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Historic Buildings and Sites

News about Historic Buildings and Sites, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

  1. Jul. 28, 2015

    MCR Development proposes $250 million plan to turn Trans World Airlines Flight Center at Kennedy International Airport, which opened in 1962 and closed in 2001, into hotel; building is safeguarded by landmark designation and is maintained by Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. MORE

  2. Jul. 25, 2015

    Chefs Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi and their business partner Jeff Zalaznick say they have signed contract with Seagram Building owner Aby J Rosen to take over Four Seasons restaurant; four men say they plan to return iconic Midtown Manhattan space to glory and do not intend to dismantle or alter rooms that have been awarded landmark status and thus are protected. MORE

  3. Jul. 19, 2015

    Flood in Cache, Okla, opens up dialogue about how to save crumbling Star House, 1890 home of Comanche Nation's renowned last chief Quanah Parker; owner Wayne Gipson has refused to sell tourist attraction, but damage from deluge is forcing him to discuss how to save building with tribal leaders and Parker's descendants. MORE

  4. Jul. 14, 2015

    Greenwich Village gay bar Stonewall Inn has made headlines for being national historic landmark and receiving designation of official landmark protected by New York City, but for locals and regulars it is simply a place to meet for cocktails. MORE

  5. Jul. 12, 2015

    Officials in popular destinations around the world are considering new laws to control destructive behavior of tourists who are indulging in reckless antics at historic sites and vacation spots in effort to impress their friends on social media. MORE

  6. Jul. 10, 2015

    National Park Service has planned lavish ceremony for reopening of Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, family home of former Pres Theodore Roosevelt, after $10 million restoration. MORE

  7. Jul. 7, 2015

    Theft of plaque marking birthplace of 19th-century photojournalist Matthew B Brady in Adirondack town of Johnsburg, NY, has baffled police and angered many residents; Brady is known for capturing horrors of Civil War battlefields, as well as iconic images of Pres Abraham Lincoln. MORE

  8. Jul. 2, 2015

    Murals by landscape artist Thomas Cole are discovered under layers of paint on walls of house at Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill, NY; conservators are seeking federal grants to uncover and preserve them. MORE

  9. Jun. 30, 2015

    Appraisal column; New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission votes unanimously to exclude 21 buildings on Broadway between 89th and 109th Streets from expansion of Riverside-West End Historic District. MORE

  10. Jun. 28, 2015

    Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, Conn, is one of oldest operating burial grounds in United States, and the nation's first planned cemetery; hundreds of notable figures are interred at Grove Street, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997 (Metropolitan/Connecticut). MORE

  11. Jun. 28, 2015

    Ginia Bellafante Big City column examines unanimous vote by New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to grant landmark status to Greenwich Village bar Stonewall Inn; cautions decision to preserve historic site, known for its role in national gay rights movement, is not a guarantee of full salvation; while structure can no longer be significantly modified, owner of building is not prohibited from leasing it in future to a different tenant, including a retail chain. MORE

  12. Jun. 25, 2015

    National Trust for Historic Preservation places Manhattan's South Street Seaport on list of most endangered historic places in America; cites threat posed by series of development proposals, including high-rise condominium tower, that will alter character of one of most intact 19th-century neighborhoods in city. MORE

  13. Jun. 25, 2015

    Michael Kimmelman Critic's Notebook remarks on value of preservation in light of recent decision by South Korean tech company LG to change design of its planned headquarters building in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, and preserve views of Palisades cliffs. MORE

  14. Jun. 24, 2015

    Jim Dwyer About New York column discusses controversial plan by South Korean conglomerate LG to build high-rise that would change horizon of New Jersey's Palisades cliffs and company's recent concession to reduce building's height. MORE

  15. Jun. 24, 2015

    Proposed mixed-use development at the McMillan Sand Filtration Site in Washington, DC, has divided residents; proponents say project would bring much-needed jobs and housing to neighborhood, but others say it would destroy scenery that is on National Register of Historic Places. MORE

  16. Jun. 21, 2015

    Israel Crane House and Historic YWCA in Montclair, NJ, and T Thomas Fortune House in Red Bank, NJ, two sites with historic significance for black community, are both on National Register of Historic places; while Israel Crane House has been fully restored and is open to visitors, T Thomas Fortune House sits vacant in state of disrepair. MORE

  17. Jun. 16, 2015

    Dunhuang Journal; preservationists and scholars at China's Dunhuang Research Academy speak out against plan to bring more tourism to Mogao Caves, United Nations World Heritage Site in Gobi Desert; say site is already overburdened with visitors and that proposal by Gansu Province officials and Beijing company Boya Strategy Consultation Group, which includes theme park and hotels, would threaten ancient Buddhist treasures. MORE

  18. Jun. 13, 2015

    Irina Bokova, director general of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, condemns destruction of 2,500-year-old cultural heritage site in Sana, Yemen, which was rocked by explosion from unspecified source, as well as deaths caused; witnesses and news reports say explosion was caused by bomb or missile from Saudi plane, which Saudi military denies. MORE

  19. Jun. 11, 2015

    David W Dunlap Building Blocks column traces history of Manhattan's Brotherhood House, structure that gained national recognition as home of Parsons School of Design and hit reality television show Project Runway; observes that building, now slated for demolition, was a crucible of social advocacy in the 1960s. MORE

  20. Jun. 7, 2015

    Construction boom in Midtown Manhattan, due in part to rising prices and rezoning, threatens many historic buildings that are beautiful and loved by community but lack landmark status. MORE

  21. Jun. 7, 2015

    Op-Ed article by Sarah Boxer laments plans to tear down and rebuild Hotel Okura in Tokyo, iconic building that blends both Modernist and Japanese elements. MORE

  22. Jun. 5, 2015

    Michael Kimmelman Critic's Notebook applauds Frick Collection devotees and de Blasio administration for stopping museum from razing unique Russell Page-designed garden in order to build ungainly six-story edition and forcing them to consider alternative architectural options. MORE

  23. Jun. 1, 2015

    Diriyah Journal; Saudi Arabia royal family is building tourist attraction in Diriyah to celebrate its history and alliance with 18th-century fundamentalist preacher Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab, which helped create modern Saudi state; project, which will feature parks, restaurants and museums, is intended to help rehabilitate reputation of Abdul-Wahhab, whose rigid version of Islam has been criticized of late for promoting intolerance. MORE

  24. May. 30, 2015

    New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is set to vote on adding buildings that contain Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, site of 1969 raid where many believe to be birthplace of gay rights movement, to its calender; step all but guarantees site's eventual designation as a landmark, making Stonewall Inn the first landmark specifically honored for its place in city's gay culture. MORE

  25. May. 28, 2015

    Historic Germania Bank building in SoHo provides unique backdrop for group art exhibition First Show/Last Show organized by Vito Schnabel. MORE

  26. May. 27, 2015

    Sons of Israel synagogue in South Bend, Ind, has been repurposed as souvenir shop for South Bend Cubs, Class A team of the Chicago Cubs; 114-year-old building, which had not been used by congregation since 1991, is owned by city and was restored with help of team owner Andrew Berlin; transformation has sparked debate among jews and preservationists in community. MORE

  27. May. 21, 2015

    Syrian government and preservationists around world express alarm as Islamic State militants, known for destruction of artifacts and antiquities, arrive in Palmyra; city is particularly rich in artifacts important to cultural and archaeological history of ancient Middle East. MORE

  28. May. 21, 2015

    Plan by Narconon, drug-treatment program with ties to Church of Scientology, to convert cluster of rustic cabins in Frederick County, Md, into group home has drawn opposition from community; conversion plan can proceed if cabins, in area known as Trout Run, are added to local list of historic places, prompting some to take unusual step of arguing against designation. MORE

  29. May. 21, 2015

    David Dunlap Building Blocks column examines history of the Soldiers and Sailors' Monument in Riverside Park, site of Memorial Day gatherings in New York City since 1902; observes that conservators hope to raise money to study monument's structural condition by offering rare guided tours of its interior; describes decay that has affected inside of long-neglected structure. MORE

  30. May. 20, 2015

    New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission rejects plan by Seagram Building owner Aby J Rosen to alter interior of Four Seasons restaurant, which was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson in 1958 and designated landmark in 1989; Four Seasons lease is set to expire and restaurant is actively looking for new home. MORE

  31. May. 16, 2015

    Op-Ed article by Canadian Center for Architecture founding director Phyllis Lambert opposes building owner RFR Holding's proposed changes to Four Seasons restaurant in Manhattan's Seagram Building; contends restaurant is architectural masterpiece and changes would undermine both restaurant's 1989 landmark status and concept of landmark preservation itself; urges Landmarks Preservation Commission to value New York's cultural heritage over whims of wealthy developer. MORE

  32. May. 10, 2015

    The Upshot; Michael Beschloss Historysource column recalls extensive renovations of the White House undertaken by Pres Harry S Truman in 1948, when building was threatening to collapse due to structural weakness; observes that as a result, many of the building's most famous 'historic' rooms are in fact facsimiles of their originals. MORE

