On Tuesday, September 25, the Chamber will hold their annual Hall of Honor Luncheon. The purpose of the event each year is to pay tribute to recipients of the award, which only three are inducted each year.
The award dates back to 1968. The first year twelve were inducted to kick off the "Hall" and since that time, 50 years, we are honored to display the photos of some 160+ individuals who gave a lifetime of volunteer service to the community.
As a new employee of the Chamber of Commerce in 1988, I would watch Living Legend Elliot Knox enter the room and gaze for several minutes at one wall section that houses the earliest group of icons. As the years went by, Mr. Knox would comment to me that he was one of only a few still around from his era, but he was happy that future generations had a place to remember what these men and women did for New Braunfels.
Recognition programs of the Chamber like the Hall of Honor are therefore much more than recognizing a person for a job well done. It goes far beyond the actual award or timeframe. It serves to remind us that the community did not naturally just become the place where people want to live, work, and play. It was these pathfinders that worked tirelessly to make it that way.
As Grosse Opa for Wurstfest this year, one of my favorite activities before the festival has been to honor a different former Grosse Opa every few days on Facebook. There has been 50 before me and that fact really impressed upon me the need to remind not only our Opas and Omas of that, but also to the public at large that organizations like the Wurstfest Association have been blessed for a long time with caring, dedicated volunteers going the extra mile with only one goal in mind and that is to help our community.
Ask any inductee in the Hall of Honor or a past Grosse Opa, and they will tell you how New Braunfels has changed over the years. A community is a living, breathing entity that is either growing or dying. Fortunately, evolving in a managed way has been the norm for most of our city's history. Some residents feel that you can simply push the pause or stop button and keep everything the way it is today. Sounds great, but the community was the not the same yesterday as it is today and it won't be the same tomorrow.
The good news is that with so many great volunteers across the city, New Braunfels continues to evolve for the better. Many volunteers are not recognized for what they do each and every day, but they are there, thousands of them. Those honored from time to time remind us of why it is so great to live here. Now that deserves an Ein Prosit!


The new mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette has been spied undergoing testing on a proving track.
These slightly grainy photos were taken from afar, but seem to show a prototype vehicle using production body panels obscured by both camouflage wrap and a clip-on covering.
The photos give further credence to the long-standing rumour the next-generation sports car will switch from the front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout used by the Corvette thus far to a new mid-engine layout.
A mule for the eighth-generation Corvette was first spied in 2015 wearing radically altered panels borrowed from the Commodore ute.
Said to be going into production in 2019, the new mid-engine Corvette will likely push the storied nameplate into new and uncharted price and performance waters.
Rumours indicate the mid-engine Corvette could be offered with the choice of three V8 engine options, one of which will be paired with an electric motor and offering all-wheel drive.
It's believed the current seventh-generation Corvette will remain in production until around 2021.
Ever since Holden announced its plans to shutter its Australian factories by the end of 2017, and end production of its locally developed Commodore range, rumours have circulated the company will offer the Chevrolet Camaro or Corvette down under to keep its local rear-wheel drive enthusiasts within the GM fold.
Neither the current Camaro or Corvette are currently available in right-hand drive format.
Officials from GM have said Holden will offer a V8 model after the Commodore becomes a rebadged version of the front- and all-wheel Opel Insignia imported from Germany. Although the V8 Holden is said to "blow your socks off", the company has yet to announce any details about this vehicle.


The anxiously awaited 2010 vintage of the Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino has received its first score!
James Suckling rates the 2010 Brunello 93 points!
Lots of sliced mushroom and berry character. Lots of flowers such as lilacs and violets. Full body, firm tannins and a fresh and clean finish. It's harmonious and beautiful. Drink or hold.
The 2010 Brunello is expected to arrive in US markets by early March.


RUBY C. PACIS, CEO & FOUNDING PRESIDENT, FAITH IN GOD RPM PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL SERVICES CORPORATION was selected one of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World by the Filipina Women's Network.
Pacis was selected from an outstanding field of nominees from around the world. She was recognized as one of The Global FWN100 under the Builders category. These are the Filipino Women who have demonstrated exceptional business impact at a large workplace environment; displaying deep passion for a cause through collaborative initiatives or alliances with nonprofit organizations on behalf of her own organization; demonstrates high potential and skill with measurable results at a government agency, or organization in the public and private sectors. "Buildership" is about building better organizations, leading broken organizations to adjust, repair and re-align.
of qualified leaders to increase the odds that some will rise to the "president" position in all sectors of the global economy," added Dr. Maria Beebe, FWN's board chair. "The summit is where smart women are sharing the secrets to their success and inspire each other. The 2018 awardees' leadership stories become part of the largest recorded Filipina women diaspora in modern times."
awardees on stage at the awards ceremony assures me that the future of our young Filipina sisters is solid," said Susie Quesada, president of Ramar Foods International and FWN president.
