Home > Archives > Reclaiming Film History: An Interview with Women Film Pioneers Project Manager Kate Saccone
Reclaiming Film History: An Interview with Women Film Pioneers Project Manager Kate Saccone
By Sarah Bastin
Flicker Alley is proud to present this exclusive interview with Kate Saccone, Project Manager of the Women Film Pioneers Project at Columbia University and author of the booklet essay for Early Women Filmmakers: An International Anthology. Saccone discusses her work with WFPP, her involvement with Early Women Filmmakers, how much progress women directors have made, and more!
Can you tell our audience a bit about how you became interested in film and your background in cinema?
It’s the most cliché answer in the book, but I grew up loving film. My parents made sure that I saw a lot of great cinema during my childhood and I embraced it all. I was particularly obsessed with classical Hollywood musicals like Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and Summer Stock (1950). I ended up pursuing degrees in film studies at both the undergraduate and graduate levels (at Clark University and Columbia University, respectively). During my time at Columbia, I worked as a research assistant for Jane Gaines’ Women Film Pioneers Project and began to focus on silent cinema and women’s participation in film production at that time.
You have been an integral part of the Women Film Pioneers Project as Project Manager. For those who are unfamiliar, what is the Women Film Pioneers Project and what has been your involvement?
The Women Film Pioneers Project (WFPP) is a collaborative online resource published by Columbia University’s Center for Digital Research and Scholarship. Our mission is to advance research on and bring visibility to the hundreds (and hundreds!) of women who worked at all levels of production in cinema’s first two decades. We strive to show that women worked in film, all around the world, as more than just actresses during the silent era. WFPP consists of career profiles (short essays on a single woman) and overview essays (longer articles looking at a national cinema or occupation) written by film historians and archivists. In addition to publishing this original scholarship, we feature a wide range of archival resources and links to facilitate further research and discovery. WFPP has actually been around since 1993 and was originally conceived of as a multi-volume book set. Luckily, we ended up being an online-only resource, which allows us to evolve in variety of exciting ways.
In terms of my involvement, I became Project Manager after I graduated and right before our online launch in 2013. Each day is different for me, which I love. I do everything from outreach and film research to supervise our graduate students and manage our image database and DVD/VHS library. The largest part of my job is to oversee the editing and publishing of the profiles and essays, but I also handle social media and website updates and organize any events and screenings that we host. Basically, I get to collaborate with everyone from our wonderful contributors to our talented web developers to make sure WFPP continues to run and expand.
"The Girl in the Armchair" (1912) by Alice Guy Blaché, notable for its superimposition nightmare sequence.
Our friend and colleague David Shepard, who recently passed away, curated and produced our Early Women Filmmakers collection. Can you tell us how he brought you onto the project? What was your process for writing the booklet essay and film annotations included in this release?
David hired me in early September 2016 after he had already selected the titles for this anthology. I spent some time researching these women in more detail and watching the films included in the set. I wanted to find ways to talk about them all together and create a narrative that put someone like Alice Guy Blaché in dialogue with Mary Ellen Bute. I tried to contextualize these women and think about their working conditions, their different relationships to the developing cinematic medium, and their legacies. I knew that I could not talk at length about every single woman, but I looked for threads that connected them all in various ways.
Successful director Lois Weber was at one time the highest-paid director in Hollywood.
Lois Weber was once as famous and respected in the film industry as her contemporaries Cecil B. DeMille and D.W. Griffith. Why do you think women directors like her were largely written out of film history? And what are some of the ways in which film historians and fans have gone about restoring recognition for these artists?
A simple answer is that, in the United States, women directors like Weber were essentially marginalized and pushed out as a result of Hollywood’s move toward vertical integration and the producer-centric system of production in the 1920s. Over time, the idea of “director” became synonymous with the male filmmakers who dominated the studio system, essentially allowing film history to “forget” about all the women who shaped the emerging art form in its first two decades. For a more detailed understanding of this period, there are several important books that I urge people to read, like Shelley Stamp’s Lois Weber in Early Hollywood, Karen Ward Mahar’s Women Filmmakers in Early Hollywood, and Jane Gaines’ forthcoming Pink-Slipped: What Happened to Women in the Silent Film Industry?
These resources, along with other publications on specific women, the efforts of film festivals and conferences, restorations and DVD releases, and online discussions, are a vital part of the international film community’s efforts to restore recognition for these artists. Archivists, film programmers, academics, distributors, and fans have been celebrating and sharing the work of early women directors for years and it’s exciting to see awareness of female filmmakers like Weber continue to grow.
"La Cigarette" (1919)
How much work still needs to be done for early women filmmakers to get their due, and what sort of progress have you seen while working with the Women Film Pioneers Project?
While we’ve come a long way in recognizing the work of some early female filmmakers, there’s still a long way to go, especially in raising awareness outside of academia and the film community. I do feel like there has been an increase in film programs and online articles in mainstream media outlets focusing on early women directors in the last few years. I think people are recognizing more and more the urgent need to rewrite these women back into film history. There are so many great resources and efforts out there—from silent film blogs like Movies Silently and film festivals like Il Cinema Ritrovato to publications like Doing Women’s Film History and Tami Williams’ Germaine Dulac: A Cinema of Sensations. It’s all fantastic work, and we just need to keep going!
"Spook Sport" (1939) by Mary Ellen Bute
In your essay for Early Women Filmmakers, you mention how the set highlights how there is “no one way to be a female filmmaker.” Why do you think that’s important? And what are some of the films included that might ‘break the mold’ of what mainstream audiences might think about the cinematic contributions of early women directors?
I think it’s always important to remember that “woman” or “woman director” is not homogeneous —then and now. When I look at this anthology, I love seeing Weber’s thriller Suspense (1913) alongside something like Bute’s experimental “film ballet” Spook Sport (1939). Those are two very different films made by women, and we should celebrate that diversity. We often expect women to only make “women’s films” (films that deal in theme/topic with women’s issues) and that’s so limiting. The 14 filmmakers included in this set worked in vastly different ways (commercially, independently, in collaboration, alone, etc.) and in numerous genres and modes (documentary, animation, comedy, etc.). Even just looking at one woman, this release highlights how Guy Blaché made so many different types of films during her career. Overall, I love that there’s a mix of films that directly engage with issues of gender like The Peasant Women of Ryazan (1927), Dance, Girl, Dance (1940), or La Souriante Mme. Beudet (1922), but also films like Parabola (1937) or The Stolen Heart (1934) that do not in the same way.
"Papageno" (1935) by Lotte Reiniger, based on Mozart's "The Magic Flute"
Which films included do you find most surprising or relevant in theme today?
I think Guy Blaché’s Making an American Citizen (1912) and Weber’s The Blot (1921) both speak to larger issues and concerns that are extremely relevant today. I am always blown away by Lotte Reiniger’s silhouette animation work and it continues to thrill and surprise me every time I watch her films. It is nice to see some of her shorts included in this anthology, giving viewers a chance to see other titles beyond the canonical The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926).
Some viewers might find the inclusion of Leni Riefenstahl’s Day of Freedom (1935) controversial. Why is it important to include and preserve this film as a historical document, and why is it important that Riefenstahl remain part of the discussion of international early women filmmakers? Did David Shepard happen to talk to you about why he wanted to include this film?
Like I said, I became involved in this project after the titles were selected, so I cannot speak to David’s motivations. Given that this anthology is meant to have an international focus on women filmmakers working up to World War II, I understand why someone like Riefenstahl was included. Her career and work are part of our global cinematic history. Day of Freedom is inseparable from a much larger (and timely) discussion of our world history and cinema’s relationship to politics. That said, I do believe that any public screening of her films should make the effort to contextualize her work, either through program notes or a panel/intro. For viewers of this anthology, there’s a title card that explains the context of Day of Freedom and I tried to contextualize her work similarly in my film note and bio blurb.
Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
Can you talk a little bit about the concept and practice of collaboration in regards to the history of women in film? How has it been a strength? How has it been a hindrance?