  33. May. 10, 2015

    FYI column answers question about remnants of pre-revolutionary Village of Flatbush in Brooklyn. MORE

  34. May. 7, 2015

    Some architects and preservationists are protesting proposal by Seagram Building owner Aby J Rosen to alter its landmark Four Seasons restaurant, arguing that any changes will ruin historic interior. MORE

  35. May. 5, 2015

    Mausoleum of Cheick Amadou Barry, proposed United Nations World Heritage site in Mali, is destroyed by jihadists who leave warning that they will attack anyone who does not follow their version of Islam. MORE

  36. Apr. 30, 2015

    Hue Journal; economic boom transforming Vietnamese city of Hue is threatening its historic remains and architectural legacy as freeways, resorts and apartment towers are built; development may prove more damaging than long-sustained threats from humid weather and war. MORE

  37. Apr. 30, 2015

    David W Dunlap Building Blocks column examines planned $27 million upgrade to the Bush Tower in Midtown Manhattan, which should restore building's three Gothic arches; reviews building's history. MORE

  38. Apr. 29, 2015

    Officials in Nepal are taking steps to prevent looting of artifacts and pieces from historic sites damaged in massive earthquake, concern largely ignored in first days after disaster because of urgent need to rescue survivors; delay in addressing preservation of centuries-old sites has led to sense of helplessness in face of devastation, reducing chances that one of largest clusters of cultural heritage sites in world can be rebuilt. MORE

  39. Apr. 24, 2015

    Museum of the City of New York exhibition Saving Place: 50 Years of New York City Landmarks illuminates history of city's architectural preservation movement in light of 50th anniversary of landmarks preservation law. MORE

  40. Apr. 18, 2015

    Editorial holds that New York City's 1965 landmarks preservation law, which has seen many successes at its 50th anniversary, is not being used aggressively enough; questions how Mayor Bill de Blasio and landmarks chairwoman Meenakshi Srinivasan will balance need for rapid construction of affordable housing with responsibility for preserving city's architectural legacy; contends that delicate balance, while difficult to maintain, is essential. MORE

  41. Apr. 17, 2015

    NYC Landmarks50 Alliance, confederation of historic preservationists and preservation groups, hosts party at the Four Seasons to commemorate 50th anniversary of city's landmarks law. MORE

  42. Apr. 16, 2015

    David W Dunlap Building Blocks column examines history of Brooklyn's Paramount Theater, which will be renovated to host concerts, plays and sporting events; observes that theater, completed in 1928, has served as both a Jazz Age movie palace and a gymnasium for Long Island University; notes that it also boasts an intact orchestral Wurlitzer organ. MORE

  43. Apr. 15, 2015

    Luciano Faggiano's home repair project in Lecce, Italy, uncovered subterranean world dating back before birth of Jesus, including tomb, granary, chapel and etchings from Knights Templar; his trattoria has become museum where relics continue to be unearthed; ancient discoveries can pose problem for urban planning. MORE

  44. Apr. 14, 2015

    The Appraisal column; Ferrigno House in Broadway-Flushing neighborhood in Queens is up for sale, and any major work, inside or out, completed by future buyer must not only be approved by New York City but also by seller--National Trust for Historic Preservation. MORE

  45. Apr. 12, 2015

    Preservationists and residents mourn destruction of Renaissance Theater and Casino in Harlem, subject of December 21, 2014, Metropolitan article about efforts to preserve the structure; effort to save building ended on March 30, when new owners began demolition. MORE

  46. Apr. 12, 2015

    Upper West Side historic townhouse, unusually wide at 25 feet and boasting neo-Georgian facade with balconies and gargoyles, enters the market for the first time in two decades at $11.9 million. MORE

  47. Apr. 12, 2015

    Jennifer Moses travel article on trip to Louisiana to trace roots of several famous writers who come from there. MORE

  48. Apr. 6, 2015

    Istanbul Journal; Palazzo Corpi, Italianate mansion in Istanbul that was once seat of American diplomacy and espionage there, has become home to outpost of private club empire Soho House; American operatives were forced to vacate structure in 2003 for more secure grounds due to rising threat of terrorism, leaving behind a more innocent era of diplomacy. MORE

  49. Apr. 6, 2015

    Thousands of visitors travel to Trinity Site on White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, which is opened to public around two times a year; site of detonation of first atomic bomb is an increasingly popular tourist destination as 70th anniversary of test approaches. MORE

  50. Apr. 4, 2015

    Brothers Alex and Miles Pincus, maritime preservationists and Manhattan restaurateurs, are planning to restore 1850s-era oyster barge that many consider blight of marina in New Haven, Conn, and relocate it to East River off Lower Manhattan as possibly a museum or restaurant. MORE

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Airport Redevelopment Could Mean New Life for a Jet Age Landmark

The Trans World Airlines Flight Center, which opened in 1962 and closed in 2001, could become part of a hotel planned for Kennedy International Airport.

July 28, 2015, Tuesday

The Four Seasons Space Gets a New, Younger Face

The chefs Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi and their business partner, Jeff Zalaznick, all in their 30s, will take over in 2016.

July 25, 2015, Saturday

Times Article on Rome’s Decay Draws a Surge of New Scrutiny

A New York Times article on Romans’ complaints about the decline of the quality of life in their city lit up Italian news media and social networks.

July 25, 2015, Saturday

Salvaging a Long-Lasting Wood, and New York City’s Past

Longleaf pine lumber, which once buttressed the warehouses of TriBeCa and bore the weight of Brooklyn’s waterfront depots, is being reclaimed as the city’s factories are converted.

July 22, 2015, Wednesday

At Rogers Mansion, 367 Years of Southampton History in a House

Focusing on a single home, the 1648 Rogers mansion, an exhibition recreates different periods in its history and becomes a microcosm of Southampton.

July 19, 2015, Sunday

The Revolt Against Tourism

To keep badly behaved visitors in check, officials turn to regulation.

July 19, 2015, Sunday
MORE ON HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND SITES AND: Travel and Vacations , Historic Buildings and Sites , Denmark , Colau, Ada , Barcelona (Spain) , France

In Oklahoma, Efforts to Save House of Last Comanche Chief

The 1890 house of Quanah Parker has fallen victim to neglect and age. Recent flood damage has intensified talk about how best to save it.

July 19, 2015, Sunday

For a Stonewall Park

A reader calls for the creation of a commemorative park in New York City under the auspices of the National Park Service.

July 17, 2015, Friday

An Oasis of Tranquillity, in Grand Central Terminal

The ramp hall, free of advertising and promotion, is among the most imposing, dignified and humanistic public spaces in New York City.

July 16, 2015, Thursday

New Course of St. Andrews, Built in 1895, Is No Rival for the Old

The Open will be played on the hallowed Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland, where there is also a less celebrated but some say more difficult New Course.

July 15, 2015, Wednesday

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A Machine in the Co-Pilot’s Seat

A flight project called Alias is generating robots that would not replace human pilots, but work with them.

July 21, 2015, Tuesday

European Agency Proposes Tougher Medical and Psychological Oversight of Pilots

Among the recommendations by the European Aviation Safety Agency are random drug and alcohol testing of flight crews.

July 18, 2015, Saturday

12 Aircraft Targeted by Laser Beams Above New Jersey

The Federal Aviation Administration and the F.B.I are investigating a dozen flights reported to have been hit by a laser beam while flying over New Jersey on Wednesday night.

July 17, 2015, Friday

TransAsia Pilot Acknowledged Cutting Wrong Engine, Crash Report Says

Investigators in Taiwan found that the pilot of a plane that went down in Taipei in February, killing 43, had also failed a simulator test last year.

July 3, 2015, Friday

Before Crash, Germanwings Pilot Searched Web for Ways to Die

A prosecutor in Germany said Andreas Lubitz looked up terms like “living will” and “dying” and sought information about obtaining poisons.

June 13, 2015, Saturday

How High Can Pakistan’s Air Force Women Fly?

Hundreds are officers, but there’s no telling when they will be eligible for command.

June 9, 2015, Tuesday
MORE ON PILOTS AND: Women and Girls , Pilots , Pakistan

Review: Mark Vanhoenacker’s ‘Skyfaring: A Journey With a Pilot’ on Joy of Flight

Mr. Vanhoenacker’s first book is an unusual entry into the air travel genre. For one, he is a commercial pilot. For another, he doesn’t speak of flying disasters.

June 3, 2015, Wednesday

A Pioneer Aviator, and a Park Without Its Eponym

Questions about Harriet Quimby, a pioneer aviator, and the lack of a sculpture in honor of President James Madison in the park for whom it was named.

May 24, 2015, Sunday

A Navy Pilot’s Death Reflects the Everyday Hazards of the Job

An investigation into the crash that killed Lt. Nathan Poloski assigned no blame but concluded that it might have been prevented by more “situational awareness.”

May 12, 2015, Tuesday

Germanwings Co-Pilot Is Said to Have Rehearsed Steps for Crash

Andreas Lubitz appears to have rehearsed preparations for the fatal dive during an earlier flight on the day of the crash, the French authorities said in a preliminary report.

