Barbara Kruger Interview on Race, Stereotypes, Public Art and Interviews (1991)
Posted on March 28, 2015 April 25, 2020 by Editorial @ ASX
Untitled (Your body is a battleground)
Courtesy Mary Boone Gallery New York
“I hate to get to you on these words, but I wouldn’t call it an agenda-but I would say that I am interested in sort of, in not just displacing and questioning stereotypes.”
Barbara Kruger Interview, excerpt from Critical Inquiry 17, Winter 1991
MITCHELL: Is part of the agenda of your images, then, to re-embody, or to restore the body to these stereotypes?
KRUGER: Yeah-and I hate to get to you on these words, but I wouldn’t call it an agenda-but I would say that I am interested in sort of, in not just displacing and questioning stereotypes-of course I’m interested in that – but I also think that stereotype is a very powerful form and that stereotype sort of lives and grows off of that which was true, but since the body is absent, it can no longer be proven. It becomes a trace which cannot be removed. Stereotype functions like a stain. It becomes a memory of the body on a certain level, and it’s very problematic. But I think that when we “smash” those stereotypes, we have to make sure and think hard about what we’re replacing them with and if they should be replaced.
MITCHELL: If stereotypes are stains, what is the bleach?
KRUGER: Well, I wouldn’t say that there is a recipe, and I wouldn’t say “bleach.” Bleach is something which is so encoded in this racist culture that the notion of whitening as an antidote is something that should be avoided.
MITCHELL: So you just want to stop with the stain.
KRUGER: I don’t want to get things whiter. If anything, I would hope when I say that basically to create new spectators with new meanings, I would hope to be speaking for spectators who are women, and hopefully colleagues of mine who are spectators and people of color. Now that doesn’t mean that women and people of color can’t create horrendous stereotypes also. Of course they can. But hopefully one who has had one’s spirit tread upon can remember not to tread upon the spirit of others.
MITCHELL: Most of your work with the problem of difference has focused on gender. Are you interested in or working on problems with ethnicity, since that certainly involves a whole other problematic of embodiment?
KRUGER: Well, I think about that all the time. I think about it in terms of race, and culture. I think about it when I teach. I think about it in a series of posters that I do and of projects for public spaces, but I also-unlike a number of artists-feel very uncomfortable and do not want to speak for another. I basically feel that now is the time for people of color to do work which represents their experience, and I support that, and have written about that work as a writer, but do not want to speak for others. I basically feel that right now people of color can do a better job of representing themselves than white people can of representing them. It’s about time.
Untitled (Busy going crazy)
Untitled (I shop therefore I am)
111″ by 113″
photographic silkscreen/vinyl
“I’m not saying that something should be unreadable. I’m saying that it should be readable, but it should suggest different meanings or that it should give a meaning.”
MITCHELL: Let me just take one further step with the problem of word and image, and try to tie it back into the issue of public art. I’m interested in the combining of words and images in the art of publicity and in traditional public art, the old-fashioned monument.
Let me just give you a little background on what I’m thinking here. The traditional public art, say, of the nineteenth century, is supposed to have been universally readable, or at least
it’s often invoked that way, as something that the whole public could relate to. Everybody knows what the Statue of Liberty was supposed to mean, what it “says.” When modern works of public
art are criticized, they’re often characterized as “unreadable” in contrast to traditional works which were supposedly universally popular. The modernist monument seems to be a kind of private
symbol which has been inserted into the public space, as I think you said, the garnish next to the roast beef. So it looks as if modernism kept the monument in terms of its scale, and egotism, and its placement in a public site, but it eliminated the public access to meaning.
This is all a kind of complicated preamble to asking whether it might be possible that word-image composite work-especially coming out of the sphere of advertising and commercial publicity might make possible a new kind of public art. I know this is to bring you back to something you said you’re not terribly in love with, or you have some problem with, the whole issue of public art.
But, does this question make sense to you?
KRUGER: Yeah, I think that there is an accessibility to pictures and words that we have learned to read very fluently through advertising and through the technological development of photography and film and video. Obviously. But that’s not the same as really making meanings, because film, and, well, television, really, and advertising-even though it wants to do the opposite-let’s just talk about television-it’s basically not about making meaning. It’s about dissolving meaning. To reach out and touch a very relaxed, numbed-out, vegged-out viewer. Although we are always hearing about access to information, more cable stations than ever, . . . . But it’s not about the specificity of information, about notions of history, about how life was lived, or even how it’s lived now. It’s about another kind of space. It’s about, as Baudrillard has said, “the space of fascination,” rather than the space of reading. “Fascinating” in the way that Barthes says that stupidity is fascinating. It’s this sort of incredible moment which sort of rivets us through its constancy, through its unreadability because it’s not made to be read or seen, or really it’s made to be seen but not watched. I think that we can use the fluency of that form and its ability to ingratiate, but perhaps also try to create meanings, too. Not just re-create the spectacle formally, but to take the formalities of the spectacle and put some meaning into it. Not just make a statement about the dispersion of meaning, but make it meaningful.
MITCHELL: That’s what I was hoping you were going to say. My next question was whether you feel there’s still some place for the unreadable image or object (which I’ve always thought of as one of the modernist canons: the idea that an image has mystery and aura and can’t be deciphered).
KRUGER: But that’s not what I’m saying. That is not what I’m saying.
MITCHELL: You’re speaking of another kind of unreadability.
KRUGER: I’m not saying that something should be unreadable. I’m saying that it should be readable, but it should suggest different meanings or that it should give a meaning. I’m saying that what we have now is about meaninglessness, through its familiarity, accessibility, not through its obscurity. Whereas modernism, or what I take it to be (you’ve used the word), was meaningless to people because of its inaccessibility. What the media have done today is make a thing meaningless through its accessibility. And what I’m interested in is taking that accessibility and making meaning. I’m interested in dealing with complexity, yes. But not necessarily to the end of any romance with the obscure.
MITCHELL: There was one other question I wanted to ask you, and that’s about interviews. The old idea about artists was that they weren’t supposed to give interviews. The work was supposed to speak for itself. How do you feel about interviews?
KRUGER: I think that the work does speak for itself to some degree absolutely. But I also feel that we’re living in a time when an artist does not have to be interpreted by others. Artists can “have” words. So it’s not like I think I’m going to blow my cover if I open my mouth.
MITCHELL: Well, you certainly haven’t blown your cover today.
(All rights reserved. Text @ W. J. T. Mitchell. Images @ Barbara Kruger.)
Posted in Art, Interviews - Art and tagged Archive Highlights, Art, Barbara Kruger, Feminism, Gender Politics, Interview, Interview Highlights, Public Art, Racism.
← London’s Capitalist Greed is Progress…
Nostalgia/Trauma Under the STATE Apparatus… →


2 min readScientists Invent Nanoscale Window to the Biological World
Blacksburg, VA – If the key to winning battles is knowing both your enemy and yourself, then scientists are now well on their way toward becoming the Sun Tzus of medicine by taking a giant step toward a priceless advantage – the ability to see the soldiers in action on the battlefield.
Investigators at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have invented a way to directly image biological structures at their most fundamental level and in their natural habitats. The technique is a major advancement toward the ultimate goal of imaging biological processes in action at the atomic level.
“It’s sort of like the difference between seeing Han Solo frozen in carbonite and watching him walk around blasting stormtroopers,” said Deborah Kelly, an assistant professor at the VTC Research Institute and a lead author on the paper describing the first successful test of the new technique. “Seeing viruses, for example, in action in their natural environment is invaluable.”
The technique involves taking two silicon-nitride microchips with windows etched in their centres and pressing them together until only a 150-nanometer space between them remains. The researchers then fill this pocket with a liquid resembling the natural environment of the biological structure to be imaged, creating a microfluidic chamber.
Then, because free-floating structures yield images with poor resolution, the researchers coat the microchip’s interior surface with a layer of natural biological tethers, such as antibodies, which naturally grab onto a virus and hold it in place.
In a recent study in Lab on a Chip, Kelly joined Sarah McDonald, also an assistant professor at the VTC Research Institute, to prove that the technique works.
McDonald provided a pure sample of rotavirus double-layered particles for the study.
“What’s missing in the field of structural biology right now is dynamics – how things move in time,” said McDonald. “Debbie is developing technologies to bridge that gap, because that’s clearly the next big breakthrough that structural biology needs.”
Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhoea among infants and children. By the age of 5, nearly every child in the world has been infected at least once. And although the disease tends to be easily managed in the developed world, in developing countries rotavirus kills more than 450,000 children a year.
At the second step in the pathogen’s life cycle, rotavirus sheds its outer layer, which allows it to enter a cell, and becomes what is called a double-layered particle. Once its second layer is exposed, the virus is ready to begin using the cell’s own infrastructure to produce more viruses. It was the viral structure at this stage that the researchers imaged in the new study.
Kelly and McDonald coated the interior window of the microchip with antibodies to the virus. The antibodies, in turn, latched onto the rotaviruses that were injected into the microfluidic chamber and held them in place. The researchers then used a transmission electron microscope to image the prepared slide.
The technique worked perfectly.
The experiment gave results that resembled those achieved using traditional freezing methods to prepare rotavirus for electron microscopy, proving that the new technique can deliver accurate results.
“It’s the first time scientists have imaged anything on this scale in liquid,” said Kelly.
The next step is to continue to develop the technique with an eye toward imaging biological structures dynamically in action.
Specifically, McDonald is looking to understand how rotavirus assembles, so as to better know and develop tools to combat this particular enemy of children’s health.