A lot of early women directors worked in important collaborations over the course of their careers. In many ways, it made things easier for them as professional women in 20th century society. For example, Germaine Dulac couldn’t start her film company without the financial participation of her husband because of the Napoleonic code in France at the time. More egalitarian husband/wife partnerships were also common—Guy Blaché and Herbert Blaché, Weber and Phillips Smalley, Claire Parker and Alexandre Alexeieff, Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, and Reiniger and Carl Koch are just some of the many examples of this. Filmmakers like Weber, Guy Blaché, Deren, and Reiniger certainly emerged as the dominant members in these partnerships. There’s always the danger, however, that in working in collaboration, credits and authorship—especially in early cinema—become even more difficult to figure out. In many cases, the woman’s contribution is overlooked in favor of the man’s. For example, Parker’s role as a director/animator often seems to be eclipsed by her more well-known husband.
Though we did our best to include a wide array of films and filmmakers, we of course could not include everything. Is there a director whose work you think should be included on a follow-up edition?
In a perfect world, I’d love to see Esther Eng’s one extant film, Murder in New York Chinatown (1961), more accessible to contemporary viewers. While that’s a later title, Eng is an incredibly important early female director, whose work spans the 1930s through the 1960s. I’d also love to see figures like Gene Gauntier, Marion E. Wong, Sakane Tazuko, or any of the women making non-fiction films in the UK in the 1930s/1940s (Marion Grierson, etc.) included in a follow-up edition.
Tweet by @WomenaHollywood, March 10, 2017
What do you hope the effect of this release will be on film fans or film discussion? Why is now an important time to release this set? Can you speak about the climate of the film industry toward women directors today?
For viewers already familiar with some of these women, I hope that this release will continue to inspire them to seek out other titles/directors and encourage them to revisit female artists who have been overlooked in favor of their male counterparts. For fans that are new to these names, I hope that this anthology will get them excited about some of the female filmmakers who worked during the first 40-plus years of cinema. Every time that we can add more films and filmmakers to our repertoire we’re expanding the conversation and changing our perspective in dynamic ways.
It’s important to have releases such as this one right now since the film industry is still dominated by white men. The continual lack of opportunities and access for contemporary women directors and people of color is horrible. The numbers in this recent chart posted by Women and Hollywood are troubling. As we continue to reclaim the work of these early women directors, we need to also support current female filmmakers and their struggles. They are two fights that are completely interconnected. I think Shelley Stamp says it best in her book on Weber: “Even now, as industry executives and pundits continue to find themselves amazed that women make popular, profitable, and interesting films… it is essential to remember that these fictions have a long tail. A vengeful ‘forgetting’ of women such as Lois Weber yields a skewed narrative with profound consequences for subsequent generations of filmmakers and filmgoers.”
Our thanks to Kate Saccone for granting us this interview!
Kate Saccone is the Project Manager of the Women Film Pioneers Project at Columbia University. She has organized multiple film series and events relating to women and early cinema, including at the Museum of Modern Art, Anthology Film Archives, and the Film Studies Center at the University of Chicago. Her writing has appeared in Cinephile and various online outlets. Kate received a M.A. in Film Studies from Columbia University and a B.A. from Clark University.
Pre-order Early Women Filmmakers: An International Anthology on Blu-ray/DVD now!
Sale price $49.95 ends May 16, 2017!
Sign up for our blog feed below to receive instant email notifications of new blog posts!
Recent Blog Posts:
Archives, Interviews
Animation, Early Women Filmmakers, experimental film, silent film, Women Film Pioneers Project


Court discharges youth accused of abetting suicide of woman
Representation Pic
GK CORRESPONDENT
9 Dec, 2022, 8:36 pm
Srinagar, Dec 9: A Court in Baramulla has discharged a youth accused of abetting suicide of a young woman in April this year.
On October 3 this year, police had charge-sheeted the youth, Asif Nabi Ganai for the offence under section 306 of IPC after the case was investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted for the purpose. The SIT as per the prosecution had concluded that the woman ended life after being “instigated” by the youth.
“I am conscious of the law that at the time of framing of charge, if there is a grave suspicion against the accused, the charge against the accused is to be framed,” the court of 1st Additional Sessions Judge Malik Shabir Ahmad said after hearing APP for the police and advocate Arzan Dar for the accused.
The Court, however, pointed out that from the material on record, there was no such grave suspicion traced against the accused.
“The deceased has committed suicide after seeing that her love affair with the accused is not going to materialize into a marriage between them. This by no stretch of imagination is a grave provocation proximate to the death of the deceased.”
Accordingly the court held that no case for the charge of the accused for commission of offence punishable under section 306 IPC was made out. “The accused is discharged accordingly. Since the accused is in custody, he be set free forth with,” it said.


Air Force investigates incident involving John Glenn's remains
The Air Force has launched an investigation into allegations a mortuary employee at Dover Air Force Base offered to show Sen. John Glenn's remains to Defense Department inspectors as his body was awaiting burial.
There is no indication the inspectors viewed the body, an Air Force official told CNN. But a key question is whether others were also told they could view Glenn's remains, one military official said.
The Glenn family has been notified about the incident, which was first reported in the publication Military Times.
A long-serving Democratic senator from Ohio and US Marine, Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth in 1962.
He passed away December 8, 2016. The military mortuary at Dover Air Force Base was caring for his body until his burial at Arlington National Cemetery on April 6, on what would have been his 74th wedding anniversary.
The incident occurred during the week of February 27 when a Defense Department mortuary inspection team was conducting its first full inspection of Dover since a new inspection process began. During that inspection, "someone reportedly offered to show the remains of Senator John Glenn to DOD inspectors," according to a statement from Air Force spokesman Col. Patrick Ryder. The employee has been re-assigned and is not being named by the Air Force.
"According to DOD, the inspectors declined the offer and at no time viewed the remains," Ryder said. "If allegations of misconduct are substantiated, those involved will be held accountable."
After learning of the incident from the inspectors' report, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson ordered the inspector general to conduct a full review of the incident as well as mortuary management on May 17, Wilson's first full day on the job.
The Dover mortuary came under extensive criticism and review in 2011 after it was found some remains were mishandled.
Dover has been the main location for several years for mortuary affairs for deceased service members killed in action overseas.


You are here: Parliament home page > Parliamentary business > Publications and Records > Hansard > Commons Debates > Daily Hansard - Debate
In considering deprived communities, I should like to focus on the importance of people throughout the education sector supporting children throughout the educational and demographic range. The hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Mrs Grant), who is no longer in her place, made an important contribution about the need to build confidence and self-esteem in
20 Jan 2011 : Column 1110
children. That is a responsibility not just of parents but all of us who have the best interests of children and youths at heart. She also made an important plea for art, drama and sport not to be overlooked, and I hope that the Secretary of State will take that point seriously in talking about the new direction of the curriculum.
The hon. Member for Upper Bann (David Simpson)-I see that he is definitely still in his place-focused on the fact that the changes we need to see, to which all Members seem to be committed, will not happen without investment. The sentiment that it is not all about money is absolutely right, of course, but it is partly about money and we need to ensure that the right contributions are made.
My hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green) joined the hon. Members for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom) and for Rugby (Mark Pawsey) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Birkenhead in focusing on the importance of Sure Start children's centres in delivering services. At a time when some Sure Start centres are under threat-I was told recently of the potential closure of six in Derby-that provided all of us with a timely reminder that the local authority cuts will put tremendous pressure on councils. We all need to fight for the facilities in our communities.
The hon. Member for Calder Valley (Craig Whittaker) said that eradicating child poverty was a key objective of both parties. In fact, "child poverty" is something of a misnomer, because what we really mean is that we want to eradicate poverty. Children are generally poor because their parents are poor, so when we talk about benefit policy and creating jobs, we must remember that children's poverty does not happen in isolation from the circumstances of their parents.
My hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) was one of the few to reflect on the fact that the debate was not just about the early years. They are vital, but continuing to support children throughout their education, whatever direction that might take, is key. The change to education maintenance allowance is an important factor to consider in respect of disadvantaged children and young people. She also focused on the importance of evidence and research-based policy, as opposed to policy based on ideology or policy that is not properly researched.
The hon. Members for Lancaster and Fleetwood (Eric Ollerenshaw) and for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy) spoke of policy experimentation within the education sector. In the light of that, it was interesting that they made positive comments on the raft of changes we have seen in education in just a few short months, including the introduction of free schools, and academies being given extra money if they are outstanding, unlike under the previous policy whereby money was given to the more deprived schools. There has also been a dramatic change of direction in that more schools are now judged against the English baccalaureate-many will now be viewed as failing, even though they were unaware that those were the rules by which they were playing.