May 7, 2015, Thursday

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Items with tag “Attorney General Tom Corbett”

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Attorney General Corbett to announce criminal charges in legislative bonus investigation

By Bevin Theodore

July 10, 2008, 8:00AM
Attorney General Tom Corbett will announce the filing of criminal charges today as part of an ongoing grand jury probe into bonuses paid to employees of the state legislature and using state resources to work on political campaigns. A news conference is scheduled for 2 o'clock this afternoon at Corbett's office in Harrisburg. Full story »

Prescription drug ring suspects give up rights to preliminary hearings

By JD Malone | The Express-Times

June 19, 2008, 3:13PM
Five of the 15 suspects arrested as part of a prescription drug ring broken up in April waived their preliminary hearings today. The hearing for the operation's supposed leader, Melinda Miller, who allegedly traded prescriptions for heroin, will be rescheduled. Full story »

Pen Argyl man accused of funeral threat wants Corbett off case

By Sarah Cassi | For

May 08, 2008, 1:27PM
A Lehigh Valley political consultant accused of threatening a Northampton County councilman during a funeral wants a new prosecutor to work on his case, citing a conflict of interest. Senior Judge Lawrence Brenner denied Thomas Severson's request that Attorney General Thomas Corbett be replaced with an independent prosecutor. In a motion filed with the court, Severson's attorney, George A.... Full story »

Corbett announces arrests of cocaine traffickers

By Amy Stetts

October 09, 2007, 2:00PM
The arrests of 14 suspects involved in cocaine trafficking in the Lehigh Valley were announced today at a news conference held by Attorney General Tom Corbett in Allentown. The arrests were the result of "Operation Bloodhound," which since November targeted the trafficking of millions of dollars of cocaine into the Lehigh Valley. Many of the suspects arrested are part... Full story »

West Shore doctor, husband face drug charges

By Frank Cozzoli

June 25, 2007, 12:33PM
Doctor accused of fraud in writing pain-killer prescriptions for herself, husband Full story »
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N.J. cop arrested in Internet sex sting

By Alyssa Young

June 12, 2007, 3:00PM
A 37-year-old police officer who worked in Gloucester Township has been charged with sending graphic nude webcam videos to an Internet chat room user he thought was a 13-year-old girl. The person with whom Edward Berzins, of Blackwood, N.J., was communicating actually was an undercover agent from the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Child Predator Unit, a news release says. Berzins... Full story »


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May 30, 2013

Twice a year the sun lines up with the straight streets of Manhattan during sunset. This event is called Manhattanhenge and looks quite cool.

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California Adventure attraction wait times forecast for October 28, 2013.

The graph flips between attractions automatically; hover over an attraction in the table below to its forecast.

Attractions with an * and bolded title are a better indicator of park crowd level.

Wait Times Forecast for October 28, 2013
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Matt Towery

I know everyone's sick of hearing and reading about Anna Nicole Smith, the late celebrity without portfolio.

In broaching the subject, I mean no disrespect for the dead. It's the living who draw my interest.

By now most of us know about Howard K. Stern -- the middle initial "K" is to distinguish him from the radio shock-jock Howard Stern.

Howard K. Stern is the seemingly "quasi-" husband of Smith, one of a lengthening list of men claiming to have enjoyed intimate relations with Smith during what physicians say would had to have been a fairly short length of time -- the time in which she could have conceived the baby who was later born. If that list of possible suitors keeps growing, Smith's greatest accomplishment may be having the most potential "baby-daddies" in recent history.

But it's Stern who clearly stands out in the Anna Nicole Smith saga. Those who viewed the reality show that featured an often-incoherent Anna Nicole know it was Stern who played the dual roles of her counselor-at-law and concierge. I considered it a safe bet that he was being paid a fortune to spend even 10 minutes in the wacky world of this confused, pitiful young woman, much less time enough to run her life minute-by-minute.

Yet there he was, guiding her every move, often with Smith appearing to have no idea what she was doing or where she was going.

At this point in my evaluation, the trained attorney in me surfaces. I'd never want to damage a man who is grieving over the loss of a loved one. Still, in watching this media circus continue to unfold, I have some questions that even the likes of CNN's Nancy Grace have yet to fully and clearly pose.

-- How and why did Anna Nicole Smith and Stern end up taking up residency in the Bahamas prior to the birth of her child? Who made that decision? Anna Nicole? Did she understand that by moving there, she and her baby would be subject to a whole new set of laws? Laws that would be more beneficial to someone who was her civil spouse than to her or someone who had her power of attorney?

-- What are the chances that drugs, most of all prescription drugs, could have been obtained for a woman obviously already whacked out? Who prescribed the drugs? To whose name were they prescribed?

-- How is it that Smith's only living heir prior to the birth of her daughter, her son, could have been addicted to drugs with no one doing anything about it? How did he get access to methadone, which apparently can be fatal when combined with certain prescription drugs?

Matt Towery

Matt Towery is a former National Republican legislator of the year and author of Powerchicks: How Women Will Dominate America.
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Michael Barone

Statewide polling since June has shown Obama with majority disapproval in Florida (43 percent approves; 53 percent disapproves) and in Ohio (44-52). That supports the view that his chances are tenuous in those states.

But unfortunately for these strategists, recent polls don't show Obama doing much better in Virginia (45-50), North Carolina (45-51) or Colorado (46-50). The Obamaites point to Sen. Michael Bennet's 2010 victory in Colorado as a model to follow. But Bennet won by only 48 to 46 percent, and the Democratic governor won with just 51 percent against split opposition. And Republicans carried the state's popular vote for the House.

There's also an enormous gulf between the so-called Colorado strategy and Obama's stance on issues. It's not clear that lambasting Republicans for not raising taxes on millionaires and corporate jets is going to win votes or rally the enthusiasm of currently disappointed college-educated and young voters.

They may actually have looked past the campaign rally cries of "pass this bill" to notice that it doesn't have 50 votes in the Democratic-majority Senate and indeed has hardly any Democratic co-sponsors. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has been employing parliamentary legerdemain to prevent a vote on Obama's bill.

It's not so clear, either, that bashing millionaires and corporate jets is going to rekindle the enthusiasm of young voters and Latinos discouraged after months of joblessness. They may remember that spending hundreds of billions of dollars on the 2009 stimulus package didn't do much good.

At the moment, the only states where polls since June show Obama with job approval as high as 50 or 51 percent are those where he got 60-plus percent in 2008, plus New Jersey, where he got 57 percent.

Those are enough to get him up to 200 electoral votes, 70 short of a majority.

But they're not enough to reassemble the 53 percent coalition that hoped he would bring change for the better. That coalition, historically unusual, seems now to be part of history itself.

Michael Barone

Michael Barone, senior political analyst for The Washington Examiner (www.washingtonexaminer.com), is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Fox News Channel contributor and a co-author of The Almanac of American Politics. To find out more about Michael Barone, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2011 THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM


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Baby boom parents are asleep on the job

Michelle Malkin

11/17/2000 12:00:00 AM - Michelle Malkin
"When pigs fly. When hell freezes over. When the cow jumps over the moon. N-O. No, no, no! End of discussion." This is what I'll tell my daughter when she asks me, many years from now, if she can attend a coed sleepover party. All across the country, believe it or not, adolescent boys and girls are romping around in their skivvies together under one roof with their parents' approval. The Washington Post devoted 1,200 words to this booming teen fad. A newspaper database search turned up nearly 200 other stories on coed sleepovers. Popular teen shows such as the WB network's "7th Heaven" have featured boy-girl slumber parties. A recent Abercrombie & Fitch Christmas catalog featured four preteen girls in bed under the covers with an older boy, lewdly waving his boxer shorts in the air. "It's the newest thing," one 17-year-old boy named "J.D." explained to the Post reporter. The mixed overnight parties "are a variation on group dating," the Post reports, "where teenagers hang out together but often don't pair off. Some parents say the parties became more common a couple of years ago after school administrators in several districts asked hotels to stop providing rooms to students after big high school events." To win over his parents, J.D. argued that hosting a coed slumber party is "better than us lying about where we are and renting some sleazy motel room." Many parents -- and I use the term loosely -- are buying into this bubble-gum logic. "I just feel it's definitely better than going to hotels, and this way you know all the kids who are coming over, you know who they are with," said Edna Breit, a Maryland mom who allows her teen son to invite up to 20 girls and boys to sleep over, bathe in a hot tub, and stay up until dawn watching movies in the family basement. Breit shared her furtive method of policing her young overnight guests: "You keep the serving bowls for snacks small. That way you have the pretext to go down there and refill." This is pathetic. How is it that we arrived at a point where a grown woman is proud of turning her home into a coed Comfort Inn, where parents must dream up sneaky ways to spy on their own children? When did "better than" judgments replace doing what's best for your children? Pushover parents who think this is all harmless fun -- that we should just chill out, lighten up, and relax -- need to wake up. Teenage boys and girls do not belong in adult settings of intimacy. Coed sleepovers send the wrong message to teens too immature to handle sexually charged situations. It is only the latest sign of a culture that has given up on enforcing traditional roles of authority and on passing down moral sense and wisdom from one generation to the next. Thanks largely to the radical egalitarian ethos embraced by the Baby Boomers, American notions of discipline have grown softer than the down filling in a teen's sleeping bag. Kay Hymowitz, author of "Ready or Not: Why Treating Children As Small Adults Endangers Their Future and Ours," notes that nowadays, "Adults define themselves as children's allies, trainers, partners, friends, facilitators, co-learners, and advocates. Their role is to empower children, advocate for them, boost their self-esteem, respect their rights, and provide them with information with which they can make their own decisions. But is this really what children need?" My child needs her parents to be parents, not playmates. It is not easy to say no, and mean it, but we are prepared to say it again and again. Until then, I will cherish the fleeting days of innocence when a coed slumber party for our daughter means an afternoon nap in the crib with Mr. Wormy, Mr. Whoozit, and her dolly in pink pajamas.