The researchers said their ongoing collaboration is an example of the cross-disciplinary work that is becoming a hallmark of the VTC Research Institute.
“It’s an ideal collaboration because Sarah provides a phenomenal model system by which we can develop new technologies to move the field of microstructural biology forward,” said Kelly.
“It’s very win-win,” McDonald added. “While the virus is a great tool for Debbie to develop her techniques, her technology is critical for allowing me to understand how this deadly virus assembles and changes dynamically over time.”


More Revealed About Janet's Split From Billionaire Husband
More details are coming out about what could have possibly led to the split. According to thejasminebrand, Jackson asked for her locks to be changed at her condo, which is the Trump International in New York.
As for the $500 million, it’s more like $200 million. She was entitled to $100 million if they were married at least five years. In addition, if they had a child, that payment of $100 mil would double. Jackson had their son, Eissa in January.
There are other reports stating their lifestyle differences is what caused rifts between them. Hana wanted a wife who was more in tune with Muslim traditions but with Janet and her profession, that’s hard to do all the time. She has toned it down since she’s been married to him but maybe that wasn’t enough.


Spring 2015 Anime
Drama, Harem, Psychological, Romance, School
The story picks up immediately after the events of Grisaia no Meikyuu, with Kazami Yuuji having been detained for suspected involvement with an international terrorist organization, lead by Heath Oslo, that has managed to enter Japan's borders with a devastating new weapon of mass destruction in hand. Meanwhile, at Mihama Academy, the remaining students find themselves with time running out - due to financial issues, the school is set to close within the month. Over the past year, though, the girls of Mihama have finally begun to find their own legs, thanks to Yuuji's involvement - are they really just…...
The story picks up immediately after the events of Grisaia no Meikyuu, with Kazami Yuuji having been detained for suspected involvement with an international terrorist organization, lead by Heath Oslo, that has managed to enter Japan's borders with a devastating new weapon of mass destruction in hand. Meanwhile, at Mihama Academy, the remaining students find themselves with time running out - due to financial issues, the school is set to close within the month. Over the past year, though, the girls of Mihama have finally begun to find their own legs, thanks to Yuuji's involvement - are they really just going to bury their heads in the sand and let the world change around them? And are they really willing to let the man who changed their lives slip away without so much as trying to win him back? As the end of their time at Mihama Academy approaches, Amane, Makina, Sachi, Yumiko, and Michiru find themselves arriving at a single conclusion. How much a group of students can do in the face of countries and organizations far bigger than any individual could hope to be remains to be seen. In the first place, Yuuji's position is far more complicated than any of them could have imagined, as he finds himself embroiled in an elaborate game of super-political chess revolving around both himself and an inconceivable new system slumbering in the depths of CIRS - a system that Yuuji may have more of a connection to than he thinks. One thing is for certain, though - the girls of Mihama are no longer willing to let the world steal things away from them without at least a bit of resistance first. And with help from a mysterious individual known only as Thanatos, they may just achieve their goal...


Working around Halbig
Nicholas Bagley
Suppose the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Halbig becomes the law of the land. If that happens, the states with federally established exchanges will come under enormous pressure to establish their own exchanges. In turn, the federal government would want to make it as easy as possible for those states to convert to state-established exchanges.
Ideally, HHS would also want to relieve states of the need to develop new exchange infrastructure. Rollout challenges in Oregon and Massachusetts, not to mention Healthcare.gov, suggest that getting a website up and running isn’t such a simple task. What if the refusal states could just enact laws (or sign executive orders) saying they’ve “established” their exchanges, but let Healthcare.gov continue to run them?
Pointing to the text of the ACA, some critics have said that this wouldn’t work. The ACA provides that an exchange must operate through an “eligible entity.” Among other things, an entity is eligible only if it is incorporated under the laws of “1 or more States.” Because the entity that runs Healthcare.gov is federally chartered, it wouldn’t qualify.
That’s true, so far as it goes. But the text of the ACA leaves enough room for a workaround. A state could, for example, establish an exchange and appoint a state-incorporated entity to oversee and manage it. That state-incorporated entity could then contract with Healthcare.gov to operate the exchange. On the ground, nothing would change. But tax credits would be available where they weren’t before.
I don’t see any legal obstacle to that approach. Larry Levitt doesn’t either; as he wrote on Twitter, “If Halbig stands, the administration could try to make it easy for states to set up state exchanges with a healthcare.gov back-end.” Switching would be pretty painless.
True, not every state would accept the invitation to establish its own exchange, even if doing so were more or less a formality. But lots of states would, especially as voters started to howl about losing their tax credits. If so, even a bad outcome in Halbig might not matter that much in the end.
@nicholas_bagley
Nicholas Bagley is a professor at University of Michigan Law School, where he teaches and writes in the areas of administrative law, regulatory theory, and health law. Prior to joining the Law School faculty in 2010, he was an attorney with the appellate staff in the Civil Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he argued a dozen cases before the U.S. Courts of Appeals and acted as lead counsel in many more.


Perrine Lacroix. Kontext(e)
Archive: Perrine Lacroix. Kontext(e)
The exhibition of Perrine Lacroix’s work is the first time Kunsthalle Krems presents an artistic position from the AIR - ARTIST IN RESIDENCE Lower Austria programme. The exhibition acts as the beginning of a new series, which, once a year, will provide exciting insights into the strategies and working methods of international artists who have enjoyed a scholarship in Krems.
Based in Lyon, the artist Perrine Lacroix has already garnered international attention with her multimedia installations in several solo and group exhibitions. She has run the arts center La BF15 in Lyon since 2004 and is thus actively involved in the international network of contemporary art. She stayed in Krems as part of her AIR - ARTIST IN RESICENCE Lower Austria scholarship in April of 2017.
Inspired by her stay in Krems, Perrine Lacroix’s work at Kunsthalle Krems deals with the basic requirements for exhibitions as well as the layer of meaning in pictures and objects. To what extent is context or knowledge needed to interpret pictures, if one even considers this relevant at all? The artist got to know the city of Krems, its surroundings and peculiarities via the photographic medium. The public space, in particular, is the focus of her art. Using a camera and video camera, she captured the Kunsthalle Krems’ construction in her work. It was being renovated during the period of her stay. Photos and videos of the renovated, empty showrooms point towards the aura and strong impact of work, whilst also drawing attention to the void.
The extent to which Perrine Lacroix deals with the concept of reality and its portrayability or rather its representation in an exhibition, is shown in Krems with an object she has serially placed, and which in turn refers to her 2017 residency in Krems. Lacroix discovered an object in the Krems Museum: the so-called Venus (also Fanny) of Galgenberg, a tiny prehistoric statuette found near Krems, which is one of the oldest known Venus figurines. Krems, however, only has a copy. The original is housed in Vienna’s Natural History Museum. Replicas can also be bought in museum shops. Lacroix places three of them in the first room of her show, illustrating how cultural goods become widely available through marketing, thus letting the viewer question the value of an original.
Perrine Lacroix has also designed an installation of monochrome rectangular surfaces for her exhibition at the Kunsthalle Krems that show abstractions of events from the time of the Second World War in Krems. The coloured surfaces act as a pictorial commentary. In her research on Krems’ history she inevitably came across Krems’ “Hasenjagd” (hare hunt) that took place on 06.04.1945, and marks the hunting and mass shootings by National Socialists of just-released (mainly political) prisoners from Krems’ detention center “Stein”. Lacroix conducted a Google Image Search for the date and discovered that if the Internet connection is slow, the results first appear as coloured boxes in the results. These are, so to speak, the voids of image realities and their contents, which are algorithmically provided by Google. For Perrine Lacroix, these blanks represent the complex problem of attributing meaning to things and also the fundamental question of what images can even convey. She has developed the idea of a memorial from this, which she transforms into a room installation at the Kunsthalle Krems, also in a wallpainting in the Stadtpark Krems.
Curator: Andreas Hoffer
Google search AVRIL 45 KREMS, Wallpaintings, various dimensions © Perrine Lacroix
Saturday, November 24, 2018, 6.30 pm
Kunsthalle Krems
Franz-Zeller-Platz 3, 3500 Krems an der Donau
Duration: 24.11.2018–10.02.2019


Information about crime comes from two primary sources: survey responses from victims about crimes they experienced and administrative data from law enforcement agencies about crimes reported to them. Victim survey responses capture information on crimes reported to the police, as well as those crimes that were not reported. Crime data from law enforcement agencies reflect those crimes reported to and recorded by police.
The Nation's Two Crime Measures
Department of Justice agencies collect both survey and administrative data on crime.
BJS's National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) captures incident-level data on reported and unreported crime from the victim's perspective
FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program Summary Reporting System (SRS) collects summary-based counts of crime reported by law enforcement
Similar to many other indicators used to assess conditions in the United States, these two indicators of crime complement each other to produce a more comprehensive portrait of the nation's crime problem.
Some of the differences between SRS and NCVS are—
Summary Reporting System National Crime Victimization Survey
National and state estimates, local agency reports
Data can be aggregated to county-level and federal judicial district
National estimates
Collection method Reports by law enforcement to the FBI on a monthly basis Survey data obtained from a nationally representative sample of about 240,000 interviews, which involves 160,000 unique persons in about 95,000 households.
Measures Aggregate counts of 10 offense types reported by law enforcement Reported and unreported crime; details about the crimes, victims, and offenders
For more information about the UCR and the NCVS, see The Nation's Two Crime Measures.
On January 1, 2021, the SRS was retired, and the FBI UCR Program transitioned to incident-based submissions of reported crime data to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). For more information on the transition to NIBRS, see the National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) program page.
