Jean-Marie L. Atamian is co-chair of Mayer Brown's Partner Promotion Committee and Committee On Professional Advancement. He is an experienced trial lawyer whose practice focuses on complex commercial and bankruptcy litigation before state and federal trial and appellate courts. He has extensive banking litigation experience, which has included representing domestic and foreign banks in lender liability, securities fraud, and common law fraud actions. His securities fraud experience has included representation of corporations, financial services firms, and individuals in structured finance, Rule 10b-5, control person, insider trading, stock manipulation, and RICO actions. In recent years, he has defended financial institutions in multi-billion dollar claims arising from their sale of RMBS prior to the 2008 financial crisis. He has also represented companies and individuals in internal investigations and corporate governance matters.
Jean-Marie has represented corporations, banks, and consulting firms in numerous bankruptcy actions, including adversary proceedings, preference actions, and cash collateral hearings. He has represented insurers and reinsurers in coverage and indemnification disputes in the property (catastrophe bonds), life and health businesses. Jean-Marie has represented corporate and individual clients in federal and state court actions involving contract disputes, derivative claims, tortious interference, unfair trade practices, fraudulent conveyances, veil piercing, sovereign immunity, and government takings. He has also represented property owners in real estate disputes with management companies, government agencies and lessees.
Jean-Marie has also arbitrated a broad spectrum of disputes before various tribunals.
In re Adelphia Communications Securities Litigation, US District Court, Southern District of New York: Represented Bank of Montreal (BMO) and its investment banking affiliate in numerous consolidated securities fraud actions and a lender liability action arising from the bankruptcy filing by and corporate scandal surrounding Adelphia. The various actions alleged that financial institutions, including BMO, assisted in the multi-billion dollar fraud against Adelphia and its shareholders committed by Adelphia executives and board members.
Fontainebleau v. Bank of America, et al, US District Court, Southern District of Florida: Represented Sumitomo Mitsui, one of several syndicate lenders in a $2 billion credit facility, in a high profile lender liability action and several related actions in connection with the construction of a massive resort and casino complex in Las Vegas.
ABN AMRO Bank, N.V., et al v. MBIA Inc. et al, Supreme Court of the State of New York: Represented Morgan Stanley in challenging a transaction that stripped $5.4 billion from an insurance company for the benefit of its parent company and to protect one group of policyholders to the detriment of its structured finance policyholders. In particular, Morgan Stanley (and a number of other banks) alleged that the New York Department of Insurance, in approving the transaction, acted arbitrarily and capriciously in favoring one group of policyholders.
FHFA v. Ally Financial Inc., et al, US District Court, Southern District of New York: Represented Ally Financial Inc. in an action for misstatements in, and material omissions from, offering materials under Sections 11 and 12 of the 1933 Securities Act and for control person liability under Section 15 of the 1933 Securities Act, in connection with the purchase by Freddie Mac of $6 billion in RMBS.
U.S. Bank, N.A., et al in Article 77 Petition for Judicial Confirmation Order, Supreme Court of the State of New York: Represented a trustee in evaluating a proposed $4.5 billion settlement agreement between a group of institutional investors and JPMorgan purporting to resolve all repurchase claims for breaches of representations and warranties, as well as servicing claims, relating to 330 JPMorgan sponsored trusts.
U.S. Bank, N.A., et al in Article 77 Petition for Judicial Confirmation Order, Supreme Court of the State of New York: Represented a trustee in evaluating a proposed $1.125 billion settlement agreement between a group of institutional investors and Citigroup purporting to resolve all repurchase claims for breaches of representations and warranties with respect to 68 Citigroup sponsored trusts.
Allstate Insurance Company, et al v. GMAC Mortgage, LLC, et al, District Court of Hennepin County, Minnesota: Represented GMAC Mortgage, LLC and various affiliated entities against common law fraud and negligence claims arising from their role in the securitization of $800 million of RMBS.
In re Tribune Litigation, US Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware: Represented Barclays in connection with a lender liability action arising from its participation as a syndicate lender in an $8 billion credit facility with Tribune Company, a Chapter 11 debtor.
Morgan Stanley, et al v. Swiss Casinos of America, US District Court, Southern District of New York: Obtained a $40 million summary judgment award on behalf of Morgan Stanley, which had sued a large gaming corporation for breach of contract in connection with the purchase of high yield notes and warrants.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce v. XYZ Development Companies, US District Court, District of New Jersey: Obtained a $30 million settlement payment on behalf of CIBC in a consolidated lender liability action following a five week bench trial against several real estate developers.
In re Suprema Specialties, Inc., US District Court, District of New Jersey: Obtained dismissal on behalf of Bank of America of a third-party complaint alleging lender liability, securities fraud and RICO claims in connection with a systemic accounting fraud culminating in the collapse of the corporate borrower.
Naya Inc., et al v. Bank of Montreal, et al, Supreme Court of the State of New York: Obtained dismissal of a $400 million lender liability action at the pleading stage against Bank of Montreal and National Bank of Canada. Plaintiffs, including former owners of a large Canadian beverage company, had initiated an action arising from the sale of that company to an American subsidiary of Danone, a French company.