The hon. Member for South Northamptonshire informed us of some of the science behind perpetuating disadvantage, which was a valuable and useful contribution to the debate.
In pursuing the arguments made by right hon. and hon. Members, I should like to reflect briefly on some of the steps taken by the previous Government to make
the life chances of our most disadvantaged children better. They included free nursery places and Sure Start, which was a visionary decision that has made a big difference. Sure Start has a lot more potential to make an even greater difference to disadvantaged children. Increased out-of-school provision and increased investment in youth services have made a key difference in more deprived communities, as have the improvement in GCSE outcomes and literacy and numeracy, and the measures taken to eradicate poverty. They are all significant strides in the right direction, as is evidenced by the increase in the number of children on free school meals who go to university.
However, as hon. Members on both sides of the House reflected, and given the Government's decision to pursue the issue, there is still much to do. The Opposition agree with the sentiments articulated by the Government on the need to focus on early years, outreach work and health visitors. The decision to invite my right hon. Friend the Member for Birkenhead and my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham North to provide reports was welcome. We hope that they will be given resources and the means to deliver their ends.
The extra money for pet projects and the cuts to EMA, Sure Start and local authority funding must be seen in the context of what the Government are trying to achieve. The commitment of the House to reducing inequalities in educational attainment has been heard loud and clear on both sides of the Chamber. A consensus seems to have formed around the importance of early intervention and eradicating child poverty, and we will be watching to see whether this Government's policy helps to reduce that gap or whether it moves more people into poverty. Our children deserve the best. The Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Birkenhead and my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham North can be assured that the party that has always done more than any other to improve social mobility, with fairness at its core, will listen, learn and keep fighting for the best outcome for our children.
The Minister of State, Department for Education (Sarah Teather): I congratulate the hon. Members for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) and for Salisbury (John Glen) on securing this debate. I offer the House a heartfelt apology for arriving a few minutes late and missing the beginning of the former's speech. I am always very particular about being on time, and I am extremely embarrassed that I missed that.
This has been a fantastic debate-really, really interesting. The tone has been very good. Listening to enormous expertise, often from new Members, gives me great hope that the issue of disadvantaged children will continue to be championed by all parties. It is clear that we want a sustainable solution to this problem. The fact that there is so much interest, especially among new Members on both sides of the House, gives me great hope that we shall achieve that.
My hon. Friend the Member for East Hampshire closed his speech with the key points on which we need to focus-life chances, the quality of the home environment and better evidence. His remarks set the scene and his themes were picked up by hon. Members on both sides of the House. The right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr Field) rightly stressed that the issue has preoccupied
Governments for a long time. It is a difficult problem to tackle and it requires complex solutions. The Government are extremely grateful for his report, as we are for the interim report by the hon. Member for Nottingham North (Mr Allen), which was published yesterday. He made the point that, too often, the life race is over by five. Early years are life-changing, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively, and we need a holistic approach to tackling the issues that arise from that.
My hon. Friend the Members for Maidstone and The Weald (Mrs Grant) and for Lancaster and Fleetwood (Eric Ollerenshaw) spoke about the importance of quality teaching and its role in improving self-esteem. The hon. Member for Stockport (Ann Coffey) made several interesting and important points, including the need for us to focus on runaway children. The Government take that issue seriously, and I hope to assure her that the Department for Education is already working on the report that was recently produced by Barnardo's. She also raised some important points about the performance framework. The Government want to move more to an outcomes focus rather than an inputs focus, and we are working with the sector and local authorities to try to define that performance framework. We want to pilot payment by results to try to incentivise the use of evidence-based programmes-the kind of evidence-based programmes that were illustrated in the report from the hon. Member for Nottingham North.
My hon. Friend the Member for Erewash (Jessica Lee) spoke with great expertise from her perspective as a family lawyer. She made one point that caught my attention about the need, when working with someone with a drug or alcohol problem, to look holistically at the family and not deal only with the person presenting a problem. That was picked up in the Government's drug strategy.
My hon. Friends the Members for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) and for Rugby (Mark Pawsey) raised the issue of parents and relationships. What we know from the evidence is that there are several pinch points of enormous stress in relationships, especially when young-or older-couples have their first child. Without wanting to preach about how families organise themselves, the Government will make that the focus of their relationship support. It is a tragedy when a relationship breaks down because the support is not available to allow people to get over difficulties, or they are not equipped to do so. The Government have invested £7.5 million a year across this comprehensive spending review period and, in addition, have given £500,000 to the voluntary sector to train Sure Start children's centres practitioners to help to identify these issues.
The hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green)-I always enjoy listening to her, even if I do not always agree with her-made several important points about parenting skills, an issue that was also picked up by the hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) and my hon. Friend the Member for East Surrey (Mr Gyimah). The hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston will be well aware-she has raised the issue with me before in Education questions-that parenting programmes are an important part of Sure Start children's centres, and some of the evidence-based programmes that the hon. Member for Nottingham North was picking up yesterday highlight that issue in particular. However, the solutions do not always have to be formal. Several hon. Members spoke about the role of parent-toddler
groups, and such peer support can be important for parents who can pick up skills and techniques for dealing with issues as they arise.
The hon. Member for Slough made several interesting points, but a debate began in her speech about the importance of male role models-something that the Government take seriously. Indeed, the coalition document states that we want to increase the number of men in early education. It is a very complicated problem to solve. It is as much about the esteem of early-years practitioners as any of the other reasons picked up by hon. Members during the debate. The Government have started a new programme based on Teach First called New Leaders in Early Years, which is intended to pick up graduates. We hope that it will entice young men to enter the early-years profession for different reasons and target some more academic approaches, which would kill two birds with one stone in terms of what we are trying to do on quality in early years.
The hon. Member for Calder Valley (Craig Whittaker) spoke about the role of the big society, and may I congratulate him on fulfilling his maiden speech pledge already? It must be a world record.
The quality of the debate has been extremely high. As Members on both sides have said, it is unacceptable that in the 21st century, and in one of the richest countries in the world, the circumstances of a person's birth, rather than their ability, dictate their outcomes in life. We know that unfortunately many poor families struggle with the basics, while the wealthiest, who often live just a few streets away, can get on in life. Some children never achieve their potential because of the barriers that are thrown in their way, while their wealthier neighbours clear hurdles with ease. I see that in my own constituency.
The barriers that children face, often very early in life, affect their life chances forever. Again I see this, I am afraid, in my own constituency. There is the staggering statistic that a child born in Harlesden, in the heart of my constituency, is likely to die, on average, more than 10 years earlier than a child born in Kensington, which is just a few miles away. Many Members commented on the fact that there are complicated relationships between the different elements of disadvantage, and very complicated relationships between that and income. Income is extremely important, but it is not the only problem, and if we are to tackle this in the long term we need to consider the causes and factors other than income.
Dan Rogerson: Hon. Members have drawn to the House's attention particular issues concerning those in the care system and children who are themselves carers. I would like to add a group that has not been mentioned: those in kinship care arrangements with grandparents, parents, siblings or other relatives. We need to do more, and encourage local authorities to do more, to ensure that they are given the support that those who foster, for example, get.
Sarah Teather: I agree with my hon. Friend. Eileen Munro is considering that as part of her review of social care. We need to encourage local authorities to think about all the options for kinship care, including with grandparents, before a child is taken into care.
I said that income is vital, and the fact that the Government recognise that is spelt out in the coalition agreement, which states that we will meet the targets set out in the Child Poverty Act 2010. However, we intend to do it with a slightly different focus from the previous Government. We want to put a lot of effort into trying to tackle the underlying issues affecting a child's life and, in particular, the entrenched disadvantage that gets passed from one generation to another. The interim report from the hon. Member for Nottingham North made clear just how vital intervening early is. For those who have not seen his interim report, let me say that the front cover contains a scan of a child's brain at a very young age, and already we can see how things are hardwired-that was picked up by the hon. Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom). The need to intervene early is precisely why the Government have invested extra money in disadvantaged two-year-olds. We know that quality early education at that stage makes a huge difference.
