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christopher ellis
joseph mersa
christopher ellis
Some things are planned, some things just happen, and then there are those things that are simply meant to be. Such is the link between Christopher Ellis, the youngest son of legendary Jamaican vocalist Alton Ellis, and the Ghetto Youths International crew.
"It's a lineage thing," says Christopher Ellis, who is currently preparing his debut EP for release on the GYI label. "It stems back to when I met Stephen and Damian Marley. And more than that, it stems to our fathers and the whole Trenchtown thing."
Trenchtown, of course, is the economically downpressed but musically blessed area of downtown Kingston that was immortalized by The Wailers in their song "Trenchtown Rock." Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer all hailed from Trenchtown, as did many other Jamaican musical heroes inlcuding Delroy Wilson, Joe Higgs, guitarist Ernest Ranglin, saxophonist Dean Fraser, and the aforementioned Alton Ellis, a soulful vocalist who made his name with countless rock steady classics, including "Get Ready, Rock Steady," "Girl I've Got A Date," "I'm Just A Guy," and "Willow Tree."
"When they made music, they would make songs religiously," says Christopher Ellis, who touring extensively with his father and shared the stage with him since the age of 11, thrilling audiences around the world as he soaked up the finer points of life, music and the music business from the master himself. "When you have a father like that, greatness is passed down onto you."
After his father passed away in 2008 Christopher Ellis was introduced to Stephen Marley by a mutual friend from Trenchtown. "He drove me to Hope Road one day," Christopher recalls. "I sat down with Stephen Marley and the rest is history. Just like that it happened—just like that. Stephen said to me 'It's a family thing,' and I really give thanks for that. I learned so much from him and Damian, just being in the studio—sounds and vibes, all kind of things I'm learning."
The first fruit of that collaboration was "End of Time," a collaboration with Stephen Marley and Jah Cure based on Alton Ellis's "You Make Me So Very Happy." That was followed by a 2010 reworking of the Alton Ellis classic "Willow Tree" that showcases Christopher's sensitive vocal interpretation over a state-of-the-art reggae track produced by Stephen Marley. More recently, Ellis released the fresh-sounding single "Don't Change Your Number," featuring hard-hitting rhymes from Bay-C of the dancehall supergroup T.O.K. which has enjoyed strong radio airplay in his native London.
"I'm so proud of that song, it's a different mood—total niceness. I was in Tuff Gong studio with Jr. Gong and the vibes were just building. I hummed two things and Gong said 'Yeah, keep that!' So we took it back to Miami and Gong did that genius thing he does. When he goes behind that drumkit and orchestrates the thing—it's crazy."
The swinging, uptempo track is a departure from the one-drop reggae fare Ellis is best known for, but he's embracing the creative growth. "It's always nice when people can't predict what's coming," says Ellis, who recently shot a video for the tune in Jamaica. "Showing versatility
is a great thing."
For the future, Ellis advises fans to expect the unexpected. "If you don't hear me singing reggae music, don't worry 'cause it's still music. I love One Drop reggae so much, but we've been experimenting with different sounds and it's really sounding good. I have some things to portray to the world. It's all about fulfilling the mission of extending my father's legacy. Anything I can add to that legacy is a blessing."
wayne marshall
"Many are called but the chosen few," Wayne Marshall sang on "Overcome,"one of his earliest breakthrough hits. "Nothing in this world that you cannot do." Through a blend of hard work, determination, and undeniable talent, Marshall has managed to overcome all obstacles in his path, proving that these words were more than just catchy lyrics. To paraphrase the singer's well-known catchphrase, his song proved to be Tru tru tru. And following this credo has afforded him the right to be counted among reggae's chosen few.
Though best known as a dancehall performer, Wayne Marshall's multifaceted abilities defy easy categorization. For more than a decade now, Marshall has evolved through different stages in the music industry, playing a crucial role both onstage and behind the scenes as a songwriter, producer, musician, and creative strategist. After collaborating with a variety of reggae's important collectives, including Ward 21, Vybz Kartel, Sean Paul and Bounty Killer's Alliance, Marshall has recently aligned himself with the Ghetto Youths International movement—with immediate and explosive results.
Wayne has always been a brethren of mine," says Damian "Junior Gong" Marley of their collaborative chemistry. "Music is what made me know him. Wayne does a whole heap of writing, even for other artists. He has always had a gift for different topics, and he comes up with certain kinds of concepts." But most of all Damian Marley rates Marshall for his drive. "He has a great ambition to work—and to cross over and be bigger than just, say, the dancehall market. Sometimes if you have too much ego it is a barrier. But he's open to try anything to really further himself. He has good music and is always willing to learn."
And the feeling is clearly mutual: "Damian has a lot of respect on the ground in Jamaica," Marshall affirms. "He welcomes a different arm of artists who I don't really know, which brings a different energy and unification. I'm very excited about where I am—productionwise and labelwise, I just feel good. It feels right. The whole Ghetto Youths movement that's going on right now is crazy. You have Christopher Ellis carrying on his father's legacy, and then there's Black Am I and Joe Mersa coming up with raw talent and ability. The thing is alive and well.
Wayne Marshall first established his name with hardcore cuts like "Melody of War" on Ward 21's Bellyas riddim and "When The Smoke Clears," a devastating duet with Bounty Killer. Then in 2002 he had not one but two cuts on the internationally acclaimed Diwali riddim, featuring on Bounty Killer's smash hit "Sufferer" as well as singing the inspirational solo cut "Overcome." That track became not just a career-defining song, but a mantra of personal responsibility and inspiration: "Times well hard in yard today / If you don't work then you won't get pay / Many obstacles come along the way / Overcome, youths overcome." More recently Marshall experimented with new sounds and styles on tracks like the internationally celebrated club banger "Messing With My Heart" as well as brainstorming the innovative Matrimony riddim, for which all the songs were conceptually linked by the topic of marriage—elevating the project from an ordinary dancehall juggling to a thematically unified mix with a video to match.
Since joining the Ghetto Youths camp, he's released the epic posse cut "Go Hard," which also features Damian Marley, Assassin, I-Octane, Bounty Killer, Aidonia, and—most surprisingly—the Worldboss himself, Vybz Kartel, who has been incarcerated for a year now. "Everybody wants to know how did we get Kartel on this track?"
Marshall says with palpable enthusiasm. "It's crazy. I really feel like that song is a big deal." Extended mixes of the tune include verses from Sizzla, Kunley of Ward 21, and Bling Dawg—with remixes in the works that include lyricists from other creative traditions such as hip-hop and grime. Somehow as the artists pass the microphone like a baton in a relay race, the musical momentum never lets up—indeed, it only seems to increase as the track goes on.
Marshall says the creative process behind "Go Hard" started with him and co-producer Baby G seeking to create a "mixtape style" record around an explosive rhythm track built by in-demand studio musician Teetimus. "We wanted to make a big collaborative dancehall track with that kind of Wu-Tang feel," Marshall explains. "Hip-hop energy blended with that dancehall snare—just something anthem-like."
His debut album under the Ghetto Youths banner will be titled Tru Colors. The brooding title track is a complex psychological study about friendship and disappointment that shows Marshall's creativity at its finest. Other standout tracks include "Beautiful Wrong" a collaboration with Demarco that looks at the hurtful aftermath of good love gone bad. "That one is all about meeting a girl who's a heartbreaker," says Marshall. "We have Konshens on that record as well and you know he did his thing. It was a good blend." Meanwhile "Long Time" features a remix by one of Skrillex's dubstep protégés. Other producers on the project include Marshall and his longtime creative partner Baby G, son of the legendary reggae producer King Jammy. "Our musical journey together is so close that we're almost twins," says Marshall.
In addition to his own album, Marshall has collaborated with a unique coalition of Junior Gong, Tarrus Riley, and Bay-C of TOK. Though all four artists have distinctly different careers as individuals, they found that they work well together, making a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. "All of us are accomplished to various different levels, and young at the same time. To come together on a creative vibe—out of this world. Just building out of the silence of the studio just came forth sound and lyrics and ideas. It was just a melting pot of creative vibrations. Amazing."
Aside from the foursome's unique creative chemistry, Marshall felt it was important to send a message of unity within the reggae fraternity. "As you can see in the dancehall there's a whole lot of segregation—crew against crew. This man stand off against that man. Man a war against this and that. As a music and as a movement, Ghetto Youths needed to show some solidarity at the end of the day. We can't just a war-war. People gonna take us for some crabs in a barrel. We need that collective energy. In unity is strength."
Not content to write, produce, and record music, Marshall has been developing his musicianship as well.. "I'm almost there. I've done my 10,000 hours," he adds, referencing author Malcolm Gladwell's formula for mastering a new skill. "I'm trying to dig deep," he says of his Ghetto Youths affiliation. "I've done a whole lot of soul-searching and I'm ready now to unleash on a different level." Consider this your final warning.
black am i
One of the newest recruits to the Ghetto Youths International ranks, the culturally inclined reggae singjay Black Am I has already distinguished himself as a powerful voice of Jamaican music's next generation. While he may be fresh to the music business, Black Am I has got ambition aplenty—and the talent and integrity to back it up. If you don't know his name yet, then it's time to get familiar.
In this time, when some of the most fundamental tenets of reggae culture seem to have fallen by the wayside, Black Am I replenishes the great traditions of self-determination, equal rights, and celebration of one's African identity through hard-hitting yet conscious lyrics. Backed by fresh sounds that blend classical roots reggae with contemporary dancehall energy, the young artist is poised to spark a revolution in the minds and hearts of music lovers worldwide.
