BlueAnt Bluetooth device is a precision engineered instrument. To ensure its ongoing performance, you should look after it as you would any quality consumer electronic product, and use it in accordance with the instructions.
BlueAnt recommends that you take the following precautions.
The use of accessories not approved by BlueAnt, including but not limited to batteries, antennas, wall adapters, car chargers, ear gels and foam tips and convertible covers, may cause your BlueAnt device to malfunction or in the case of non-approved electrical accessories may cause the device to exceed RF energy exposure guidelines.
Use of non approved accessories will void your devices warranty. For a list of approved BlueAnt accessories, visit our website at: www.blueantwireless.com.
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Some BlueAnt products contain chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects, and/or other reproductive harm.
BlueAnt has not expressly approved the user to make any changes or modifications to this device. You are cautioned that if you make any changes or modifications to this device, you can void your authority to operate the equipment. See 47 CFR section 15.21.
This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. See 47 CFR section 15.19(3) & (5).
If your mobile device or accessory has a USB connector, or is otherwise considered a computer peripheral device whereby it can be connected to a computer for purposes of transferring data, then it is considered a Class B device and the following statement applies:
NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
See 47 CFR section 15.105(b)
Headset Products: This equipment complies with FCC radiation exposure limits set forth for an uncontrolled environment. End users must follow the specific operating instructions for satisfying RF exposure compliance. This transmitter must not be co-located or operating in conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter.
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Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause interference and (2) This device must accept any interference, including interference that may cause undesired operation of the device. See RSS-GEN 7.1.5.
Hereby, BlueAnt declares that this product is in compliance with:
(Applicable in the European Union and other European countries with separate collection systems)
This symbol on a BlueAnt product or its literature indicates that it should not be disposed of with other household waste at the end of its working life. To prevent possible harm to the environment or human health from uncontrolled waste disposal, please separate this from other types of wastes and recycle it responsibly to promote the sustainable reuse of material resources.
Household users should contact either the retailer where they purchased this product, or their local government office, for details of where and how they can take this item for environmentally safe recycling. Business users should contact their supplier and check the terms and conditions of the purchase contract. This product should not be mixed with other commercial waste for disposal.
Do not dispose of Bluetooth accessories, such as chargers or headsets, with your household waste. In some countries or regions, collection systems are set up to handle electrical and electronic waste items, and may prohibit or restrict how such items are disposed of. Check the laws and regulations for your areas to determine how to properly dispose of such items. Contact your regional authorities for more details. If collection systems are not available, please return unwanted accessories to any BlueAnt Approved Service Center for your region.


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Women's basketball defeated in second round of NCAA tournament
March 02, 2013
A remarkable 2012-2013 season came to a close for the Lewis & Clark women's basketball team Saturday when the 13th-ranked Pioneers were defeated by Whitman 66-57 in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Northwest Conference Player of the Year Kristina Williams scored a game-high 27 points for the Pioneers, who finish the season at 25-4.
It was the third consecutive NCAA tournament appearance for Coach Juli Fulks' Pioneers, who won the Northwest Conference regular-season championship and were ranked in the national top ten for much of the season.
Williams ends her Lewis & Clark career atop the school's career scoring list in the era since the move to NCAA Division III.

subset: commoncrawl


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Rockies sign Morneau
Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - The Colorado Rockies have signed first baseman Justin Morneau to a two-year contract with a mutual option for 2016.
The Denver Post indicated last week that the deal will pay the former AL MVP just under $13 million.
Morneau, who spent the first 10 1/2 seasons of his career with the Minnesota Twins before he was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates late last season, will have the tall task of replacing long-time Rockies first baseman Todd Helton.
Over 11 seasons in the majors, the Canadian slugger has batted .277 with 221 homers and 863 RBI.


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Search for Media
single father Media
Are you looking for some high quality of people images? If yes, then you are at the right place. Photo Concierge website is the perfect digital collaborative market space which can help you get the images that you are looking for. This leading site will provide you the finest quality of high resolution images, vectors, illustrations and icons. We will cater you with photographs of - people, business people, people silhouette, family, crowd, man, happy people, people walking, people icon, expressions, and portrait. Our network has a variety of images in the category of people. Photo Concierge offers you several sizes of royalty free stock images online for marketing and advertising campaign on a much cheaper and affordable price which would fit correctly for your project needs. It's time you visit the website now for free and exclusive images. Our stocks of photographs reflect creativity at its best and the quality is unmatched. We are here to help you get exactly the same images that are relevant to your requirements and we assure you that it will help in accelerating your business


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United States still paying out pensions from Civil War
Two children of veterans still receiving benefits
The U.S. Civil War officially ended 148 years ago this spring, but the government is still paying the bill.
Two children of Civil War veterans are still receiving yearly benefits because of their fathers' service.
Years after the war ended, it was common for very young women to marry very old veterans to receive a widow's pension after their husbands' deaths.
The reason the children continued to receive the benefits is probably because they are legally disabled and unable to support themselves financially.
The survivor's names have not been released, but we do know about how old they are and where they live.
One beneficiary lives in Tennessee and was born around 1920. The other was born in North Carolina around 1930.
Each beneficiary receives a check for $876 per year.
The total cost of compensating veterans and survivors of all the American wars is around $40 billion a year.
Copyright 2013 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Jam Session: Arab and World Music
Thu, June 14, 2012 9:00 pm at Alwan for the Arts
Warm summer nights, hotter grooves. Alwan for the Arts will open its doors to musicians and lovers of music to attend a weekly Thursday night jam session starting May 31st and continuing through the month of June. The session will be based in improvised music, open to musicians playing in any and all traditions including but not limited to Arab, Jazz, North African, Turkish, Greek, Balkan, Persian, etc. Simple lead sheets/notation may be provided as necessary.
Free admission for performing musicians, $5 covers for others.
The session will be led by Alwan music curator and trumpeter/santur player/vocalist Amir ElSaffar and/or other regular Alwan performers. Please note that Alwan doesn't own a drum set, so percussionists should bring hand percussion. The weekly session will be preceeded by "Arab Grooves," a percussion class focused on rhythms of the Middle East led by Zafer Tawl (read about Arab Grooves here) as well as Iraqi Folk and Popular Songs, a class focused on learning to sing and play light-hearted, rhythmic songs from different regions of Iraq (read about Iraqi Folk and Popular Songs here)
Last updated: 2012-05-30 12:56:27
Join Our Mailing List:
Classes are currently being scheduled. Please check back soon for updates.
There are currently no upcoming events.
Directions16 Beaver Street
4th Floor
New York, NY 10004
(646) 732 3261
Email Us
Alwan for the Arts is accessible to people with disabilities. Please call 646 732 3261 in advance, or, buzz at the door to arrange a ramp.
© 2020 Alwan for the Arts
Hosting donated by:Marefa.org, the Arabic Encyclopedia


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The chip market is growing again after slumping a bit in the past several months, holding out hope for semis that the growth rate in the second half of the year will be sufficient for the industry to eke out some increases for the full year. It all hangs on whether the global economy and the insatiable desire of consumers for electronics both hold out.
The Semiconductor Industry Association calculates global sales across all types of chippery on a rolling three-month average, and in May – the latest month for which the SIA has data available – chip revenues worldwide came to $24.39bn, up 1.4 per cent from the rolling average in April.
"The upward trend of global semiconductor sales is encouraging," said Brian Toohey, president and CEO at the SIA, in a statement. "Recent sales totals are in line with industry projections of modest growth for the remainder of 2012, but a sluggish global economy continues to provide substantial headwinds, limiting more robust growth."
That quarter-on-quarter growth was driven by chip sales in the Asia/Pacific region with a tiny contribution from Europe – and despite declines in Japan and the Americas region. But while this is a good sign, on a year-on-year basis, chip sales are still slumping everywhere but in Japan.
Chip sales declines are trying to reverse and head for positive territory
Specifically, sales in the Americas were off 3.2 per cent year-on-year to $4.48bn, and in Europe were off 13.6 per cent to $2.84bn. Chip revenues even dropped 1.9 per cent in the Asia/Pacific region compared to May 2011, but Japan, working against an easy compare last year because of the economic downturn in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that rocked the nation last March, actually eked out four-tenths of a point of growth to $3.35bn this May.
The SIA relies on statistics from World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), and has not yet issued its own forecast for 2012, above and beyond saying that it expects for there to be growth relative to 2011. But WSTS put out its own forecast last month, and said that it expects for "less-than-average growth" for chip sales in 2012. So don't get too excited.
WSTS is projecting for global chip sales to rise by four-tenths of a point to just under $301bn in 2012. WSTS says that most integrated circuit categories will see little growth this year, with the exception being optoelectronic chippery.
WSTS semiconductor May 2012 forecast
And like many people making optimistic projections, which assume things always get better in the future and return to something close to "normal", the chip counters at WSTS say that the semi market will see a 7.2 per cent bump in 2013 to hit $322bn and will rise by 4.4 per cent to $336bn in 2013. We'll see. ®
Sponsored: Ransomware has gone nuclear


