Friday, December 30, 2011

Beauty of Language

!±8± Beauty of Language

Language is wine upon the lips: Virginia Woolf

The single greatest invention of human kind is attributed to fire by some, and to wheel by others. Their claims may have the weight of the scientific community but for the masses, the language is the real innovation.

The language brought the dawn of knowledge; turning over the leaf to doubting, questioning, reasoning, explaining and understanding against the centuries old simple animalistic instinct of following. What use could be any scientific invention to human kind if we were unable to communicate? Despite being a product of human invention, the language encompasses the entire human needs of communication and expression. That is the real beauty of the language.

Since the time that has solid recorded evidence, the language has been used as the basic tool for communication. As the literal definition of language goes it is a set of symbols, figures, and, or rules that can be manipulated to give meaning to the vague ideas. Jane Wagner once said, "I personally think we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain."

We don't know this theory to be true but what we know is "Words have a longer life than deeds." Pindar (522 BC - 443 BC). Who began to use language or who developed it in its present form, we are totally unaware of but we definitely know that language and its rules came into being in 5th century BC in present day India for the language of Sanskrit. The rules for the Persian language were formed in 760 AD. The development of language has been fluctuating but not its usage with the passage of time.

Modern natural language - that is the language humans use for general communications -came into being almost 50, 000 years ago in Africa before they dispersed into other parts of the world. There are almost 6, 912 languages currently spoken in the world. The top five of the most spoken languages of the world are Chinese at number one with 1, 209 million people speaking it, Spanish with 332.3 million, English 309.4 million, Arabic 206 million, and Hindi with 180.8 million speakers. Urdu, Pakistan's national language, is at 20th number with 60.5 million speakers. Another 60.8 million people in Pakistan speak Punjabi which resembles to Urdu a lot.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it." Civilization in general has made use of the language in many ways. Language, on the other hand has reciprocated its effect on civilization. Language brought a sense of perfection and purposefulness to the civilization. It has been used as a tool to manipulate the inexperienced ones. Interpretation of laws, reading out the death sentence, poets' imagination, writers' fiction, deals in market, schooling, politicians' charm, all are dependant on language. By endowing the civilization with all of its features, the language has been forced to accept the norms and rules made by the civilization in reply.

The remarkable features that the language is resplendent with are varying in their usage, degree and conformity. The foremost of them can be its ease and adaptability. This can be seen in a toddler. As a child learns a few words of any language, he also learns to use them and put them into meaningful phrases or sentences. The child can make an extensive number of sentences out of a thin vocabulary. This strange phenomenon of ease in using the language has kept many sociologists, psychologists and linguists busy in research.

Relationship between man and society is known through its customs, mores, norms, tradition, laws, ethics, music, religion, language, rituals; collectively known as culture. These customs, mores or norms are transferred from one generation to the other through a learning process. Learning process in term uses language mainly, though not fully, as its carrier. Consequently the language has not only become a part of the culture but also a carrier of the culture. "Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about,"

Benjamin Lee Whorf's, who was an American linguist noted for his hypotheses regarding the relation of language to thinking and cognition, words support this theory.

Scalability is another feature that has made its mark. Scalability means that a particular language or use of language can be expanded to any required extent. Important point in doing so is not to lose its functionality. In earlier times, when science had not made such progress, the use of language in scientific field was also limited. But with the growth of science into many fields and sub-fields, the language has also grown itself to match the required needs without losing its functionality.

"Language is the archives of history," Ralph Waldo Emerson said this truly. Change is must in a vibrant and active society. How far a change in a society can affect its culture is also seen first in its language. The language in this role acts as an historian recording the changes in behavior, traditions, rituals, laws, ethics and other ingredients of a culture. "Change your language and you change your thoughts," Karl Albrecht said. The language can also sometime be used as a catalyst for change. When Turkey replaced Arabic alphabets in its language with the Latin alphabets in 1928, it not only depicted the change in Turkish culture but also proved as a catalyst for the social change Turkey was undergoing those days.

"Language is the means of getting an idea from my brain into yours without surgery," Mark Amidon. This sure is true in the present day world. The world with its so much diversity in population also caters for its linguistic needs. Diversity in languages makes possible for all humans to interact and communicate. Almost 7, 000 different languages are alive in the world in a sense that they have a following in spoken and, or, written form. All of the basic human needs for communication are being meted out in an efficient way naturally and without any interception. This diversity in languages owes much to the flexibility of a language in accepting and improvising to new ideas.

Another feature of the language is its universality. All the languages of the world basically offer almost same facilities (read communication) and attempt to accomplish same objects (read understanding). Walking on the same lines, many linguists claim that there is a universal grammar and a universal language out of which current modern languages have evolved. Noam Chomsky also claimed this in his work on generative grammar.