The hon. Member for Slough picked up on a point about what happens with poorer children when they mix with children from other backgrounds. It demonstrates the reasons I felt strongly that we needed to extend the early-years free entitlement from 12.5 hours to 15 hours and to continue with that despite the difficult circumstances. That universal offer for three and four-year-olds is extremely important. The quality of social mixing makes a big difference to a child's chances. I hope that bringing that down to all disadvantaged two-year-olds will make a significant difference to children's lives. Indeed, we intend to legislate to make that an entitlement in the education Bill that will be published shortly.
Similarly, it is vital that Sure Start is accessible to all, but we need a better focus on disadvantaged families. As I said just a minute ago in response to the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston, we intend to use payment by results to ensure that we focus on using evidence-based programmes better. That is also why we have invested extra money in health visitors, because outreach is vital, as was pointed out earlier. We need to ensure that we get to those families in difficulty, bringing them into centres so that we can focus the extra help and evidence-based programmes that we are using on them. My colleagues in the Department of Health have also announced extra investment in the family nurse partnership, a fantastic scheme that has had good results and shown promise, particularly in working with young families.
The Government have also asked Dame Clare Tickell to review the early-years foundation stage, to see whether we can simplify some of the burdens, but retain all the quality, because it has done so much to improve outcomes for young people at that age, and also to think about how we can get services to work more closely together. That is already the focus of some of her thinking, as she looks at how we can utilise other health professionals to ensure that we serve the most disadvantaged children best. That focus on narrowing the gap is also why the Government feel so strongly that we need to invest in the pupil premium, and there will be an extra £2.5 billion for schools by the end of the spending review period to ensure that we can focus on the most disadvantaged children.
I am running out of time, and there are many more points that I would like to respond to. I am extremely grateful to hon. Members for their contributions to this
very good debate. I hope that there will be many more opportunities to debate the issue over the course of the Parliament, because the ideas that we have heard, particularly from those with expertise in this area, are helpful to us in formulating policy.
Damian Hinds: We have had a very good debate this afternoon, which has been a worthy use of Back-Bench time, and I thank the Backbench Business Committee once again for granting it.
The debate was effectively brought to life right at the outset by the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr Field), who reminded us that too many children arrive at school not recognising their own name, or unable to remove their coats or hold a crayon. We have had a wide-ranging debate since then, with many hon. Members drawing on their expertise and experience, from both their personal journeys and their paid and voluntary work. The passion and commitment of the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins) was clear from his response from the Opposition Front Bench. My hon. Friend the Minister's response also made clear how central the new Government's agenda on this issue is to their programme, even in these difficult economic times.
Although this debate will stop here in less than 90 seconds, in a broader sense it will continue. One encouraging thing from this afternoon has been the number of Members here from the new intake. One thing that I hope will come out of that is the formation an all-party group on social mobility, which I hope will be a vehicle whereby we can contribute to the debate.
I will close by mentioning two stories from this afternoon that really struck me. The first was from my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Mrs Grant), who talked about the stopwatch, which hon. Members will remember; the second was from my hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom), who quoted Lennon and McCartney when she said, "All you need is love". Those two things reminded me strongly of the value of encouragement and the power of individuals to make a difference, and were a timely reminder that every programme or strategy amounts to a series of very human interventions. I remarked at the start of this debate that the issues that we have been talking about today lie at the heart of why so many hon. Members, on both sides of the House, were motivated to come into politics. That has certainly been clear this afternoon.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House has considered the matter of improving life chances for disadvantaged children.
Air Passenger Duty
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn. -(Mr Newmark.)
Ms Diane Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington) (Lab): I am very glad indeed to have the opportunity to raise in the House of Commons the vital issue of the effect of air passenger duty changes on the Caribbean.
I want to begin by outlining what is intrinsically wrong with the changes-namely, the way in which the duty is calculated. No one in the Chamber is against environmental measures designed to bear down on excessive airline travel, and no one wants the British Treasury to lose money, but the way in which the duties have been calculated, and the way in which the zones have been worked out, are indefensible. The zones are calculated on the basis of where a capital city is. For instance, because the capital of the United States is Washington DC, one would pay less duty under this system to fly to Hawaii or Los Angeles than to fly to the Caribbean. How can that be right? How can it be cheaper to fly those vast distances than to fly to the Caribbean? These are issues of fairness, equity and transparency.
The flight tax to the Caribbean increased by 25% on 1 November 2009. In November 2010, the tax on flights from the UK to the Caribbean increased by a further 50% in all classes of travel. At present, passengers travelling to the Caribbean pay £75 per person in economy and £150 per person in all other classes. There is a substantial amount of traffic between Britain and the Caribbean, particularly at holiday times. As a member of the Jamaican diaspora, I sometimes find myself on those planes packed full of people who are happy to go home and see their relatives. Many of them have saved for two years or more for their flights. I put it to the Minister that £75 might not seem much to the Treasury, but when people are paying for a family of four, five or six, it amounts to a lot of money. People have often saved up for their flights for years, and that sum is a big consideration.
I am appealing not only to the Minister's humanitarian instincts, however. I know from talking to Ministers of whatever party that I would do that in vain. I also want to talk about the effects of air passenger duty on British business and on the economies of the Caribbean.
Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con): The hon. Lady is making some excellent points. Before she moves on to business, I would like to encourage her to talk more about the matter of equity, although she says that she would do so in vain. Many people from my constituency travel to destinations in the Caribbean, and many of them came to this country in the 1950s, '60s or '70s. They have often spent their careers working in the public sector on very low incomes, and many are now pensioners. For them, £75 is a very significant cost. They have siblings, perhaps aunties, and certainly nephews and nieces back on the Caribbean islands-not only Jamaica but many others. Does the hon. Lady agree, notwithstanding the excellent points that she has made about geography and is about to make about business, that there is a strong equity case for the Minister to review the question of air passenger duty?
Ms Abbott: The hon. Gentleman has made his point very well indeed. Many of those people, particularly the older ones, have contributed to this country. Some of the generation who came to this country after the war helped to rebuild its public sector, and they have worked all their lives. As I have said, the sums of money involved might seem relatively minor to a Treasury official, but they represent a huge imposition on those people who love this country and who are almost invariably British citizens but who also have a great love for the country of their birth. One thing that makes this seem all the more unfair to those people is that air passenger duty is not charged on private aircraft. If this were really an environmental measure, one would expect it to be charged on private aircraft. I will come back to that point later.
It is my contention that air passenger duty is having a negative effect on British business. I have evidence that British business travellers are flying to the continent, then flying to the Caribbean from there, because it is cheaper to do so. Business travellers contribute £70 million to the British economy-money that is slowly being lost due to airport passenger duty charges. Aviation taxation is putting the UK at a competitive disadvantage in comparison with our European neighbours. This duty will incentivise the strengthening of alternative hubs to the UK both in and outside Europe. In the end, it could well reduce the number and connection of destinations served by UK airports.
Let me move on to tourism. I have been in the House quite a few years and I have lived to see Caribbean countries urged to restructure their economies and to move away from old-fashioned economies, such as those based on bananas and sugar, into financial services, which ended badly. Then they were encouraged to restructure the economy and diversify into tourism. Thus the Caribbean tourism industry now employs, directly and indirectly, more than 1.9 million people-11% of the region's work force. In important tourist destinations such as Jamaica and Barbados, as much as 25% of the work force are engaged in tourism, while 60% of St Lucia's gross domestic product derives from tourism. For the Barbados hotel industry, a significant number of holidaymakers are British, and there is no question that the tourism industry in the Caribbean has been damaged by the increases in this duty.
Arrivals from the UK to the Caribbean are now in decline, while those from other markets are increasing. The latest figure from the UK Office for National Statistics shows that visits to the Caribbean by UK residents in 2010 were 16% lower than for the same period in 2009. Visits to Barbados for the same period were 22% lower. For a tourist, as opposed to someone with family links to the region, the Florida Keys is now a cheaper destination. In respect of our air passenger duty arrangements, the whole system is wrong and it is having an effect on British citizens who happen to have links with the Caribbean.
Mr Chuka Umunna (Streatham) (Lab): I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate on an incredibly important issue. I represent one of the constituencies with the biggest Caribbean diaspora populations in the country. It covers Brixton, for example, and this is a huge issue in my community. I endorse all my hon. Friend's comments, but would add one more. If this
measure were primarily about increasing sustainability and reducing emissions, one would have thought that the proceeds would be used for environmental purposes. My understanding is, however-I am sure the Minister will correct me if I am wrong-that the sums raised from this duty go back into the general pot. Will the Minister also answer a specific point that was put to me? How can it be fair to charge a greater level of tax to fly to Jamaica-there are many Jamaican families in my constituency-than to fly the whole way to Hawaii? I would appreciate an answer on that.
