Islamabad's little Somalia
Sher Ali Khan
A young Somali man at a store in Islamabad | Taveer Shahzad, White Star
Laughing and chattering teenagers walk past Somali Specialist, a nondescript hair salon in a nondescript neighbourhood in Islamabad. Their raucous cackle earns them a glaring look from an elderly man walking by. This is ‘Somalistan’ or ‘Somali Street’ in the federal capital’s G-10 sector.
The street’s unofficial name has an exotic ring to it. In reality, it is like any other collection of mostly small two-storey houses in this lower middle-class area. Its only distinctive feature is the nationality of its residents — they are all from Somalia, a small country in the Horn of Africa, where a civil war has been going on since the late 1980s.
Most of the inhabitants of ‘Somalistan’, are students who have come to Pakistan on valid study visas, and are enrolled in public and private educational institutions in Islamabad. The main reason why they choose to live in this particular street is that it is close to a number of universities and colleges in the city.
Many more living here are asylum seekers — mostly young people who have escaped the war back in Somalia and are awaiting relocation to some country in the West. ‘Somali Street’ is a purgatory for them, a transit lounge for further travel to a safe place. It is not home.
‘Somali Street’ is a purgatory for them, a transit lounge for further travel to a safe place. It is not home.
After Afghans, Somalis form the largest refugee population in Pakistan. There are 411 registered Somali asylum seekers in Islamabad and Karachi, according to the data collected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). A few hundred more are said to be living in Lahore, though their exact number is hard to come by. The role of the Somali Students Union is central in providing these refugees temporary shelter and food, in the same small flats where the students themselves live as tenants.
Abdi Fataah, a former general secretary of the union, tells the Herald in a telephone interview that the original purpose of creating this organisation was to facilitate and help Somalis studying in Pakistan. Gradually, as the refugees started pouring in, the Union also became their primary caregiver, offering them all possible help — most crucially giving them information to navigate the refugee registration process and negotiate their presence within a society that they know little about, says Fataah who spent seven years in Islamabad and now lives in the United States.
Unless Somali asylum seekers get the Proof of Registrations from the UNHCR, they are not eligible to receive any money from anywhere, even from their relatives living elsewhere in the world. This makes them totally dependent on the help from students, explains Fataah.
These refugees usually belong to some minority tribe in Somalia which has been facing persistent hostility and discrimination at the hands of the majority tribe in the deeply-tribal Somali society. Many of them have seen a lot of bloodshed during their young lives.
Ahmed Mukhtar emerges from the shadows of multistorey buildings in F-10 Markaz, a commercial neighbourhood in a posh part of Islamabad. He heads straight to a nearby mosque to offer his prayers before heading out for a meeting with journalists. His calm demeanour betrays little of the horrors he has been through.
Mukhtar was only 16 when he fled Somalia via Kenya and landed in Pakistan in 1996. Four years before that, Islamic Courts Union – an informal coalition of local clerics who decided disputes within and among clans under the Islamic laws – had started recruiting young men to organise them into a militia, which eventually became Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia. “They came to our house looking for recruits. My father refused to let his sons join the militants. They killed him along with three of my brothers. They also raped my ten-year-old sister and killed her,” says Mukhtar.
Having somehow survived this massacre, he decided to run away along with his mother, who was suffering from multiple health problems, and his younger brother. They were lucky to land in Pakistan on valid visas.
Somali refugees playing football in a community ground | Tanveer Shahzad, White Star
Ahmed Farah, the head of the Somali Forum | Taveer Shahzad White Star
A year later, Mukhtar’s brother went back to his native country but was killed there soon afterwards. He also lost his mother in the subsequent years. “Now I have no family at all.”
When he had first landed in Pakistan, Mukhtar neither understood the local language nor did he know anyone here. All he could do was to have himself and his family registered with the UNHCR, and find out Somali students living in the city so that he could get some place to stay.
Over the years, he has learnt some Urdu and has become quite familiar with Pakistani customs and culture. Yet, he does not know what to do with his life. He cannot attend a college or university because his status as a refugee does not allow him to do that; he cannot do a job because of the same reason. If he ever goes around looking for employment as a labourer, he gets the same response everywhere. “Our own people can’t get jobs. Who will employ a foreigner like you?”
Dressed in a neatly** ironed kameez over jeans, Ahmed Farah lights up as he talks about his plans to make the most of his stay in Pakistan. As the head of the Somali Forum – an informal network of his compatriots living in Islamabad – he has been at the forefront of many protest demonstrations in front of the local UNHCR office.
Farah left the southern part of his native country back in 2008 as a wiry 19-year-old just out of school. Coming from war-wrecked Somalia, Pakistan looked peaceful to him, even when it had, by then, acquired the dubious distinction of being the second-most dangerous country in the world according to some international surveys.
The number of Somalis landing in Pakistan spiked in 2001 when another round of violence broke out between the Islamic Courts Union and the Somali government of the time. The numbers have been rising every year since then, mainly because of the proliferation of death and destruction in Somalia in the wake of violence perpetrated by the highly-radicalised extremist members of the Al-Shabaab militia.
Somalis living in Pakistan have limited rights mainly because Pakistan has not ratified the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. They are not eligible to take up permanent residence here; they cannot do any business or move around the country freely. Unless they are registered as refugees with UNHCR, their stay in Pakistan remains illegal and could invite immediate repatriation — though so far this has happened in rare cases, if at all.
Ahmed Farah working from home | Tanveer Shahzad, White Star
The Pakistani government takes no responsibility for arranging boarding, lodging and other amenities, including food and education, for these Somali refugees. Only a few local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) work along with UNHCR for their welfare.
“Due to my status as a refugee, I was not allowed to join any university when I first came to Pakistan,” says soft-spoken Farah. “So, I started to make space for my studies away from universities.” But then he wrote an article on the Somali education system that brought him to the notice of some Pakistani academics. Thereafter, a private university in Islamabad allowed him to attend classes without having to properly enroll there, and also without having to pay any tuition fee. After he passed his graduation examination, International Islamic University admitted him in its master’s programme, giving him some legal exemptions to pursue his studies and providing him a scholarship.
Others are not as fortunate and face much greater hardships while trying to survive in Pakistan. But almost everyone of them accuses the local UNHCR officials of creating hurdles in the way of financial aid and other assistance they deem themselves eligible to receive. They also allege that UNHCR creates unnecessary hurdles in their resettlements. In the last few months alone, Somali refugees have held several protest demonstrations to press for their demands.
The office of the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) in Islamabad is empty after Eid holidays in July this year. A residential building converted into an office, it houses a pharmacy and a medical centre where two doctors provide medical treatment to any ailing refugees. The organisation provides a monthly stipend, health care, primary education and other basic amenities to refugees who are awaiting resettlement. It is part of an alliance of NGOs which have been affiliated with UNHCR since 1998 for providing emergency aid to refugees.
Nergis Ameer Khan, a case manager at ICMC, says UNHCR means everything to the refugees since Somali embassy in Islamabad and Pakistani authorities do not want to have anything to do with them. She says her organisation, therefore, understands the struggles and challenges the refugees faces during their stay in Pakistan.
Yet there is palpable tension between the Somalis and ICMC. For one, Khan says the refugees develop a dependency syndrome due to the regular financial assistance that they receive from the UNHCR and they refuse to learn any skills which may help their case for resettlement. “At times, they become aggressive,” she says, “especially when their demands for financial assistance get turned down for some reason”. She talks about a Somali woman who used to sit outside the ICMC office in protest for days after she lost the right to receive subsistence allowance due to the fact that her two adult sons were also receiving the assistance. “I told the guards to ignore her,” says Khan.
Coming from war-wrecked Somalia, Pakistan looked peaceful to him, even when it had, by then, acquired the dubious distinction of being the second-most dangerous country in the world.
She claims that her organisation does not prefer one set of refugees over others. “We try to give equal attention to all the refugees but sometimes they lodge complaints to UNHCR against us, accusing us of mistreating them,” she says and then adds: “These complaints are unwarranted.”
Officials at UNHCR say some complaints arise because the refugees want exemptions from certain rules and a speedier processing of their resettlement applications. Many of them insist that their applications be processed under the old rules which allowed whole families, including all those under the age of 21, to be resettled. These rules, however, have been changed after 2012 as authorities in countries like the US realised that mass resettlements were becoming a pull factor for creating more young and adult refugees from places such as Somalia.
With the changed rules, a large number of young refugees cannot be resettled elsewhere and have been left stranded in Pakistan. Farah is one such stranded Somali. “My wife has been resettled to the US. I am now waiting for my turn,” he says, uncertain if that will ever happen.
He has been leading protests to get the rules changed back to what they were a couple of years ago. Some of his fellow protesters, however, feel that demonstrations are not helpful any longer so they must take some other steps. People such as Mukhtar are now planning a hunger strike in front of the National Press Club in Islamabad. Their objective is straightforward — something must be done to speed up the process of their resettlement.
“We are tired of waiting,” says Mukhtar angrily.
This article was originally published in the Herald's August 2015 issue. To read more, subscribe to Herald in print.
M. Emad Aug 24, 2015 04:36pm
I met dozens of Somalian in Europe who came to Pakistan in 1980's and received higher education. They were full of praise for President General Zia who invited and offered them Islamic as well as (modern) higher education.
Soveriegntist Aug 24, 2015 04:47pm
Pakistan is a welcoming country, we're not racist. Somalis are nice people and we don't mind them here. This is proof to those Leftists and Afghan hyper-nationalists who think we're "inhospitable" or that we don't like refugees. We welcome refugees and migrants. Pakistan is a country partly built by immigrants but we don't stand people who hate our country, our people(s), our way of life and histories on our own soil or who scheme against the country or plan to create some "Loya whatever". Otherwise we're chill people and welcome everybody of every shade and hue.
pakistani Aug 24, 2015 05:15pm
Somalis are doing something productive in Pakistan as refugees as getting education while the Afghans are involved in terror activities.