2018 Update on Prisoner Recidivism: A 9-Year Follow-up Period (2005-2014)
Race and Hispanic Origin of Victims and Offenders, 2012-15
Repeat Violent Victimization, 2005-14
View related publications
Recent Data Collections
City-Level Survey of Crime Victimization and Citizen Attitudes
Emergency Room Statistics on Intentional Violence
Human Trafficking Reporting System (HTRS)
View related Data Collections
Why is there more than one set of national numbers about the crime rate and which one is right?
There are two national crime series which have data on crime rates and trends. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is based upon a sample of households and includes both crimes that are reported to police and those that are not reported. The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) is based upon local police reports which are compiled by the FBI. The two data series complement each other and both are “right” in terms of measuring what they are designed to measure. Please see the report, The Nation’s Two Crime Measures (NCJ 246832, BJS web), for more information.
What is the National Crime Victimization Survey?
The Bureau of Justice Statistics' (BJS) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is the nation's primary source of information on criminal victimization. Each year, data are obtained from a nationally representative sample of about 240,000 persons in about 150,000 households on the frequency, characteristics, and consequences of criminal victimization in the United States. The NCVS collects information on nonfatal personal crimes (rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and simple assault, and personal larceny) and household property crimes (burglary, motor vehicle theft, and other theft) both reported and not reported to police. Survey respondents provide information about themselves (e.g., age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, marital status, education level, and income) and whether they experienced a victimization. For each victimization incident, the NCVS collects information about the offender (e.g., age, race and Hispanic origin, sex, and victim-offender relationship), characteristics of the crime (including time and place of occurrence, use of weapons, nature of injury, and economic consequences), whether the crime was reported to police, reasons the crime was or was not reported, and victim experiences with the criminal justice system.
Do you have any information on crime victims with disabilities?
Yes. The information is available in the Crime Against People with Disabilities series.
View all related FAQs
An unlawful physical attack or threat of attack. Assaults may be classified as aggravated or simple. Rape, attempted rape, and sexual assaults are excluded from this category, as well as robbery and attempted robbery. The severity of assaults ranges from minor threats to nearly fatal incidents.
A specific criminal act involving one or more victims and offenders. For example, if two people are robbed at the same time and place, this is classified as two robbery victimizations but only one robbery incident.
Multiple offenders
Two or more persons inflicting some direct harm to a victim. The victim-offender relationship is determined by the offender with the closest relationship to the victim. The following list ranks the different relationships from closest to most distant: spouse, former spouse, parent, child, other relative, nonrelative well known person, casual acquaintance, or stranger. See "Nonstranger" and "Stranger."
Rape, sexual assault, personal robbery, assault, purse snatching, and pocket picking. This category includes both attempted and completed crimes.
A crime as it affects one individual person or household. For personal crimes, the number of victimizations is equal to the number of victims involved. The number of victimizations may be greater than the number of incidents because more than one person may be victimized during an incident. Each crime against a household is assumed to involve a single victim, the affected household.
Date Created: February 18, 2021
Bias-Motivated/Hate Crime
Identity Theft and Financial Fraud
Latest Crime Data
Interested in Statistics?
Sign up for email notices of new crime and justice statistical materials as they become available from BJS.
View related awards


The Lebanese State resembles a failed State that doesn’t provide its citizens with the most basic public services, can’t ensure its monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force and since last year doesn’t dispose of a valid parliament. On top of that the Lebanese citizens’ political and social identity and even rights are constantly confined to their sectarian belonging. The Lebanese are aware of the difficult conditions they are living in and to many it seems clear that the current sectarian political system and the corruption resulting from it, prevents the Lebanese society from advancing towards a functional State and a common and peaceful future. However political activism against the sectarian system is almost nonexistent, especially among the educated youth that one would expect to have the fiercest reaction, - but in particular the younger generations appear to have resigned. This impression is confirmed by the elaborate analysis of the Lebanese society that scholar Theodor Hanf conducted in 2006. He asserts that the Lebanese have become more pessimistic regarding their future, compared to statistics from during the Civil War. Therefore the Lebanese overall tend to be more cautious about change which they fear could lead to an even worse scenario. It is important to notice that in 2006 70% of the population felt that they couldn’t bring about any social change. This expression of resignation and desperation was surprisingly even higher among young and better educated people.[1] Many Lebanese, like the lawyer Nadine Moussa, who was supposed to run as a candidate for the parliamentarian elections in 2013 on behalf of the political movement “Take Back Parliament”, were awaiting eagerly the overdue awakening of the Lebanese youth:
“I was always amazed, especially after the Arab Spring, […] at the passivity of the Lebanese youth and I believe strongly that you can’t make a change without the youth.”[2]
(Nadine Moussa, 2013)
According to Hanf’s research, in 1984 75% of the Lebanese citizens were in favor of a completely secular state. In 2006 this number had decreased to 65% which was still a significant majority. That same year, 69% of the Lebanese said, however, that secularization doesn’t stand a chance and that community membership is a reality one has to accept. This result reflects a contradiction between the people’s desire and expectations.[3] The prevalent apathy among the youth can be explained by different coping mechanisms with the political situation. The civil society activist Mazen Abou Hamdan who works for the Lebanese Association for Civil Rights (LACR) divides the Lebanese youth into three different categories, none of which constitutes a real challenge to the system:
What we are facing among the youth in Lebanon is either frustration and therefore indifference, or sectarianism, […]. And we have a group of youth who are angry at the situation, but they don’t know how to solve it or deal with it. They just go down on the streets and say down with sectarianism, but that doesn’t really work.
(Mazen Abou Hamdan, 2013)
When Take Back Parliament (TBP) a political secular movement, was established in 2012 by a group of young Lebanese who want to abolish the sectarian and corrupted political system, the initiative was received very positively, because it finally offered an organized platform to the secular youth to express itself politically. A large number of Lebanese had already come together before in 2011 under the banner of anti-sectarianism, but the movement wasn’t organized well enough and remained too little political and clear in its aspirations, so it could be exploited by the same sectarian parties it was initially up against. TBP set itself apart as the only secular political movement with well defined goals, initiated by young Lebanese who tried to reach out to all like-minded people in the past years. They managed to organize themselves as a group of volunteers with no dependency on internal or external political actors and with the aspiration to transcend sects and religious groups with their agenda. Through social media the movement managed progressively to make a name for itself and present its political programme. However the movement also came across a lot of scepticism by people who didn’t believe that a completely independent secular movement is feasible and could be influential in Lebanese politics. More than a year after TBP's experience started it is necessary to study the initiative critically by investigating which challenges secular movements in Lebanon face when it comes to establishing their internal organization and identity. On the other hand through the study of the movement, the research touches on the Lebanese political context which still presents many obstacles for political alternatives trying to find their way into the well established political system confined to the prevalent political parties. The research seeks to explain that the attempt to infiltrate the political system by TBP shouldn’t pass unnoticed as it points to the feeling of political misrepresentation and the quest for political alternatives. In order to foreshadow future trends in Lebanese political movements the research tries to enhance the comprehension of these activists’ vision of secular activism in Lebanon, because in the future the political alternatives to the already existing parties will be shaped by them and composed of them. Even though the group is no longer active since the summer 2013, it merits to be asked to what extent this new form of political secular movements has contributed to the development of secular movements in Lebanon. By doing so, it is hoped that other movements can build on its achievements and learn from its shortages in the continuing Lebanese struggle for a secular State.
[1] Letters from Byblos, Theodor Hanf „E pluribus unum? Lebanese attitudes and opinions on coexistence“
[2] All information on the interviews led by the author can be found under Bibliography; Primary Sources
Heinrich-Böll Stiftung Middle East


Rediff.com » News » Pakistan is the epicentre of terrorism: US
Pakistan is the epicentre of terrorism: US
Last updated on: January 13, 2011 11:10 IST
'Pakistan is the epicentre of terrorism'
In his first briefing in 2011 on the United States National Security Strategy Update, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, while replying to a query, blurted out that Pakistan is the epicenter of terrorism in the world.
"I have said it before and I'll say it again, it (Pakistan) is the epicenter of terrorism in the world right now, and it deserves the attention of everybody to do as much as we can to eliminate that threat," Mullen said during an appearance at the Foreign Press Centre in Washington, DC.
He argued that "progress in Pakistan is critical in terms of the region," and pointed out that "since I've had this job, I've never talked or wanted to leave the impression that it was about one country or the other, because it's about the region."
Thus, he said that there cannot be any progress in Afghanistan without progress in Pakistan and that this meant shutting down the terrorist safe havens in that country.
Reportage: Aziz Haniffa in Washington, DC
Image: Rescue workers and police survey a school van damaged after a bomb explosion in Peshawar, Pakistan
Photographs: Fayaz Aziz/Reuters
'This threat is evolving'
Mullen said, "Obviously the recent assassination, the political challenges that we've seen with MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement political party) leaving and returning to the coalition to ensure that that government doesn't fall, I think that the political aspect is something I keep an eye on all the time."
But he asserted, "It is absolutely critical that the safe havens in Pakistan get shut down. We cannot succeed in Afghanistan without that. I've had many meetings with (Pakistan army chief) General (Ashfaq) Kayani on this subject and he has evolved his military against this threat."
"This threat is evolving as well, because it's not just the Haqqani network anymore, or Al Qaida, or TTT [Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or Pakistani Taliban], the Afghan Taliban, or LeT [Lashkar-e-Tayiba], it's all of them working together in ways that two years ago they absolutely did not," he noted.