Born in the rural village of Nine Mile, situated in the hills of the Jamaican parish of St. Ann, Black Am I knew that he was blessed with the gift of music. "Growing up in Nine Mile reggae was a part of me," Black Am I explains. His father chose to call him I-Nesta, out of respect for Nine Mile's most famous son, Robert Nesta Marley. Sometimes a name carries the seeds of destiny—in keeping with the Rastafarian concept of word, sound, and power—so it came as no surprise somehow when Black Am I was inspired to sing.
"Music we say," Black Am I affirms. "I love the thing for a long time. I just want to see it reach to a level." But the level he's aiming for isn't just the usual "next level" cliché of searching for any form of success by any means necessary. Instead, Black Am I holds himself to a higher standard. "I feel like I'm responsible to bring back roots reggae," the young singer says without hesitation. "Cause the thing get watered down."
From an early age—long before he had access to a recording studio—Black Am I began writing his own songs. Right now all I need is a producer, he told himself. So when Damian "Junior Gong" Marley was visiting Nine Mile one day, he recognized the opportunity. "I approach him and say, 'I am the artist in the place y'know,'" Black Am I recalls. Always willing and able to support fresh talent, Junior Gong asked him to sing something.
"The first time I met up with Black Am I in Nine Mile," Junior Gong says with a smile, "I told him that he needed some more practice." But Black Am was far from discouraged—quite the contrary. "I was never disappointed," he says, "cause practice is perfection. So I just went for it."
Rising to meet the challenge, Black Am I diligently put in the required work, and made sure he was ready the next time Junior Gong visited Nine Mile. The occasion happened to be a celebration of the Ethopian Christmas on the 7th of January. "Gong was in the place again, and a celebration was in the air," Black Am I remembers. "After the gathering he was walking back to his father's place. And I just started to sing."
The memory remains fresh for Damian Marley. "He just came up beside me and started sing: If you don't wanna be misled, I tell you Ras up and come. He did this whole tune and I said, Wait! Who's this?" Something about the voice seemed familiar but he couldn't quite place it. That's when Black Am I reminded him. "You don't remember me? The same one you meet a year ago—you told me to practice." Impressed by the youth's talent, Junior Gong invited him to a formal audition at Tuff Gong studios in Kingston.
"I did not even know Tuff Gong at that time," recalls the singer, who was then still known as Nesta. "I came to Hope Road to the demo studio. Some tracks were playing and we voiced on them." That initial session would prove to be fateful for more reasons than one.
The first song he recorded that day went like this: "Black am I, why should I stray? / Sticking to my roots and culture and so me ah go stay. / Black am I, like who must I say? / Martin Luther King and Marcus Garvey." That powerful lyric had an immediate and lasting impact on all who heard it, and on the artist himself.
"People never knew my name at the time," the artist recalls. "So everybody was calling me 'Black Am I.'" Soon thereafter Junior Gong made it official, telling him "that's the name we're working with."
Since that time, the artist formerly known as I-Nesta has come to appreciate the significance of his powerful new name, his consciousness expanding to fulfill the potential implied by the title. "Being Black Am I, now I just represent for 'I and I' roots and culture," And we burn bleaching. We are African—there's no denying that. So that is why we have to just accept our name and say: This is the job we've got to do. Nothing has changed. Rastafari come from the root—Africa. The Lion of Judah shall never break him promise."
Junior Gong has invested significant time and effort on artist development, and has noticed a rapid evolution of the young singer. "When we start work with Black Am I, it was just really natural talent and love of music coming through," he says. "Since that time, he's started to get more calculated."
"With Damian Marley I become a workaholic," says the artist, who has put down tracks like "Dwelling", "People Kill People" on King Jammy's General Riddim and the thought-provoking "Modern Day Freedom," which raises timely questions about life within a 21st century system of economic dependency.
"How can we free ourself?" the artist ponders. "We have to put our shoulder to the wheel. No more complaining. Work to be done. I myself call pon every Jamaica right now. Stand up for your right. Get up, stand up. Sitting down too long right now. You know what I mean? It's game time. Training. Practice. Perfection—straight.
Moving forward Black Am I continues to record and tour with Ghetto Youths International, moving toward his goal of being a voice for the voiceless. "Who have ears to hear, let them hear," he says. "I do music from my heart. I express myself in a way that I feel like the world want to express themselves. Because," he says, closing with a line from the book of Marley, "there are so much things to say right now."
joseph mersa
JO MERSA is the second generation offspring of reggae legend, Bob Marley and eldest son of Stephen Marley. In the same tradition as his father and grandfather, Jo Mersa's music has been deeply influenced by the reggae culture, family and spirituality.
Growing up as a youth in an atmosphere filled with conscious musicians, Mersa naturally began exploring his own musical journey. During his impressionable years, the musical youth would observe his father and uncles Damian Marley and Julian Marley produce music at the Lion's Den studio in Miami, which was the catalyst to Jo becoming an accomplished, self-taught musician, perfecting the craft of how to build his own beats and riddims.
In 2010, Ghetto Youths International released Jo Mersa's first single entitled,
"My Girl", a cross-over reggae / pop collaboration between Mersa and his cousin, Daniel Bambaata Marley, which was produced at the Lion's Den in Miami by Stephen Marley.
In 2012, Ghetto Youths released Jo Mersa's second single and music video entitled,
"Bad So". The dancehall track hit international air-waves to heavy acclaim, and finds the once fledgling artist rising to the top of the radio charts in major markets, including London, Jamaica, New York City, Boston and Miami.
The inspiration of Jo Mersa's lineage has harnessed his organic, creative energy, and affirms his natural passion for creating music and performing on stage. But regardless of his heritage, Jo Mersa has forged his own identity with a style that ranges in a variety of categories, including roots/reggae, pop, dancehall and hip-hop.
In 2013, Jo Mersa can be found working on new music and touring internationally with his father, Stephen Marley. Mersa notes, "I feel Blessed to have the opportunity to spread the messages of my grandfather, and through my own musical visions I hope to continue on with my father's musical legacy."
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4 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 onion, diced
1 green pepper, minced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
a pinch of salt and pepper
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 jigger coconut rum
1/2 c. diced fresh pineapple
1/2 c. diced fresh mango
1/4 c. pineapple juice
Grill chicken breast and simmer in pineapple saute for 2 minutes. Serve over your favorite rice. Saute onion, green pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, and soy sauce in vegetable oil. Flambe rum (take saute pan away from flame). Add diced pineapple, mango, and pineapple juice. Makes enough to serve 4.

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One of the reasons that I'm not a big fan of social media discussions like those on Twitter is that they feel like "drive-by" thinking to me: First, someone posts one or two sentences about a complex topic (such as flat advisory fees) mostly with the intent of swaying others to recognize the righteousness of the writer's point of view. Then, a few other folks post one-sentence comments that either agree with the original statement (which get "liked" and praised) or disagree—and are dismissed with hit-and-run comments that question the poster's credibility. Maybe it's my training in philosophy, but this doesn't feel like real thinking to me: which involves considering new information and other points of view in order to make our own ideas better.
A good example of how a beneficial discussion can work to advance the discussion is the comment posted by Elliott Weir of III Financial about my last blog (April 16, Flat Fees or Fees on AUM, Take 4: The Sweet Smell of Success), which was the fourth installment in an ongoing discussion about the relative merits of flat fees vs. AUM fees). Elliot has posted insightful comments to each of my blogs on flat fees, but his latest posting is perhaps the most important comment that I've seen or heard from anyone on the subject, and has indeed broadened my thinking: "One additional downside to the AUM pricing model is that, if you focus on the retiree market as I do, tying yourself to account value while periodic withdrawals are taken almost guarantees a 'reduction' in fees over time. Am I adding less value because my clients are enjoying their money, possibly paying off a house or buying some guaranteed income?"
Folks have mentioned the conflict that arises in the AUM fee model when clients want to take money out of their investment portfolio to pay off their houses, but in today's low interest rate environment (which is deductible), paying off the mortgage probably isn't going to pencil for most people anyway. However, the issue raised by Mr. Weir of declining AUM fee income as more clients enter their depletion phase clearly warrants serious consideration.
Much has been written recently about the need for attracting younger clients to offset the economic effects of aging client bases—primarily lower fee incomes and firm valuations. Yet few observers stop ask how big a problem this really is. The best analysis I've seen on the subject recently comes from Michael Kitces in his March 27, 2014 ThinkAdvisor blog, Your Clients Are Getting Older. So What?
Here's what Michael had to say on the subject: "The reason that retirement withdrawals are not all that destructive is the simple fact that in the early stages of retirement, withdrawals relative to total assets tend to be rather modest… …as evidenced by the fact that withdrawals start at a rate (6.6%) that is less than the growth rate (8%), on average a retiree at age 60 doesn't actually begin to deplete the account balance at all until almost halfway through retirement. It's only by the client's mid-70s that the account balance even begins to decline, and several more years after that before it dips below where it started, and only then finally experiencing the rapid spend-down in the later years."
This is a vastly different picture of the impact of aging clients than we normally get: and a more encouraging one. It also suggests, at least to my mind, that once again, the advantages of the identity of interest between client and advisor created by AUM fees outweigh the potential conflicts: an advisor's success at growing the client's portfolio can delay a decrease in compensation for many years. And good portfolio performance could go a long way toward insuring a continuing relationship with the surviving spouse.
Flat fees, of course, would solve the declining revenue problem altogether—and eliminate conflicts over any drawdowns of client portfolios, including gifting, trust funds, second homes, etc. Personally, I like the idea of AUM success fees. But that's just my opinion: I could be wrong. If I am, I hope some of you will further the discussion and tell me why.