Malik Aug 24, 2015 05:48pm
With the Pakistan economy in a tailspin, what are we doing letting these people into our country. The politically correct fools are destroying Pakistan.
Wise-man Aug 24, 2015 05:55pm
Please make note of two things in this article: 1) How Al-Shabab came into being (For all those who blame west for everything) 2) How a catholic institution supports these refugees and not any Islamic institution in this >97% Muslim country. Hilarious really!
shah Aug 24, 2015 06:15pm
Proud to know Pakistan is providing safe haven to these refugees who are in need.
ahmad waqas Aug 24, 2015 06:37pm
I have many friends from Somalia who studied with me in IIU Islamabad. All of them consider Pakistan as their second homeland and have always been thankful for the respect and hospitality they recieved here in Pakistan during their stay.
khan afsar Aug 24, 2015 06:54pm
@pakistani It's like you say 'everyone else is productive in the West, but Pakistanis are involved in terrorism', pathetic and negative thinking — generalising the whole people of Afghanistan. Afghanistan is the victim of terrorism itself.
Reality Check Aug 24, 2015 07:08pm
Why aren't refugees allowed to go to school or college? If this is a standard practice it's quite messed up and needs to change immediately; the poor people already have so many troubles can't have them near schools and colleges and not go there, that is just plain mean.
mohammad ali qurbani Aug 24, 2015 07:40pm
When their own Embassy is not willing to help them, then why does Islamabad allow the Somali Embassy to operate in our soil.
tamy Aug 24, 2015 08:05pm
Hope more Somalis are welcomed to Pakistan. Somalis are very similar to Pakistanis by nature. They should be given food, shelter and education free of cost by Pakistan government. They are also great soldiers. They should be allowed to marry Pakistanis and stay in Pakistan, this way better bond will grow.
Babar Aug 24, 2015 08:08pm
@Wise-man Try visiting IIUI to see how many of them are being helped. Ofcourse not all of them.
Arisha G Aug 24, 2015 08:22pm
Interesting read. I was unaware of this information that Islambad region houses Somalian Refugees and students.
saeeds Aug 24, 2015 08:44pm
@pakistani they might indulge in terror activities, but we already have so many other terrorists in the country that their contribution may not be noticeable.
Finland Aug 24, 2015 08:54pm
Finland has the largest Somali minority and they are very nice people. Even in Karachi, I met many Somalis, they are humble and nice people and of course in Islam they are our brothers. They are living peacefully in Pakistan and are not involved in mischief practices.
Anwar Siddique Aug 24, 2015 10:00pm
In the US Somalis consider themselves bigger thakidars of Islam than Pakistanis. Number of Somali youth have gone to Africa and Syria to join terrorist groups.
Atif Khan Aug 24, 2015 10:23pm
Just give them Pakistani citizenship and encourage them in soccer. One day we may see Somali-Pakistani's in our national soccer team
AVeryWise-man Aug 24, 2015 11:49pm
@Wise-man It is not hilarious at all.West should come out of the thought that they are the center of the universe. Please re-read and you will find that the Catholic institution is part of an allegiance of NGO's. "It is part of an alliance of NGOs which have been affiliated with UNHCR since 1998 for providing emergency aid to refugees. "
javed helali Aug 25, 2015 12:23am
Shouldn't Pakistan take its own stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh before doing anything for others? They are still waiting. Many of them have become BD citizens when the government gave them the offer. However, there are thousands of die hard Pakistanis who are still awaiting their repatriation to Pakistan, who i believe has the responsibility to take care of its citizens. javed helali
Raja Farhat Abbas Aug 25, 2015 12:55am
@Atif Khan I agree with you 100% they are a strong and brave people, to the ones who want it Pakistan citizenship should be given so that they can work, study and make a living.
Uzair Ahmad Khan Aug 25, 2015 02:21am
He can also earn to live by Freelancing :)
That 70's Vespa Aug 25, 2015 02:37am
I moved to G-10 in 2005. On my very first day I ventured out into the market looking for a CD to rent and ended up in ‘Mini Somalia’. I had no idea about the Somali (and also Sudanese) presence in G-10. All the shops in that small market were owned by Somalis/Sudanese. I hesitantly walked into the only video store with 4 Somali guys inside. I asked (in English) if they have Bollywood movies and they said no only Afrikaans. I came out flustered having no idea how I suddenly ended up in Africa :) Later I worked for several years and in East, West and Horn of Africa and came across several Somalis. Amongst their compatriots they are no doubt the smartest. I hope peace returns to Somalia and no-body ever have to leave their country and go through what they have been going through..
Abdi Aug 25, 2015 04:21am
I am a Somali, born in Karachi to refugee parents and raised in Islamabad. And I have always considered Pakistan to be my home and I think the Constitution of Pakistan grants me citizenship although I have yet to formally claim/exercise it. My Urdu is better than my Somali, and it was the language I spoke best until I was 14 (I am still perfectly fluent). My start in politics was in Pakistan with the flipflop between PML and PPP and of course General Musharraf's spectacular coup. Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were household names for us too. Got educated in the private schools there and you guys have no idea how grateful I am for that. It made me far superior academically to most of my Western peers. As a child, I only had Pakistani friends and I (almost) never felt like an outsider which I find to be interesting considering the racism I have to deal with in Europe. It pains me to see what has become of Pakistan lately and I pray to God I get the chance to visit my hometown again.
@mohammad ali qurbani a very valid question. One I'd like an answer to as well (I am Somali).
JohnDa Baptist. Aug 25, 2015 05:03am
We should take more Kashmiri refugees who are dying to come to Pakistan.
Somali Citizen Aug 25, 2015 05:05am
First of all I want to make it clear how thankful we are to the people of Pakistani for their brotherly welcome and sympathy they always show to our people in this country I call as my second country in all honesty, After that, My advice to this Huge outlet, Dawn to usually monitor and have interview with credible people because past two months in have read another article with this one and some of the points which is being related to us ridiculously fake and totally far from the truth, At the end, I read all the comments under this article and many thanks to the guys for their good comments about us. Viva Pakistan.
bittertruth Aug 25, 2015 05:33am
A recent US research ranked liveability in Pakistan worse than Somalia
Musa Aug 25, 2015 10:44am
As a Somali I am grateful to Pakistan for the support it renders to my fellow Somalis in Pakistan. Pakistan Zindabad
Noor ud dean Aug 25, 2015 04:27pm
Somali people did not came to Pakistan for trouble but instead hoping for a better life. We are well wishers to Pakistan's peace and prosperity. Pakistan has various cultures which add taste to the way of life here, which is way similar to the way of life in Somalia. We need to keep in mind that our Pakistani brothers have welcomed us and we live in peace and harmony. As you have noticed from reading the above article ,which is great, we also welcome our guests and treat them with most respect. Where ever I go Pakistan was the part of my life that made me who I am.
Jatt Aug 25, 2015 08:55pm
@tamy Is this a Joke.
Abdi Ahmed Aug 26, 2015 05:40pm
I am from Somalia and I live in Islamabad as student. First of all, the article is lacking the truth. Somalis who are living in Pakistan are not only refugees. They are few numbers who are registered as refugee. This is the second time that I am reading this kind of fabricated stories. As I already mentioned, the huge numbers of Somali living in Pakistan are students not refugees. And if you want to get proof of this you must visit university campuses in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and etc. _Pakistan Zindabad.
Abdul Qadri Aug 26, 2015 09:22pm
I have been in the City of Lights, the big and beautiful Karachi for about 5 years. I have got respect and brotherhood from Pakistani People> I always try to pay Pakistanis back for what they have done for us (Somalis). Here in Somalia I see many Pakistani citizens working development projects, i treat like my own brothers. I have still good friends in Pakistan. Pakistan Zindabad.
@pakistani Thank you my friend. I appreciated your comment.
@ahmad waqas I am one of the studends who graduated from IIUI. And this kinda story isn't reflecting the truth. Somalis living in Pakistan are mostly students who met at IIUI. Some persons who want to go abroad are those who behind this fabricated stories and want to damage the name of Somalia and Pakistan too. Thanks to Pakistani people and their government for hosting us brotherly.
maahir Aug 26, 2015 10:01pm
Well it is nice to say thanks the Pakistani people and the government; I do appreciate the humble and generous way you people deal with us when all other (including Muslim) countries closed their hand and watched us. You and your government welcomed us in to your country, I really don't know how we can thank you. No matter what hardships we are passing through since so long, one day we will be united and overcome all the constraints we are facing. And note dear brothers and sisters of Pakistan, we are always your side and Pakistan is our second home as Somalia is your second home because we are there. I am one of those students who graduated from a public university in Pakistan but now I am in another country for further studies but I do wish to visit Pakistan again. I wish peace and prosperity to Pakistan forever, with good and strong governance.
abdi Aug 26, 2015 11:18pm
I would like thank the Pakistani people and government for their brotherly hospitally they have offered us, this is coming from a Somali student who is currently living and studying in Pakistan for the last 4 years, in possession of a passport with valid visas on self finance based studies. Most Somali people in Pakistan are students on self-financing their studies. Yes, there are less fortunate ones, but the embassy and students union do their best to ensure their well-being. I want everyone to know that things are not always as reported in this article only those who fall short of resources resort to refugees status with the UNHCR.
mohamud Aug 29, 2015 02:34pm
@mohammad ali qurbani The Somali embassy helps Somalis here more than you know. But they have rules, some of which the asylum seekers cannot live with.
Simba Nov 30, 2016 05:31pm
@M. Emad As well as free training , like Abdul Razak Ali Artan, who became well known after the car-ramming incident in Ohio university campus. He lived in Pakistan for seven years before moving to the US with his family in 2014. It is natural that Somalis would be all praise for the facilities and training they got in Pakistan.
kuamr Nov 30, 2016 07:12pm
@JohnDa Baptist. Nice thought. I hope it is true.
