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ARCH ENEMY Welcomes Jeff Loomis As Their New Guitarist
Metal icons ARCH ENEMY are proud to announce that guitar legend Jeff Loomis (ex-NEVERMORE) will be joining their ranks for their upcoming European tour which kicks off November 26, as well as all future tours in 2015.
Jeff Loomis states:
"I'm very excited to be playing with ARCH ENEMY. Michael Amott and I have stayed in contact over the years since we toured together when I was playing in NEVERMORE. Not only do I admire his guitar playing and songwriting, but I also consider him a close friend. To be able to share the stage with Michael, Sharlee, Daniel and Alissa is something I'm really looking forward to. 2015 is going to be a great year… See you all on tour!"
After a great year of intensive touring in support of their critically acclaimed album, War Eternal, ARCH ENEMY is parting ways with guitarist Nick Cordle, who states:
"With 'War Eternal', I believe we wrote an album together which will stand the test of time, and I wish them well for the future."
USA fans will be able to catch a special reunion as Christopher Amott (the brother of ARCH ENEMY founder/bandleader Michael Amott) has joined the band for the remainder of their American headlining tour.
Michael Amott (guitars) comments:
"We all wish Nick the very best in his new endeavors and we are sure that you will hear much more from him. We're also super grateful to my brother Christopher for stepping in to finish the current American tour!
The prospect of working with Jeff Loomis moving forward is truly awesome! Jeff Loomis is one of the best guitar players in the metal world in my opinion, as well as being a long time friend. I look forward to tearing it up on stages around the world together as we continue on the 'War Eternal' touring cycle throughout all next year and beyond!"
See below for all upcoming ARCH ENEMY tour dates.
ARCH ENEMY – live in North America with KREATOR, HUNTRESS, STARKILL
Nov. 19, 2014 – Mojoes – Joliet, IL
Nov. 20, 2014 – The Intersection – Grand Rapids, MI
Nov. 21, 2014 – Majestic Theatre – Detroit, MI
Nov. 22, 2014 – Bogarts – Cincinnati, OH
Nov. 23, 2014 – House of Blues – Cleveland, OH
ARCH ENEMY – live in Europe with KREATOR
Nov. 26, 2014 – Le Transbordeur – Lyon, France
Nov. 27, 2014 – L'Usine – Istres, France
Nov. 28, 2014 – Razzmatazz – Barcelona, Spain
Nov. 29, 2014 – La Riviera – Madrid Spain
Dec. 1, 2014 – Le Bikini – Toulouse, France
Dec. 2, 2014 – Le Bataclan – Paris, France
Dec. 4, 2014 – 013 – Tilburg, Netherlands
Dec. 5, 2014 – MHP Arena – Ludwigsburg, Germany
Dec. 6, 2014 – Turbinenhalle – Oberhausen, Germany
Dec. 7, 2014 – Garage – Saarbrücken, Germany
Dec. 8, 2014 – Docks – Hamburg, Germany
Dec. 9, 2014 – Huxleys – Berlin, Germany
Dec. 11, 2014 – Schlachthof – Wiesbaden, Germany
Dec. 12, 2014 – Eventhall – Geiselwind, Germany
Dec. 13, 2014 – Tonhalle – München, Germany
Dec. 14, 2014 – Z7 – Pratteln, Switzerland
Dec. 16, 2014 – Institute – Birmingham, UK
Dec. 17, 2014 – O2 Academy – Bristol, UK
Dec. 18, 2014 – The Forum – London, UK
Dec. 19, 2014 – Academy – Manchester, UK
Dec. 20, 2014 – Academy – Dublin, Ireland
Dec. 21, 2014 – QMU – Glasgow, UK
Dec. 22, 2014 – O2 Academy – Newcastle, UK
ARCH ENEMY – live 2015
Jan. 22-26, 2015 – 70,000 Tons Of Metal – Miami, FL
Jan. 29, 2015 – Teatro Estudio Cavaret – Guadalajara, Mexico
Jan. 30, 2015 – Jose Cuervo Salón – Mexico City, Mexico
Feb. 01, 2015 – Coliseo el Salitre Bogota, Colombia
Feb. 03, 2015 – Club Blondie Santiago, Chile
Feb. 04, 2015 – Rock & Soccer Antofagasta, Chile
Feb. 06, 2015 – Circo Voador Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Feb. 07, 2015 – Carioca Club – Sao Paulo, Brazil
Feb. 08, 2015 – Music Hall – Curitiba, Brazil
Feb. 10, 2015 – El Teatro Flores – Buenos Aires, Argentina
Feb. 12, 2015 – Plaza de toros Belmonte – Quito, Ecuador
May. 2, 2015 – Karmoygeddon Festival – Kopervik, Norway
Jun. 04, 2015 – Out & Loud Festival – Geiselwind, Germany
An exclusive, transparent red ARCH ENEMY/KREATOR split 7″ (limited to 500 copies) is available at all North American shows; a dark red 7″ (limited to 500 copies) will also be available on KREATOR and ARCH ENEMY's European tour, which sees ARCH ENEMY as direct support. To hear ARCH ENEMY's side of this special release, head over to Revolver Mag.com for the band's rendition of the classic "Breaking The Law":
ARCH ENEMY/KREATOR split 7″ track-listing:
Side A (ARCH ENEMY)
1. Breaking The Law (JUDAS PRIEST cover)
Side B (KREATOR)
1. Iron Destiny
ARCH ENEMY is spending the rest of 2014 (and beyond) touring the world in support of War Eternal, which was hailed as the band's "strongest album in years" (DECIBEL MAGAZINE). To purchase War Eternal, head over to iTunes or AmazonMP3 for a digital copy with a bonus track; a variety of physical formats is also available at CM Distro and your local retailer.
For a preview of War Eternal, be sure to check out the following previously released videos:
–"War Eternal" music video: http://youtu.be/InRMwptcgAo
–"As The Pages Burn" lyric video: http://youtu.be/9lXuZHkOoH8
–"You Will Know My Name" music video: http://youtu.be/3Y-J7sBT_no
–"No More Regrets" music video: http://youtu.be/tc-p93x5rPQ
–"As The Pages Burn" live @ Masters of Rock 2014: http://youtu.be/IKrXeRDLbMg
ARCH ENEMY online:
Tweets by archenemymetal