Ms Abbott: I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who makes his point very well. He raised the question of the avowed environmental intent of the duty. I remember that when passenger duties were put forward under a Labour Government, Ministers said that they were there largely in order to help the environment and discourage unnecessary airline travel. This Government have stated that the rises in air passenger duty are partly intended to help achieve environmental goals.
Far be it for me to accuse any Government-whether it be my own or the present Government-of glossing over the reality, but the truth is that if APD were really about achieving environmental goals, it would be calculated differently. For instance, APD is calculated according to only element of a given flight-the distance travelled, not according to whether the plane is full or half-empty. A whole range of other factors are relevant to environmental impacts, including the type and age of the aircraft, the time it spends in the air and how heavy it is, but the Government choose not to take those factors into account in calculating aviation tax rates.
As I have said, if this is really about the environment, why is no duty charged on private aircraft? The failure to establish a way of calculating the duty that would actually minimise the effect on the environment gives people the impression that, although Ministers may indeed believe in the environmental benefit, it may be no more than a pretext on the part of their officials.
If we want to persuade people to abandon planes for other forms of transport, it is surely logical for APD to bear more heavily on short-haul flights, to which there are genuine alternatives in the form of trains and boats. What, though, is the alternative for the retired nurse living in Hackney who wants to return to Jamaica every couple of years to see her friends and family? There is no such alternative, but we are imposing these big APD rates on her flight, or that of her family.
Having raised the issue under the last Government, I have taken the earliest possible opportunity to raise it again now.
Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab): I joined my hon. Friend in some of her representations to the last Government. My impression was always that Ministers found the issue too difficult to deal with, and that civil servants thought it a nice tidy way of arranging things to impose air passenger duty in accordance with the locations of the capitals of the countries to which people were travelling. However, would it not be possible to devise an equally simple APD system based on, for example, time zones? Surely a determined Minister who wished the duty to reflect the real distance involved would be able to corner his or her civil servants into achieving such an end.
Ms Abbott: My hon. Friend and I went on a number of delegations to Treasury Ministers, and found them-as Ministers always are-well-meaning, kindly and ostensibly understanding of our case. However, they were simply unable to stand up to their officials. We look to this new Treasury Minister for more stoutness of heart and firmness of purpose.
Mr Umunna: I think it important for us to send the public-our constituents-the message that this is not a party-political issue. I have obtained a very good House of Commons note on the subject, and I know that the hon. Member for Chelsea and Fulham (Greg Hands), who is sitting behind the Minister, made a number of excellent points about it in the debate on the Finance Bill in, I think, 2009.
Ms Abbott: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point. I agree that this is not a party-political issue, but one on which Members on both sides of the House feel strongly. I also agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) that Ministers should show some fixity of purpose. The present method of calculation is indefensible in terms of both equity and environmental impact, and it could have a big impact on British business by removing the incentive for business-class travellers to make long-haul flights to the Caribbean from London rather than from the continental hub. It is bad for business, it is bad for the Caribbean's economy-of which tourism is a vital part during an international downturn-and it is bad for British citizens with business interests or family members in the region who simply want to be able to travel at an affordable price.
I have pursued this issue for some time, but I have every hope that a new set of Treasury Ministers will view the arguments afresh, and will undertake to reconsider the way in which air passenger duty is calculated. We appreciate that the Treasury's tax take must remain the same, and, as I said at the outset, we appreciate that there is a genuine environmental case for seeking to lessen air travel over time. However, we consider the present level of air passenger duty to be unfair, indefensible, and a burden on the Caribbean which this Government should seek to lift.
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Justine Greening): I congratulate the hon. Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott) on securing this debate. She eloquently ran through some of her concerns about the way in which air passenger duty is currently structured. She is asking me, as a Minister, to defend the current structure, but it is difficult for me to take responsibility for the structure of APD, given that it was entirely put in place by the previous Government. I took on board the questions put by the hon. Member for Streatham (Mr Umunna) about the fairness of the structure, but he would be better placed asking his party leader and the now shadow Chancellor about the logic that the previous Government used in approaching these issues and how they thought about the issue of fairness with respect to Caribbean countries.
Ms Abbott: I am the last person to defend the previous Government mindlessly. I made it clear from the very beginning of my speech that I made this argument to
the outgoing Government and was disappointed by their response. Nobody is asking the Minister to defend the current system, because we know that incoming Ministers have to deal with the hand that they are dealt. What I am asking her to do is to reconsider the current system-that is a different point.
Justine Greening: In that case, I have good news for the hon. Lady. She was doubtless paying close attention to the emergency Budget in June, when we said that we would look at reforming APD. We recognise some of the shortcomings in the existing system's structure, and in the next few minutes, I am going to discuss some of the issues that she has raised.
First, it is important to say that the new coalition Government recognise the importance of the strong ties that exist between the UK and Caribbean countries. As a London Member, a large number of my constituents have strong family ties with the Caribbean and they spend a lot of time saving up to go there, travelling there and spending time there, as well as having relatives come over to see them in this country. So the hon. Lady makes an important point about these links. We must also not forget the Caribbean's relationship within the Commonwealth, which is a further incredibly important link with our country.
When the hon. Lady wrote to me recently to raise her concerns about this issue, she rightly highlighted the context within which the coalition Government are operating. Clearly the fact that we have inherited a record budget deficit has meant that some of the tax rises announced by the previous Government, such as the increase in APD rates that came into effect last November, simply could not be avoided. She referred to the APD bandings, which are the aspect of APD that concerns the Caribbean countries most, and I need not remind her that they were the brainchild of the previous Administration, not this Government.
However, we need to look forward, which is why today's debate is worth while and important. The hon. Lady was right also to point out the role that aviation and business plays. The coalition Government recognise that as we get the economy back on track and as the recovery in the world economy starts to gather pace, aviation can play an important part in delivering future growth for the UK economy. Without continuous improvements in air connectivity, we risk endangering future growth and prosperity in the UK. She talked about the importance, particularly for the Caribbean tourism industry, of the aviation connection with the United Kingdom. I shall discuss that in a little more detail shortly, but she will be aware that I met representatives from the Caribbean countries and the Caribbean Council here in London last year, once we started to ensure that we were talking to all the stakeholders who had an interest in the reform of APD. Of course, they were an important group that I needed to talk to face to face. We had a very helpful meeting and they set out their case effectively to me that afternoon.
The hon. Lady raised some particular concerns today and in the letter that she wrote to me, and I shall do my best to address them. First, she talked about the contrast between the duties paid on flights to the Caribbean and to other destinations, including the United States. It is true that the current four band structure of air passenger duty based on the distances between London and the
capital cities of other destination countries-something that was brought in under the previous Government-has the effect of placing the Caribbean in a higher tax band than the United States. Such issues are common to any banded system. I do not particularly want to defend the existing structure of APD and how the previous Government changed the tax system, but it is difficult to have any banding system that solves all the problems raised. Whichever approach we take-she mentioned time zones-there are trade-offs between equity, simplicity and effectiveness. She is right to point out that the current banding system has some downsides, but it is also fair to be pragmatic about the fact that any banding system will have its downsides.
The second point, which is very fair, concerns APD as structured and the environment. I shall not try to defend the way that APD is structured in that regard, but the new coalition Government have been very clear that we have a strong sense of purpose about the environment. We want to be the greenest Government ever. We know that alongside other major sources of emissions, the aviation sector needs to start to take proper account of its global environmental impact in the future. It is also worth recognising that from 2012 aviation will be part of the EU emissions trading scheme. That is an important step forward in ensuring that the environmental impact of aviation is better taken into account as part of the overall fiscal environment.
The coalition Government's approach to the environment will be guided by the evidence. We do not think that there is anything to be gained by empty rhetoric on the environment, so I am very clear that we need to take a fresh look at how best to deliver our environmental objectives in a way that is fair to passengers-the hon. Lady has talked about her concerns about passengers flying to and from the Caribbean-and to industry, which has perhaps never been more important than it is now. Also, we must not lose sight of the need for the UK to have economic growth while tackling the clear problems with emissions.
