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Sunday, November 13, 2011
The Dangers of Legitimizing Muslim Grievances
Grievance is the stories that Muslims tell themselves to justify their violence. To explain why they kill children and why they murder the innocent. The list of grievances is an endless as the violence. Every act of violence carries its own narrative. The endless Muslim conflicts throughout the world all carry their burden of history. But it isn't a history that can be resolved with a tolerance session.
Muslim grievances are the frustration of conquerors, the broken teeth of predators who weren't allowed to feed on the world until their stomachs burst. All the lands they couldn't conqueror, the peoples who rebelled against their rule, the inferior civilizations that pushed them back and drove them off. The swine who build skyscrapers and enjoy the fine things in life.
The civil rights model of social conflict resolution accepts grievances as legitimate and then tries to 'heal' through them through social justice. And when that model is applied to Muslims, it turns into empty appeasement because the conflicts at the heart of Muslim violence cannot be resolved through integration or representation. Applying the word "justice" in any form to a conflict involving Muslims is wasted ink.
The problem begins with a clash of definitions. To a citizen of a secular Western state, "injustice" means a lack of representation. To a Muslim, "injustice" means a lack of Islamic jurisprudence. A Non-Muslim state is always unjust simply because it is not ruled by Islamic law.
The fundamental Muslim grievance is that they are not in power, not just in Israel where the world has accepted their demand to be in power as a wholly moral and legitimate demand, or throughout the Muslim world where Western governments have helped bring the Islamists to power with bombs and political pressure. The fundamental grievance is that they are not in power... everywhere.
If you believe that Islam is the fundamental law of mankind, that all mankind at one time were Muslims and that there is no true justice except through Islamic law-- then it follows naturally that Muslims have been cheated of their rightful power, that they are forced to live under "atheistic" regimes and that "justice" demands that the world "revert" to Islamic rule.
It's why the rhetoric of democracy falls notoriously flat when it comes to Islam. Muslims are not out for representation except as a preliminary stage to absolute power. They may route the guardianship of that absolute power power in various ways, through a dictator or some form of popular democracy, but these are only vehicles for the imposition of Islamic law.
The absolute power of Islamic law is justified by its origin in Allah and the unjust nature of non-Muslim law is equally proven by its lack of divine origin. If you take Islamic assumptions at face value, then this makes perfect sense. Therefore a devout Muslim cannot view a non-Muslim society as just. Equating an infidel code with Sharia is blasphemy. And so the logic of Islam dictates that Western Muslims must view themselves as oppressed.
Like the struggle with the left, this is a clash between the ideal and the real. Totalitarian idealists are always outraged because compared to their ideal every system is rotten, corrupt and unjust. Whether it's the ideal of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat or the Guardianship of the Jurists, it all comes down to the tyranny of the ideal against the immorality of the real. The representational compromises that make the modern Republic work are anathema to people who believe that they have the perfect system which will be absolutely just... because it is perfect.
Muslim grievances justify endless war against the real, in the name of the ideal, without ever having to deal with the shortcomings of the ideal. The collectivism of the ideal disdains the individual except as a foot soldier, a martyr in bringing about the ideal. The infidels are unworthy of life because they are immersed in the grossness of the real. And the suicide bomber rejects the real for the ideal by disdaining his own life, much as he disdains the despised earthly women, but the demon virgins of paradise who represent another ideal.
The common denominator of the cartoon controversies, Muslim wars around the world and just about every other grievance, from their claim to Spain to their demand for more mosques, is an insistence on power at the expense of others. Everyone has to keep paying a price for Muslim grievance-- either in rights and freedoms, or in blood.
The purpose of war is conquest. Islam treats Muslim conquest as a form of justice. A failed conquest is an injustice. Try applying social justice to a mindset like that and what you're left with is Europe today.
Since no Muslim should ever have to live under the unjust rule of infidels, there is always a cause for war and a fifth column waiting to rise up and demand their right to rule over everyone else. And the war is endless-- its origins written in blood on the pages of Islamic scripture.
Innocence is the root of grievance, the "I was minding my own business until he came up and hit me and then I had to burn his village, rape his daughters and spend a thousand years enslaving his descendants" narrative of Islam. First comes the innocence and then comes the genocide.
Legitimizing Muslim grievance means accepting their narrative of innocence. Their "I was minding my own business until this cartoon offended me, until I was hauled off to Gitmo for absolutely no reason, until people give me dirty looks on the street for absolutely no reason and then I just had to kill as many of them as I could" narrative.
That narrative of innocence is a lie. People are not innocent, and the conquerors and oppressors of much of the world are certainly a long way from innocent. Historical Islam was a brutal conquering ideology that fed off blood and human misery. No amount of revisionist history will make that go away and the revisionist history is a disgusting insult to the millions killed and the cultures wiped out for the greater glory of Islam.
A religion that has never stopped practicing genocide, slavery and repression as religious mandates is the worst positioned to act out the charade of innocence, to pretend that everything was fine until the Ottoman Empire fell and the British and French colonialists replaced the Muslim colonialists and gave the local minorities civil rights instead of a spiked boot in the face.
Legitimizing Islamic grievance is dangerous not only because it feeds the self-righteous violence of Muslims, but because it convinces well-meaning Westerners that maybe they have a point. Once we accept the grievance, then it becomes hard to resist the violence, except by calling for more peaceful means of resolution. And if those peaceful means of resolution fail... then the violence is justified.
The Israeli peace process is a case study of how this process operates, how the legitimization of Muslim grievance comes to justify its violence, and how its own obstruction of negotiations disproves the peaceful means of resolution, which then doubly justifies the violence.
Rejecting the grievance also rejects the violence, it prevents the narrative from getting its foot in the door, the mosquito whine that pitifully pleads even as it's sinking its stinger into your neck. Fighting that narrative requires pulling back to see the sweep of history, the conquering armies of the Caliphs bringing slavery, destroying cultures, burning books and oppressing millions. And it requires that we see history repeating itself again.
Grievance was at the root of Mohammed's conquests. His "I was minding my own business, preaching a totalitarian ideology that said non-Muslims are inferior dogs when someone made fun of me, so of course I had them killed and fought a war and enslaved their descendants for all time" narrative. Poor innocent me.
When Americans keep repeating that Islamophobia is a major problem, Muslims treat this as an admission of guilt and a justification for violence. When Europeans accept that freedom of speech should take a back seat to Muslim sensitivities, then Muslims hold it up as proof that they don't really believe in freedom of speech and that those who insist on it are not following principles, but are deliberately agitating against Muslims.
Everyone who shouts "Blood for Oil", denounces Gitmo, rants about Israeli occupation and all the rest of it is legitimizing Muslim violence, whether or not they mean to do so. And when they perpetuate a myth of Islamic innocence, they are denying Muslims the opportunity to make a moral reckoning without which they cannot improve or change.
Wars begin as stories and end as stories. The Muslims have been telling their story for a long time. And these days we're telling their story too.
33 comments:
- Anonymous13/11/11
Ya'll might ponder on the faaaact thet we ain't played cowboys and Muslims yit. Hit's a cummin.ReplyDelete
Islam certainly fits the nature of man in its animal essence. I think that this is the real reason it is so difficult to reform or overcome.ReplyDelete
Here's a partial list of Muslim grievances http://amboytimes.typepad.com/the_amboy_times/2007/02/the_list_of_thi.htmlReplyDelete
"The fundamental grievance is that they are not in power... everywhere."ReplyDelete
I always have fun trying to find your thesis sentence, and for today this has got to be it. You really hit the nail on the head again, as usual.
I think that this is the real reason it is so difficult to reform or overcome.ReplyDelete
gOOD article
- fsy14/11/11
It's really starting to seem that freedom of religion is a self-destructive idea, unless some kind of limits are put on what constitutes a valid 'religion'. Right now I can't see any way that the West with its traditions of the past few centuries can possibly admit the need to fight Islam per se.ReplyDelete
This is weird for me to be saying as an Orthodox Jew, but maybe the only hope lies in some kind of renaissance of Christianity as a real power, but anyway that doesn't seem to be on the horizon.
Muslim "grievance" does not exist in Muslim countries. When they deal with the West, they adopt the language and the politics of grievanceReplyDelete
ha! that's what I tell people - the reason Muslims complain about how "unfair" they have it is becasue they're brought up to believe they should run the world and they think it's unfair that they're not in charge.ReplyDelete
And when you tell people, they won't believe ye!! ;)
As to your point re the 'moral reckoning", there are some ex-muslims who have made it. but the vast majority cannot see themselves, so embedded are they in their fantasy that weak Westerners allow them to play out.
they need to see themselves through Western eyes and recoil appropriately.
I should add that, as in a case recently, if a Muslims guy has been permitted to pray at work, caused no trouble, but then is bullied and disallowed, i disapprove of that.
If a workplace can accommodate a need with no trouble, assuming the Muslim has no desire to cause trouble, then i don't see the problem with that.
i do not include cases like the hijabbed wannabe hairdresser in the UK, the Muslims in the US who prayed without punching the time clock, compulsory Ramadan for non-Muslims (Luton) and the Muslim who gets hired in a supermarket and suddenly cannot handle pork.
One of the first things i see as necessary is stopping Muslims from bullying Jews,women, homosexuals, draw a line at Sharia law, deport terrorists and murderers.
If we are supposed to get ready for the "real" Halocaust, THEY better get ready for Crusades 2.0. And this time, we'll finish the job.ReplyDelete
When you tolerate intolerance you've already lost.
Muzzies are infiltrating and subverting the legislatures, judiciary and law enforcement entities of many Western style democracies and I'll bet yours is one of them. If you don't think they can be successful using these means I invite you to look at the history of Lebanon over the last 50 years.
Thank you for another excellent, disturbing and depressing article Daniel.ReplyDelete
Considering the apathetic amorality that constitutes lieberalism today, maybe Western civilization deserves to die.
- Rita14/11/11
I want to officially declare that Sultan Knisch speaks for me 110 % of the time!ReplyDelete
- Avital15/11/11
As an Orthodox Jew too, I have to disagree. If there were a resurgance of Xtianity and the Crusades, there first target would still be Israel. That was the target of the Crusades, and even though they claimed to be fighting the Moslems, they killed us too.
A resurgance of xtianity is not the answer as bad as things seem, for if xtianity were dominant today, Israel will be the first target.Replies
I am a Christian, and I LOVE the Jews! I have no idea what sort of Christians you've encountered, but as for me and my Christian friends and family members, we support Israel and wouldn't think of trying to take it from God's chosen people. I have often told my husband that if things start getting worse between the Jews and the Muslims, that I would be willing to go to Israel and fight along side the Jewish citizens of Israel, and once it's over, I would return to my home in North America. I consider myself to be a mainstream born-again, and have only the highest regard and best wishes for the Jewish people. I believe that the Jewish people are a great gift from God to all of humanity, and that the promised land belongs to them alone...not just the little portion they currently call Israel, but the WHOLE enchilada. I am extremely irritated by your post...we Christians are NOT after Israel -- it's yours! As I already mentioned, I'm willing to risk my life for the Jewish citizens of Israel and NOT for some sort of takeover of Israel by Christians.Delete
I am a Christian, and I LOVE the Jews! I have no idea what sort of Christians you've encountered, but as for me and my Christian friends and family members, we support Israel and wouldn't think of trying to take it from God's chosen people. I have often told my husband that if things start getting worse between the Jews and the Muslims, that I would be willing to go to Israel and fight along side the Jewish citizens of Israel, and once it's over, I would return to my home in North America. I consider myself to be a mainstream born-again, and have only the highest regard and best wishes for the Jewish people. I believe that the Jewish people are a great gift from God to all of humanity, and that the promised land belongs to them alone...not just the little portion they currently call Israel, but the WHOLE enchilada. I am extremely irritated by your post...we Christians are NOT after Israel -- it's yours! As I already mentioned, I'm willing to risk my life for the Jewish citizens of Israel and NOT for some sort of takeover of Israel by Christians.Delete
- Avital15/11/11
If the Christian Right ever gained power in the USA, they nearly did under Bush Junior, there is a good chance they would want to set up shop in Israel. These are allies and they have their eye on Israel. If they could invade and take the land they would. The Catholics, if dominant today, think they they are the new Israel. Xtianity is not the answer.
- fsy15/11/11
Xtianity is not the answer.
I'm not sure where you get your certainty about these things, but in any case, I find it hard to conceive of Xtianity being out to kill Jews the way the Moslems are today. As I said, I'm talking about the lesser evil.
The Catholic Church seems to have no problems whatsoever w/Islamofascism -- even as muslimes kill and persecute fellow Christians so I can't see putting much faith in them.ReplyDelete
Is Pat Robertson a member of the "Christian Right"?
What does a resurgence of Christianity have to do with anything?ReplyDelete
The crusades were called to reclaim empires that no longer exist. I don't see that being a major issue today.
- Anonymous16/11/11
I was told by a Sudanese Muslim that the southern people "started" the civil war because a Muslim girl was raped by a non-Muslim (black) man. At the time I was amazed: did this man really believe the rape story, and did he really think that an alleged rape justified the killing of millions? But how often is an alleged rape the start of Muslim rampages?ReplyDelete
In Australia the media are getting into the swing of things, repeatedly portraying Muslim girls as pure, pious yet delectably pretty and nubile with their colourful hijabs, in order to flatter our delightfully exotic new immigrants. In all probability, a story will eventually emerge that one of these virginal goddesses has been raped by an "Aussie" and all hell will break loose.
Pessimism comes so easily regarding Muslims!
I've met lieberal retards who try to tell me the real threat to the world is the "Christian Right". When I invite them to move to an islamofascist state to avoid the threat of the "Christian Right" though they seem to clam up real fast.ReplyDelete
- Christian16/11/11
Sorry, but if you respond to this article with wild claims that W. nearly set up a theocracy or that Christians want to take over Israel, you are just being silly.ReplyDelete
- Avital17/11/11
Knish, the crusades were for control of Jerusalem. Xtians are not out to kill us today precisely because they have given up Xtianity. Guess I didn't articulate what I meant, and that is Israel is safe from Xtianity precisely because Xtianity is dead today. Someone above called for a resurgance, I didn't say you did, and if that were to happen, since they believe they are the new Israel, Jerusalem would be their first target, whether it were Catholics or Evangelicals, they would both covet Israel.ReplyDelete
Cornholio, the Xtian right do not control the USA, the liberals do, that is why your buddies clam up real fast. If the Xtian right did control American no doubt they would set up shop in Israel. They want to but cannot, therefore they use the next best way, missionising.
Christians are not a single unified group, no more than Jews are. The theology varies widely and so does the attitude toward Jews.ReplyDelete
Talk of a Christian resurgence is vague enough as to have no meaning. What does that mean, the rise of the Catholic church, the growth of the evangelical movement worldwide, or the liberal forms of Christianity that dominate the elites in the West?
There are real tensions, which is why it's best to avoid black and white responses.
There is an ugly history between some traditional forms of Christianity and the Jews, but then again there's a long history of alliances between the Jews and the Persian Empire. Time brings change.
We are all confronted with the threat of Islam and we need to stand together against it, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Atheists and everyone else.
- Avital18/11/11
Knish, I prefer to look for a solution that will work and is realistic. do the Xtians agree with you? and which ones? Tell me, bout this,ReplyDelete
Christian Biblical ethicists claim God didn't promise Israel to Jews
atheists? as in Europe you mean who are pro islam and anti american and anti xtian if they are not xtian anti semites?
Hindu's? didn't india support the apartheid calls against Israel and whose population is what 300mil moslem?
I fear that the battle with islam after we all unite agianst islam is a pipe dream, as we're seeing before our eyes. It's not gonna happen, wish I could believe otherwise.
The "Christian biblical ethicists"
who penned that article are, minimally, islamofascist apologists.
If you google their names along w/islam or muslim you'll see their ties to islamofascist apologism and really, are they any worse than say,
Norman FINKelstein?
Cranky, what Christians? The article doesn't even talk about Christians. Did you comment on the wrong article somehow?ReplyDelete
The real reason is not grievances. That is only the reason expressed by bin Laden to the West. See Ibrahim, The Al Queda Reader. The real motivation for Muslim violence or jihad, is the quest for world domination under Shariah law, motivated by Islamic theology. The Arabs use taquiyya or dissimulation to foster the idea that the violence is in redress of grievances.ReplyDelete
Ibrahim is the editor and translator of The Al-Qaeda Reader, which he published after discovering hitherto unknown al-Qaeda treatises written in Arabic that he says "proves once and for all that, despite the propaganda of al-Qaeda and its sympathizers, radical Islam's war with the West is not finite and limited to political grievances—real or imagined—but is existential, transcending time and space and deeply rooted in faith".[2]
Bin Laden even posits the strikes of 9/11 as reciprocal responses to American-Israeli aggression against Muslims in Lebanon: "With Allah as my witness, I say to you that we had never considered striking the towers; however, after things became unbearable, and we witnessed the oppression and atrocities perpetrated against our people in Palestine and Lebanon by the American-Israeli coalition—it was then that I got the idea."28 Following the July 2004 London bombings, Zawahiri said, "I speak to you today about the blessed raid on London that... made it take a sip from the same glass from which it had long made the Muslims drink.... So taste some of what you have made us taste."29
When addressing Muslims in the Arabic tracts it disseminates, al-Qaeda makes perfectly clear that its animus to the West is first and foremost based on religious doctrine, which is one of the reasons that it has been well-received by many young and devout Muslims. One of Zawahiri's ultimate stated goals is making "Islam supreme in its [own] land and then spreading it around the world."30 Bin Laden claims that the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims should be one of "enmity, evidenced by fierce hostility, and an internal hate from the heart" based on his reading of Koranic verse 60:40.31
"Al-Qaeda's propaganda largely has been successful including among Muslims long since frustrated by their governments which they view as either inattentive to society's needs, insufficiently Islamic, or simply corrupt. Westerners are not immune to the al-Qaeda vision, as demonstrated by mainstream Western acceptance that al-Qaeda's war is entirely fueled by grievances against the West—even when bin Laden himself asserts that the animosity between the West and the Muslim world is inherent. Even former CIA analysts such as Michael Scheuer32 and Bruce Riedel33 have accepted the al-Qaeda narrative of grievances and similarly cite the Arab-Israeli conflict as the source of all woes, despite al-Qaeda's broader position that Muslims should be intrinsically hostile to the West."
See Widlanski, "Battle for our Minds: Western Elites and the Terror Threat
- Hamid21/4/13
"...I should add that, as in a case recently, if a Muslims guy has been permitted to pray at work, caused no trouble, but then is bullied and disallowed, i disapprove of that.
If a workplace can accommodate a need with no trouble, assuming the Muslim has no desire to cause trouble, then i don't see the problem with that...."
You might have no problem with that - but in a large workforce - other employees are going to expect similar entitlements. If they choose to come to the West and work here - then they should understand they should play by the existing rules - and not expect the rules to change for them.
This article was the first thing I'd read from Daniel Greenfield, a couple of years ago. And I thought it was one of the best reads regarding izlHam, that I'd ever read. He makes his point with intelligence, and keeps it interesting + understandable for dummies like myself. Even an arrogant liberal should be able to understand the truth told in this story. But I won't hold my breath...ReplyDelete
The Kashmir problem aka the endless problems that Pakis have with India... is also another brilliant example in the above context.ReplyDelete