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Mike Rogers Still Pushing His 'Snowden Is A Russian Spy' Delusion, Citing Every Single 'Counterintelligence Official' In Support
from the more-delusions-cited-within,-including-a-presidential-run dept
Mike Rogers is still intent on proving Ed Snowden is a Russian spy. Apparently, Rogers' plan is to make the same assertions over and over again without providing any evidence beyond hearsay and conjecture (always from unnamed, unspecified intelligence community members).
His latest foray into his own particular conspiracy theory occurred during an interview with Michael Crowley at TIME. Crowley asks him to explain the assertions he's made about Ed Snowden, particularly the statement that he's under the influence of Russian intelligence (FSB). Crowley points out Rogers has offered no evidence to back up these claims. Rogers responds… by again offering no evidence.
The NSA contractor is definitely under the influence of Russian officials. We know that he was in China, Hong Kong anyway, and in Russia today. We have seen patterns and activities that lead us to believe that some or all of that information is being worked through by those intelligence services and putting the U.S. at risk.There's your "evidence." Snowden was in Hong Kong and now, Russia. Case closed. As for the "patterns and activities," Rogers offers nothing definite, other than foreign intelligence services are "working through" the documents, which could really mean nothing more than they're reading the papers.
If the NSA still doesn't know what's been taken, it's rather hard for any "counterintelligence official" to claim moves are being made because of yet undisclosed documents. If Rogers' assertion is true (and there's no reason to believe it is), it means the intelligence community is engaging in the same sort of conspiratorial speculation that he is. Needless to say, this would be perhaps the least productive use of the agency's resources.
You'll notice (as Crowley did) that Rogers won't even say Snowden's name at this point (referring to him only as a "NSA contractor"). Here's his excuse:
I think people have wrongly given him some elevated status, and he has some kind of an underground rock-star status. He's a traitor who puts our soldiers lives at risk.If anyone's turning Snowden into a larger-than-life figure, it's those, like Rogers, who are attempting to portray him as backstabbing traitor who ran to the welcoming arms of foreign intelligence agencies.
Rogers goes from bad to worse to incomprehensible within the space of a few questions. He says Snowden's living arrangements are far too cozy with Russian intelligence. At first, Snowden's only "about a mile away" from FSB's headquarters, then he's "been in custody" and finally, he's living in an FSB "joint facility." Crowley questions this and Rogers backpedals.
No, no, not a joint facility. He's housed very near an FSB facility. Makes it convenient for everybody.Hmm.
Then there's this: Rogers' ultimate proof that he's not a crazy person with a headful of conspiracy theories.
And remember we have other classified ways as well. That's why no counterintelligence official does not believe that today he's under the influence.Really? Then why have no other counterintelligence officials stepped up to make this claim? Do they really think this potential bombshell is best deployed by a rah-go-team-surveillance blowhard like Mike Rogers, a legislator who has done his very best to play the part of subservient flack catcher for the surveillance state? Wouldn't the single, most damning bit of evidence that Snowden is everything his detractors claim he is (traitor, spy) have already been exposed? Presumably these unnamed counterintelligence officials are no fan of Snowden's actions. If so, why are they sitting on this and letting someone like Rogers proactively destroy any potential credibility?
There's only one answer: it's completely untrue. Rogers may be able to find a number of yes-men who nod sagely while he spews baseless claims, but there's no way that number includes counterintelligence officials. Even if some of them suspect Snowden might be working in conjunction with Russia's FSB, they've wisely decided not to make that public before they've gathered enough evidence to support the claim. Rogers, on the other hand, has decided his gut instinct, informed by his irrational hatred of this "NSA contractor," is all the evidence that's really needed.
Filed Under: ed snowden, mike rogers, russia


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Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
Pope Francis makes a blessing as he delivers his first "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and world) message from the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Dec. 25, 2013.
Pope Francis offered Christmas wishes Wednesday for a better world, praying for protection for Christians under attack, battered women and trafficked children, peace in the Middle East and Africa, and dignity for refugees fleeing misery and conflict around the globe.
The 77-year-old pope kept to the simple style he has set for his papacy. Wearing a plain white cassock, Francis presented a sharp contrast in appearance to the pope who stood on the same balcony on Christmas exactly a year ago. Then Benedict XVI, who was soon to stun the world by retiring, read his Christmas speech while dressed in a crimson, ermine-trimmed cape. Benedict lives on the Vatican grounds, and Francis paid a holiday call on him earlier this week.
In another break with tradition, the Argentine-born Francis stuck to Italian for his Christmas greetings, forsaking a custom of wishing happy holidays in dozens of languages to the crowd below the balcony.
Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters, file
Pope Benedict XVI blesses the crowd as he makes his "Urbi et Orbi" address from a balcony in St. Peter's Square in Vatican on Dec. 25, 2012.
Read more:
Pope Francis wishes for 'a better world' in Christmas Day address


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Vergil or Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro) (both: vûr´jil), 70 BC–19 BC, Roman poet, b. Andes dist., near Mantua, in Cisalpine Gaul; the spelling Virgil is not found earlier than the 5th cent. AD Vergil's father, a farmer, took his son to Cremona for his education. Thereafter Vergil continued his studies in Milan, Naples, and Rome. The poet's boyhood experience of life on the farm was an essential part of his education. After his studies in Rome, Vergil is believed to have lived with his father for about 10 years, engaged in farm work, study, and writing poetry. In 41 BC the farm was confiscated to provide land for soldiers. Vergil went to Rome, where he became a part of the literary circle patronized by Maecenas and Augustus and where his Eclogues, or Bucolics, were completed in 37 BC In these poems he idealizes rural life in the manner of his Greek predecessor Theocritus. From the Eclogues, Vergil turned to rural poetry of a contrasting kind, realistic and didactic. In his Georgics, completed in 30 BC, he seeks, as had the Greek Hesiod before him, to interpret the charm of real life and work on the farm. His perfect poetic expression gives him the first place among pastoral poets.
For the rest of his life Vergil worked on the Aeneid, a national epic honoring Rome and foretelling prosperity to come. The adventures of Aeneas are unquestionably one of the greatest long poems in world literature. Vergil made Aeneas the paragon of the most revered Roman virtues—devotion to family, loyalty to the state, and piety. In 12 books, Vergil tells how Aeneas escaped from Troy to Carthage, where he became Dido's lover and related his adventures to her. At Jupiter's command, he left Carthage, went to Sicily, visited his father's shade in Hades, and landed in Italy. There he established the beginnings of the Roman state and waged successful war against the natives. The work ends with the death of Turnus at the hands of Aeneas. The verse, in dactylic hexameters, is strikingly regular, though Vergil's death left the epic incomplete and some of the lines unfinished. The sonority of the words and the nobility of purpose make the Aeneid a masterpiece. Vergil is the dominant figure in all Latin literature. His influence continued unabated through the Middle Ages, and many poets since Dante have acknowledged their great debt to him. Minor poems ascribed to Vergil are of doubtful authorship. For translations of the Aeneid see A. Mandelbaum (1981), R. Fitzgerald (1983, 1985), R. Fagles (2006), and S. Heaney (Book VI, 2016).
See biographies by F. J. H. Letters (1946), T. Frank (1922, repr. 1965), and B. Otis (1966); W. F. J. Knight, Vergil, Epic and Anthropology (1967); F. Cairns, Virgil's Augustan Epic (1989); K. W. Grandsen, Virgil (1990).