May be the most misused or overused function of the language is manipulation. As one gets hold of the language, one's command to use it for one's purpose also increases. This way a person can manipulate a language in such manners as suit best for the achievement of his goals. History is filled with examples in this context. Carl Marx, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Khomeini, Osama, Bush and many others have used this ability of the language to their own purposes regardless of the social value of their ideas.

Whatever else the language may be, it is also the representation of the truth and reality. The language does not represent anything more or less than the ideas and thoughts. Words; the building blocks or unit of the language, have no sense unless we attach any reality or any abstract idea to them. American short-story writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe has rightly said that words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.


Beauty of Language

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

Carl Friedrich Abel (1723- 1787) - Allegro, WKO 208 from 27

Carl Friedrich Abel (1723- 1787) - Allegro, WKO 208 from 27 Pieces for Unaccompanied Viola da GambaFilmed March 15, 2009 in Nichols Concert Hall, The Music Institute of Chicago as part of Violapalooza. For more information on music on the Music Institute of Chicago, visit www.musicinst.org Tosubscribe to the 'Viols in Our Schools' GambaCast, visit www.thegambacast.org and for more information on Viols in Our Schools & Doctor Phillip W. Serna, please visit www.violsinourschools.org For feedback, please email info@thegambacast.org. Please submit a review in the iTunes store atphobos.apple.com Visit the online store to support future outreach activities at www.cafepress.com 'Viols in Our Schools' Mission - Viols in Our Schools is organized by Dr. Phillip W. Serna of the Spirit of Gambo a Chicago Consort of Viols and is supported by the Viola da Gamba Society Third Coast as well as a pilot program of the Viola da Gamba Society of America. In 2008, Viols in Our Schools is pleased to announce a new video podcast the GambaCast.. Based in the Chicago area, Dr. Serna works to bring the early western string instrument family known as the viola da gamba into many area schools demonstrating solo literature from the Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical periods for treble viol, tenor viol, bass viol & violone. Please help us make viols accessible to both young and old. Viols in Our Schools Copyright © 2008/ 2009 Dr. Phillip W. Serna. For more ...

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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Acrylic Portrait Painting - Learning to Paint

!±8± Acrylic Portrait Painting - Learning to Paint

Painting, people, takes practice. Painting people or portraits in acrylics is done by painting in layers. While you are building these layers, you may be tempted to give up too soon. As long as the features are placed correctly, painting portraits in acrylic just takes layers and patience.

How to get the person's feature correctly drawn.

Getting the person's features correctly is the most important first step in portrait painting. I suggest using the grid methods to do this. In this example, you are painting from a photo or picture. Use a pencil and lightly draw a grid with equal squares on the painting surface. Use another grid and place over the photo. The grid you use over the photo will likely be a much smaller one. On your canvas, within each square draw the lines of what you see. If you want even more accuracy, you can draw smaller squares within squares. When your drawing is accurate, you can erase the grid lines.

How to get the foundation of the portrait started.

Step number two is the foundation. The foundation involves using a thinned layer of paint for the person's skin tone. The consistence of this paint should be like watercolor. This is the under painting. Dilute the flesh colored paint with water and establish the entire skin area. You will add layer upon layer until you have built your shadows or highlights. The way that you do this is to reduce the amount of water that you add or just use the paint full strength. You should be able to see the pencil lines of the facial features. Now, use a darker flesh color and paint in the facial feature lines. Think of this stage as painting in the lines like a coloring book. After you paint in the features of the eyes, eyebrows, nose, nostrils and mouth you can work on the final layers of the finished painting.

Final layers and details in a portrait.

It is the final layers of the painting that bring it to life. Study your reference photo and notice where the shadows are. Layer by layer add the shadows. Because you are painting a portrait, don't be afraid to add red, and even blue to mimic flesh color. Add some highlights to make features appear to protrude. For example, notice on the nose, there is usually very bright highlights. To indicate the roundness of cheeks, chins and the center of the forehead, use a few layers of whitened flesh color to add these very important highlights. The last bit may be a touch of pure white.

The last thing to do in a portrait should be your final pure white highlights. Usually a person's lips are moist and have a touch of pure white. There is almost always a touch of pure white in a persons' eye where the light is reflecting. Remember painting people takes practice. Painting people or portraits in acrylics is done by painting in layers. Don't get frustrated if your first few portraits aren't what you expected. You will more than likely need to practice and practice. Have fun and enjoy learning to paint.


Acrylic Portrait Painting - Learning to Paint

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Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Behind the Music - The Prelude and Processional Parts of a Wedding

!±8± Behind the Music - The Prelude and Processional Parts of a Wedding

Music helps set the tone for the entire event, whether it's traditional, contemporary or religious. Many couples have a favorite style or level of formality in mind, but often struggle to find exactly the right music. It doesn't have to be a chore, says Aaron Mauldin of Aaron's DJ Services in Kern County, CA.