Bank of America, N.A. v. Mark Fischer, et al, US District Court, Eastern District of New York: Obtained a $30 million award on summary judgment on behalf of Bank of America, which had sued its borrowers for breach of contract and check kiting in connection with a loan to a company owned by defendants.
F&R v. Fleet Capital Corporation, US District Court, District of New Jersey: Represented Fleet Capital Corporation (predecessor to Bank of America) in a lender liability action. Following a one-month bench trial, Judge Dennis Cavanaugh dismissed the remaining claims against Fleet Capital Corporation and granted its counterclaims for breach of contract.
CCG v. Fleet Capital Corporation, US Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of North Carolina: Obtained summary judgment on behalf of Fleet Capital Corporation in a lender liability action alleging breach of contract, breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, and violation of North Carolina's unfair trade practices act. The bank's former borrower had initiated this adversary proceeding following a hearing in which it had been denied use of cash collateral.
CCC Atlantic, LLC v. C-III Asset Management, LLC, US Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware: Obtained dismissal of action at pleading stage on the ground that bankruptcy action was filed in bad faith to divest a New Jersey federal court of jurisdiction on the eve of a hearing for the appointment of a receiver in a foreclosure action against CCC Atlantic, LLC.
ABN Amro Bank, N.Y. v. The L.I.D. Group, US Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York: Represented a syndicate of banks led by our client ABN Amro in a cash collateral hearing where the lenders prevailed, thereby securing over $40 million in collateral.
Davis v. Scottish Re Group Limited, et al, Supreme Court of the State of New York: Obtained dismissal of all breach of fiduciary duty and derivative claims asserted by a value investor against our insurance and D&O clients. Preserved trial court victories in both the Appellate Division and the Court of Appeals.
Wachovia v. Hudec, US District Court, Eastern District of Virginia: Obtained summary judgment on both liability and damages against a borrower on behalf of its lender Wachovia Bank.
Intelnet International v. ITT Corporation, et al, Superior Court of New Jersey: Represented Starwood Hotels in a $1.5 billion breach of contract action alleging that it was contractually obligated to purchase various telecommunications and media services from plaintiff. Obtained summary judgment dismissing most of plaintiff's claims and, following a 25-day bench trial on the remaining claims, the Court dismissed the remaining claims against Starwood.
Accenture LLP v. Computer Sciences Corporation, Supreme Court of the State of New York: Represented Accenture in prosecuting an action against Computer Sciences Corporation for breach of contract in connection with the outsourcing of information technology. The action was ultimately submitted for binding arbitration and was decided in favor of Accenture.
Garrick-Aug v. The Sports Club Company, et al, Supreme Court of the State of New York: Represented an owner of upscale fitness centers in a major real estate dispute. After a two-week bench trial, the judge granted a directed verdict dismissing all claims against our client.
Sand v. Coinmach, et al, US District Court, Eastern District of New York: Won a motion to dismiss, with prejudice, in a Rule 10b-5 class action against the company and its three senior executives.
Gray & Associates v. Huron Consulting Group, Supreme Court of the State of New York: Represented consulting company and healthcare turnaround firm in connection with management and financial services rendered on behalf of St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center in New York City.
Neuburger v. Grant Thornton, Supreme Court of the State of New York: Won a motion to dismiss on behalf of an accounting firm dismissing fraud and negligence claims in connection with the demise of an audit client.
Bennett v. Starzer, et al, American Arbitration Association: Represented an oil and gas company in connection with various allegations of misconduct against senior executives by a minority shareholder in a 14 day arbitration proceeding. This representation followed an internal investigation undertaken on behalf of the company's special litigation committee.
Allied Partners, Inc. v John Doe, American Arbitration Association: Represented a premier real estate investor in a series of partnership and valuation disputes.


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The Cars and trucks frontman Ric Ocasek found dead in Manhattan townhouse
Peter Williams September 19, 2019 0
Ric Ocasek, the diva of renowned new wave rock band The Cars, was located dead in his Manhattan apartment on Sunday, police resources informed The Article. He was 75 years old.
Ocasek was discovered unconscious and unresponsive at around 4:14 p.m. inside his Gramercy Park pad by his estranged partner, Paulina Porizkova, sources stated.
He showed up to have died from all-natural causes, sources added.
Ocasek and also his influential new age band The Cars fired to fame with their self-titled hit album in the 1978, which included hits such as "My Friend's Lady" as well as "Simply What I Needed."
The singer reflected on his years in the band when he was inducted into the Rock-and-roll Hall of Popularity in 2014.
"It's absolutely a fantastic feeling to be approved by peers and you see the people that remain in the Rock-and-roll Hall of Fame, who gets inducted, it's a positive feeling that you get," Ocasek stated in a meeting with Rolling Stone.
From 1978 to 1987, the band spun out six documents– "five of which are good-to-great," stated Erik Adams, an AV Club music critic, in a 2018 post.
"And then there are The Cars, the kind of band that put out a best launching document, and then presumed to not pack it in after that," the doubter created.
In 1984, the band received one more remarkable honor, winning MTV's "Video of the Year" honor for its hit track off its fifth album, "You Might Believe."