Image: Paramilitary soldiers stand guard as plumes of smoke rise from a burning fuel tanker in Baluchistan
Photographs: Saeed Ali Achakzai/Reuters
'That is a call for action'
Mullen said, "One of the things that I spoke to in my remarks was support for this reconciliation process, and that process includes everything, not just the Afghan Taliban, in terms of getting to a point where Afghanistan is peaceful and stable and can take control of its own life and move forward in every respect."
Incidentally, Mullen has made several trips to Pakistan since the US launched its war on terror. When asked if he believed Pakistan is doing enough to shut down the terrorist havens within its borders and what excuse Islamabad offers him every time he expresses these concerns, the top military official said, "I don't go into specifics of discussions that I've had, private conversations that I've had."
"Strategically, the safe havens have got to go. When I talk about the region, it isn't just Afghanistan and Pakistan. We had a question earlier about Iran. I talk about this with my Russian counterpart. The neighbours in the area include India. I think we all have a responsibility and we all want to see this resolved as rapidly as possible. That is a call for action for everybody that's involved in this," he argued.
Image: A photographer walks through the door of the cafeteria of the University of Karachi after a blast
Photographs: Athar Hussain/Reuters
'The Taliban have lost momentum'
Earlier, in his opening remarks, Mullen claimed that the coalition forces had the Taliban on the run in Afghanistan and painted a picture of impending victory, till he was checked by a question on why he was offering up such a picture when most of the reports pointed to the contrary.
He said, "There's no question that the Taliban have lost momentum in parts of the south and in the east, and that the growth and development of Afghan National Security Forces is progressing in a much more organised way at a quicker pace than we had expected
Mullen noted, "A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to Kandahar and Helmand Provinces to visit with our troops and see first-hand the good work they and their Afghan partners are doing. The enemy is being pushed out of population centers; he is being denied sanctuary, he is losing leaders by the score, and his scare tactics are being rejected by local citizens."
Image: Afghan fire fighters wash the site of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul
Photographs: Ahmad Masood/Reuters
'The enemy is losing'
"While I was not surprised to see this sort of progress in Nawa and Marjah, I will admit to some surprise at seeing it take root around Kandahar, particularly in Arghandab and Zhari where the enemy is not accustomed to losing. Nevertheless, he is losing and I have every confidence that he will continue to lose so long as coalition and Afghan forces increase their presence and their pressure on his operations and improve their own capacity," he said
But when told that he had painted an extremely rosy picture of the success of coalition forces, Mullen quickly backpedaled to say, "If I left you the impression that it was rosy, that's the wrong impression. It is a very difficult fight. It is a very difficult time in this conflict."
He added cautiously, "I am encouraged, but I do not want to understate in any way, shape or form the difficulty of the task. It clearly continues to be severe."
Image: Afghan security forces are seen through the window of a Kabul bakery, at the site of a bomb blast
Pakistan is still terror's playground
Dr Singh is good, but not his party: Pakistan
'Pakistan's smirk has changed into a smile'
Finns are happiest, Indians 45th, Pakistan last
An India-Pakistan Peace Caravan to nowhere?


Home | About | Team
We care about quilts, and hope you do too!
OUR NIMBLE STAFF AND VOLUNTEER BOARD MAKE A LOT OUT OF A LITTLE
Amy Milne
Amy Milne has been the executive director of the Quilt Alliance since 2006. She has two decades of experience as a nonprofit administrator, educator and artist. Amy has overseen the expansion of the Quilt Alliance’s oral history projects, including the creation of the Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! project, as well as the Quilt Alliance’s biennial Not Fade Away: Sharing Quilt Stories in the Digital Age conference.
Deb Josephs
Debby Josephs, Office Manager, has worked in the nonprofit field for more than 15 years. Before moving to Asheville in 2006, Debby worked as office manager for Partnership in Philanthropy in Chatham, New Jersey, a nonprofit offering consulting and educational services to small nonprofits in the state. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, she worked in the research department of Pershing and Co., a Wall Street firm in New York City.
Debby works in the Asheville office where she says it’s very exciting to be headquartered. “It’s a town filled with people who understand and appreciate the nature of nonprofits and all the hard work that goes into sustaining them.”
Emma Parker has worked for the Quilt Alliance since 2012, and has helped to develop the Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! program and streamline and revise the QSOS interview and training process. She has collected and edited over 400 Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! interviews at International Quilt Festival, QuiltCon, and the International Quilt Study Center & Museum. She holds degrees in Folklore & Library Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Mary Kay Batte
Mary Kay (Micki) Batte is a retired Financial Analyst from Pratt Whitney Aircraft. Taking her first quilting class in 1983 quilting became a major part of her life not only as an art form but, also, opening opportunities to work and share in her community and beyond. She is active in the Asheville Quilt Guild filling many positions including Quilt Show Chair, Guild Projects and Guild Liason to organizations as NC Arboretum, Mission Hospital (Camp Bluebird) and, in 2005 part of the research team which resulted Quilt Alliance’s move to Asheville.
Earamichia Brown
Earamichia “Encyclopedia” Brown: My love of fiber arts and all things craft began as a child. My family had a set of the World Book Encyclopedia series and the Childcraft – The How and Why Library. Within that Childcraft series there was a volume called “Make and Do”, which I did plenty of. I wanted to become a fashion designer, but settled for plan B. I am an attorney by day to support my love of fiber.
My love of crafts and fiber continued to flourish throughout the years as a hobby, side jobs, and gift giving. I became an avid knitter, designed and knitted garments as gifts and by commissions, and taught knitting. In 2000, I was introduced to quilting and began taking sewing classes to improve on my techniques and learn the tips of this craft. And the story continues as I continue to grow creatively.
Learn more about Earamichia at www.cocktailsandthread.com
Mary Kay Davis
Mary Kay began quilting in 1996 on a “quilt-as-you-go” project and hasn’t stopped since. She loves a good challenge and has entered numerous quilt shows and contests. Her quilts have won national contests and have hung in the National Quilt Museum in Paducah. She has also contributed to a number of books and magazines including 500 Traditional Quilts from Lark Books and 100 Tips from Award Winning Quilters from AQS.
Currently Mary Kay works at The Quilt Show.com with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims as a website editor, photographer, and videographer. She also serves as a production assistant for their online web show. Her creative muse is served as a pattern designer for Blend Fabrics LLC and Anna Griffin, Inc.
A graduate from San Jose State University with a degree in Information Resource Management, she worked for years in the local area networking industry in Silicon Valley. Upon retirement, she began working in a local quilt shop, teaching classes, and occasionally giving guild lectures. She spends her spare time hanging out with her two grown sons and cheering on her beloved San Francisco Giants.
Frances O’Roark Dowell
Frances O’Roark Dowell is the bestselling author of over twenty books for young readers, including Dovey Coe (winner of a 2001 Edgar Award and the William Allen White Award); The Secret Language of Girls trilogy, Chicken Boy (an ALA Notable Book and an NCTE Notable Book), Shooting the Moon (winner of the Christophe Award and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award honor book), The Phineas L. Maguire series and most recently, the Sam the Man books, a chapter book series for early readers. She has also published fiction for adult readers, including Birds in the Air, a novel, and the story collection, Margaret Goes Modern and Other Stories. Her novel, Friendship Album, 1933, is available via the Quilt Fiction podcast.
Along with writing and molding her sons into men of distinction (or at the very least high school graduates—one down, one to go), quiltmaking occupies much of Dowell’s time. She began making quilts in 2007 and started a quilting podcast, “The Off-Kilter Quilt,” in 2010. Dowell has a deep interest in quilt history and the documentation of quilts and the quilting community. In 2015, she and her husband made a short documentary on Uncle Eli’s Quilting Party, an annual quilting event that began in 1931, in Alamance County, NC.
H. Mark Dunn
Board Vice President
Mark Dunn, president and owner of Moda Fabrics in Dallas, Texas, began his career in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1966 as a third generation thread and yarn sales representative. In 1975 he started Moda Fabrics as a company to specialize in supplying independent sewing and quilting stores. Moda designs, prints and distributes high quality cotton fabrics as well as 60,000 unique items for specialty quilt stores. Moda Fabrics supplies over 4,000 independent quilt specialty stores throughout the U.S. and 20 other countries on 5 continents. Currently, Moda Fabrics is developing an educational department to work with schools and charitable organizations. Mark received the “Man of the Year” in 1985 for the sewing industry from the American Jewish Committee. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Quilts, Inc. Houston, Texas. Previously, he was a member of the international group, Inter-Sew, that was dedicated to the preservation of the craft of quilting. Dunn attended the University of South Carolina but has lived in Dallas, Texas for the past 33 years. Dunn is committed to promoting and preserving the art form of quilting.
Lisa Ellis
Board Treasurer
Lisa Ellis is a quilt artist, teacher and lecturer. She is passionate about quilting and using quilts to make the world a better place. She frequently lectures on healing quilts and inspires quilters to get involved in using their love of quilting to improve health care centers and hospitals. Ellis has directed a number of projects for healing-related installations including Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the University of Michigan, Auburn University, National Institutes of Health and INOVA Fair Oaks Hospital.
Ellis is the director of the non-profit organization Sacred Threads. Sacred Threads is a biennial exhibition dedicated to sharing our most personal quilts with themes of spirituality, joy, inspiration, healing, grief and peace/brotherhood.
She has advanced degrees in Math and Computer Science and worked for 23 years in the defense and information technology industry as an engineer, project manager and executive. Ellis retired in 2003 to focus her energies on volunteer work and her passion for the arts. In 2010, she started her own company, Giving Back Technology that provides information technology services to non-profit museums, galleries and other art organizations.