"A wedding ceremony is essentially a symbolic event, an action devised to portray the beginning of a lifelong love and commitment," says Mauldin. "Music that reflects the couple's style and personality only enhances the meaning of the event. It's your wedding; it should be your music." As long as you choose music that is important to you, your ceremony will hit all the right notes.

To make planning go more smoothly, approach it systematically by breaking it down by the parts of the ceremony and choosing one or two songs for each section. Here are some things to keep in mind as you plan each part of the ceremony:

Prelude The prelude music sets the tone - it's the first thing people hear as they enter the venue and take their seats. Do you want to play traditional, formal melodies that set a hushed, reverent tone? Or would you rather encourage your guests to interact with each other by playing upbeat or casual music? "I have had brides create a medley of their favorite Jack Johnson songs to play as their guests arrive," says Mauldin. "Personalized touches really make the day special."

Here are a few popular prelude options: Air (from Water Music) - Handel, Air on a G String - J.S. Bach, Reminiscent Joy - The O'Neill Brothers, I Can Only Imagine - Mercyme, Largo - Handel, The Wedding Song - Kenny G, Wachet Auf - J.S. Bach

Processional One of the most important scene-setting decisions you can make is the song or songs you choose for the processional. Some couples choose just one processional piece that's played while the bridesmaids and the bride enter the venue, with the musicians pausing momentarily or increasing the volume just before the bride enters. Other couples choose to add heightened focus and drama by selecting multiple processional pieces (for the mothers being seated, for the groom's entrance, for the bridesmaids, for the bride). Regardless, the processional officially "announces" the start of the ceremony and brings the guests to attention.

Today, the processional is about anticipation and suspense - particularly in situations where the bride has not been seen by anyone prior to the start of her walk down the aisle. The joyful, accompanying music reflects the pride and joy being exhibited by parents and family members on the couple's special day, and serves as a backdrop to the 'oohs' and 'aahs' from invited guests as they see the bride as they've never seen her before.

A little drama is great, but it's easy to get a little carried away. We heard about one bride who walked down the aisle to O Fortuna from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Featured in dozens of action flicks for the can't-be-ignored drama of its hundreds-strong orchestra and choir, it probably blew the doors right off the church.

Consider one of these tunes for your processional: Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride) - Wagner, Canon in F - The O'Neill Brothers, Hymne - Vangelis, Canon in D - Pachelbel, Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring - J. S. Bach, Trumpet Voluntary - Clarke

Whichever songs you decide on for the different parts of your wedding ceremony, remember that it's just that: your wedding ceremony.


Behind the Music - The Prelude and Processional Parts of a Wedding

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Mobsters - Joseph P Ryan - President of the International Longshoremen Association

!±8± Mobsters - Joseph P Ryan - President of the International Longshoremen Association

In 1892, the International Longshoremen Association (ILA) started out as a legitimate labor union in the Great Lakes area, to help the dockworkers get a fair shake from their employers. The ILA expanded to the east coast, and by 1914, ILA's New York District Council was created. Almost immediately, the ILA became a mob stronghold, manipulated by the most vicious Irish mobsters of that era. The most prominent of whom was Joseph P. Ryan. But we'll get to Ryan later.

To understand how the mob manipulated the docks, and the ILA, you must grasp the manner in which dockworkers were hired daily. The method for hiring was not who was the most qualified, the strongest, or the most industrious person available. The only thing that mattered is that you paid tribute to the hiring boss, who ran the docks like the Gestapo ran Hitler's Germany.

The way it worked was like this: twice a day, all able-bodied men, who were looking for work, would line up in front of the loading dock. Then a stevedore (hiring boss) stood smugly in front of the dock, and one-by-one he selected the men who he deemed lucky enough to get a day's work. Of course, you had no chance of getting a job if you didn't give the stevedore a percentage of your day's pay. The stevedore would then kick up the cash to the head stevedore, who would in turn kick it up to the ILA bosses. With this money, the ILA bosses would then grease the palms of politicians and cops, and everyone else who needed to get paid, to keep the money rolling into the pockets of the big shots who ran the ILA. And if you were known as somebody who had given the ILA trouble in the past, you might as well have stayed home, because there was no way the stevedore would even look at your face.

Joseph P. Ryan first burst on the scene around 1917, when he organized the ILA "New York District Council," a branch of the nationwide ILA. In 1918, Ryan became president of the ILA's "Atlantic Coast District." It was during this time that the power began shifting from the Great Lakes to the Port of New York, which was closer to Europe, where many of the ships that were unloaded on the docks originated. During this time, the ILA was facing strict competition from the west coast-based Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The ILA was attempting to draw in the IWW into their organization, and in 1919 they succeeded.