"As a leader, you should be responsible to practice values you want others to follow. Establish your feet in the Lord and rely on His unending grace. For there is no such thing as "shortcuts"- you will get hurt, you will encounter sleepless weeks and you will be pressed as hard as you could possibly feel... but beauty comes after brokenness. Your experiences will mold you and fill you until you become the person you are destined to be. Time will come, you will be the one who will heal others. For I believe, life is not about how famous you are but how other people think of you after you crossed their paths," says Ruby Pacis.


"Manly 08" ceramic tile coaster.
Great for your home, awesome housewarming gift, fabulous souvenir! Order just one or select more from the range to make a set.
Each coaster is handmade by applying a digital print to the ceramic glazed tile with 3 coats of heat & water resistant lacquer. They each have 4 x Gel Pads/Bumpers on the base for superior surface protection.


2016 Subaru BRZ sports coupe sales are going down every month and it's badly in need of an overhaul and STI should be allowed to do it. Toyota has done it with the GT86 Limited Edition GRMN tuned by Toyota's Gazoo Racing and Subaru needs their motorsport division to do the same thing with the BRZ. Masahiko Kageyama Racing driver for Toyota's Gazoo Racing takes the GT86 for a fast lap around the Nurburgring and shows what the Limited Edition Toyota GT86 GRMN can do. What is the Toyota's GRMN?
It's a street-legal version of a race-spec Toyota 86. The track-focused sports coupe comes on the heels of the concept 86 coupe that was unveiled at the Tokyo Auto Salon in 2014. The car was created by Toyota's motorsport division, Gazoo Racing Meister of Nurburgring (GRMN). Watch as the professional driver pushed it hard around the Nurburgring.
The GRMN 86 comes modified with ten things that Subaru Technica International needs to do to the BRZ. It gets a mix of aluminum and carbon-fiber body parts like bespoke front and rear spoilers to reduce curb weight, hood air vents for better cooling, stiffer suspension, drilled brake rotors with six-piston calipers, and sticky 17-inch Bridgestone Potenza RE 71/R tires. Inside, the new 2015 GRMN 86 comes with a wrapped sport steering wheel, gear knob and hand brake as well as special racing seats with additional side support and four-point harnesses.
Under the hood, the Limited-Edition GRMN 86's still comes with Subaru's 2.0-liter naturally aspirated boxer but gets upgraded with exhaust and ECU revisions that add around 20kW (28hp), taking the GRMN86's power up to 170kW (228 hp). It's not a turbo 2.0-liter power plant, but it gets enough extra hp to pump up the fun-to-drive meter. Add this to the revised suspension and it dials up driver engagement considerably. Add the wing on the back and it looks more menacing than the standard GT86/FR-S/BRZ sports coupe.
After a few hot laps around the track, Kageyama was asked for a quick evaluation of the limited-edition GRMN 86. He said, "The car handles just like a Nurburgring 24-hour spec machine. It turns in well with loads of steering feel and lets the driver know early what's happening at the rear-end, which makes correction very readable and progressive." Subaru needs to let STI get their hands on the BRZ and produce a limited edition street-legal version of a race-spec Subaru BRZ like the Toyota GT86 GRMN.
I don't know what 68% of that moto-speak even means.
Stick to your roots Subaru. No one wants this 2wd BRZ.


text:
the urban rabbi
The Assumptions We Make
In the Thick of It
The Long Way Around
What We Do for Our Neighbors
Finding God Over the Fence
Jewish Young Profess… on In the Thick of It…
Nicole Short on A New Mayflower Compact for…
JF on The (Real) Wonders of Whiteloc…
Jon Weinstein on The (Real) Wonders of Whiteloc…
Greg Terry on The (Real) Wonders of Whiteloc…
My shul. My neighborhood. My life.
Fighting for Justice Means Fighting for Us Too
Posted on October 18, 2021 October 18, 2021 by the urban rabbi
In a recent episode of her provocative podcast "Adventures with Dead Jews," Dara Horn unpacks the wildly successful 1947 film Gentlemen's Agreement, arguing Jewish acceptance into normative Christian society is conditional. A scene from the film helps to underscore Horn's point. In it, Gregory Peck's character Phil Green, pretending to be Jewish to write an exposé about American antisemitism, has a conversation with his young son Tommy. Tommy asks his dad: "What are Jews anyway?" Phil's reply: "…Remember last week when you asked me about that big church, and I told you there are all different kinds of churches? Well, the people who go to that particular church are called Catholics, and there are people who go to different churches, and they're called Protestants, and there are people who go to different churches, and they're called Jews, only they call their churches temples or synagogues."