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The Coming Anti-Mormon Rage
by Gary Jason | Posted March 09, 2012
In a recent article, I reflected upon the shape that the presidential campaign against Romney will take. I suggested that the Obama administration cannot easily defend its record, and so will focus on attacking the Republican candidate — who, after Super Tuesday, is likely to be Romney. But the problem for the Obama regime is that Romney has no obvious flaws: messy divorces, past affairs, tax dodging, DUIs, misdemeanors, or what have you. So the Regime will be reduced to hammering away at the fact that Romney is rich, white, and Mormon.
The attack is already well underway.
The administration's war-machine has three phalanxes. First is the direct reelection team, funded by perhaps a billion dollars. The second is the Obama "independent" super-PACs, funded by all those wealthy people to whom Obama gave billions in taxpayer subsidies for their "job-creating" businesses. These super-PACs, which are already being staffed by Regime members, will probably net another billion bucks to reelect their guy. Labor unions alone have pledged $400 million for the upcoming race; 96% of all union contributions go to Democrats.
But let's not forget the third phalanx — the mainstream media. The soi-disant "journalists" of the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, CNN, and so on are outright whores for this administration.
No, I retract that: I don't want to insult hookers. At least they get paid in honest money for their services. By contrast, the pseudo-journalists with the MSM cheerfully service this administration pro bono, or for some motives less creditable than money.
The Obama regime will be reduced to hammering away at the fact that Romney is rich, white, and Mormon.
You can expect the attack on Romney's wealth ("He's rich, so he cannot relate to you common folk!") will be the one openly directed by the administration's reelection committee. The race card will be played by the Regime's allies . . . indeed, Obama just set up an "African-Americans for Obama" group to advance that attack. The open attack on Mormonism, however, will not be carried on directly by the Obama campaign, but by super-PACs and especially by the media.
The anti-Mormon card is being dealt even now, in a sudden rush of news "stories" about Romney's faith.
Let's start with leftist comic Stephen Colbert, who stepped up to the anti-Mormon plate with his spoof on the Mormon practice of baptisms for the dead, a religious custom that has irked some people (some prominent Jews in particular). Colbert mockingly "converted" all dead Mormons to Judaism. Isn't that hilarious? But is it purely coincidental that Colbert has only now found this obscure Mormon practice worthy of national notice? Perhaps he will next make fun of the Catholic practice of having masses for the dead. Oh, but wait — JFK, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi, and many other liberal icons have been — Catholic!
John Turner is concerned to appear more balanced. In a recent piece, he doesn't say Romney had to answer for Mormon baptismal practices, although he discusses them in lavish detail. But he does say Romney should address the Mormon ban on admitting men of African descent to the priesthood, a ban that Turner notes didn't end until Romney was 30 (in 1978). Of course, Turner never tells us what Romney could have done about the ban. But Turner got his chance to play the race card, because this issue reminds African-Americans that Romney is white.
At least hookers get paid in honest money for their services. The pseudo-journalists with the mainstream media cheerfully service this administration pro bono.
Also miming some degree of neutrality is one Randall Balmer, who recently wrote an article that obliquely warns us of the Mormon menace. Balmer is an Episcopal priest, and one usually expects Episcopal priests to have better manners. Still, prejudice drips from every line of his article. He construes the fact that only Mormons in good standing are allowed in Mormon temples as a sign of "the Mormon penchant for secrecy" and insinuates that Romney, by refusing to belabor the public with his religious beliefs, is being secretive about their nature. In fact, Mormon beliefs and practices are as well known as those of mainline Christian denominations. If you don't know about them, you're just not interested, that's all.
Balmer says that Romney's "quest for the White House" will be "buffeted by questions about his religion." Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy! I haven't heard many ordinary people who care about it one way or the other, outside of the mainstream media, truth be told. Romney will be buffeted on his faith only by the likes of Balmer, to whom the "essential question" is the very "nature of Mormonism," an "upstart" religion from — New York state! But wait — isn't Episcopalianism a variety of Protestantism — from England? From the Roman Catholic point of view, Balmer's denomination is an "upstart" religion. And from the perspective of Judaism, isn't Christianity itself an "upstart" religion? These are questions clearly beyond Balmer's capacity to address.
Balmer — the very model of tolerance — moves on to note that Mormons refer to non-Mormons as "Gentiles." But then, Jews refer to non-Jews as "Gentiles" — which seems to be OK with Balmer. Yet, Balmer intones gravely, "many Americans doubt" that Mormons are Christians, because they accept the Book of Mormon as scripture. What this means, of course, is that most Americans don't believe in the Book of Mormon. This passes for news — in the context of a presidential campaign.
Of course, Balmer reminds us that the Mormons "only" ended polygamy in 1890. But let me expand on this a bit. The Mormons allowed polygamy until 1890. Some Muslims, I believe, practice it to this day. But hasn't America, at least since the Great Society craze of the 1960s, openly and completely embraced polygamy in practice? I mean, don't our welfare laws allow — nay, encourage — a young man to impregnate as many young women as he can, secure in the knowledge that the taxpayer will pay for the children? Isn't the first of the month, when welfare checks arrive, derisively called "Father's Day" in the inner city? And don't sperm banks allow many women to impregnate themselves from the same "donor"? I guess what I'm asking is — why all the brouhaha about Mormons allowing polygamy more than a century ago?
It doesn't seem to occur to Bruni that the reason Romney's faith is not a big deal in this primary fight is precisely because it is old news.
Balmer notes archly that Mormons believe that the Constitution is divinely inspired. He says that Romney should be asked how that affects his view of it. Why? I daresay many non-Mormons believe that as well. Even nonbelievers such as I think that it is, in some sense, inspired. What does it matter? The president is supposed to execute the law, not make it. He is sworn to uphold the constitution. What is Balmer's view on this? Does he think that reverence for the constitution is a vice?
Another suspicious thing about Romney, according to Balmer, is that Mormons believe they have the true faith. Strange indeed! If they didn't believe that, they would be members of some other faith.
To Balmer, Romney seems "cagey" for answering questions about his religion by saying such things as "I'm not a theologian" and "I don't speak for my church." What would he say if Romney proceeded to lecture everyone about the church's theology? Then Romney would be a nut or a weirdo, right? Balmer compliments Joseph Lieberman for having "patiently answered the [very few] questions [asked about his religion], declaring, for example, that he was an observant Jew, not an Orthodox Jew, and explaining the difference." However, if we consistently apply the standard that Balmer applies to Romney, shouldn't Lieberman have gone into detail about why he is not a (mainstream) Christian, and the political implications of all that?
But after all, Lieberman ran for office on the Democratic ticket. So Balmer naturally does not apply the same standard.
So much for the Reverend Mr. Balmer. Then there is Frank Bruni, New York Times columnist and general attack dog for Obama. His recent snark-piece, "Mitt's Muffled Soul," went after Romney for not mentioning in his debate in Florida that his father was born in Mexico because Mitt's grandfather had fled there to avoid the ban on polygamy that the Mormon Church had instituted. Bruni's complaint apparently is that there is less discussion of Romney's Mormon faith than there was four years ago. It doesn't seem to occur to Bruni that the reason Romney's faith is not a big deal in this primary fight is precisely because it is old news. That is, everyone on the planet now knows that Romney is a Mormon, because that was thoroughly explored in the last primary campaign. And the fact that Mormons once allowed polygamy is also old news, centuries old, in fact.
Bruni has decided that since most Americans seem indifferent to Romney's religion — what with $5 a gallon gas and the prospect of our economy going the way of Greece's — he is personally going to "home in on Romney's religion." Bruni's claim is that the Mormon religion has left a "cultural, psychological and emotional imprint on" Romney. Are his "guardedness" and "defensiveness" due to his belonging to — get this! — a "minority tribe"? Does his stamina reflect his years as a Mormon missionary?
It never occurs to Bruni that his target has every reason to be defensive, given the attacks he and all the members of his faith have had to endure — not least from snarky journalists. The idea that maybe Romney's stamina reflects a healthy lifestyle seems beyond Bruni's ken.
Of course, Bruni plays the race card, reminding us that the Mormons' ban on blacks in the priesthood lasted until 34 years ago.
The most extended and vitriolic hit-piece on Romney and his faith ejaculates from that monarch of snark, Frank Rich, formerly of — what else? — the New York Times, now of New York Magazine. Reptilian Rich is in a fury about Romney. (But then, he would be in a fury about any Republican — his self-appointed mission being to throw acid at anyone who dares oppose the current Regime.) In his meandering, self-contradictory screed on Romney, he is obviously frustrated at the total lack of real dirt he can find.
Rich never considers why a devout, middle-aged Mormon, trying to raise a large family, might not want to go out boozing it up at Hooters with the other Masters of the Universe.
For example, he quotes unnamed fellow Bain Capital coworkers who say that Romney was a great guy to work with, bright and good at what he did — but, "Still, whenever the rest of us would go out at the end of the day, we'd always find ourselves having the same conversation: None of us knew who the guy was." The obtuse Rich never considers why a devout, middle-aged Mormon, trying to raise a large family, might not want to go out boozing it up at Hooters with the other Masters of the Universe.
With Rich, no Republican can ever win, no matter what his lifestyle. If he is known to have been a partier, such as Dubya was when younger, that will be used to attack him as a drunk. If he doesn't party, as Romney doesn't, the Republican will be bashed for being aloof and self-contained.
Then there's physical appearance. If the Republican candidate is out of shape or unattractive, Rich will attack him for that. If he is good looking, Rich will take the opposite approach: "Unlike Nixon's craggy face, or, for that matter, Gingrich's, Romney's does not look lived in. . . . Even at Mitt's most human, he resembles George Hamilton without the self-deprecating humor or the perma-tan."
So Rich wants us to believe that Romney's so good looking he's not human! This is weird stuff — Rich comes across here like a jealous schoolgirl with an unrequited crush on the school's quarterback.
Of course, Mitt's whiteness becomes important: "Romney is in some ways more exotic and removed from 'real America' than Obama ever was, his gleaming white camouflage notwithstanding. Romney is white, all right, but he's a white shadow." Budding bien pensant writers please note: this is what passes for witty writing in progressive circles. Romney's white skin camouflages what? A black interior? So if he is elected, will he be our third black president, after Clinton and Obama? In the oxymoron department: "a white shadow"? What the hell is a "white shadow?"
Rich dismisses Romney as a man of no real accomplishment — unlike Rich's messiah, Barack Obama: "Aside from his ability to build Bain capital and pile up profits there, Romney has remarkably few visible accomplishments to show for his 64 years."
Really? Yes, Romney's accomplishments are truly feeble. He has only done such things as:
- Graduated from BYU with highest honors.
- Graduated from Harvard with both a JD and an MBA, again with honors, but — please note — without affirmative action.
- Built a quarter-century career of distinction in the management consulting business, earning about a quarter billion dollars along the way, while helping such companies as Burlington Industries, Corning, Domino's Pizza, Monsanto, and Staples become successful.
- As head of Bain Capital for 14 years, helped get investors a average yearly return of 113% , and saw to it that the profits were widely shared within the company.
- Helped these companies succeed without a nickel of taxpayer support.
- While getting his education and then pursuing a business career, helped raise a large family.
- Ran against Ted Kennedy for his lifetime Senate seat, giving Kennedy his closest run, and losing only after Kennedy was forced to spend a fortune in negative ads.
- Was called to rescue the floundering, deficit- and scandal-plagued 2002 Olympics, and did so, making the games successful and financially profitable.
- Was elected in 2002 as governor of Massachusetts, where he eliminated a $3 billion deficit and greatly improved the state's business climate.
- Provided tens of millions of dollars to charities both secular and religious.
Reluctantly, Rich acknowledges that two reporters (Michael Kranish and Scott Helman, of the ultra-liberal Boston Globe) who set out to dig up the dirt on Romney, and published a critical biography, really couldn't find any "bombshells." This, however, is somehow "revealing" — revealing of more oxymoronic crap.
Rich is left to fill his piece with anti-Mormon slurs. The title tips us off: "Who in God's Name is Mitt Romney?" Then the attacks start coming: "The big dog that has yet to bark . . . Romney's long career as a donor to and lay official of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." "That faith is key to the Romney mystery." "Romney is not merely a worshipper sitting in the pews but the scion of a family dynasty integral to the progress of an American-born faith . . ."
Naturally, Rich feels obligated to remind to remind us that the Mormons once practiced polygamy, while pretending to say it is irrelevant: "The questions [about Romney's faith] are not theological. Nor are they about polygamy, the scandalous credo that earlier Romneys practiced even after the church banned it . . ." No, Rich wants to know whether Romney "countenanced or enforced [the Church's] discriminatory treatment of blacks and women." Does he also wonder whether Nancy Pelosi has done her part to make the Roman Catholic Church ordain women?