Ms Abbott: It is important that we as a country achieve our environmental goals, but our environmental goals should not necessarily conflict with other wider development goals, such as the millennium development goals. As regards the impact of the air passenger duty as constructed on a region that, although it is ostensibly a middle income region, has communities that are among the poorest in the world, I see no reason why environmental goals cannot be co-ordinated with broader development goals.
Justine Greening: In many respects, that is precisely what we are trying to do. We are trying to see where we can strike the balance. That is one reason why, at the emergency Budget, we talked about wanting to reform APD. The hon. Lady is setting out some of the challenges, and finding the right mix in an approach to APD that means that we try to square off some of the difficult issues at the same time will not be easy. Debates such as this, and the time that I am taking to meet the various stakeholders-not just the Caribbean countries and their interests, particularly in tourism, but the aviation industry, airports and business in general-
Richard Fuller: I greatly appreciate my hon. Friend giving way. I have admired the rigour of her analysis as she has gone about her duties as a Minister as well as her powerful advocacy. If I may, I want to encourage her to use the second part of her talents-her advocacy. There is a strong equity case for people in this country to consider carefully the APD ratings for Caribbean islands. A significant number of people who have made their home here like to go home to their place of birth and origin. We all want to see the environmental goals that she has discussed accomplished, but there is a strong and powerful equity case. I ask her, through her rigour, to give due regard to that case as well as to the other competing pressures.
Justine Greening: I am grateful for that intervention. My hon. Friend points out the impact on local communities but, in a friendly way, I would challenge the point about contradictions. In terms of our tourism industry and our need for links with other countries to drive economic growth, this is very healthy. Our relationship with the Caribbean and the role that aviation plays in helping us to maintain that more broadly is particularly important, so we are not necessarily faced with an either/or choice.
One of the most intractable problems we face, which underpins the whole approach in the Treasury, is the unavoidable challenge of tackling the fiscal deficit. We are faced with that while also making sure that the tax measures in place work effectively and do not have the sort of negative impacts that we do not want or need them to have.
Mr Umunna: I should like to follow up the point about equity made by the hon. Member for Bedford (Richard Fuller), which I endorse. The key issue is the banding system, which was, admittedly, introduced by the previous Labour Government-I think one of the Minister's predecessors referred to it as being rather rough and ready-and I would not necessarily endorse the form of APD that they put in place. The Minister says that the coalition Government have undertaken to review the system, but can she tell us when we can expect the results of the review? Obviously, the Budget will be on 23 March. Are the results of the review likely to be announced then or beforehand? That information would be useful to the industry and the many families who want to plan what they will be doing in the next few months.
Justine Greening: First, it would be wrong of me to pre-empt the Budget statement. What I can say-we have already been clear about this-is that any major change to air passenger duty will be subject to consultation. One thing that we have learned from looking at how this tax and others have been changed in the past is that we need a sensible tax-making policy that involves not just the Treasury thinking about the objectives it wants to achieve, but talking with stakeholders. There is a need to issue a consultation document to which people can respond and then draft legislation to make sure that the final legislation can achieve the aims we have agreed on and that have come out of the consultation.
I cannot give the hon. Member for Streatham any timings for all that, but I can tell him that we want to ensure that any reforms we bring forward will work as intended. He quoted a previous Minister saying that the system was rough and ready. We want to avoid making
another change to APD that brings other problems we have not anticipated. Whatever we do in this area, it is impossible to get the perfect system, but we need to understand the pros and cons of any particular approach. We need to understand what the risks are and whether we can mitigate them. He is right to ask about timelines. The fact that we said in the previous Budget that we want to review and reform APD and that we have been working on that and meeting a variety of stakeholders to get their views shows that we want to do this in a thoughtful way rather than just announcing something that would be a surprise to the industry and to people who are trying to plan for their holidays.
Let me finish by saying that I recognise the urgency with which the hon. Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington wants this area of tax policy to be changed. However, I think we are right to work out
cautiously which path we want to go down. That is why we talked about reviewing the existing APD regime in the June Budget. As I have said, in the past few months I have met a variety of stakeholders, particularly from the Caribbean countries and the Caribbean Council in London. Those discussions have been very helpful and I have had a useful and detailed report from the Caribbean countries about their views on how we could reform APD. Obviously, we will look at that carefully. I am determined to make sure that we continue that constructive dialogue and I hope that in doing so we can ensure that wherever we end up with the reform of APD we will have done a better job of making sure that-
House adjourned without Question put (Standing Order No. 9(7)).
Index Home Page


Tag Archives: East Coast Production Group
Tribute to Dad Hagg
September 23, 2016 Edward Staskus Leave a comment
The East Coast Production Group invites you to celebrate the life and music of Merle Haggard as performed in an inspiring homage by his son Marty Haggard.
Marty’s love for his Dad’s music inspired him to begin a project titled “A Tribute to Merle Haggard “My Dad””.
In 2010, he cut the first album in his tribute consisting of 15 Hag classics. It was so well received that in 2011 he recorded a second Tribute album to his Dad. Marty has spent the last five years performing all over the United States and Canada plus England, Ireland and Scotland. Marty is currently working on a new album of his own music and plans on more of his Dad’s songs soon.
Mr. Haggard’s tour features Merle’s long time guitar player Mr. Eugene Moles. The duo will make two stops with The East Coast Production Group. The first, in Moncton at the Moncton Wesleyan Celebration Centre and the second, at the Harbourfront Theatre in Summerside, PEI.
Marty Haggard is at the Harbourfront Theatre on Tuesday, September 27 at 7:30 PM.
A Tribute to Merle Haggard MY DadEast Coast Production GroupHarbourfront Theatre Summerside PEIMarty HaggardProfessional Theatre Network of PEI


Ernest Hemingway (Author)
FORMAT
Paperback$17.99$16.73(English)

Hardcover$26.00(English)

"There is never any ending to Paris and the memory of each person who has lived in it differs from that of any other." --Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable FeastErnest Hemingway's classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s remains one of his most beloved works. Filled with tender memories of his first wife Hadley and their son Jack; irreverent portraits of literary luminaries such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein; and insightful recollections of his own early experiments with his craft, A Moveable Feast brilliantly evokes the exuberant mood of Paris after World War I and the youthful spirit, unbridled creativity, and unquenchable enthusiasm that Hemingway himself epitomized. It is an elegy to a remarkable group of expatriates and a testament to the risks and rewards of the writerly life.
Scribner Book Company
5.64 X 8.59 X 0.69 inches | 0.48 pounds
Ernest Hemingway did more to influence the style of English prose than any other writer of his time. He has been called "the most important author since Shakespeare," by John O'Hara in The New York Times Book Review. The publication of The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms immediately established him as one of the greatest literary lights of the 20th century. His classic novella The Old Man and the Sea won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. Hemingway was also awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. His life and accomplishments are explored in-depth in the PBS documentary film from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, Hemingway. He died in 1961.
"The first thing to say about the 'restored' edition so ably and attractively produced by Patrick and Sean Hemingway is that it does live up to its billing . . . well worth having."--Christopher Hitchens, "The Atlantic"
The Rory Gilmore Reading List
by Gilmore Book Club View all (287)


Cardinals to Prepare for Conclave in Silence
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 10, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The cardinal electors unanimously agreed to hold off making public statements, and to prepare in silence and prayer for the conclave where they will elect a new pope.
After the general congregation of cardinals Saturday, Vatican spokesman Joaquín Navarro Valls published a statement announcing that the cardinals were united on the decision.
"After the Holy Father John Paul II's funeral rites, the cardinals have begun a period of more intense silence and prayer in the face of the conclave," said the director of the Vatican press office.
"They have decided by unanimity to avoid interviews and meetings with the media during these days," Navarro Valls said. "Journalists are politely requested to abstain from asking cardinals for interviews or any sort of commentary."
The press statement clarified that the decision "must not be interpreted as an attitude of discourtesy or indifference toward the media, but as a gesture of great responsibility. What is more, the cardinals are grateful for the enormous interest with which [the media] are following this period."
The Vatican spokesman said it is not a question of a "prohibition," but an "invitation," as opposed to what will occur when the conclave begins, when the obligation is normative.
The cardinals' decision preceding the conclave is unprecedented.