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American prints
The first thing to emphasise is that this is an exhibition of American prints, so it might have been more accurate and factual to have titled the show 'American Prints' rather than 'The American Dream'. The latter title leaves open the possibility that the exhibition includes oil paintings or sculptures, the whole range of artistic media. It also suggests that the selection will be somehow presenting a historical or political or cultural analysis of 'the American Dream'- and, when it increasingly does this, in the second half of the exhibition, it introduces political and social issues which, I think a) increasingly distract from the art as art and b) are surprisingly limited.
The title, these later political galleries, and even the introduction by exhibition sponsor, the global financial services firm Morgan Stanley – for whom the show 'charts the story of the modern Western world as seen through the lens of the United States' – are designed to stimulate the visitor to reflect on the post-war history of America. I have expressed my views in a separate blog post; this post focuses on just the prints themselves.
The American Dream: pop to the present
The British Museum has one of the biggest collections of prints in the world, with more than two million in storage. This huge, beautifully laid out and imaginatively designed exhibition sets out to showcase:
'the Museum's outstanding collection of modern and contemporary American prints for the first time… shown with important works from museums and private collections around the world.'
The American boom in prints
The exhibition covers American prints from the last 60 years. Why that particular period?
A revolutionary and enduring change in the production, marketing and consumption of prints took place in the 1960s. Inspired by the monumental, bold and eye-catching imagery of post-war America, a young generation of artists took to printmaking with enthusiasm, putting it on an equal footing with painting and sculpture and matching their size, bright colour and impact. Meanwhile, the growth of an affluent middle class in urban America also opened a booming market for prints that was seized upon by enterprising publishers, print workshops and artists. Artists were encouraged to create prints in state-of-the-art workshops newly established on both the East and West Coast. The widening audience for prints also attracted some to use the medium as a means for expressing pungent, sometimes dissenting, opinions on the great social issues of the day.
It is also relevant that this exhibition is a sequel. In 2008 the Museum held a big show titled The American Scene: Prints from Hopper to Pollock, which ended at the turn of the Sixties i.e. where this one begins. Both shows were curated by Stephen Coppel, the Museum's curator of modern prints and drawings.
This exhibition consists of twelve rooms, which take us through American prints from the early 1960s to the present day, each room focusing on a particular group of artists, periods or themes – Pop in the first few rooms, minimalism half way through, the '80s, and then onto contemporary issues like race, AIDS and feminism in the final three.
The process of print-making
Wall labels for separate eras (the 1990s) or groups (the Minimalists) or for individual works, shed light on the multifarious techniques of print making – etching, lithographs, working with stone, wood or silk – along with the micro-histories of the many workshops and businesses set up across the States to cater to the growing market for prints, like Universal Limited Editions in Long Island (est. 1957) and Gemini set up in Los Angeles in 1966.
Half-way through the show there are two big video installations showing artists actually creating prints, including Andy Warhol working with silk prints and Ed Ruscha creating his Dead End signs. A later video includes interview snippets with Lichtenstein, Ruscha, Chuck Close, Kiki Smith, Glenn Ligon and Julie Mehreti.
Interesting though these were, they were really snippets from longer films and so, for example, although I saw Warhol and an assistant running a wooden block up and down a print presumably to press paint into the paper, I still didn't understand how a silk screen print is made and had to look it up on YouTube.
The exhibition room-by-room:
Room 1. Pop art
The early 1960s saw an explosion of artists incorporating the imagery of consumer culture, adverts, movie posters, newspaper photos and so on, adapted whole, or cut up into collages, or remodelled into huge spoof cartoons. The first room (and arguably the entire exhibition) is dominated by Andy Warhol and his genius for identifying stand-out iconic imagery. One wall is covered by ten enormous silk prints of Marilyn Monroe (1962), plus the original poster for the 1953 movie Niagara, which inspired them.
Opposite them is a set of ten prints depicting the electric chair (1964) along with the source photo.
Lining another wall is an enormous 86-foot-long print by James Rosenquist called F-111 (1964), a characteristic hymn to gleaming chrome technology and itself an epitome of America's super-confidence: Bigger. Brighter. Shinier.
There's a so-so print of Claes Oldenburg's Three way plug (1970) beside which is hanging the only non-print in the show, an enormous wooden sculpture of the same object suspended from the ceiling.
It's the 1960s, pre-feminism and awash with kitsch ads and comics from the 1950s, so American babes can be celebrated without guilt, as in Tom Wesselman's series The Great American Nude (1963). Work on numerous iterations of this image took up most of Wesselman's 60s, in fact the final, hundredth, version was only published in 1973. It is odd that an exhibition which (later on) features feminist artists being very cross about the sexual objectification of women opens with such a glaring example.
Next to them is king of comic art, Roy Lichtenstein's Reverie (1965) hanging alongside is one of his canonical action cartoon-paintings, Sweet Dreams, Baby! (1965).
The obvious thing about prints is not only that they can be run off in large numbers to be sold and owned by a potentially limitless audience – but, as Warhol above all else discovered – they can also be repeated with deliberate variations, in detail, design or colouring.
Warhol dominates the field with his series of iconic silk prints of Marilyn, Mao, Elvis and so on, but it is striking the way so many of the other artists shown here, right up to the present day, conceived of their prints as parts of sets or series on specific topics, themes, images, issues. This is not possible in painting; it is an artistic option only really available in print.
What is it about these repetitions and iterations – something unnerving, subverting, and yet mythologising at the same time? All those Marilyns become shallower and shallower and yet simultaneously more and more powerful. Ditto Jasper John's obsessive reiterations of the American flag or Jim Dine's multiple series of household tools – Repetition equals… what? Maybe we need a perceptual psychologist to explain what they do to the brain.
Room 2. Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Jim Dine
Jasper Johns
comes from an earlier generation than Warhol. He began his blank-faced paintings of humdrum objects in the 1950s. He repeatedly uses motifs of numbers, letters and words, generally working in large sets or series which showcase all the types of variations which print-making produces: there are so many variations on Flags I and Flags II it's difficult to decide which is the 'key' example (see first illustration, above). There are also sets devoted to: Grey alphabet, Numbers, Targets.
There's something about the blankness and the obviousness of these subjects which suggests a kind of zombieness of American culture. I like that Johns has rarely if ever commented or interpreted his work. There it is. The flag. Letters. Numbers imposed over each other (the Colour Numeral series). Make of them what you will. Johns started in the mid-50s and is represented well into the '80s.
Robert Rauschenberg
Rauschenberg was recently given a massive and hugely enjoyable retrospective at Tate Modern. His prints are as great as everything else he did. Here he is represented by some works from his Stoned moon series, a set of 33 lithographs which he created in response to the manned Apollo flights to the moon (Rauschenberg was actually invited by NASA to be the official Moonshot artist). Make a collage of press photos and technical diagrams. Run off prints of it using different colour washes. Voila! Sky garden at 2.2 metres tall broke the record for the largest hand-printed lithograph of the day. Bigger. Brighter. Shinier.
One of the Stoned moon variations is Sky rite – I like the blurred, half-obliterated image of the NASA technician pointing to the skies. The selection, the arrangement and then the partial obliteration of these bold clear photos and designs by pencil lines and colour washes say so much – about dynamism and thrusting confidence, but at the same time somehow about those things being eclipsed and washed out – so much that is difficult to put into words – as art should. Nearby was one of another large series based on X-rays of his own body, Booster (1967).
Jim Dine
Dine seems to have rejected big grandiose subjects and concentrated on the here and now, banal household objects, a kind of artistic William Carlos Williams. I liked his series about Paintbrushes (1973), showing different numbers of paintbrushes lined up neatly, but with different amounts of sketching, light and shade in each one. Here we had examples of the 'first state', 'third state' and 'sixth state', presumably as the image became more worked over, scarred and scratched and busy. The more you look, the more beguiling they become.
Given the same treatment are images of a saw, hammers – each becoming strangely luminous, charged with meaning – or just beautiful by virtue of the deadpan depiction of their wonderful functional design. Nearby is one of the extensive series he made of his own dressing gown (1975), for me redolent of the cocaine and rock star 1970s. Why not?
There is a kind of wonderful emptiness about so many of these images. They shoot through the retina and flood the image-recognition centres of the brain as a MacDonald's hamburger floods the hungry palate, pushing all the big obvious buttons. Lots of fun, but taken together, somehow hinting at a huge emptiness, at the isolated unhappiness which has been the subject of so much American fiction these last 60 years.
Room 4. Made in California: the West Coast experience
The next room swaps focus to the West Coast, to the California of swimming pools and endless sunshine.
- Claes Oldenburg Profile airflow (1969) an intriguing three-dimensional relief print made of polyurethane.
- Ed Ruscha – an artist of the archetypal post-War west, with its highways, gas stations and huge signs – Every building on Sunset Strip (1966), Hollywood (1968), Sin (1970), Whiskers (1972) Made in California (1971)
- Wayne Thiebaud – Careful etchings and linotypes of colourful fatty American sweets – Gumball machine (see above), Boston cremes (1962), Suckers state (1968)
- Robert Bechtle's quiet depictions of California suburbs, mostly empty of people with only a parked car suggesting human presence – Burbank Street: Alameda 1 (1967), 60 T-Bird (1967), Alamedo Carrera (1967) cars which make me think of the movies Bullitt (1968) or Dirty Harry (1971)
- Bruce Naumann – a harsh negative vision obsessed with the power of words, not phrases, just potent words, arranged forwards and backwards, often in slanting italics, often in harsh black and white – Clear vision (1973), Malice (1980)
Talk on the wall label of clear blue skies and swimming pools made me think of David Hockney and, turning a corner, who do we find! Hockney is another great fan of sets and series:
- David Hockney – Mist from the Weather series (1973), Water made of intersecting lines (1978)
Room 5. Persistence of abstraction: gestural and hard-edge 1960s to 1970s
Pop was seen by many as an anecdote to the angst and bleak psychologising of 1950s Abstract Expressionism (as recently displayed at a major retrospective at the Royal Academy). This room shows how some print-makers continued, despite the shiny externalities of real life celebrated by Pop, to experiment with abstract shapes, and blurs and swirls of paint.
- Frank Stella – Double grey scramble (1973)
- Josef Albers – XXIIIb from Homage to the Square (1973)
- Ellsworth Kelly – Coloured paper image XV (1976), Yellow from 27 Colour Lithographs (1965)
- Helen Frankenthaler – Savage breeze (1974)
- Sam Francis – Always in and out of need (1975)
Walking into this room after the previous four was like walking into the screening of some European art movie after spending a couple of hours watching Star Wars and chomping on popcorn. It required quite a change of pace to calm down from the big bright, super-colourful and, above all, instantly recognisable imagery of Pop, to get back to grips with more abstract experiments in colour, texture and design.
Room 6. Minimalism and conceptualism from the 1970s
The sobering up process continued in the next room with a sample of the very black and white, minimalist aesthetic which came in in the early 1970s, as a reaction against everything bright and shiny. I very much like the sculptures of American minimalism – many of which can be seen in Tate Modern – but my palette had been so spoilt by the Mickey Mouse pleasures of the preceding rooms that I found it hard to tune in to their subtleties.
- Alf Taylor – Hanging puddles
- Brice Marden – Painting study I, Painting study 2 (1974), Untitled from Ten Days (1971)
- Donald Judd – Untitled (Ivory Black) (1988)
- Richard Serra – My curves are not mad (1987)
Room 7. Photorealism: portraits and landscapes
Apparently there was a revival in the 1970s of the deeply unfashionable genre of portraiture.
- Alex Katz – Self-portrait (1978)
- Chuck Close – Phil Spitbite (1995), Keith III, Keith/Mezzoprint (1972)
Of the landscapes I liked Craig McPherson's Yankee stadium at night (1983), a powerful and absorbing image because it is in fact so entirely figurative. Best things in the room were prints of the hyper-realistic / 'photorealistic' paintings done by Richard Estes, from his Urban Landscape series.
- Grants (1972)
- 560
- Oriental cuisine
- Danbury Tile
Room 8 The figure reasserted
Had the figure ever been away? Well figurative depictions of the human form were grouped together in this room, though often in a stilted or deliberately naive style – maybe a refreshing change after the blank coolness of '70s minimalism.
- Philip Pearlstein – Nude on a Mexican blanket (1973)
- Philip Guston – Sea (1980) Room (1980)
- Carroll Dunham – Atmospherics
- Richard Bosman – Man overboard (1981), South Seas kiss (1985)
- Richard Diebenkorn – Seated woman (1968)
The standout images were to almost life size prints wonderfully capturing a fully-clothed man and woman in the act of dancing, writhing, jiving.
Room 9. Politics and dissent
Once again Warhol trumps the room with his fabulous silk prints of Nixon and Mao (1972), alongside the more subdued print of Jackie II (1966).
Note these dates, though. This is very old protest. Johnson? Nixon? Beautiful, striking, imaginative but – old.
- Jim Dine – Drag Johnson and Mao (1967)
- Rauschenberg – Signs (1970)
- Bruce Naumann – Raw/War (1971)
- Chris Burden – Atomic alphabet (1982)
The Politics and dissent room segues into a room about AIDS which was first clinically observed in the United States in 1981. The 1980s was, therefore, among other things, the decade in which medical investigation of the condition went hand in hand with growing public awareness, with attempts to overcome the stigma of illness and then lobby for more research to be done. This room features prints by gay artists responding to the crisis.
- Eric Avery – Blood test (1986)
- General Idea – AIDS wallpaper (1988)
- Keith Haring – Ignorance = Fear (1989)
- David Wojnarowicz – Untitled for ACT UP (1990)
Room 10. Feminism, gender and the body
- Ida Applebroog – American medical assocation (1985)
- Dotty Attie – A mother's kisses (1982)
- Kiki Smith – Red Riding Hood, Born 2002, Black flag (1989), Untitled Hair (1990)
- Lee Lozano – Thesis from S.M.S. (Shit Must Stop) No.2
- Louise Bourgeois – Stamp of memories I, The laws of Nature (2003), St Sebastienne or the errors of stress (1992)
I found a lot of this work a little understated, almost amateurish. The correctness of your beliefs or vehemency of your faith don't of themselves make for particularly interesting art.
- Kiki Smith – Ginzer (2000), Bird skeleton (2000)
- Kiki Smith – Blue prints – Dorothy, Wolf Girl, Virgin Mary, Emily D, Melancholia, Virgin with Dove
For a palette spoiled by big shiny consumer images, the most immediate impact in this room was made by the sharp, advert-based images of the Guerrilla Girls.
- Guerrilla Girls – Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum? (1986), The Advantages Of Being A Woman Artist (1988)
If Pop in the '60s cut up and pasted cheesy adverts, the GGs in the '80s create what amount to striking ads in their own right. They're still very active.
Room 11. Race and identity: unresolved histories
The inclusion of a room of Feminist art and a room of Black art gives the visitor a strong sense of the academic background of the exhibition's organisers. I'm not saying they're not big issues, but the inclusion of these issues, and only these issues, at the end of the show reflects their dominance of academic life and university campuses and doesn't necessarily reflect the major social, economic and technological upheavals of the last 30 years.
- Andy Warhol – Birmingham race riot (1964)
- Roy Lichtenstein – I love liberty (1982)
- Emma Amos – Stars and stripes (1992), Mississippi wagon 1937 (1992)
- Glenn Ligon – Black rage (2015), Warm broad glow (2011) I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background (1992)
- Willie Cole
In this room the standout artist for me is Kara Walker, with her stylised black and white silhouettes of slave figures. I've seen an exhibition of these before, so there's an element of recognition and familiarity in my positive response. Coming towards the end of a rather exhausting exhibition featuring over 200 images, the clarity, purity of line and savage humour of her work sets her apart.
- Kara Walker – Restraint (2009), Confederate prisoners being conducted from Jonesburgh to Atlanta (2005)
But it is also capable of a strange dreamlike quality, fantasias of colour, exploitation, journeying across the seas, converting history into eerie illustrations for a very grown-up set of fairy tales.
Room 12. Signs of the times
The wall label in this last room mentions 9/11 and the financial crash of 2008 but addresses neither of them directly. Instead the 12 prints in this concluding section comment obliquely on the sense of America's economic decline, or at least the decline of traditional industries and jobs. Commercial collapse, bankruptcy and anomie. The unwinding of America.
It is a depressing conclusion, but it follows logically from the AIDS, feminism and black rooms. Somewhere in the 1980s America began to hate itself and look for someone to blame. A lot of the AIDS images are angry at the slowness of medical research into the condition, the stigma attached to it, Reaganite persecution of gays, the slander of calling it a 'gay plague'. The feminist room is full of anger at the Patriarchy, at the countless ways women have been suppressed, silenced, objectified and abused. And the black room is also angry at the grotesque abomination of slavery, the slave trade, the systematic abuse of millions of men, women and children bought and sold like cattle, worked to death, raped and murdered and ongoing discrimination against people of colour, police shootings of black men, the huge black prison population.
A sympathetic reading of these three rooms leaves the visitor shaken and exhausted, and this final small downbeat section matches your mood with images of an America which has somehow reached the end of the line. The breezy confidence of the 1960s has evaporated. Gays, blacks and women are just the most vocal of the groups attacking a culture which seems on its knees.
- Mel Bochner – Going out of business (2014), I've had it up to here (2012), It doesn't get much better than this (2015)
- Ed Ruscha – Dead end (2014) Cash for tools (2014)
The most haunting image, deliberately and carefully chosen to end the show, is Ed Ruscha's reprise of his 1966 brilliant iconic image of a gas station – now redone in pure white, emptied out, a ghost of itself. In fact one of the stylish 'windows' cut here and there into the exhibition walls, means you can look directly back into the earlier gallery where the 1966 print is hanging and compare the two.
The hollowing out, the blanking of Ghost station suggests that the chrome-plated consumer paradise depicted in thePop art of the 1960s has become a drug-addicted, derelict shell of itself.
- Ed Ruscha – The standard station (1966)
- Ed Ruscha – Ghost station (2011)
What happened? Where did it all go wrong? And if Donald Trump is the answer, what on earth is the question?
Post script 1. The elephant in the room
This is a panoramic and exciting exhibition which brings together many of the biggest names in American art, alongside lesser-known but just as interesting artists, to give a vivid sense of the boundless experimentation and creativity of this huge country. Above all it successfully stakes a claim for print as a medium as creative, varied and beautiful as painting or sculpture. You exit the show, mind ringing with all kinds of images, ideas, issues and reflections.
For me, at the end, one big question stood out. The exhibition's publicity encourages us to combine the art with history and politics, to experience post-war American history through these artists' eyes. Which is why it seems to me extraordinary that there is only one throwaway mention of the single most important event in 21st century American history – 9/11.
From this traumatic attack stem the War on Terror, the Patriot Act, the war in Afghanistan and the ill-fated invasion of Iraq, the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, official defence of waterboarding and torture at Guantanamo Bay, further acts of domestic terrorism, along with armed interventions in Libya and Syria and the ever-increasing use of drone attacks.
All these events have contributed hugely to the sense contemporary America has of being embattled and threatened by forces it doesn't understand and can't contain, to the tide of anxiety and xenophobia which helped Donald Trump to the White House. It seems to me extraordinary that an exhibition which at least in part claims to survey American history 'to the present' omits this seismic subject.
Surely there are American artists making prints on these subjects – 9/11 is burned into our minds as a set of horrible images, not to mention iconic images of Osama bin Laden's face, Saddam's statue being pulled down, the torture victims in Abu Ghraib, drones cruising the skies. I can't believe that scores of American artists haven't addressed these issues and haven't mined these images for creative purposes.
Why aren't they here?
Postscript 2. Native Americans
The feminist artists complain about the oppression of women in general, of women artists in particular, of the suppression of their stories and experiences by the Patriarchy, which women artists are only now bravely telling. The black artists complain about the oppression of Africans, the brutality meted out to slaves, the suppression of their narratives and stories, which black artists are only now exploring.
My son asked me, So where's the room for Native Americans? There isn't one. Why not? If there aren't many Native American artists, why not? Isn't that a bit of an issue? And if there truly aren't many Native American artists, doesn't that mean that any history of America told through its art will inevitably privilege European forms of expression and necessarily exclude the voice and experience of its original inhabitants?
In between the endless artworks, books, documentaries and conferences about gender and the body or slavery and the black experience – just possibly the occasional mention should be made of the original inhabitants of this huge continent who were almost exterminated and the survivors shunted to the edge of American life and for so long written out of the American story. And – in this exhibition at least – are still written out of the American story.
No Native American artists? No Native American print makers? No Native American narratives or stories? Not even one solitary mention of them? No.
Gays, blacks, women – these are the academically-approved minorities, the groups which have their own political movements and voices, novels, plays, movies, Hollywood stars lobbying for them, TV shows about them, and art and criticism and exhibitions and academic papers and dissertations and conferences and books devoted to them, which are, in other words, part of the state-approved cultural discourse.
As for the original victims of European colonisation? Silence. Absence. Invisibility…
The video
Related links
- The American Dream: pop to the present continues at the British Museum until 18 June 2017
- The American Dream: pop to the present edited by by Stephen Coppel and Catherine Daunt
- American Colonies: The Settlement of North America to 1800 by Alan Taylor – one of the best history books about any period I've ever read, which fundamentally readjusts your entire view of American history
- The Honeymoon: Donald Trump's First 100 Days – BBC documentary presented by Michael Goldfarb
Newspaper reviews of The American Dream
- Guardian review by Tim Adams
- Guardian review by Jonathan Jones
- Independent review by Michael Glover
- Telegraph review by Alastair Sooke