This is weird stuff — Rich comes across like a jealous schoolgirl with an unrequited crush on the school's quarterback.
Rich is able to get in a dig at Romney's wealth (yes, yes, Romney is rich) while continuing his bashing of Mormonism: "Much as the isolating cocoon of Romney's wealth can lead him to dismiss $347,327 in speaking fees as 'not very much' . . . so the demographic isolation imposed by his religion takes its own political toll." And on and on. Rich obviously wants readers to share his disgust about Mormons.
Perhaps the most blatantly bigoted attack on Romney's religion came from Charles Blow — what else but another New York Times columnist? As the aptly-named Blow listened to Romney on the CNN Republican primary debate, he tweeted his followers the constructive comment, "Let me just tell you this Mitt 'Muddle Mouth,' I'm a single parent and my kids are 'amazing'! Stick that in your magic underwear." Blow was referring in this derogatory way to the Mormon belief that certain garments are of religious significance. One wonders if Blow has derogatory ways of talking about yarmulkes, or nuns' habits.
It is amazing that nobody at the Times has demanded Blow's resignation — considering how famously sensitive the paper is when it comes to certain kinds of slurs. Amazing, that is, until you remember that a Mormon is running against the paper's chosen messiah. Notice also that the media hypocrites I have mentioned never seem to have never uttered a peep about the religion of Harry Reid — the buffoon who shoved Obamacare down the nation's throat. Reid is also a Mormon, but nobody asks him to explain his church's history, theology, or religious customs.
It is even more hilariously hypocritical that none of these people are busying themselves about Obama's religion. As far as I know, they have not demanded that Obama explain why he stayed so long in a church that held, for example, that AIDS was created by white people and deliberately inflicted on black people. When this came out in the counter-media, and Obama dropped his affiliation with Reverend Wright, the mainstream dropped what little notice it had paid to the matter. Can you doubt that, had Obama been a Mormon (for there are black Mormons), the media would never have discussed Mormonism at all?
My suggestion to the Romney campaign — not that they are looking for suggestions — is to be under no illusion about what is coming at them. Obama's minions will attack Romney without mercy, or religious grounds.
How should he handle these attacks? Well, when they come from the press in the form of persistent questions about his faith, he should reply in the same way every time, a la Senator Lieberman: "I am an observant Mormon. Which is irrelevant to my candidacy. If you want to learn about my proposals for fixing what Obama has broken, ask me about them. But if you want to learn about my faith, may I suggest that you go to the library and check out a book?" He should avoid at all costs the media trap trying to get him to discuss any aspect of Mormon theology. Why? Because non-Mormons will then be drawn into disputing it, and then will confuse disagreement with his theology with disagreement with his policy proposals. The mainstream media is hoping that the public will be tricked by this irrelevant association.
In any election, you try to do two things: get your voters out to the polls, and get your opponent's voters to stay home. It is likely that the Obama super-PACs will run anti-Mormon ads, especially in areas of heavy evangelical Protestant concentration, with the intention of making the evangelicals stay home, under the theory that many evangelical Protestants dislike Mormonism — which, in fact, many do.
Countering this will be a job for the pro-Romney super-PACs. Here's my suggestion for them: tape some homilies delivered by Romney's pastor, and play parts of them juxtaposed with the juicier parts of Reverend Wright's rants ("God Damn America!" comes to mind), with an announcer asking in the background which is more disturbing. Rely on the fact that evangelical Christians are invariably deeply pro-American. Run these ads wherever and whenever the Obama super-PACs run their anti-Mormon propaganda.
So that the reader will know exactly what is motivating me, let me state for the record that I am completely agnostic in matters religious. I was exposed to religion early on, and it didn't take, whereupon the nuns dropkicked my posterior out of St. Mel's Catholic School. (They were quite within their rights so to do, and I have never blamed them for it.) Ever since, I have oscillated between total unconcern and complete indifference to religion. I believe no more in Mormonism than I do in Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Islam, or anything else. I just hate intolerance, and I profoundly despise hypocritical intolerance.
Harry Reid is also a Mormon, but nobody asks him to explain his church's history, theology, or religious customs.
Unless one finds a religion whose practices pose a clear threat to society — say, a crazed Kali cult, setting fire to people's homes — I see no reason to fear it or demand of its adherents that they explain and justify their faith, to me or anyone else. It's their business.
While I am far from an expert on Mormon theology, my own eyes tell me that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are far from dangerous citizens. In general, they appear to work hard and avoid harming others. In this respect, they seem exemplary citizens.
That should be an end to it.
Sadly, it won't be.
Gary Jason is a lecturer in Philosophy and a senior editor at Liberty. His books can be found on Amazon.com.
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Maybe the bigger picture is that one group will attack a candidate's legitimacy for office using anything convenient. In Romney's case, religion is an obvious target. In Obama's case, it was once religion also. Now, it might just be race? My point is that saying religion is not fair game kind of misses the point.
Fri, 2012-03-16 13:25
Jack Thompson
A few points...
- Comparing mass for the dead to conversion baptisms performed on the dead is intellectually dishonest of the author in that it doesn't recognize the difference of intent behind the two. It is also a meaningless defense in so much as the Church of LDS is acting to end the practice, thus ceding whether it is an innocent or intended practices.
- The Church of LDS has teachings both official and otherwise which directly speak to the US Government. From viewing the constitution as divinely inspired, to less cannon teachings such as the White Horse Prophecy... To the best of my knowledge other religions don't have such government-specific teachings as part of their religion save, perhaps, Scientology.
- Harry Reid ran for office in a state with a heavy Mormon population, while Romney is running for office nationally. The nature of this difference is that people living in states which aren't heavily populated by Mormons will, naturally, have questions. If Harry Reid were running for President and not Senator, you can bet he'd get every bit as much criticism as Romney will get this year... in a way similar to how Kennedy's Catholicism was called into question during his run for office.
- Romney served in LDS church leadership, which significantly differentiates him from 'average persons of faith'. Serving in church leadership should justify questions regarding how a candidate views governing through the lens of said religion regardless of what faith they happen to be.
Tue, 2012-03-13 14:12
-why do you call the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints "church of the lds". as a latter-day saint I find that the most offensive way to shorten our church because I see it as a conscious decision to untie Jesus Christ from the churches doctrine. we prefer just LDS because we are Latter-day saints of the Church of Jesus Christ.
-the LDS believe that even if we are baptized for anyone after they are dead, it is the dead persons choice to accept it if they don't it will be as if it was never done.
-where the "white Horse prophecy" is not official it is not verified and never taught so it is not a true prophecy. In, fact I have been a Mormon all my life and never heard of it. In fact all references claiming it are in well known anti-Mormon publications. If it is not canonized it is not a prophecy we believe.
Mon, 2012-10-08 12:33
Erwin Haas
Why try to defend a politician who finds reasons for us to support Israel and to invade Iran? He forced young folks in Mass. to pay for health insurance that they didn't want; how does that square with a free market? Why support a party that plays loose and fast with deficits, and whose only claim is that they won't increase debts faster than their opponents? Romney wants to restrict immigration, to have industrial policy and progressive income taxes.
I've no problem with anyone who wants to write about perceived media slant, but the tone here is that LIbertarians should care about Republicans; I really don't care about Right wing versus Left wing. As is often pointed out, it's all the same vulture.
Fri, 2012-03-09 08:23
Gary Jason
You seem to have missed the point of my piece. There are no doubt LEGITIMATE reasons why someone might oppose Romney for president. That's fine. What I'm suggesting here is that his religion isn't one of them, but that it is definitely being used against him.
And your view that libertarians shouldn't be or even care about Republicans is a view your welcome to, but one with which not every libertarian agrees. Ron Paul, for example, is in fact a Republican, and doing rather well in the Republican primaries, no?
Fri, 2012-03-09 13:31
Ron Paul is "doing rather well in Republican primaries"?
Well, if receiving 9% of a very limited turnout is doing very well...You must have a very strange interperation of doing well.
Elsewhere, Romney is a carbon copy of Obama. Why defend his religion? Anymore than defend anyone else's silly superstitions? The day a confirmed atheist can run and be takien seriously in a US presidential race will be a glorious day.
One of the things that really turned me off about Ron Paul was his SC commericals. A little old lady saying how "good" of a Christian Ron Paul was. He went to church all the time, opposed abortion, etc. Religion does matter to the american voter. Especially the Republican voter.
Mostly, because they are the ones who are trying to force their religion on everyone else by the force of law. One would have every expectation that a Romney president would try to force his religious beliefs by law. The Christian presidents have been doing it for years, and years.
Sat, 2012-03-10 17:23
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Broadway shows are finally back in New Orleans for the first time since Hurricane Katrina four years ago, and at least one — "The Color Purple" — is giving something back to the recovering city.
"The Color Purple" opens at the Mahalia Jackson Theater on Tuesday, but for months leading up to its New Orleans stop, the show has been raising money in cities across the country to help families displaced by Katrina.
"We all felt a very strong emotional and spiritual connection to the city and the people," said Scott Sanders, the show's lead producer. "We thought, we can't just sell tickets and leave. We have to do something special while we're there. We have to leave something behind."
"The Color Purple" is only the second major Broadway production to come to New Orleans since Katrina flooded 80 percent of the city in 2005. The first was "Cats," which ran Oct. 27-Nov. 1 at the Mahalia Jackson Theater.
The Mahalia Jackson is the city's only major performing arts theater to reopen since the storm. Others, including the Saenger Theatre, State Palace Theater and Orpheum Theater, are still under repair or have not yet begun renovations.
David Skinner, general manager of the Mahalia Jackson, said reviving the performing arts in New Orleans has "been a real uphill struggle." The 2,100-seat theater flooded and had wind damage requiring millions of dollars in repairs. It reopened in January.
"It's been tremendous, the opera, the ballet, and now bringing Broadway back," Skinner said. "It's been very exciting."
Sanders said "The Color Purple" — which opened in New York in December 2005 — was honored to be asked to be a part of the first post-Katrina Broadway season in New Orleans. The season also includes "Mamma Mia" in February, "Wicked" in March and "Avenue Q" in June.
"The Color Purple" donation drive netted more than $300,000 from cities across the country, including Chicago, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Birmingham, Ala., Orlando, Fla., and Norfolk, Va. It will put at least 20 families back in their homes.
Cast and crew are slated to meet with the 20 families after Tuesday's performance, and on Wednesday, they will help move Violet resident Lynette Harvey and her family into their rebuilt home.
"There's not enough words to describe how grateful I am," said Harvey, 44, whose home was flooded to the roofline. "I'm just so happy. I feel so blessed because there were times I thought I'd never get back home."
"The Color Purple" is working with the St. Bernard Project to help Harvey and the other families. The nonprofit agency works with families in Orleans and St. Bernard parishes to rebuild their Katrina-damaged homes.
Zack Rosenburg, director and co-founder of the St. Bernard Project, said it takes an average of $15,000 in materials and hundreds of volunteer hours to rebuild one home. He said "The Color Purple" has provided a much-needed morale boost for the city and its residents.
"It has shown the people here that their citizenship and humanity matter," Rosenburg said. "So much of the federal response, while well-intentioned, was incredibly late. So much has been driven around failure, what went wrong and who is to blame. The needs here are incredible."
To date, the St. Bernard Project has rebuilt just under 250 homes in New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish and is currently working on dozens more. More than 17,000 volunteers have worked with the organization since its launch after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Rosenburg said the fact that "The Color Purple" is the show giving the donations has had an impact on the residents. He said the people of New Orleans can relate because "The Color Purple" is an inspiring story about a woman who, through love, finds the strength to triumph over adversity.
"It has a focus on family, resilience, strength and home," Rosenburg said, saying those are "themes that, now more than ever, appear to be universal."
Harvey said she's been a huge fan of both the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker and the film by Steven Spielberg and is looking forward to seeing the Broadway show Tuesday. Harvey and other families have been invited to opening night, she said.
"The Color Purple" was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The show's national tour began in May 2007 in Chicago and continues through 2010. It will be in New Orleans through Sunday.
Broadway Shows Returning To New Orleans
Broadway shows are finally back in New Orleans for the first time since Hurricane Katrina four years ago, and at least one — "The Color Purple" — is giving something back to the recovering city.