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Teenage Brown Bear Invents 'Tool' for 'Exfoliating'
Witness ye, the world's first documented example of tool use in a bear. Scientist Volker B. Deecke discovered the "subadult brown bear in south-eastern Alaska" rubbing a barnacle-covered rock against its face. New Scientist reports,
The bear was moulting, and had big patches of fur hanging off its skin. Moulting bears often scratch themselves with their claws, or rub their bodies against trees or rocks. "The barnacles," Deecke says, "may have given that exfoliating feeling."
Spa day. Treat yourself, well-coiffed teenage brown bear.
Though bears are often witnessed scratching themselves against trees and boulders, this is the first documented example of a bear manipulating a freely-moving tool. [Animal Cognition, New Scientist, Daily What]


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Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, the independent contractor unit of Wells Fargo known as FiNet, announced Tuesday that the firm's president, John Peluso, has been named president of First Clearing Correspondent Services, the clearing firm that is a registered broker-dealer and a nonbank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Co.
Peluso (left) was named to the 2012 IA 25, a list of the 25 most influential people in the advisory business, in May.
During his tenure, Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network grew to 1,100 financial advisors and more than $55 billion in client assets, topping $600 million in revenue. In his new role as president of First Clearing, "he will work with senior executives to further develop our clearing strategy founded on strong, strategic partnerships with current and prospective" broker-dealers, according to the company.
He began his career in the financial services industry in 1988 at Wheat First Securities (now Wells Fargo Advisors). After three years in the operations group, he moved to the clearing business to lead marketing and product development. He then spent time as the western wholesaler for new broker-dealer business development for First Clearing Corp.
Prior to his latest position with the firm, he was the managing director for Wells Fargo Advisors' Private Client Group, in charge of business development for retail brokerage recruiting.
"John brings strong leadership skills to his new role at First Clearing," Brand Meyer, senior managing director and president of the independent brokerage group of Wells Fargo Advisors, said in a statement. "During his tenure at the firm he has accomplished great things, including leading our independent channel, Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, to great heights as the premier platform in the independent brokerage space."
The firm says a search is under way for a successor to lead Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, which "remains a critically important business for Wells Fargo Advisors as part of the firm's multichannel business model."


text: Host Christopher Kimball goes into the test kitchen to update a classic recipe for French-Style Pot-Roasted Pork Loin with test cook Bridget Lancaster. Next, equipment expert Adam Ried reviews knife sets in the Equipment Corner, and test cook Becky Hays shows Chris how to make Potato Casserole with Bacon and Caramelized Onion. And finally, gadget expert Lisa McManus reveals her top pick among mandolines.


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A great debate raged in the US after the Haitian earthquake. The credit card fees and the millions upon millions of dollars that credit card companies were making from the generosity of the people touched a nerve in many. That, coupled with the general fatigue in the population over the "other" bank fees — namely the fees that make the bankers fat and the population poor — produced an indignation over certain industries' profits that the US hasn't seen in years.
Then, a couple of days after hearing this indignation over the airwaves and reading about it on internet, I opened a newspaper and saw that John Oliver from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart (which is my regular nightly comedy dose) is coming to a theater near me. "Great," I thought, "that would be a wonderful evening out." That was until I saw the prices — and it was not the price of the ticket that turned me off. It was the fees. For a $35 ticket I would have paid at least $17 in fees. That's 50% of the ticket! My reasonably priced $35 ticket would quickly become a $52 dollar ticket. And for what? For me clicking a few buttons on the screen and making a purchase on-line? Why should I be paying this much for them to process a ticket? And whom would I be paying? The ticket agencies that somehow decided that it were OK to rip the spectators off?
This was not the first time I had to pay outrageous fees in the US for getting a ticket to a show or a sports event. I was even told I'd have to pay if I went to pick up my ticket at the theater — a "pick up" fee. Come on. Seriously — a pick up fee?
I've bought plenty of tickets for performances in Russia and Argentina and I don't remember paying any fees let alone such outrageous amounts. Which makes me wonder — why do we, Americans, put up with that? Why do we let them rob us in daylight? Is the "culture of fees" so strong in the American psyche that it's here to stay?
What do you think? And what has been your experience in other countries?
People who read this post also read:
To tip or not to tip…is that a cultural question?
What makes repatriation difficult?
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Win a Family 4-Pack of Free Tickets…
Family Concert with Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem
Saturday, March 3rd, 2012 @ 10:30am
at The First Churches of Northampton
For the third year in a row, Hilltown Families is a proud sponsor of the Nonotuck Community School Winter Family Concert Series. This year the school ends their concert series with a family concert with Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem, "one of America's most inventive string bands" (Boston Herald)…and we have a family 4-pack of free tickets to giveaway to one lucky family! Proceeds from the performance go to benefit Nonotuck Community School, a local non-profit preschool! Deadline to enter to win is 02/29/12 by 7pm (EST). Find out how to enter to win below.
Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem is a rootsy, Americana-style string band of four musicians — all parents — who have played and toured together for 10 years. Their grooves are deep, their four-part harmonies are rich, and their adventurous, eclectic song selection serves their debut family CD Ranky Tanky well. Family music is a new endeavor for the band, but they have longstanding reputation for performances that are, as the Boston Globe put it, "playful and profound. Ranky Tanky sticks with that equation: it's uplifting, danceable, playful, sometimes silly, sometimes wistful, and never sarcastic. Rani Arbo fires up the fiddle; Anand Nayak plays electric and acoustic guitars; Andrew Kinsy is on upright acoustic bass (and ukulele and banjo), and Scott Kessel pilots the Drumship Enterprise, a percussion rig made from cardboard boxes, tin cans, water jugs, and a vinyl suitcase. Together, they create a joyful, musical fusion of sounds both old and new — and a great soundtrack for family tim
The NCS Winter Family Concert Series is an annual three-part Winter Family Concert Series hosted by Nonotuck Community School. The 2012 season started off with a family concert with The Nields in January, followed by A Family Dance Party with DJ Joan Holliday in February and Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem in March. The family concerts take place at The First Churches of Northampton (129 Main Street). Proceeds from this concert series will go to benefit Nonotuck Community School, a nonprofit parent cooperative that provides early education and care for children aged 15 months to 5 years old, and is located in Florence, Massachusetts (221 Riverside Drive, 586-5996). For more information visit: www.nonotuck.org or call 413-586-5996.
Your chance to win a family 4-pack of tickets to see Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem in concert at The First Churches of Northampton on Saturday, March 3rd, 2012 @ 10:30am , is as easy as 1-2-3 (4)! To win simply:
- CONSIDER SHARING ON FACEBOOK by selecting the Facebook icon below,
- TELL US HOW HILLTOWN FAMILIES CONNECTS YOUR FAMILY WITH EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES DURING SCHOOL VACATION WEEKS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR below (one entry per household) and be sure to tell us your
- FULL NAME (first/last) and where you
- LIVE (TOWN/STATE) must include your town to be eligible.
- ACCURATE EMAIL (we never share your email address).
- We'll randomly draw a winner and will share the results below
IT'S THAT SIMPLE! — Deadline is Wednesday, 02/29/12 @ 7pm (EST).


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Moderator: Bill Glasheen
jorvik wrote:as I understand it America cannot go to war unless she is attacked
Bill Glasheen wrote:Valkenar wrote:The "unintended consequence" of the deal with Russia to remove the chemical weapons is to assure al-Assad's grip on power in the country.
If you aren't prepared to fix what you broke, then you shouldn't touch the thing. But they did, and now the U.S. has effectively taken sides in a civil war.
WSJ Online wrote:Updated September 18, 2013, 7:50 p.m. ET.
Rebel-on-Rebel Violence Seizes Syria
An al Qaeda spinoff operating near Aleppo, Syria's largest city, last week began a new battle campaign it dubbed "Expunging Filth."
The target wasn't their avowed enemy, the Syrian government. Instead, it was their nominal ally, the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army.
Across northern and eastern Syria, units of the jihadist group known as ISIS are seizing territory—on the battlefield and behind the front lines—from Western-backed rebels.
Some FSA fighters now consider the extremists to be as big a threat to their survival as the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.
"It's a three-front war," a U.S. official said of the FSA rebels' fight: They face the Assad regime, forces from its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, and now the multinational jihadist ranks of ISIS.
Brigade leaders of the FSA say that ISIS, an Iraqi al Qaeda outfit whose formal name is the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, has dragged them into a battle they are ill-equipped to fight.
Some U.S. officials said they see it as a battle for the FSA's survival.
In recent months, ISIS has become a magnet for foreign jihadists who view the war in Syria not primarily as a means to overthrow the Assad regime but rather as a historic battleground for a larger Sunni holy war. According to centuries-old Islamic prophecy they espouse, they must establish an Islamic state in Syria as a step to achieving a global one.
Al Qaeda militants from central command in Pakistan and Pakistani Taliban fighters have also set up operational bases in northern Syria, people familiar with their operations said.
The spread of ISIS illustrates the failure of Western-backed Syrian moderates to establish authority in opposition-held parts of Syria, some of which have been under rebel control for over a year.
The proliferation of the Sunni jihadists and extremists has brought a new type of terror to the lives of many Syrians who have endured civil war in the north. Summary executions of Alawites and Shiites, who are seen as apostates, attacks on Shiite shrines, and kidnappings and assassinations of pro-Western rebels are on the rise.
Estimates on the size of ISIS range from 7,000 to 10,000 fighters. Fighters from ISIS—though it shares the goal of toppling Mr. Assad's Shiite-linked Alawite regime—have frustrated Sunni communities that until recently embraced the military prowess and social services of Islamist rebels, local residents said.