Ellis was elected in 2012 to the Board of Directors of the Quilt Alliance and is currently serving as Treasurer. Also in 2012 she joined the Board of Directors of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) as in currently serving as Vice President for Strategic Planning.
To learn more visit www.ellisquilts.com
Laura Hopper
Laura Hopper is a historian, curator, writer, and quilter. She works as the Associate Editor of Quiltfolk magazine, a dream job that combines her love of quilts with her skills in research and oral history. At Quiltfolk, Laura has profiled quilt scholars, museums, quilt industry professionals, designers, artists, and quilters from all walks of life.
Laura holds a bachelor’s degree in history and museum studies, a master’s degree in public history, and a certificate in textile preservation. She worked for nearly fifteen years as an award-winning museum curator with previous experience at the Newberry Library, the Michigan State University Museum, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, and more. Before starting her job with Quiltfolk, Laura was the curator at the Pick Museum of Anthropology at Northern Illinois University, an academic museum with a strong collection of textiles. Her exhibits won awards from the Illinois Association of Museums and the American Association of State and Local History and in 2018, she was the recipient of NIU’s Women Who Make a Difference Award in recognition of her work on a quilt exhibit. A community quiltmaking project she co-facilitated at NIU is the subject of a short documentary called The Women in Science Quilt Project.
Laura trained as a classical violist for a decade and stays connected to her musical past by making quilts inspired by music. Her quilts have been juried into QuiltCon, the International Quilt Festival and more. She currently serves as the President of the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild and as a former board member of the Social Justice Sewing Academy. Born in Germany and raised in Michigan and Texas, she now lives near Chicago with her spouse and their dog Taco.
Carolyn L. Mazloomi
Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi is a historian, curator, author, lecturer, artist, mentor, founder, and facilitator — and has left her mark on many lives. Trained as an aerospace engineer, Carolyn Mazloomi turned her sites and tireless efforts in the 1980s to bring the many unrecognized contributions of African-American quilt artists to the attention of the American people as well as the international art communities.
From founding the African-American Quilt Guild of Los Angles in 1981 to in 1985 founding the Women of Color Quilters Network (WCQN), Mazloomi has been at the forefront of educating the public about the diversity of interpretation, styles and techniques among African American quilters as well as educating a younger generation of African Americans about their own history through the quilts the WCQN members create.
A major force as an artist in her own right, Carolyn Mazloomi’s quilts have been exhibited extensively in venues such as the Mint Museum, American Folk Art Museum in New York City, National Civil Rights Museum, Museum of Art and Design, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum, and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC Her pictorial narrative quilts make plain her personal themes: family life, women’s rights, political freedom, and musical legacy. Her own quilts have appeared in over 70 exhibits, while she has curated 17 extensive exhibits of quilts made by members of the Women of Color Quilters Network, many of them traveling exhibits. Among the many exhibitions she has curated is “Still We Rise: Race, Culture and Visual Conversations,” which visually surveys 400 years of African American history. It is the largest traveling exhibit of African-American quilts ever mounted.
Bradley Mitchell
Bradley Mitchell’s formal education is centered around Marketing, Management, Events and Branding. Mitchell is originally from the historic spa town of Ilkley, England, an area of rich textile heritage and still home to the looms of British tailor,Thomas Burberry and the UNESCO world heritage site of Saltaire.
Mitchell joined the industry in 2014 and is the Director of Marketing at Aurifil Threads, an Italian company, famous worldwide for the manufacture of Egyptian cottons. Mitchell currently resides in Chicago, IL where he is project managing the establishment of Aurifil USA’s new flagship HQ.
Gwen Westerman
A poet and fiber artist, Gwen Westerman lives in southern Minnesota, as did her Dakota ancestors. Her roots are deep in the landscape of the tallgrass prairie, and reveal themselves in her art and writing through the languages and traditions of her family. She is an enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, and Professor in English and Humanities at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her quilts have won awards at the juried shows of the Northern Plains Indian Art Market, the Heard
Museum Guild Indian Art Fair & Market, and the Eiteljorg, and have been exhibited in Minneapolis, Sioux Falls, Anchorage, Houston, Tulsa, Fargo, and Lincoln. She is the author Follow the Blackbirds, a poetry collection in Dakota and English, and co-author of Mni Sota Makoce: Land of the Dakota, a history of Dakota land tenure in Minnesota.


trinity church facts
TODAY & TOMORROW’S OPENING TIMES & CLOSURES. [16], During the September 11 attacks, people took refuge inside the church from the massive debris cloud produced by the first World Trade Center tower collapse. It was Grade I listed in 1968. American History for Kids, Jan 2021. Trinity's main building is a National Historic Landmark as well as a New York City designated landmark. Trinity Church is a church within Trinity Plaza in 2287. On July 9, 1976, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visited Trinity Church. In 1959, the Internal Revenue Service sued over the compensation of the church's property manager, but the church prevailed in Stanton v. United States. < https://www.americanhistoryforkids.com/trinity-church/ >. The attempt was even revived in the 20th century. [19] On December 17, 2011, occupiers and a few clergy attempted to occupy LentSpace, which is surrounded by a chain-link fence. + Grace Chapel in Fruitland Park had a membership of 40 prior to the founding of Holy Trinity in 1886. The church was destroyed in the Great New York City Fire of 1776, which started in the Fighting Cocks Tavern, destroying between 400 and 500 buildings and houses, and leaving thousands of New Yorkers homeless. They are three distinct aspects, yet they are inseparable and together constitute one unified human being. It shares this belief with two other major world religions, Judaism and Islam. [1] When the Episcopal Bishop of New York consecrated Trinity Church on Ascension Day (May 1) 1846, its soaring Gothic Revival spire, surmounted by a gilded cross, dominated the skyline of lower Manhattan. "Digital redraft of the Castello Plan of New Amsterdam in New Netherland in 1660 [Beta]", "INDEX TO PLOTS ON THE CASTELLO PLAN MAP", "Question of the Day: Trinity's Very Own Pirate? The Trinity is a tricky concept to understand. It is instrumental in the establishment of Good Samaritan Hospital (1873) and the Trinity Mission Chapel (St. Mark's parish). It was completed in 1877 and is made of granite. Nonetheless, proponents of such t… 1883 – The union church with the Reformed congregation was dissolved, and Trinity built a separate Lutheran church. Trinity Church of New York was an important site during the American Revolution and the founding era of the United States of America. [5] Although Trinity Church has sold off much of the land that was part of the royal grant from Queen Anne,[28] it is still one of the largest landowners in New York City with 14 acres of Manhattan real estate including 5.5 million square feet (510,000 m2) of commercial space in Hudson Square. 14. Fax (763) 533-3680. "It is so exciting to watch the growth of Holy Trinity Classical Christian School because it is evidence of what happens when you put God as the focus in the development of young minds and souls. Diagrams of the Trinity. Trinity was founded in 1871 and has provided spiritual support, community outreach and pastoral care to this region for almost 150 years. Known for its history, location, architecture and endowment, Trinity is a traditional high church, with an active parish centered around the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion in missionary, outreach, and fellowship. It can accommodate up to 30 worshipers. ; Outline of the Legal History of the Trinity "Church Farm. Trinity Lutheran Church, 120 Sunset Drive, Butler, PA, 16001, United States (724) 287-1977 [email protected] Later, in 1709, William Huddleston founded Trinity School as the Charity School of the church, and classes were originally held in the steeple of the church. It offered both moral and practical support to the demonstrators but balked when protesters demanded an encampment on church-owned land called LentSpace, adjoining Juan Pablo Duarte Square in the neighborhood of Hudson Square. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The basis of the lawsuits was that only five of Bogardus' six heirs had conveyed the land to the English crown in 1671. Trinity, in Christian doctrine, the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead. Construction on the second Trinity Church building began in 1788; it was consecrated in 1790. While dwarfed by skyscrapers today, it still holds an important place in New York history. Trinity is also home to a Youth Chorus, Youth Orchestra, Family Choir, Downtown Voices, change bell ringers, and a wide variety of arts programming through Congregational Arts. Our historic church is a living beacon calling all for worship, fellowship, and growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. Phone (763) 533-0600. Add an embed URL or code. [35][36] The church was connected to the previous building by a footbridge, which was preserved during demolition, and will be connected to the new building upon its completion. Trinity Parish, 1821. TODAY & TOMORROW’S SERVICES NEXT WEEK'S SERVICES. During the American Revolutionary War the city became the British military and political base of operations in North America, following the departure of General George Washington and the Continental Army shortly after Battle of Long Island and subsequent local defeats. Welcome to Trinity Methodist and The United Reformed Church, Porthcawl. Add Holy Trinity Church, Lickey to your PopFlock.com topic list for future reference or share this resource on social media. Holy Trinity Church is an active parish church in Stratford, on the banks of the River Avon and used as a place of worship for over 1,000 years. In April 1977, application was made synod for a Vicar to assist our congregation. ©2019 by Trinity Church Project. VISITING HOLY TRINITY CHURCH. It partners with many organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity. St. Paul's Chapel was used while the second Trinity Church was being built. History of Trinity Baptist Church. Construction for Trinity Church began in 1872, after the original church burned down. The impressive church was designed by Henry Hobson Richardson and is the first instance of the Richardsonian Romanesque style. The three persons of the Trinity are all God. Six days later, most of the city's volunteer firemen followed General Washington north. The mainstay of Trinity's music program is The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, a professional ensemble that leads liturgical music at Trinity Church and St. Paul's Chapel, presents new-music concerts in New York City, produces recordings, and performs in international tours. The Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church Fast Facts. Holy Trinity Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church at 39 Gordon Street, Mackay, Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. #DYK that last year’s Greek Festival brought in over 170,000 attendees? The entire music program is under the leadership of Julian Wachner, Director of Music and the Arts, a renowned conductor, composer, and keyboard artist. [5][30] The parish's