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Take the desert plunge
Discover Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, a spectacular dune landscape extending 40 kilometers inland from the coast of Maranhão state in northern Brazil
The adventure begins in the town of Barreirinhas, the starting point for tours of Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, a dune landscape covering an area of 1500 square kilometers, which is Brazil's only desert. Its endless expanses of fine, snow-white sands are broken only by crystal-clear, freshwater lagoons. It's impossible to resist the urge to take a dip! The best time to go is between March and September because many of the mini lakes run dry later in the year for lack of precipitation.


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John Makely / NBC News
Theresa Flores, founder of SOAP (Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution), stands near a motel in Hackensack, N.J., one of of the hundreds of inns where the organization distributed soap labeled with the national human trafficking hotline number: 1-888-373-7888.
The idea of helping sex-trafficking victims came to Theresa Flores when she was naked and freezing on the floor of a motel bathroom, after being gang-raped by at least 10 men, maybe more. She says she lost count when she passed out from the pain.
Decades later, Flores, a sex-trafficking survivor, has made good on her promise to herself. The founder of SOAP, or Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution, is trying to make at least a small dent in a national problem this week with a modest act: distributing bars of soap with the National Human Trafficking Hotline number on the wrapping to hotels and motels in New York and New Jersey.
"There are three things in every motel: a Bible, toilet paper and soap," said Flores. "Every girl cleans up after every man and it's often the only time she's allowed alone. Who knows? The soap could be the difference. I wish there had been one in that motel room all those years ago."
Flores, 48, is making her rounds because the Super Bowl will be held on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J., and many of the fans will stay in New York before and after the game. Her presence is just one indication of the unwelcome role football's marquee event has assumed in the debate over sex trafficking and prostitution.
Some experts and organizations that advocate for sex-trafficking victims and/or prostitutes say that big sporting events like the Super Bowl provide a major boost to the illicit businesses by providing a ready-made customer base. That view gained ground after Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott labeled the game the "single-largest human-trafficking incident in the United States" in 2011, when it was held in his state.
John Makely / NBC News
Bars of soap, with the phone number for the national human trafficking hotline on them, are being distributed to hotels and motels in New York and New Jersey.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie indicated on Wednesday that the law enforcement is taking seriously the possibility of an influx of prostitution and sex trafficking surrounding the game.
"We are only a few days away from the Super Bowl. A time where sex trafficking is at a high risk," he said in the first of a series of tweets, shortly before appearing at an anti-sex-trafficking news conference in Bergen County, N.J., with Cindy McCain, wife of 2012 GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, and others.
"So to anyone out there that is even thinking about it. Don't even try it. We have eyes and ears on the ground and on the web."
And finally:
If you do try it, expect to be caught. And when you are caught, expect to be prosecuted.— Governor Christie (@GovChristie) January 29, 2014
But other victim advocacy groups reject and resent this characterization. Among them is the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women, which produced a 2011 report that concluded there is no evidence indicating that major sporting events result in increased sex trafficking. On the contrary, it speculated that anti-prostitution campaigners were actually promoting the connection to force authorities to crack down on the sex trade.
Many advocacy groups draw a sharp line between prostitution and sex-trafficking, referring to adult prostitutes working on their own as "sex workers" and contrasting them with those pushed to provide commercial sex through force, fraud or coercion.
Estimates of the number of victims of human trafficking in the U.S. vary widely. Here are some figures intended to show its scope.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has estimated there are between 100,000 and 300,000 child victims of trafficking, though it no longer uses these figures, acknowledging the difficultly in measuring the scope of the problem.
The Polaris Project, a nonprofit founded to combat human trafficking and "modern-day slavery," has counted about 14,000 sex trafficking cases in the U.S. over the last six years, based on the number of calls to its national hotline.
In 2012, the Department of Justice convicted 138 human traffickers in cases involving forced labor, sex trafficking of adults and sex trafficking of children, compared to 151 such convictions in 2011. The majority of the cases involved sex trafficking.
Human trafficking is a $9.8 billion annual industry in the U.S., according to the nonprofit Shared Hope International.
Flores is among those who believe big sporting events do draw more sex-trafficking victims and that Sunday's game provides an opportunity to reach at least a few who may find the soap she and others leave behind and call the hotline to be rescued.
Flores started SOAP decades after her ordeal in the motel room, which occurred when she was only 16 years old.
Flores tells a familiar story about her descent into the trade. She said it began when she was date raped at 15 by a classmate in an upscale suburb of Detroit, who drugged her and took illicit photos. He then blackmailed her by telling her she would have to have sex with other men to buy back the photos, she said. Flores said she never told her family or police during the two years she was forced to have sex for money, because she worried that she would get in trouble. By the time she did tell someone, the statute of limitations to prosecute her assailants had long since expired.
Toshia Kimbler, a SOAP volunteer and herself a sex-trafficking victim, said she understands Flores' silence, since she, too, was trafficked by someone she knew and initially trusted. Later, though there were chances to escape or call the police, she thought her captor would kill her if she did.
"What many people don't realize," Kimbler said, "is that it's not your body that's enslaved. It's your mind."
Kimbler, who was trafficked for almost 10 years, said she also knows first-hand that the sports and sex-trafficking connection is real, as she was shuttled around to big events in cities such as Chicago, Boston and New York.
"For all I know, I could have been at a Super Bowl, but we were rarely told anything," she recalls.
Now, Kimbler, a former SOAP employee who now volunteers while attending college full-time, and Flores travel all around the U.S., attending events like the Detroit Auto Show, the Final Four, NASCAR races and the national Democratic or Republican Conventions. Flores will also be traveling to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June for the World Cup, marking the organization's first international outreach effort.
John Makely / NBC News
Toshia Kimbler, a volunteer with SOAP, signs up drivers for the group's soap distribution effort.
On Sunday afternoon, Flores, Kimbler and hundreds of other volunteers gathered in the frigid cold in Paramus, N.J., before fanning out to distribute thousands of bars of soap to hotels and motels, along with missing children posters and pamphlets outlining the telltale signs of human trafficking. That way, even if a sex-trafficking victim doesn't call the hotline, a hotel or motel owner might call if they witness any suspicious activity when guests check in – like someone who doesn't speak for themselves, isn't in control of their own identification or has no luggage.
More soap and posters will be distributed in New York hotels and motels this week and by game time, Flores estimates, 100,000 bars of soap will have been handed out in the two states.
But if past Super Bowls are any indication, the dividends from their efforts at outreach will be small.
At the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis, SOAP distributed 40,000 bars of soap at 200 hotels.
Meantime, back-page ads for commercial sex in local alternative newspapers went from an average of 22 before the event to 269 the week of the game, it said. And only two trafficking victims were identified and recovered, according to the Indiana Attorney General's Office.
But the increase in awareness that comes from efforts like SOAP's is worthwhile, said Clemmie Greenlee, a sex-trafficking survivor who now works at Eden House in New Orleans, site of last year's Super Bowl.
"I don't have anything against the Super Bowl. I'm a football fan myself but I need people to know this is one of the greatest activities going on at the Super Bowl," said Greenlee, who says she also remembers being moved around for large events, including doctors and lawyers conferences.
And the awareness may also keep some traffickers at home, said Rachel Lloyd, who runs a New York nonprofit called GEMS.
"Pimps read the news and watch TV too," said Lloyd, another sex-trafficking survivor. "When you start talking about thousands of law enforcement out there, pimps know there's a lot of increased focus on the Super Bowl so can people then point to a lack of numbers as being prevention? Not really. They just didn't come to your city."
Bradley Myles, the CEO of the Polaris Project, a nonprofit founded to combat human trafficking and "modern-day slavery," said better data is needed to establish the scope of the problem – both in the U.S. and around the world. But he said no one should think that human trafficking is only a problem at big events like the Super Bowl.
"I think that it's important to strike a balance. On the one hand, it's absolutely true that this is a 365-day-a-year issue and community preparedness and community mobilization needs to happen 365 days a year," he said. "On the other hand, if people are more likely to get involved through the catalyst of some large rallying point like the Super Bowl, I think some good can come out of that."
The national human trafficking toll-free 24-hour hotline is 1-888-373-7888. Authorities urge those who suspect trafficking to also contact local police.
More from NBC News Investigations:
- Snowden docs reveal British spies snooped on YouTube and Facebook
- Super Bowl security net cast wide to protect game and related events
- Florida teen sold deadly toxin abrin online, U.S. says
Follow NBC News Investigations on Twitter and Facebook
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A Sherbet Seller At Cairo 1884 An antique full page print from the Illustrated London News. Data if known in the title. Size of each print is approximately 10.5 x 16 inches (270 x 400 mm). All of these antique prints are the genuine article and not reproductions. Please check image carefully for any damaged such as wears and tears.
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text: Steven Holcomb is one of the most successful bobsled drivers in U.S. history, with 38 World Cup medals to his name. Holcomb competed at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, where he finished 6th in four-man, and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, where he earned the United States its first Olympic gold medal in four-man bobsled since 1948. He earned four-man world championship gold in 2009 and in 2012 became the first U.S. pilot to sweep the two-man and four-man world championship races. Follow Steven as he blogs about his experiences on his road to the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.