After a lengthy hiatus, the band rejoined in 2011 and released a cd called "Move Like This." It was the band's very first, and only, cd without late- bassist Benjamin Orr, that died in 2000.
Ocasek had just recently placed the home where he was located on the marketplace after he and Porizkova announced their split in May 2018.
Both– that shared 2 children together– had actually been with each other for 28 years when they divided.
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Home Company Russia Reservation Visas Calendar of events Questions & answers Contact
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There is hardly one person in the world who has never heard about Moscow. A great city, the capital of independent Russia, during more than 850 years of its existence (the city was founded in 1147 by Prince Yuri Dolgorukiy), grew from a small town on the banks of the calm Moskva river into a giant city with a population of more than 10 million people and an area of more than 900 square km.
This city is called in different ways - Northern Venice, North Palmira, North Aurora . But none of these names can fully express the glorious enchantment, inimitable elegance and unique charm and originality of Saint-Petersburg.
Founded in 1010 by Yaroslav the Wise (future Grand Prince of Kiev ), is a large, pleasantly quiet old town, and yet much more metropolitan than the other cities on the Golden Ring. Yaroslavl developed rapidly because of its favorable location along the Volga trade route.
Vympel-Tour >> English
Travel to Russia
About Moscow
The Novodevichy Convent & Cemetery
The Tretyakov Gallery
The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
The Kolomenskoye
Zhostovo (national painted trays)
Fedoskino
Moscow F.I.T. Rates 2005
Moscow Group Rates 2005
Service in Moscow
Moscow Ballet
http://www.absolutss.ru/Products/videonabludenie/videoregistratori/DSSL/tek_868/ Yes! You can find suitable visa free shore excursions st petersburg russia on Best Guides website. Обладнання для магазину інтернет магазин
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Defeated. Desperate for change. I knew I wouldn't find the answer in the bottom of a bottle but I walked into his bar anyway. An accidental meeting... The overwhelming urge to draw closer. I knew it was wrong. But the need was powerful. The gravitational pull too hard to resist. So we gave in to temptation. But life isn't simple and nothing worth fighting for coming easy.


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ποίημα - Poiema Retreats
Home»Retreats»Poiema Spring Intensive 2023
Poiema Spring Intensive 2023
Walk Worthy Of The Calling (March 7th-10th)
Poiema Spring Intensive 2023 quantity
Category: Retreats
Walk Worthy of the Calling
March 7th-10th, 2023
Registration Fee: $250 per person
*Registration closes February 14th!
Prepare yourself as we will be will be eating, talking, dancing, hiking, singing, biking, cooking, drinking lots of coffee, and sitting by the fire.
Pray that our Lord will give us open hearts, good weather, and memories of His grace.
Where are we staying?
We will be staying in Hungry Mother State Park, located at:
2854 Park Blvd, Marion, VA 24354
https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/hungry-mother
We will be occupying the north end of the park; the Hemlock Haven area.
What should I pack?
The basics: Clothing (remember you will be spending lots of time outdoors – it never hurts to bring extras!), toiletries, sheets, pillow, towels & washcloths, hiking shoes, rain gear, jacket/coat, clothing/shoes that you are comfortable dancing in, a nicer set of clothes for the final dance on Thursday night, flashlight, snacks, water bottles, sunglasses, Bible, notebook, wallet/cash, etc.
What meals are provided?
All meals will be provided. Be sure to let us know if you have any dietary restrictions when you register.
Is dancing mandatory?
Our wonderful dance caller, Autumn, will be teaching & calling several contra dances each night, with a more "formal" dance the last night (a good opportunity to dress up!). We're not saying she'll drag you out on the dance floor and make you at least try, but we're not promising she won't, either.
Is this a matchmaking camp?
Nope! Our goal is to challenge you in your faith and connect you with like-minded young adults. If the friendships formed here turn into something more, that is fantastic! But that is not our focus.
What is the schedule?
Our days will consist of lectures, meals together, dancing, singing, and other activities. More information coming soon!
Who is this year's speaker?
Our speaker is Nathaniel Talbot.
Nathaniel is a second generation Christian whose life is full of evidence that faithful Christian living and parenting bestows massive privileges on future generations. He'd actually call those "privileges" what the Bible calls them – blessings – but then he wouldn't get to trigger as many people. Homeschooled all the way through high school, he had an early fascination with computers, technology, and entrepreneurship. Skipping college, he jumped straight into an apprenticeship with a software consultancy run by a Christian man, and spent four years earning money instead of handing it over to people who hated everything he was taught as a child.
After a lot of consulting gigs and one stint working in a cube, Nathaniel co-founded a company called Spreedly in 2007, then built it over the next 11 years into a 50+ person company before exiting via a buy-out of his share in 2019. Now he does a mix of real estate (several types), working on Loor.tv, shepherding as an elder at Christ Church in Cary, NC, and raising 8 kids, ages 6 to 19, with his wife Katie (who was also raised in a Christian home and homeschooled all the way through). He has no greater joy than to hear that his children are even more privileged than he has been.