annual revenue from its real estate holdings was $158 million in 2011 with net income of $38 million,[5] making it perhaps one of the richest individual parishes in the world. Located on the plaza in downtown St. Augustine, Trinity Parish was established when Florida became a territory of the United States. The church houses several sculptures, beautiful stained glass windows, and more than 21,000 square feet of murals painted by John LaForge. Question: What is Trinity Church known for? The installation work was carried out by Taylors, Eayre and Smith of Loughborough, England, in September 2006. Named after the village of Izmailovo, near Moscow, the Izmailovsky regiment moved to Petersburg when the northern city was re-established as the Russian capital under Empress Anne. The first Trinity Church building was a single-story rectangular structure facing the Hudson River, which was constructed in 1698 and destroyed in the Great New York City Fire of 1776. In the churchyard is the supposed grave of the giant Jack o'Legs "TRINITY CHURCH PROPERTY. Trinity Church Quick Facts. Answer: Besides being a very old church, Trinity Church is known for its community service and programs for children, teens, families, and the poor. Building a bigger church was beneficial because the population of New York City was expanding. Christians believe that the idea of the Trinity is found in the Bible, and it is a key concept of all of the Creeds of the Christian Church. The land on which it was built was formerly a formal garden and then a burial ground. Parish Facts. Trinity Church is one of the oldest church buildings in the City of Perth, and one of the few remaining 19th-century colonial buildings in the city. 12-27-20 Trinity Call To Prayer Happy New Year! The doctrine of the Trinity is considered to be one of the central Christian affirmations about God. Why do Christians believe in a Trinity? Besides its building, Trinity manages real estate properties with a combined worth of over $6 billion as of 2019[update]. Built from 1872 to 1877, Trinity Church is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts parish. Yet the history of the congregation extends much further—to the first Methodist preaching in Albany by Captain Thomas Webb in 1765. Twenty-five Trinity members were released to form Redeemer Lutheran Church and dedicating Aurora’s new church building September 1958. Trinity Church held the title of tallest building in the United States until 1869, when it was surpassed by St. Michael's Church, Old Town, Chicago. Holy Trinity is where William Shakespeare was baptised, worshipped and is buried. Myths & Facts. we had a conversation with the with maybe twenty members of the church on Thursday to just hear where people were had another conversation with members of the men's group on Saturday morning. With considerable membership growth, overcrowded conditions soon caused Trinity to initiate two Sunday morning services, which began December 12, 1955. Visit Trinity Church virtually or watch a service online. It is the southernmost Eastern Orthodox Church in the world. The article by Paul W. Wehr, cited below, provides a couple of interesting statistics pertinent to Holy Trinity’s first years of existence. Donate. Three more bells were added later. Modern Denominational Statements on the Trinity . Charles Inglis served throughout the war and then to Nova Scotia on evacuation with the whole congregation of Trinity Church.[13]. Originally founded under the charter of King William III of England in 1697, the church has Dutch roots preceding this date, when New York was still known as New Amsterdam. James W. Gerard On The Anneke Jans Bogardus Claims", "With $6 billion, is this the richest church in America? In 1843, Trinity Church's expanding parish was divided due to the burgeoning cityscape and to better serve the needs of its parishioners. Sculptor Steve Tobin used its roots as the base for a bronze sculpture titled Trinity Root, which stood in front of the church at the corner of Wall Street and Broadway until December 2015, when it was moved by the church to its conference center in Connecticut. Facts Against Fancy, Or A True And Just View Of Trinity Church; The Rector Rectified, A Reply; Trinity Church, A Letter (1855) [Berrian, William, Boorman, James, North, C. C.] on Amazon.com. Additional notable parishioners included John Jay and Alexander Hamilton.[14]. After demonstrating in Duarte Park and marching on the streets surrounding the park, occupiers climbed over[20] and under the fence. December 31, 2014 by Donna Bott. In 1696, Governor Benjamin Fletcher approved the purchase of land in Lower Manhattan by the Church of England community for construction of a new church. Pope John XXII formally approved the feast in 1334, but its observance dates as early as the 10th century. [23] In 1976, the United States Department of the Interior designated Trinity Church a National Historic Landmark because of its architectural significance and its place within the history of New York City.[4][24][25]. Since 1993, Trinity Church has hosted the graduation ceremonies of the High School of Economics and Finance. The church is a 15m-high wooden structure built in traditional Russian style. Contact. Trinity continued to be the tallest in New York City, with its 281-foot (86 m) spire and cross, until it was surpassed in 1890 by the New York World Building.[15]. (History of Trinity Church, Julia Norton McLean) The Parish of Trinity Church was legally organized on April 17, 1789. The artist took no payment for his work, asking only that he be paid for the cost of materials. Beginning in the 1780s, the church's claim on 62 acres of Queen Anne's 1705 grant was contested in the courts by descendants of a 17th-century Dutchwoman, Anneke Jans Bogardus, who, it was claimed, held original title to that property. [17] The pews were later replaced, but one still exists at the back of the chapel for remembrance of the events on 9/11. Built from 1872 to 1877, Trinity Church is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts parish. Manhattan's Trinity Church was once the tallest building in the city. Although early Christian theologians speculated in many ways on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, no one clearly and fully asserted the doctrine of the Trinity as explained at the top of the main entry until around the end of the so-called Arian Controversy. Since the establishment of the First Methodist society in 1789, our … Did you know that 35% of our new members come through our Early Childhood Center or School Ministries? [5] Concerts at One has been providing live professional classical and contemporary music for the Wall Street community since 1969, and the church has several organized choirs, featured Sunday mornings on WQXR 105.9 FM in New York City. 20:42. The current building is the third constructed for Trinity Church, and was designed by Richard Upjohn in the Gothic Revival style. William] on Amazon.com. Following his 1789 inauguration at Federal Hall, George Washington attended Thanksgiving service, presided over by Bishop Provoost, at St. Paul's Chapel, a chapel of the Parish of Trinity Church. Trinity College opened up attendance to Catholics in 1793, during the Emancipation. Opened: 2012 . A Maryland historical marker stands at the entrance to the Holy Trinity Church and Primary School campus grounds. The building's plan is a modified Greek Cross with four arms extending outwards from the central tower, which stands 64 m (211 ft) tall. It was designed in 1923 by Lange Leopold Powell and built by A Stonage and Sons, completing in 1926. Our church’s story began in 1927, when members of the First Church of the Nazarene in Los Angeles set out to fulfill Christ’s mandate to “make disciples of all nations” by starting a Sunday School class for the local Chinese community. Trinity is a proud part of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia which is a diocese in The Episcopal Church. The church then built a plywood deck right over the bells and placed shutters on the inside of the bell chamber's lancet windows. Rich with history, the Trinity Church was originally constructed in 1698 and burned down during the Revolutionary War in 1776. The Choir is often joined by the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Trinity's ensemble of period instrumentalists, and NOVUS NY, Trinity's contemporary music orchestra. Well it's true: The greatest row in the history of Christianity centred on a single word filioque and on the doctrine of the Trinity. [6] The Church of the Intercession, the Trinity Chapel Complex and many other of Anglican congregations in Manhattan were was part of Trinity at one point. 4240 Gettysburg Ave N New Hope, MN 55428. You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples: Declan, Tobin. " 18 Jan 2021. Over 4,000 households belong to the church, which offers five services each Sunday, as well as weekday services during the summer. At Trinity Church Boston, a congregation of The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, we strive to build the volume of love in the world.Whether you are looking for inspiration, comfort, or to become part of a community of generous-spirited, intellectually alive, faithful Christians at the center of our city, there’s a place for you here.. Everyone is welcome. Craven, Wayne, Sculpture in America, Thomas Y. Crowell Co., New York 1968, p. 454, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church (Manhattan), Learn how and when to remove this template message, U.S. National Register of Historic Places, William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor, National Register of Historic Places portal, List of National Historic Landmarks in New York City, List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan below 14th Street, National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan below 14th Street, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, "Trinity Church Split on How to Manage $2 Billion Legacy of a Queen". Weddings. She never requested that her books be re-edited and the non-Trinitarian thoughts removed since they were truth. Perhaps most notable amongst this group was the eventual rector of the parish, Charles Inglis, who published a loyalist rebuke to Thomas Paine's Common Sense in 1776. Trinity Church’s current name and location date back to 1867. Saint Augustine, one of the greatest thinkers of the early church, described the Trinity as comparable to the three parts of an individual human being: mind, spirit, and will. The newly formed parish would build Grace Church, to the north on Broadway at 10th street, while the original parish would re-build Trinity Church, the structure that stands today. The school is located on Trinity Place, a few blocks away from the church. Falling wreckage knocked over a giant sycamore tree that had stood for nearly a century in the churchyard of St. Paul's Chapel, part of Trinity Church's parish, located several blocks north of Trinity Church. Christianity is a monotheistic religion, meaning that it teaches the existence of one God (specifically, the God of the Jews). In this video we expose the pagan Trinity. Trinity Church, as an Episcopal parish in the Anglican Communion, offers a full schedule of Daily Prayer and Eucharist services throughout the week, and based on the Book of Common Prayer; it is also available for special occasions, such as weddings and baptisms. The English Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germantown in the same year purchased the site of the present church and the Christopher Sower House, where Trinity's offices now are, for $3,000. The third and current Trinity Church began construction in 1839 and was finished in 1846. Trinity Church History and Facts. Unfortunately, this year the famous Soda City event has been cancelled because of COVID-19 concerns with large crowds + such close proximity to one another. The second Trinity Church was built facing Wall Street; it was 200 feet tall, and longer and wider than its predecessor. Its sanctuary is listed in the National Register: The Church of the Holy Trinity, constructed ca. Under British occupation clergy were required to be Loyalists, while the parishioners included some members of the revolutionary New York Provincial Congress, as well as the First and Second Continental Congresses. The structure was built out of Siberian Pine by Altay carpenters led by K.V. One is through the main doors on the western side of the building, the other is through a metal gate and stairs leading to the basement of the church, on the northeastern side of the building. The Church of the Holy Trinity recently left the Episcopal denomination due to philosophical differences and is now affiliated with the more conservative Anglican church. Myth: Trinity Episcopal Church didn’t do enough due diligence and vetting. Henderson’s Chapel was deeded to the church in 1737 when Rev. Retention: 99% . Trinity was part of St. Emanuel’s Church, a union church together with the Reformed. In 1754, King's College (now Columbia University) was chartered by King George II of Great Britain, and instruction began with eight students in a school building near the church. Our Services on Youtube. Includes service times, sermon series, directions, ministries, life groups, events, sermons (audio), podcasts, online giving and contact info. [26], Trinity Church has three sets of impressive bronze doors, donated by William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor in memory of his father, John Jacob Astor III. Guided tours of the church are offered daily at 2 p.m.