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Glossary of Terms
- Activation Code
- An alphanumeric value code sent by SSA to the employer or registered User ID holder when access to certain services is requested. This code must be entered on the Activate Access to BSO Services web page the first time the user attempts access to the requested service.
- Authentication
- The act of proving the identity of an individual.
- Business Services Online; a suite of Internet services for businesses and employers to exchange information with SSA.
- BSO News
- An electronic newsletter that provides important updates and information regarding SSA Business Services Online.
- Business Services Online Tutorial
- An online training lesson that instructs the user on how to use BSO. It is for employers and submitters who would like to explore the business services available through BSO.
- Confirmation Number
- A 16-position alphanumeric number used to uniquely identify each name and SSN verification request submitted after 8/25/07.
- Employer Identification Number; a nine (9)-digit number the IRS assigns to an entity to identify businesses as taxpayers.
- Electronic File
- A specifically formatted file submitted electronically for overnight processing via the Submit a File for SSN Verification - Submit Your File web page.
- Employer's EIN
- The Employer Identification Number of the employer for whom the employee(s) work; for Third Party verifications, use the client's EIN.
- Employer Reporting Branch (ERB) personnel
- SSA employees who serve as the primary telephone answering point for general inquiries received from employers and third-party payroll service providers.
- Employee Verification Service (EVS)
- EVS matches your record of current or former employee names and SSNs with SSA's records.
- Internal Revenue Service; a United States government agency responsible for tax collection and tax law.
- Integrated Registration Services; the SSA Internet registration application for BSO.
- Masking
- De-identifying confidential data to safeguard the privacy of client data.
- Mismatch
- A name and SSN verification request that does not match SSA's records.
- Password
- A unique combination of eight (8) letters and numbers that must be entered to gain access to BSO.
- Social Security Administration; an independent agency of the United States government that manages the United States' insurance programs, consisting of retirement, disability, survivor benefits and Supplemental Security Income.
- Social Security Number; a unique nine (9)-digit number assigned by SSA to identify an individual when reporting wages, paying taxes and collecting benefits.
- Social Security Number Verification Service; an online service provided by SSA that allows registered users to verify employee names and SSNs against SSA's records.
- SSNVS News
- Provides important updates and information regarding SSN verification.
- Third-Party
- Strictly limited to organizations that contract with employers to either handle the wage reporting responsibilities or perform an administrative function directly related to annual wage reporting responsibilities of hired employees.
- Tracking Number
- An eight (8)-position alphanumeric number used to uniquely identify each name and SSN verification request submitted before 8/25/07.
- User Certification Statement
- A statement to which a BSO registered user must attest, certifying they have read, understood and agreed to the terms of use for BSO.
- User ID
- User Identification Number; a unique value issued by SSA to the user at BSO registration that identifies the individual. This value must be entered to gain access to BSO.
- Verification
- The act or process of establishing the truth, accuracy or reality of something.