subset: commoncrawl


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Writer devoted to George Eliot and 'Middlemarch'
"My Life in Middlemarch" (Crown), by Rebecca Mead
New Yorker writer Rebecca Mead first read George Eliot's "Middlemarch" at age 17, when she was an ambitious schoolgirl studying for entrance exams to Oxford. She recalls identifying "completely" with the novel's earnest heroine Dorothea Brooke and Dorothea's yearning for a "more significant existence."
Over the years Mead returned to Eliot's masterpiece for more inspiration and guidance, rereading the 850-page novel at roughly five-year intervals. "This book, which had been published serially in eight volumes almost a hundred years before I was born, wasn't distant or dusty, but arresting in the acuteness of its psychological penetration," she writes. "Through it, George Eliot spoke with an authority and a generosity that was wise and essential and profound. I couldn't believe how good it was. And I couldn't believe how relevant and urgent it felt."
In 2011, Mead wrote about this love of hers for The New Yorker, and now that essay has grown into a book, "My Life in Middlemarch." It's partly a memoir — Mead describes her early life growing up in provincial England (like Eliot), aspiring to "metropolitan pre-eminence" (like Eliot) and eventually becoming a successful journalist and writer (like Eliot).
It's also a minibiography of the great Victorian writer, who was born Mary Ann Evans but adopted a male pen name to distinguish her work from what she called "silly novels by lady novelists." Mead is particularly interested in Eliot's scandalous relationship with the married critic George Henry Lewes, with whom she lived for more than 20 years, helping to raise his three sons. Again, Mead sees a parallel to her own life for she, too, set up house with a man with three sons, although unlike Eliot and Lewes, they married and had a child together.
"My Life in Middlemarch" has a third major theme as well — the enduring power of literature. "Reading is sometimes thought of as a form of escapism, and it's a common turn of phrase to speak of getting lost in a book," Mead writes. "But a book can also be where one finds oneself; and when a reader is grasped and held by a book, reading does not feel like an escape from life so much as it feels like an urgent, crucial dimension of life itself."
Anyone who agrees with that sentiment is likely to enjoy this engaging book.