The problem with this framing is it subsumes shuls under a Christian category and ignores the reality that synagogues are authentic expressions of Jewishness, not "Jewish churches." I write a lot in this column about Beth Am's Reservoir Hill neighborhood where I live. But, in my neighborhood, which I love and whose residents are generally supportive and appreciative of our presence, from time to time I encounter two forms of Jewish minimization. The first is seemingly benign: people do refer to our building as "the Jewish church." Whenever this happens, I simply correct people. "Churches are Christian," I say. "Synagogues are Jewish sacred places for gathering." Most of the time people are happy to be corrected. Sometimes, they're clearly perturbed they must learn a whole new word when the word they previously knew to describe all houses of worship is shown to no longer be sufficient.
But, sometimes this minimization equals full-on erasure of Jewish identity and self-determination. I was reminded of this recently when a nearby neighbor who identifies as a Hebrew Israelite began to shout and shame Jews outside the shul. To be sure, the Hebrew Israelite ideology doesn't necessarily equal hate, but the Southern Poverty Law Center does designate four specific Baltimore-based "Israelite" groups as hate groups. This man's toxic views, expressed belligerently and without any regard for the humanity or dignity of his neighbors, must be called out for what it is: antisemitic.
But, most conditional acceptance (and therefore tacit rejection) of Jews is much more subtle. From the annual Christmas tree at the public Baltimore School for the Arts where my daughter attends High School, to de minimis attempts at interfaith gatherings to provide food I can eat, to prayers offered at these events which non-Christians cannot affirm because they are offered in Jesus' name, being Jewish in practice is a consistent challenge.
One final example. I was asked by a Baltimore interfaith clergy consortium of which I'm a part to host an in-person retreat at Beth Am. I explained that the two days they were considering, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, were important Jewish holidays and simply wouldn't work for us. "The following week would be fine," I indicated, "and we'd be honored and delighted to host." The response: "Hi Rabbi Burg! It seems like September 28th is when the majority of members will be able to attend, several will be out the first week of October…. I hope you can attend!" He then informed me a Bishop from the group had graciously offered to host. When I replied that I would be leading services and would be unable to do so, I received no response. The gathering proceeded exclusively with Christians.
The late British Rabbi Lionel Blue is said to have quipped, "Jews are just like everyone else, only more so." The joke, of course, is that so much of the time we have to work harder to be accepted, because others work so little to accept us. Gone are the policies that excluded Jews from universities, from jobs and from neighborhoods. But what remains are the small indignities, the ways the majority culture encourages our having to pass, to abide by their gentlemen's agreement.
A version of this post will appear in Jmore
Cities of Kindness
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov says, "If you believe something can be broken you must also believe it can be fixed." Many of those seeking a more just society feel fatigued right now. As the pandemic rages on and new variants rear their ugly heads, as climate change exacerbates global droughts, floods, fire and famine, as systemic racism continues to infect American culture and policy, there is simply so much brokenness. It can all feel overwhelming. This makes Rebbe Nachman's message even more important. The promise of repair can be a salve for the persistent pain of injustice.
One way to refresh ourselves in such a climate is to focus on good that can be done, compassion which we can access and share. Consider this story (as detailed, among other places, in US Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy's book Together) which begins with tragedy, with the family of Edward Jaievsky fleeing Nazi Germany for Argentina and then emigrating to the United States, and settling in Anaheim, California. And then more tragedy: Edward, who had become a doctor of holistic medicine, was on vacation with his family when a car accident claimed the life of his six-year-old daughter Natasha. The family was overcome with grief, but when they began to go through her things, they found drawings and writings about compassion, rainbows with messages like, "put your heart into kindness." Natasha's father, Edward, created a poster and hung her colorful art all around Anaheim with the message "make kindness contagious."
A city councilman named Tom Tait who saw these posters and was struck by their simplicity and beauty. No corporation had sponsored or branded the message. The only attribution was the scrawl of a child's handwriting at the bottom: "My wish is to help people." – N.J. Tom did some investigating and discovered that N.J. was Natasha Jaievsky, and he learned her story. He was touched by the little girl's message, particularly against of a backdrop of political discourse that was becoming increasingly vitriolic. Six years later, there was a vacancy in the mayor's office. Tom decided to run on a platform of kindness – and won by a substantial margin. Tom's contention was that cities could heal through the power of kindness.