subset: commoncrawl


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Here in Germany, there are too many girls aged 10 to 14 who wear leopardprinted scarves. The problem is that they have no clue of combining it, so it looks really, really bitchy, trust me... -.- I refused wearing leoprint for such a long time until I found the nicest tie I've ever seen at h&m- ...LEOPRINT! When I bought it i had red hair and it looked so nice in it!
Meanwhile, I noticed that stylish perons can wear leoprint and it will look very chic or even classy! I guess it's a question of attitude and combining. x.o
The following rating depends on my TIE :))


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John Williams has been making wine in California's Napa Valley for nearly 30 years, and he farms so ecologically that his peers call him Mr. Green. But if you ask him how climate change will affect Napa's world famous wines, he gets irritated, almost insulted. "You know, I've been getting that question a lot recently, and I feel we need to keep this issue in perspective," he told me. "When I hear about global warming in the news, I hear that it's going to melt the Arctic, inundate coastal cities, displace millions and millions of people, spread tropical diseases and bring lots of other horrible effects. Then I get calls from wine writers and all they want to know is, 'How is the character of cabernet sauvignon going to change under global warming?' I worry about global warming, but I worry about it at the humanity scale, not the vineyard scale."
Williams is the founder of Frog's Leap, one of the most ecologically minded wineries in Napa and, for that matter, the world. Electricity for the operation comes from 1,000 solar panels erected along the Merlot vines; the heating and cooling are supplied by a geothermal system that taps into the earth's heat. The vineyards are 100 percent organic and -- most radical of all, considering Napa's dry summers -- there is no irrigation.
Yet despite his environmental fervor, Williams dismisses questions about preparing Frog's Leap for the impacts of climate change. "We have no idea what effects global warming will have on the conditions that affect Napa Valley wines, so to prepare for those changes seems to me to be whistling past the cemetery," he says, a note of irritation in his voice. "All I know is, there are things I can do to stop, or at least slow down, global warming, and those are things I should do."
Williams has a point about keeping things in perspective. At a time when climate change is already making it harder for people in Bangladesh to find enough drinking water, it seems callous to fret about what might happen to premium wines. But there is much more to the question of wine and climate change than the character of pinot noir. Because wine grapes are extraordinarily sensitive to temperature, the industry amounts to an early-warning system for problems that all food crops -- and all industries -- will confront as global warming intensifies. In vino veritas, the Romans said: In wine there is truth. The truth now is that the earth's climate is changing much faster than the wine business, and virtually every other business on earth, is preparing for.
All crops need favorable climates, but few are as vulnerable to temperature and other extremes as wine grapes. "There is a fifteenfold difference in the price of cabernet sauvignon grapes that are grown in Napa Valley and cabernet sauvignon grapes grown in Fresno" in California's hot Central Valley, says Kim Cahill, a consultant to the Napa Valley Vintners' Association. "Cab grapes grown in Napa sold [in 2006] for $4,100 a ton. In Fresno the price was $260 a ton. The difference in average temperature between Napa and Fresno was 5 degrees Fahrenheit."
Numbers like that help explain why climate change is poised to clobber the global wine industry, a multibillion-dollar business whose decline would also damage the much larger industries of food, restaurants, and tourism. Every business on earth will feel the effects of global warming, but only the ski industry -- which appears doomed in its current form -- is more visibly targeted by the hot, erratic weather that lies in store over the next 50 years. In France, the rise in temperatures may render the Champagne region too hot to produce fine champagne. The same is true for the legendary reds of Châteauneuf du Pape, where the stony white soil's ability to retain heat, once considered a virtue, may now become a curse. The world's other major wine-producing regions -- California, Italy, Spain, Australia -- are also at risk.
If current trends continue, the "premium wine grape production area [in the United States]...could decline by up to 81 percent by the late 21st century," a team of scientists wrote in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2006. The culprit was not so much the rise in average temperatures but an increased frequency of extremely hot days, defined as above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit). If no adaptation measures were taken, these increased heat spikes would "eliminate wine grape production in many areas of the United States," the scientists wrote.
In theory, winemakers can defuse the threat by simply shifting production to more congenial locations. Indeed, champagne grapes have already been planted in England and some respectable vintages harvested. But there are limits to this strategy. After all, temperature is not the sole determinant of a wine's taste. What the French call terroir -- a term that refers to the soil of a given region but also includes the cultural knowledge of the people who grow and process grapes -- is crucial. "Wine is tied to place more than any other form of agriculture, in the sense that the names of the place are on the bottle," says David Graves, the co-founder of the Saintsbury wine company in the Napa Valley. "If traditional sugar-beet growing regions in eastern Colorado had to move north, nobody would care. But if wine grapes can't grow in the Napa Valley anymore -- which is an extreme statement, but let's say so for the sake of argument -- suddenly you have a global warming poster child right up there with the polar bears."
A handful of climate-savvy winemakers such as Graves are trying to rouse their colleagues to action before it is too late, but to little avail. Indeed, some winemakers are actually rejoicing in the higher temperatures of recent years. "Some of the most expensive wines in Spain come from the Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa regions," Pancho Campo, the founder and president of the Wine Academy of Spain, says. "They are getting almost perfect ripeness every year now for Tempranillo. This makes the winemakers say, 'Who cares about climate change? We are getting perfect vintages.' The same thing has happened in Bordeaux. It is very difficult to tell someone, 'This is only going to be the case for another few years.'"
The irony is, the wine business is better situated than most to adapt to global warming. Many of the people in the industry followed in their parents' footsteps and hope to pass the business on to their kids and grandkids someday. This should lead them to think farther ahead than the average corporation, with its obsessive focus on this quarter's financial results. But I found little evidence this is happening.
The exception: Alois Lageder, a man whose family has made wine in Alto Adige, the northernmost province in Italy, since 1855. The setting, at the foot of the Alps, is majestic. Looming over the vines are massive outcroppings of black and gray granite interspersed with flower-strewn meadows and wooded hills that inevitably call to mind The Sound of Music. Locals admire Lageder for having led Alto Adige's evolution from producing jug wine to boasting some of the best whites in Italy. In October 2005, Lageder hosted the world's first conference on the future of wine under climate change. "We must recognize that climate change is not a problem of the future," Lageder told his colleagues. "It is here today and we must adapt now."
As it happens, Alto Adige is the location of one of the most dramatic expressions of modern global warming: the discovery of the so-called Iceman -- the frozen remains of a herder who lived in the region 5,300 years ago. The corpse was found in 1991 in a mountain gully, almost perfectly preserved -- even the skin was intact -- because it had lain beneath mounds of snow and ice since shortly after his death (a murder, forensic investigators later concluded from studying the trajectory of an arrowhead lodged in his left shoulder). He would not have been found were it not for global warming, says Hans Glauber, the director of the Alto Adige Ecological Institute: "Temperatures have been rising in the Alps about twice as fast as in the rest of the world," he notes.
Lageder heard about global warming in the early 1990s and felt compelled to take action. It wasn't easy -- "I had incredible fights with my architect about wanting good insulation," he says -- but by 1996 he had installed the first completely privately financed solar energy system in Italy. He added a geothermal energy system as well. Care was taken to integrate these cutting-edge technologies into the existing site; during a tour, I emerged from a dark fermentation cellar with its own wind turbine into the bright sunlight of a gorgeous courtyard dating to the 15th century. Going green did make the renovation cost 30 percent more, Lageder says, "but that just means there is a slightly longer amortization period. In fact, we made up the cost difference through increased revenue, because when people heard about what we were doing, they came to see it and they ended up buying our wines."
The record summer heat that struck Italy and the rest of Europe in 2003, killing tens of thousands, made Lageder even more alarmed. "When I was a kid, the harvest was always after November 1, which was a cardinal date," he told me. "Nowadays, we start between the 5th and 10th of September and finish in October." Excess heat raises the sugar level of grapes to potentially ruinous levels. Too much sugar can result in wine that is unbalanced and too alcoholic -- wine known as "cooked" or "jammy." Higher temperatures may also increase the risk of pests and parasites, because fewer will die off during the winter. White wines, whose skins are less tolerant of heat, face particular difficulties as global warming intensifies. "In 2003, we ended up with wines that had between 14 and 16 percent alcohol," Lageder recalled, "whereas normally they are between 12 and 14 percent. The character of our wine was changing."
A 2 percent increase in alcohol may sound like a tiny difference, but the effect on a wine's character and potency is considerable. "In California, your style of wine is bigger, with alcohol levels of 14 and 15, even 16 percent," Lageder continued. "I like some of those wines a lot. But the alcohol level is so high that you have one glass and then" -- he slashed his hand across his throat -- "you're done; any more and you will be drunk. In Europe, we prefer to drink wine throughout the evening, so we favor wines with less alcohol. Very hot weather makes that harder to achieve."
There are tricks grape growers and winemakers can use to lower alcohol levels. The leaves surrounding the grapes can be allowed to grow bushier, providing more shade. Vines can be replaced with different clones or rootstocks. Growing grapes at higher altitudes, where the air is cooler, is another option. So is changing the type of grapes being grown.
But laws and cultural traditions currently stand in the way of such adaptations. So-called AOC laws (Appellation d'Origine Côntrollée) govern wine-grape production throughout France, and in parts of Italy and Spain as well. As temperatures rise further, these AOC laws and kindred regulations are certain to face increased challenge. "I was just in Burgundy," Pancho Campo told me in March 2008, "and producers there are very concerned, because they know that chardonnay and pinot noir are cool-weather wines, and climate change is bringing totally the contrary. Some of the producers were even considering starting to study Syrah and other varieties. At the moment, they are not allowed to plant other grapes, but these are questions people are asking."
The greatest resistance, however, may come from the industry itself. "Some of my colleagues may admire my views on this subject, but few have done much," says Lageder. "People are trying to push the problem away, saying, 'Let's do our job today and wait and see in the future if climate change becomes a real problem.' But by then it will be too late to save ourselves."
If the wine industry does not adapt to climate change, life will go on -- with less conviviality and pleasure, perhaps, but it will go on. Fine wine will still be produced, most likely by early adapters such as Lageder, but there will be less of it. By the law of supply and demand, that suggests the best wines of tomorrow will cost even more than the ridiculous amounts they fetch today. White wine may well disappear from some regions. Climate-sensitive reds such as pinot noir are also in trouble. It's not too late for winemakers to save themselves through adaptation. But it's disconcerting to see so much dawdling in an industry with so much incentive to act. If winemakers aren't motivated to adapt to climate change, what businesses will be?
The answer seems to be very few. Even in the Britain, where the government is vigorously championing adaptation, the private sector lags in understanding the adaptation imperative, much less implementing it. "I bet if I rang up a hundred small businesses in the UK and mentioned adaptation, 90 of them wouldn't know what I was talking about," says Gareth Williams, who works with the organization Business in the Community, helping firms in northeast England prepare for the storms and other extreme weather events that scientists project for the region. "When I started this job, I gave a presentation to heads of businesses," said Williams, who spent most of his career in the private sector. "I presented the case for adaptation, and in the question-and-answer period, one executive said, 'We're doing quite a lot on adaptation already.' I said, 'Oh, what's that?' He said, 'We're recycling, and we're looking at improving our energy efficiency.' I thought to myself, 'Oh, my, he really didn't get it at all. This is going to be a struggle.'"
"Most of us are not very good at recognizing our risks until we are hit by them," explains Chris West, the director of the UK government's Climate Impact Program. "People who run companies are no different." Before joining UKCIP in 1999, West had spent most of his career working to protect endangered species. Now, the species he is trying to save is his own, and the insights of a zoologist turn out to be quite useful. Adapting to changing circumstances is, after all, the essence of evolution -- and of success in the modern economic marketplace. West is fond of quoting Darwin: "It is not the strongest of the species that survives...nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."
This piece was adapted from Mark Hertsgaard's forthcoming book Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth for the Climate Desk Collaboration. Mark Hertsgaard has written about climate change for 20 years for publications including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Time and The Nation.