2 to Skip Conclave Due to Illness
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 10, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Due to illness, two cardinals will not participate in the conclave to elect a new pope, making the number of cardinal electors 115.
"Sainthood Now" for John Paul II Would Be Up to a Successor
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 10, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Asked about the possibility of John Paul II’s immediate canonization, the Vatican clarified that the decision is the “exclusive competence” of his successor.
Cardinal Marchisano Says Pope Healed Him
Tells of Intercession for Throat Condition
3 Million Came to Rome to Say Goodbye
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 10, 2005 (Zenit.org).- In two millennium of Christianity, Rome had not received as many pilgrims as it did for John Paul II’s funeral.


Viscous Coupling
The viscous coupling is often found in all-wheel-drive vehicles. It is commonly used to link the back wheels to the front wheels so that when one set of wheels starts to slip, torque will be transferred to the other set.
The viscous coupling has two sets of plates inside a sealed housing that is filled with a thick fluid, as shown in below. One set of plates is connected to each output shaft. Under normal conditions, both sets of plates and the viscous fluid spin at the same speed. When one set of wheels tries to spin faster, perhaps because it is slipping, the set of plates corresponding to those wheels spins faster than the other. The viscous fluid, stuck between the plates, tries to catch up with the faster disks, dragging the slower disks along. This transfers more torque to the slower moving wheels -- the wheels that are not slipping.
When a car is turning, the difference in speed between the wheels is not as large as when one wheel is slipping. The faster the plates are spinning relative to each other, the more torque the viscous coupling transfers. The coupling does not interfere with turns because the amount of torque transferred during a turn is so small. However, this also highlights a disadvantage of the viscous coupling: No torque transfer will occur until a wheel actually starts slipping.
A simple experiment with an egg will help explain the behavior of the viscous coupling. If you set an egg on the kitchen table, the shell and the yolk are both stationary. If you suddenly spin the egg, the shell will be moving at a faster speed than the yolk for a second, but the yolk will quickly catch up. To prove that the yolk is spinning, once you have the egg spinning quickly stop it and then let go -- the egg will start to spin again (unless it is hard boiled). In this experiment, we used the friction between the shell and the yolk to apply force to the yolk, speeding it up. When we stopped the shell, that friction -- between the still-moving yolk and the shell -- applied force to the shell, causing it to speed up. In a viscous coupling, the force is applied between the fluid and the sets of plates in the same way as between the yolk and the shell.
Differential FAQ
What are differentials used for?
The differential is a device that splits the engine torque two ways, allowing each output to spin at a different speed.
What does the differential do?
The differential has three jobs: to aim the engine power at the wheels; to act as the final gear reduction in the vehicle, slowing the rotational speed of the transmission one final time before it hits the wheels; and to transmit the power to the wheels while allowing them to rotate at different speeds.
Do all cars have differentials?
The differential is found on all modern cars and trucks, and also in many all-wheel-drive (full-time four-wheel-drive) vehicles.
How much does it cost to replace a differential?
The cost will usually fall between $200 and $400, according to Car Brain.
Why is it called a differential?
It's called differential because of how it transmits the power to the wheels while allowing them to rotate at different speeds.
Previous 1 … 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next Page


Stories written by Zubeida Mustafa
By Zubeida Mustafa
The turnout at the walk organised last Sunday by Citizens against Weapons (CAW) was heartening. Started in 2014 by some concerned citizens, the campaign is catching on. I had joined them at a rally on an intersection of a busy area in Karachi two years ago. There were then barely 50 protesters. On Sunday, there were 400 or so.
Miracle of Wind
Karachi has been abundantly endowed with one of nature’s riches — wind. Located on the Arabian Sea coast, the city cannot complain of being stifled by desultory stillness. Before the city’s horizon changed drastically with the emergence of high-rise buildings, Karachiites had always enjoyed the luxury of cool breezes during summer evenings. The breeze is still there, but has been trapped by concrete and steel structures. Now the breeze has been left only in poetic idiom to give us solace. Faiz Ahmed Faiz captured its beauty in this line, “Jaise seheraon mein haule se chale baad-i-naseem...” (Like the morning breeze in the desert)
Catch ’em Young
According to Unesco’s Global Education Monitoring Report [GEMR] 2016 released recently, only two-thirds of children worldwide would have completed primary schooling by 2030, the deadline set by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Why we Failed
Qandeel Baloch’s horrific murder in the name of ‘honour’ is testimony to the failure of the women’s movement to overturn patriarchy in Pakistan. Against the backdrop of the spate of anti-women violence, comes a report by Dr Rubina Saigol written for the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, a German foundation. Titled Feminism and the Women’s Movement in Pakistan: Actors, Debates and Strategies, this excellent document should provide much food for thought.
Cotton Crisis
Pakistan’s economy is in grave trouble. According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2015-16, it failed to meet the growth target of 5.5pc in FY2016. GDP grew by 4.7 pc. This was mainly due to the ‘major setback’ (to use the finance minister’s words) in agriculture.
Politics of Numbers
The Pakistan Economic Survey 2015-16 reminds us of our ticking population bomb. We are told that today the country`s population stands at 195.4 million 3.7m more than it was the previous year. We have regressed.
Home is School
The paradox of education in Pakistan is that the children of the poor are not getting enough of it, while the offspring of the rich get a surfeit. Neither is good for the child.


SportsFootballNew York Giants
Saquon Barkley on paltry rushing stats: 'I have to do better for the team'
Saquon Barkley did not find much space when he got the ball. The Steelers admitted to selling out on defense to stop him and it worked, to the tune of 6 yards on 15 carries and Pittsburgh won, 26-16, on Monday night, Sept. 14, 2020, at MetLife Stadium. Credit: Jim McIsaac
By Tom Rocktom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday September 15, 2020
Just a few days before Monday’s game against the Steelers, Saquon Barkley spoke about wanting to be an all-time great and an all-around back.
Instead, he wound up with one of the worst performances by someone at his position in the recent history of the NFL.
Barkley ran for just 6 yards on 15 carries, making him the sixth player since the NFL merger in 1970 to rush for fewer than 10 yards on 15 or more carries. Not that it was all his fault. According to ESPN Stats, Barkley was hit at or behind the line of scrimmage on 11 of those carries, and eight of them resulted in a loss of yardage.
For a player of Barkley’s caliber and potential, though, it was as distressing and disappointing a performance as anyone could have imagined.
"I have to do better," Barkley said. "I have to do better for the team. We have to find a way to get the running game going."
The Steelers made it clear all week that they were not going to allow Barkley to beat them.
"We had a commitment and we weren't going to be bashful about that commitment," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "We thought that guy was a catalyst for whatever that they were going to do offensively. We put our secondary in harm’s way some in an effort to do so. It's a team game. They embraced that challenge. We needed to stack the line of scrimmage … We did what we thought was necessary to minimize his impact on the game."
Barkley seemed more upset by the loss than by his meager rushing totals.
"I’m not really too concerned about the stats," he said.
The two plays that likely will stick with him, though, came when he was not carrying the football. He dropped a pass early in the game, one that nearly popped up into the defense for an interception. Worse, he whiffed on a blitz by cornerback Mike Hilton to allow a third-quarter sack with the game still within reach. When Barkley talks about being an all-around back, those are the types of plays he wants to make.
Barkley did flash a few highlights. He caught a screen pass and took it 38 yards, leaping over Hilton at the end. He also caught a key pass on fourth-and-1 to keep a 19-play drive going in the third quarter (although it may say more about his night that the Giants chose to pass rather than run in that short-yardage situation).
It’s unlikely that Barkley’s season will remain as lackluster as this first night was. It’s also unlikely that future opponents will be any less devoted to stopping him than the Steelers were.
"Look, we’re going to stay aggressive with the run game," coach Joe Judge said. "Saquon is a key part of our team, he’s going to be a difference-maker in how successful this team is going to be, so we’re going to stay with him. We have a lot of confidence in him. I have a tremendous amount of confidence in our offensive line . . . We’re going to keep leaning on these guys."
And Barkley said he will keep running.
"I believe the running game is going to be a key part of our success," he said, "and I still believe in it."
By Tom Rock
tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
More Giants


FDA Approves Neoadjuvant Pertuzumab Regimen
By Silas Inman, OncLive
Pertuzumab (Perjeta) in combination with trastuzumab and chemotherapy has become the first FDA-approved neoadjuvant treatment for patients with breast cancer.