ABDULAH Nov 30, 2016 08:03pm
this somalian boy is my friend :),he is in G-10/4... too much somalians here un G-10 sector
HOPE Nov 30, 2016 08:24pm
@M. Emad : This is the reason for rise of nationalist like Trump in western world. for next few decades, the whole west including US, UK, Fance, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Hungary, Russia and portions of east, Myanmar, Thailand, Srilanka , China etc. are going to cleanse themselves.
Sohail Khan Gem Nov 30, 2016 09:24pm
Most welcome Somali brethren and sisters. Pakistan is your second home. Feel free.
Ayaz Munir Dec 01, 2016 03:10pm
A history of welcoming Millions of Afghans(Largest Refugee Population Ever), Millions of Bangladeshis , Numerous Burmese and of course Lots of Somalis shows how much open we Pakistanis as a nation are. Today throughout Pakistan , you will find people from every corner of South Asia in Large Numbers, I will have to say we Pakistanis love everyone. Pakistan Zindabad
ahmad Dec 01, 2016 03:31pm
@Abdi i am also somalil in lahore living here for almost 10 yrs no doupt pakistan is like our home , although i was not born here and came after maturity , i can say lahore is unlike any other place , lahore is my soul . by the way abdi my name is ahmad
Sajjad Dec 01, 2016 04:25pm
@Abdi Brother, wish you the best. I deal with lots of Somali people in the UK and they are great. I don't consider Somali's to be different from Pakistani's, culturally we are quite the same,
Taimoor khan Dec 01, 2016 10:21pm
@Wise-man pathetic Indian logic. Mind your own business and try to sort our own issues. Rather appreciating Pakistan which is accepting refugees from all over the world, for which India is hardly known, you should be thankful that a Muslim country is allowing a Christian charity to work without any discrimination unlike India where Christian organisations are targeted by Hindu extremists.
Heart warming to see many Somalians praising Pakistan and it's people. There was an international survey conducted recently which revealed that Pakistan is the least racist country in the world. An eye opener to rest of the world and Afghans is particular. Afghans should have some introspection and see how things have come to present situation.
Aleem Dec 01, 2016 11:12pm
@Abdi You are welcome back in Pakistan any time and things Alhamdolillah are looking up for Pakistan.
Ijaz Dec 02, 2016 03:33pm
@Wise-man It is laudable that NGOs (Christian or otherwise) are supporting these refugees. The article mentioned one organisation which happened to be Christian. That is not a reason to make an unsound abstraction and assume Muslim charities are doing nothing - they are, just in different areas and not mentioned in the article. Don't jump to conclusions
Amer Dec 03, 2016 08:50am
@Reality Check It's your type of thinking which led to the rise of Trump in the USA. It's called ultra nationalism, and it's a very ignorant viewpoint. If Pakistanis are allowed visas to settle in USA, Canada, Europe, why can't Somalis have the same freedom afforded to you. You are not better than anyone in the world. God created all equally. I welcome other nationals allowed to come in Pakistan and hopefully create a MORE diverse country. A melting pot of decent, educated people who are wiling to work hard and contribute creates an advanced society. Look in USA, Europe, South American countries. Pakistan is a third world state. Why? One of the key reasons is the lack of tolerance and inclusion of others. Forget corruption, and politics for a minute. We need to open our country to others and businesses as well, else, we will always be a depressed society.
Ismail Dec 03, 2016 10:51am
To all the Somali complaining of hardship let us know when your people plan to compensate the 24 Pakistani soldiers who were butchered when they went to inspect a weapons depot in Mogadishu in 1993 under the flag of the UN. What about the 16 Pakistani sailors kept by Somali pirates for one year who were saved by the Danish Navy in 2010. Also from the comments section please get over this Pakistani disease of offering our passport to every person that turns up on our shores or is born here. Haven't we learned our lesson from 40 years of ungrateful Afghanis?


IPitimi: Connecting Businesses, the IP Way
CIOREVIEW >> Contact Center >>
Greg Nielsen, Founder and CEO The Blackrock Desert in Northern Nevada has no inhabitants, water, electricity and, no internet or phone service, but for innovative entrepreneur Greg Nielsen and his company IPitimi (pronounced like epitome), it is all in a day’s work. During the annual Burning Man festival approximately 80,000 people gather in the Black Rock desert creating what becomes the sixth largest city in Nevada during the period known as “Black Rock City”. The whole point for Burning Man is about extreme self-reliance in such harsh conditions where, understandably, there shouldn’t be communications, but the work Nielsen and his company do, isn’t for them anyway. Just a mile outside of Black Rock City on the same dusty desert floor is another camp established by the Federal Department of the Interior where more than 250 federal agents from the Bureau of Land Management, DOT, State, County and local law enforcement as well as medical services rely on IPitimi to communicate with each other and with the rest of the world. IPitimi’s innovative voice and fax technology is at the core of a global satellite company named Lyman Communications that engineered a broadband solution for these mission critical services, emergency medical facilities, mobile command centers, BLM logistics and even a jail. “It takes an extremely flexible as well as extremely stable and reliable solution in order for IPitimi to continually be selected for such deployments,” remarks Nielsen, IPitimi Founder and CEO.
It’s more than just providing stability and reliability, the IPitimi voice solution is so quick and easy to deploy, that it is also used in the same manner by the U.S. Forest service for a rapid deployment system for emergency and first responders when an outbreak or fire occurs. Recently, IPitimi‘s solution was deployed at the Fish Fire Camp in California where its VoIP solution supported voice and fax communications for more than 500 fire, medical and emergency response personnel in the middle of the mountains during the raging California wild fires. This is only one of the examples of how quickly their solution can be deployed as well as the mission critical nature of IPitimi’s deployments for its customers.
As a driven entrepreneur, Nielsen’s solutions have been deployed all over the world, in places much more remote than even Burning Man, in the middle of the Gobi Desert, in Mongolia to be specific. Obviously, this isn’t the real world for the rest of us, but it is a great summary of his entrepreneurship and innovation. IPitimi is getting noticed worldwide because of the types of deployments that they do every day in a very diverse range of industries. Some of their call center customers are well known travel and hospitality providers, while other notable contact centers use IPitimi to assist emergency room doctors and nurses in hospitals around the country in the programing and maintenance of life saving pace makers. Other customers are a city municipality wherein IPitimi went in two years ago and fixed another company’s failed deployment across the city. More specifically in the police, fire, and emergency dispatch contact center, where still today, IPitimi provides the call recording, internet, and telephony services that they operate 24/7. In many cases with IPitimi, it’s more than just mission critical, its life or death. “We treat all of our customers with the same high degree of service availability because a customer’s business, whatever it is, is the most important thing to them,” remarks Nielsen.
Nielsen has a track record of thinking differently, and it started when he was young. He’s been recognized
for participation in startup and entrepreneurial competitions since he was in High School. In his early 20’s, he was a finalist in a statewide college entrepreneurial competition. In 2012, he was named by YMBL to the Austin 40 under 40, and just last year in Vienna, Austria at the Pioneers Festival, Nielsen was awarded the winner of the StartupBus Europe competition with thousands of applicants and hundreds of participants from dozens of countries around the world for a WebRTC communications product he built with a team of 3 others in less than 72 hours.
Bringing Businesses and their Customers Closer
At its core, IPitimi is a hosted and UC services provider. IPitimi has standardized on and leveraged the industry best UC platforms built by the likes of Broadsoft. The company offers a cloud-based UC platform that brings together communication services like IM, presence, voice and video calls, multi-party video collaboration, and desktop sharing in real-time to enhance team efficiency and boost productivity. The platform keeps distributed and mobile teams connected across locations and time zones, so that the contact centers can act immediately on business opportunities and respond quickly to customer requests. It can also integrate into existing CRM systems, eliminating silos of corporate information and reporting. “With hosted UC, contact centers can reduce network bottlenecks, simplify call routing, and eliminate sizable CAPEX spending,” claims Nielsen.
Delivering a Seamless Automation Experience
IPitimi offers the industry’s most powerful Interactive Voice Response and voice automation system in a geo-redundant cloud-based architecture that also works with legacy systems or as a component of one of its more advanced installations. This enables the company to provide a seamless automated experience for client’s customers who can use their telephone to update accounts, change reservations or manage just about anything that could be done with a computer or a live agent. “Adding voice automation to contact centers is a huge advantage. For this purpose, businesses come to us with a wide range of legacy ERP or CRM systems that they can’t break away from, so we help them make it work,” says Rick Dubois, CFO, IPitimi.
However, adding voice automation to existing enterprise software is easier said than done and it often costs millions of dollars. The process requires a matter of understanding the data warehouse location and exchanging some secure credentials with system connectors and the rest of the time is spent determining what data businesses want to share or capture. The same is true for other elements of the customer contact center where every business has their own workflow or preferred methods. “We can map out all these needs and fit this into any of their existing ERP or CRM system like a set of Lego blocks,” says Nielsen.
Unleashing the Business Opportunities
As many contact centers can be limited geographically or by workforce issues, IPitimi can seamlessly connect multiple contact centers reducing the limitations put on a particular business. “We can have contact centers all over the world seamlessly connected helping them to follow-the-sun, moving workloads to different geographic locations to efficiently balance resources and demand,” says Dubois. Businesses can easily design call flows, call queues or follow-the-sun routing without trying to re-create it on a location by location basis. Rather than waiting months for the proper infrastructure, local and long distance circuits, deployment, and management of premise based systems at each location, which seldom talk to each other, IPitimi’s solution can help setup contact centers the same day. “Just like we do for our emergency responder deployments, but instead it’s to save a business, rather than lives,” states Nielsen. For a contact center, this can save millions on deployments, corresponding management, and eliminate their significant time to market delay expenses. Best of all,
they will never have to forklift out their architecture again, because IPitimi provides all of the software upgrades and maintenance. “We also build open communication with our clients and help them innovate and develop their own long-term strategy with our open API’s and systems, so it is still their system, not just ours,” remarks Nielsen.
Business Intelligence for Thorough Contact Center Insights
IPitimi’s Business Intelligence (BI) helps contact centers know how they work, when they are most efficient, and who is most efficient. BI provides reports detailing number of phone calls received and from whom on a daily, monthly and yearly basis. When translated and shown in an easy-to-read graph and series of reports, this data shows more than just phone line, staffing, and system needs, it shows market demands, advertising campaign effectiveness and more.