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- Science
- Not Exactly Rocket Science
An interview with David Attenborough
On the fifth day of this year, I found myself sitting in the living room of the legendary Sir David Attenborough, drinking coffee and talking to him about wildlife, filmmaking and his career for the better part of an hour. It was a truly memorable experience, not just for his eloquence and storytelling skills, but because Sir David has been a hero of mine since I first popped Life on Earth into my VCR at the wee age of 8. His clarity and passion have inspired me to become a better communicator of science and it was a privilege to speak to the man in person.
He was no less of a superb raconteur in the flesh than he is on screen, and incredibly down-to-earth regarding his fame and status. His house was beautiful, furnsihed by the expected paintings of wildlife and tribal artifacts, a collection of beautiful fossils on a shelf behind his sofa, and more incongruously, an absolutely massive plasma-screen telly.
So now, as 2008 comes to close, I felt it fitting to repost the interview that began the year on such a high. It's long, but Attenborough has so much that's worth listening to. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
What made you want to do a series on reptiles and amphibians? [At the time of the interview, Attenborough's last major series – Life in Cold Blood – was due to air in a matter of weeks – Ed]
These are the last major classes of terrestrial animals that we haven't given a series to. In terms of evolutionary history the first lot to go on land are invertebrates. Plants came after that and the next lot were the first amphibians and reptiles. From them came birds and from another group came mammals. We've now devoted a series to every one of those major groups.
Are there any inherent difficulties in presenting a group of animals that the public might not find so endearing?
Yes and no. By definition, if they find them less endearing, something will prevent them from looking at these animals with the same enthusiasm with which they look at meerkats and monkeys. But in a way, it's a great advantage because it means that a lot of the stories haven't been told. It's a measure of what, in my view, public service broadcasting should do. It shouldn't just be about making programmes about popular animals. Equally, broadcasters ought to be able to make programmes about economics even though it's not as obviously dramatic as wars.
What new stories has Life in Cold Blood unearthed?
There's a legless amphibian called a caecilian, of which there are several thousand species that live underground. We decided to film one species in Brazil and it wasn't known how the young feed while underground. By continuously filming them, we discovered that every three or four days, there's suddenly a frenzy of activity with several of these babies scurrying over their mother. And actually, they're tearing off lumps of her skin which has special fat deposits in it. You can see them with their little teeth grabbing hold of this skin and ripping it off mummy! This lasts for a few hours and then over three or four days, she grows another layer of fatty skin and they do it again. That wasn't known before.
Are there any specific challenges in filming cold-blooded animals that by their nature might be inactive for large periods of time?
Yes, although that's actually quite a relief. The fact that they are inactive means that when they do something, you have some sort of idea of what's going to happen. Frogs for example, really don't do very much until they breed and snakes don't do very much until they kill.
What are some of your other favourite moments of the series?
There's a terrific sequence of turtle courtship. The cameraman who was charged with filming copulating turtles found a pair and eventually they attracted another male who tried to pull the first one off. In the end, they ended up with about six of them all around one female desperately trying to mate.
The Sunday Times wrote a fairly accusatory piece which complained that the spitting cobra sequence in was 'set up' with a captive animal. How do you respond to that?
I'm not about to go traipsing around South Africa with a shot of anti-venom and a camera hoping to just come across a spitting cobra. It's foolish to think that you'll find the snake feeling most at home on a convenient rock by a path.
I am not making an adventure program. I'm not saying that I'm an intrepid chap tramping through the wilderness and who knows what dangerous denizens of the wild I may encounter. I'm trying to demonstrate that there's a snake that uses venom as a deterrent and squirts it through its fangs like a hypodermic needle. Not only that but I start the sequence by saying that I will demonstrate what happens. If I'd said that I was going for a wander and "Oh goodness me, what is this?", then of course that would be a lie. But if I'm saying that I'm watching what a spitting cobra does with its venom, then of course that's the obvious way of doing it.
The series has the first ever recorded instance of predation in a wild rattlesnake. Does that mean that all previous footage was recorded in a studio?
No it means that they weren't actual kills are all. You'd put a lure in front of the rattlesnake to persuade it to strike in front of the camera. You'd get a close-up of the snake coming straight at you and then you'd see a rattlesnake with a dead mouse in its jaws. Apart from anything else, I think it's against the law to put live animals in an enclosure for a predator and it's certainly against BBC policies.
But this behaviour is so rare to see that you'd be very foolish not to do it that kind of way. We were only able to record it live this time because we had new gear. We took things from movement-sensitive burglar alarms and put them around a rattlesnake as part of a research programme that was tracking about a dozen snakes with radio tracking bugs. The research scientists were able to point out one that had obviously found a convenient place to serve as an ambush, had settled down, hadn't fed for a week and was going to hunt quite soon. So we set up movement detectors around that were linked to infra-red lights and cameras and we waited. The kill happened on the first night.
Natural history programmes do contain a lot of sex and violence. Has that ever got you into any trouble?
Not significantly. You do get regular letters. I remember one woman who wrote in after watching a lion kill a wildebeest and said that it was absolutely scandalous that the BBC spent all this money so that we could show this bestial act. It would be much better to spend it on training lions to eat grass!
Of course, when you are filming that sort of thing, you have a platonic problem of conflict between the viscera and the brain. The answer is of course, that you have to balance the two carefully. It would be improper and disgraceful if you just dwelt on the violence and on seeing an animal's pain. And yet, on the other hand, if you don't show that something like that is involved, you are so distorting reality that you are producing fairytales. So you have to make that balance. I dare say you'll get it wrong sometimes but you certainly have to show both sides of it. If people saw what we put out on the cutting room floor…
What is the most exotic thing you have ever eaten yourself?
Caterpillars, perhaps. Big moth caterpillars in New Guinea that you put them on a fire to burn off the hairs. They come out like Twiglets.
This programme marks the end of the 'Life' series. Looking back, are you pleased at how it has turned out?
Yes, very much. And the thing that really pleases me is that we have the technical requirements to provide a box set with cumulative index to the whole branch, like the printed libretto that you can get at an opera. You could look up any species that turns up in these 40 hours of programming and know which disc to put in and where to flip to and it would cross-index these with topics like mimicry or camouflage. I will be very pleased to be able to put that on a shelf. It would be superficial – for goodness sake, there's only 40 hours of it, but that's what the natural world looked like at the end of the twentieth century.
Has your approach to film-making changed at all since you first started?
It certainly has on a superficial level because of the changes in technology. When I started making natural history programmes with Zoo Quest in 1954, we didn't have the money and or the long-focus lenses that would allow you to go to Africa and get a close-up of a bird in a tree. Not only that but the film was so insensitive that you couldn't get enough exposure and the batteries you had to carry around to power your cameras were enormous and really held you down. In 1954, any film was shot in 35mm which is the gauge you use for cinema. I said we couldn't do Zooquest on that because I couldn't carry it! So we became the first to shoot in 16mm and we had to fight the head of BBC television film about it as he felt it represented an amateurish drop in standards.
Every year since then, it's got that much better. You've got slightly longer lenses and more sensitive gun-mikes. You've got underwater cameras, infrared cameras that can see at night, cameras that use optical cables to film down burrows, time-lapse cameras for plants, macro-work with highly-sensitive cameras for the invertebrates and so on.
Do you think you've become more restrained at all? Your earlier films have more instances of you grabbing things off trees and holding them up to the camera.
It may be that we're more skilful these days at getting the sort of shots that we want without actually scragging the animal. One of the functions of the presenter is to give the viewer the identification feeling and directors think that you get that if the chap telling you the story is seen grappling with the creature. They're also keen on getting something other than the man's torso or face in shot so that if he's got a long piece to talk about, the viewers can at least look at the animal instead. So two-shots with man and animal are de rigeur, but we've got much better at doing them. For example, if you shoot with a long lens, you can condense the distance between the animal in the foreground and the presenter in the background.
Science moves at such a quick pace. Have you ever been tempted to revisit some of the earlier programmes in the light of new developments?
You're absolutely right about the pace of scientific discovery but the fact is that the level of scientific insight in these programmes is pitched at sixth-form. It's not as if it's cutting edge stuff. It's more like here's a duck-billed platypus and it has warm blood and lays eggs. And that doesn't change a lot.
Have there been any shoots that just went badly wrong or any subjects that were uncooperative?
[There's a long pause here – Ed] Noone's ever asked me that and I'm not sure I know the answer! We've nearly missed things – we nearly didn't get to the Christmas Island crabs because of an airline strike. We actually got there on time because we bummed a lift off the Australian Air Force!
Ah wait, I've thought of something. Back in 1955, I went to Indonesia specifically to try and find birds of paradise but we weren't even let in. I wanted to go to Aru Island in off the coast of New Guinea where Wallace first saw birds of paradise. It was so amateur and pathetic in 1955. The Indonesians had only just acquired independence and their administration simply didn't work. We turned up in Jakarta with a camera, didn't speak a word of Malay and didn't have a letter of introduction from anybody. It was ridiculous. When we said we wanted to go to Aru Island they said no. We said that we'd come all the way, but at the time they were trying to claim the island from Holland and they thought we were spies. So we hastily thought of something else and went off to film Komodo dragons but we didn't get that either. It was hopelessly amateur and cack-handed but quite good fun.
When we last spoke, you said that your next project will be a programme on evolution. Is that still in the pipeline?
Yes, it's Darwin's bicentennial in Feburary 2009 so I'm working on a script now. It's probably going to be a single programme rather than a series but I'm still working on it.
Are there any places that you have left to visit that you want to?
I would very much like to have been to Mongolia and central Asia. There are good reasons why I haven't though. Animal there are very scarce. You could walk for miles and miles before you see any at all because the land is so dry and high and the fauna is very limited. You don't get a lot of footage for your buck, so I've never filmed in the Gobi but I would have loved to have been there.
Given how widely you've travelled, are you ever tempted to visit zoos?
I used to go to zoos a lot. After all, the first series I ever did called Zooquest was about capturing animals for zoos. Things have changed since then but I still think that zoos are very important – they function in conservation, education and scientific research, which are all absolutely admirable provided the zoo is properly maintained and the animals live in the proper circumstances. If they are breeding, you don't need to capture wild animals to restock. But I don't actually enjoy seeing birds in cages and I don't enjoy watching monkeys in sterile environments so I don't go. But I do not disapprove of zoos.
Did you ever aspire to academia?
I thought I was going to be a palaeontologist originally. I loved fossils and I collected them as a kid and I wondered how could I earn a living with fossils. There wasn't any television in 1944 and I thought I would be an oil geologist, which would get me to exciting places. I went to Cambridge and read zoology and geology and, to my fury, mineralogy – a mind-bendingly, stupefyingly boring subject, but mainly because I was incompetent. I was doing X-ray crystallography and I'm not a mathematician, I can't think mathematically and I certainly can't think in three dimensions.
I then went into the Navy but by the time I got to do my service, the war had just finished. I didn't have to kill anybody, which was a mercy. But by the time I came out, I was two years older, I wanted to get married and I doubted that I had the intellectual application to be a scientist. Certainly, when I see what a behavioural ethologist has to do now, sitting day-after-day at a burrow waiting for an animal to put its head out, I couldn't do that. I admire them very much. They have a dedication that I can't have.
Surely filmmakers must have to have similar amounts of patience?
Oh no. Well, perhaps the patience but not with repetition. I remember a very bright guy in Panama who would get up every morning, trek through the forest, find an orchid and sit by it all day to count how many bees visited it. He'd been doing it for months and I think there's a bit of rite du passage in it. The senior scientists say "Well I bloody suffered, so you're going to suffer too."
Do you have a large fossil collection?
By the time I got to university, I had a pretty good collection of middle Jurassic fossils. My father was the principal of a college that would later become the University of Leicester. When it started a Geology department, it didn't have any collections so I donated my stuff there. There are a fair few things at the back though, but the main collection won't be here. [At this point, I turn around and see a large row of beautiful fossils lining a shelf behind the sofa. David hands me one and asks me what I think it is. – Ed]
I thought it was a seed but it's the dermal scute of an arthrodire, which is one of those Devonian armoured fish. It comes from a site called Gogo in the middle of Australia, which was discovered by a palaeontologist from the Natural History Museum. I wanted to film the place so asked the head of the Geology Service or whatever it was for permission to go. He told me that they'd already found everything and that there was nothing left, but he eventually gave us permission and said he'd come along. We chartered a helicopter and – I remember this as clear as daylight – as it was coming down very gently, I saw this on the ground [he indicates the fossil] and the bar of the helicopter touched down inches away from it. I'm first out and I pick it up. He comes out and I say "Here, what's this?", and he says,"… You bastard." To his credit, he let me keep it.
You'll know what this is though. [He hands me another item, which I mercifully identify correctly as a series of vertebrae – Ed] Yes, they are the four thoracic vertebrae of an ichthyosaur. I used to keep a lot of tropical fish and I was looking for rocks to put in the aquarium. I had a friend who lived down the hill who said that his garden was full of bloody rocks and I was welcome to take some. I went over and there was this, just lying about. I think one of the previous owners of the house was a fossil collector.
What about these artefacts you've got around the place?
Well I'm very fond of tribal artefacts but you can't acquire them out there of course. If you picked up anything remotely like those in Papua New Guinea or Africa, they'd either be illegal or fake. The only place you can get them would be dealers or auctions.
Natural history programmes, like Planet Earth, seem to be as popular as ever even though the type of shows that the public watches has changed dramatically. Why do you think that is?
I can think of several reasons. One is that animals, when they appear on your screen, have a number of qualities that are unique to them. They're not trying to sell you anything and they're not telling you lies. They are unpredictable. They are very often new. They're extraordinarily beautiful. They're dramatic. And they share something with us, which is life. What more do you want from your television?
Another way of looking at it is that they have always been popular. It's just that the rather jaded television executives who never move out of their offices don't recognise that. I think that's particularly true of the United States. Over there, the view of natural history programmes forty years ago was about people with lassos and dart guns wrestling with fauna in the wild. The idea that anybody would be interested in insects was a non-starter but we proved them wrong.
The fact of the matter is that every child – every child – at the age of four or five is fascinated by the rest of the world. That deep interest in other things that are alive is there in every single one of us and it so happens that for some of us, that interest gets diverted. But that's an impoverishment of your mental life. At the same time as this is happening, because of the growth in population, people are being increasingly cut off from the natural world. And the television can allow people to get back in touch, to at least see something of what's going on outside which is essential if they're going to take responsibility for nature.
How optimistic are you about our chances of halting the decline in biodiversity?
Well we won't be able to stop it. We may be able to slow it down. The thing that really absolutely appals me is the realisation that there are three times as many people alive on Earth as when I started making television programmes. Not even when I was born! Three times as many people! They've all got to be fed and drive motor cars and have their own houses. The sheer space left for other species has been eaten up appallingly. Quite apart from all the other things we do, just that basic fact is enough to dampen any joie de vivre I have. People say that the population growth is going to fall off and we're going to reach stasis. I'm not absolutely clear on what grounds they say that but even then, it's going to rise to eight or nine billion. There's just so little space for other creatures.
Do you think it's easier or more difficult to get natural history programmes commissioned at the moment?
Yes and no. The fact is that there are many more natural history programmes being made and scheduled than there were a few years ago. When we started, there weren't any. Now there are many more opportunities but many more people want to make them. So the competition is tougher and I feel almost guilty because I started when nobody wanted to do it. I didn't have to compete. I just put up an idea and they said if that's what you want to do, go and do it. How on earth I would get started now, I have no idea.
We advertised for a research assistant on the Life of Birds to look through the literature to see which species of bird would be best as an example of mimicry or whatever. For that we had three thousand applications, of whom a third had doctorates. There's no conceivable way in the world in which you could genuinely and justly discriminate between three thousand people. You might just as well as eliminate everyone without red hair and that would only have knocked it down to about 500!
Do you think that's one of the reason why you are one of the very few natural history filmmakers who has become a household name?
Well if I'm a household name, it's only because I've been doing it forever and fairly regularly. I keep popping up, and that's the only reason.
Are there any of the current crop of natural history filmmakers who you are particularly impressed with?
Oh, lots. I think Simon King is an amazing cameraman and an amazingly good field naturalist. Charlotte Uhlenbroek is another one who obviously knows what's going on. Bill Oddie brings a completely different line to it. There's no shortage of good people doing what I do and I imagine that there must be queues of them going, "For God's sake, he's been there for fifty years. Why doesn't he put his feet up and give other blokes a chance?" All one asks is that they treat the animals with respect and if they treat them with knowledge and admiration then that's a bonus.