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WHAT IS IT? The tire that Dunlop designed to replace the D756.
WHAT'S IT COST? $96.22 (110/90 front), $104.99 (100/90 rear), $109.57 (110/80 rear), $115.89 (120/80 rear).
CONTACT? www.dunlopmotorcycle.com or your local dealer.
Dunlop, in all their wisdom, decided to revise their line and drop the 756, 745 and 772 (we don't care if they drop the 742, but losing the 756 is a major blow). The MXA wrecking crew was devastated by this news. Obviously, Dunlop was prepared for a backlash and tried to cover all their bases with the new GeoMax MX51. It has, in no particular order, a greater land/sea ratio, recessed biting edges, chiseled shoulder blocks, tie-bar connectors and a wider tread profile. The MXA wrecking crew couldn't resist the siren call of the MX51, but we stockpiled D756s just in case.
(1) Weight. According to the scales, a comparable GeoMax MX51 rear tire is one pound heavier than the D756 it will replace.
(2) Sizes. The MX51 rear comes in 100/90-19 (125cc two-strokes and 250 four-strokes), 110/80-19 (125cc two-strokes and 250cc four-strokes with 2.15-inch rims), 110/90-19 (for 250cc two-strokes and 450 four-strokes) and 120/80-19 (for 500cc two-strokes and 450 four-strokes). The majority of MXA test riders prefer to run the 110/90-19 on 450 four-strokes because it turns over quicker and rolls into corners better than the 120 width. The MX51 is also available in 110 and 120 sizes for 18-inch rims.
(3) Rear performance. We liked it?didn't love it, but liked it. The MX51 rear was very manageable in the transition from leaning over on the side of the tire to straight-line acceleration. It hooked up well off concrete and was predictable on hardpack. The GeoMax MX51 rear tire works best in good soil as opposed to the extremes?strange for a tire that was designed to bridge a wider gap than the intermediate-only D756. The rear MX51 is effective and predictable. It doesn't let go in a scary way. If we had to compare it to a 756, we wouldn't. We think it is closer to the 745 side of the scale. The MX51 works across a wider range of terrain than a 756 (although not as well as a 756 in the places where a 756 works best) and is at its best on the harder side of loam?much like a 745.
(4) Front performance. We didn't like it (and wouldn't choose to run it?instead running the MX31 front tire). The MX51 front feels like a tire designed by a committee that never met. Although it doesn't lose traction completely or let go suddenly, it seems to be in a constant state of looseness. It leaves the feeling that the knobs are constantly rolling over?not completely, but just enough to make the test rider lose confidence. It's at its best on harder dirt, gets worse as the soil softens up and doesn't like loose dirt on a hard base. This is not a confidence-inspiring tire. It pushes a little bit all the time. It's better than a 742 in all conditions, but that's not a compliment. When the conditions favor the old-school 756 front tire, the 756 is considerably better than the MX51 front. The downside of the 756 is that it doesn't like shiny spots or hard dirt (and will step out quickly in these conditions), but it isn't bothered by wet spots, loose dirt on top of hard or good dirt. So, there is a trade-off of sorts. For our tastesm the MX51 front just never feels planted?it is always looking for something one inch off its center line.
(5) Air pressure. The MX51 tires are very sensitive to air pressure. If we were two pounds off in one direction or the other, the tire reacted negatively (something we never noticed with a 756).
WHAT'S THE SQUAWK? We understand marketing and the desire to build a tire for a wider range of soil conditions, but for racing applications on intermediate dirt, we choose to mate the MX31 front tire with the MX51 rear. This gives us more of the 756 sensation.
We give the rear Dunlop GeoMax MX51 four stars and the front MX51 three stars. If you are willing to give up a little performance in specific areas to get a more versatile tire, then the GeoMax MX51 rear tire is a decent choice. The front? Go to a MX31.


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Crisis Concerns Investors Nervous about Italy and Spain
There are, to be sure, several promising indications that the euro-crisis may be easing its grip on the European common currency area, particularly since the European Central Bank vowed last year to buy unlimited quantities of sovereign bonds from crisis-stricken euro-zone member states.
A new indicator emerged on Tuesday. The euro-zone purchasing managers' index calculated by the financial information group Markit, a closely watched indicator of market activity, rose in January to a 10-month high. The group indicated that both the manufacturing sector and the services sector in Europe have climbed from the depths of their crisis lows.
The question that has arisen this week, however, is whether the recovery, as fragile as it might still be, is strong enough to ward off political strain in Italy and Spain. Investors this week would seem to be unsettled. Even as Madrid pulled off a successful debt auction on Tuesday, interest rates on 10-year bonds from both Italy and Spain began climbing again this week. Rates on Italian bonds rose 12 basis points to 4.45 percent whereas the rate on Spanish bonds climbed 19 points to 5.39 percent.
Both rates are well below the dangerous levels seen last year. But political developments in the two countries appear to have generated concern among investors over whether Madrid and Rome will remain on the path to economic reform.
Is Berlusconi Back?
In Spain, concerns have centered on corruption allegations levelled at the party of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Members of his Popular Party stand accused of having received undocumented payments in the form of envelopes full of cash from a wealthy Spanish businessman in return for public contracts. The scandal came to light in 2009, but has gained momentum in recent weeks as newspapers in the country have published previously unknown details. Concern over his political staying power -- and simultaneous doubts about the irreversibility of the austerity measures his government has introduced -- have heightened as a result.
In Italy, meanwhile, unease is rising ahead of national elections set for Feb. 24. In particular, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's rising poll numbers have many fearful that he could once again take the reins in Italy and pull the plug on economic reforms passed by outgoing Premier Mario Monti.
The concern is far from idle. A flurry of recent television appearances has vaulted the 76-year-old media tycoon back into the national limelight, reminding many of the financial and economic chaos which led to Berlusconi's departure from the political stage in 2011. Furthermore, Berlusconi issued a pledge over the weekend to revoke an unpopular property tax and to reimburse some €4 billion to those who have paid the tax imposed by Monti. Given Berlusconi's rather dismal record as an economic reformer while in office, his potential return has increased market skittishness.
When it comes to Italy, however, there is at least some cause for hope despite Berlusconi's return to the headlines. According to a survey released on Monday evening by pollster Demopolis, more than half of Italians do not believe Berlusconi's tax promise. Furthermore, Berlusconi came in as the least credible on tax policy of all political leaders in the country.


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Shaykh Mutawalli Ad-Darsh (rahimahullah) answers fiqh questions
فَاسْأَلُواْ أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ
Ask the followers of the Remembrance if ye know not! (16:43)
Q: Are Tarawih prayers compulsory or optional? And How many Raka'ah do they consist of? A: Tarawih are supererogatory prayers: they are strongly recommended and are Sunnah, not Wajib. Regarding the number of Raka'ah, the idea that they number only eight is a relatively recent one. Traditionally, Muslims everywhere have offered twenty. This is inherited from the practice of the great caliph, Umar Ibn al-Khattab, during whose time there was no dispute on this issue. The Prophet (s.a.w.) said, "Follow my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly-guided caliphs after me." And from the period of the Khulafa Rashidun there is a sound Hadith explaining how to perform Tarawih prayers. Umar found people offering Tarawih in different groups in the Prophet's mosque so he gathered them together under one imam, Ubay Ibn Ka'ab. However, there is room for variation here. Some reports say that at the Prophet's mosque thirty-six Raka'ah were performed. Those who are on the side of eight depend upon a statement of Sayyida Aisha, in which she was talking about the night prayer, Tahajjud of the Prophet and not the Tarawih. We take the standard which is twenty Raka'ah which is the same number prayed in the Masjid al-Haram in Makkah and in Madinah.


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While most eyes are on rookies Chandler Jones and Dont'a Hightower on the defensive side of the ball, Tom Brady is seeing a lot of pieces come and go around him. Even though those changes are somewhat more understated, they are nonetheless important.
Realistically the Patriots haven't built a championship caliber defense, despite the investment in the draft this year. They may have built a defense capable of being part of a Super Bowl winning side, but that is provided that they have an explosive offense to rely on.
Explosion is the key word for the 2012 Patriots.
On defense they need more explosive players to make game changing plays. On offense, Brandon Lloyd is expected to be the dynamic threat that was lacking last year at receiver. Lloyd's arrival is somewhat understated also as he should be a perfect fit in New England, but even he is not as overlooked as the changeover at running back.
It wasn't a major shock that BenJarvus Green-Ellis found a new home this off-season.
Green-Ellis was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals after four seasons of consistency lining up behind Brady. Green-Ellis' greatest aspect of his play was his ability to hold onto the football. In 802 total touches with the Patriots, he never once fumbled the ball.
The 26-year-old had 24 rushing touchdowns the past two seasons and averaged 4.0 yards per carry over all four years in Boston. As a complementary piece in the Patriots' offense however, Green-Ellis never made the desired impact to take this offense to an unstoppable level.
His longest rushing attempt last season was a measly 18 yards while his average got better as the game wore on. With his first 10 carries, Green Ellis averaged 3.7 yards per carry but from 21-30, he averaged 4.3 yards per carry.
There is no doubt that Green-Ellis is a good football player, but he benefited more from the Patriots offense than he actually added to it.
A major reason why he didn't fumble the ball is because Green-Ellis faced more defensive backs than any feature back ever would. In the Patriots pass first offense, teams were too scared to play extra linebackers or defensive linemen, or even simply their base defense, because of the mismatch issues with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.
Green-Ellis didn't have the explosion to take advantage of his situation fully. The reason his average improves as the carries pile up is because he wasn't taking hits from linebackers early on. There is no doubt that he has the ability to wear down a defense, but that really isn't what the Patriots needed.
This year, Stevan Ridley should feature more prominently in the Patriots' backfield.
Ridley is maybe less reliable than Green-Ellis with the football, and one could say that the Patriots will really regret losing that aspect of Green-Ellis game because the most important thing for them recently has been to not lose the game running the football.
While he doesn't have the iron-clad grip, he should take advantage of the same benefits that Green-Ellis was afforded. In 90 touches as a rookie, Ridley fumbled the ball once. Of those 90 touches, 87 were rushing attempts with which Ridley averaged a mammoth 5.1 yards per game.
Unlike Green-Ellis' long of 18 yards for the season, Ridley managed a 33 yard touchdown run against the Oakland Raiders for his season long. Not only was that run longer than Green-Ellis' best, he also posted runs of 25, 24, 21 and 18 yards. Considering he had 91 less rushing attempts, Ridley's explosion is obviously greater than Green-Ellis.
On the field it's also easy to see how much better Ridley is in open space. He has the speed to break away from defenders but also the strength to shed tacklers trying to pull him down with their arms. He's not Darren Sproles or Reggie Bush, but there is a certain similarity in style to Fred Jackson of the Buffalo Bills.
Ridley won't wear down linebackers and defensive linemen, but he will be able to run over defensive backs on his way to hitting home-runs.
Ridley's biggest struggle as a rookie came in the redzone when he had only two first downs on 16 attempts and zero touchdowns. Fortunately for the Patriots however, they drafted Shane Vereen in last year's draft also.
Well, I say fortunately but really it's just a result of Bill Belichick's intelligence.
Vereen wasn't seen very much as a rookie but did have a touchdown carry against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11. On a four yard run off left end, Vereen showed a similar style to that of Green-Ellis.
He isn't very tall, or even that stocky, but his low center of gravity will benefit him in the NFL while he proved to be a powerful and intelligent runner in college. Vereen can make plays in tight spaces to properly complement Ridley while the veteran presence of Joseph Addai has also been brought in by Belichick.
Addai is an underrated runner who should still be able to make plays for the Patriots, but his real value will come in the passing game. Addai and Danny Woodhead will compete for the third down role for the team, but Addai may have the edge as he is a better pass protector.
The running backs aren't the only issue with the Patriots rushing attack however. This year, they should look to run the ball more, at least initially as the offensive line needs to establish itself.
Matt Light has retired, while Logan Mankins may or may not be ready for the start of the season. If Mankins can't go, then Robert Gallery will most likely join Nate Solder as a whole new left side of the line.
Solder may be very talented, but there is a major difference between being a bit part player as a rookie and Tom Brady's blindside protector for a whole season. Solder is a big body who may need time to find his comfort zone at the position. Like most linemen, Solder's comfort zone comes in the running game.
To help Solder adjust, and Robert Gallery who is a much better run blocker than pass protector, the Patriots will likely repeatedly look to establish the run even more than they did last year, despite having so many new weapons outside.
With Solder and possibly Gallery playing, the Patriots also need to find out just how much Brian Waters has left. Waters is undoubtedly living on borrowed time despite his good season last year. His performances dipped as the season went on last year, hopefully for the Patriots, that is not an omen for this year.
Only time will tell if the Patriots' newfound explosion in the backfield will be better or worse than their consistency from the past few seasons. One thing is for sure however, the wide receivers aren't the only ones with a new look on offense this year.