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Your die-hard New York Giants dedication cannot be beat! Let everyone know your pride is #1 by sporting your own customized look for game day with this NFL Pro Line Any Name & Number tee. It has a bold team logo on the front, with a name and number on the back. Better yet, you can personalize this tee with your favorite New York Giants player or create your own personalized name and number. Sporting this truly unique look to the next game will definitely mark you has a huge fan!
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Yetekema Hiwot Season 2 Part 99 - የተቀማ ህይወት ምዕራፍ 2 ክፍል 99.
Watch Season 2 episode 99 of the best Kana TV series 'Yetekema Hiwot'. Overview: Bahar (Ezgi Asaroglu) is a young and innocent young lady who has a modest life in Istanbul. As a result of money related problems, she stops her school and begins to work in a cake shop so as to help her family. Bahar is a thoughtful, positive thinker, and hardworking young lady while her sister Efsun (Ceren Moray) is an incredible inverse. In spite of the fact that Bahar does her best to satisfy her sister, Efsun deliberately hurts Bahar because of her envy. Despite the fact that Bahar has been brought up in this family, she isn't the real daughter of that house. Her alleged mother Nuran (Yesim Ceren Bozoglu), father Ilyas (Suleyman Atanisev) and sister Efsun are for the most part strangers for her. Actually, Bahar is a daughter of Mehmet Emir (Sinan Albayrak) who is a rich businessperson. In any case, that reality has been hidden by everyone. In 'Yetekema Hiwot' (o hayat benim – that life is mine) TV series story, you will explore the tragic life of Bahar, who has been raised by a poor family in spite of the fact that she is the daughter of a wealthy family. Will Bahar get her very own life from her alleged sister Efsun? Will Bahar and Mehmet Emir become familiar with reality toward the end? What will Ates do when he discovers that Bahar is the real daughter of Mehmet Emir? This drama was dubbed to Amharic by Kana TV and it's brought to you by MelaCinema. MelaCinema is the source for Ethiopian TV shows, New Ethiopian music, Amharic movies, comedy videos, and much more entertainment contents. Like our Facebook page to get a whole lot of engaging entertainment posts.