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From Nature magazine
The storm of scientific criticism over claims that a genetically modified (GM) maize causes severe disease in rats shows no signs of abating.
Gilles-Eric Sralini, a molecular biologist at the University of Caen, France, is under intense pressure to report the full data behind his team's finding that rats fed for two years with Monsanto's glyphosate-resistant NK603 maize (corn) developed many more tumours and died earlier than controls (see Nature 489, 484; 2012). The study, run in collaboration with the Paris-based Committee for Research and Independent Information on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN), also found that rats developed tumours when their drinking water was spiked with glyphosate, the herbicide that is used with the GM maize. The findings have had a huge public impact in Europe, empowering those opposed more broadly to GM foods, and leading some politicians to call for tighter regulations or outright bans of the maize.
Last week, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Parma, Italy, and Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in Berlin both issued initial assessments slamming the paper, bluntly asserting that its conclusions are not supported by the data presented. "The design, reporting and analysis of the study, as outlined in the paper, are inadequate," says the EFSA in a press release, adding that the paper is "of insufficient scientific quality to be considered as valid for risk assessment".
The biggest criticism from both reviews is that Sralini and his team used only ten rats of each sex in their treatment groups. That is a similar number of rats per group to that used in most previous toxicity tests of GM foods, including Missouri-based Monsanto's own tests of NK603 maize. Such regulatory tests monitor rats for 90 days, and guidelines from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) state that ten rats of each sex per group over that time span is sufficient because the rats are relatively young. But Sralini's study was over two years — almost a rat's lifespan — and for tests of this duration, the OECD recommends at least 20 rats of each sex per group for chemical-toxicity studies, and at least 50 for carcinogenicity studies.
Moreover, the study used Sprague-Dawley rats, which both reviews note are prone to developing spontaneous tumours. Data provided to Nature by Harlan Laboratories, which supplied the rats in the study, show that only one-third of males, and less than one-half of females, live to 104 weeks. By comparison, its Han Wistar rats have greater than 70% survival at 104 weeks, and fewer tumours. OECD guidelines state that for two-year experiments, rats should have a survival rate of at least 50% at 104 weeks. If they do not, each treatment group should include even more animals — 65 or more of each sex.
"There is a high probability that the findings in relation to the tumour incidence are due to chance, given the low number of animals and the spontaneous occurrence of tumours in Sprague-Dawley rats," concludes the EFSA report. In response to the EFSA's assessment, the European Federation of Biotechnology — an umbrella body in Barcelona, Spain, that represents biotech researchers, institutes and companies across Europe — called for the study to be retracted, describing its publication as a "dangerous case of failure of the peer-review system".
Sralini argues that a battery of observations in the study reinforces his tumour-incidence and mortality claims. "Of course, this should be replicated by others, but we believe in these results," he says. He agrees that more rats would have boosted his study's statistical power, but says that he did not design the experiment to show differences in tumour incidences, because he was not expecting to find any — no previous tests on GM foods had suggested a cancer risk.
Yet Sralini has promoted the cancer results as the study's major finding, through a tightly orchestrated media offensive that began last month and included the release of a book and a film about the work. Only a select group of journalists (not including Nature) was given access to the embargoed paper, and each writer was required to sign a highly unusual confidentiality agreement, seen by Nature, which prevented them from discussing the paper with other scientists before the embargo expired.
Journalists often receive embargoed journal articles, and standard practice is to solicit independent assessments before the paper is published. The agreement for this paper, however, did not allow any disclosure and threatened a severe penalty for non-compliance: "A refund of the cost of the study of several million euros would be considered damages if the premature disclosure questioned the release of the study."
In an exceptional move, the ethics committee of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) last week decried the public-relations offensive as inappropriate for a high-quality and objective scientific debate, and reminded researchers working on controversial topics of the need to report results responsibly to the public.
Meanwhile, Sralini says that he won't make any data available to the EFSA and the BfR until the EFSA makes public all the data under-pinning its 2003 approval of NK603 maize for human consumption and animal feed. He has also criticized the EFSA, and most other detractors of his study, for alleged conflicts of interest, claiming that he is "being attacked in an extremely dishonest fashion by lobbies passing themselves off as the scientific community".
The journal that published his study, Food and Chemical Toxicology, said last week in a statement that it "welcomes any and all 'Letters to the Editor' that have questions and concerns about this paper".
This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on October 10, 2012.