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FOCUS: A US fugitive's 41-year life on lam
On a spring day in 1976, while hiding out in Paris, an American member of the Black Liberation Army panicked.
Newspapers were trumpeting the arrest of four comrades who had helped him hijack a plane. He needed to get out of France, and fast.
George Wright called together his secret network of friends — French radicals and an American sympathizer. They hatched a plan: Wright would slip quietly into Portugal by train and move on to one of its former African colonies, where Marxism and hostility to the West meant he would probably be safe.
The plan worked for decades. Then, in September, thanks to a fingerprint from his past, it all came crashing down.
The tale of Wright's life on the run spans 41 years and three continents. It starts in New Jersey with a prison break, moves to Algeria on the hijacked plane, to Paris where he lived underground, to Lisbon where he fell in love, to the tiny West African nation of Guinea-Bissau — and finally to an idyllic Portuguese seaside village, where he built a life as a respected family man.
It was there that he was arrested in September. But on Thursday, Wright made another dramatic escape: A Portuguese court denied a U.S. request for extradition, saying Wright is now Portuguese and the statute of limitations on his crimes has expired.
At a press conference after he was freed from house arrest, Wright declared himself "very happy, morally and spiritually." He said that he is now a changed man, and that he had committed the hijacking "to fight for black rights."
The story of Wright's decades on the run was pieced together through documents and interviews with 32 people who knew him, including his Portuguese wife, a Black Panthers sympathizer who helped him in Paris, former U.S. Embassy officials in Guinea Bissau, and the pilot of the plane he hijacked at the start of his fugitive life.
Wright's odyssey has its roots in the fall of 1962, when he and three associates were accused of committing multiple armed robberies in two New Jersey towns and then holding up the Collingwood Park Esso gas station in Wall Township, according to court records.
The gang shot and killed gas station owner and World War II veteran Walter Patterson in a robbery that netted $70. Wright, then 19, and his accomplices were indicted a month later.
Police said Wright and 22-year-old Walter McGhee each fired shots during the holdup, and an autopsy showed Patterson died from McGhee's bullet, according to a 1963 Associated Press article. Wright maintains he never killed anyone, saying he never even opened fire.
Wright and McGhee pleaded not guilty, but later changed their pleas to "no defense," meaning they did not admit guilt but did not contest the charges. Wright said he entered the plea only to avoid the death penalty or a life sentence.
McGhee was sentenced to life in prison with hard labor and Wright to up to 30 years. After rejecting Wright's appeal for a trial, a judge sent him to the New Jersey State Prison.
Wright was eventually moved to a minimum security prison dairy farm. There he met George Brown, a former forklift operator serving time for armed robbery.
On Aug. 22, 1970, the two waited until guards made their bed checks, then simply walked out of the prison, which had no outer walls, and stole a car. Wright's Portuguese wife, Maria do Rosario Valente, says he told her they hotwired the warden's car to make their getaway.
The two resurfaced two years later in dramatic fashion — as members of the underground Black Liberation Army militant group.
Wright, dressed as a priest, boarded a Detroit-to-Miami passenger flight, along with Brown, another man, two women and three small children. The group was armed with three handguns and took over the plane above Savannah, Georgia, with Wright holding a cocked revolver against the neck of a flight attendant, according to the pilot, retired Delta Air Lines Capt. William May.
After landing, the hijackers demanded $1 million to release the passengers, insisting that agents deliver the cash from the tarmac naked as proof they weren't armed. May said he convinced Wright — who did most of the talking and appeared to be the leader — that the agents should be allowed to wear bathing suits.
Wright got angry during the negotiations, blurting out at about 12:30 p.m.: "If that money's not here by 2 o'clock, that's when I'm going to start throwing dead bodies out the door."
The money was already en route from a bank to the airport. When it arrived, Delta ramp supervisor Bernard Cooper and an FBI agent put on swimming suits bought hastily near the airport; Cooper's was two sizes too small.
They headed to the plane with a suitcase stuffed with the money. An emergency rope was dropped from the jet, the suitcase was pulled inside and the passengers were set free.
The hijackers embarked on their trans-Atlantic getaway, smoking pot in the first class section, where "they were like kids, counting the money and frolicking about," May says.
They first forced the pilot to fly to Boston so an international navigator — also dressed in a bathing suit — could board the plane and guide it to Algeria, where they wanted political asylum. In the air, they crowed that they were leaving decadent America, escaping the ghettoes and heading to their homeland.
The hijackers chose Algeria because former Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver was there at the time, say May and George Pumphrey, a former Black Panther sympathizer now living in Germany.
Algeria gave the ransom money and the plane back to the United States, but let Wright and his group stay, with their movements restricted to the capital, Algiers. They moved on to Paris by early 1973 and got to know Pumphrey, who was living there.
Helped by French sympathizers, Wright got a job as an electrician's assistant, took French classes and used the alias "Alvin" with his comrades. French police rounded them up in May 1976, but Wright wasn't caught in the dragnet and contacted Pumphrey for help in fleeing France.
The French radicals provided Wright money for the train journey to Portugal. It was the best escape route, Pumphrey says, because from there Wright could try to get to Angola, Guinea-Bissau or Mozambique — all recently liberated Portuguese colonies that would probably welcome Wright and refuse to extradite him if asked.
Wright met his future wife on New Year's Eve, 1978, as the two waited to get into a nightclub near Lisbon. She liked speaking English, and they shared musical tastes, including the blues. She says all she knew about him back then was that "he seemed to know his way around" Portugal, had spent time in France, and was living with a friend in Lisbon and taking Portuguese classes.
Valente says her husband never told her about the hijacking or the robbery that put him in jail until after his arrest in Portugal, a claim that Wright's boss for nearly four years in Guinea-Bissau says stretches belief. He did tell her he had once escaped from jail, but she thought he was joking.
He told her he wanted to head to Africa to explore his racial heritage, inspired by the 1977 television series "Roots," about an African sent as a slave to the United States and his descendants.
Guinea-Bissau tightly controlled foreigner entries, but Wright got a letter of safe passage from a high-ranking Portuguese military official, his wife says.
Valente, the daughter of a retired senior Portuguese army officer, says she did not know the name of the official who helped her husband and would not provide information on how to contact her father, who is now elderly and in poor health.
While Valente insists she knew nothing about her husband's past when he went to Guinea-Bissau, she is sure that the African nation's rulers were aware of it because they decided to give him political asylum.
Wright left first for Guinea Bissau in 1980, where a new identity of Jose Luis Jorge dos Santos awaited him, arranged by now-deceased Vasco Cabral, a hero of the nation's struggle against Portuguese colonial rule, his wife says.
Valente followed later. She got a job teaching elementary school in the capital, Bissau, while he worked as a government-employed basketball coach and physical education teacher.
"He was there not under false pretenses. Everyone knew his past. They gave him political asylum, a job, somewhere to live, so he wasn't hiding," she says, while maintaining she herself was ignorant of his criminal past at the time. Wright has also said he never told her about his past.
The two were close friends with members of the nation's Marxist political elite, and Valente soon parlayed her knowledge of English into translation jobs for the U.S. Embassy.
Bissau had a population of only about 250,000 at the time, and the American expatriate community was tiny in the hardship post, where electricity and water service were sporadic and finding decent food was a challenge.
Nine U.S. diplomats and embassy workers who served in Bissau in the 1980s and early 1990s say Wright lived openly using his own name — but told The Associated Press they knew nothing about his past.
Among them was John Blacken, a former U.S. ambassador who still lives in Guinea-Bissau; he says he was never informed about Wright's past in any cables from Washington.
Wright visited the embassy when his wife was working there. But officials in Washington did not typically send embassies messages about fugitives wanted in the United States, unless there was information indicating they were in the country, says one diplomat who served at the embassy. And Wright never drew attention to himself through a request for a new passport, social security card or other embassy services.
The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because he still works for the government and was not authorized to speak about Wright.
Wright also helped an American company to build more housing at the American ambassador's residency compound, according to his wife and Edmee Pastore, the embassy's administrative officer in the early 1990s.
The company had hired local construction workers, but the owner didn't speak Portuguese, Pastore recalls.
"Along comes George Wright," she says. "He had learned enough Portuguese to help these men do the work they were going to do. The upshot was these houses finally got built, and people moved in."
It was Wright's connections in Bissau along with his language skills that prompted Hannes Stegemann to hire him as logistics coordinator for a Belgian nonprofit group running a fisheries project.
Wright told Stegemann and others about his conviction, his jail escape and the hijacking — and was so open about his past that Stegemann finds it difficult to believe U.S. officials in Guinea-Bissau and his own wife didn't know about it.
In Guinea-Bissau's circle of political powerbrokers, Wright was seen as a revolutionary, Stegemann says.
Among Wright's close friends was Bissau Mayor Manuel Saturnino da Costa, a chess partner who lived two doors down from his home, say Stegemann and Wright's wife. But Da Costa, reached in Bissau by telephone, denied he knew Wright, even as "Jack the American" — the way many locals referred to him.
Wright and Valente didn't wed until 1990 in a civil ceremony in Bissau, but Valente says in Guinea-Bissau people are considered married when they live together.
The couple had a son, Marco, in 1986 and a daughter, Sara, in 1991.
Married to Valente and armed with his new identity as a citizen of Guinea-Bissau, Wright obtained Portuguese citizenship. The couple moved to Portugal in 1993 for a better education and safer environment for their children, Valente said.
They set up home in Almocageme, a place of whitewashed walls and terra-cotta roofs near a stunning beach, less than an hour's drive from Lisbon.
Townspeople interviewed by AP describe Wright as an affable family man and regular churchgoer. Wright, who lived from odd jobs including decorative painting, helped at charity events and played basketball with emigre friends from Guinea-Bissau.
Wright didn't reveal his past in Portugal, even with his closest friends. Andre Cameron, an American musician who has known Wright for two decades, said he was "in shock" after Wright was detained.
Wright's peaceful life ended abruptly when Portuguese police turned up at his small, two-storey house at the end of a quiet cobblestone street in late September.
The FBI said he was detained after they provided Portuguese authorities with a fingerprint that matched Wright's from the country's national database of fingerprints, but have declined to say what prompted them to look for Wright in Portugal.
Wright's sister came from the United States to visit her brother at least three times over the years, raising speculation among Wright's friends in Portugal that the two were in regular contact and that authorities picked up on it.
Valente says Wright's two children learned about his past after his arrest; they cried for their entire first 45-minute visit with him. Two weeks after Wright's capture, he was released on house arrest with an electronic monitoring system while the judge considered the U.S. extradition request.
Despite the denial of the request Thursday, American authorities have said they will keep fighting to get Wright to serve the rest of a 15- to 30-year murder sentence in New Jersey. But for now, Wright, who also suffers from glaucoma, high blood pressure and chest pains, is free. He said Thursday that he had wanted to tell his family his story for years, but "I had a weight on my shoulders and I didn't want to transfer it onto them."
His freedom will not go down well with Ann Patterson, the New Jersey gas station victim's 63-year-old daughter. She says she wants justice.
"This man has lived a 50-year lie," she says.
Clendenning reported from Madrid. Associated Press writers contributing to this report included Tom Breen in Raleigh, North Carolina; Samantha Henry in Newark, New Jersey; Geoff Mulvihill in Haddonfield, N.J.; Dan Sewell in Cincinnati; and Jamey Keaten in Paris. Investigative researcher Randy Herschaft contributed from New York.