The FSA's fight with extremists is spurring new rebel calls for Western help, after the U.S. put on hold what had looked like imminent strikes on the Assad regime. Instead, diplomacy has taken over, after a U.S.-Russian deal to disarm Syria's chemical weapons.
A parallel effort continues by Gulf states—and to a much lesser extent by the U.S.—to strengthen select rebel units viewed as moderate, according to Western officials familiar with the arms flow to Syrian rebels.
The FSA's Supreme Military Council, and other rebels who want the U.S. to intervene on their behalf, see the rise of ISIS as an opportunity to firmly separate themselves from al Qaeda militants, whose presence they believe is holding the U.S. back.
This account of the growing influence of ISIS and its backlash is based on interviews with FSA rebels fighting ISIS, Syrian jihadists who have fought alongside the al Qaeda group or are familiar with its operations, and Western officials.
Representatives of ISIS, a group also known as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and in Arabic as al-Dawla, couldn't be reached for this article.
"There's been a real shift in focus [among Syrians in the north]," a Western official working with the opposition said. "A sense of 'We can't get rid of the regime without getting rid of Dawla first.' "
U.S. officials said one reason for the delay in funneling small quantities of light arms to rebels, which began this month, is the difficulty of creating secure pipelines of delivery to intended recipients.
The chaos of the Syrian battlefield, where those fighting to overthrow Mr. Assad sometimes fight side-by-side with those who see Syria as a springboard for global jihad, has compounded U.S. concerns over this process.
U.S. and other Western officials said they were aware of a local backlash and localized FSA counteroffensives against ISIS. They welcomed FSA efforts to draw a line between al Qaeda fighters and the rebels who Western states back.
The extremists pose a threat to the ability of the political opposition, too, to gain legitimacy on the ground and better coordinate with the Free Syrian Army.
In the past half-year, as the Syrian Opposition Coalition, the main opposition body, deliberated over forming what it calls an interim government, extremists have gained ground across the north.
"It's an uphill struggle for the coalition's interim government to establish itself inside Syria in the face of threats from the regime, and extremists, but there is still an opportunity to be missed here," a senior Western diplomat said. "It's still the case that a majority of Syrians are not up for Talibanization. Given a moderate alternative, they will choose that."
The other alternative: A lawless north becomes a launchpad for jihadists, akin to areas of Pakistan and the Arabian peninsula.
"The roots of Waziristan, of southern Yemen have been planted in northern Syria," a Western official working with the opposition said.
The group has moved quickly. In mid-August, ISIS pushed a well-known FSA unit, the Ahfad al-Rasoul brigades, out of the city of Raqqa in northern Syria after tit-for-tat killings and bombings between their fighters.
On Wednesday, clashes broke out in the town of Azaz, near the Turkish border, between ISIS fighters and rebels from an FSA-allied group, leading to some casualties on both sides, opposition activists in the town said. Clashes continued past midnight, activists said.
Along Syria's border with Turkey, ISIS fighters are trying to wrest the four major crossings from other rebel units, in a bid to control supply routes, according to rebels battling the extremists, and Western officials.
In recent weeks, ISIS fighters have adopted a strategy of dropping back—taking rear positions—as rebels with the FSA alliance leave for front lines to fight government forces, allowing ISIS to build a presence in towns and villages left without security or services.
Some Syrians in the villages that dot the Turkish border have changed their lifestyles to dodge persecution by followers of ISIS's fearsome brand of Islamic extremism.
Local men grow beards to pass without scrutiny through ISIS checkpoints. Many Syrian activists and aid workers, wary of their affiliations with Western aid agencies and governments, now say they prefer to work in Turkey and avoid cross-border trips, many border residents and aid workers said.
These jihadists see a long-term mission in Syria. Foreign fighters have begun to move their families to Turkish border areas, locals said.
The trickle of families picked up after the possibility of a U.S. strike on Syrian government targets emerged late last month in response to an Aug. 21 chemical attack near Damascus. U.S. officials said they saw indications the militants hoped they could seize on a U.S. strike to shift momentum against the regime.
As the U.S. threat receded, emboldened ISIS militants ramped up efforts to win local support, said Hamid Ibrahim, a spokesman for FSA leader Gen. Salim Idriss.
"They are telling them: 'We told you that you can't depend on America for freedom. Don't be fooled—you only have us,' " Mr. Ibrahim said.
The Supreme Military Council, led by Gen. Idriss, has been the focus of U.S. efforts to bring a command-and-control structure to rebels—but has now lost to the Islamist extremists most of its ability to operate in some parts of the north.
ISIS fighters recently raided a council arms depot filled with lights weapons and ammunition, funded by the Gulf states and funneled to the council with the guidance of the Central Intelligence Agency, council members said.
From Idlib in the north to Deir el-Zour in the east, Syrian activists are looking for Western help to learn ways to push back against al Qaeda's influence.
In Aleppo and Hama, local rebel police forces are being trained with U.S. funds to put security in the hands of American allies.
The foreign jihadists have become a problem even for some of the hard-line Syrian Islamists who worked most closely with them on the battlefield. One such group is Ahrar al-Sham.
On Sept. 10, a gunfight that broke out at an ISIS checkpoint in Idlib killed a revered leader, Abu Obeida, as he accompanied Turkish and Malaysian relief workers on a distribution mission, unleashing criticism in Islamist rebel circles against ISIS.
ISIS members, posting on social-media networks, said the delegation was stopped because fighters confused the Malaysian flag for the American flag.
They deny intending to kill Abu Obeida, and said they aimed to shoot him in the legs only to keep him from running away after they had ambushed him and stuck him in the trunk of a car.
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Troy Stever on sairastanut borrelioosia 16v. Koska viranomaiset eivät tunnusta punkkien välittävän borreliabakteereita Australiassa tauti jäi diagnosoimatta vuosien ajaksi. Troyn borreliatesti Australiassa oli negatiivinen mutta USA:ssa positiivinen. Troy on nyt 44 v eikä ole kyennyt tekemään töitä vuoteen. Hänen terveydentilansa on heikentynyt voimakkaasti kahden viime vuoden aikana. Troy on nyt hakeutunut australialaisen lääkärin hoitoon Balille. Siellä häntä hoidetaan dialyysillä jossa veri puhdistetaan. Onnistumisprosentti on kuulemma 95%.
Last attempt to cure Lyme disease
By By Cyndi Powell
Feb. 27, 2013, midnight
ONE TICK BITE LATER: Troy Stever, his wife Melissa and children Kaila, Nathan and Deitter. Troy now struggles just getting through each day.
A FUNDRAISER at Club Narooma this Friday night has become part of a desperate effort to save the life of Tuross Lyme disease sufferer Troy Stever.
Troy has suffered from tick-borne Lyme disease for 16-years, but because the Australian government does not acknowledge a link between Lyme disease and Australian ticks, he was undiagnosed and without proper treatment for many years.
Friday night's auction/karaoke event at Club Narooma is part of an effort to raise $30,000 for Troy to attend an eight-week intensive medical program conducted by an Australian doctor in Bali.
The treatment, a type of blood cleansing dialysis, is reported to have a 95 per cent success rate.
With three weeks to go until the treatment is scheduled to begin, Troy remains hopeful.
Leaving a career with Ancestral Treks behind, the 44-year-old has not been able to work for more than 12 months and endures a personal physical hell every day.
Over the past two years Troy's health has rapidly declined to the point where he no longer has the strength to hold his children, Kaila (13), Nathan (12) and Deitter (six).
Troy's wife Melissa has shown incredible strength and resilience over the years and she says her children cannot recall what it is like to have a healthy dad.
Troy suffers from chronic pain, bacteria bloated belly, severe swelling of the spine and brain, tremors, and is entering the first stage of renal failure.
Early symptoms of Lyme disease caused by tick bites may include fever, headache, fatigue, depression and a rash. Without early treatment the joints, heart and central nervous system may be affected. Delayed or inadequate treatment can lead to the more serious symptoms, which can be debilitating and difficult to treat.
Antibiotics may be sufficient treatment if the disease is caught early enough, but Troy's illness was not diagnosed for 15-years and a recent 40-week long course of Doxycycline has not cured him but has taken its toll on his body.
Tests performed on Troy's blood in Australia were negative for Lyme disease, but a sample sent to the USA a year ago gave a positive result.
He blames this inconsistency on inadequate testing methods in Australian laboratories and wants everyone to be aware of the risks.
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"There could be many people on the south coast who have Lyme disease and wouldn't even realise it," Troy said.
Melissa said she had been overwhelmed by the support the family has received so far and was extremely grateful.
A Facebook fund has been set up to raise funds to support Troy's treatment, and donations can be made on Facebook at TroySteverLymeDiseaseFund, at the Commonwealth Bank in Narooma, and at various local businesses.
BORRELIOOSI 16 v
Borrelioosiin sairastuneiden henkilökohtaisia kokemuksia taudista ja sen hoidosta.
Valvojat: Borrelioosiyhdistys, Bb, Jatta1001, Bb, Jatta1001, Borrelioosiyhdistys, Jatta1001, Borrelioosiyhdistys, Bb, Jatta1001, Borrelioosiyhdistys, Bb
Vastaa Viestiin
1 viesti • Sivu 1/1
Vastaa Viestiin
1 viesti • Sivu 1/1


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time for biologists and ethical hunters to help Massachusetts. In the process, they also need to help anti-hunters understand that healthy wildlife populations depend on sound, scientific management.