Poiema Iceland 2023


I was just documented for possibly violating the Student Code of Conduct- what should I do?
Students who have been documented in a Public Safety report or other incident report as potentially violating the RIT Student Code of Conduct will participate in a student conduct hearing with a hearing officer. The purpose of the hearing is to understand the student's perspective about what happened and the hearing officer's responsibility is to determine if the Code of Conduct was violated and what an appropriate response should be from the Institute. The Center for Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution is here to help you be successful and to help you learn from your experiences. You can review the conduct process.
What is a "charge letter"?
A charge letter is a request from the Center for Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution or the Center for Residence Life for a student to have a hearing regarding their involvement in an incident. In the letter, the student is informed of the policies they are alleged to have violated based on the available documents. At the hearing, you will have the opportunity to present your perspective about what happened.
I received a letter from your office, what should I do?
The letter outlines everything you need to do. Please follow the directions outlined in the letter and respond quickly with the information we need to schedule your hearing. Feel free to complete the electronic form the charge letter links to in order to request a copy of the report, a pre-hearing, an advocate, and/or witnesses. This helps us provide as much information as you as possible. If you have questions, you can always call the office at 585-475-5662 or email studentconduct@rit.edu.
Witnesses—So long as they have information directly pertaining to the incident. Character witnesses are not permitted.
Advocate—The advocate's role is to support the process, help the student to understand the situation, and facilitate the process for the student.
Other RIT personnel, which can include: representatives from the Center for Residence Life, Fraternity and Sorority Life Office, NTID Liaison, or interpreters.
Lawyers—Only when the case has resulted in an arrest and is also being heard in a court of law. Lawyers may NOT participate in the hearing and may only observe and give the client personal counsel.
I am deaf or hard of hearing and need an interpreter. Do I need to request one?
Our office will take care of requesting an interpreter for the conduct hearing. If you have a special interpreting need, please let us know.
Should I have an advocate?
An advocate is a faculty or staff member who is there to help facilitate the process for the student and guide them through the entire conduct process. Many students find that an advocate can help with preparing for the hearing and to support the student during the hearing. It is not necessary but we do recommend it. To request a trained advocate, you can complete the electronic form that is linked in your charge letter and we will connect you with a knowledgeable advocate who is ready to assist you.
Attorneys are permitted only when the case has resulted in an arrest and is also being heard in a court of law. Lawyers may NOT participate in the hearing and may only observe and give the client quiet counsel.
You can bring a witness, however, we only allow witnesses with direct information of the incident, not "character witnesses." Witnesses need to be approved by the Center for Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution. You can either complete the electronic form that is linked in your charge letter, or email studentconduct@rit.edu with the names and email addresses of your proposed witnesses.
I received a charge letter and am not sure where to begin- what can I do?
We recommend you schedule a pre-hearing with a hearing officer who can walk you through the conduct process and can explain what a hearing is like. To request a pre-hearing, you can complete the electronic form that is linked in your charge letter and we will schedule the meeting for you.
The situation happened off campus, why am I charged?
RIT's philosophy is that a student represents the university both on and off campus. Your actions off campus affect both the greater community as well as the RIT community. We expect students to be ambassadors of RIT while off campus.
Under the RIT Student Code of Conduct, the hearing officer has the right to make a decision regarding the case should the student miss the hearing without appropriate prior notification. An absence cannot be used as a determining factor to decide whether or not you are in violation of any policy.
What will happen if I am found responsible for violating policy?
If a student is found in violation of the Code of Conduct, the hearing officer will then determine an appropriate status for the student, which can include warning, probation, suspension, or expulsion. The outcome will often include conditions that a student must complete to best learn from the incident. These education conditions may include: an intake meeting with a counselor, alcohol or other drugs assessment, community restitution hours, educational seminars, or other activities.
Will my parents or guardian be informed of what happened?
If you are under the age of 21 and are found responsible for violating policy, we will ask you to have your parent or guardian call us to discuss the outcome of your hearing, specifically if you are removed from housing or suspended or expelled, or if you have violated the Alcohol and Other Drug Policy. For students of any age, we will ask to speak with your parent or guardian for situations where there is a concern for your health and safety. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Buckley amendment dictate what college administrators can and cannot share with parents. For more information, feel free to contact our office.
Will this go on my transcript?
Only when students are suspended or expelled will a notation appear on their academic transcripts for the period of time that they are separated from RIT.
I'm applying for a job and they are doing a background check, will you tell them about my conduct history?
When our office receives a request for information related to a background check, we do share the outcomes of the conduct situations provided we have a copy of a signed release from you. Our files are kept for six academic years from the date of the last incident. Typically, the requests for conduct history are from governmental agencies, however, more and more companies are conducting background checks as part of their hiring process.
Please refer to the Appeal Process Page.
What happens if I don't follow through on the conditions of the decision?
If a student does not follow the conditions of the decision, they run the risk of having a disciplinary hold which would bar them from registering from classes and housing. Another possibility is to have an additional hearing for refusing to comply with the terms of the original outcome.
Beyond a reasonable doubt, clear and convincing, etc.
Do I get a refund if I am suspended?