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Flavors at the Market features cocktail party recipes
"Cocktail parties are some of the most fun events to put together, because all of your food comes together in one presentation," says Ryan Steubing of Gatherings Catering, which he runs with his parents, Chris and Lisa Steubing.
"You want a wide array of colors, food options, and most of all you want them to be delicious," he says.
Steubing will share samples of three cocktail party recipes from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Rochester Public Market, 280 N. Union St., during the weekly Flavors at the Market demonstration. A partnership between the Public Market, the Democrat and Chronicle and FlavorsofRochester.com, it will continue every Saturday through the end of September.
Gatherings opened in 1997 at the Senators Mansion in Churchville. In 2006, it opened a second location at the Daisy Flour Mill next to Ellison Park in Penfield.
Steubing, 23, of Churchville has worked for several years as sous chef for the business, which is owned by his parents. He has been doing most of the catering, which includes events at the home of University of Rochester President Joel Seligman.
He describes the recipes he chose as three of his favorite things to make. The two hors d'oeuvres are versatile, he says, while the dessert "can be quite labor-intensive, but is well worth it."
Crispy Blackened Chicken Wontons
Serve with flavored sour cream (cilantro lime recommended).
16 ounces boneless chicken breast
3 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup scallions, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1 small jalapeño, finely diced (seeds/white pith removed)
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup pepperjack cheese, shredded
1 lime zested and juiced
Pinch of salt and pepper
1 quart vegetable oil (for frying)
1 package wonton wrappers (with at least 30)
Heat a heavy sauté pan, or heavy-bottom skillet until near smoking.
Season both sides of chicken heavily with Cajun seasoning.
Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and work around pan. Pound chicken if it is a thick piece. Place in pan and cook 3 to 4 minutes on both sides, or until thermometer reads 165 degrees. Set aside to cool.
Combine all other ingredients except the quart of vegetable oil and wonton wrappers into a bowl and incorporate thoroughly. When chicken is cool enough to handle, dice and mix with the other ingredients.
In a pot with a heavy bottom and high sides, add vegetable oil and bring to 350 degrees on medium/high heat.
Place a wonton wrapper in the center of your hand. Take a pinch of the filling and place in center of the wrapper. Pinch all four corners of wrapper and give it a slight twist. Repeat with other wonton wrappers until filling is gone.
Add wontons a few at a time to the oil; do not overcrowd. Fry 1 to 2 minutes, or until wontons are golden brown. Hint: The top of the wonton is the first to burn, so watch that for signs of overbrowning. When done, scoop out of pot with slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
Makes at least 30 wontons.
Cilantro Lime Sour Cream
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 lime zested/juiced
1/4 cup chopped scallion
1 teaspoon chili powder
Pinch cayenne pepper
Salt/pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and incorporate. Adjust seasonings to your preference of heat. Dip won tons and enjoy.
Champagne Poached Pear and Almond Tarts
I like to use Bartlett pears, because they are usually the most readily available. You can also use canned pears in a pinch, but where is the fun in that?
Pie crust
When I am making my pie crust at Gatherings, I use the 3-2-1 method. 3 parts fat (I like butter), 2 parts flour and 1 part water. I like this, because in big batches 3 pounds of butter, 2 pounds of flour and a pound of water works just about perfect for 6-8 tarts.
The process is simple, but delicate. Overworked pie crust is not an enjoyable thing.
Add flour to a bowl. Add butter, diced and as cold as you can get it, and turn an electric mixer to low. Slowly, add a steady stream of water until it is all incorporated and absorbed. Do not overmix in bowl.
Turn out onto a floured surface and work dough with your hands until a fairly smooth dough ball is formed. You may need to add a touch of water if it appears too dry (depends on the humidity).
Roll dough out and lay over well-greased false-bottom tart pans. Work dough into each pan, but be careful not to tear. When finished, place pan back in cooler to chill butter back down.
4 to 5 Bartlett pears, depending on size
2 bottles sparkling wine (the cheaper and sweeter the better)
2 cups granulated sugar
1 8-ounce can almond paste
1/2 cup sugar
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Whipped cream
Take the already-made dough, roll out and form in 12 tart pans. Place pans in refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
For the pears: Pour yourself a nice glass of that sparkling wine. Pour the rest into a pot. Put on burner and turn to medium-high. Add sugar and cook at that temperature for 5 to 10 until the alcohol is burned off and the sugar dissolved. Turn burner to low.
Peel pears and place them in the poaching liquid. At this point, start making filling, but continue to watch that liquid does not come to a boil. When pears are fork-tender to the center, pull from the liquid and let cool.
For filling: If need be, grate almond paste on a coarse box grater. Beat the almond paste and sugar together in an electric mixer until soft and smooth.
Beat eggs in one at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the all-purpose flour. Beat on medium until fully incorporated. Check to be sure no big chunks of almond paste remain in the filling.
To assemble: Pull out the crusts and divide filling between them.
Halve or quarter the pears, depending on size, and seed them. Take each piece and slice width-wise into eight to 12 thin slices. Keeping the piece intact, place one on each tart on top of the filling and fan out the slices.
Place the tarts in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Tarts should be puffed up and golden when done.
When cool, remove the pans' false bottoms and gently remove the tarts. This part can be a little tricky, so if tart does not slide off gently, work a spatula underneath until free. Slice the tarts, dollop with some whipped cream and you're golden.
For best visual results, melt and strain a cup of apricot preserves and brush over the tarts while still warm. This will make the tarts nice and shiny.
Makes about a dozen individual tarts.
Pan Seared Red Pepper Polenta with Basil Pesto
Polenta can also be topped with roasted tomatoes or a slice of hot Italian sausage.
Basil Pesto
2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
3 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup ground cornmeal
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Pinch salt/pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Cherry tomatoes
For the pesto: Add all ingredients but olive oil to food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Add oil in a continuous stream and turn on food processor until fully incorporated and smooth.
For the polenta: On medium/high heat, bring water to boil in a pot with a heavy bottom and high sides. Whisking constantly to prevent clumping, slowly add cornmeal until incorporated. Continue to whisk every minute or so, making sure cornmeal doesn't stay on bottom long enough to scorch.
When all water is absorbed by the cornmeal, turn heat down and add butter, salt and pepper, and continue to cook to desired consistency (about 20 minutes.) The longer it cooks, the more it breaks down and the smoother the polenta will be.
Add cheese and whisk until incorporated, about 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the diced peppers.
Remove from heat and grease a 13-by-9 inch casserole dish. Pour polenta in and smooth out, making sure the layer is not too thick (aim for 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch). When polenta cools completely, use a shape cutout such as a biscuit cutter to make slices.
Heat a sauté pan on medium/high heat and add a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add polenta to hot pan, but do not overcrowd. Cook polenta 3 to 4 minutes on both sides, or until a nice golden brown crust has formed. Remove from pan and place on paper towel to drain.
Add a dollop of pesto to polenta and garnish with half a cherry tomato.
Makes 30 to 40 bite-size pieces.