The Massachusetts bow season, which has significantly contributed to herd reduction since mid-October, ends quietly tomorrow. But the critical achievement of goal populations remains to be accomplished. Our much more effective and absolutely essential shotgun season begins Monday.
In the next couple weeks, our prolific whitetail herd, capable of bringing both joy and damage, will hopefully be reduced to healthy numbers, greatly benefiting them, our habitat, and us. We're extremely fortunate to have enough local hunters to fill the role of missing predators so essential to our natural system.
Thousands of local freezers will shortly be filled with some of the most nutritious protein in the world, too, and our entire state will be much the safer for our hunters' efforts.
Reduced deer collisions, diminished incidence of Lyme disease, and mitigated floral and habitat damage are all part of the underappreciated contribution of our local sportsmen. All these benefits are free to the Massachusetts taxpayer, though not so everywhere else.
Some parts of the country just don't get it. Consider Princeton, New Jersey, spending nearly $60,000 to hire sharpshooters to eliminate a couple hundred deer from their town. Bowhunters from near and far would safely perform that service for free if allowed, all the while benefiting rather than draining the local economy.
Although Massachusetts has thousands of annual deer collisions, we don't proportionately match much of the rest of the country, which perennially incurs nearly $2 billion in total damage. Deer guide Brian Post of Montrose, Pa., shared with me that his late mother — who never hunted — killed at least 20 deer just driving through town. His non-hunting sister was allegedly equally, if not more, effective.
Around the country, several thousand people will smash into a deer today. Towns that hinder deer management because of safety concerns just don't have a grasp of the facts. Over a hundred Americans will die from deer collisions this year and tens of thousands will be hospitalized.
Those figures don't even consider the number of people whose lives will be ruined from Lyme disease made more prevalent by overabundant deer. In Massachusetts alone, we have 4,000 new cases each year — often in towns that have put up impediments to sufficient deer hunting.
If you see deer hunters in the next few weeks, recognize them for the overwhelming benefits they provide. Their fluorescent orange is a bright spot in free community service. If you're a landowner, consider offering an ethical sportsman a privileged opportunity to serve you, your land, and the rest of our community.
And if you're a deer hunter, represent our tradition well, always putting safety first, obeying all laws, and discouraging any in our coterie from poaching, trashing, or trespassing. A handful of degenerates pretending to be one of us can hurt all true sportsmen and our great tradition, sometimes making us unwelcome even where we're most needed.
Funding for monitoring chronic wasting disease in our deer herd will not be available in Massachusetts this season. Samples of brain and nerve tissue will consequently not be sought from sportsmen or deer processors this year.
However, if someone finds an individual animal displaying symptoms or behavior suggesting possible CWD or other serious condition, it will be tested at the Division's expense. Up to now, our state herd has proven CWD-free.
Rhode Island has been attracting many Massachusetts deer hunters with their Sunday muzzle-loader season during the peak of the rut. Their success should be a guiding light leading to Sunday bow hunting on private land in Massachusetts, wherever landowners give written permission.
This future legislation seems a no-brainer, infringing on no one's rights or safety. Let's get this done. And while we're at it, let's make the shooting distance for bow hunters a sensible 250 feet away from dwellings rather than the 500 mandated for firearms.
The law as written prevents huge percentages of deer from being managed. If we truly want to solve deer overpopulation and damage, we can't arbitrarily handcuff archers who could safely help.
Millbury's Ed Stacy had a most successful hunt in Newfoundland, bringing home an 850-point cow moose and a 26-point woodland caribou. Ken Babineau of Sterling took a 480-pound antlerless bull in Maine, noting the most recent population estimates there are about 76,000.
Ken also took a huge 450-pound black bear there this year. He'd be extremely lucky to complete his New England Grand Slam, as deer populations there have been hammered by bad winters and coyote predation.
Tomorrow — Archery deer season closes.
Tomorrow — Quail, grouse, and pheasant seasons close.
Tomorrow — Bear season closes in Massachusetts zones 1-9.
Monday — Shotgun deer season opens through Dec. 8.


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Bank of America Lays Off 540 More in Charlotte
Bank of America is laying off 540 of its Charlotte employees as the bank slashes its division that handles troubled mortgages. It marks the largest single big-bank layoff in the city since 2009.
The cuts announced Wednesday amount to nearly two-thirds of the local workforce in that division, known as Legacy Asset Servicing.
At its peak in 2012, the unit employed 42,000 full-time workers across the company as the Charlotte-based bank dealt with more than a million past-due mortgages. The bank has cut a third of those jobs as it reduces the number of delinquent loans through mortgage modifications, short sales, foreclosures and wholesale loan sales.
Earlier cuts in the servicing unit have come in southern California, New York, Florida and the Dallas area. Charlotte had largely been spared mass layoffs in the unit.
Bank of America managers spent Wednesday afternoon informing employees of the layoffs in large groups at the servicing offices in Gateway Village on West Trade Street.
"The prevailing sentiment is: 'Be proud of the great work that you've done. You've helped us achieve a point where we're better today than we were,' " Charles Bowman, Bank of America's Charlotte market president, told the Observer. "We're going to continue to help everybody that's impacted make a positive transition, whether it's in this company or if it's outside of this company."
Most of the employees losing their jobs dealt directly with borrowers. About 400 workers in the servicing unit locally will keep their jobs.
Of the 540 losing their jobs Wednesday, about 150 will have the opportunity to shift to jobs supporting the consumer call center in Charlotte. The bank also has about 250 open positions in the city, Bowman said.
"Our hope and expectation is that these employes will end up being rehired in other parts of the bank," Bowman said. "Those that aren't, we're really going to do our best to help them transition to other job opportunities in Charlotte."
Bank of America continues to employ about 15,000 people in its headquarters city.
The layoff will trigger a formal notice to state officials who tally mass job losses. According to state records, Wednesday's Bank of America cuts will mark the largest single-event job cut in North Carolina since February 2013, when electrical component manufacturer Te Connectivity said it would lay off 664 people in Greensboro.
It's also the largest job cut at a big Charlotte bank since Wells Fargo issued layoff notices to 548 workers as it absorbed Wachovia in 2009.
Shrinking division
Bank of America created the Legacy Asset Servicing group in early 2011 to house 1.4 million mortgages that were more than 60 days past due, largely inherited in the 2008 acquisition of subprime lender Countrywide Financial.
CEO Brian Moynihan has made reducing the number of delinquent loans a priority in his four years in the job. As of the end of the first quarter, the number of seriously delinquent loans had fallen to 277,000. The division recorded $1.6 billion in expenses in the first quarter, down $1 billion from the year-ago quarter. Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson told analysts in April that the goal is to get the expenses to $1 billion by the end of the year.
Industry analysts have closely watched the bank's expense cuts, which have played a role in Bank of America's nearly 200 percent stock price rise over the past 2 1/2 years. The stock remains far below the levels it reached in 2006, when shares traded for more than $50.
The Legacy Asset Servicing division had 26,400 employees across the company at the end of the quarter. Their ranks were built up, in part, by transferring workers from other areas of the bank. As the division has shed jobs, Bank of America has redeployed about 6,000 workers back to other units.
An additional 2,000 workers across the company have transitioned from Bank of America to another company at the same compensation level, the bank said. In one case, Urban Lending Solutions brought on about 400 Bank of America employees.
In another instance, Bank of America brought in representatives from Citigroup to interview workers losing their jobs.
Other banks have also reduced staff in delinquent mortgage servicing divisions as the economy has improved.
Last year, Citigroup laid off 150 workers in Fort Mill, S.C., who worked in mortgage loss mitigation. JPMorgan Chase has taken similar actions in other parts of the country.
3rd major staff reduction
Bank of America's nationwide job cuts in the default servicing unit follow two other major staff reductions at the bank in recent years.
• In 2011, Bank of America announced it would shed more than 30,000 jobs as part of a companywide cost-cutting program known as Project New BAC. Those cuts, a core piece of Moynihan's strategy to simplify the company, have fallen hard on back-office and technology workers. The bank has not said how many of those cuts have come in Charlotte.
• Last year, Bank of America joined other major banks in laying off thousands of workers who process mortgage applications as slowly rising interest rates stemmed the tide of refinancings that marked 2012.


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international / rights, freedoms and repression / other press Monday November 25, 2019 22:54 by 1 of indy 1 image
The British state is slowly killing Julian Assange. They want him to die so as to send a message to anyone else who dares make public the crimes of governments like the US and the UK who have bombed countless countries, murdering hundreds of thousands of people in the process and which in fact has gone a long way to contributing to the waves of immigrants risking their lives to get into Europe. The World Socialist WebSite has produced a report on the situation so far.
More than 65 eminent medical doctors from the UK and around the world have issued an open letter calling for urgent action to protect the life of imprisoned WikiLeaks founder and journalist Julian Assange.
The doctors warn there may be serious consequences if Assange is not moved from Belmarsh Prison to a university teaching hospital where he can be assessed and treated by an expert medical team. read full story / add a comment
international / rights, freedoms and repression / other press Friday November 15, 2019 22:48 by 1 of indy
The ongoing coup (via a Color Revolution) in Bolivia to overthrow the democratically elected government and clearly instigated by the US is yet another sad example of how the lives of millions of people are cynically destroyed. But an not so surprising fact has come to light. Bolivia has probably the worlds largest reserves of Lithium now the new "oil" of this age and President Morales recently signed an agreement with China to mine this. This is the reason the US has struck now.
Here is a report from RT on the ongoing situation.