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The Volkswagen Touareg is all-new for 2011. The 2011 Volkswagen Touareg features a choice of gas, diesel or hybrid power, an 8-speed automatic, and a sophisticated all-wheel-drive system designed to handle true off-road use or improve stability on ice. The 2011 Touareg can tackle the most rugged of terrain yet cruise down the highway in luxurious comfort, and Volkswagen claims it's one of the safest automobiles of all time.
A new hybrid gas-electric version headlines the 2011 Touareg lineup. The 2011 Touareg V6 TSI Hybrid is the most powerful and the most expensive. The Hybrid couples a supercharged 3.0-liter V6 TSI engine to an electric motor to give the Touareg an effective 380 horsepower, with an EPA-estimated 20/24 mpg City/Highway (21 miles per gallon in the federal government's Combined city/highway fuel economy calculations). The Hybrid requires Premium gasoline.
Least expensive and, in our view, most fun to drive is the Touareg VR6 FSI Sport, which uses a 280-hp V6 engine EPA-rated at 16/23 mpg City/Highway (21 mpg Combined). It runs on Premium gasoline.
The Touareg V6 TDI Clean Diesel features a turbocharged 3.0-liter diesel with 225 horsepower that's EPA-rated 19/28 mpg (22 mpg Combined).
The 2011 Touareg may not look much different from the 2010 version because the styling revisions are subtle, but it has in fact been completely redesigned. The 2011 Touareg marks the beginning of the second generation. Compared to its predecessor, the 2011 Touareg is wider and has a shorter overall height, giving it a stronger presence. A longer wheelbase provides greater stability, while a greater overall length allows more room inside the cabin. The use of new materials and other adjustments have removed nearly 450 pounds from the vehicle.
There's little by way of visual cues to distinguish the 2011 Touareg from its predecessor. A few styling lines are more rounded. Some deeper sculpting softens the side doors' expanses of sheet metal. The liftgate has a wider license plate recess. But viewed from almost any angle, the 2011 Touareg looks like a Touareg. This isn't to complain. Overall, the Touareg, for 2011 as well as previous generations, is properly proportioned, with commendably minimal, non-functional cosmetics.
Touareg seats five. No third-row seat is available. The interior has been redesigned and refined for 2011. Improved acoustics and insulation reduce cabin noise. The cabin is trimmed handsomely. A more curvaceous dash updates the appearance. The second-row seat slides fore and aft and greater legroom is available. There's a giant panoramic sunroof available.
We found the 2011 Touareg comfortable and competent underway. The Touareg Sport is the most fun to drive of the four (and the least expensive), with responsive turn-in and good balance through energetic direction changes, all whilst tempering a driver's enthusiasm with clear reminders the Touareg is, after all, an SUV weighing in at around two and one half tons.
The Hybrid handles the added weight of the battery pack better than most hybrid SUVs, with a smooth ride and only the barest hint of a slower response to steering due to the placement of that added weight mostly behind the rear wheels.
The 2011 Touaregs give VW a full range of options in the SUV market, from the traditional to the green. The Lux and Executive trim levels are the most plush, featuring textures and accents that people look for when trying to define luxury.
A properly equipped Touareg with the optional towing package is rated to tow up to 7,700 pounds.
The 2011 Volkswagen Touareg VR6 FSI Sport ($44,450) starts with dual-zone climate control with pollen filter, V-Tex leatherette seating surfaces (vinyl), leather-trimmed steering wheel and shift knob, heated and eight-way power adjustable driver and front passenger seats, 60/40 split foldable rear seat fore/aft travel, navigation system with supplemental turn-by-turn graphics, rearview camera, AM/FM/CD/Sirius satellite radio with MDI/MP3 and hard disk drive, Bluetooth, programmable garage and gate remote opener, trip computer, power locks with keyless remote, bi-xenon HID headlights with AFS, four 12-volt power points, 115-volt power outlet, manually adjustable steering column. The VR6 FSI Sport comes with a 280-hp V6, 8-speed automatic, 4MOTION all-wheel drive, 18-inch alloy wheels.
The Touareg V6 TDI Clean Diesel Sport ($47,950) is similarly equipped but uses the 3.0-liter turbocharged diesel engine.
The VR6 FSI Lux ($48,300) and V6 TDI Clean Diesel Lux ($51,800) upgrade with Vienna leather seating surfaces, 12-way adjustable driver seat with power lumbar, driver memory settings, electric rear seatback releases in rear cargo area, heated outside mirrors, panoramic two-pane sunroof, 19-inch wheels. Burr Walnut (European for walnut burl) trims the doors and center console. The FSI Executive ($54,000) and TDI Clean Diesel Executive ($57,500) includes all the Lux features plus heated rear seats and multi-function steering wheel, park distance control, keyless pushbutton start and stop, 20-inch wheels and the Dynaudio premium sound system, which upgrades the audio system with 12 speakers and 620-watt amplifier.
The Touareg V6 TSI Hybrid ($60,565) generally tracks the Executive in terms of interior features but with the Sport's stereo, a power adjustable steering column, metal scuff door sill plates and aluminum-appearance pedals.
Safety features include the government-mandated safety features, which include front airbags, front occupant side-impact airbags, head-protection curtains for all occupants and a tire-pressure monitor, plus anti-lock brakes (ABS), traction control, electronic stability control, auto-hold and hill-hold assist, all-wheel drive, and rear view camera.
Styling changes on the second-generation 2011 Touareg from the first-generation 2003-10 models are subtle but significant, ensuring continuity in design cues. It looks like a Touareg, but sufficiently tweaked to invite recognition as different.
Truly, the changes to the front end are little more than updates to a readily recognized design. Upper and lower grille opening get the horizontal chrome bars previously confined to the upper section. Housings for the compound, projector beam headlights and strings of LED running lights are squared off to achieve consistency with the styling motif of the brand's new Golf and Jetta. More dramatic body sculpting below the headlights emphasizes the more sharply outlined and pronounced arches over the front wheelwells.
Side perspective shows softer, more rounded lower door panels than the severely straight-edge indent carved into the pre-2011 models. Following suit, the beltline (the bottom edge of the side windows) sweeps slightly upward as it nears the C-pillar (the vertical section of the body behind the rearmost side window), which itself is wider than the 2010's. The tires tend to be overwhelmed by the wheel openings, although this can be advantageous for the rare occasions a Touareg will be asked to explore anything less refined than the dirt lot at the hardware store. Pull-to-open door handles allow decent grip access, although not for seriously gloved hands.
Taillights have a bit of a raised eyebrow look, little changed from the 2010's. The backlight (the rear window glass) isn't quite as rectangular as on the 2010. VW has decided to make one liftgate for all of the Touareg's world markets, so the license place recess is almost double the width of the 2010's, which seems to reduce the perceived mass of the Touareg's back end. The dual exhausts on all three models are decked out with stylized chrome tips.
The Volkswagen Touareg shares its basic platform with the Porsche Cayenne and the Audi Q7. The Q7 rides on a longer wheelbase.
There's very little not to like about the Touareg's creature comforts and accommodations. Everything is where it should be, works the way it should, some of it remarkably well, and for the most part shows commendable attention to details not only in fit and finish, but also in the extent of the capabilities given certain features.
The front seats are comfortable and supportive, with adequate bolsters. The 2011 Touareg interior offers as much room for people as the the Mercedes-Benz M350 and BMW X5. The Touareg has at least an inch more front-seat headroom than the Mercedes and BMW, while front-seat legroom slots between the two.
Climate controls are properly sized and positioned, as are the primary switches that bring up the touch-screen's icons for the sound and navigation systems' layers of options and functions. The keyless, push-button start stop feature seems overdone. We are not fans of keyless start-stop systems because we've seen them cause confusion, undue stress and dead batteries. When the dash-mounted slot for the key fob will start the engine in the normal way by twisting the fob like any regular key, why ask for future troubles by putting a push button in the center console? Here, it's optional, and we recommend avoiding it. The navigation system is superb, with a remarkably quick adaptation to course changes.
Trim materials are high quality. Tolerances between panels, coverings and metal or wood insets are tight and consistent. The faux leather seating upholstery is more comfortable than the real cowhide, though, being both more pliable and because it's perforated, less likely to be clammy in winter and sticky in summer. The six inches of fore and aft travel in the rear seat is hugely welcome, with one caveat: with the seat at its rearmost setting, the proximity of the rear wheelwell compels occupants to be very careful to avoid dirtying their backside when climbing in and out.
We found the panoramic sunroof a mixed bag. It blessed occupants with magnificent views of Nice's mountainous surrounds but failed miserably in blocking the heat of the afternoon Mediterranean sun.
Rear-seat legroom leads the class, topping 40 inches with the seat all the way back. Rear-seat headroom splits the difference with the Mercedes and the BMW. Rear seats aren't quite as cushy and sit a little higher than the fronts, although the front head restraints block any forward visibility that higher positioning might have added.
The new Touareg disappoints, however, when it's called upon to haul stuff. Maximum cargo space, with the rear seat folded flat, in the 2011 not only trails the Mercedes and the BMW by at least 8 cubic feet, but falls 7 cubic feet short of the 2010 Touareg, this despite the 2011 casting a shadow that's about an inch larger in all directions than its predecessor.
Each of the three 2011 Touareg versions has its own personality and will appeal to drivers with distinct tastes when shopping for an SUV.
The VR6 FSI is the most fun to drive when gauged by the seat of the driver's pants, or skirt, for that matter. It's the lightest, by more than 250 pounds versus the next heaviest, the TDI. This makes the VR6 the most tossable, the most responsive to quick steering inputs, taking a set in the suspension more readily and tracking more confidently through corners than its heavier siblings. Comfort-wise on long stretches of straight road, it's the equal of the other two in terms of smooth ride and insulation from pavement seams and potholes. The VR6 is rated at 280 horsepower and 265 pound-feet of torque.
The VR6 is the least fuel-efficient, however, earning EPA ratings of 16/23 City/Highway mpg, or a combined rating of 19 mpg over a test route's mix of urban, suburban and rural roads. For the technophiles, it's also the least advanced, with a 3.6-liter gasoline-fueled, multi-valve, albeit electronically managed, narrow-angle V6. The VR6 FSI comes with Volkswagen's new-for-2010 8-speed automatic transmission.
The all-wheel-drive system, VW's 4MOTION, standard on all models, loses the 2010's low-range transfer case in favor of a Torsen limited slip rear differential, this mostly with an eye to saving weight, and recognizing that Touareg drivers aren't the type to tackle the rock-strewn tracks and streams of the Rubicon Trail in California's Sierra wilderness.
The V6 TDI Clean Diesel is arguably the slickest of the three. It's a diesel, for one thing, and one that's legal in all 50 states, including California. This is thanks to a technology also used by Mercedes-Benz in its oil burners and comprising a special catalytic converter and injectors that spray a synthetic urea-based solution into the exhaust to cut NOx emissions sufficiently to meet that state's and federal standards. Diesel engines are known more for their torque, which is the ability to get an object moving, than for their horsepower, generally more important for keeping an object moving.
The V6 diesel in the 3.0-liter TDI (turbocharged, direct injection) puts out 406 pound-feet of torque, more than half again as much as the 3.6-liter FSI V6. It manages this on less fuel, with EPA ratings of 19/28 City/Highway, or 22 mpg Combined. That stump-pulling torque does a pretty decent job of motivating the 4,974 pounds the TDI carries around, at least as regards acceleration, which even so feels a tick or two slower than the VR6 FSI. Where the added heft makes itself felt most is with a hint of uncertainty of foot when the going gets twisty, a character trait all three Touaregs' unavoidably high center of gravity magnifies. Both engines have the advantage of being thoroughly debugged, in mechanics and electronics departments.
The V6 TSI Hybrid is the latest entry in the Touareg line and boasts the most sophisticated technology of the three models. The theory behind a hybrid is the internal combustion engine provides most of the motive power and during periods of low demand charges a battery that powers an electric motor that as configured in the Touareg does two things: one, it can be the sole power driving the vehicle at low speeds and under light loads, and two, it can boost the power of the combustion engine when the driver wants that to happen, like when accelerating to pass another vehicle or to merge into fast-moving traffic, like on a freeway. What VW has done with the Touareg Hybrid is combine a supercharged V6 with an electric motor in what's called a full parallel system that allows either power source individually to drive the vehicle and then both to join forces when necessary. What this has yielded is a engine/motor duo that when working together creates V8-like power but uses fuel at an EPA-estimated rate of 20/24 mpg City/Highway, or 21 mpg Combined, which is lower even than a non-supercharged V6 of larger displacement and roughly equal to a turbocharged diesel of equal displacement. Kind of the best, or at least the better, of both worlds, in theory, at least.
For the most part, theory equates with practice on the Touareg Hybrid. Because it will run on the electric motor alone, it starts moving immediately when the driver presses on the accelerator pedal. There's no momentary hesitation while the electronics start the engine before the vehicle can get moving. Also, with gentle pressure on the accelerator, the Touareg Hybrid can be coaxed up to speeds in excess of 25 mph before the V6 almost seamlessly lights off and takes over, easily pushing the Touareg along. That's handy in stop-and-go commuter traffic. The V6 can propel the Touareg at better than socially responsible speeds thanks to the supercharger, which pumps exponentially larger amounts of fuel and air into the engine's combustion chambers as the speed of the engine increases. For overtaking and freeway on-ramps, the motor is ready to kick in, again almost imperceptibly, to augment the engine's power as necessary. Optimizing the engine management system's computing power in the quest for maximum fuel economy, at any speed up to about 100 mph the Touareg Hybrid's engine will turn off when the driver stops pressing on the accelerator, which allows the vehicle to coast, or, as VW terms it, sail. It's a little unnerving the first few times it happens, but after a while, it can become an interesting kind of game, to see just how the engine's computer reads the load on the powertrain. Kudos to VW for fitting an 8-speed automatic, which drives like people expect, instead of the weirdness of the gearless continuously variable transmission, or CVT, used by makers of other hybrids.
Where the Touareg Hybrid suffers most is from the added pounds from all that technology and battery pack. At 5,135 pounds, the Hybrid tips the scales by more than 400 pounds heavier than the VR6 FSI, the most nimble and fun to drive of the three. Not to say the Hybrid lumbers through corners, but the front tires scrub more than those on the other two models when it enters a corner carrying a bit too much speed. It's also not as agile when pushed through a series of S-curves, a shortcoming to which the placement of the battery pack in the spare tire well no doubt contributes. This is a small point, given that few Touareg drivers fantasize about being race car drivers, but it does illustrate the compromises that hybrid technology exact.
All three Touaregs run quietly, with equal roadworthiness and little mechanical, road or wind noise invading the people compartment. Doors close with the traditional Germanic thunk.
Braking is solid and sure. Our Hybrid's brakes consistently grabbed abruptly the first few applications most often following a cold start, after which they functioned normally. The Hybrid uses regenerative brakes, which converts the energy generated during braking into electricity to help recharge the hybrid system's battery. It didn't seem to pose any danger, as the Hybrid stopped with certainty and free of drama every time, but it definitely irritated. Perhaps it was an issue with our particular test vehicle.
The 2011 Volkswagen Touareg is all-new. The VR6 is the most fun to drive. The TDI Clean Diesel may be the most sensible. The Hybrid gives Germany's largest carmaker an entry into the hybrid market, what some observers see as the bridge to a future populated with a variety of powerplants running on various alternative fuels. But it's more than that, as it's also just as driveable and as capable as the two non-hybrid Touaregs, ready and willing to go anywhere, and if desired, as fast as, they can.
NewCarTestDrive.com correspondent Tom Lankard filed this report from Nice, France.