Tom's vision of a city animated by kindness proved both viable and effective. He launched the Million Acts of Kindness initiative in the Anaheim school district. When they met the district-wide goal of one million acts of kindness, the demonstrable results of Tom's efforts were clear: Bullying in the schools was dramatically reduced. Suspensions were cut in half.
"Everything gets better if everyone is a little bit kinder," said Tom. His efforts to make Anaheim into a city of kindness led to visits around the world with mayors of other cities looking to tap into the power of compassion to keep their communities safe and resilient. The US State Department even invited him to speak on behalf of its Bureau of Counter Terrorism to officials in Germany. The topic was (not kidding) countering extremism through kindness. Tom recalls one conversation with a former neo-Nazi in Dusseldorf who explained that while it was his search for connection that led him to join a white supremacist group in the first place, it was unexpected acts of kindness by the very people he had been taught to hate that convinced him how wrong he had been.
"Kindness is Contagious" read the poster created by Dr. Edward Jaievsky. A simple and pure act of a six-year-old girl inspires her grieving father to share her message of compassion with their city. A politician struggling to move that same city toward a sustainable and achievable vision of collective responsibility stumbles upon the posters and runs for mayor. Over several years, a city is transformed into a safer and more compassionate place. That same politician travels to Europe and meets a young man whose toxic worldview had been challenged by kindness – the same place which Natasha Jaievsky's family, two generations earlier, had had to flee because of that same ideology. As Anne Frank, another girl who died tragically and too young, once wrote: "In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit."
A version of this post will appear in Jmore.
Re-Sourcing Druid Hill Park
Posted on August 23, 2021 August 23, 2021 by the urban rabbi
Rosh Hashanah literally means "The Head of the Year." It's about pointing us in a direction from the top down or from the source, the fountainhead, to courses beyond. This summer, my family and I took a trip out West to explore a number of national parks. Our travels took us along hundreds of miles of the Colorado River from the Rockies down to Arizona. We were amazed that this iconic river, one that over millions of years could create a geological formation as wondrous as the Grand Canyon, was so modestly small near its source.
Our encounter with the Colorado reminded me of a walk I'd taken a few months prior in Baltimore County to the source of a stream I know well. My family and I live near the Jones Falls for which the Jones Falls Expressway was named. The river itself originates far north of Baltimore and eventually empties into the Patapsco River at Baltimore's Inner Harbor.
My walk was an unplanned excursion after taking my car to the mechanic on Reisterstown Road. With time to kill, I went exploring and discovered two things. First, Baltimore County is not set up for pedestrians; I walked along the shoulder of Garrison Forest Road stepping into drainage ditches or bushes to avoid oncoming traffic. The second thing I discovered is that my neighborhood stream originates near the intersection of Caves and Garrison Forest. In an insignificant trickle of water bubbling under a tiny road aptly named Sprinkle Lane, the Jones Falls gurgles through overgrown brush past a dilapidated fence and creeps east and southward toward the city.
The Jones Falls at its (very modest) source
A number of branch streams join the Jones Falls along its eighteen-mile route. One of them was dammed in 1865 to form a boat lake five years after Druid Hill Park was established on 746 Acres of land formerly occupied by the Native Susquehannock and later the Nicholas Rogers Family Estate. In 1863, the Baltimore City Council approved a loan to construct a billion-gallon capacity reservoir in the new park. The stream flowing from the boat lake used to snake its way through a yawning ravine into the river valley. This geological feature made it possible to create a vast reservoir. When completed in 1871, the earthenware dam that produced Druid Lake was the largest of its kind anywhere in the world. The resulting reservoir covered 55 acres averaging 30 feet deep (with a maximum depth of 94 feet!).
Recently, our Reservoir Hill community and the other surrounding neighborhoods of Druid Hill Park have been engaged in a visioning process to reimagine Druid Lake, the result of a post 9/11 security requirement that requires the city to bury two enormous holding tanks (one setting a new world record) for the city's drinking water supply under one-third of the lake's previous footprint. We're sad to lose so much of the lake, but new possibilities have emerged for recreation and beautification. Ideas range from arts and performance spaces to swimming, boating, perched wetlands, and walkways that take pedestrians out across the water.
One exciting concept includes creek restoration, retrenching the stream that used to run from the northwest into the old ravine. I took a walk along the old creek bed and began to imagine how fun it would be to take a kayak (or gondola) from the original boat lake (now the Maryland Zoo's Waterfowl Pavilion where Beth Am regularly holds its summer Services in the Park) along the re-sourced stream down to Druid Lake.