John H. Fanning, a member of the National Labor Relations Board for a record 25 years and its chairman from 1977 to 1981, died Saturday at Georgetown University Hospital. He was 73 years old and lived in Bethesda, Md.
He died of kidney failure, a family spokesman said.
From 1957 to 1982, in five terms, Mr. Fanning, a leading expert and major shaper of the nation's labor laws, took part in more than 25,000 decisions involving complaints of unfair labor practices.
In uncommon bipartisanship, Mr. Fanning, a Democrat, was appointed to the board by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican, and reappointed by three Democrats, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter, and a Republican, Richard M. Nixon. President Carter named Mr. Fanning the board's chairman.
Mr. Fanning, a calm New England lawyer, was widely respected as holding knowledgeable opinions and not shying from being a lone dissenter. He was frequently criticized by business groups and conservatives who contended that his rulings consistently favored labor.
Since 1982, when he retired from the labor board, Mr. Fanning was the Washington representative of Hinckley, Allen, Snyder & Comen, a law firm in Providence, R.I. He was also the counsel to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and a member of the State Department's Foreign Service Grievance Board.
John Harold Fanning was a native of Putnam, Conn., and a graduate of the Norwich (Conn.) Free Academy, who worked every vacation in textile mills. He earned a bachelor's degree at Providence College and a law degree at the Catholic University of America in Washington. From 1942 to 1957, he did legal work for the Labor, Army and Defense departments, where he was promoted to director of industrial relations.
He established the John H. Fanning chair in labor relations at the Catholic University law school and the John H. Fanning Conference on Labor-Management Relations at Providence College. He was a member of the board of the Catholic Youth Organization in Washington.
His wife of 40 years, Eloise Cooney Fanning, died in 1982.
Surviving are three daughters, Mary Ellen Dunn, of Rockville, Md., Ann Gallagher, of Annandale, Md., and Gaele DeGross, of Bethesda; two sons, John Michael, of Elgin, Ill., and Stephen Thomas, of Barrington, R.I.; a sister, Bernice Burnes, of Albany; a brother, Raymond, of Willimantic, Conn., and 13 grandchildren.


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AIPAC: Bibi's Voice or His Victim?
March 3, 2015 Marsha B. Cohen 3 Comments
by Marsha B. Cohen
The once-mighty American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has had the illusion of its formidable political influence shattered by none other than the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Long regarded as the second most powerful lobby in the U.S, AIPAC may have gone from being Netanyahu's voice to being his victim.
Instead of elevating the stature of AIPAC's 2015 Policy Conference currently (March 1-3) taking place in Washington DC, Netanyahu has completely upstaged it. Rather than drawing attention to AIPAC's clout, Netanyahu much preferred to demonstrate his own.
Overshadowing AIPAC
Netanyahu's speech to Congress has overshadowed AIPAC's annual paean to its own power and influence. Last year AIPAC boasted that its 2014 Policy Conference drew a record-breaking crowd of 14,000 "pro-Israel activists." This year, 16,000 are reportedly in attendance, but mainstream media sources don't seem to care. Attention has focused almost exclusively on who will and who will not attend Bibi's speech to Congress, while the media has largely ignored the question of who is and isn't coming to AIPAC this year.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who scheduled a fundraiser to piggyback on Netanyahu's congressional speech today, dared to address what he apparently considered AIPAC activists' justifiable feelings of neglect and displacement from the spotlight by Netanyahu. Referring to Netanyahu as a "politician' and a foreign leader during a panel discussion with Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) on Monday morning, Graham said he was more interested in hearing from AIPAC activists than from Netanyahu. One of the sponsors of a bill requiring congressional review of any Iran deal, Graham said he'd listen to Netanyahu but would prefer to base his decisions on what he heard from AIPAC activists.
"To my AIPAC friends, you're going to make more difference than any speech that any politician can make," Graham said, although, as the Jewish Telegraph Agency's Ron Kampeas observed wryly, no one was telling him he had to choose. The distinction Graham drew between the views of Netanyahu and the AIPAC conferees, however flattering, was apparently not appreciated by the AIPAC audience, as measured in decibels of applause.
The scheduling of Netanyahu's speech to Congress on the last day of the AIPAC conference usurps prime time on AIPAC's Lobby Day, normally hyped as both the raison d'etre and grand finale of any AIPAC conference. Netanyahu effectively undercut the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of AIPAC "activists" from various states and congressional districts climbing into a fleet of chartered buses, heading to the offices of their elected representatives, and waving their lists of talking points drafted and crafted by AIPAC's leadership.
Lobby Day appointments are normally scheduled between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. But Netanyahu begins speaking to Congress at 11:00, immediately followed by Graham's fundraiser lunch where he'll be soliciting support from Republican mega-donors for a possible presidential run in 2016. Even extending Lobby Day to 4 pm, as AIPAC has reportedly done, can't guarantee that the hallmark Policy Conference event will attract much attention this year.
Netanyahu's in-person speech to AIPAC on Monday morning, which otherwise would have been a highlight of the Policy Conference, was merely a warm-up rehearsal for his address to the members of Congress today. Its objective was to tantalize, not to satisfy.