Building the Geo-redundant VoIP Networks
“IPitimi operates a national 100 percent IP based network,” says Nielsen. IPitimi’s VoIP backbone features best-of-breed engineering and a geographically redundant super-nodes architecture to ensure that every single connection and call runs over its private network. The company’s systems are built on industry best Cisco, Broadsoft, Acme Packet, Sonus and General Bandwidth as part of its technology. “We are pioneers in IP Telephony, and our current architecture and network design does amazing things to help manage packet loss, jitter, and latency regardless of location or bandwidth provider,” extols Nielsen.
Services that Keep VoIP Ticking
“Most providers install VoIP service and expect it to work and then rely upon customers to manage their network appropriately,” says Nielsen. “But VoIP service in a corporate network is like a ‘canary in a coalmine’—it’s the first thing to give indications that something bad is happening elsewhere.” IPitimi has advanced systems that monitor not only its own VoIP network and each of its elements, but also each of the customer’s network, including LAN and WAN traffic, Router CPU utilization, and network quality and speed.
Furthering the Inroads into Contact Center Excellence
IPitimi serves clients from all over the world with more than 70 percent of its customer revenue derived from a half dozen countries outside of the U.S. IPitimi’s full service network communications and engineering specialization are consumed by medium to Fortune 1000 companies. The company also has opened offices around the world to provide round the clock support to its rapidly growing base of customers that expect the same mission critical support to them that they provide to their own customers, clients, constituents or patients.
With hosted UC, contact centers can reduce network bottlenecks, simplify call routing, and eliminate sizable CAPEX spending
IPitimi is furthering its expansions in the contact center market by leveraging real-time communications or WebRTC—a technology that supports browser-to-browser applications for voice calling, video chat, and P2P file sharing. In addition, IPitimi is working towards adaptation of mobility in the contact center where people will no longer be tied down to a desk, but will be able to work effortlessly without the encumbrance of a keyboard or mouse.
IPitimi
Greg Nielsen, Founder and CEO and Rick Dubois, CFO. Ravi Vedantam, CTO. Jenn Smith, VP Operations. Alan Pourafzal, VP Engineering and Support.
IPitimi is a leading IP services provider merging advanced voice applications with cloud, offering end-to-end IP telephony over one of the largest all IP networks in the world.
https://contact-center.cioreview.com/vendor/2015/ipitimi


Hidden Portola Valley
Neighborhood walking: All about the Chilean Woodchopper’s House
by Nancy Lund on April 15, 2020
When you take a drive down Portola Road — or walk along its adjacent pathway — you will see a little white house in a sadly decrepit state. It stands at 683 Portola Road, close by the road between the Jelich Ranch buildings and Springdown Equestrian Center. It is known as the Chilean Woodchopper’s House.
What to do with it has been an ongoing question in Portola Valley for many years. Portola Valley is a town that cherishes its heritage and rural ambiance. This building, humble as it is, is one of only two that have survived from the earliest days of permanent habitation of the valley — 150 years. (Zotts is the other.) It also links the town to the greater story of California and even to the broader world.
At the end of the 19th century and into the early years of the twentieth, Portola Valley was home to immigrants from many countries, folks who came to try for a better life in a fertile and beautiful valley. Some worked for the few grand estates in the neighborhood. Most were small farmers. They came from Italy, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, China, the Philippines, Croatia and more.
After the Mexican ranchero family, the earliest foreign residents were the Chileans. They were among the first to arrive in the gold fields when the word spread of the big 1848 discovery. However, they were driven from the gold country in short order by extreme prejudice.
Fernando Purcell, a Chilean who received a PhD from UC Davis in 2004, has published two articles based upon his research. Their titles provide a clue to the mood of those times: “Too Many Foreigners For My Taste: Law, Race and Ethnicity in California, 1848-1852” and “Hanging Bodies, Slashed Ears and Bottled Heads: Lynching, Punishment and Race in the California Gold Rush, 1848-1853.”
Imagine how those Chileans must have felt when they reached San Francisco and discovered that they couldn’t get home. The bay was clogged with abandoned ships whose crews were searching for gold themselves.
Somehow, a few of the Chileans connected with Maximo Martinez, the grantee of Rancho el Corte de Madera, the land that became Portola Valley. Here is their story as a grandson of Martinez told it to Dorothy Regnery and separately to San Mateo County historian, Alan K. Brown in the late 1960s.
Martinez hired the Chileans to cut willows along Sausal Creek to make charcoal for the burgeoning San Francisco market. (Sausal means willow; this same interviewee reported that willows in the valley were then as thick as hairs on a dog’s back.) His account and those of other old-timers report that five or six huts were scattered on the valley floor to house the woodchoppers.
The sad little building at 683 Portola Road is the only one of those humble huts that remains. It was moved to its present site in 1916 by the Jelichs to serve as a ranch hands’ home, and so it served until the Jelichs sold their property. The current owners have no use for it and have offered it to the town, but there is no place to relocate it. It is questionable if it is sturdy enough to be relocated. So there it sits, a reminder of earlier times.
Angela Hey April 16, 2020 at 12:04 pm
Maybe the current owners should lease it on a long term lease to a trust or the town that can raise money to fix it. Then another organization can become operators and use it as a rest stop for hikers and bikers selling coffees and teas and baked goods. Given the revival of the Alpine Inn and the old Schoolhouse, it would be good to have a use for it where it stands and compensate the owners adequately.
chad May 05, 2020 at 1:08 pm
Leave it as is.
April June 08, 2020 at 9:58 pm
My grandparents lived on the Jelich ranch for years. They raised their family there. He was the ranch hand for the property along with my uncle. My aunt, my grandmothers sister, lived in the little house.
Pat Mc June 12, 2020 at 11:14 am
Are you part of the Ortega family? This historical account is missing their story…
Nancy Lund June 13, 2020 at 8:46 pm
April, I don’t know much about the Ortegas, only that they lived there and I think one of them drowned. I would love to know the names of your relatives who lived there and some stories about their lives. Any possibilities?


Inaugural Breandán Ó Buachalla Memorial Lecture: “Gaeilge anois labharfar: Travails of the Irish Language”
Time: Thu Mar 27, 2014, 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Cormac Ó Gráda is Emeritus Professor of Economics at University College Dublin. His major books include Ireland: A New Economic History 1780-1939 (1994), Jewish Ireland in the Age of Joyce (2006) and Famine: A Short History (2009). Co-editor of the European Review of Economic History, Professor Ó Gráda is a member of the Irish Economic and Social History Society as well as the Royal Irish Academy, where he received the Academy's Gold Medal in 2010.
Breandan Ó Buachalla (1936-2010) was the first Thomas J. and Kathleen M. O’Donnell Chair of Irish Language and Literature and a premier scholar of Irish culture, literature and linguistics. Instrumental to the success of Notre Dame’s Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies and its Irish Language and Literature department, this memorial lecture series honors a revered colleague and friend.


WA to build stormwater harvesting plant
The Federal Government has announced $3 million in funding for the construction of a stormwater harvesting and reuse plant in Western Australia that will save up to 745 million litres of drinking water per year by 2014.
Matched with $3 million in funding from the City of Greater Geraldton, the plant will be constructed under the City of Greater Geraldton's Stormwater Harvesting and Efficiency Project.
The project will also implement water efficiency measures such as installing more efficient irrigation systems and developing a water conservation plan.
Royal opening of Brisbane stormwater centre
Rain Bank, Brisbane’s new stormwater harvesting and reuse centre, has been officially opened by Her Majesty the Queen.
$16 million for Victorian waterway repairs
The Victorian Government has committed $16 million for a range of flood recovery works and waterway repairs of damage caused by flood earlier in the year.
John Gunn appointed as CEO of AIMS
Marine scientist John Gunn has been announced as the new CEO of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS).
Agreement to protect the Hawkesbury-Nepean River
The University of Western Sydney, TAFE Western Sydney Institute and the Hawkesbury Environmental Network (HEN) have signed an agreement to contribute to protecting and maintaining the health and vitality of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River.
Draft plan for Namoi water released
The New South Wales Government is calling for local farmers, industry groups and the wider community to comment on the draft Namoi water sharing plan for the area’s unregulated rivers and alluvial groundwater.
WA storm water research node launched
The Western Australian Node of the Monash University-led Cities as Water Supply Catchments Research Program has been launched in Perth as a co-operative initiative between the University of Western Australia and Monash University.
Victoria releases Anglesea River findings
The Victorian Government has released the findings of an independent review into water quality issues in the Anglesea River.
Official Barwon-Darling water trading to begin
The New South Wales Water Commisioner, David Harriss, has announced that the formal rules governing water entitlements and allocations for the Barwon-Darling Unregulated River in the State’s far north-west are now in place.
NSW announces revision to Snowy water licences
The New South Wales Water Commissioner David Harriss has revealed adjustments to the Snow Hydro’s water licence arrangements with an aim to better benefit water users and the environment.
Commission urges investment in water science
The National Water Commission has called for the formation of a national water science strategy in its third National Water Initiative report.
NWC announces new chief executive
The National Water Commission (NWC) has appointed James Cameron as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Northern Victoria irrigation agreement signed
The Commonwealth and Victorian governments have announced a new agreement that will deliver the country’s largest irrigation infrastructure renewal project.
Adelaide Desalination Plant starts production
The Adelaide Desalination Plant has started preliminary operations as water produced by the plant enters the state’s network.
Productivity Commission issues final report on urban water sector
The Productivity Commission has released its final report on Australia’s urban water sector following a year-long investigative inquiry to consider the case for further reform in the sector.
Think tank addresses stressed water ecosystems
A team of sixty physical, natural and social scientists from around Australia have participated in the Theo Murphy High Flyers Think Tank aimed at assisting in policy generation for managing the country’s most stressed ecosystems.