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(Reuters) - Authorities are investigating an explosion that originated in a vat of eggnog, damaged a pharmaceutical plant and caused minor injuries to two workers in New Jersey, local media said on Sunday.

Two employees were mixing artificial eggnog flavorings in a laboratory at Pharmachem Laboratories in Totowo, New Jersey on Saturday night when the explosion occurred, Totowa Fire Marshal Allen Del Vecchio told WABC-TV Eyewitness News.

They were trying out a new eggnog recipe, the station said, adding that the cause of the blast was undetermined.

The explosion blew off the rear of the three-story plant and left glass scattered on the ground, WABC-TV reported.

Pharmachem did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company makes and supplies ingredients for foods, beverages and other products, according to its website.

(Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Editing by Lynne O'Donnell)


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Jeff Sessions on Townhall

Conn Carroll - Tue Jan 13

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) wants Republicans to become the party of the American worker. ... more

Conn Carroll - Tue Dec 9

The seven Senators who will choose the next Budget Committee Chairman. ... more

Rachel Alexander - Mon Jul 15

Heather Ginsberg - Fri May 24

The House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Senator Jeff Sessions wrote a letter to President Obama this week arguing his administration is shunning the union representing 7,000 immigration and customs officers. ... more

Washington, DC - Thu Apr 19

'It's time for some action.' ... more

New York, NY - Mon Mar 19

Republican Senators discuss the CBO's announcement that many could lose coverage under the new healthcare plan. ... more

Thomas Pyle - Mon Aug 29

As the economy fails to gain traction, the Obama administration is proposing an additional burden—new, tougher ozone (air quality) regulations. This is not only curious; it’s simply bad public policy. The air we breathe today is as clean as it has been since the Environmental Protection Agency starting collecting information, but new strict regulations could cost 7.3 million Americans their jobs. ... more

Katie Pavlich - Tue Aug 2

Elisabeth Meinecke - Sun Jul 31


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Wednesday 29 July 2015

550 global firms for Dubai WoodShow

Dubai, March 25, 2013

More than 550 global exhibitors are set to participate during the upcoming 2013 edition of Dubai WoodShow, the Middle East’s largest wood industry focused exhibition.

The event will run from April 9 to 11 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center.

Strategic Marketing & Exhibitions, the event organiser, has expanded the event’s gross area to cover 12,944 sq m and feature different halls for forestry and products, tools, equipment, finishing, timber, and outdoor furniture in 2013.

The expected growth in the international exhibitor count is in line with the rising demand for hardwood lumber in the region, with import figures projected to reach an estimated $700 million in 2012.

Now in its eighth edition, Dubai WoodShow will give more focus on wood furniture, veneer, laminates and other products, and on providing a venue where visitors can learn more about wood and meet the most highly qualified operators in the business.

It will also showcase the latest innovations in wood machineries and the technologies being developed to increase efficiency in the manufacturing process.

“The changes we have implemented within the Dubai WoodShow underlines our strong commitment to adequately address the needs of the market for a venue where traders and professionals can learn more about wood, while driving the overall growth of the wood industry,” said Walid Farghal, director general, Strategic Marketing & Exhibitions.

“We have made it easier for exhibitors to connect with a more targeted audience, which in addition to the tremendous import values for hardwood lumber recorded in the Mena region; this has also spurred a stronger demand for participation among global participants.”

“By gathering highly qualified operators in the business and leading manufacturers from all over the world, we are giving project developers and construction companies a premier destination to find the suitable wood products that suit not only the structural requirements of their projects but the environmental standards as well,” Farghal added.

“This year, we are expecting a large presence of senior management and decision makers seeking investment opportunities with professionals and corporations in the wood industry, and players who are interested in growing their business on a global scale.”

This year event has the participation of many international pavilions such as the US, Canada, Germany, France, China, Malaysia, Cameroon and Congo. – TradeArabia News Service

Tags: Dubai | Trade fair | Dubai Woodshow | machinery |

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Home / random / Weekly Wrap-up: Best Airports, Avg IT Salaries, Google Drive, Upgraded Ubislate & more…

Weekly Wrap-up: Best Airports, Avg IT Salaries, Google Drive, Upgraded Ubislate & more…

Here is a quick look at the posts published last week on trak.in!

If you are bored of the regular engineering & Doctorate as your career path, here are 5 niche careers that might interest you…

The Delhi International Airport has seen tremendous improvement over past couple of years with launch of  Terminal 3. However, it still only the 62nd best Airport in the world.

If you are an IT professional, and if you are looking for a raise or a job switch, this article will help you tremendously. It provides you with average IT/Software salaries in India by function, experience, skillsets & more.

Here are list of 5 Indian NGO’s who are doing a tremendous job for social causes.

Tablets are hot – everyone wants them now-a-days. Here are list of Budget Android tablets that real value for money.

According to a recent survey, India is the second most economically confident country in the world.

Do you know how credit / debut card numbers are generated, or what they represent? Here is a beautiful infographic that will help you understand what those numbers stand for!

Finally Google announces Google Drive – The much awaited, much rumored storage service that really has some great features going for it. The question though is – Are they late in announcing this?

We do very few startup reviews – and few we write about are products that we really like. Text me is one such nifty sms sharing service that you should try out!

If you are looking to open up a branch of your company in UK, this article will surely give you an heads up on what you need to do.

Social Media has become an indispensable tool especially in field of education. Here are 5 ways to integrate Social Media in Schools.

Sony Ericsson has not had much success in India in smartphone category in India, but their new Xperia NXT series is set to dazzle the smartphone market.

Datawind, the manufacturers of Aakash have come out the upgraded commercial versions of tablet called Ubislate7 and Ubislate7C.

Have you seen Cleartrip’s new redesigned dashboard? it was great, but now with the new redesign, it is even better than earlier!

Airtel has opened up its own online store in partnership with Infibeam. Unlike, NokiaShop and Sumsung store, the prices on Airtel shop are quite competitive!

About Arun Prabhudesai

Arun Prabhudesai is founder / chief editor at trak.in. He jumped the Entrepreneurship bandwagon in early 2008 after a long 13 year stint in I.T Industry. You can follow him on twitter @trakin and Facebook. Arun’s Google+ Profile

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  1. Great posts. Enjoyed reading some of these cool posts! Trak is on the right track for giving such great articles to read. Happy to use my valuable time reading your articles on Trak.

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• 85%
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  • Aired2003 — 2004
  • NetworkNetflix
  • CountryUnited States
  • LanguageEnglish
  • Runtime30 minutes
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The first season of the television comedy series Arrested Development aired between November 2, 2003 and June 6, 2004, on Fox in the United States. It consisted of 22 episodes, each running approximately 22 minutes in length. The first season was released on DVD in region 1 on October 19, 2004, in region 2 on March 21, 2005 and in region 4 on February 23, 2005. The show's storyline centers on the Bluth family, a formerly wealthy, habitually dysfunctional family and is presented in a continuous format, incorporating hand-held camera work, narration, archival photos, and historical footage.

1x01 Pilot

Meet the Bluths. In the pilot, Michael decides to take a job in Arizona after being passed over by George Sr. for head of the Bluth Company. George Sr. is jailed, and the family realizes they need Michael.

1x02 Top Banana

Michael puts George Michael in charge of the Bluth Bannana Stand, and his son subsequently burns down the stand. Elsewhere, Tobias auditions for a commercial, and Lindsay inadvertantly gets the part.

1x03 Bringing Up Buster

Michael spends quality time with Buster. George Michael auditions for a school play to get closer to Maeby. Gob breaks up with his girlfriend and has nowhere to go.

1x04 Key Decisions

Gob decides to lock himself in his father's prison for 24 hours to get back in with the alliance, and to spend quality time with his father. Michael takes Gob's girlfriend to an awards show, and Buster inadvertently flirts with his mother's rival.

1x05 Charity Drive

Michael and Lindsay try to prove their charitable sides to each other. Gob demands George Michael's respect, and Buster continues avoiding Lucille 2.