[citation needed], In 2015 Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones, a priest at Trinity Church, commissioned Mark Dukes to create the icon Our Lady of Ferguson. Trinity Church in Boston houses one of the oldest Episcopalian congregations in the area, dating back to 1733. However, Christian monotheism is a unique kind of monotheism. It is located at 72 St Georges Terrace in Perth , … The history of Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Utica, New York begins 102 years ago in October of 1894 when eighty-two (82) families and individuals contributed a sum of $79 toward a future Parish and Church to serve Polish Immigrants to the Utica Area. Jacob Henderson. As the first Protestant Church in Florida, our past is long. Boston’s Trinity Church was founded in 1733 and was originally located in downtown Boston. Henderson sold the land called “Bel Air” to Governor Samuel Ogle and Colonel Benjamin Tasker. [28][29] Numerous times over the course of six decades, the claimants asserted themselves in court, losing each time. This was the Shakespeare family’s local parish church, and Shakespeare would have attended Holy Trinity Church each Sunday, becoming well versed in biblical tales, which we see in many of his character’s knowledge of the bible. The Rev. In addition to its main facility, Trinity operates two chapels: St. Paul's Chapel, and the Chapel … Strength in Numbers. The institution also owns the Trinity Court Building property, where it formerly housed its offices and preschool. The north and east doors each consists of six panels from Church history or the Bible, and the south door depicts the history of New York in its six panels.[27]. Why do Christians believe in a Trinity? ; The Hon. December 30, 2020. was one of the earliest churches in Jacksonville. A project to install a new ring of 12 additional change ringing bells was initially proposed in 2001 but put on hold in the aftermath of the September attacks, which took place three blocks north of the church. In the Christian religion, the Trinity is an idea used to explain that three different persons are called God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (who is sometimes called the Holy Ghost).Trinity states that these three all form the same God. According to historical records, Captain William Kidd lent the runner and tackle from his ship for hoisting the stones.[11][12]. In 1787, Provoost was consecrated as the first Bishop of the newly formed Diocese of New York. In 1876–1877 a reredos and altar were erected in memory of William Backhouse Astor, Sr., to the designs of architect Frederick Clarke Withers. After the parish’s church on Summer Street had burned down in the Great Boston Fire of 1872, construction on the new church began – one in the shape of a modified Greek cross – under the direction of Rector Phillips Brooks, a well-known preacher at the time. We answer the questions - Is the Trinity doctrine in the Bible? Trinity Church is a small Russian Orthodox Church on King George Island in Antarctica. After the Great Boston Fire of 1872, the church complex moved to its current location and construction was completed in 1877. View Videos or join the Holy Trinity Church, Lickey discussion. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Facts Against Fancy; Or, a True and Just View of Trinity Church The first Trinity Church building, a modest rectangular structure with a gambrel roof and small porch, was constructed in 1698, on Wall Street, facing the Hudson River. In 1835 the Diocese of Illinois was founded, with the Rt. uh it helps me see and clear as I cipher through the news, the reports and my own reactions and interactions. ", "New York's Trinity Church has a diverse investment portfolio worth $6 billion", "The Church With the $6 Billion Portfolio", "New Mixed-Use Tower Revealed at 74 Trinity Place, Financial District – New York YIMBY", "Construction kicks off on Trinity Church's Pelli Clarke Pelli-designed community center and office tower | 6sqft", 111, 115 (Trinity and United States Realty), Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, History of the National Register of Historic Places, National Register of Historic Places Portal, International Mercantile Marine Company Building, New York County Lawyers' Association Building, Trinity and United States Realty Buildings, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building, Leadership and Public Service High School, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trinity_Church_(Manhattan)&oldid=1000866422, Episcopal church buildings in New York City, Gothic Revival church buildings in New York City, New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan, Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan, Religious organizations established in the 1690s, Articles using NRISref without a reference number, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from February 2019, All articles needing additional references, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2019, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2017, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz place identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 17 January 2021, at 03:17.
Check Car Plate Number Singapore, Wildwood Byron Menu, Baltimore Demographics 2020, Is Colonizing Mars A Good Idea, Durban Maps And Directions,


Alzheimer's Disease Research Center
Developmental Projects
Mayo Clinic Study of Aging
Wellness and Education
Patient Appointments
Research in the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center has two main focus areas:
Patient-oriented (clinical) research
Basic science (laboratory) research
Patient-oriented research
The clinical side of research — also known as the patient-oriented side — focuses on investigating the very earliest phases of cognitive impairment that may ultimately develop into Alzheimer's disease.
Mayo Clinic neurologists examine patients, take careful family histories, administer memory tests and use imaging, such as magnetic resonance imaging, to examine various regions of the brain.
Three main focus areas in patient-oriented research are:
Normal aging
The Alzheimer's Disease Research Center studies the entire spectrum of aging, from normal aging to mild cognitive impairment to dementia in cooperation with the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. The Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, one of the largest and longest running studies on aging, began in 2004 and has recruited more than 3,000 people.
The Mayo Clinic Study of Aging is a population-based study of cognitively normal older adults ranging in age from 50 to 89 who live in Olmsted County, Minn. Through yearly contact with the participants, Mayo Clinic researchers hope to be able to develop prediction models that will help differentiate and better understand people who are aging well from those who experience a cognitive decline. Researchers want to determine who is at risk of cognitive decline well before symptoms are noticed, which could ultimately aid in the discovery of strategies for prevention.
Mild cognitive impairment
The transitional period between the cognitive changes of normal aging and very early Alzheimer's disease is called mild cognitive impairment. Mayo Clinic researchers are active in describing the clinical features of people with mild cognitive impairment and follow them longitudinally.
Researchers in the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center also have learned about factors that can predict whose symptoms will progress to Alzheimer's disease at a more rapid rate. The center's researchers are involved in clinical trials of treatments designed to alter this rate of progression.
Dementia disorders
Another major aspect of patient-oriented research in the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center involves dementias other than Alzheimer's disease, including frontotemporal dementia and Lewy body dementia. Many people with frontotemporal dementia or Lewy body dementia are being followed both longitudinally and in clinical trials by the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.
Neuroscience research laboratories at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., are continuing to develop new and more-effective therapies in preparation for testing in clinical trials.
In addition, the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's Disease Research Center in Jacksonville has established a cohort of more than 300 older African-Americans with normal cognition. Mayo's Older African Americans Normative Studies (MOAANS) began in 1996 as an effort to improve the accuracy of diagnostic cognitive tests in detecting early dementia in older African-Americans.
MOAANS participants continue to be followed annually and have contributed to ongoing studies of the clinical, genetic, biomarker and neuroimaging characteristics that may help predict the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
Basic science, or laboratory research, studies the cellular and molecular processes that cause nerve cells in the brain to stop functioning and die during aging, as well as the role of genes in affecting the risk of developing an aging-related disease.
Investigators with the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center have been studying autopsy material from people followed in the research center to learn about the underlying pathological causes of the various dementia disorders, with emphasis on Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia.
In addition, the center's investigators are also able to learn about the underlying foundation of normal aging changes in the brain because of older participants with normal aging who volunteer for research projects. This helps researchers understand changes found in the brains of people with dementia-related diseases.
Pathological causes of Alzheimer's Disease
Investigators with the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center have made significant progress in studying two proteins, amyloid and tau, that are strongly implicated in the development and progression of dementia in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
Amyloid protein. Researchers in Florida are studying the characteristics of the amyloid protein itself and genetic factors that could predispose people to developing this protein. Studies involving both humans and mouse models of Alzheimer's disease have yielded potential diagnostic tests for Alzheimer's disease.
Tau protein. Memory loss in Alzheimer's disease is associated with abnormal clumping of tau protein in cells, causing neurons to malfunction and die. Researchers in Florida aim to develop strategies and therapies to prevent and remove the unwanted buildup of tau.
Understanding other dementia syndromes
Research is progressing on a better understanding of the genetics, pathological development and treatment of people with frontotemporal dementia.