Pertuzumab (Perjeta) in combination with trastuzumab and chemotherapy has become the first FDA-approved neoadjuvant treatment for patients with breast cancer. The pertuzumab-based regimen was specifically approved to treat patients at high risk for metastases or death with HER2-positive, locally advanced, inflammatory, or early-stage breast cancer. Following surgery, patients may still be eligible to receive additional chemotherapy and should continue to receive trastuzumab for one year.
The approval was based on results from the phase II NeoSphere trial, which showed that pertuzumab, a HER dimerization inhibitor, combined with the HER2 inhibitor trastuzumab and the chemotherapy docetaxel, significantly improved pathologic complete response (pCR) when compared with 3 other neoadjuvant regimens. An approval based on pCR, defined as the absence of invasive cancer in the breast and lymph nodes, is only available under the FDA's accelerated approval program.
“We are seeing a significant shift in the treatment paradigm for early stage breast cancer,” said Richard Pazdur, MD, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “By making effective therapies available to high-risk patients in the earliest disease setting, we may delay or prevent cancer recurrences.’’
The phase II NeoSphere trial evenly randomized 417 patients with newly diagnosed HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer to one of four treatment arms: trastuzumab plus docetaxel (n = 107, group A), pertuzumab and trastuzumab plus docetaxel (n = 107, group B), pertuzumab plus trastuzumab (n = 107, group C), or pertuzumab plus docetaxel (n = 96, group D).
In arms with pertuzumab, the agent was administered at a loading dose of 840 mg followed by 420 mg every 3 weeks. Trastuzumab was delivered at a 8 mg/kg loading dose, followed by 6 mg/kg every 3 weeks, and docetaxel was administered at docetaxel 75 mg/m2, escalating, if tolerated, to 100 mg/m2 every 3 weeks. Treatment was delivered for 4 cycles.
Patients that received pertuzumab and trastuzumab plus docetaxel experienced a significant improvement in pCR of 45.8% (95% CI, 36.1-55.7), compared to 29% (95% CI, 20.6-38.5), 24% (95% CI, 15.8-33.7), and 16.8% (95% CI, 10.3-25.3), for groups A, D, and C, respectively.
The most common grade 3 or higher side effects observed in the pertuzumab and trastuzumab plus docetaxel arm were neutropenia (48 of 107), febrile neutropenia (9 of 107), and leukopenia (5 of 107). The number of serious adverse events was similar in groups A, B, and D but was much lower in group C, which did not receive chemotherapy.
In addition to the NeoSphere trial, data from the phase II TRYPHAENA study and the Phase III CLEOPATRA study were submitted in support of the approval. Based on the results of these trials, the FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted 13-0 with one abstention in support of the regimen at a hearing in mid-September.
In the TRYPHAENA study, 225 patients with HER2-positive, locally advanced, inflammatory, or early-stage breast cancer were evenly randomized to 3 neoadjuvant regimens. The primary endpoint of the trial was cardiac safety with a secondary endpoint of pCR. However, this trial was not adequately powered to compare each arm.
The first arm of trial received pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and anthracycline-based chemotherapy, followed by pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and docetaxel with a pCR of 56.2%. Patients in the second arm received anthracycline-based chemotherapy, followed by pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and docetaxel with a pCR of 54.7% with left ventricular dysfunction occurring in 4% of patients. The final group received pertuzumab, trastuzumab, docetaxel, and carboplatin with a pCR of 63.6%. In the third arm, common grade 3 or higher adverse events were neutropenia (46.1%), febrile neutropenia (17.1%), and anemia (17.1%).
“A new approval pathway has made Perjeta available to people with HER2-positive early breast cancer several years earlier than previously possible,” said Hal Barron, MD, chief medical officer and head, Global Product Development. “Together with the FDA, we’ve charted new territory. We look forward to working with health authorities around the world to explore additional ways to bring promising medicines to patients more quickly.”
The FDA initially approved pertuzumab in 2012 based on results from the phase III CLEOPATRA trial in which 808 patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer were randomized to receive pertuzumab and trastuzumab plus docetaxel versus trastuzumab plus docetaxel and a placebo as first-line treatment. In this trial, progression-free survival was 18.5 months with pertuzumab compared with 12.4 months in the control group (HR=0.62; 95% CI, 0.51-0.75, P < .001).
The FDA mandated confirmatory phase III APHINITY trial is in progress and has enrolled more than 4,800 patients with HER2-positive early stage breast cancer. This trial is comparing pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and chemotherapy with trastuzumab and chemotherapy as an adjuvant treatment. Further data on efficacy, safety and long-term outcomes from this trial are expected in 2016.
The approval was based on results from the phase II NeoSphere trial, which showed that pertuzumab, a HER dimerization inhibitor, combined with the HER2 inhibitor trastuzumab and the chemotherapy docetaxel, significantly improved pathologic complete response (pCR) when compared with three other neoadjuvant regimens. An approval based on pCR, defined as the absence of invasive cancer in the breast and lymph nodes, is only available under the FDA's accelerated approval program.
In the TRYPHAENA study, 225 patients with HER2-positive, locally advanced, inflammatory, or early-stage breast cancer were evenly randomized to three neoadjuvant regimens. The primary endpoint of the trial was cardiac safety with a secondary endpoint of pCR. However, this trial was not adequately powered to compare each arm.
The FDA mandated confirmatory phase III APHINITY trial is in progress and has enrolled more than 4,800 patients with HER2-positive early stage breast cancer. This trial is comparing pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and chemotherapy with trastuzumab and chemotherapy as an adjuvant treatment. Further data on efficacy, safety and long-term outcomes from this trial are expected in 2016. - See more at: http://www.onclive.com/web-exclusives/FDA-Approves-Neoadjuvant-Pertuzumab-Regimen#sthash.WoofkkE3.dpuf


« Disenfranchising The Poor | Main | Cramdown »
Too Tasty
Passenger pigeon.
New Yorker has an interesting read on why the passenger pigeon became extinct (and how that led to the preservation of bison). It's odd to think that flocks of the birds numbering in the billions could be completely exterminated in a span of fifty years, but so it went.
They were easy to catch - they could be knocked out of the sky with a club, very often - and in the days before refrigeration, they were an easy source of protein. And they could decimate crops, even forests as well. Imagining so many birds perching in trees that the branches snapped is difficult, but hundreds of pigeons were killed nightly by such events.
It was largely the railroads and electricity, however, that doomed them:
As long as America was rural and untraversed by railroads, the killing did not seem to do much more than dent the vast pigeon population. After the Civil War, however, things began to change rapidly. You could find out by telegraph where pigeons were nesting, get there quickly by train, and sell what you killed to a city hundreds of miles away. Soon market hunters began operating on an enormous scale, cramming tens of thousands of birds into boxcars—especially after Gustavus Swift introduced the refrigerator car, in 1878. This meant that rural migrants to growing cities could still get wild game, and the well-heeled could eat Ballotine of Squab à la Madison, served by a new class of restaurant, like Delmonico’s, in New York, where fine dining was becoming a feature of urban life. All this coincided with an explosion in logging, which began destroying the habitat of pigeons just as hunters were destroying the pigeons themselves.
Once they became a commodity, there was nothing to save them; they fell victim not to pure human greed, but to a complex dynamic involving technological development, urbanization, and the environmental issues inevitably accompanying both. At the same time, it was this extinction event, perhaps more than any other single issue, that led to the rise of conservation efforts - which is largely why bison still roam parts of the country today.
And combined with the exponential increases in technological prowess, there are serious efforts underway toward the establishment of the Second Cooing:
De-extinction became big news after a conference last March—sponsored by Revive & Restore, ted, and National Geographic—broadcast plans to take passenger-pigeon genes recovered from the toe pads of museum specimens, combine them with genes from the band-tailed pigeon (the genetic next of kin), and use them to modify another bird, possibly a chicken, so that it would lay a passenger-pigeon egg that could be raised by a band-tailed pigeon but taught to flock by a homing pigeon.
Alternatively, the squabs could be hand-raised, much as we do with California Condors today, before being mentored by homers. But what do we do if, as may well be the case, the birds require huge flock-sizes to survive?
Posted by Max on December 31, 2013 at 02:37 PM in Food and Drink, History | Permalink