The history of Druid Hill Park includes racial segregation, slavery and displacement of native populations. Worthy discussion around urban renewal means being mindful of that history even as we enjoy the city's many amenities. For example, reinvigorating the park requires that we mindfully invite surrounding neighborhoods previously cut off from the park back into our city's premiere urban oasis. (A recent recommendation to convert the Big Jump into a permanent cycle and pedestrian track along Druid Park Lake Drive – based on a DOT evaluation – is an important step in this direction). Likewise, resourcing Druid Lake should include re-sourcing, reestablishing some of that which was suppressed a century and a half ago in the name of beauty and progress.
Rosh Hashanah, the head of each New Year, asks us to look backward in order to move forward. So too we might consider the origins and paths of the mighty Colorado River – and the less mighty but still iconic Jones Falls. Restoration of a modest Druid Hill Park stream could help visitors to better appreciate the history and natural topography of one of America's oldest city parks. Right now the park is enjoyed by foot, car and bike. Meandering through tree stands and grasses from one boating lake to another could be very exciting indeed.
A version of this essay will appear in JMore
Pilgrimage is Power
Posted on June 13, 2021 June 13, 2021 by the urban rabbi
Standing outside Billie Holiday's childhood home.
Mural on the block where Billie Holiday was raised
Tisha B'Av is not a pilgrimage festival; observed this year on July 18, it's the inverse, a reminder of pilgrimages that were once possible until the Temple was destroyed on this Hebrew date in 587 BCE. When Jewish communities mark the 9th of Av and mourn the absence of the Temple, we are also lamenting an interruption of Jewish history, the end of a certain way of Jewish being.
Pilgrimage in Jewish tradition was largely focused on the Temple, Solomon's First Jerusalem Temple or its successor which stood until 70 CE when it was destroyed by the Romans. But since then, we have other experiences of pilgrimage. Hassidic Jews regularly travel to graves of Hassidic masters or early mystical thinkers, like Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai at whose grave 45 people tragically lost their lives in a crowd crush on Lag B'Omer this year. Jewish travelers of all kinds make pilgrimage to important Jewish sites around the world from the first ghetto in Venice or Death Camps in Germany and Poland, to Maimonides' synagogue in Cordoba, Spain, to Independence Hall in Tel Aviv where, on May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel, eight hours before the British Mandate of Palestine was due to end.
Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey captures, in her poem "Pilgrimage" (2006), the multivalence of journeys to sites of memory:
Here, the Mississippi carved
its mud-dark path, a graveyard
for skeletons of sunken riverboats.
Here, the river changed its course,
turning away from the city
as one turns, forgetting, from the past—
the abandoned bluffs, land sloping up
above the river's bend—where now
the Yazoo fills the Mississippi's empty bed.
Here, the dead stand up in stone, white
marble, on Confederate Avenue.
The poem describes a trip to her hometown of Vicksburg where a battle was fought that marked a turning point in the Civil War. And yet, Trethewey laments the ease with which subsequent generations ignore the painful history of the antebellum south: "We sleep in their beds, the old mansions hunkered on the bluffs, draped in flowers – funereal – a blur of petals against the river's gray."
The obliviousness of many current Americans to American history compounds our obliviousness to the ways systemic racism is manifest in our day. Pilgrimage is about bearing witness to the past, in the present, while gazing into the future.
Working toward justice in Baltimore is becoming better acquainted with its history. Recently I had some extra time after meeting some friends for a drink, so I walked up S. Durham Street where Billie Holiday was raised. After Chadwick Boseman died last year, and my kids were devastated for his next Black Panther movie that would not come, we watched Boseman's Thurgood and then made an aliyat haregel, a walking pilgrimage that Shabbat afternoon to 1632 Division St., Justice Marshall's childhood home, which is less than a mile from our house.
There are numerous African American historical sites in Baltimore and throughout Maryland. Some are well known and painstakingly maintained. Others are less distinguished in appearance but no less important. A simple rowhome in West Baltimore can remind us of where (to paraphrase the poet) the torrent of Jim Crow, in the capable hands of a young civil rights attorney, began to "change its course." A visit to Port Discovery Children's museum can also be an opportunity to pause and pay homage to abducted Africans who were once sold at auction on that site.