1x06 Visiting Ours

Michael sets up an "intimate conjugal visit" for his parents, while it is revealed that George Sr. had an affair with Kitty, his secretary who recently slept with Gob. Tobias and Lindsay see a marriage counselor.

1x07 In God We Trust

Michael attempts to fire the family's incompetent, but likeable attorney. George Michael impresses Maeby with a muscle suit for a "Living Classics" pagent. Tobias has a psychological affliction where he is unable to take off his clothes.

1x08 My Mother, The Car

Michael loses his short-term memory, which Lucille uses to her advantage. Gob attempts to use the family yacht before Michael sells it. George Michael and Maeby attempt to see an R-rated movie about cousins having an affair. Buster and Lucille 2 take "the next step".

1x09 Storming the Castle

Michael cannot go through with his plan to break up Gob and Marta. A thug magician wants to take Gob's "legs". Maeby wears all leather to get back at her mother, and Lucille decides to confront Buster's relationship with Lucille 2.

1x10 Pier Pressure

Buster realizes that medical marijuana will help cure Lucille 2's vertigo, and pays George Michael to get it for him from Gob. Lindsay sends Maeby to spend a day with Lucille to punish her for bad grades. Michael thinks George Michael is on drugs and attempts to teach him a lesson.

1x11 Public Relations

When George Michael is a rejected by a private school due to the family's reputation, Michael hires a publicist from his gym who he's been flirting with to change the public perspective of the Bluths. Meanwhile, Tobias is sent to Boston to reclaim his medical license.

1x12 Marta Complex

When Lucille throws an anniversary party for Tobias and Lindsay on Valentine's Day, Michael gives an impassioned speech about love. This makes Marta realize she has feelings for him and Lindsay realize she wants a divorce. Meanwhile, Buster decides to move out of the penthouse and Lucille revels in living alone for the first time.

1x13 Beef Consomme

After learning that Marta has feelings for him, Michael goes to her and they decide to get permission from Gob before taking things to the next level. Meanwhile, Lindsay and Tobias finally get to the heart of his "never-nude" problem and George Sr. faces his first hearing.

1x14 Shock and Aww

Michael falls for his George Michael's ethics teacher, whom his son also has a crush on. Meanwhile, Lucille adopts a 14-year old Korean boy, and George Sr.'s "Caged Wisdom" tapes have given him a new admirer.

1x15 Staff Infection

When Michael discovers his family has been receiving paychecks without working, he forces them all to get jobs within the company. Lindsay questions his management skills, and Tobias checks himself in at George Sr.'s prison to research a film role.

1x16 Altar Egos

Michael attempts to have a one-night stand with an attorney whom he doesn't know is not only blind, but the prosecutor who is trying to put his father in jail. Also, Gob gets married on a dare, Maeby pretends to be a girl with a made up disease, and George Sr.'s admirer turns out to be an undercover SEC agent who has truly fallen for him.

1x17 Justice Is Blind

Gob steals a file on the government's case against the Bluth Company that Maggie had given to Michael. Tobias is sent to Maggie's house to get evidence, George Michael tries to prove Maeby's fraud, and Lindsay fights to remove the Ten Commandments from the courthouse lawn.

1x18 Missing Kitty

Gob attempts to make good on his promise to make the family yacht disappear. Meanwhile, Lindsay and Maeby try to track down Lindsay's grandmother, Tobias seeks George Sr.'s respect, and Michael attempts to fire Kitty, who claims to have information that could bring down the company.

1x19 Best Man for the Gob

George Sr. uses Gob's bachelor party as an opportunity to set up his accountant in a compromising position so that he can blackmail him. Meanwhile, Michael tries to prove he's a fun guy, and the Funkes reunite their family folk-music band.

1x20 Whistler's Mother

Michael deals with numerous requests for some unfrozen money, and chastises Lucille for being too coddling with Buster. Lindsay decides to protest the war to boost her self esteem while Tobias and Gob decide to start a coffee company.

1x21 Not Without My Daughter

Michael takes Maeby to work with him on Take Your Daughter to Work Day. After being slighted by Michael, Tobias, George-Michael and Gob all go to the mall to prove that they are just manly. Oscar takes Lucille and Buster to Annyong's soceer game.

1x22 Let 'Em Eat Cake

In the first season finale, George Sr. has a heart attack, and Maeby is jealous when George Michael likes another girl. Meanwhile, Lindsay decides to leave Tobias until a book he wrote a long time ago becomes a gay bestseller, and Buster and Annyong compete over women.


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Monday, October 08, 2007

Why The Transgender Community Hates HRC

Why does the transgender community hate HRC? It’s a question I get frequently asked in GLBT settings. Considering the recent GLBT family feud erupting over ENDA, it's an appropriate one to ask as well.

Before I get started trying to shed light on it, I need to point out in the name of journalistic integrity that I was the Lobby Chair for the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) from 1999-2002.

The roots of the animosity start after Stonewall. In an effort to appear more 'mainstream' to the straight community, Jim Fouratt and friends bounced Sylvia Rivera and other transpeople out of New York’s GLF (Gay Liberation Front). Jim Fouratt’s anti-transgender comments culminating in a 2000 one at a Stonewall observance in which he called transpeople 'misguided gay men who'd undergone surgical mutilations' also added insult to the injury.

In a pattern that persists to the present day, The GLF had protections for transpeople removed from a proposed 1971 New York GLBT rights anti-discrimination bill under the pretext that it wouldn’t pass with such 'extreme' language.

Ironically the bill failed anyway and the New York City GLB-only rights bill wouldn't pass until 1986. Transgender inclusion was fought at that time by Tom Stoddard, who would later head Lambda Legal. Transgender people didn't get added in the New York City bill until after Sylvia Rivera's death in 2002.

In 1979 Janice Raymond poured more gasoline on the fire with her virulently anti-transgender book The Transsexual Empire. Raymond also took it a step further in 1981 and penned a quasi-scientific looking report that was responsible for not only ending federal and state aid for indigent transpeople, but led to the insurance company prohibitions on gender reassignment related claims. Germaine Greer’s anti-transgender writing combined with Raymond’s led to involuntary outing and harassment of transwomen in lesbian community settings. It also sowed the seeds for the anti-transgender attitudes in the lesbian community that persisted through the late 90’s.

So what does this have to do with HRC since it didn’t get founded until 1980?

The problem is that the senior gay leadership is still influenced by the Fouratt-Raymond-Greer negative attitudes towards transpeople. That sentiment is concentrated disproportionately in California and the Northeast Corridor. The early gay and lesbian leadership also sprang up from those areas as well.

The transgender community around the late 80’s renewed its organizing efforts to fight for its rights. The early leadership was also concentrated in the Northeast Corridor and California as well and regarded the gay community as natural allies.

One thing they didn’t take into account was how deeply entrenched the anti-transgender attitudes and doctrines were amongst gay and lesbian leaders. Barney Frank (D-MA) is a prominent example of it. They still persisted in holding the view that transgender people were ‘crazy queens’ who would cost them their rights. Gay leaders were still trying to use the 70’s assimilationist strategy to counter the Religious Right campaign against gay civil rights fueled by fear of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

In the 90’s the transgender leadership became more national in scope and more diverse by the end of the decade. In addition to the founding core leadership from California and the Northeast corridor, transleaders emerged in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, and Illinois. The emergence of leaders from what was derisively called ‘flyover country’ by the peeps from Cali and the Northeast Corridor changed the dynamics of the transgender rights movement.

The addition of leaders from these states brought people into the movement who not only believed in the principles of Kingian inclusion and non-violence, they practiced those values. The rise of the Internet gave them efficient communications links to exchange information and tactics, coordinate strategy and inexpensively talk to each other.

They were also people of faith who had ringside seats to the Religious Right takeovers of the Republican parties in these regions. The Texans watched their state be used as a laboratory for the tactics that would be used in the South and later the rest of the country.

As people of faith who were mostly Southerners, the new transleaders correctly perceived that the Religious Right was the same coalition of 60’s racist anti-progressive forces masquerading in ‘family values’ drag and urged coordinated efforts to defeat them.

Unfortunately, while the Religious Right was using the 80’s and 90’s to organize for culture war and develop their Machiavellian playbook to power, transpeople were fighting a pitched battle with the gay and lesbian community just to be included. This civil war against the GLB transphobes sucked time, energy and money from the transgender community that could have been better spent combating the Religious Right.

The predominately white and bicoastal-based gay and lesbian leadership didn't see the Religious Right as a threat because they not only didn't have fundies in their backyards, they let their anti-transgender biases color their perceptions. They dismissed the threat because it was transpeople who were sounding the warning bells about it. At the same time they were cavalierly dismissing their concerns about GLBT unity and the Religious Right threat, they arrogantly demanded that transpeople work to pass gay-only rights bills.

According to legal scholar Kat Rose, such laws have the effect of creating a regime in which the same gays and lesbians who fought to prevent trans-inclusion have the de facto right under the resultant non-inclusive law to discriminate against trans people. It also allowed them to keep their leadership ranks and employee populations in these organizations transgender-free without fear of facing discrimination lawsuits.