In 1921, ILA President T.V. O'Conner resigned, and his place was taken by Anthony Chlopek, who turned out to be the last ILA President based in the Great Lakes. It's not clear if he was appointed by Chlopek, or elected by the membership, but Joe Ryan served as the First Vice President of the ILA for all six years of Chlopek's presidency.

In 1927, Ryan's time had finally come. Ryan was elected President of the ILA, which power base was now firmly entrenched in the Port of New York.

Ryan's journey from basically nobody to the President of the ILA had not been an easy one. Ryan was born on May, 11, 1884 in Babylon, Long Island. His parent were Irish immigrants, and Ryan suffered a severe blow at the age of nine when both of his parents died within a month of each other. Ryan was put in an orphanage, but he was eventually adopted by a woman who brought Ryan to live with her in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, a few blocks south of the lawless Hell's Kitchen area.

Ryan did menial jobs in the neighborhood, before he got a job loading and unloading on the Chelsea Piers. In 1917, Ryan purchased his union book for the sum of two dollars and fifth cents. Within a few weeks, Ryan hurt his foot while unloading a freighter, and when he was released from the hospital, and not being able to work on the docks again, Ryan was somehow appointed to the job of secretary of ILA Local 791. From that point on, there was no stopping Joe Ryan's meteoric rise.

"Boss Joe," as Ryan came to be known, was a ruthless fighter, who elevated the shape/payback system on the docks to an art form. To enforced his vice-like grip on the ILA membership, Ryan hired the worst men imaginable, some of whom has lost their jobs as bootleggers when Prohibition ended in 1933, and some of whom had just recently been released from prison, where they had been sentenced for committing the most violent of crimes. These were the perfect men for Ryan to employ, since cracking a few heads, or legs, and maybe even killing a person once in a while, was certainly not adverse to these men's nature.

Ryan's power was so absolute, he organized fund raisers (his men were compelled to contribute, or else) for the politicians who were on Ryan's pad; one of whom was Mayor Jimmy "Beau James" Walker. When Walker was forced to resign in 1932, Ryan, with tears dripping from his pen, issued a statement supporting the disgraced Walker. Ryan wrote, "The labor movement in the city of New York regrets that political expedience has deprived them of a Mayor whose every official act has been in conformity with the Americanistic (Ryan invented that word himself) policies of organized labor.

Ryan's plan was to control all dockworkers in the United States, but in fact, his power hardly extended outside the boundaries of New York. When Franklin D. Roosevelt ascended to the Presidency in 1933, he enacted his New Deal, which solidified Ryan's total control of the ILA. "The Norris-La Guardia Act," which limited the use of injunctions to prevent strikes and picketing, helped Ryan assert his muscle on the docks. And the Wagner Act of 1935 guaranteed the rights of workers to vote for their own representation. And who controlled those votes? Why Joseph P. Ryan, of course.

Ryan's biggest problem in uniting all ILA workers in America was the resistance he received from the west coast contingent, which was led by radical left-winger Harry Bridges. In 1934, Bridges organized a strike of the West Coast ILA, in rebellion over a contract Ryan had negotiated on their behalf. Ryan, incensed at the west coast insurrection, traveled extensively all over the west coast of America: to San Francisco, Portland, Tacoma, and Seattle. In each location, Ryan argued the main sticking point to the negotiations: the shape-up form of employment. Ryan and his New York pals were for it, everyone on the west coast was against it; saying it was unfair to the workers. The West Coast ILA wanted to implement a "hiring-hall" system, in which "time in the hold" and "seniority" were the main factors in men getting work. Of course the "hiring hall" system would put an end to the stevedore graft machine, and Ryan wanted no part of that.

Ryan's west coast trip was a complete failure. In each ILA location he visited, his recommendations were shot down, emphatically. The president of the Tacoma ILA local announced to the press, "No body of men can be expected to agree to their own self destruction."

Things were so bad for Ryan in San Francisco, there were physical confrontations in the streets, between the west coast strikers, the strikebreakers Ryan had brought in from the east coast, and the local police. The riots were so violent, the National Guard was called in to end the disturbances.

Chalk that up as another loss for Ryan.

When Ryan returned home to the Port of New York, he was not a happy camper. He denounced his west coast opponents as "malcontents" and "communists,"and he strove to become even more diligent in exercising his absolute power over the New York ILA. One of Ryan's most effective tools in keeping his men in line was the fact that he was able to issue union charters to whomever he saw fit. The men who received these charters were then able to form their own Union Locals. After these Locals were created, the individual local bosses would kick back a substantial part of the member's dues to the Joseph P. Ryan Retirement Fund, of which, of course, there were no written records.