WA completes first stage of smart water metering system
The Western Australian Government has announced the completion of the first stage of a trial to install and monitor new smart meters in 24 households in Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
Queensland legislation to grant councils direct water management
The Queensland Government has introduced legislation before parliament that will allow direct management of water and wastewater services to be returned to the Gold Coast, Logan and Redland Councils.
Construction of Hobart's Marine and Antarctic Studies research centre set to begin
Construction of the new $45 million Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) development on Hobart’s waterfront is set to proceed, with the demolition of the Princes Wharf No. 2 Shed (PW2) expected to be completed next month.
Queensland completes revision of North Pine Dam Manual
Seqwater and the Dam Safety unit within Queensland’s Department of Environment and Resource Management have completed an interim review and approval of the North Pine flood mitigation manual in line with the recommendations of the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry interim report.
Victoria announces terms of reference for marine assessment council
The Victorian Government has tabled the final Terms-of-Reference for the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council investigation into the state’s existing marine parks and other marine protected areas.


NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope completes testing at Goddard
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) artist’s concept. Image Credit: NASA
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) successfully completed the center of curvature test, a crucial optical measurement of the telescope’s primary mirror prior to cryogenic testing, and the final test at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The spacecraft will be shipped to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for more testing.
“The Webb telescope is about to embark on its next step in reaching the stars as it has successfully completed its integration and testing at Goddard,” said Bill Ochs, NASA’s Web telescope project manager. “It has taken a tremendous team of talented individuals to get to this point from all across NASA, our industry and international partners, and academia. It is also a sad time as we say goodbye to the Webb Telescope at Goddard, but [we] are excited to begin cryogenic testing at Johnson.”
JWST will experience high levels of noise and vibration during the rocket launch that will carry into space. Engineers at Goddard tested the space telescope in vibration and acoustics test facilities that simulate the launch environment to ensure that functionality is not impaired by the stresses of a rocket ride into space.
Optical engineers set up an interferometer, the main device used to measure the shape of the telescope’s mirror, both before and after the environmental tests. An interferometer records and measures the ripple patterns that result when different beams of light mix and their waves combine or “interfere”.
Waves of visible light are less than a thousandth of a millimeter long. The optics on JWST must be shaped and aligned even more accurately than that to function properly.
Using lasers to measure the mirror’s shape prevents physical contact that could scratch the mirror. By measuring light reflected off of the optics using an interferometer, scientists are able to measure extremely small changes in shape or position that may occur after exposing the mirror to a simulated launch or temperatures that simulating the subfreezing environment of space.
Temperature and humidity conditions in the clean room were kept incredibly stable during testing to minimize fluctuations in the optics over time. To compensate for the tiny vibrations that remained, the interferometer is a “high-speed” one that takes 5,000 frames per second, a faster rate than the vibrations themselves. This allows engineers to subtract out vibrations and get clean results of any change in the mirror’s shape.
“Some people thought it would not be possible to measure beryllium mirrors of this size and complexity in a clean room to these levels, but the team was incredibly ingenious in how they performed these measurements and the results give us great confidence we have a fantastic primary mirror,” said Lee Feinberg, Webb’s telescope optical element manager.
The JWST will be shipped to Johnson Space Center for optical testing in a vacuum at extremely cold temperatures. Then the spacecraft will go to Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach, California, for final assembly and testing before launch in 2018.
The James Webb Space Telescope completed its environmental testing at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Photo Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
Tagged: Goddard Space Flight Center James Webb Space Telescope NASA The Range


Article I, Section 02, Clause 1-2
Article I, Section 02, Clause 1-2, The Original Documents, The United States Constitution 2. The Constitution, Article I Section 02 Clause 1-2
https://constitutingamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo_web_360x80.png 0 0 Janine Turner and Cathy Gillespie https://constitutingamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo_web_360x80.png Janine Turner and Cathy Gillespie2013-11-13 12:42:322013-12-06 11:30:00Article I, Section 02, Clause 1-2
Horace Cooper, Senior Fellow with the Heartland Institute, and author of our “90 in 90” Article I, Section 2, Clause 1-2 Essay,
Analyzing the Constitution in 90 Days 2011 Project, Article I, Section 02, Clause 1-2, Horace Cooper
Interview with Janine Turner on the Janine Turner Radio Show
Horace Cooper, Senior Fellow with the Heartland Institute, and author of our “90 in 90” Article I, Section 2, Clause 1-2 Essay, visits with Janine Turner on the Janine Turner Radio Show, Saturday, July 30 on DFW’s KLIF. Listen as they discuss Mr. Cooper’s essay on Article I, Section 2, Clause 1-2 found in Constituting America’s Analyzing the Constitution project at this link:
https://constitutingamerica.org/?p=714
Listen to Horace’s analysis of an important detail that was not addressed when the 17th Amendment was passed!
Article I, Section 2, Clause 1-2 of the United States Constitution
August 12, 2011 /0 Comments/by Janine Turner and Cathy Gillespie
https://constitutingamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo_web_360x80.png 0 0 Janine Turner and Cathy Gillespie https://constitutingamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo_web_360x80.png Janine Turner and Cathy Gillespie2011-08-12 15:50:362020-03-14 20:30:29Horace Cooper, Senior Fellow with the Heartland Institute, and author of our "90 in 90" Article I, Section 2, Clause 1-2 Essay,
Article I, Section 02, Clause 1-2 of the United States Constitution
Analyzing the Constitution in 90 Days 2011 Project, Article I, Section 02, Clause 1-2, Horace Cooper 1. The Federalist Papers, 2. The Constitution, 11. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, Article I Section 02 Clause 1-2, Federalist No. 52, Horace Cooper
Guest Essayist: Horace Cooper, Senior Fellow with the Heartland Institute
Article I, Section 2, Clause 1-2
The House of Representatives or the people’s house was created by design to be the most democratic body and the legislative chamber closest to the public. It is the larger of the two chambers and its elections the most frequent at the federal level.
In his essay on the “Original Contract” philosopher David Hume in 1752 said “The people, if we trace government to its first origin in the woods and deserts, are the source of all power and jurisdiction, and voluntarily, for the sake of peace and order, abandoned their native liberty and received laws from their equal and companion.” The design and make up of the House reflects this view.
James Madison mentions in Federalist #52, the design and make up of the House of Representatives is predicated on the notion of a republican form of government. As Madison points out: “It is a received and well-founded maxim, that where no other circumstances affect the case, the greater the power is, the shorter ought to be its duration.”
“…Members chosen every second year” ensures that House members will be appropriately responsive to the public. If the elections were more frequent there is the risk that House Members would stay in a perpetual election mode – constantly campaigning and less able to exercise their judgment and wisdom. On the other hand if the elections were held less frequently there was the risk that the House Members might exercise their personal judgments too and simultaneously the public might find it harder to hold them accountable due to the length of time between elections as passions and memories subside.
The two year cycle provides a happy medium that ensures accountability while also giving House members some limited ability to juxtapose their own judgment on policy matters.
The next provision establishes the Constitutional requirements for being a voter in a federal House election. The founders could have established an independent requirement or it could have authorized Congress to do so. Instead they took a third way – establishing that whatever voting requirements the states created for their own state assemblies would be used for the Federal House of Representatives election. The provision specifically requires that federal voters meet the same requirement needed to vote for the larger branch of the state legislature – typically the state House.
Thus, if a state required you to be a resident for 5 years and a property holder in order to vote in state legislative elections, that standard would apply in order to vote in federal House elections. Conversely if another state required voters merely to pay a fee in order to vote in state legislative races then there could be no additional restrictions for voting in the federal elections.
Instead of states being able to interfere with federal elections or vice-versa, the citizens in each state find that the requirements for voting for state and federal elections are identical.
The Constitution sets the age for House members at 25 years for a few reasons. The age of 25 recognizes that younger individuals have a natural right to influence the political process and participate in the decision making while ensuring that all of those serving in government possess the necessary maturity, experience, and competence to perform effectively.
The citizenship requirement is equally interesting. The Constitution does not require the individual to be a “natural born citizen” – only a citizen of the U.S. for 7 years. While Congress has the authority to define the requirements for U.S. Citizenship, the Constitution only requires that a House member meet that standard for at least 7 years.
At the same time that the individual must be a citizen of the U.S. for 7 years, the requirement to represent a district within a state is not 7 years as a state resident. Note that the standard for the candidate is that he or she must be “an inhabitant” of the state – i.e. a person who has established his domicile. Often disputes arise over whether a candidate actually lives in the district that he or she is running in. But there is no legal recourse at the federal level – the Constitution only requires that he or she live in the state not in the county or district where the federal election is being held.
This section endorses a notion that is replete within all parts of the Constitution – a republican form of government ensures the people’s liberty is maintained. In this case the liberty of the people is safeguarded through clearly defined rules for holding elections and candidate requirements.
Horace Cooper is a senior fellow with the Heartland Institute http://www.heartland.org/
Posted in Analyzing the Constitution Essay Archives | 19 Comments »
19 Responses to “February 23, 2011 – Article I, Section 2, Clause 1-2 of the United States Constitution – Guest Essayist: Horace Cooper, Senior Fellow with the Heartland Institute”
“The greater the power the shorter the term should be”, wow! how true! Best argument I’ve heard for term limits if I ever heard one!
Janine and Cathy,
Are you going to be writing your daily essays again? I miss your wisdom that you shared with the Fed Papers.
Shannon_Atlanta says:
I was wondering , since each state can make its own rules on voting, would it be upheld as Constitutional if my state of Georgia decided one must have earned income to vote?
Janine Turner says:
Mr.Cooper, I thank you for being our guest scholar and dedicating your time
to write this most informative essay. Isn’t this fun?!
I learned so much. I realize that when I read the Constitution there is so much to
absorb and thus I skip over certain parts such as the requirements for the “voter”
are maintained at the state level. I always thought this section dealt with requirements for the representative only, yet, I now know it also deals with the requirements of the voter!
Also interesting that the representative merely has to live in the state
but not the district. Fascinating!