When transgender leaders would balk at those demands or point out the hypocrisy of leaving us behind, they would state they would ‘come back for us’.

So far the only states in which the gay and lesbian community has ‘come back’ for transgender people are Rhode Island (2001), California (2003), New Jersey (2006) and Vermont (2007). In New York they are still having a difficult time passing GENDA after transgender people were cut out of SONDA by gay rights advocating the same 'we'll come back for you' incremental rights spin.

The first gay only rights bill, passed in Wisconsin in 1982 has been that way for 25 years now. There's no indication by the GLB leadership in that state if they'll move to rectify the omission of their transgender brothers and sisters or if they'll assign it a priority as high as the one they place on marriage equality.

We also heard the excuses during the 90’s to justify the gay and lesbian strategy that ranged from ‘the country needs more education on transgender issues’, we need 'incremental progress' to the mean-spirited ‘it’s not your turn to get rights yet’. Ironically there are now more transgender inclusive laws on the books than gay-only ones, and those numbers are increasing.

And where does HRC fit into this equation?

One of the people most responsible for excluding transpeople from an attempt to pass a gay rights law in Minnesota in 1975 was a gentleman by the name of Steve Endean, who in 1980 would leave Minnesota to help found the Human Rights Campaign Fund, the proto organization that later became HRC. Some Minnesotans assert that it's not a coincidence that the same year HRCF was born in DC, Minnesota's gay rights proposals became T-inclusive and eventually lead to the first T-inclusive law in 1993.

In 1995 Elizabeth Birch took over as Executive Director of HRC at a time when there was an epidemic of gays and lesbians cutting transpeople out of civil rights legislation.

In many cases gay people who sat on various HRC boards either nationally or regionally led the efforts. In 1999 Dianne Hardy-Garcia, who was the executive director of the Lesbian Gay Rights Lobby (now Equality Texas) at the time and an HRC board member, led the successful effort to cut transpeople out of the James Byrd Hate Crime Bill (to mine and TGAIN"s vehement opposition). That bill was eventually killed in the GOP-controlled Texas Senate but passed in 2001 as a GLB only bill and was signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry.

Elizabeth Birch for a while eclipsed Janice Raymond as Transgender Public Enemy Number One when she was quoted at a Chicago GLBT event as stating that transinclusion in ENDA (the Employment and Non Discrimination Act) a top legislative priority of transgender leaders would happen ‘over her dead body’.

That sowed the seeds to the growing perception amongst transpeople that HRC was ‘The Enemy’. It got worse when transgender lobbyists were told by sitting senators, congressmembers and various staffers that HRC Capitol Hill lobbyists Nancy Buermeyer and Winnie Stachelberg showed up on the Hill accompanied by GenderPac’s Riki Wilchins before transgender lobby events in 1997, 1998, and 1999. They asked those members and staffers to tell the transpeople coming to Washington that inclusion in ENDA wasn’t possible, but hate crimes was. That revelation so enraged the transgender community that a group of activists that included yours truly founded NTAC in 1999.

After doing an investigative report during the summer of 1999 that determined the extent of HRC co-option of GenderPac leaders, NTAC decided to pursue a multi-pronged strategy to deal with it. They decided to explore partnerships with other GLBT organizations, made it clear that transinclusion in federal ENDA and Hate Crimes was non-negotiable and during my time there I helped author a legislative strategy designed to go around the congressional barriers set up to block transgender inclusion in ENDA

In 2000 NTAC also began the ‘Embarrass HRC’ campaign to call attention to the hypocritical nature of the relationship between HRC and the transgender community. Activists across the country began protesting HRC dinners and calling them out at GLBT community events about their resistance to adding transpeople to ENDA. The campaign got the attention of people to the point where they started asking HRC leadership tough questions and their contributions started taking hits.

Despite this success, the transgender community didn’t embrace NTAC. It was a multicultural organization whose early leadership was predominately Southern. NTAC was relentlessly savaged by people for fostering what they called ‘horizontal hostility’. A group of white northeastern activists that wanted to push accommodation with HRC formed the National Center for Transgender Equality in 2003 and named Mara Keisling as its executive director.

But NCTE to some transpeople had uncomfortably close HRC links that caused people to question not only NCTE's effectiveness in lobbying for transpeople but its independence. Transgender historian and legal scholar Kat Rose bluntly said that "I simply do not trust NCTE or Mara Keisling".

The interesting thing was the timing. NCTE came into existence after HRC loudly proclaimed that they didn't want to talk to NTAC. There were unconfirmed rumors that some of NCTE's startup money was provided by HRC supporters.

Not long after NCTE’s startup, the shift of the gay and lesbian rights priority from successfully passing inclusive rights laws on a state by state basis to marriage equality started. Transgender leaders such as NTAC’s Vanessa Edwards Foster warned that this was a mistake to push the issue a year before the 2004 elections, but once again transgender concerns were brushed aside.

When the Religious Right backlash resulted in gay marriage constitutional bans overwhelmingly passed in 18 states during that election year, the transgender community was proven correct once again.

This irritated the transgender community on multiple levels. The marriage-as-a-priority gays refused to acknowledge that not only did their actions cause the backlash to gay marriage and possibly generated enough conservative voters at the polls to help propel George W. Bush to a second term, despite the evidence of dozens of state DOMAs and anti-marriage constitutional amendments, they are in severe denial about it.

Transpeople are also miffed at the lack of HRC concern as to how this backlash specifically affects our lives. Transpeople were never consulted and had no input whatsoever regarding the push for gay marriage, but the Religious Right anti-gay marriage laws get interpreted by the courts in such a way that they had the negative affect in some cases of wiping out existing pro-trans marriage and even identity rights.

We're also pissed that the same people who demanded (and still demand) that we accept 'incremental progress' when it comes to trans rights hypocritically have no intention of accepting 'incremental progress' when it comes to legal recognition of same-sex relationships.

In conclusion, the drama between the transgender community and HRC (which sadly flared up last week after Rep. Frank introduced a non-inclusive ENDA) is a forty-year-old stew flavored with historical hatred, arrogance, political miscalculations, communication failures, misunderstandings, mistrust, and Machiavellian duplicity.

HRC also has a pathetic history of refusing to deal with trans people as equals not only in terms of civil rights legislation but even in hiring talented transgender people for their organization. This historical negativity keeps transpeople from working with HRC in any capacity. (Don't even get me started about the African-American community beefs with HRC, that's another post.)

The sad part is that this animosity is preventing HRC and the transgender community from effectively working together to defeat their common enemy despite the desires of people on both sides to do precisely that.

The flare up this time may have not only burned the bridge that people like recently resigned HRC board member Donna Rose and others were trying to build towards a working partnership with HRC, but made any talk of doing that in the transgender community moot for years to come.

Constintina said...

Thank You for posting this, this is a great concise history that I've already emailed to a couple people.

Monica Roberts said...

I thought that people needed to know that the bitterness between transpeople and HRC just didn't materialize out of thin air.

seekingHIVpartner said...

all the thing involved is about sex. i stand in the state of neutral, and as a guy i know on said to me once, the controversy is not about sex itself but the people who have it! and so, we people should not to learn to hate, but to love! and there would be no controversy!

Monica Roberts said...

Your friend is partially correct.

For some GAY people its about sex. For transpeople its about survival.

Pam Spaulding said...

Monica, this is a good comprehensive piece, particularly as a counter to John A.'s Salon article. It sheds new light to those not well-versed in the political history and back story and puts things into context.

You should cross post this as a diary on Pam's House Blend.

Monica Roberts said...

I have a link to on this blog.

delux said...

I am so sorry, serves me right for not putting my glasses on my face! LOL

Mark D. Snyder said...

thank you thank you thank you!

Monica Roberts said...

I'm honored. Done

Zoe Brain said...

Please publish this more widely. It deserves it.

Robyn Webb said...

Thanks Monica. I've been harboring my bitterness about HRC ever since they rejected my resume submitted for two staff positions for which I am eminently qualified, solely because I am a transgender person, and because my letters of reference were from key figures in trans advocacy organizations. I could have accepted this if they had simply responded that they didn't feel I was qualified, as more conventional employers do when rejecting trans applicants, but their response may as well have just said "screw you tranny" in between the lines that read "Your credentials are most impressive, but we have decided to consider other candidates."

Thanks for the opportunity in DC a couple of weeks ago to tell HRC how I feel.

jim said...

This is jim fouratt

Monica: your history is wrong. Sylvia Rivera was a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front, Star *Street Transvestite Action Revolution) was a cell of the New York Gay Liberation Front. STAR was actually headquartered at the first Gay and Lesbian Community Center in New York on Third Street between Sixth Avenue and McDougal Street and fully supported by GLF.

Sylvia was never thrown out of GLF. Yes, some of the lesbians were critical of drag because they felt it mocked women. Sylvia held her own in defending drag queens like herself. I always supported Sylvia’s participation in GLF.