One such Local that Ryan had in his back pocket was Local 824, which was run by Ryan crony Harold Bowers. Local 824 was particularly prestigious and quite profitable because it presided over the Hells Kitchen piers, where luxury liners like the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth were docked. Local 824 soon became known as the "Pistol Local" because it was almost completely comprised of Irish gangsters who had long criminal records. Local 824's boss Bowers, an ex-con, had a criminal record as long as a giraffe's neck. Bowers had been arrested for numerous crimes, including robbery, possession of a gun, grand larceny (twice), and congregating with known criminals. Bowers was also suspected in dozens of waterfront murders, but no murder charge could ever be pinned on him.

Harold's cousin Mickey, as murderous a bloke as Harold, was also instrumental in running Local 824. Mickey was a suspect in the murder of Tommy Gleason, an insurgent in Local 824, who tried to wrest control of Local 824 from the Bowers family. Gleason was filled with lead while he was visiting a deceased pal in a Tenth Avenue funeral parlor. Mickey Bowers was suspected of Gleason's murder, and he was brought in for questioning. However, with no concrete evidence, Mickey Bowers was released. There is no record of the Gleason murder having been solved, and it is not clear if Gleason was laid out in the same funeral parlor in which he had been shot.

In 1951, Ryan began losing control of the ILA, when his men did something they had never done before: they spat in the face of Ryan and his tyrannical leadership by going on strike. With over thirty thousand men involved (without pay of course), the strike lasted twenty five days. Due to the strike, 118 piers were shut down, and millions of dollars were lost by hundreds of companies, who needed their goods unloaded on the docks.

The leader of this strike was not a longshoreman, but a priest named Father John Corridan. The son of a County Kerry-born policeman, Corridan was born in Manhattan's Harlem. In 1928, Corridan graduated from Manhattan's prestigious Regis High School. After completion of his seminary requirements and assignments in other parishes, in 1946, Corridan was assigned to the Xavier Institute of Industrial Relations, on West 16th Street. There Father Corridan met many longshoremen who told him of the woes they suffered at the hands of men like Ryan and the Bowers cousins.

Being a street kid himself, the chain-smoking, fast-talking priest decided to do something about the abominations that were transpiring on the waterfront. Corridan teamed up with New York Sun writer Malcolm Johnson to write a series of articles entitled "Crime on the Waterfront." These articles spurred writer Bud Schulberg to write the screenplay for the Academy Award winning movie "On the Waterfront, which starred Marlon Brandon and Lee J. Cobb. Actor Karl Malden played the part of Father Corridan, whose name in the movie, for some reason, was changed to Father Barry.

Soon after the New York Sun articles were published, New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey announced that the state's crime commission would open an investigation into criminal activities in the Port of New York. This investigation was called "The Waterfront Hearings." During these hearings hundreds of men who worked on the waterfront were called in to testify (some were honest workers - others were ruthless "Dock Wallopers"). The workers mostly gave honest testimony, while the "Dock Wallopers," mainly invoked their Fifth Amendment Rights not to incriminate themselves.

One of the men who was called in to testify at the Waterfront Hearings was a shady figure named William "Big Bill" McCormack. McCormack owned several businesses, including the U.S. Trucking Company, which worked extensively unloading on the Port of New York docks. McCormack was very close to Ryan, and it was alleged that Ryan and McCormack were, in fact, partners in several of McCormack's businesses.

In 1950, as a result of pressure from the New York newspapers, Mayor Bill O'Dwyer, who was in the pocket of Ryan and other known gangsters, reluctantly called for a city investigation of the waterfront. The investigation became a sham, when Mayor O'Dwyer, at the urging of Joe Ryan, appointed McCormack as the chairman of a "blue-ribbon panel" to "investigate" waterfront activities. After month of a dubious investigations, funded by New York City taxpayer dollars, McCormack's "blue-ribbon panel" concluded, "We have found that the labor situation on the waterfront of the Port of New York is generally satisfactory from the standpoint of the worker, the employer, the industry, and the government."

That was obviously the "Big Lie."

When McCormack was brought before the Waterfront Hearings, he was questioned about the previous testimony of the supervisor of employment for the division of parole. This supervisor had testified that although he had never met "Big Bill" McCormack, he had met with McCormack's brother Harry many times. The purpose of these meetings was that on numerous occasions men, who were being released from prison on parole, would have the prison officials put in writing a note that said, "Mr. H.F. McCormack will make immediate arrangements for this inmate's union membership upon his release."

It was estimated that over 200 parolees were given "jobs" with McCormack's Penn Stevedoring Company. Some of these jobs may have been legitimate dock work, but most ex-con's employed by McCormack's Penn Stevedoring Company were nothing more than thugs and leg breakers, and sometimes murderers for the union.