AIPAC's Other Challenges
The image of AIPAC's preeminence in the pro-Israel community has been challenged and battered in the past several years. Many of the founders and funders of the Republican Jewish Coalition, which became increasingly ambitious and aggressive during the Bush 43 years, have little patience with AIPAC's upbeat "big tent" bi-partisanship. Many of AIPAC's top lay leaders have usually leaned Democrat in their personal politics, although officers and board members are expected to be generous to pro-Israel incumbents who meet AIPAC's benchmarks of support for the Jewish state, such as votes, signing letters, and speaking out in favor of more crippling Iran sanctions.
At the same time, Congress has become increasingly polarized along party lines, a challenge to AIPAC's cheerful bipartisanship. The expressed views of some House members on social and environmental issues have become more extreme—and repugnant to the overwhelming majority of Jewish Americans. Is AIPAC's uncritical support of American politicians just because they wrap themselves in the Israeli flag sustainable in the long run?
As for Israel, AIPAC supports the government there, regardless of who heads it. It does not interfere on issues of Israeli domestic politics, a claim that annoys deep-pocketed mega-donors who believe they know better than Israelis do about what is best for the Jewish state. Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, for example, broke with AIPAC in 2007, saying, "I don't continue to support organizations that help friends committing suicide just because they say they want to jump." AIPAC's seeming acquiescence to ongoing talks between Israel and "moderate" Palestinians that might ultimately lead to a "two-state solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict disgusts territorial maximalists opposed to Palestinian statehood in any shape or form. Even the stiff-to-crippling sanctions against Iran advocated by AIPAC are considered necessary but insufficient. Avoiding war between Israel and Iran is counterproductive in the eyes of pro-Israel hawks pushing for military action by the U.S. and/or Israel.
Adelson, along with other Republikud stalwarts and disillusioned Democrats, have established and/or funded far more red-meat ideological organizations—the Emergency Committee for Israel (ECI), Freedom's Watch, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), to name just a few—with whom AIPAC must compete for hearts, minds, and prestige. This time last year, Lee Smith, senior editor of the neoconservative Weekly Standard, used the Jewish cultural online magazine Tablet to berate AIPAC as a weak and ineffectual has-been:
[B]ecause AIPAC cannot, or will not, punish its enemies, there's no risk in defying the lobbying group, either. The days of the pro-Israel lobbying group striking fear into the hearts of members of Congress are over—even if a few wonky academics and overheated opinion columnists and bloggers will continue to insist that a Jewish cabal secretly controls American foreign policy. AIPAC never held such power—but the suggestion that it did was itself a form of power. Now that no one on Capitol Hill or in the White House believes that AIPAC controls anything, the lobbying group has to do some hard thinking about its own survival.
AIPAC's outreach to Christian evangelicals who uncritically support Israel has succeeded—perhaps too well. Christians United for Israel (CUFI), headed by Rev. John Hagee, now bills itself as "America's largest pro-Israel organization." When the controversy over Netanyahu's speech to Congress first erupted, CUFI issued an action alert to its members to email their elected representatives asking them to attend the session. It received more than 10,000 responses within five hours.
Dual Showdowns
With all the attention focused on what Netanyahu will tell Congress, the lone ripple of excitement in the hours leading up to AIPAC's Policy Conference was the speculation over how hostile the reception would be for National Security Adviser Susan Rice, despite pleas for civility from AIPAC's leadership. Vicious ads defaming Rice began appearing after her AIPAC appearance representing the Obama administration was announced on Thursday. They appear to have backfired, as did an appeal to AIPAC delegates to boycott her speech. Rice received a largely positive reception from AIPAC attendees, although her more hardline statements concerning Iran drew the most vigorous applause.
Today AIPAC's 2015 conference—in its third and final day—wraps up and is already old news. Lobby Day can't compare with the drama taking place on Capitol Hill, as Netanyahu gives his address to Congress. Chemi Shalev of Haaretz described it as "a potential ratings blockbuster, the best show in town, a one-on-one, High Noon style showdown between Netanyahu and President Obama, tense political drama of the kind that House of Cards writers can only dream about."
Once AIPAC once would have been the site where such high drama was staged. Not this year.
Analysis, Israel AIPAC, Benjamin Netanyahu, Chemi Shalev, CUFI, Iran, Israel, John Hagee, Lee Smith, Lindsey Graham, Marsha B. Cohen, Republican Jewish Coalition, Ron Kampeas, Susan Rice
Marsha B. Cohen
Marsha B. Cohen is an analyst specializing in Israeli-Iranian relations and US foreign policy towards Iran and Israel. Her articles have been published by PBS/Frontline's Tehran Bureau. IPS, Alternet, Payvand and Global Dialogue. She earned her PhD in International Relations from Florida International University, and her BA in Political Philosophy from Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
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High drama, indeed. Pass the hat, give your money, listen to the biggest B.S.'er of the day. What has this countries politicians wrought? This may be the straw that broke the camels back, so to speak, as far as what happens down the road between Israel and the U.S. They wont admit it, but taken collectively, the war in the M.E. to date, has been driven by the Israeli situation, with the U.S. neutering Israels foes. Consider the waste in treasure, both in human as well as money, that these wars have cost. How ignorant can a body supposedly made up of intelligent grown up men/women, lead the U.S. to the brink of a possible Nuclear war, is beyond rational thinking. Yet, here we are, with Netanyahoo front and center on stage, before the bought and paid for stooges of the U.S. Congress. We will await the spectacle, to see which way forward the country will be pushed.