Some of these historic places are easy to find at Explore Baltimore or Visit Maryland. Others require a bit more digging. Some of these sites instill pride, like the location of The Royal Theater Marquee at 1329 Pennsylvania Avenue where Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Etta James – all the greats – performed. Other sites impart horror, like the 44 places throughout Maryland where white terrorists lynched Black men, women and children between 1854 and 1933 – including 15-year-old Howard Cooper in Towson.
Against a tidal wave of states and Republican lawmakers banning classroom instruction on the impact of systemic racism, we must continue to make pilgrimages – to all the places they insist have no relevance to ongoing 21st century injustices.
Relationships or Death (May 2021)
Posted on June 7, 2021 by the urban rabbi
As I write this, Minnesota awaits the results of the Derrick Chauvin trial after his lynching of George Floyd even as that state and the country are once again reeling from the murder of another unarmed Black man. And in Virginia, a uniformed Black and Latino man was shown the business end of a deadly weapon and pepper sprayed after officers failed to notice his lawfully displayed temporary tags. Vaccine access remains challenging for communities of color who, frequently experiencing victim blaming, are labeled "hesitant" when hesitancy among white evangelicals outpaces any other demographic. Justice in America is elusive as always.
I've written for this column on relational justice which I define as the linchpin of social justice.
My contention is that without relational work, addressing policy as a lasting solution to injustice is illusory. From slavery to reconstruction to Jim Crow to redlining to mass incarceration and police brutality, human beings have a way of ignoring, undermining and sabotaging progress as we nurture the inexhaustible human proclivity to scapegoat, marginalize and harm the other. Systemic solutions must be fought for and achieved. But hateful policies will always prevail when there are hateful people calling the shots.
Recently, Terry Gross (Fresh Air) interviewed Palestinian cookbook author Reem Kassis. Kassis told this story: When she published her first book, she sent a copy to Michael Solomonov, noted chef of Zahav, James Beard winner and fellow Philadelphia resident. Along with the book, she shared her story of eating at his restaurant years before and having both positive feelings about the food which reminded her of her mother's cooking and somewhat negative feelings about why the best Palestinian cuisine she had tasted in America was being served in an Israeli restaurant.
Solomonov was touched by her story and invited her to meet for coffee. The two became friends. Kassis reflected on the friendship. She had assumed that as the "face of Israeli cuisine," he must be anti-Palestinian or at least deny the origin of the food he serves. It turns out this wasn't the case at all. "Once you get to know someone on an individual level," she said, "you realize how many misconceptions you probably hold of that person."
One important thing to keep in mind: Simply getting to know someone (or multiple someones) of a different race or nationality doesn't bring about justice. There's always the danger of tokenism, thinking a person is exceptional, viewing that person as, in the words of local activist Dayvon Love, a "special negro" instead of a "helpless negro." Both, of course, are deeply problematic. Michael Solomonov or Barrack Obama are exceptional people to be sure. But if they are exceptional as a Jew or an African American we've missed the point. Just how many people from another identity group does one have to know to avoid tokenism? That's not really the issue. Most men and boys in their lives know multiple women and girls quite well, and sexism is hardly vanquished. The difference between inclusion and diversity is "how" we know, not whom.
But here's what I think is clear: There are far too many folks in Baltimore, Maryland, and the United States who have neither the opportunity nor the inclination to do the work of relational justice. What's the outcome? In her book The Sum of Us, Heather McGhee points out that when white communities around the country were forced to integrate their public swimming pools, many of them drained their pools rather than comply. When the enfranchised and disenfranchised don't know one another, when those with power don't have relationships with those who have been stripped of power, they will often hurt themselves rather than help someone else. That, of course, erodes our essential and shared humanity, hurts everyone to some degree and helps no one.
The Talmud (Ta'anit 23a) underscores both the importance and high stakes of relationship building when it teaches "either relationship or death." That humans are social beings is no surprise. That those relationships can be the instrument of our collective salvation is a fundamentally Jewish teaching. Why relational justice? Because relationships and the empathy they foster are an essential ingredient in the recipe for achieving sustainable pro-social change.
A version of this post appears in the May 2021 issue of Jmore
Contrary Winds (Mar. 2021)
The philosopher Baruch Spinoza wrote, "…we are in many respects at the mercy of external causes and are tossed about like the waves of the sea when driven by contrary winds, unsure of the outcome and of our fate" (The Ethics, Part III, Prop. 59). I suspect this is how many of us feel throughout much of our lives. I feel this way on a recurring basis, particularly as my life and career have meant navigating complex race and class dynamics in my own neighborhood. Just when I think I have my bearings, I'm reminded there is so very much to learn, and I am so very ignorant. This isn't false humility, and it's hard to admit, particularly for someone to whom others frequently look for guidance and direction.