Mayo Clinic researchers in Florida were among the first in the United States to identify novel genetic mutations in some families with frontotemporal dementia. In fact, the three most important dominantly inherited gene mutations that cause frontotemporal dementia were discovered at Mayo Clinic in Florida.
This work has led to animal models of the condition and a better understanding of its causes, while research about possible therapies continues.
ART-20037478


The climate justice approach and the politics of climate change
by Lim Li Lin
The climate change talks have been going on for a long time. Since Rio in 1992, when the Climate Convention was adopted, there have been 16 Conference of the Parties (COPs). Then in 2007, a new round of negotiations was launched in Bali.
Many thought Parties were going to arrive at a deal in Copenhagen, COP 15, but that proved a mirage. And then there was Cancun, and now Durban, where it is clear that negotiations will not conclude. What is perhaps unclear is what will happen after Durban.
How are humans going to live with climate change? One response to this is the climate justice response. The challenge here is that climate change impacts everything and everybody. It is a really big challenge, but it is also a huge opportunity. There is an opportunity to promote solutions that are real solutions – people-centered solutions, ecological solutions and socially just solutions.
Climate change is also a justice issue. The rich and corporations are the principal drivers of climate change. And here the culprits are mainly the extractive industries, the fossil fuel industries, mining and oil companies and, of course, consumers of what these companies are extracting from the ground, so it is also a demand-side problem.
But it is really the rich minority in this world that have principally caused the problem of climate change. However, those who did not cause the problem, the poorest, who are the world’s majority, will feel the impacts worst and first. This is a fundamental fact and the basic foundation for the climate justice analysis and the climate justice movement.
The developed countries – forming only 20 per cent of the world’s population – have emitted nearly three-quarters of all the historic greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) into the atmosphere, so there is a fundamental imbalance here. This atmosphere is not theirs alone; this atmosphere is shared by all of us and they have polluted the atmosphere that they share with everyone, causing this problem of climate change.
If there is a limit to what can be emitted into the atmosphere, and developed countries have emitted so much, it means that there is little capacity for more. The fact is that these countries have already over-consumed what we might call their fair share. They have already taken away that space from us in developing countries, who arguably need it more to develop.
If this is the case, then we need to talk about how we develop – we need real, sustainable development. We need to de-link our development from emissions pollution. But because we haven’t yet been able to do this successfully – and even developed countries have not been able to show us that they can de-link their development from GHG emissions – we are still facing the struggle of how we are going to do it. At the moment the predominant model is to grow and develop our way out of poverty and that requires emissions.
On actual, historic emissions, since 1850, Annex 1 countries (the developed countries) have used more than three-quarters of available emissions space. This situation should probably be the reverse since the population in developing countries is around 80 per cent of the world’s population. What the developed countries propose in the negotiations is that they still take a very big share of the available emissions space in terms of population, when it should be much less because they have already over-consumed in the past and they have a much smaller population. That’s where the basic problem lies.
One of the key discourses in the climate justice agenda, proposed by Bolivia and backed up by NGOs and civil society, is what they have framed as climate debt: Because the developed countries have already over-used, and propose to continue over-using in the future, their share of the atmospheric capacity (a global commons), they have diminished the Earth’s ability to absorb GHG emissions and this has denied developing countries the fair space needed to further their development. This is an emissions debt to developing countries and has led to climate change and its impacts.
Then there is also an adaptation debt, as now there are adverse effects of climate change, and these impacts are being felt in developing countries. The adaptation debt to developing countries is in terms of loss and damage, the imperative to adapt and for lost development opportunities. Together, the emissions debt and the adaptation debt comprise a climate debt. This is how Bolivia and many climate justice groups have framed it.
Many groups have been calling for the adoption of the climate debt principle so that developed countries would be compelled to repay climate debt through finance and technology transfers. This obliges developed countries to accept full accounting for their historical emissions debt and commit to making the deepest possible emission reductions in the negotiations.
If one actually were to do a full accounting of the emissions debt of developed countries, this would probably show that they would need to cut emissions by minus 300 per cent. You might say that is impossible – we can’t cut it even by 100 per cent, how are we going to go to minus 300 per cent? We do acknowledge that such a cut back might not be technically possible at the moment. However, developed countries need to make the deepest cuts technically possible at this time. So what they need to do and what they can do may differ because there are presently technological and other practical limits. They need, however, to accept their responsibility and do the utmost.
And for what cannot be done, they must transfer finance and technology to developing countries who will have to make emissions cuts or be faced with the impacts that excessive global emissions bring. This is a debt that developed countries owe to developing countries, it isn’t aid. It is an obligation, a right that developing countries have to finance and technology transfers from developed countries.
This framing has allowed for a methodology that developing countries like Bolivia and others have put forward in the negotiations. Using the principle of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities as a basis, Bolivia and other countries have demanded that developed countries reduce their emissions by 50 per cent from 1990 levels without offsetting by 2017, and transfer finance and technology to do likewise in developing countries.
There is a full spectrum of positions at the climate negotiations. There are the ‘usual suspects’ led by the worst of all, the United States. Others such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and Japan – basically the industrialised OECD countries – adopt hard-line positions. And then there is the European Union and the other developed countries that are either not in the European Union or are not quite in the developed country bloc, such as Mexico and South Korea, which are OECD countries, but are not Annex 1 countries.
Furthermore, there is the full range of non-Annex 1 countries. The largest bloc is the G77 and China, which comprises nearly all developing countries. Among the G77 and China there is the alliance of small island states, quite a prominent bloc in the negotiations because they represent the small islands who, up until this point, have been the moral voice of the negotiations owing to their focus on sea-level rise and the right to survival. There are the least developed countries, the African group and the ideologically left South American countries: Bolivia is key among them, also Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and others. There is also the BASIC grouping of emerging developing countries, not negotiating as a bloc, yet meeting regularly in an effort to coordinate positions. This group is viewed with suspicion by other developing countries. There is also the Arab group which overlaps with the African group.
What happened after the debacle in Copenhagen was that Bolivia went on to organise a large conference in Cochabamba in 2010. The idea came about as the Copenhagen meeting had failed miserably since the developed countries had tried to force the Copenhagen Accord onto other countries. Countries including Tuvalu, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Sudan basically rejected the Copenhagen Accord and there was no formal decision at that meeting. So Bolivia organised a World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth to bring together governments, civil society, and climate justice and social movements to discuss and address this issue. The idea was that it was supposed to be democratic and open to the peoples of the world to decide on this fundamental issue. There is much we can draw on from this.
The problem is what developed countries are trying to do: They acknowledge that climate change is a problem (some sectors in the US don’t acknowledge it is a problem and that is another problem altogether), however, their approach to solving the problem is incorrect. What they are trying to do, instead of acknowledging that they are the ones responsible for the problem, is to push the burden onto developing countries. This is an injustice.
They are trying to push climate change mitigation onto the BASIC countries in particular with the argument that their emissions are growing considerably hence they are responsible for a lot of the climate problem. Historical responsibility is not considered, as the developed countries argue that they can’t be responsible for the actions of generations before them, and what matters is emissions today. The US is saying that China’s absolute emissions today are bigger than their own, yet on a per capita basis, US emissions are still much greater than China’s. They are also not considering their historical responsibility, and this is fundamentally unfair.
What developed countries are also doing, instead of meeting reductions domestically, is to basically buy them from developing countries. This is possible with market mechanisms such as the Clean Development Mechanism in the Kyoto Protocol. Instead of effecting domestic emission reductions, developed countries can pay developing countries to mitigate for them. On paper they meet their obligations, but actually the emission reductions are made elsewhere. Developing countries are trying to expand the market mechanisms and introduce new ones.
What developed countries are also trying to do is to use accounting loopholes that will allow them to show on paper that they have reduced emissions, when in reality, they have not made these emissions reductions.
They are also trying to deny finance and technology transfers to developing countries. What of the $100 billion that was first mentioned in the Copenhagen Accord? This is basically re-programmed aid money and it is not a pledge to give $100 billion, it is a pledge to help mobilise $100 billion, and that would include mobilising it from developing countries.
Developed countries have also been trying to push the problem of adaptation back onto developing countries. They are really not going to pass on the finance and technology, but instead leave the problem to developing countries to deal with themselves.
All of this plays out in the climate negotiations and has crystallised into the fight over what kind of emissions reduction system we should adopt. Up until this point we have always had a system of legally binding international commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. Countries came together under the UN to say this is what we need to do because the science calls for it and we will negotiate as such and have an international agreement because it is an international problem. There is already a system for accounting, review, reporting and compliance and all of this is agreed and binding internationally.
However, what is happening now is that the US is promoting a system of bottom-up domestic pledges. They are pledging to reduce their emissions by around three per cent based on 1990 levels. They are resisting common accounting, reporting and review rules, and instead talk about “the sunshine of transparency”. They do not envisage a system with international compliance but a reliance on domestic legislation. However, it is clear that they are not going to have any climate legislation in the near future, so they can’t even promise that their pledge will be in domestic legislation, they merely state that this is what they are pledging to do domestically.
What is happening now is that the discussions have shifted. Countries like Canada, Russia and Japan are using the US as an excuse and have said that they will not commit to a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. Instead, developed countries are pushing for a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, and the new treaty that they want will likely legalise a domestic pledge and review system. This is now the fundamental fight that is playing out in the climate negotiations over the Kyoto Protocol.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS AND AFRICAN AGENDA
Adaptation, COP 15 Copenhagen, Finance, Technology Transfer, Toward Durban CDM, Climate Debt, Cochabamba, emissions, Kyoto Protocol permalink
Common statement on the Outcome of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development