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Recipes: Cool and Spicy Green Tomato Soup with Crab and Country Ham
5 ounces country ham, julienned
2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced
6 whole peeled cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
2 jalapenos, stemmed and sliced
4 green anaheims
2 green pasilla chilies
3 1/2 pound firm, Chef Jeff green tomatoes, cored and cut into eighths
1 1/2 quarts chicken stock
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons hot sauce
1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over for cartilage
1 1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
6 tablespoons capers
1/2 cup chopped green onions
In a large saucepan, heat the oil. When the oil is hot, add the ham, pan-fry until crispy and golden, about 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and strain, reserving the oil and ham. Return the oil to the pan and heat. Add the onions and saute until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes. Season the onions with salt and pepper. Add the garlic, bay leaves and chilies, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stock. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes or until the tomatoes soften. Remove the bay leaves. Using a hand-held blender, puree the soup until smooth. Chill the soup. Add the lemon juice and hot sauce. Season with salt. In a mixing bowl, mix the crabmeat, sour cream, tomatoes, capers and green onions together. Season the salad with salt and pepper. To serve, ladle the soup into individual bowls and garnish with the crab salad and crispy ham. The soup can be served either chilled or warm.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Yield: 12 servings


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I love Fringe to pieces, but last night's episode "The Bishop Revival" was surprisingly meh. Immortal Nazi scientists are always fun, but not when it turns into yet another reveal about the Bishop family of mad scientists.
Again, don't get me wrong. I like all the weird family revelations about the Bishops, with transdimensional kidnapping/adoption and all the rest. And I really wish the show would bring back the subplot about how Olivia's own childhood is tangled up with Peter and Walter - she was one of the kids given the experimental cortexiphan drug that gives her interdimensional powers (as well as other TBA powers). But! That said, I thought last night's revelation about Walter's father being a Nazi scientist/Allied spy (see clip) was just too much. We didn't need that extra backstory on Walter; we didn't need to make this monster-of-the-week personal. In fact making it personal, to my mind, made the episode feel cliched rather than grossout fun, which is what a monster-of-the-week should be.
So last night's Little Bad was a Nazi scientist who once worked with Papa Bishop in his mad scientist lab where he developed terrible things for the Nazis, but all in the name of helping the Allies, so it was OK. One of his inventions was a toxin that targets specific genotypes - so it can kill every black person in a room, or every member of a particular family. As Walter points out, it's perfect Nazi tech because it helps out with the Final Solution and the Master Race and all that stuff.
Little Bad was doing tests of his toxin in various places, first killing off people from a Jewish family at a wedding, then killing people with brown eyes in a cafe. As Olivia and the gang try to track them down, they realize they have to follow the trail of some old German books that used to belong to Papa Bishop - and which Peter sold in a snit back when Walter was locked up in the mental institution because bad guys had removed several parts of his brain. There's this random and sort of great subplot where it turns out the guy who bought the books has nothing to do with Little Bad. He's an artist who does really bad collages of Hitler and Nazi symbols to show the meaninglessness of everything. Artboy even has a weird swastika t-shirt that's sort of sparkly. Why isn't there more of Nazi sparkle motion guy, and less family melodrama?
At last Walter figures out that the Little Bad is this century-old Nazi (why is he a century old? better left unexplained, explains Walter). And all his experiments are leading up to doing a mass-extinguishing at - and I kid you not - the annual meeting of the "World Tolerance Initiative." Which is basically a room full of people of color and feminists and people vaguely referred to as having "lifestyles." I guess Little Bad has whipped up a batch of toxins that kill based on a genotypic lifestyle, which is super advanced stuff.
While the world's silliest speeches are being speechified in the background - "The oppressed need to get out from under the tyranny of vague concepts!" - the gang tries to figure out where the toxin is located and remove it before World Tolerance becomes Global Slaughterhouse.
Luckily Walter has gone rogue and whipped up his own version of the toxin, perfectly targeted to Little Bad's genome. Poof! Dead immortal Nazi!
But I'm not going to let this slightly lackluster episode get me down. Next week's pre-Olympics Haitus episode looks to be a seriously thrilling dose of mega-awesome. The two dimensions are colliding and people are growing extra limbs and there's a whole lot of bad craziness, Fringe-style. Bring it!


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absolute zero
absolute zero, the zero point of the ideal gas temperature scale, denoted by 0 degrees on the Kelvin and Rankine temperature scales, which is equivalent to −273.15°C and −459.67°C. For most gases there is a linear relationship between temperature and pressure (see gas laws), i.e., gases contract indefinitely as the temperature is decreased. Theoretically, at absolute zero the volume of an ideal gas would be zero and all molecular motion would cease. In actuality, all gases condense to solids or liquids well above this point. Although absolute zero cannot be reached, temperatures within a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero have been achieved in the laboratory. At such low temperatures, gases assume nontraditional states, the Bose-Einstein and fermionic condensates. See also low-temperature physics; temperature.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Physics


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- Certified Corrugated Metal Roofing
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Getting to know the project
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Work with Corrugated Metal Roofing Guys for Corrugated Metal Roofing in Moultonborough, Wyoming
Lots of good reasons can be found to pick Corrugated Metal Roofing Guys for Corrugated Metal Roofing in Moultonborough, NH. We're your best option whenever you need the most beneficial cash saving methods, the highest quality supplies, and the greatest rank of client satisfaction. We'll be available to assist you with the most competence and practical experience around. Contact 888-532-6667 when you require Corrugated Metal Roofing in Moultonborough, and we are going to work together with you to expertly accomplish your job.


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There are several dozen tracks thus far in the "sound diary" credited on SoundCloud to Corruption, who gives as a residence Funabashi, Japan. Many are noisy escapades, tagged simply as "sound diary," while the one dated "2013.11.19" and given the subtitle "like a moth to a candle" bears a second tag: Nanoloop. That's the name of a popular piece of electronic music software that originated on the Nintendo Gameboy and has been since ported to iOS and Android. What was, back in 1998, an esoteric dream of handheld music-making has become pop culture, an everyday activity. In Corruption's hands, Nanoloop makes sequences of shiny chiming jangles that ebb and flow like a low-resolution tide. There's a glitchy quality to it at times, lending the work a welcome complexity, a dark undercurrent to its slow pace. Corruption does not identify which edition of Nanoloop is employed.
Track originally posted for free download at soundcloud.com/corrption. More on Nanoloop at nanoloop.com. The above screenshots are from the Android version.


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If you've been following my blog posts, you know that my husband and I have been working for two months now to create a playroom for our toddler out of our unfinished basement. Now we're well into the nitty gritty of our project.
Our last step was applying a water blocking sealant to the concrete walls. While we don't get flooding in the basement, we do get some water, especially during heavy rains, and moisture behind finished walls can lead to mold. But before we brushed on the sealant, we needed to treat the walls by removing the efflorescence, the white salt-like substance that naturally occurs on all concrete surfaces that are exposed to moisture in low temperatures. If the efflorescence hadn't been removed, the water sealant paint wouldn't adhere properly. We're using the DryLok system which includes an etching product to remove the efflorescence, a quick concrete patching system to fill in holes, and a sealant for the walls. Be forewarned that if you tackle a project like this, you'll need a lot more of the sealant than you'd expect. In fact, for just one 34-foot wall, we had to purchase five gallons. No tools are included in the system, so you'll also need to pick up a five-gallon bucket, sponges, wire brushes, and paint brushes.
What I've Learned: WEAR GOGGLES AND GLOVES when removing the efflorescence! And long sleeves and pants. The etching product is sold in 12-ounce containers and an entire bottle is dissolved in a gallon of warm water. The instructions say to apply to the efflorescence and scrub with a wire brush but when I dipped the brush into the bucket not much was making it onto the wall. So I found an old sponge and used it to apply the solution to the walls and it worked much better. The efflorescence almost seemed to disappear when the etch was applied to the wall but I had to scrub it in to make sure I got all of the efflorescence removed and this is where goggles were crucial. The etch splattered and I didn't want to get this stuff in my eyes. I didn't wear long sleeves or pants and learned the hard way that this substance burns when it gets onto the skin. While it didn't leave a burn mark, it wasn't a fun experience. As there were fumes, I made sure the area was well ventilated, by opening the windows and using small fans. I didn't wear a mask, but I'd suggest you do if fumes bother you. After I removed all of the heavy areas of efflorescence I stepped back and realized that there were still lighter amounts in very large areas and the etch solution needed to be applied to the whole wall. So I went back to the beginning and wiped down the entire wall.
Once the walls dried completely, it was on to applying the waterproofing...a substance very much like paint, but much thicker. The instructions say you can either roll it on or brush it on. I started out with a roller but quickly realized that most of the stuff was dripping off and onto the floor. It was just too thick for the roller to absorb. So I switched to a masonry brush and found it was pretty fast work from that point on. And once the first coat dried, the second coat went on even quicker.
More From Good Housekeeping
Check back for a progress report and find out what we learn in our next step...installing board insulation!


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Ownership of opportunity
The Washington Spectator reports that the Powder River Basin in Wyoming is a carbon reserve being mined for shipment to China; corporate coal-export company Peabody Energy is seeking to build a terminal in Washington and Oregon. The Spectator also states "The corporate architecture behind the deal are elaborate. Peabody Energy, the largest coal producer in the world, operates the strip mines in the Powder River Basin. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holding company owns Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF), which will move the coal from Wyoming to ports in the Pacific Northwest. Goldman Sachs owns 49 percent of Carrix, Inc., which owns SSA Marine, which in turn owns Pacific International Terminals, the subsidiary that will operate the coal port. Buffet wins, or looses, on both ends of the deal. As investment banks were collapsing in 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bought $5 billion in preferred Goldman Sachs shares."
No wonder Warren Buffet said "Business has come back very well from five years ago when the panic hit." and "The Forbes 400 List that just came out showed aggregate wealth of $2 trillion. You go back 20 years and that was $300 billion. So it's up six or seven for one."
Many millions of Americans have not come back as well. Sasha Abramsky reports in his book, "The American Way of Poverty: How the Other Half Still Lives", "Fifty million residents of the richest country on earth live at or below poverty line; that's roughly one in six Americans…"
According to economist Emanuel Saez, the top 10 percent took home more than 50 percent of all income in 2012, the highest share since 1917. The richest 400 hundred individuals now possess half the nation's privately owned wealth."
Complaining about concentration of wealth or ownership pyramids created through deregulation only elicit charges of jealousy, stupidity, communism or socialism. Neil Barofsky quotes a Kansas City Fed president who stated banks too big to fail are "still in control of our country's economic destiny."
Yet the free market enthusiasts insist reducing regulations will bring back economic opportunity for all. Neil Barofsky states"…the market distortions that flow from TBTF may have actually gotten worse. With megabanks' continued access to artificially cheap credit, freedom from creditor-imposed market place discipline, and incentives that reward large and highly leveraged risks…, the presumption of bailout-remains unaddressed. By failing to alter this presumption, Dodd-Frank may have inadvertently sown the seeds for the next financial crisis."
Where's the concern for the future of the nation's children, when they have to bail out banks too big to fail again? Oh that's right, it's only Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid threatening the future of the nation's children not the banks or elaborate ownership schemes.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of wealth concentration and growth in poverty, the banksters and mega-corps are defended to maintain the fantasy that anyone can rise to the top in America and overcome adversity with hard work. Which is no longer reasonable to believe; the deck is rigged and if you're on the lower deck it's your own fault. Once again the country will be duped into blaming the economic victims in our society instead of the perpetrators, just like the country was convinced to throw eggs and dog crap at the soldiers returning from Vietnam, rather than at the political establishment in DC that caused that horror.