I am motivated to share this having recently read author and activist D. Watkins' reflections on his own insecurity and perceived failure with regard to 46-year-old Dante "Tater" Barksdale, the Safe Streets violence interrupter who fell victim to violence on the streets of his beloved city. "I know enough to know," writes Watkins, "that the world around me doesn't want to see the hurt I have for Dante and the dozens of other friends I've lost over the past few years. The world doesn't want to see it about as much as I don't want to share it, so we all continue to perform instead." Watkins mourns performance as a coping strategy for trauma and grief. Barksdale, he says, was "…one of the few people who would tell the truth about the things you don't want to hear."
Watkins may be too hard on himself, as he is someone who makes a living pointing out uncomfortable truths, but that's hardly for me to say. I suspect what he's really getting at is a question of integrity. Is it phony, it is failure, to lead different private and public lives, to hide our pain from the world? The sage Rava suggests it might be when he says, "Any Torah scholar whose insides do not match his outsides is no scholar at all" (Bavli Yoma 72b). And another Talmudic tractate (Pesachim 113b) suggests God is said to despise three types of people, one of them being "a person who says one thing but means another."
So, D. Watkins feels he's failing his late friend when he puts on a happy face or glosses over his pain in his writing. I feel something similar when I write in this column with pride about our shul's relational justice work but avoid sharing some of the more painful personal stories. Like my friend and neighbor for whom I would provide frequent support of various kinds until I tried to put him off while spending time with my kids and he sent a series of antisemitic and hurtful texts. Or a woman who lives on my block and who is still nasty to me when I see her because, nearly a decade ago at 2 a.m., exhausted and anxious about not sleeping on the eve of Yom Kippur, I called my next-door neighbor and left a passionate voicemail insisting he deal with his incessantly barking pit bulls. He and I eventually worked it out. I apologized for my tone. He did better dealing with the dogs. Then, he moved away. But the woman (a friend of his) still ignores me when I say hello or mutters hurtful things under her breath.
What keeps me going, though, is both a sense of duty to work toward a more just society and an inner voice, honed over many years, reminding me not retreat when things get uncomfortable and hard. As theologian Reinhold Niebuhr prayed (and which was later adapted into AA's Serenity Prayer): "[God], give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other." Seeking justice isn't easy because the struggle is fundamentally born out of resistance to complacency and discomfort. Integrity requires vulnerability, to be sure, but true failure is only when one determines the arduous journey toward greater fairness and equity is no longer worth taking at all.
A version of this post appears in the March 2021 issue of Jmore.
White. But Trying Not to Be. (Feb. 2021)
Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg famously quipped about Jewish denominationalism: "I don't care what denomination you belong to, as long as you're embarrassed by it." I've always taken his words to mean that, while Jewish denominations are useful in clarifying theological positions or practice, too much energy is put into what divides us. And when we focus so very much on what separates us, we run the risk of forgetting what unites us. Greenberg thinks we should be embarrassed about that.
But there is something that unites us that we should also be embarrassed about: race. Somewhere between 80-90% of American Jews are white. This wasn't always the case. While it's true that Jews were considered "free white persons" by the 1790 Naturalization Act (and therefore granted citizenship), we were regularly discriminated against as a class. There were neighborhoods in which we could not live, restaurants and clubs from which we were banned and quotas at major universities, including here in Baltimore. In the post WWII era, Jews were increasingly accepted into the majority in a process that has been called "becoming white."
During the Trump era with its stunning rise in antisemitic rhetoric and violence, some Jews question whether we still belong to the white race. But Jews with white skin consistently reap the benefits of whiteness, despite the very real threat antisemitism poses. David Schraub of UC Berkeley uses the term "Conditional Whiteness. "…An American Jew whose grandparents immigrated from Austria might unambiguously benefit from White privilege when passing a highway patrol car, but not enjoy it in any way whatsoever when White supremacists are looking for a target to harass."
Traub's observation was driven home for me January 6 when the US Capitol building was ransacked by a mob of white supremacists. They fashioned nooses, carried and shouted racist slogans and wore clothing with abhorrent antisemitic messages. This was whiteness taken to it most brutal and sordid extreme – a brash and violent assertion of power by members of what they considered a superior race. This behavior on behalf of and in the name of whiteness was made worse by its having been incited by the president himself, leading to his historic second impeachment.