When "Big Bill" McCormack was asked at the Waterfront Hearings why he had employed so many men with dubious backgrounds, McCormack said, "It's because I take a human view of employee problems. I'm human, and they're human."

Two of the "human" men employed by the McCormack Penn Stevedoring Company, after they were released from jail, were John "Cockeye" Dunn, and Andrew "Squint" Sheridan. Both men where eventually fried in the electric chair, after they were convicted of the murder of hiring stevedore Andy Hintz, while both killers were working for McCormack.

After McCormack's testimony before the Waterfront Commission, the New York Herald Tribune wrote, "Mr. McCormack's activities on behalf of the longshoreman's union suggest that he has been pulling the strings for Joseph P. Ryan for many years, and may, in fact, be a more powerful figure on the waterfront than the Boss (Ryan) himself."

Joseph P. Ryan was the 209th and final witness before the crime commission's Waterfront Hearings. After one day of brutal cross examination, it was clear Ryan's days were over as Joe "The Boss" of the Port of New York. Under grueling testimony, Ryan was forced to admit that he appointed many convicted felons like Harold Bowers to prominent positions in the ILA. Ryan claimed no knowledge of the fact that 30% of the union officials he personally appointed had criminal records. Ryan also testified he had no idea that more than 45 IRA Locals in the Port of New York kept no financial records, and that his hand-picked bosses had frequently given themselves raises, without these raises being ratified by the voting members of the Locals.

However, the final nail in Ryan's coffin was inserted when it came to light that Ryan had misused more than ,000 from the ILA's Anti-Communist Fund for his own personal use. Instead of scouring the docks looking for communist activities, Ryan used this money for grand dinners for himself and his cronies at places like the Stork Club, repairs to his Cadillac, and to purchase the expensive clothes that Ryan wore. Ryan also had the gall to use Anti-Communist Funds to go on a cruise to Guatemala.

Still, Ryan would not give up his control of the New York Waterfront without a fight. In 1953, the American Federation of Labor decided to expel the ILA from it's membership. AF of L President George Meany said, "We've given up all hope that the officers or members of that union will reform it. We've given up hope that the ILA will ever live up to the rules, standards, and ethics of a decent trade union."

After hearing what Meany had to say, Ryan gritted his teeth and growled, "Then we'll hold on to what we have."

However, Ryan's hubris lasted only for a short time. In order for Meany to allow the ILA to remain part of the American Federation of Labor, Meany insisted that Ryan step down from the post that Ryan had held for 26 years. Ryan had no choice but to comply.

Ryan's travails were not over with yet. In 1954, after being convicted of violations of The Labor Management Relations Act (Taft-Hartly Act), Ryan was sentenced to 6 months in prison and a 00 fine. Ryan appealed his conviction.

However, on July 1, 1955, the United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit denied Ryan's appeal, saying, "Defendant-Appellant, Joseph P. Ryan, President of the International Longshoremen's Association (hereafter called ILA) was indicted, on three counts, in that, on three separate occasions, he unlawfully, willfully and knowingly received sums in the aggregate of ,500, from corporations employing members of the ILA. The judge, holding defendant guilty on all counts, sentenced him to imprisonment for six months on each count (the sentences to run concurrently) and fined him ,500. As my view is not to prevail, I shall not discuss the other objections that the accused raises, except to say that I have considered them, and that they have not convinced me that any error was committed that would justify a reversal. I would affirm the conviction."

Ryan did his six months in the can. Then he disappeared, never to be heard from on the waterfront again.


Mobsters - Joseph P Ryan - President of the International Longshoremen Association

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Thursday, December 1, 2011

Best Place to See in Germany

!±8± Best Place to See in Germany

Visitors in search of classical German landscapes flock to the Black Forest, the Rhine Valley, and the Bavarian Alps. The attractive German countryside is easily accessed thanks to the best road network in Europe. Of the cities, the most popular destinations are the capital Berlin, a vibrant metropolis in a state of transition since reunification in 1990, and Munich, the historic former capital of the Kingdom of Bavaria. East Germany, now open for tourism, has many attractions to draw visitors - particularly the city of Dresden, rebuilt after World War II.

SIGHTS AT A GLANCE

Bamberg

Bayreuth

Berlin

Black Forest

Bonn

Bremen

Cologne

Dresden

Frankfurt am Main

Freiburg im Breisgau

Hamburg

Hanover

Heidelberg

Koblenz

Lake Constance

Leipzig

Lübeck

Mainz

Mosel Valley

Munich

Münster

Neuschwanstein

Nuremberg

Passau

RhineValley

Rothenburg

der Tauber

Stuttgart

Trier

Weimar

Würzburg

CULTURE AND THE ARTS

Germany is rich in legends and sagas, such as the tale of Siegfried told in the epic poem the Nibelungenlied, written down around 1200. It has been reworked many times, notably in Richard Wagner's great Ring opera cycle.