Dabney
Are the underlines above supposed to be hyperlinks?
Elizabeth Warren not attending now.
beiijing
My urologist has indicated that if I don't empty my bladder that I will suffer some serious consequences. I have been offered a lawn in a multi unit complex in Washington DC where I can achieve this goal in spite of the fact that I live in California. I mean NO DISRESPECT to those who occupy this complex, but I have to perform this function there, as opposed to the many other venues available to me, Quite frankly, I don't care to use other facilities such as the lawn of that big building on the east side of New York, because the lawn isn't big enough on First Avenue. Perhaps, it is this type of behavior that further marginalizes you and , for the obvious selfish reasons, the fly over states are the areas from which support grows for your cause. Using press coverage to voice your dilemma will only sap the funds used to buy the support for this very behavior.
PS Your recent full page NY Times ad with reference to Ms. Rice is just one more depiction of the depths you will stoop to, and lends further credence to the reasons that this nation is slowly but surely becoming your ONLY ally, and this blatant disrespect for our President, is fracturing even that support.


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Even William Gibson Can't Out-Imagine Reality
Andrew Leonard
He's trying! But after finishing "the Peripheral," "I looked around and there's ISIS and Ebola, and I went 'oh no.'"
#### Our top sci-fi bard is in a race with real life to create the gaudiest dystopia
William Gibson may be the most famous science fiction author alive today, yet he has a low opinion of his profession's impact. "No imaginary science fiction future has anything to do with what the real future becomes," he tells me when I reach him by phone in his New York hotel room. "It — science fiction — is really only about the moment in which it was created. No one is prescient."
I object. The plot of Gibson's newest novel, The Peripheral, published Oct. 28, hinges on the many worlds theory, borrowed from quantum mechanics. In the so-called multiverse, an infinite number of branching universes spawn at every possible juncture. If physicists are right about the multiverse, there are surely universes in which Gibson never coined the word "cyberspace" in his breakthrough 1984 novel, Neuromancer. And that would be truly cosmic — if you're willing to buy the argument that a generation of impressionable young science fiction geeks, like me, fell so madly in love with Gibson's information matrix "consensual hallucination" that they then devoted their energies and imagination to ushering in a world that looked just like it.
He laughs, but he's unimpressed. "The only thing I'm really interested in today vis a vis the word cyberspace is the extent to which it is now a legacy term — to exactly the same extent to which 'the real world' is now also a legacy term," he says, with traces of his South Carolina drawl still lingering despite decades of residence in Canada.
"For your grandchildren," Gibson adds, "holding on to that distinction will be the thing that makes you a kind of quaint and really incomprehensible being."
Cyberspace may be ancient history for Gibson, but how our future unrolls before us has once again captured his attention. After sticking fairly close to the present for his last half-dozen novels, The Peripheral is Gibson's most wide open and far-ranging adventure in decades. Multiple futures, near and far, collide. Characters zip back and forth in time, conspiracy theories come true, and an apocalypse unfolds in slow motion, with all the inexorability of a slowly rising tide.
The apocalypse at the heart of The Peripheral— referred to as the "jackpot" by its survivors — doesn't happen in one fell swoop. Instead, dysfunctions cascade, one mishap piling on top of the next. Global warming bleeds into financial collapse bleeds into war bleeds into plague.
Sound familiar? I mention to Gibson that one could argue that in the real world we're already living in the jackpot."That was the feeling I had when I emerged from writing," he says. "I turned the final edit in in mid-July and I was in a narrative-impaired state when I came out of it; it had been a really long and challenging write. And then I looked around and there's ISIS and Ebola, and I went 'oh no — it's the jackpot.' The manuscript was lying on the table and I was giving it the side-eye, like, what are you? What is this thing that is going on? People who read that book will be doing that for the rest of their lives any time anything dire happens!"
Paradox alert: Gibson's observation on how people who read The Peripheral will be gunshy about oncoming catastrophe slightly undermines his own claim that science fiction can't change or predict the future. Or maybe there's another possibility: Forewarned is forearmed. Instead of building cyberspace after reading Neuromancer, this time we'll dedicate ourselves to avoiding the jackpot.
Gibson calls the branching universes inhabited by our countless doppelgangers "stubs." The great conceit of The Peripheral is that different stubs can interact with one other, though each new impingement naturally spawns new stubs.
It's a plot device with enormous narrative potential — and one that has already been abused by countless science fiction novelists. It's also, according to Gibson, a potential trap. Once you start weaving multiple universes together, you run the risk of losing narrative discipline.