The quotes from Madison and David Hume resonate as do your words in the closing paragraph, “a republican form of government ensures the people’s liberty is maintained. In this case the liberty of the people is safeguarded through clearly defined rules for holding elections and candidate requirements.” Is the constitution relevant?
Yes!!! Thanks Mr.Cooper
Mary Oprea says:
It’s interesting that our US Reps can be as young as 25. I wondered how many were actually this young, so I did some research.
According to Wikipedia (“List of current members of the United States House of Representatives by age and generation”), we have 0 reps from the Millennial Generation who would be in that age bracket. The majority of our Reps are Boomers, born from 1943-1960. Only 28% of the Reps are younger than the Boomers (“Generation X”).
It looks like our younger generation are busy getting their education (which usually requires more than 4 years these days) and establishing their homes. However, the cost of running in an election could be an impediment also.
GI Generation:1901 – 1924 (1 rep)
Silent Generation: 1925 – 1942 (58 reps)
Boomer Generation: 1943 – 1960 (254 reps)
Generation X: 1961 – 1981 (120 reps)
Millennial Generation: 1982 – 2003 (0 reps)
Vacant – 2
Question for Mr. Cooper. The idea of a two year term for the “people’s house” is that voters can throw them out if they are not representing the voters. Some of our representatives have spent their entire work life in the House. Many of us believe that service as a member of the House should not be a career choice. In my case, I think one should not spent more than half an estimated 40 year work life as a career politician. Are we barking up the wrong tree with respect to the original intent of the writers of the Constitution when we press for term limits, since the representatives must be representing the voters as the voters wish if they are reelected for more than 20 terms?
Cutler says:
Thank you very much, Mr. Cooper for your insightful essay. I must now turn my thanks to Mr. James Madison in his quote: “the greater the power is, the shorter ought to be its duration.” It is completely this attitude that the founding Fathers had when forming this country, not “Just how much government intrusion will the American public tolerate?” Washington (D.C.) has rotated a complete 180 degrees from limiting power originally to seeing how far it can stretch it while still giving lip service to the Constitution.
Shelby Seymore says:
I agree with you Cutler. Obama (and his wife!) have overstepped their boundries one to many times for my taste, yet nobody sees this. It seems with this president four years is too long in power. The main problem is that the people are so unaware of these happenings they can’t see straight into the trap they are walking into. I believe the entire system needs to collapse so we start over, it’s not the ideal choice, but it will open people’s eyes.
H Cooper says:
Shannon asks an interesting question as to whether the State of Georgia could require a person to have “earned income” in order to vote in the state assembly and thereby require a similar rule for federal elections. While no longer applicable today due to the adoption of the 15th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, when the Constitution was first created states had broad power to determine what constituted an eligible voter. Today the 15th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act effectively mean that states have limited ability to restrict voting because the VRA prohibits states from imposing any “voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure … to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.”
Scott Miller says:
It would be nice if there was a printable version of each essay available as well as a version that could be emailed to freinds and family not aware of Constituting America’s study of the U.S. Constitution!
a guy says:
Are you actually suggesting that we take voting rights away from legal, law abiding citizens if they are without income? What if they’re disabled or going to school or college on social security survivor benefits?
And personally, though I am anything but a supporter of Obama, the last thing I want to see is for our entire system to “collapse”. Things are bad enough as they are now.
Barb Zakszewski says:
thanks to Mr. Cooper for his insightful analysis of this Article and Section and putting it into an historical context. 2 year terms for House of Representative members, 2 years being seen as a happy medium between perpetual campaigning and becoming less responsive to the people they represent. Unfortunately, most House members today are more concerned with keeping their jobs and are in perpetual campaign mode, then in doing anything of substance. I’m wondering if maybe a Constitutional amendment to increase the term of a House of Representative to 3 or 4 years might be in order. Get them to focus on the tasks at hand instead of worrying about re-election, at least for a little while.
ThreeDogs says:
“the greater the power is, the shorter ought to be its duration.”
Was there general agreement on this among the founders?
If so they must have thought that the most powerful body would be the the House, followed by the Executive branch, followed by the Senate and then the Judicial branch (lifetime appointments)!
Seems to me that the Judicial has over time become the most powerful.
Ralph T. Howarth, Jr. says:
…and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
I have always taken that clause to be speaking of the Electoral College Electors. There had to be qualifications for the Electors of the Electoral College too such that the qualifications of the Electors must be the same as that of the most numerous branch of the state’s legislature as Electors are those who cast their ballots for the President at the state capitol. From there, the ballots of the Electors collectively from each state are sealed and sent to the Congress to be opened up and read aloud how many votes from that state for a Presidential candidate.
yguy says:
It needs to be understood that while we are indeed endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, suffrage is not among them; and there is certainly nothing wrong with denying parasites the right to vote themselves even more largesse from the public treasury.
Which is not to say people in such circumstances as you mention are all parasites. I’m just making a more general point.
Agreed ThreeDogs. The Judicial branch used to be the least powerful. In fact, people would leave to state positions to gain more political power.
Robert Saunders says:
Please explain the wording, “and who shall not”, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen.
It is formal 18th century usage for if you haven’t lived you shall not be elected to represent the place.
Thanks for asking .. I would love to write daily essays.. I am working toward that goal. For now, I am having fun blogging thanks for joining us!! Isn’t this fun?
https://constitutingamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo_web_360x80.png 0 0 Janine Turner and Cathy Gillespie https://constitutingamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo_web_360x80.png Janine Turner and Cathy Gillespie2011-03-07 03:07:222020-03-14 16:52:26Article I, Section 02, Clause 1-2 of the United States Constitution


Trump vowed to punish companies that moved jobs overseas. Is Congress rewarding them?
Published Tue, May 8 201811:46 AM EDT
Michael Grabell
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at J.S. Dorton Arena in Raleigh, NC on Monday November 07, 2016.
Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post | Getty Images
This story was co-published with The Atlantic.
Two weeks before the presidential election, Donald Trump flew into a faded textile town in North Carolina and riled up the crowd over one of his campaign's signature promises: bringing back the jobs that businesses had shipped overseas.
"They wouldn't be doing it if I was president," Trump said to cheers. "Believe me, when they say, 'We want to send our product' — whatever the hell they make — 'We want to send our product back into the United States,' I'd say, 'We'd love to have your product — 35 percent tax. Let's see if you move.'"
He ticked off a list of companies that had closed factories in the state, calling attention to Leviton Manufacturing, a maker of light switches and electrical outlets found in homes and offices around the world, including Trump's real-estate properties.
More from ProPublica:
A prisoner in Gina Haspel's black site
Treated like trash
Did your employer ask you to sign away your right to talk? We want to know about it.
"I buy a lot of Leviton switches," Trump said. "I'm not buying 'em anymore."
Fast-forward 18 months. Leviton now stands to benefit from a bill that would eliminate the taxes the company pays to import an outlet it makes in China — not, as Trump vowed, raise them.
The bill's supporters say it will get rid of punishing tariffs on raw materials and components that are critical to American manufacturing. But that's not all it does. Tucked into the legislation are tariff waivers like the one Leviton requested, which exempt hundreds of finished consumer products — from microwaves to pillows to fishing rods — that used to be made in America.
Leviton qualified through a little-known provision that allows for waivers on finished products so long as there are no competing U.S. manufacturers. But Leviton wasn't required to disclose that one of the reasons the outlets are no longer made in America is that the company shut down four U.S. factories between 2005 and 2013, laying off more than 1,000 workers and shifting the work to Mexico and China.
"The whole thing kind of stinks," said Tom Kiefer, a toolmaker who lost his job of 21 years when the company's Warwick, Rhode Island, factory closed. "It's not made here because they sent it to China."
The legislation, known as the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act, is emblematic of the contradiction at the heart of the country's trade policy: Congressional Republicans and many Democrats who support the bill want to ease the tariff burden on corporations — no matter where they make their products — even as the Republican president promises to punish companies that don't manufacture in the U.S.
The Trump administration has not commented publicly on the bill, which passed the House in January and is awaiting approval by the Senate. His aides have so far sent mixed signals, sending a letter to congressional staff expressing concerns only to later withdraw it. Their reticence runs contrary to the president's very vocal opinions about trade. Trump resurrected the issue from a policy backwater and has shaken the global economic order this year with new tariffs on solar panels, washing machines, steel and aluminum. Taking aim at China, he recently threatened to slap tariffs on hundreds of its exports in retaliation for the country's technology policies.
For now, the policy split in Washington means that later this spring, around the same time that Trump could impose tariffs on hundreds of products from China, Congress is expected to hand him a bill asking him to do the exact opposite — reduce or eliminate import taxes on finished products, including more than 400 from China.
Here's just one bewildering example: The current bill would lower tariffs on electric delivery vans from China just nine years after the Obama administration spent billions of dollars to try to build an electric-vehicle industry in the United States. Meanwhile, Trump's top trade representative has specifically — and publicly — vowed to raise import fees on China's electric vehicles.
Many companies, including Leviton, are effectively asking for tax breaks on the same products that they used to make domestically, but that are now made overseas. Granting companies such waivers amounts to a reward for shifting jobs to other countries, some workers and U.S. manufacturers say, and only encourages others to follow.
To find companies seeking tax breaks after closing U.S. factories, ProPublica compared the 1,662 waiver requests in the bill to Labor Department data on workers who've lost their jobs due to international trade. The analysis found that the companies requesting waivers on finished goods have eliminated an estimated 175,000 jobs due to outsourcing and competition from foreign imports since 1975, when the Labor Department began keeping track. Measuring it a different way, the industries impacted by the bill have especially seen manufacturing leave the U.S. — with more than 150,000 jobs lost in the last decade alone.
Among those pressing the government to lower the tariffs on their foreign-produced goods are a slate of corporations many consumers view as quintessentially American. Whirlpool, Caterpillar, PetSmart and the Gap all submitted petitions to the U.S. International Trade Commission, saying the import taxes on certain kitchen appliances, clothing, pet supplies and equipment are unnecessary, even if they used to be made domestically.