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"Forget the tights!"
In Robin Hood, Jamie Foxx plays the hero's loyal right-hand man. Here, he talks about Instagram, good works and being friends with Quincy Jones.
Mr. Foxx, In Robin Hood, you play Little John, a canny giant of a man – the name is pure irony. Did you take a look at all the previous movies to see how other actors portrayed the brave hero's second-in-command?
No, I didn't need to. Our story stands for itself, it has very little in common with the old films. In any case, I don't hold with that method. As an actor, I'm like a sponge that soaks everything up. If you're not careful, you can pick up too much of what you've seen someone else doing.
How would you describe the big difference between your Robin Hood and the old movies?
Although the story is set in the past, it is still realistic and relevant to the present day. I play a man from Arabia who fights the English on their crusades but later, traumatized by his wartime experiences, travels to his enemy's country. You would have to have been living on the other side of the moon not to see just how topical this story is. Abuse of power and the hope for change that Robin Hood represents are also integral to the story. On the one side, you have people acting out of greed and on the other, those who oppose and resist them. That doesn't sound like an old legend to me.
Do you think the audience will be open to that interpretation?
For sure! It's a cool, modern action film for a young audience. You can already see that on Instagram. Whenever the team posted some advance shots from the film, they received what felt like a flood of Likes. My friends always laughed when I told them about my role. They thought I would be running around in tights. But believe you me, tights are the last thing that come to mind in this film.
Why do you think this quintessentially British saga holds such a fascination for Americans?
Whether we like it or not, greed plays a huge role everywhere in the world. Now and again, I watch the fascinating TV documentary series "American Greed." It really shows how things work: First, someone just wants to have a bit more money, but before you know it, he's grown insatiable. Not long after that, he's caught up in the kinds of wheelings and dealings that cause banking crises.
How does that tie in with Robin Hood?
I believe those kinds of mechanisms always spark counter-reactions – and that a Robin Hood spirit has always run through U.S. society. The more people enrich themselves at the expense of others, the more people there will be, who, like Robin Hood, want to take from the rich to give to the poor. We Americans have a fine instinct and have always taken care to preserve the balance within our system.
Few countries have as many charitable organizations as the U.S. or people more willing to give. What about you?
I'm involved closely with the Global Down Syndrome Foundation. My younger sister DeOndra has Down syndrome. When she made a video for one of my songs and posted it online, it drew the foundation's attention to us. Since then, I've being giving them lots of support.
Financial support?
Yes, but not only. We stage a big charity event in Denver every year, also with the support of the amazing music producer Quincy Jones. It involves a fashion show, where models with Down syndrome parade down the catwalk in Versace or Gucci, and there's also an auction, of course. It's very moving and there's never a dry eye in the house, even among celebrities like Queen Latifah, Peyton Manning and Alec Baldwin. Before I began supporting the organization eight years ago, it was raising roughly 200 000 dollars a year for research. Today, it receives 30 to 40 million in donations!
I've always been incredibly fortunate in my choice of mentors
Is the legendary Quincy Jones a role model for you?
He's more than that; he's a friend and also one of my mentors – and for that, I feel blessed. I once sat talking with him for hours about how he worked with people like Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Michael Jackson; it was one of the best experiences of my life. But I've always been incredibly fortunate in my choice of mentors, who also include Denzel Washington. When he comes to dinner at my house, half my friends come by to crowd around him because everyone wants to learn something from the great man.
Do you also pass on to others the experience you have gained?
Absolutely. Hollywood is a strange and complicated place where good advice always comes in useful. When I see talented young guys, I want to help them out. I think it's important not to lose enthusiasm for what you're doing. Essentially, we are all members of a community of artists, but it's easy to lose sight of that if you are only looking out for what the press is writing and what's happening on social media.
On Unpredictable, your most successful album as a musician, which you released 14 years ago, you included "Heaven," a track about God. Where do you stand on spirituality today?
For me, spirituality has always been a driving force. I am crazy about the idea that a heaven or something similar could exist. I don't belong to any particular religion, but I am interested in all kinds of spirituality. All too often, religions are played off against each other. I do the opposite; I bring the different faiths together – at least for me, personally – and merge them, just like that, with no particular goals, purely instinctively.


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