Gibson avoids that pitfall in The Peripheral. But when io9's Annalee Newitz asked Gibson if the new novel was the first installment of a new trilogy, he dismissed the possibility. The danger of "appalling genre cheese potential" was too great. "With the multiverse thing – ewww, it has the worst potential for metastasizing sequelitis of any other riff in science fiction," he told Newitz. "Once you do that, Neuromancer could be a stub. Anything could be a stub."
In other words, characters from The Peripheral could suddenly start interfering with the plotlines established long ago in Neuromancer. Gibson could start rewriting his own science fiction history! It would be better, he seems to be saying, just to leave well enough alone.
But here's the thing: Neuromancer already is a stub. Every novel, in its own way, is a new branching universe, and when we read these fictions our paths change — as mine unambiguously did.
I first read Neuromancer in 1986, while lying on a tatami mat in Taipei. I was in a part of the world where everyone was convinced that the 21st century would belong to China, and I already felt like I was living in the future. But there was no resisting Gibson's science fiction seduction. After finishing the novel, I hungered to have my own neural pathways realigned in the "black clinics of Chiba"; to wrestle with artificial intelligences yearning to be free. And that "consensual hallucination" of cyberspace? I wanted it, and I wasn't alone. A generation finished Neuromancer and promptly went looking for a way to jack in. And we found it! Gibson reports that during every book tour, "some 50 or 60 people announce themselves as owing their now well established career in some digital business to having read Neuromancer when they were 10."
In the alternate universe in which I didn't read Neuromancer, I stayed in China and became a foreign correspondent, instead of a reporter who made a career of covering "the Internet" (and wrote for publications with titles such as, believe it or not, "Cyberspace Today.") Ever since reading Neuromancer I've been living in a Neuromancer stub. And I don't mind. It's a pretty cool universe.
So having read The Peripheral, the natural question becomes: what stub am I living in now? At least one of the futures described in the book is just around the corner. It's a world in which we use 3D printing technology to build our food and drugs and phones, and drones hover protectively around us like so many airborne guardian Dobermans. With the concept of the jackpot now embedded in my head, am I ready for a rolling apocalypse?
Gibson himself might not be inclined to connect his literary stubs, but he couldn't stop me from returning to Neuromancer after I finished The Peripheral to see how the futures compared. I wanted to link them with my own imagination. Where has Gibson been taking us?
I found my 30-year-old ACE paperback copy of Neuromancer and was immediately taken aback. Its pages are yellowing around the edges—not at all how I care to reminisce about the future. No matter how many new worlds spawn every nanosecond, in this universe there's no getting around it: I'm getting old. I am nostalgic for decaying fantasies about the future. Talk about dystopia!
Gibson tells me that he never really bought into the whole cyberpunk obsession with gloom and doom. "That was never my thing," he says. But he's been unnerved by people who see The Peripheral as an optimistic book. They're not paying close enough attention to what's really going on, he says, although he tempers his observation with a caveat.
Maybe, as he ages, he's just getting more ornery.
"I don't know anyone whose opinion I would take very seriously who doesn't give the current moment the serious side-eye, numerous times daily," says Gibson. "But I do have a personal concern. When people reach a certain age — and this has been true throughout history — they look around them and go, 'after us, the deluge.' It's just going to be fucked from here on out, the good times have passed. The ancient Greeks did that; the Mayans were probably doing that. It just seems to be a human thing to do in reaction to one's own aging and decline.
"And so sometimes I wonder, am I just doing that? Is what I am feeling my version of that?"
It's a fair question. The novels Gibson wrote in his youth are yellowing on our bookshelves. The drugs of our youth, the cyberspace matrices we were so eager to jack into, the fantasies of escape that we gobbled down — their efficacy tends to fade as "the real world" beats up on us. We have journeyed to the future, and just like any other frontier, getting through it turns out to be a pretty tough slog.
Whatever. I reread Neuromancer — yellow pages and all — and I think it held up. Certainly, it's a youthful novel, with all the adrenaline and sex and drugs that youth demands. And it is of course amusing, in retrospect, that Gibson's future failed to include cellphones or wifi, but one of Gibson's greatest strengths has always been the quality of his prose. Good writing keeps ideas fresh. Where superlative style meets the future — that's consistently William Gibson's favorite universe. There's also a heck of a lot of future in there that still hasn't happened: rampaging AIs, embedded mirrorshades, personality constructs embodied in silicon. Ten years from now, we may find those impossibilities as commonplace as our smartphones or 3D printers.
But Neuromancer still works, and in any case, its impact can hardly fade. Gibson's made it clear that he thinks it would be lazy or cheap to merge the universes he's already created, but for his readers, that's already a fait accompli. We're citizens of all his stubs, and we have no choice but to let all his futures mingle. There's a lesson of sorts that emerges out of all these jumbled quantum realities, from the yellowed pages of Neuromancer to the fresh hardcover of The Peripheral. Cyberspace may have seduced us with promises of escape — from our meat-bound existence, our humdrum lives — but the threat of the jackpot reminds us us that nothing's ever quite that simple. The real world will always be a mess.
Animated Graphics by Jason English Kerr
Andrew Leonard has been writing about technology and culture for 25 years. He is currently working on a book about Sichuan food and globalization.
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