The fitness-equipment company Nautilus, for example, is seeking waivers for its Bowflex TreadClimber and other cardio machines, which it now imports from China. In 2008, Nautilus closed the Tulsa, Oklahoma, factory where it used to make these machines, laid off 150 people and moved production to China and Taiwan.
The cosmetics manufacturer Revlon closed its tweezer and nail-clipper factory in Irvington, New Jersey, in 2007 after 50 years. Now, it's asking Congress to drop the duties it pays to import tweezers, nail clippers and manicure/pedicure sets from China and South Korea.
In 2012, Rubbermaid left Wooster, Ohio, the town where it was founded 90 years before and formerly manufactured many products. Now, the company wants tariffs lifted on plastic lids for food containers made in China and Malaysia. (A Revlon representative said the "majority of functions" performed in New Jersey moved to North Carolina and that its application for tariff relief complied with the law. Neither Nautilus nor Rubbermaid responded to calls or emails about their waiver applications.)
"The whole idea of miscellaneous tariff bills is the bill should be for U.S. manufacturing — not retailers and importers," said Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio. "The exemptions here have really undermined the intent of Congress. Congress needs to look at this again."
Supporters of the consumer-product waivers in the bill say it helps U.S. companies stay in business, even if they've moved parts of their operations to another country. "Everybody wants to make trade the boogeyman," said Nicole Bivens Collinson, a lobbyist and former trade negotiator whose firm handled several requests. "Many times, it's only because companies have been able to source some goods overseas that they've been able to maintain U.S. manufacturing."
The National Association of Manufacturers, which has been the biggest proponent of the bill, declined to comment. But in a blog post, it defended the inclusion of finished products, saying that eliminating the tariffs would lower prices for American consumers. Other supporters note that the waivers last only three years and the rules cap the government's financial loss on any one item.
While those claims are true, lifting those tariffs can still mean big tax breaks for some companies. For example, Bayer, the German pharmaceutical and agricultural company, requested suspensions on more than 100 products in the bill, including aspirin. That means that it and other importers of those products would see $100 million in savings over three years — more than a third of it on items Bayer described as finished products, a ProPublica analysis found. Amazon didn't request any waivers itself, but is listed as a likely beneficiary on $50 million worth of tariff reductions because it also imports the items.
Some small manufacturers have objected to their competitors' waiver requests, saying they still make the products in the United States. Others, like the trade association for U.S. textile manufacturers, have argued that including finished products weakens the U.S. negotiating position by lowering trade barriers with other countries without concessions, such as requiring countries to open up their markets or raise their labor and environmental standards.
For Leviton, moving production overseas was perhaps an inevitable transition for a 112-year-old company whose timeline intertwines with America's industrial history. The company took off by manufacturing a lamp holder for Thomas Edison's light bulb and later made beaded chains for the dog tags soldiers wore in World War II.
Leviton declined to make executives available for interviews or to answer specific questions. In a statement, it said, "We are committed to doing all we can to keep jobs here in the U.S. and only operate elsewhere to remain competitive, protect our overall business and serve the best interest of our customers."
When Leviton shut down its factory in Warwick, it left a hole — which turned into a literal one. A few years after the company left town, a developer demolished the iconic 19th century redbrick mill that housed Leviton's main building. The company had been there since 1939 and many workers could count several generations of relatives who had passed through.
"You had whole families working there," Kiefer said. His father worked as a mechanic for nearly 50 years until the warehouse closed in 2010. When his father was out with a back injury, his mother took his place, working "mother hours" so she could see the kids off to school and be home when they returned. Kiefer's sister worked there. So did his brother-in-law, an aunt and two uncles.
Before Trump turned tariffs into a cudgel, they served various purposes, first generating revenue for the federal government before the income-tax system and later protecting domestic industries from foreign competition. Generally, unless a country is part of a separate free-trade agreement like the North American Free Trade Agreement, importers must pay a tax on products and materials they bring into the United States.
The current fees were set through various international negotiations over the past few decades that left U.S. tariffs relatively low compared with those of other countries. In exchange, American companies are able to sell their products overseas, even if they have to pay a higher tariff to do so. As a side benefit, leaders often hope that war is less likely among countries that do business together.
Many Americans blame low trade barriers for the loss of blue-collar jobs, but there is competing evidence. Light trucks, which have far higher tariffs than cars, are mostly made in North America. But high import taxes on sneakershave done little to prevent footwear companies from manufacturing in Asia.
Miscellaneous tariff bills were designed decades ago to help American manufacturers compete against foreign companies by dropping fees on imported chemicals, minerals and other necessary components that weren't available domestically. But as global trade grew in the late 1990s and 2000s, the bills began to include finished consumer products that had no U.S. competitors.
About 750 of the 1,662 products included in the current bill are identified as finished goods, a ProPublica analysis found. (The National Association of Manufacturers says that only about 400 are finished products but declined to explain its numbers.) As recently as 2004, similar tariff bills contained only a few dozen.
Past bills granted waivers more informally. Companies and industry groups simply submitted requests to members of Congress, who reviewed them with government experts and inserted them into trade bills. But after House Republicans adopted a ban on earmarks in 2010, some lawmakers worried that the process could be seen as doling out special favors. As a result, a renewal of past tariff suspensions languished and no new ones were granted, costing businesses $750 million a year, according to the manufacturers' association.
In 2016, Congress created a more transparent system, requiring companies to file petitions with the International Trade Commission, an independent federal agency that provides expertise on trade to legislators and policymakers. The commission reviews the requests and makes recommendations to Congress, based in part on whether there is any relevant domestic manufacturing.
Many companies fit the original legislative intent of easing taxes on foreign components that are critical to manufacturing final products in the U.S. Lasko Products of Pennsylvania, for example, is the last remaining U.S. manufacturer of electric pedestal and desktop fans, but it imports the fans' motors from China.
At a congressional hearing last fall, the company's chief operating officer, Ed McAssey, said Lasko employs 638 workers who assemble the fans at its factories in Tennessee and Texas, earning an average of $16 an hour. The company used to make the motors domestically but couldn't compete with cheaper foreign manufacturers. The tariff relief, McAssey said, "enables us to compete with suppliers in China who do not incur the costs of livable wages, health insurance and retirement contributions that we provide our employees."
The bill's supporters often trot out such textbook examples of small to midsize U.S. manufacturers that waivers help to compete. But they rarely mention the multinational corporations like Mattel — or retailers, such as the Home Shopping Network — that are also seeking tariff breaks on products that require no American manufacturing.
Inside the 500-page bill are tariff reductions for hundreds of such items: baby strollers, hiking boots, pimiento-stuffed olives, boxing gloves, coffee makers, toasters, plastic spoons and forks, sparklers and party poppers, nicotine gum, pet toys, pajamas, reusable grocery bags, leather belts, sweaters, glass vases, basketballs, unicycles, yoga mats and vertical waffle makers.
"This is not what I ever thought the miscellaneous tariff bills were intended to do," said Jennifer Hillman, a Georgetown University professor who worked on past bills as a Democratic congressional aide and served on the trade commission. "It's supposed to benefit domestic companies that are manufacturing in the United States."
Dan Ikenson of the libertarian Cato Institute, however, said that there's good reason to get rid of tariffs on finished products as well as component parts.
"You see an old textile mill in South Carolina with a rusty gate and a rusty chain around it and you see the blight in the town, you think this is the cost of trade liberalization," Ikenson said. But what's not seen, he said, are the jobs created by the extra money people have to spend because they pay less for imported clothes.
Indeed, in supporting the waiver requests, companies made little attempt to justify them as creating American manufacturing jobs. For its request to eliminate import fees on microwaves, Whirlpool wrote, "This product supports U.S. marketing and distribution jobs and complements U.S.-assembled cooking products." When the owner of Ann Taylor stores requested a tariff suspension for women's hats, the headwear company Dorfman Pacific submitted a public comment in support, noting that "hats offer an extra layer of protection against skin cancer and premature aging."
The International Trade Commission did reject hundreds of requests from companies to include products in the bill after finding that doing so would harm U.S. manufacturers. And Congress culled the list further, removing items such as air conditioners, which would have been controversial after Trump made a big deal of stopping Carrier Corporation from moving a factory to Mexico.
But whether the companies' decisions to close their own factories helped them qualify for the waivers was not part of the review — or perhaps even known to lawmakers.
ProPublica analyzed the trade commission's database of approved requests against data from the Labor Department's Trade Adjustment Assistanceprogram, which provides financial help and job training to workers who lose their jobs due to increased foreign imports and outsourcing. In calculating job losses, ProPublica excluded companies seeking waivers for components and focused solely on finished products. Because the trade database identifies products while the labor data uses industries, it's not clear in every case if workers were making the exact same products or only similar products. But through additional reporting, several companies stood out.
Nautilus' factory in Tulsa got its start churning out StairMasters during the fitness craze of the 1980s. The company had bought StairMaster out of bankruptcy, and by 2007, it appeared stable. The local press reported that business was so good that Nautilus was adding an assembly line and even bringing back jobs from overseas.
But just over a year later, Nautilus announced it was closing the factory. According to Labor Department records, 178 workers were affected as the company shifted some production to China and Taiwan. At the time, many companies still made fitness equipment in the U.S. But the trade-assistance data shows a cascade of layoffs followed Nautilus' decision, as other companies like Core Industries and Icon Health & Fitness also closed their factories, affecting an additional 2,000 workers.
Rick Haselton, who helped design the TreadClimber, on which Nautilus is now seeking lower tariffs, said companies should face a penalty for moving manufacturing outside the U.S. "It helps them do their job a little cheaper," he said. "But all these jobs like I was in — that was what I depended on. That was my bread and butter, my livelihood."
The bill also seems to sacrifice high-tech manufacturing like electric vehicles. In 2010, Smith Electric Vehicles received a $30 million federal stimulus grant to build battery-powered trucks in Kansas City, Missouri. At the time, then-President Barack Obama toured the factory, telling workers they were "building the economy of America's future." But Smith suspended production at the end of 2013 and, in 2015, formed a joint venture with Chinese investors called Nohm.