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Industrial Exchange Network (IEN) will enter into written buy/sell agreements with equipment sellers or will enter written agreements to broker equipment for commission. In some cases where a commission agreement is signed, IEN will agree to send inquiries directly from potential buyers to the seller. In other cases, IEN will protect the buyer until the seller agrees to a sales agreement with IEN in order that the equipment be resold to the buyer. In any case a registered Seller agrees to protect Industrial Exchange Network's position and to only sell the equipment directly to buyers who are brought to the seller by IEN through a written agreement as described.
This agreement is between Industrial Exchange Network, Inc (IEN) and sellers (seller) registering to sell equipment listed on any of IEN's Websites. This is a non-exclusive agreement and sellers may offer and sell equipment independently even if the equipment is listed on an IEC's website.. However, the Seller agrees that this agreement governs sales that have originated with an inquiry received through a website of Industrial Exchange Network, Inc.
IEN operates and maintains a number of industry specific and general industrial websites as forums to link buyers with sellers of used and surplus industrial equipment. Registered users of IEN Websites may be approved as registered sellers. Sellers on these websites are approved or disapproved at the sole discretion of Industrial Exchange Network, Inc. using information that may include: declaration or evidence that the seller has the right to sell or advertise certain equipment and conducts business in a manner that is consistent with the rights or best interest of IEN and/or its registered users. IEN reserves right to refuse to list equipment as it chooses and may include or not include equipment listed by any seller on its website as it sees appropriate.
Once the seller has agreed to the IEN user agreement and this sellers agreement and has been approved he may list equipment on the website that is appropriate. The registered seller agrees that for sales which originate with an inquiry from an IEN website that they will make a good faith effort to reach agreement to sell the equipment on a brokerage or commission basis.
The commission will be equal to:
In lieu of paying a commission the seller may enter into an agreement to sell the equipment to Industrial Exchange Network, Inc. for resale to the buyer or an agreement to require the buyer to pay a "Buyer's Premium" equal to the amount of commission due directly to IEN prior to release of the equipment sold.
Upon notification of receipt of an inquiry through an Industrial Exchange website the seller agrees to supply a quote to IEN for the listed equipment which includes the commission or specifies the buyer's premium. The commission or buyer's premium due is calculated against the final sales price. Extra costs such as dismantling, crating, loading or shipping are not subject to commission.
Sellers agree to notify IEN if equipment they list is sold such that the equipment may be removed from the website. The seller agrees to convey information regarding listed equipment that is to the best of his knowledge, and declare and/or demonstrate that he either owns the equipment or has permission from the owner to place it for sale.
Both parties agree that no joint venture or agent relationship exists between the parties and that IEN is acting only as a lead qualifier and earns commissions or buyer's premium as payment for this service. IEN agrees to accurately describe the lead and the qualification that has occurred. If the seller deems that insufficient information is available to enter negotiations, IEN will use reasonable efforts to obtain more information about the buyer. Notwithstanding the foregoing, IEN is only responsible for securing such information about the buyer as is required to be provided by the buyer during the registration of the buyer as a registered user of the IEN websites.