Of all the arts it is to classical music that Germany has made the greatest contribution, Johann Sebastian Bach from the Baroque period and Ludwig van Beethoven from the Classical period being perhaps the two most influential figures. In the 19th century poems by Goethe, Schiller, and others were set to music by composers Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, and Hugo Wolf.

Germany has also produced many of the world's most influential philosophers: from Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), father of modern philosophy, to Karl Marx (1818-83), founder of the 20th century's most potent political ideology.

MODERN LIFE

The German economy tends to be dominated by long-established giants such as Siemens in the electrical and electronic sectors, Volkswagen and BMW in cars, and BASF in chemicals.

Despite the continuing success of German industry and banking, and the people's reputation for hard work, the Germans actually enjoy longer annual holidays and spend more money on foreign travel than any other European nation. When at home they are enthusiastic participants in many sports, and have enjoyed great success in recent years at football, motor racing, and tennis. They also enjoy gregarious public merrymaking, for example at Fasching (carnival) and the Oktoberfest, Munich's annual beer festival.


Best Place to See in Germany

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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Thermodynamics of alloys (Addison-Wesley series in metallurgy and materials)

!±8± Thermodynamics of alloys (Addison-Wesley series in metallurgy and materials)


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Thursday, November 24, 2011

Carl-Ludwig Wagner im Gesprach mit Wolfgang Wiedemeyer (German Edition)

!±8± Carl-Ludwig Wagner im Gesprach mit Wolfgang Wiedemeyer (German Edition)

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Post Date : Nov 24, 2011 08:50:15 | N/A

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Monday, November 21, 2011

HJ Geisthardt - WIND QUINTET (1962)

Hans-Joachim Geisthardt (1925-2007) , east german composer. 3 pieces for wind quintet (1962) 3 Stücke für Bläserquintett (1962) 1. Capriccio 2. (@ 2:40 ) Nachtstück 3. (@ 6:35 ) Alla marcia The berlin wind quintet / Bläservereinigung Berlin - Holzbläserquintett --- recorded from Stereo LP made in GDR (DDR, 1983) --- (HJGeisthardt : his teachers in Berlin were Rudolf Wagner-Régeny, Hanns Eisler und Carl Adolph Martienssen, later he was working together with Hanns Eisler for many years.) .. Seine musikalische Ausbildung erhielt er an der Musikhochschule Rostock und an der Hochschule für Musik Berlin bei Rudolf Wagner-Régeny, Hanns Eisler und Carl Adolph Martienssen. 1953 bis 1958 war er beim Berliner Ensemble Assistent Eislers und leitete dort unter anderem den Kinderchor. Danach war er als Musikdramaturg und -regisseur und später in leitenden Funktionen der Musikproduktion beim Rundfunk der DDR tätig. Sein Schaffen umfasst Lieder, Chöre, Songs, Chansons, Klavier-, Kammer- und Orchesterwerke.

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Saturday, November 19, 2011

Music of the Holocaust

!±8± Music of the Holocaust

Handle's Messiah, Bach's Magnificent, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Brahm's Lullaby are but a few of the common classics that are of German origin.

Hitler used musical heritage to promote Aryan superiority. This meant Hitler's perfect race, blonde hair, blue eyes, well formed and strong. Music and art shaped German political policies and cultural atmosphere. Any written compositions by Jews were banned and it became against the law for artists and musicians to perform unless they became a member of the state sanctioned Reichsmusikkammer (RMK), and anyone who broke the law would be arrested.

The Aryan culture was created by many artists and musicians that were governed employees. In 1939 RMK leaders spoke of the elimination of the Jews from the cultural life of people. Jazz was considered to be "non-Aryan Negroid" and was banned. Radio stations were controlled and censored, and only nationalistic music was allowed. All other music was prohibited and labeled "entarte" or degenerate.

Songs of the Ghettos and Camps :

Ghetto songs had three major purposes: documentation of Ghetto life, a diversion from reality, and the upholding of tradition. The songs sung in the Ghettos showed the will to live, sing and even laugh. The Ghetto had its street singer, its coffee houses, teahouses, beggars and madmen. A popular tune said to be written by a beggar said, "Me hot zey in dr'erd, me vet zey iberi'ebin, me vet hoch deriebn," which means; "to hell with them, we will survive them, we will yet survive."

When it came to hating the enemy, laughter was a way to channel it. One person or a small group of people would perform Ghetto songs, with an accompaniment of a single chord playing instrument, a small band, or an orchestra.