Sylvia was thrown out of the Gay Activist Alliance (GAA) after Sylvia attempted to climb on to the stage of the Gay Pride Celebration in Central Park after the 2nd Gay Pride March UP Fifth Avenue from Greenwich Village.

Sylvia and Marsha P. Johnson were among the gender variant people active GLF. There were many gender variant and people of color in the first GLF.

Monica, you really need to make sure what you are told is in fact the truth.

Sylvia and I were close friends for 30 years. Even when Sylvia was dying, Bob Kohler asked Sylvia if she would want me at her funeral and/or wake. Sylvia told Bob Koehler, "..of course jim can come, I have known him a very long time." And I did attend and say goodbye to my friend with a kiss to ruby red lips.

I an quite saddened that many trans activist want to rewrite history to fit their agenda. The truth of history cannot be denied even when distorted.

A careful search of things I have actually said or publicly written will clearly show that much of what is attributed to me is simply not true.

Homophobia in the trans community is rampant and I have been the victim of it.

I am fully willing to discuss or debate publicly any issue that deals with gender variant gay and lesbian people.

If someone wishes to change their sexual orientation and use appearance, body modification and self-namage to do so, I believe it is there right. An individual's right to control his or her body is fundamental to my understanding of Gay Liberation.

I also believe that respectful disagreement listened to, reflected upon and responded to with a willingness for open communication is the basis of civil society and political gain.

So all of you who continue to vilify me should really look at the reasons you do ...and discover if in fact they are reality based.

jim fouratt

DQRC said...

Thank you for this very informative, eye-opening article! We've linked to it on our site.

Dragonsani Renteria
Deaf Queer Resource Center

* DQRC is proud to support a Trans-Inclusive ENDA

Monica Roberts said...

Jim Fouratt,
I met Sylvia Rivera during a New York vacation in May 2000 and spent the night at her house.

She laid out the entire ugly GLF history to me.

But I'm willing to listen to your side of the story.

genevieve said...

Monica, I have been transgender for only two and a half years. I have sought to understand the emnity between GLB and transgender. From my vatage point, transgender brings to the forefront ideas about what masculinity and femininty are. The super male and super female is at play in organizations like HRC. I may be wrong but this is what I come up with.

Tricia said...

If someone wishes to change their sexual orientation and use appearance, body modification and self-namage to do so, I believe it is there right.

Although I agree with this statement to the letter, it shows Jim does not even understand what it is to be transgender.

AHiddenSaint said...

I have always tried to crosspost from this when can. I am a younger generation Transgender who did not know much about the history, but I have learned a lot from reading what you wrote and doing searches online.

I will not be going the route of surgery, but it is my own personal reasons. I have many friends who are TS that I love and respect as family. I hope someday I can get a degree so that I can help other people who want to go for the surgery find a understanding voice. It is going to be a while before I complete that life long goal but I want to in my life time. I'm only 26 right now.

Holly said...

I do appreciate that there is two sides to every story as well. And am glad that Jim has posted his comment.

But I wanted to thank you for bringing this discussion about. And for providing as much of your knowledge as you did.

Lisaben said...

I think there's more people than those under the transgender umbrella who are disillusioned with HRC. I've been frustrated with their blind support of Democrats, no matter what the candidates position on LGBT rights is. They behave as if they are a LGBT arm of the Democratic Party and refuse to even look at any 3rd party of independent candidates who would be much better for us all. We have a similar state organization here in WI; put a bunch of Dems in control of the money and then wonder why we lost the amendment fight yet still elected a lot of Dems to state office.

Wilmington said...

Very interesting how Jim pulls out the "homophobia" card...

ALL of my best friends are gay and are very wonderful, supportive people. And most of them don't like HRC either, saying that their focus seems to be to give the gay community a "straight" look, so they can blend in. It is obvious why we just won't do.

If you've seen the latest Stepford Wives movie, you'll know what I'm talking about here. Instead of screaming homophobia, Jim should be examining his own transphobia...

Han said...

I just wanted to say thanks for this.

I'm currently writing my undergraduate dissertation on trans film and literature and this is really good background stuff for me.

Thanks again!

Marc said...

Awesome article! Needs to be more printer-friendly!


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Winner of the Vaude Road I Handlebar Bag

Vaude Road I Handlebar Bag Celebrating the start of the week by announcing a contest winner is always fun. Keep reading to discover who the lucky person was, in our contest to win a fantastic red-and-black Road I Handlebar Bag from Vaude

Between Twitter and the comments on the post, we had around 200 entries!

We like to give everyone an equal chance, so we used twice to pick the winner: once to decide if the winner should come from Twitter or the comments, and once to zero in on a single person.

And the winner is…..

Winning Comment Vaude Handlebar Bag

Lucy was actually the last person to enter the contest, which just shows that it’s never too late to stick your name in the draw! We know she’ll give it a good test run, because she’s cycling 1,100 kilometers in France and Spain this coming summer. Enjoy, Lucy. We’ll be in touch shortly.

Thanks to everyone else who entered, and to Vaude for donating the prize. Keep watching for the next giveaway. We already have one planned for January!

  1. ronn rahmani
    5th December 2011 at 8:10 am #

    i’m also going to the bike touring but just for thailand, myanmar and recently is thailand cross to laos it great experience and fantastic journey because we are going closes to the local community and the nature.

  2. lucybp
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    Thanks guys! I am thrilled to have won this!! I never win anything!

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      That’s what everyone says when they win something! Now you can’t say that anymore :)

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      Congratulations, Lucy! Use the handlebar bag in good health, and have a safe and wonderful trip. Happy for you! — H.

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06 November 2012

Exercise Your Right

"Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting."
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

In 1980, I was 12 years old.

I recall vividly that this was the first time that I was keenly aware of politics. Probably because Mrs. Danforth, my seventh grade teacher, was giving us a glimpse of the way our government works through our civics class, but also because it was the Presidential election between candidates Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

The day of the election every kid in school - from kindergarten to eighth grade - was given a slip with the names of the candidates on it. We filed past the office and dropped our ballot in the ballot box decorated with red, white and blue streamers and buntings.

I can recall that I selected the only name that I had really heard of in my house. And the feeling of triumph when it was announced at the end of the school day who had won the popular vote at Saint Stephen's Elementary School. I had picked the winning team!

Flash forward a few years to 1986. I was 18 and a freshman in college. I don't recall much in the way of political action on the campus that I was attending, and the biggest campaign in Wisconsin was for governor that year. I remember feeling very grown up that I could walk into the polling place on campus and be given the paper ballot to fill out. But I realized when I got in the booth that I had no knowledge of either candidate aside from the name that I had heard at home over the summer.

After I cast my ballot for governor and tried to muddle through the convoluted meaning of some referendums on the ballot that day, I remember walking back to my dorm rather confused.

Instead of feeling empowered and all grown up, I felt more unsure and childlike.

I had just voted for a candidate in my first election ever and I had not bothered to pay attention to who he really was, to find out if I agreed with him, to know what was even important to me, and not to just vote because it was a name I heard at the dinner table at home, or because they had the biggest and fanciest signs around town.

I had an epiphany.

I vowed right then and there that I would really investigate the candidates running for office, pay attention to character - not just what they said, but how they said it and more importantly, what they did - and decide in my own heart what was most important to me.

I have voted in every election since.

Every four years, I am sort of a pariah in my family. I am seen as the black sheep, the one that goes against the grain because my views are not the same as my parents. I am frequently the butt of condescending behing-the-back chuckling, almost to the point of feeling like they are ashamed of me, and it is painful to feel the arrogance and derision that comes around once every four years. Suffice it to say that the subject of politics is not one that comes up around our Thanksgiving table.  I would hope that my family would be happy that they raised me to be free thinking, someone who sees the act of voting as an important duty, questioning the candidates and their positions and voting with my heart. But that is not the case.

I will tell you that I don't believe in party line voting because I feel that it is lazy and dangerous and irresponsible - no matter which party you align yourself with - and for that reason I have always firmly stated that I am in independent, not affiliated with any party, taking a critical look at all candidates and perfectly willing to vote for candidates of any persuasion if I feel that they best represent my voice. And because of this, I am one of those undecideds until I step into that booth. All those glossy postcards and robo-calls and increasingly ridiculous TV and radio ads directed at swinging my vote.

{Seriously. We have an ad on the radio right now that is two women talking over coffee about deciding between two candidates for Senate. The topic centers around the candidate in question as a good husband and father, to which the other girl says, "And he's the cute one, right?" WTH...So now we are asked to vote for a candidate who is cute?!@?*!? If it wasn't so infuriating that women are portrayed as superficial and only caring for a person's looks, it would sound just like an SNL skit and be hilariously funny. But it is not. It is real.}

When McCain chose his running mate in 2008, it was with great fanfare that they first appeared in our state, near where my sister lives. She was beside herself with giddiness that it was a woman and suggested that she thought I would be voting for that ticket simply BECAUSE of the fact that we shared the same chromosomes. Um. No. I love my sister dearly, but that sort of thinking scares me. That is as ridiculous as saying that you are voting for the "cute one." Or because you share the same race. Or that the candidate happens to be from your state.