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Prepare for launch
One of the most valuable things parents can do to help a student with career planning is to listen: Be open to ideas, try to help your student find information, and encourage your student to take personal responsibility in their career planning.
1. Encourage your child to visit the CLCD
Next time you visit campus, drop into the Center for Leadership and Career Development. Many students use their first semester to "settle into" college life, and so perhaps the spring semester of the freshman year is the optimal time to start using Career Center services. It's also a good time for you to prompt that first visit. Ask your student (in an off-handed way), "Have you visited the Career Development Center?" If you hear, "You only go there when you are a senior," then it's time to reassure them that career services are not just for seniors, and meeting with a career counselor can take place at any point (and should take place frequently) in their college career. The sooner a student becomes familiar with the staff, resources and programs, the better prepared he or she will be to make wise career decisions.
2. Advise your student to write a résumé
Writing a résumé can be a "reality test" and can help a student identify weak areas that require improvement. Suggest your student get sample résumés from the CLDC. You can review résumé drafts for grammar, spelling and content, but it is recommend that the final product be critiqued by a career development professional.
3. Challenge your student to become "occupationally literate"
"Ask: "Do you have any ideas about what you might want to do when you graduate?"
If your student seems unsure, you can talk about personal qualities you see as talents and strengths. You can also recommend:
• Taking a "self-assessment inventory" offered by the Center for Leadership and Career Development
• Talking to favorite faculty members
• Researching a variety of interesting career fields and employers
• A career decision should be a process and not a one-time, last-minute event; discourage putting this decision off until the senior year
4. Allow your student to make the decision
Even though it is helpful to ask occasionally about career plans, too much prodding can backfire.
Myth: Picking your major means picking the career you will have forever.
Truth: That's not true anymore. "Major" does not necessarily mean "career," and it is not unusual for a student to change majors. Many students change majors after gaining more information about specific fields of study and career fields of interest. Many students end up doing something very different than originally planned, so don't freak out when they come up with an outrageous or impractical career idea. Chances are plans will develop and change. It's fine to change majors—and careers.
It's OK to make suggestions about majors and career fields, but let your student be the ultimate judge of what's best. Career development can be stressful. Maybe this is the first really big decision that your son or daughter has had to make. Be patient, sympathetic and understanding, even if you don't agree with your child's decisions.
5. Emphasize the importance of internships
The Center for Leadership and Career Development will not "place" your child in a job at graduation. Colleges grant degrees, but not a job, so having relevant experience in this competitive job market is critical.
Your son or daughter can sample career options by completing internships and experimenting with summer employment opportunities or volunteer work.
Why an internship?
• Employers are interested in communication, problem-solving and administrative skills, which can be developed through internships
• Employers look for experience on a student's résumé and often hire from within their own internship programs
• Having a high GPA is not enough
• A strong letter of recommendation from an internship supervisor can often tip the scale of an important interview in their favor
6. Encourage extracurricular involvement
Part of experiencing college life is to be involved and active outside the classroom. Interpersonal and leadership skills—qualities valued by future employers—are often developed in extracurricular activities.
7. Persuade your student to stay up-to-date with current events
Employers will expect students to know what is happening around them. Buy your student a subscription to the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. When they are home on break, discuss major world and business issues with them.
8. Expose your student to the world of work
Most students have a stereotypical view of the workplace. Take your child to your workplace. Explain to your son or daughter what you do for a living. Show him or her how to network by interacting with your own colleagues. Help your student identify potential employers.
9. Teach the value of networking
Introduce your student to people who have the careers/jobs that are of interest. Suggest your son or daughter contact people in your personal and professional networks for information on summer jobs. Encourage your child to "shadow" someone in the workplace to increase awareness of interesting career fields.
10. Help the Center for Leadership and Career Development
Call your campus Center for Leadership and Career Development when you have a summer, part-time, full-time or internship job opening.
• Off-Campus Career Fairs in Atlanta
• Dining Etiquette Training
• Résumé Proofing
• Graduate School Application Proofing
• Mock Interviews
• Graduate School Fair
• Graduate School Practice Tests and Study Guides
• Informational Interviews
• Speakers from Companies/Organizations
• Participate with on-campus recruitment days
• Serve as a mock interviewer
• Assist with informational interviews
• Serve as a presenter about your company or career


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African Butterfly Thick Hair Comb - Beada Brown 155
This item is out of stock.
- Standard size thick hair comb (Large)
- Measures 4" in length
- Most popular of all the sizes
- Ideal for thick, long, curly, or coarse hair
- Thick combs have more space in between the teeth
- Great for all styles
- Eco-friendly polypropylene plastic hair combs
This Beada Brown Thick Hair Comb features white and brown; mini tumbled and polished Mother of Pearl sea shells mixed in with printed boho beads and beautifully rich dark wood beads Mother of Pearl brings the gentle healing power of the sea. It is a stress relieving stone; relaxing, soothing, and calming to the emotions by becoming more harmonious and balanced. It is also thought to symbolizes good luck and prosperity. Note: Bead color may have a slight variation from those displayed due to different devices.
This standard size thick African Butterfly Hair Comb measures 4" and is the most popular of all the sizes. Since this is a 'thick' hair comb, it is more ideal for women with thick, long, curly, or coarse hair and is great for all styles.
'Thick' hair combs have more spacing between the teeth to allow a greater amount of hair to flow through with ease. These hair combs interlock to ensure a comfortable hold all day.
Customer Reviews
More combs in my future
I bought this one for a friend because I just love my Africanbutterfly hair ties. There is no substitute. I have tried copycats that just don't stay in my hair well at all. I have used Africanbutterfly clips for years and they last a very long time; well worth the money spent.
I've ordered 6 combs from this company beginning about 15+ years ago. I've lent them to girlfriends so they could see for themselves how amazing they are...ESPECIALLY when you've accidently fallen asleep with them on and discovered there is absolutely NO discomfort!!!
Highly recommended...
"As Seen on TV"
Watch our Original As Seen on TV ad here or click on the link below to view our ad in full screen with complete audio!


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For More Information About Covid-19 [click here]
Be Treated Like Family by Our Family
Our commitment to you is to provide the most personalized and the highest quality health-care in Southwest Florida. You will feel and be treated like family by our extended family here in the Granite Court office.
Listening to our patients, timely medical diagnosis and appropriate treatment is what you can expect each and every time you have an appointment. [read more]


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It's all in the gaze. "She thinks before she speaks," says actress Michelle Dockery of Lady Mary Crawley, the character she plays on *Masterpiece'*s hit series Downton Abbey. "From the get-go Mary has always been someone who thinks." The same can be said of Dockery, who recently spent an afternoon at Claridge's in London with the celebrated illustrator David Downton, master of the light touch that goes deep. "The sense I had of Michelle," says Downton, "is of somebody that is very intelligent and very 'watchful' ... no, 'watchful' is the wrong word. She's alive to life, to what's going on."
For three hours the artist sketched, the actress wore Givenchy and Balenciaga and Oscar de la Renta, and the two "Downtons" talked while a face was captured. Regal in the cheekbones, between-the-wars in her aloof beauty and that arched eyebrow, it's a face that can go icy in an instant or warm like the dawn. "She has that thing of being classic and contemporary," explains Downton, "that very strange mix where she looks at home, at ease, in period. But there's also a glimmer, a spark."
That glimmer and spark was recently brought to the Sundance Channel's Restless, in which Dockery played the daughter of a W.W. II spy. Due out in 2013 is the airborne thriller Non-Stop, with Dockery starring alongside Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore.
"She's worked. She's 30. She's ready," says Downton. "There's a sense with her of 'Isn't this great? This is a golden hour!' And I love that in a person, when they know."
"I do know," says Dockery. "And I relish it as much as I can. I've never been someone who expects too much, I guess to avoid the disappointment. And I know it will end at some point. So I try not to let anything dampen how amazing it all really is." This moment, her likeness, in the air.