Questions remain about the circumstances that led to Morales ouster, and whether foreign governments played a role in it. But recent history provides reason to suspect that Bolivias rich natural resources are part of the answer. ... read full story / add a comment
international / arts and media / opinion/analysis Friday November 15, 2019 14:07 by Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin
Poetry is often associated with genteel people and laid-back lifestyles, yet over the decades since the Enlightenment many poets have been actively involved in the most radical of political and art movements. Setting up a solid foundation for such attitudes was the poet extraordinaire, Alexander Pope. In this essay I shall look at the connection between poetry and socio-political struggles over the centuries. From Pope to the Chartists, and from the Irish revolutionary poets to the postcolonial writers writers of Africa, poetry has played an important part in social change. The recent explosion of global demonstrations and rallies has also been connectioned with radical poetry as will be seen in Chile for example. read full story / add a comment
international / rights, freedoms and repression / news report Tuesday November 12, 2019 22:54 by pbp 1 comment (last - thursday november 14, 2019 00:05) 1 image
A reactionary right wing coup has deposed Evo Morales, the left wing and self proclaimed socialist President of Bolivia, after 14 years of rule. This coup has been executed by the Bolivian armed forces and police in conjunction with the right wing opposition Citizens Community led by Carlos Mesa, probably with the backing, behind the scenes, of the far right Bolsonaro government in Brazil and the US State Department. read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism / opinion/analysis Thursday November 07, 2019 17:08 by Justin Morahan
Summary: True heroes today attract little or no mainstream media attention. The seven criminals who were found guilty "on all counts" in a Georgia court deserve the greatest respect, support and honour we can give them for their nonviolent action against the very existene of massively destructive Trident missiles in Kings Bay in Georgia USA read full story / add a comment
international / rights, freedoms and repression / news report Wednesday November 06, 2019 11:27 by Justin Morahan
Summary: Request to ensure that the human rights of whistleblower Julian Assange are not violated in her Majesty's Belmarsh Prison in Britain. Sent by post 14 July 2019 read full story / add a comment
international / rights, freedoms and repression / opinion/analysis Sunday November 03, 2019 07:50 by Anthony Ravlich
In my view, we are in a period of transition from domination by collectives, with many women including feminists and radical Maori aligned with left so-called liberals (fake liberals) to the more independently-minded chosen according to merit. Independence of mind is truly hated in today's world..This article provides a brief description of my chapter on New Zealand in my recent book. NZ followed a UN agenda aiming for a decline in western culture and global freedom. read full story / add a comment
international / rights, freedoms and repression / other press Thursday October 31, 2019 22:20 by 1 of indy 1 image
The Editor of Grayzone, Max Blumenthal was arrested over a week ago in Washington DC and was shackled by his hands and ankles for over five hours in one a cage along with other inmates over the weekend. His crime? To report from outside the Venezuelan embassy in Washington DC last May and to burst the US media bubble on how things really were in Venezuela after the US tried to organise a coup against the elected leader Maduro and install their own puppet who would sell out the country to vulture capitalists.
What a surprise there was nothing about this in the mainstream media. If the same thing had happened in Venezuela there would have been widespread condemnation in the pro-coup mainstream media.
The World Socialist website carried a report on it yesterday. read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism / news report Friday October 25, 2019 01:23 by Justin Morahan 2 comments (last - thursday november 07, 2019 17:13)
[Summary: In a stunning verdict all seven defendants were found guilty n all counts and face more than 20 years in pison] read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism / news report Friday October 25, 2019 00:47 by Justin Morahan
[Summary; Kings Bay Base holds one quarter of US deployed nuclear weapons, one defendant says; Trident is the crime; the egregious use of weapons is bullying, not the painted peace messages and blood that
was poured on the side-walk.says another.
Anyone who has witnessed these kind of trials knows there are low points and high points. This day's hearing had light and love but no-one dares to pre-empt what happens in a court of law.] read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism / news report Thursday October 24, 2019 23:45 by Justin Morahan
Summary: On Day 2, he trial continued in the best traditions of predetermined verdicts read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism / news report Wednesday October 23, 2019 01:36 by Justin Morahan
Summary: Seven defendants are standing trial in the USA for an action at the Kings Bay nuclear submarine base in Georgia read full story / add a comment
international / economics and finance / news report Tuesday October 22, 2019 20:27 by Kate Zeller
Washington DC - The House of Representatives scheduled a vote for 5:15 PM EST on the Corporate Transparency Act of 2019 (H.R. 2513). The bill reveals the true owners of "anonymous" shell companies to law enforcement.
read full story / add a comment
international / miscellaneous / press release Wednesday October 16, 2019 18:31 by Kate Zeller
The International Monetary Fund warns of growing financial instability as a result of high debts and risky investing in the release of the IMF 2019 Global Financial Stability Report. The report raised fears that developing countries are borrowing too much. read full story / add a comment
international / miscellaneous / news report Wednesday October 16, 2019 18:07 by Kate Zeller
The International Monetary Fund downgrades global economic forecasts, calling the future of the economy, "precarious" and "uncertain," with the release of the 2019 World Economic Outlook Report. read full story / add a comment
international / rights, freedoms and repression / press release Sunday October 13, 2019 23:01 by 1 of indy 1 image
Comrades, The integrity and life of our comrades in Ecuador are at risk in the face of the repressive offensive of the government
We need you -especially those who live in the countries of the global north- to help to spread the situation.
There is this last minute press release from one of the community media that is covering locally in Quito together with our own comrades of Indymedia Ecuador (spanish): read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism / other press Thursday October 10, 2019 23:47 by 1 of indy
In an unprecedented tweet earlier in the week President Trump carried out the worst crime in the eyes of the establishment. He admitted the US went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan based on lies and that millions of lives and trillions of dollars were therefore wasted for no good reason other than lies. This is the worst crime imagineable -that is telling the truth about this for it exposes the reality of the system. The Democrats and others are not trying to impeach Trump because of some minor thing or another. It is because they don't trust him to continue running US imperialism as have done nearly all proceeding both Republican and Democrat presidents. They don't give a f**k about democracy since they were part and parcel of the lies and wars of aggression too.
The WSWS website have carried a report on this tweet and it is reproduced here in full because it gives good context to the event. read full story / add a comment
international / environment / press release Thursday October 10, 2019 22:09 by foie
UK Nuclear plant delaying transition to renewable energy
£2.9 billion increase in cost since 2017 sucking up funds from sustainable developments
The environmental charity Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE] have highlighted the rising cost and delays in construction of the new UK nuclear plant, Hinkley C, as sucking up funds from sustainable developments and delaying transition to renewable energy.
FIE made a site visit last week to the nuclear construction site on the Severn Estuary in Somerset as a follow up to their complaint to the Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context which led to public consultation by the UK Government on the proposed plant being extended to the Irish Republic. [1] read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism / opinion/analysis Thursday October 10, 2019 12:55 by séamas carraher
The Syrian war(s) have so far resulted in at least 570,000 deaths (SOHR figures) and approximately 14 million displaced (both internally and externally) along with years of misery. Endless misery. read full story / add a comment
international / rights, freedoms and repression / other press Tuesday October 01, 2019 22:58 by 1 of indy 2 images
The World Socialists WebSite has carried a report on the protest outside the prison in support of Assange
A large crowd rallied outside Belmarsh Prison in London on Saturday as jailed WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange received the Gavin MacFadyen Award 2019the only journalism prize given by whistle-blowers. Assanges father John Shipton accepted the award on his sons behalf. read full story / add a comment
UK Indymedia Features
Tue May 02, 2017 01:55 UK Indymedia Features
UK Indymedia : 1999 - 2016 Fri Apr 28, 2017 19:19 | IMC UK | en
Build gardens not prisons Tue Sep 08, 2015 17:53 | anon | en
Maximus: Same Circus, Different Clowns Thu Mar 05, 2015 21:42 | solidarity collective | en
Police serve Bytemark with production order for Bristol Indymedia information Mon Sep 01, 2014 19:58 | UK Indymedia | en
Police action against Bristol Indymedia Thu Aug 28, 2014 17:27 | UK Indymedia | en


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La Crosse school population up for first time in nearly 20 years
LA CROSSE, WI — It's a first for the La Crosse School District in nearly two decades. The student population has gone up.
71 more students are attending La Crosse Schools this year than last.
Part of the increase is credited to more students coming to La Crosse through open enrollment.
The school's superintendent hopes this becomes a regular happening. "Assuming that we can have this be somewhat of a trend, it does allow us to bring in more state aid for the students, and that in turn has a positive impact on our taxpayers," said Superintendent Randy Nelson.
Nearly 6,800 students attend La Crosse Schools.22326254


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Hello everyone,
I'm hoping to write some informal posts to this forum addressing the value of visual observations in LPV research, and the need for continued visual monitoring of LPVs and other long-observed targets in the AAVSO observing program. In March of 2010 we started a conversation on historical trends in visual observing on aavso-discussion, particularly on the declining numbers of visual observations submitted to the AAVSO and the reasons for the decline. A number of different issues were raised in that discussion, and I hope to address many of them with posts to this forum. Today I want to preface that discussion by very briefly talking about two basic uses for long-term visual light curves in variable star research.
The longest and most homogeneous data sets for variable stars come from visual observers. Some stars have visual light curves spanning multiple centuries, but the majority of AAVSO visual light curves span from 50 to 100 years in length. In general, visual data sets for stars with good sequences are capable of tracking long-term changes of a few tenths of a magnitude over time, and are capable of detecting periodic behavior with amplitudes as low as 0.05 magnitudes. Both of these are important and valuable measurements in studying astrophysical processes that occur on long timescales.