My daughter came home yesterday and announced that they would be casting ballots today for the President at her school. She wondered aloud if her vote would be added to the national election ;-). I explained that no, her vote was not added to the national tally, but this was just a way to understand what is meant by exercising her right to vote and that everyone - every single person in the United States - has that right. There are people in other countries who don't have this right, there was a time when women here didn't have that right, so it is not something to be taken lightly. I asked her to read a bit about the candidates and decide with her heart whom she felt would be the best to govern our country. I also told her that her vote is her own and it doesn't change my feeling for her one bit if she doesn't cast a ballot for the same candidate that I do.

I want my children to grow up and take this right seriously, to find out what matters most to them, and to be informed about their decisions. I look forward to having discussions with them in the future, and I will never insult their intelligence by telling them who I expect they will vote for. I want them to know that I will not belittle their choice but will celebrate them taking part in the process.

And I especially want them to know that I will love them all the more for casting that ballot no matter whom which candidate gets their vote.

Please, go and vote today.
 Vote with your conscience and your heart.
Just vote.

EB Bead and Metal Works, LLC said...

I really liked your post - and I am with you a 100% (same with mom). Mom and I don't considered ourselves one party or another. We both look what the candidate stands for and that is what we are voting for. I usually don't talk politics with anyone because it doesn't go well - especially with my family too. Thank you for your post!!!

Lori @ Studio Waterstone said...

Oh ditto to both you and Beth. I got to vote early. And my family more or less canceled one another out. Sigh. But we do so respectfully and lovingly. :)

Courtney said...

Love this post! So much of it resonates with me. We (our family) have always discussed these things so our kids know exactly where we stand, it is their decision on how they want to vote. My daughter is 18 and just voted in her first election - she researched everything and voted with an informed mind. We took our son (14) this morning to vote with us. So important! We have had discussions all week going over the issues. Felt so good!

AntiquityTravelers said...

Right on!

I grew up in a very, very small town where you typically follow along with what your parents do/ say/ vote. But when I left home, I bought a one-way ticket to NYC. Yes I visit, but I avoid politics like the plague as I don't find it to be an enlightening conversation. It tends to be a repetition of what is heard on a station called Fox "news" ... A misnomer to be sure. While the name suggests it is news, it is actually classified as an entertainment channel.

I believe in making sure I understand the issues. That I follow them, read about them and ask questions. And not just today, or last week, but on an on-going basis. I'm not hugely political, but understanding what is going on in the world and how you can be involved, or vote is an amazing right in this country.

I agree - get out and vote!

Cassi Renee said...

I feel lucky to share the same political views as my parents and two of three siblings. My father-in-law, however, does not share my (and my husbands) political views, and it does cause a rift between them every four years.

I agree with you that it is important to look at every candidate and make a decision based on that particular candidate, but I will admit that I also take into account the overall party platforms. There are some strong differences there, and sometimes I will vote for someone because of their party. I have a daughter, and I feel the need to protect her future in that way.

Alice said...

Growing up I was never exposed much to politics except the opinions of my father. But I was too young to understand. After I got married at age 18 for some reason voting was not important to me. But over the years I tried to be educated about the candidates, but I have to say this year was the most difficult time I've ever had at making a choice. Honestly I can never believe a word either of them says,and how do I know they can get done what they say they will? And I'm just not able to tell how some of their actions will affect me and my family. This year my husband and I are on opposite sides, a first in our 31 years together. Like you, I don't believe in voting along a certain party line, but more on the lines of who will be the best one for the job.

No matter what, I am thankful that we can vote witout fearing for our lives

Therese's Treasures said...

Hi Erin,
This is a wonderful post and it touches on how most people think and feel. I have always been one to move to the beat of my own drum and not with the crowd, but I do shy away from conversations of politics and religion. I voted today as I have ever since my first time voting for the President of our United States in 1980. Yes while you were in grade school learning about politics, I was casting my very first vote.
May we always be a country that has the freedom to vote for the men and women that will represent and up- hold our rights as United States citizens.

Michelle Tucker said...

Great post!

Michelle Tucker said...

Great post!

LisaS said...

Go Girl!

And as my family sits with anticipation around the TV tonight watching incoming election results. I can only wish for another data point and wonder who was the big winner at your daughter's straw vote... ;)

Jess Green said...

I love your attitude Erin, I wish more people could grasp this truth of political responsibility, perhaps the world would be a better place for it :)

Shel said...

What a lovely and post! It brought tears to my eyes because I too think it's such an important right we have as US citizens to vote. I love how you support your children, teaching them to think for themselves, find the information and follow their own hearts - as it should be. More people should have such an open heart and mind,....

Kim said...

This post really resonated with me. My family and I are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to political issues and I never bring it up (they do frequently). I am always (still in my 40's)! ridiculed for my views and I used to get yelled at for not voting for their candidate. It stinks. I am one of the only ones among my friends that actually does research on my own to decide, they all base their decisions off of what they see on tv. It is very frustrating to me. I see it as a very important responsibility and feel that it's my obligation to spend some time and research who is the best fit for my vote. It also frustrates me when people don't bother to vote, it is such a precious right to have and we should all use it.

Sharyl said...

My son voted in his first election Nov. 6th. He's been so anxious to do so since in grade school when President Clinton was running for office. He was just a little too young the last presidential election, but was so excited Tuesday voting and Tuesday evening watching the results. It was a joy to see!

Margot Potter said...

Rock on.

Gypsea said...

That was a very well written post! My own daughter voted differently than I did and while my husband was quick to dislike that fact I reminded him that each one of us has the right to vote for who we think will do the best job, period. He kept his mouth closed about it after that, lol. One thing you might consider is choosing a party. I was an independent but I changed because I began to feel that choosing a candidate right from the start was important too. I can still vote my heart be it dem. or repub. when it's time but I like being a part of the process all the way through.

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By San Jose Mercury News
Saturday, May 18, 2013, 9:00 p.m.

Silicon Valley is poised to upend the music industry — again.

From Napster to Pandora, from the iPod to the iPhone, technology innovation has made music easier to find and cheaper to buy than ever before. At the same time, it has destabilized the music business and left artists — at least those not named Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift — fearing for their livelihoods.

In this latest music revolution, companies like Google, Apple and Facebook are eyeing the streaming and on-demand music business now dominated by smaller niche companies such as Pandora and Spotify. When they do — and most analysts agree it's really just a matter of time — they could give nearly everyone the ability to listen to whatever they want, whenever they want, and mostly for free.

“There is no doubt that when companies this large enter into the field, it will be disruptive,” said Jonathan Handel, a media and entertainment attorney with the Southern California firm TroyGould.

The stakes are especially high for Apple, which transformed the music industry 10 years ago when it introduced iTunes. The digital store is still lucrative, owning 63 percent of the digital music market, but it is up against a new crop of music services that don't require a credit card. The reluctance of consumers to pay 99 cents to download a music file could threaten iTunes' dominance.

Apple could be close to striking a deal with major music labels to create “iRadio,” a streaming music service that Apple followers speculate will be similar to Pandora but with a larger selection and more on-demand features, such as the option to download songs as they play and unlimited song skipping.

Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr declined to comment on “rumor and speculation.” The company filed for a streaming music patent last year.

Google is said to be working on a music-streaming service that would work on YouTube and could start in the summer. Media reports say its plans include a free version with ads and an optional subscription fee for additional features.

Twitter has entered the fray, releasing a music discovery and sharing service in April to its 500 million users.

Another Silicon Valley heavyweight may be next: “Facebook, we all know they're next. Twitter just beat them to it,” said John Wright, founder of Speakerfy, an application that lets users synchronize music playing on multiple laptops or iPads.

As one Pandora representative put it, “everyone's competing for ears and their time spent listening.”

The shift to free and unlimited streaming is also transforming the way consumers think about music.

“Music, just like the Internet, will be broadly available for everyone,” said Tommy Darker, a musician and marketing professional who has written about technology's impact on music. As free access to music grows, the desire to own it fades, he said.

Already, he said, “the majority have stopped buying.”

According to the NPD Group, just slightly more than one-third of consumers think it's important to own music.

San Jose State University student Rosa Gonzalez said she has been using her free Spotify account to explore dubstep — percussion-heavy electronic dance music she says is good for studying. And she no longer has to pay for songs on iTunes.

As much as she likes Spotify, 19-year-old Gonzalez said she won't pay $5 or $10 a month for one of the service's ad-free accounts: “There are so many other ways to get free music.”

Only about one-quarter of Spotify users pay for an upgraded version, while the rest stick with the free streaming, according to Spotify. And a fraction of Pandora users opt to pay $4 per month for the ad-free version.

“That's been a big theme among younger consumers — they're either unwilling to pay or they have tight budgets,” said Russ Crupnick, senior vice president of industry analysis at the NPD Group.

Even iPods have been squeezed out, with shipments down to 5.6 million from 7.6 million a year.

“It's not iPods anymore; it's phones,” Handel said.

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