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The cannon man: Enthusiast crafts wooden models
It all began with a toy.
It was a rare cast-iron cannon, shaped identically to those that helped the North topple the South during the Civil War, and it was buried deep inside a trash heap. It was 1942, the world was at war, and toys were hard to come by for Carthage resident George Terry, at the time just 7 and desperately in search of something that would serve as an outlet for his imagination.
"That's when my love for cannons really came about," Terry said. "During World War II, of course, there were no toys. Most were made of metal and at that time all the metal was being sent to the military" to help aid the war effort. "When you went to (a dime store), there wasn't much on the shelves."
So he and his friends improvised, often searching through trash heaps — remember, there was no trash pick-up service back then like there is today — for anything that could serve as a toy.
And that's when he stumbled across the cannon.
"It became my favorite toy, especially during Fourth of July, where I'd place the Chinese fire crackers inside the barrel and pretend it was going off."
The toy didn't stand the test of time, sadly. After the war, when American-made fireworks were available, he placed a firecracker the size of a human finger inside that same cast-iron barrel and lit the fuse.
"The barrel disappeared," Terry said with a chuckle. "So that ended my favorite toy."
Fast-forward to 1976, during the county's bicentennial celebration, and Terry crafted together a 2 1/2-foot cannon, complete with wheels, and set it out in his front lawn. It drew rave reviews and back slaps from neighbors and friends. Better yet, it still exists intact today, safe and sound up in an alcove above the living room.
More importantly, Terry greatly enjoyed the experience. He had always dabbled in wood crafting, and joining his love of shaping wood into that childhood image of that beloved cast-iron Civil War cannon seemed the perfect marriage.
Today, Terry has pieced together more than 120 wooden cannons. They aren't carved from a single block of wood, however. Rather, each cannon piece is gingerly crafted and then pieced together to form a whole, all with moving parts.
He first carves out the cannon's wheels, followed by the barrel, before each is joined together. The pieces are painted, sprayed with acrylic, waxed and buffed — a process that lasts roughly a week. And it's all done in the adjacent garage, a place he's lovingly dubbed "The Cannon Shop."
Best of all, Terry, former division vice president for Leggett & Platt, gives the cannons away as gifts to friends, family, civic and church groups or to charities. In fact, he's never sold a single cannon for a profit.
The sole reason why he doesn't take a year off to spit out 80 to 100 cannons to display at area arts and craft festivals, he said, "is because it would then become a job." Giving them away, he continued, "gives me deep satisfaction. I come out here to the Cannon Shop to get happy – to relax."
Cannons have played integral roles in America's growth as a nation. Probably the most famed American story involving cannons occurred during the Revolutionary War, between 1775 and 1776, when Henry Knox and his team of engineers used sledges to retrieve 60 tons of heavy artillery from the captured Fort Ticonderoga. Crossing forests and the frozen Hudson and Connecticut Rivers, the cannons were placed at Dorchester Heights, overlooking British-occupied Boston, which eventually led to a hasty redcoat retreat.
A good majority of Terry's cannons either resemble the 12-pounder Napoleon cannon from the American Civil War or their smaller cousins commonly strapped down atop the hulls of American warships of that era.
They were beautiful weapons, Terry said of the fuse-lit cannon.
"We're so cold-blooded," he said, speaking of today's lethal array of military weapons. "Even though cannons are awesome things, even though they took lives, they were truly works of art."
Carthage Press


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I have an Approval Flow with an issue. When the approver receives the email notification of the Approval Request, when they try to approve the request from within the email in Outlook or Outlook Mobile on iOS, they get a message that says "An error occurred. Try again later." This is on a Flow that has been working flawlessly prior to this week.
If they go into Flow and approve the request there, it works. The error message doesn't really give much to go on, and there are no errors logged on the Flow side of things. Does anyone have any ideas on where to start with this?
First bug: around last December, the link to the document requesting approval stopped working in Outlook.
@Anonymous wrote:
What post or forum are yall getting these updates from? I'm looking all over the Flow community for some OP regarding this... I need a link to where Microsoft is disseminating this information... I have a business critical solution impacted by this issue and my stakeholders were expecting an answer today.
Hi @Stephen, I don't know if you are also involve in the flow issues, if not, could you help to coordinate us to the one who can update about the plan and actial situation?
It's been more than a month and now we are facing serious complaints from the management team. They may consider to stop using flow for company application...
Thank you.
Good afternoon,
I am also encountering the same error with Flow Approvals while trying to approve in Outlook Client. However, Webmail works fine for approving. Is there going to be a fix for Outlook Client?
We are also seeing this error in Outlook, its a similar thing with SharePoint access approvals as well. I just get an error that says "there was an error".
Also having this error; even got an error trying to post here. it would nice to know about these things microsoft....
The same problem, still.
Anyone receive an updated status from Microsoft? August is coming around the corner.
I got an answer today from MS, and the issue is fixed now.
"The backend team has advised that your current Outlook Desktop App be updated to a version greater than 11727, and that will resolve the issue."
I just updated Outlook Desktop Client to the most recent version, and the issue does appear to be resolved. Thank you for the update!
Which version are you on?
Im on 11727.20244 and still having problems.
No update available.
i'm in the 11901
Im thinking it may take a little to push the most recent update to australia.
Could be, but I'm on New Zealand 🙂
In Australia, I just checked and there was an update. Went from 11727.20244 to 11901.20176 and the issue is now fixed.
Still not working in Outlook client for our tenancy..........our tenancy is domiciled in AUS
Glad to say after updating my Office the approval via Outlook client is working 🙂
Updated Outlook today and now it is 11901.20176 . Problem has been solved!
Good morning all,
The updated version of Outlook is not solving our issue with approving a flow. Still getting the error, see screen print below. The Approve button seems to work, but once I click Submit, the error is triggered.
My user base is growing for Approvals and yet the Outlook Desktop version is still returning "An error occured. Please try again later." It's affecting everyone that uses the Approvals module.
Can we please get a bump up in priority to address this issue? This is a key functionality feature as part of the Microsoft Flow offering and the fact that it isn't working looks bad for everyone involved.
For now, this is how I am fixing the problem -- by literally linking my approvers to the Outlook web version to do their approvals (where the Approve/Reject buttons actually work). Not the sleekest solution...
This is my issue no option to update.
Keep up to date with current events and community announcements in the Power Automate community.
A great place where you can stay up to date with community calls and interact with the speakers.
Check out the latest Community Blog from the community!


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As part of our special Aidan Moffat takeover day, we have a grainy-grey video exclusive for the lullaby-like track 'And So Must We Rest'.
This track is taken from the album Everything's Getting Older by Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells, which is released today, 9th May 2011, via the always brilliant Chemikal Underground label. You will find heaps more Aidan Moffat takeover day content by bashing your mouse here.


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Performed here by Lisa Winship and Andrew Mathewson
at The Farm Unplugged, Norden Farm, Maidenhead, Berkshire
on Friday 25 March 2011.
This blog is an attempt to shine a torch into the dark corners. Defying the second law of thermodynamics, it started out with maximum disorder and therefore cannot succumb to entropy. It's equal parts dead serious and dead silly. Sometimes, when the hosting server goes down, it's just plain dead. If you decide to join me in my parallel universe, prepare to travel at the speed of dark...
27 March 2011
by: thespeedofdark
Performed here by Lisa Winship and Andrew Mathewson
at The Farm Unplugged, Norden Farm, Maidenhead, Berkshire
on Friday 25 March 2011.
David Winship has written an unauthorised autobiography and several critically disdained literary tomes. His work is frequently compared with Steinbeck, Orwell and Hemingway, but unfortunately Mike Steinbeck, Daisy Orwell and Howard Hemingway were all terrible writers. He has been totally overlooked for the most prestigious literary awards worldwide, which is a shame as most of the words are spelled correctly. In fact, his books contain material that ranks with the finest literary works in history: all the right letters are there, just not necessarily in the right order.
Dave's blog (The Speed Of Dark Blog) is part of his crusade for truth and justice and universal entitlement to free real ale. It may well be that his whole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.
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|This intergalactically recognised award was presented to The Speed Of Dark Blog by The Speed Of Dark Awards Commission.
|I am delighted to have been nominated for the 2012 Tony Blair Ducking Under The Bar Award for boldly raising the bar and diving under it. I knew I had the potential to be a great underachiever.
|I've racked up another prestigious award - the Eric Morecambe 'Mister Preview' Prize. According to the award citation, The Speed Of Dark Blog contains material that ranks with the finest literary works in history. All the right letters are there, but not necessarily in the right order.
|Don't sign me up!
The Speed Of Dark © 2010 - 2023 all rights reservedTheme "Grey Opaque (2.0.1)" by: H.-Peter Pfeufer


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Dear Miss Jeanne and readers of e-hell, I have a dilemma and I need some etiquette advice!
I gave birth to my second son 14 weeks ago, next week there is a family wedding. Children are not invited, which is absolutely fine – my parents have agreed to take care of both of the children for the duration of both the actual wedding and a portion of the evening party. (My husband's cousin is getting married.)
I breastfeed and have expressed more than enough milk to cover the day and evening events. (I actually milk share with a mother who struggles to feed her own daughter, so I have plenty of milk.) However, my dilemma is this: how rude is it to essentially "vanish" for around 30 minutes or so to either a room at the venue (I will ring and ask if there is space available) or into our car to express and potentially eat something. Unfortunately I'm still at the point where my breasts are very tender and get over full very quickly, so the only relief I get is through expressing. I am also incredibly hungry all the time so was considering bringing a small lunch pack of foods I can eat (this would not effect me eating the wedding breakfast at all).
It is very important to the groom that we attend the wedding as all of us are very close so not going isn't really an option.
Am I being incredibly rude or would this be an ideal way to enjoy the day without feeling incredibly sore and having to change breast-pads every half hour or so)
Please help! 0213-18
In all my years of wedding work I have never known of a situation in which a nursing mother could not bring her infant to the wedding regardless of children not being invited. Nursing infants always were the caveat to the exclusion of children.
First, I'd ask the bride and groom if you could bring the baby with the assurances from you that you will promptly exit the ceremony if the baby gets fussy. If they balk at this then explain that you are in a season of life where you will need to periodically either breastfeed a baby or disappear to express milk. It's biology and you have needs. "We are so looking forward to your wedding but if you notice me missing for short spells, just know that I'm a little pre-occupied but will join you all soon! See you next weekend!"
Unless your husband's cousins are selfish cretins, they will graciously never notice you missing while you pump and knosh. And if they are really kind people they will insist you bring Baby along and go out of their way to make sure you are accommodated as best can be done.


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Today in the news: Violence in Syria
Staff Writer
Journal Star
News to know
Protests in the Middle East reached Syria recently, and on Friday violence claimed the lives of about 25 people, according to reports. Witnesses said government troops fired on protesters.
Quote of note
"The situation today at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant is still very grave and serious. We must remain vigilant. We are not in a position where we can be optimistic. We must treat every development with the utmost care." – Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, talking about the ongoing problems at the nuclear power plant. The latest reports say there might be a breach at the facility.
Hot video
A kayaker found himself paddling over a huge shark, and it was all caught on video:
GateHouse News Service