First, LPV stars are "rapidly evolving" in the cosmic sense; changes can occur on timescales measurable in less than a human lifetime -- years or decades. These changes may include changes in mean light, period, amplitude, or light curve shape, and the appearance or disappearance of different pulsation modes. Such changes can and often do involve photometric variations of more than a few tenths of a magnitude which visual observers are more than capable of following. Any star that is correctly classified as a Mira or semi-regular variable can be followed by visual observers, and those observations will have use both in the present and in the long term. More importantly, the longer these data sets become, the more valuable they are. As the length of all of our LPV light curves grow, the more likely it is that we will detect stars undergoing long-term changes in behavior. It's impossible to predict which stars will show this, but we can predict that it will happen to some of them, if we keep watching. And LPVs aren't the only stars where this matters. Several classes of variables can show long-term changes including the R CrB stars, dwarf novae and other cataclysmic variables, symbiotic stars, and many classes of young stellar objects like T Tauri stars.
Second, when stars are strictly periodic, one can extract signals from data with large scatter, sometimes even when the scatter of individual points is larger than the signal itself. If a sufficient amount of data exist with homogeneous statistical properties, you can often use straightforward statistical techniques to extract a signal. The reason is that true "noise" will introduce random changes in a measurement, while a true signal will always push the measurement in one direction or another. Given enough measurements collected over time, the signal will begin to dominate the noise. The resulting values for periods, amplitudes, and phases will be limited by the amount of scatter in the data and the amount of data available. Instrumental data are currently the preferred means for measuring precise timings of individual maxmima (Cepheids, RR Lyrae, and delta Scuti stars) and minima (EBs). However, in the absence of instrumental data, visual data can also certainly fill in gaps in instrumental coverage over long periods of time if the precision of the derived timings is sufficient to constrain trends in maxima and minima timings.
One of the things that constrains the usefulness of visual data is that they have to be homogeneous in a statistical sense: either the data have to come from one observer who makes a consistent and unbiased measurement over long periods of time, or they have to come from a collection of observers whose statistical properties don't change over time. The latter is a reasonable assumption to make for a large number of observers all working from similar sequences and observing in a similar fashion. Most visual observers use one of a small number of techniques to measure the brightness of variables, and most visual observers have ocular acuity and sensitivity within a range typical of human eyesight. Given a sufficiently large number of observers and a sufficiently long span of observations, visual light curves have well-understood statistical properties and can be analyzed using normal statistical methods just like any instrumental data set.
For each of the years 2000 to 2009, the AAVSO received observations of between 4000 and 4800 individual stars, including LPVs, cataclysmic variables, and others; about 25 percent of these stars received more than 50 observations in a given year, averaging about one observation every week. That's just about the bare minimum coverage to adequately cover something like a Mira variable with a period less than a year. Some stars have excellent coverage, while some are quite poorly observed. For many stars in the AAVSO program, the number of visual observers and observations remains sufficient to allow researchers to treat them like any other data set; there remains good astrophysics to be done using these long-term light curves.
However, this will only remain true if a sufficient number of people continue to observe them; in 2010 we received visual observations for 3712 stars, of which only 760 were observed more than 50 times. The total number of visual observations submitted in 2010 (163400) is just over 1/3 of the number submitted in 1995 (385500), our peak year for visual observing. We are seeing a clear decline in the number of visual observations submitted to the AAVSO per year, along with a measurable but less dramatic decline in the number of visual observers and the amount they observe. Interestingly, the total number of visual observers is not dramatically lower, although the number of observers who contribute more than 100 visual observations per year is about 2/3 of what it was in 1995.
We hope to turn these numbers around in 2011 by providing better guidance to visual observers on what targets to select, as well as better justification of why your visual observations matter. But to summarize all of this discussion as succinctly as possible:
If you're a visual observer, please keep observing! It matters!


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French Brittany Spaniels out of proven, hunting field stock from the heart of Dakota wild bird country.
Our family raised Brittanys are the ultimate companions in the field and home, with socialization beginning the day they are whelped.
Charter member of the French Brittany Gun Dog Association of America (Club de l'Epagneul Breton des Etats-Unis d'Amerique) Dual registered by the American Kennel Club (Brittany) and the United Kennel Club (Epagneul Breton)
Pups and started dogs by reservation.
All of our breeding stock and started dogs are proven performers in the field and worked extensively on wild birds including pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse, and hungarian partridge.


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Hell in South Florida is a taupe, one-story house where rusted chains dangle from trees and the smell of feces and decay is so strong it lures rats at night. On even the brightest of days, sunlight doesn't infiltrate its darkened chambers. And the baying of dogs -- 34 pit bulls inside tight cages scattered throughout the house -- saturates the streets of this somnolent enclave in West Park, a tiny town on the Broward/Miami-Dade border.
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Ty Smith, a curly-haired neighbor in jean shorts and a black shirt, stands outside the cluttered home. The 42-year-old squints down the street at the intersection of Hallandale Beach Boulevard and SW 32nd Avenue and murmurs, "There he is. He's coming back now. That's him in the green van."
Moments later, a battered Ford Econoline van wobbles to a stop before the house, and three disheveled men clutching cans of Natural Ice beer climb out, led by the 66-year-old homeowner, Reno Yohai, a soft-spoken, mustached convicted child molester who walks with a slight limp. Three caged pit bulls out front bark and then watch Yohai glide past and step into the pungent darkness of his house. Inside, a dozen more dogs push their snouts against crates lining the hallway and howl. There is more canine wailing in the bedrooms and behind the house, conjuring an atmosphere somewhere between the pound and a 1940s horror film.
"I'm not quite sure how many dogs I have," Yohai sighs as he settles his slender frame atop a living room coffee table to stroke a hairless pit bull. He calls his house the "Warlock Kennels," and he has added to this collection for decades. "This has been 35 years in service of the pit bulls. Whatever I do, I do for the breed. I help out the pit bulls. This is a rescue."
That claim, however, is debatable. Since 2007, Yohai has become known to authorities as perhaps South Florida's worst dog owner. West Park has fined the five-time felon nearly $160,000 for code violations ranging from using his property as a junkyard to breeding pit bulls in a residential zone. In internal reports, inspectors have condemned his property as a "sanitary nuisance" and a "public nuisance." Neighbor after neighbor has also complained about Yohai's treatment of pit bulls, and police records show the cops have inspected his residence more than 80 times over the past three years to investigate, among other claims, allegations of animal cruelty.
"He keeps the dogs caged 24/7, and he just feeds them raw meat and raw chicken," Smith charges. "I've found a couple of dogs dead, and he just buries them in the backyard. He has 40 dogs buried there. He acts like he's a rescue, but really he's just hurting the dogs. Plus, he's a hoarder, and his house is just horrible. People can't sell their houses because of his."
Worse still, authorities have been powerless to act. No complaints of animal cruelty have been sustained, and despite Yohai's heinous actions in the past, cops have turned up no evidence of criminal malfeasance. In this case, county laws and regulations have done no good.
"We can't just take the man's animals," says Lisa Mendheim, a spokeswoman for Broward County Animal Care and Adoption, adding that West Park doesn't restrict the number of dogs a resident can own. "The dogs aren't starving or in danger, so we can't just go in there and say, 'We're taking the dogs.' "
West Park Mayor Eric Jones expresses frustration over Yohai's Warlock Kennels. The dog owner has been a problem for years, Jones says, but no one has a solution. "We cannot find anything illegal. If we had, we would have done something. I have no idea how many pit bulls he has. The neighbors say he has a lot, but we haven't been able to find out. Law enforcement hasn't either."
During a recent visit, New Times counted 34. And though the animals appear to be in good health, their situation is far from ideal. They are locked inside cages strewn among soiled bed mattresses, overturned cupboards, and discarded slabs of rotting wood. What's more, if public records are any guide, Yohai has lived much of his adult life in such fetid conditions -- along with dozens and dozens of pit bulls.
Born in Havana in 1947, he came to the United States soon after and settled with his mother in a Manhattan apartment. His mom, he remembers, "was deathly afraid of dogs and cats" and neither allowed pets inside the cramped quarters nor for Yohai to visit homes with animals. The boy was lonely for more family. "My entire family was down in Florida, so after I graduated from the University of Bridgeport [Connecticut], we came down here to be with them."
As soon as he arrived, he took contract work tiling floors. And though that's been his primary source of income through the years, he's supported himself in other ways as well. In 1972, while maintaining what he calls "a spiritually and morally bankrupt lifestyle," he was charged in Miami court with a felony count of intent to sell marijuana. (Adjudication was withheld.)
Also around that time, he took in his first pit bulls. They captivated him. "And this was when Warlock came into my life," Yohai recalls. "My great dog."
One night soon after, in the early '80s, his mother broke her hip and moved into his Davie home. "I watched that dog melt 80 years of [my mom's] canine phobia," he says. "I saw Warlock come gently up to her and lay his head on her lap. And, slowly, she reached out and put her hand on his head. She became completely dependent on that dog for her security, and from then on, I've lived in service of the breed."
But in 1992, he lost contact with the animals. That year, he was arrested on charges of sexual battery of a minor. "It's not something I'm proud of," Yohai says. "It was one drunken night in my life 20 years ago."
The police report is more specific. According to an arrest affidavit filed into evidence that year, Yohai, who was then 45, lavished a 16-year-old girl with money and jewelry and encouraged her to become a stripper. "He took her into a bedroom and had her try on two teddy outfits to wear while dancing," the affidavit says. He then served her beer and marijuana, and he videotaped her dancing naked on the coffee table. He showed her footage of him having sex with another girl, who appeared to be 16 or 17. Afterward, the girl fell asleep, and she awoke to find Yohai "holding her shoulders down on the couch and kissing her on the face and mouth," the affidavit states.