The company has asked Congress to eliminate the 25 percent tariff on electric commercial vehicles like the ones it makes in China. The trade commission approved the petition but balked at a full waiver, agreeing to only slightly reduce the duties. (No one at the company, which is now called Chanje, returned calls or emails seeking comment.)
Lawmakers asked almost no questions about the finished products included in the bill at a sparsely attended congressional hearing last fall. Representative Ron Kind, a Democrat from Wisconsin, summed up the mood in the room when he said, "This is kind of a boring hearing because it's not that controversial."
The bill passed the full House 402-0. It was widely expected to be attached to the omnibus spending bill that passed Congress in March, but was left out as the Trump administration expressed concern about the number of imports from China.
Republican and Democratic congressional aides said the bill is still moving forward, as senators work through some of the line items.
Brown, for example, said in an interview that he managed to remove electric vehicles from the Senate version of the bill, but the amendments have not yet been made public.
When Tom Kiefer walked into the Leviton factory shortly after graduating high school in 1984, the plant hummed with 1,800 workers, many of them with little advanced education, assembling electrical outlets, light switches and lamp holders largely by hand.
He joined an apprenticeship program training new hires as toolmakers to help design the machines that would eventually automate most of the lines. At the time, the business manager of the union local had a slogan: "Automation is our salvation."
But in the late 1980s, a few years before NAFTA was signed, Leviton opened a factory in Tijuana, Mexico.
"That's when they started sending stuff to Mexico," said Kiefer, 51, as he sat near the carousel in the Warwick Mall food court with his father, Tom Kiefer Sr., and another former toolmaker, Nick Izzi, at the end of March.
"When we were building the automated machines, they were sending them out one at a time," said Izzi, 55, "making us think that they were just sending them to the other plants."
Ground-fault circuit interrupters, or GFCI outlets, on which Leviton requested the tariff waivers, were particularly labor-intensive. They're the kind of electrical outlets found in bathrooms and kitchens that are designed to shut off if the current comes into contact with water. The outlets were made in Warwick for a while but eventually made their way to Leviton's factory in Dongguan, China.
Kiefer Jr. and his wife were having an inspection on their new house the day that the bosses announced they were closing the plant in 2005.
After three months out of work, he took another machinist job for $5 an hour less than the $21 an hour he made at Leviton. Still, he felt lucky. Other workers ended up at Walmart or as janitors at the local hospital.
"Before the end," Izzi said, "we even had the Mexicans come and watch us build them so that they could build them themselves."
"They came in and they were actually complaining that Leviton was moving all the production they were making over to China," Kiefer Jr. said. "We were like, 'Well, now you know how we feel.'"
After the Warwick factory closed, Leviton closed two plants in western North Carolina in 2008 and 2009 and a factory in El Paso in 2013. The company said in a statement that it still has thousands of employees in the U.S., but declined to say how many work in manufacturing.
"Most people, even though they hated it when they worked there, there was no place like that," Kiefer Jr. said.
"I think half of Rhode Island worked there at one time or another," said Kiefer Sr., 78, cradling a plastic-foam cup of coffee.
Sure enough, as they talked amid the mall's afternoon crowds, a few former Leviton workers or their relatives happened by.
One was Rui Carrinho, the longtime union leader at the plant. Talk turned to Leviton's request to get rid of the tariffs.
"That's the government giving them an incentive to move the jobs abroad," Carrinho said.
But even if Leviton doesn't get the waivers on the outlets now, because of a technology trade agreement signed in 2015, the tariffs on them are due to phase out within the next five years.
"To me, it's just frustrating because the state, they're looking for all these high-tech jobs — a lot of people can't do those kind of jobs," Kiefer Jr. said. "They want manufacturing that people who can work with their hands can do. But there's not a lot of a jobs like that anymore."
Government taxation and revenue
Sanctions and embargoes
Metals and minerals industry


FYI Philly
FYI Philly: Point-to-Point and the NFL Draft arrive
This week on FYI Philly, we're drafting some favorites and some deals for you to enjoy during NFL draft week. The Brandywine Valley's signature event of the spring is just a couple weeks away, we'll preview Point-to-Point and give you a chance to win tickets. Plus, two legendary Philadelphia chefs have new offerings, some style tips for this spring and wrap up with local tea and honey that will help you relax.
FYI Philly airs Saturdays at 7 p.m. with encore shows Sundays at midnight. Here are the details on this week's features:
It's the 39th annual Point-to-Point at Winterthur, an all-day festivity the whole family can enjoy.
Get to the Point-to-Point
It's the 39th annual Point-to-Point race on the grounds of historic Winterthur in Delaware. Karen Rogers has a preview of an event that serves as a rite of spring in the area.
Point-to-Point at Winterthur
Winterthur, DE 19735
Enter to win VIP experience sweepstakes
Winterthur website
https://www.facebook.com/WinterthurPTP/
The NFL draft is coming to Philadelphia for the first time since 1961. Ducis Rodgers has a closer look at what you can expect.
Ready for some football!
Philadelphia welcomes the NFL Draft for the first time since 1961. It's another huge event for the city. Ducis Rodgers has a closer look at what you can expect and some of the best places to enjoy the experience!
NFL Draft in Philadelphia (April 26-29)
There are several free events along the Parkway. Check them out here: Fan opportunities
6abc's NFL draft coverage
http://www.discoverphl.com/nfl-draft-philadelphia
http://www.nfl.com/
Barclay Prime
237 S 18th St, Philadelphia, PA 19103
http://www.barclayprime.com/
https://www.facebook.com/BarclayPrime/
Ocean Prime
https://www.ocean-prime.com/locations-menus/philadelphia
https://www.facebook.com/Ocean-Prime-Philadelphia-180391798807526//
City Tap House Logan Square
2 Logan Square, Philadelphia, PA 19103
http://www.logan.citytap.com/
https://www.facebook.com/citytaplogan/
In your wardrobe and your home decor, big, bright and bold is the way to go.
Spring has arrived, and this year the style experts at Philadelphia Magazine say citrus packs a real punch and bright primary colors are definitely on trend when it comes to both fashion and home décor.
P.610.520.0222
www.shop-skirt.com
https://www.facebook.com/ShopSkirt/
https://www.instagram.com/shopskirt/
Mona Ross Berman Interiors
116 Shurs Lane | Suite 2B
www.monarossberman.com
Instgram: @monarossberman/
Legendary chefs offering something new in Philadelphia. Alicia Vitarelli gets the scoop from Marc Vetri and Georges Perrier.
Master chefs
Vetri Ristorante (lunch served every Friday)
1312 Spruce Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107
215.732.3478 or
http://vetriristorante.com/
https://www.facebook.com/vetriristorante/
Baril (dinners with Chef Perrier first Friday of the month)
http://www.barilphilly.com/
https://www.facebook.com/BarilPhilly/
Tamala Edwards found two Made in Philly gems specializing in tea and honey.
Made In Philly: Tea & Honey
Urbane Tea and Company is offering up a different cup of tea. The local tea company specializing in handcrafted teas made from the finest ingredients. Customize your own blend with their unique selection of teas, herbs and spices. Book a tea tasting party or order all your brew basics from their online shop! Pair with some honey from Zach and Zoe's Sweet Bee Farm, a family owned business that started with Zach developed allergies.
Urbane Tea & Company
https://www.urbanetea.com/
https://www.facebook.com/urbanetea
Twitter: @theUrbaneTeaCo
Instagram: @urbaneteaco
Good Roots Café Location
1051 US-202, Ringoes, NJ 08551
Stockton Market Location
Stockton, NJ 08559
Zach & Zoe Honey
Stockton Market Location:
https://zachandzoe.co/
https://www.facebook.com/zachandzoehoney/
https://www.instagram.com/zachandzoehoney/
We found a donut shop that is growing fast. But it's a family business that has been around for more than 3 decades.
Mmm, doughnuts
It's a family business that dates back more than three decades, but over the last five years Beiler's Bakery has taken a whole new approach. Time to make the doughnuts with Karen Rogers!
Beiler's Doughnuts
3900 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
www.beilersdonuts.com
https://www.facebook.com/beilersdonuts/
At the Winterthur Museum there's a new exhibition exploring fakes and forgeries. It's called Treasures an Trial and it's a fascinating collection of stories.
A new exhibition at Winterthur Museum is making every day April Fool's Day. Some of the biggest fakes and forgeries are on display and you can be the judge. Melissa Magee has the story.
Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library
Treasures on Trial: The Art and Science of Detecting Fakes
Open to the public April 1- Jan. 7, 2018
http://www.winterthur.org/
https://www.facebook.com/winterthurmuse
You're invited to The marriage of Figaro
Opera Philadelphia is staging one of the most beloved operas of all time: A story that tackles the age-old battle between rich and poor. Karen Rogers has more in this week's 6abc Loves the Arts segment.
Opera Philadelphia: The Marriage of Figaro (April-May)
The Academy of Music
240 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102
https://www.operaphila.org/
https://www.facebook.com/OperaPhila
In this week's Shelter Me, we meet a local rescue group saving dogs here in the Delaware Valley.
In this week's Shelter Me, we meet a local rescue group saving dogs here in the Delaware Valley. But their reach goes far beyond that. Matt O'Donnell has the story of a group whose name matches their mission.
Rescue Dogs Rock
https://www.facebook.com/RescueDogsRock/
http://www.rdranimalrescue.org/
Bonus: Go behind the scenes of our Shelter Me shoot with Matt O'Donnell and Kelly the puppy on our Facebook page.
food & drink2017 nfl draft in philadelphiafyi phillywinterthur
FYI Philly: New Philadelphia restaurants, wellness spots and outdoor workouts
Check out the custom handcrafted woodwork from Hurricane Woodwork
Grit Fitness is an all-new traveling gym on wheels
The Chandlery is South Street's new spot for candles, flower-lovers