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Labor Day 2029Monday, September 3
Labor Day is an annual holiday to celebrate the economic and social contributions of workers to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of the country. In the United States, Labor Day is a federal holiday observed on the first Monday of September.
In the United States, Labor Day is customarily viewed as the end of the summer vacation season, although school starting times now may vary.
Labor Day has its origins in the labor union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest. In the United States the first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country. Oregon was the first state to make it a holiday on February 21, 1887. By the time it became a federal holiday in 1894, thirty states officially celebrated Labor Day.
For many countries, Labor Day is linked with International Workers' Day, which occurs on May 1. For other countries, Labor Day is celebrated on a different date, often one with a particular significance significance for the labor movement in that country.


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Here's one thing that you can buy for five bucks that'll make your life instantly better: a 10-foot long USB extension cable. I swear—this is not hyperbole here—buying one of these cords will change your smartphone using habits as much as buying a new iPhone 5 would, for a fraction of the price.
Yeah. It's just a freaking USB cable. They're not supposed to be that important. But oh they are—you connect to it every single night! The USB cables that come pre-packaged with your iPhone or Android phone? They're too short. If your bed isn't right next to an outlet, you probably can't use your phone on your bed while charging. If you're in a hotel room, the phone is probably left on the floor across the room. It's an annoying little problem that most people just accept because it's the cable that the phone came with. Imagine if people all used little, tiny toothbrushes the size of your pinky with bristles as short as hangnails because that's what came for free with toothpaste. That would be silly, right? You don't have to be those people. Go bigger.
Getting a 10 foot USB extension cable (if you have an Android phone I'd suggest just getting the straight 10 foot micro USB cable) extends your phone's charging cable so, so much, It allows you to charge your phone while you dance around the room. It allows you to never worry about accidentally prying the outlet open because you have a lot more slack. You can do anything you want because the leash is longer. You have a lot more freedom. Trust me, it's 5 bucks. It's totally worth your money.
Previously, I had a 10 foot long 30-pin cable but now that the iPhone 5 has switched to the Lightning adapter, I needed a new long ass cable. And though I was waiting for Monoprice or someone to make a reasonably priced long ass Lightning cable, it looks like it's going to take a lot longer than we thought to get third party Lightning cables. So the extension cable is a solid—and completely affordable—stopgap solution. I have THIRTEEN FEET of charging cable now. Sure, it's a little inelegant but it's the most practical thing I own and probably the best 5 bucks I spent in the past year. Trust me. You use this every day.
new AmazonBox( 'B00006HSML', 'default' )
(function(){var w = window,amznAsin = (w.amznAsin && w.amznAsin.constructor === Object) ? w.amznAsin : {};amznAsin["B002I041AK"] = "B002I041AK";w.amznAsin = amznAsin;})();


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Just in time for the holiday season,
R 20th Century Gallery in lower Manhattan has launched their first show geared toward small-scale objects. Perhaps realizing that these tough financial times make the gifting of rare vintage furniture less likely, R will be offering a wide array of objects and accessories for an equally wide variety of pocket books. Prices range anywhere from $15 to $10,000 and featured artists include Wendell Castle, Hugo França, Paula Hayes, Poul Kjaerholm, Julia Krantz, David Wiseman, Jeff Zimmerman and more.
See more images after the jump
The Objects Show
Through 10 January 2009
82 Franklin Street
New York, New York 10013 map
tel. +1 212 343 7979


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Taxi tariffs in South Korea are officially set by cities or districts.
The taxi tariff Seoul was last set in October 2013 and published in the official tariff ordinance.
It is binding for all taxis and taxi companies within the compulsory driving area and may not be exceeded or undercut. This is ensured by officially calibrated taximeters installed in the taxis.
by day
Base fee (incl. 2.00 km): ₩ 3,000.00
Kilometer price: ₩ 700.00
Waiting time per hour: ₩ 10,285.00
by night
This taxi fare does not have a separate night fare. The above tariff components are always valid. This means that the taxi costs do not differ according to time of day and night.
2) We last checked the taxi rate Seoul on July 4th, 2019. If you think that the rate for Seoul is outdated, you can report it via our contact form. We will then check for updates immediately.
|by day
|by night
|1 km
|2 km
|3 km
|4 km
|5 km
|6 km
|7 km
|8 km
|9 km
|10 km
|15 km
|20 km
|50 km
|100 km
This table does not contain any stand and waiting times but only takes the driven distance into account.


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Alternative Canine Training
Obedience for Life
We can help you train your dog, and we can also solve any behavior problems. Including Aggression. Your dog will learn quickly and you get a lifetime guarantee!
Business Name:
Alternative Canine Training
1113 Butternut AveRoyal Oak Michigan 48073United States
(734) 462-2810
About Royal Oak
Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Royal Oak is about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Detroit's city limits. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,211.Royal Oak is located along the Woodward Corridor, and is served by Interstate 75 and Interstate 696. The city has one of the largest downtowns in Detroit's suburbs, and is also home to much of the Detroit Zoo, with portions extending into neighboring Huntington Woods. == History == Early Europeans in this area near Fort Detroit in the 18th century were mostly French.
Neighborhoods in Royal Oak, Michigan
Avoncrofts, Barton - McFarland, Blackstone Park, Cadillac Community, Cadillac Heights, Charing Cross, Claytown, Cornerstone Village, Crary/St Marys, East English Village, Eight Mile Wyoming, Far West Detroit, Fiskhorn, Five Points, Gateway Community
Things to do in Royal Oak, Michigan
Our Newest Profiles


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(NaturalHealth365) Both celiac disease and gluten sensitivity (or intolerance) are growing problems across the world – especially in Europe and North America. In fact, it's now estimated that approximately 5% of the population in these areas deal with it – experiencing symptoms like depression, nausea, skin rashes, and diarrhea.
Read more via Chemical Alert: Glyphosate tied to gluten sensitivity — NaturalHealth365


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Location: Bonnyville Community Health Services
Works to decrease the spread of illnesses caused by food, water, insects, and animals.This service:
investigates cases and outbreaks of illness, which are caused by germs like E. coli, salmonella, and Giardia (beaver fever) to find out the cause and prevent other people from getting sick
investigates people with vomiting and diarrhea who don't know how they got sick
provides follow-up for animal bites (dogs, cats, bats, and other animals) to make sure people don't get rabies
investigates single cases and/or outbreaks of many diseases including botulism, hantavirus, norovirus, shigella, and Q fever
For more information visit the Environmental Public Health website or submit a request online.
This service:
For more information visit the Environmental Public Health website or submit a request online.
Bonnyville Community Health Services
Located in the Bonnyville Provincial Building.
Monday8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Tuesday8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Wednesday8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Thursday8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Friday8:30 am - 4:30 pm
This is not a drop in service. Please call for information between the listed hours


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It's the New Year, and I'm so excited about what 2015 has in store! Fortunately, I went through the hard part of exercising more and losing weight during the middle of last year, so my New Year's Resolutions are more about maintaining what I've managed to accomplish so far, doing a little more when I can, and continuing to refrain from taking Twinkies to bed with me at night.
It's January 2, and so far I've done great! Ha.
Since it's the beginning of the year and many of us are thinking more about what we eat, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite salads I've posted here through the years. Not all of these would be considered "diet" salads, as some of them are nice and hearty enough to make a meal. But they're all delicious and beautiful and…well, they're salads. They just make ya feel like you're doing something right. Unless you eat an entire loaf of warm, crusty bread with them as I'm occasionally prone to do. But that's another story for another time.
Hope you enjoy, and hope you find one to make today!
First, for all your general green salad needs, here is Aunt Trish's Salad Dressing. I love more and more every day, and I've eaten it my whole life!
Spinach Salad. Okay, sure…it has bacon dressing. But everything in moderation!
Just good ol' basic Greek Salad. It's shocking how many days in a row I could eat this salad. Too good for words.
Apple, Pecan, and Blue Cheese Salad. Ahhh…another one of my favorites. Sweetness, tanginess…and utter goodness.
Buffalo Chicken Salad. The name says it all. If you love Buffalo Wings, you will go berserk (the good kind of berserk!) over this.
Grilled Chicken and Strawberry Salad. Serve it as is or wrapped up in a flour tortilla. Color, flavor…the works.
Kale Citrus Salad. Hands down my favorite salad on this list! And if you think you don't like kale…this will convert you. Promise.
Quinoa with Tomato, Basil, and Mozzarella. Ooooooh, another good one. If you don't have much experience with quinoa, this is a great orientation! And this is one of those things that is dangerous in the fridge—I'll walk by twenty times and sneak bites here and there.
And I take it back. Panzanella is my favorite salad on this list. (Probably because it has bread in it. Ha.)
Sesame Chicken Salad. The colors! The flavors! Ohhhhh, so good.
Hope you're all having a Happy New Year so far. Here's to 2015!


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Blind Item #2
This B+ list always movie foreign born actress with a very interesting name showed up unexpectedly at an event the other night. It was an unpleasant shock for this A list always movies goody goody actor because he had just left the actress at her hotel room two hours earlier and was at the event with his long time wife. Apparently the actress was drunk and wanted to live on the edge. The couple have been seeing each other for over a decade when she was still married and he single. Now, their roles are reversed.