Songs of the Camps:

At the five extermination camps, Nazis created orchestras forcing prisoners to play while prisoners were marched to the gas chambers. The suicide rate was the highest in the orchestra players than most other camp workers. The musicians where forced to watch as family and friends where sent to be killed. Auschwitz had six orchestras with one containing 100-120 musicians. A woman named Fania Feneion, a member of a woman's orchestra in Auschwitz, stated that even though she had clean clothes and daily showers, she had to play "gay, light music and marching music for hours on end while our eyes witnessed the marching of thousands of people to the gas chambers and ovens." Anita Lasker-Walfisch was able to survive Auschwitz by playing in the women's orchestra.

Terezin:

Hitler created a "model camp" in Czechoslovakia called Terezin. This concentration camp was made to mislead the world about what was happening around the other camps and Ghettos. The cultural life at Terezin was very rich because all the Jewish artists and musicians were sent there. This made it look as though the camps where just a re-settlement area and the Nazis were treating the Jews very well in the camps. The conditions in Terezin were no better than in most of the other camps. For most prisoners, Terezin was just a transit camp on the way to Auschwitz.

Music of the Third Reich:

The Nazi regime had certain standards which had to be defined as "good" German music. Musicians had limited freedom as the Nazis attempted to create a balance in the creativity of music to please the German people.
Three of the restrictions when regarding musician and artists where:
1. "Loyal Nazi members who were talented musicians were guaranteed a job."
2. "Loyal Nazi members who were not talented musicians were not guaranteed a job."
3. Any non-Jewish person who demonstrated a "genius' for music and was a member of the Reichsmusikkammer (Reich Music Chamber) was permitted employment. This exception policy permitted musicians like conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler and composer Richard Strauss to continue working.
Three master composers that represented good German music were Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Wagner, and Anton Bruckner according to Hitler and his second man in command, Goebbels.

Music in Response to the Holocaust:

Music in Response to the Holocaust can help us to understand the tragedy of this event. Composers experimented with many musical forms and where included in memorials. There where to sides to the music: dark and light, and faith and hope and all where very personal and helped to expand our understanding of the Holocaust beyond words.

Songs Written About and In Remembrance to the Holocaust:

Karl Berman, Terezin. Terezin was written by a Holocaust survivor who arrived in the concentration camp in 1943 and participated in many musical performances there.

Michael Horvitz, Even When God Is Silent. This dramatic and chilling song was written by text found on a wall in Germany by someone hiding from the Gestapo.

Oskar Morawetz, From the Diary of Anne Frank: Oratorio for Voice and Orchestra. This song was written by the test from the Diary of Anne Frank.. It is a tribute to the courage and nobility of the human spirit.

Arnold Scholenberg, A Survivor From Warsaw, 1947. This is a true story about a survivor from the Warsaw Ghetto. This song was written using a twelve-tone technique which the Nazis banned, and the narrator is to half sing and half speak the story. It is six minuets long describing a moment of the beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto.

William Schuman, Ninth Symphony or Le Fosse Ardeatine. Schuman wrote this piece to commemorate the slaughter of 355 Jews, Christians, and Italians in the Ardeatine caves. "I saw the cave and thought about all the people buried there and their lives. I'm a foe of forgetting."


Music of the Holocaust

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Sunday, November 13, 2011

Sena Jurinac, "Dich, teure Halle", Wagner: Tannhäuser (Live, La Scala, 1967)

The great Croatian soprano Sena Jurinac as Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser. She is featured here in Elisabeth's greetings to the Hall of Song that opens Act 2 of the opera. This comes from a live performance in April 1967 at the Teatro alla Scala, Milano, conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch. The English translation of the sung text comes from Wagner net (www.rwagner.net): Dear hall, I greet thee once again, joyfully I greet thee, beloved place! In thee his lays awake and waken me from gloomy dreams. When he departed from thee, how desolate thou didst appear to me! Peace forsook me, joy took leave of thee. How strongly now my heart is leaping; to me now thou dost appear exalted and sublime. He who thus revives both me and thee, tarries afar no more. I greet thee! I greet thee! Thou precious hall, receive my greeting!

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Sunday, November 6, 2011

ECSCW 2007: Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, Limerick, Ireland, 24-28 September 2007

!±8± ECSCW 2007: Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, Limerick, Ireland, 24-28 September 2007

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The emergence and widespread use of personal computers and network technologies have seen the development of interest in the use of computers to support cooperative work. This volume presents the proceedings of the tenth European conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). This is a multidisciplinary area that embraces the development of new technologies grounded in actual cooperative practices.


These proceedings contain a collection of papers addressing novel interaction technologies for CSCW systems, new models and architectures for groupware systems, studies of communication and coordination among mobile actors, studies of cooperative work in complex settings, studies of groupware systems in actual use in real-world settings, and theories and techniques to support the development of cooperative applications. The papers present emerging technologies alongside new methods and approaches to the development of this important class of applications.

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