What police found in Yohai's possession was horrifying: eight pit bulls, guns, cocaine, camera equipment, and roughly 100 explicit videotapes -- two of which depicted dancing girls. The residence, also home to Yohai's 81-year-old "invalid" mother and an infant, reeked. "It was deplorable," police spokesperson Bonnie Wilbanks told the Sun-Sentinel at the time. "The odor was so bad that myself and my detectives went out from time to time to get fresh air."
Yohai served seven years in state prison, convicted of five felonies, including two counts of sexual battery of a minor and possession of cocaine.
Even locked away, however, he thought of pit bulls. And upon his release from -Everglades Correctional Institution, he took up the collection once again. His mother had died. So had Warlock. "It took me a while to get back on my feet. But people in the pit bull community were ready to give me the dogs, and Warlock Kennels just happened." In the mid-2000s, after spending years aspiring to live in a larger place to house more dogs, he moved into his West Park home on a quiet street overlooking Lake Margaret.
Problems with neighbors began right away. Next door was Maritza Garcia, who's lived in a pristine yellow home for two decades. She remembers their first meeting. "He told us he was an animal rescue, and back then, it was even worse," she says. "He had a girlfriend, and she had 32 Chihuahuas -- on top of his 30 pit bulls."
In 2007, the City of West Park began slapping Yohai with a daily fine for a bevy of code violations, including raising pit bulls in a residential zone and allowing his property to atrophy. The next year, Yohai told police that three men armed with shotguns had stormed his house and stolen 11 pit bulls.
Neighbors began calling the county Animal Control. "Multiple dogs die every month, and he abuses others," says nearby resident Brenda Paisao, who says she visits the house every day. "I saw one puppy pulled out of the cage, and the puppy broke its leg."
Adds one Animal Control expert who probed the home in 2012 and requested anonymity for this story: "Broward County has the shittiest pet laws, and the officers are limited in what they can do," she says. "The real reason Animal Control hasn't stepped in is because all of the pit bulls will be put down [if they're taken. The shelter doesn't] have space for the dogs."
That fact represents the only common ground between Yohai and his detractors. "I know we don't live in the best conditions, but it's all we can afford," he explains, claiming he wants to adopt out the dogs. "The animal activists try to stop me without offering any help. I'm trying to keep these dogs alive."
But what sort of life is it?
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Ten years after he was elected to the Seattle City Council in 1997, Richard Conlin was named the president for the first of two two-year terms. Before working with the council to make Seattle a more sustainable city by strengthening neighborhoods, reducing waste, and improving transportation infrastructure, Conlin worked as the director of the YMCA's Earth Service Corps and founding publisher of Yes!. Here, Conlin discusses how he uses "general rah-rah" to get people excited about Seattle's comprehensive plan for becoming a sustainable city; why becoming a sustainable city means more than just building and transportation efficiency; and why the obsession with cars as the embodiment of unsustainability could turn off potential allies.
What do you say when people ask you, "What do you do?"
I work to realize the values of Seattle's comprehensive plan, "Towards a Sustainable Seattle" -- economic opportunity, environmental sustainability, social justice, and community. Our goal is to achieve long-term cultural, environmental, economic, and social health and vitality. As to what I do to actually achieve that, I develop new ideas, write newsletters and legislation, collaborate with staff and community members to figure out how to make things work and turn problems into opportunities, and exhort and encourage through writing, speaking, and general rah-rah.
What new idea or innovation is having the most significant impact on the sustainability world?
That making a sustainable city includes having a great school system and thriving businesses and an effective public safety approach -- that it is not just land use and transportation and building efficiency, but community that truly achieves sustainability. You can lead people to a sustainable city, but you can't make them enthusiastic unless they really enjoy it.
What's something that most people just don't understand about your area of expertise?
I think a lot of people still imagine sustainability as having to do only with environmental issues. It's way beyond that.
What's an emerging trend that you think will shake up the sustainability world?
A lot of my work has involved food systems over the last several years. Food is such a great unifying concept that has impacts in so many places where we must work to become more sustainable. I expect that it will become an increasing focus as we understand how it brings together all of the key goals I cited above -- and is something that people can unite around, whether they consider themselves environmentalists or progressives or not.
|Kay Redfield Jamison, Professor of Psychiatry
|Alan Durning, Director of the Sightline Institute
|Mark Lynas, Climate Advisor to the Maldives
|Lee Jones, Farmer at The Chef's Garden
What's a sustainability trend that you wish would go away?
The obsession with automobiles as the embodiment of unsustainability. Automobiles are a huge issue, and we must reduce their use, put them in their place, make them more efficient and sustainable, and get people using alternatives as much as possible. But personal transport is part of what humans do, and having a narrow lens focused on the automobile issue alone avoids dealing with other issues -- and turns off potential allies when it becomes perceived as directed at them.
What's an idea you became fascinated with but that ended up taking you off track?
I used to read a lot of the apocalyptic literature -- you know, books that start with "The End of.." or something like that, and use frightening statistics to try to get people active. But a few years ago, I realized how disheartening that kind of approach can be, and that hope is the best motivator. One great recent book I read that really puts this together is My Green Manifesto by David Gessner.
Who are three people or organizations that you would put in a Hall of Fame for your field?
Gro Bruntland, as the international leader who put sustainability on the agenda. Ken Boulding, the economist who got the analysis rolling on how sustainability can work. And Frances Moore Lappe, who really knows what democracy is about -- and food, too.
What other field or occupation did you consider going into?
Astronomy, but I couldn't hack the math.
What website or app most helps you do your job on a daily basis?
Yes! magazine. Confession, I am on the board and was the founding publisher.
What song's been stuck in your head lately?
"Lost in My Mind," by the Head and the Heart, "Down by the Water," by the Decemberists. And I've been learning marimba this year, so also the songs we play in Tumbuka, the band I am in.
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Hairstyles to Wear Under Hats
Second-Day Hairstyle: Hat Hair to Covet
As POPSUGAR editors, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. POPSUGAR has affiliate and advertising partnerships so we get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase.
Accessories can be your best friend when your hair just refuses to cooperate the day after a wash. There's no shame in just throwing on a hat and calling it a day, though, especially when your chapeau is as adorable as Alicia Keys's. But believe it or not, once your cap is on, there are ways to style your mane so it doesn't have to succumb to being smushed. An extra minute is really all you need to get hat hair as chic as Alicia's. Get tips for creating this easy style when you keep reading.
Start by parting your hair to the side and misting it with hair spray. Section off a portion of your hair from your part, extending to your ear on the opposite side. Now tie your strands back in any style you like (ponytails or buns work best), leaving the front section out of the elastic. Finish by applying a texturizing product, like Tresemmé Curl Enhancing Mousse ($5, originally $6), to give the loose hair some body and control. Then simply throw on your cap and go show off your haute hat hair.


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An initial war of words between fledgling toy company GoldieBlox and seminal 1980s hip-hop group the Beastie Boys may be heading to court.
At the center of the dispute is a viral video showing three pre-teen girls eschewing a princess-pink television show in favor of constructing a Rube Goldberg-like contraption with products GoldieBlox describes as "toys for future engineers." The video's accompanying soundtrack has the girls rapping alternative lyrics to the Beastie Boys' 1987 track "Girls."
"You think you know what we want -- girls/ Pink and pretty it's girls/ Just like the fifties it's girls/ You like to buy us pink toys/ And everything else is for boys," rap the girls as their construction project takes shape. Further lyrics include, "Girls to build the spaceship/Girls to code the new app/Girls to grow up knowing/that they can engineer that."
U.S. & World
The ad has attracted more than 8 million Youtube views since it was posted on Nov. 17, and now one lawsuit.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, GoldieBlox filed suit Thursday in California federal court against the Beastie Boys, hoping to have its version of the song declared "fair use." The company filed the lawsuit against Island Def Jam Music Group claiming that "the Beastie Boys have now threatened GoldieBlox with copyright infringement. Lawyers for the Beastie Boys claim that the GoldieBlox Girls Parody Video is a copyright infringement, is not a fair use, and that GoldieBlox's unauthorized use of the Beastie Boys intellectual property is a 'big problem' that has a 'very significant impact.'"
In response, a spokesperson for the Beastie Boys said on November 24, "there was no complaint filed, no demand letter -- no demand, for that matter -- when they sued Beastie Boys."
On Tuesday, the Beastie Boys' surviving members Michael Diamond (Mike D) and Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock) penned an open letter to the startup company stating their side of the dispute. And while the group says it is "impressed by the creativity and message" behind the ad, it is just that: an advertisement designed to sell a product.
Here's the full text of the letter:
"Like many of the millions of people who have seen your toy commercial 'GoldieBlox, Rube Goldberg & the Beastie Boys,' we were very impressed by the creativity and the message behind your ad.
We strongly support empowering young girls, breaking down gender stereotypes and igniting a passion for technology and engineering.
As creative as it is, make no mistake, your video is an advertisement that is designed to sell a product, and long ago, we made a conscious decision not to permit our music and/or name to be used in product ads. When we tried to simply ask how and why our song "Girls" had been used in your ad without our permission, YOU sued US."
The Beastie Boys have previously sued numerous companies, including Monster Energy Drinks, over copyright infringements.
GoldieBlox has yet to issue a response to the Beastie Boys' letter. The company is a finalist in a contest sponsored by Intuit to have the commercial air during the 2014 Super Bowl.