Given the legacy of white supremacy in this country, I've been thinking a lot about how Jews who look like me ought to feel about our whiteness. My answer? We should feel embarrassed. While there are many virtuous white people, whiteness as a social construct is no virtue. James Baldwin makes this point in his essay "The White Man's Guilt." "The record [of white supremacy] is there for all to read…. It might as well be written in the sky. One wishes that Americans, white Americans, would read, for their own sakes, this record, and stop defending themselves against it…. The fact that they have not yet been able to do this – to face their history, to change their lives – hideously menaces this country."
The recent menacing attack on our democracy is only one, albeit stunning, reminder of how important it is for white Jews to paradoxically accept and reject our whiteness. Jewishness should be a source of pride. As should Gay pride. As should Blackness for African Americans. But whiteness exists only to marginalize, disenfranchise and do harm to non-white people. For this reason, describing our whiteness thoughtfully is key. How best to do so?
"White Jews" is accurate but unnuanced. "Ashkenazi Jews" doesn't take into account Jews of Color whose familial and cultural traditions can derive from Eastern Europe. "Jews with white skin privilege" is better because it honors our Jewishness while acknowledging the unearned benefit which we are afforded. The only problem is that this term says nothing about our Jewish responsibility to help dismantle racism. So, lately, I've been leaning toward another phrase, one that is equally honest about who we are and the America to which we should aspire:
Jewish and also white – but trying not to be.
A version of this post appears in the February 2021 issue of Jmore.
Character Matters: Reflections on the '20 Presidential Election (Dec. 2020)
My family and I were recently volunteering for the nonpartisan group Baltimore Votes at the Highlandtown Pratt Library early voting site. A Black man walked out of the polling place, and we offered him some refreshments and a sign to put in his window. He declined, clearly in a hurry.
My son called out, "Thank you for voting!" As he was walking away, the man briefly turned toward us and said, "Thank you for not suppressing!" I thought to myself, "Is the bar really that low?"
Unfortunately, I think it is.
Against the backdrop of the pandemic and many sins of the outgoing president and his administration, a silver lining has been the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, the MeToo movement, the Women's March, the youth-led March for Our Lives and, overall, more widespread grassroots advocacy than this country has ever seen in its 245-year history.
Each of these movements and more have (rightly) demanded we move beyond calls for basic civility toward the need for structural and systemic change. Many Americans have become more sensitized to the ways politeness, colorblindness and liberal do-goodership have been complicit in maintaining systems of oppression against women, LGBTQ people, Black and brown people, Jews, the disabled and more.
Civility isn't enough. Civility can actually be part of the problem because it can mean avoiding confrontation and essential truth-telling. To dismantle racism and sexism, homophobia and anti-Semitism, we need to go deeper; we need to work harder.
I think this is why I was so taken aback by CNN commentator Van Jones' widely shared emotional speech after Joe Biden was declared to be the next president of the United States. Speaking through his tears, Jones said, "It's easier to be a parent this morning. It's easier to be a dad. It's easier to tell your kids that character matters. It matters. Telling the truth matters. Being a good person matters."
Jones was speaking an essential truth: civility is also important. In Yiddish, if you want to describe someone truly admirable, you call them a mentsch, a fundamentally good person. Being a mentsch isn't about fighting for justice vs. speaking and acting with compassion. It's about both.
Provocation without compassion can be cruel. And cruelty should be no one's aspiration. As my late father used to say, "Two wrongs don't make a right."
I didn't hear Van Jones live, of course; I was in the middle of leading Shabbat morning services. But I did get word about the election outcome soon after CNN called it. I had just finished teaching a section from the Babylonian Talmud about minhag s'dom, the practices for which, in the rabbinic imagination, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah needed to be destroyed. Many crimes are listed but for me, the most upsetting was the way even kindness was weaponized.
"When a poor person would come to Sodom, each and every Sodomite would give him a dinar [a coin], and the name of the giver was written on each dinar. And [then] they would not give or sell him bread. When he died [of hunger], each and every person would come and take his dinar" (Talmud Sanhedrin 109a).
It's one thing to systematically withhold assistance. That, in of itself, is unacceptable as an expression of basic cultural mores. But to provide assistance as a false flag and then deny human beings the dignity of acquiring vital sustenance is brutality on a different order of magnitude.
The emotional release Van Jones experienced when he learned a man known for pettiness and cruelty would no longer occupy the White House was a catharsis felt by many on Saturday morning, Nov. 7.
The work ahead of us, though, is daunting. In the coming months and years, we'll need to rediscover our societal compassion while resisting the complacency that allows civility to mask the need for truth, reconciliation and justice.
A version of this posted appears in the December 2020 issue of Jmore
The Danger of Incuriosity (Nov. 2020)
In a 1947 student paper at Morehouse College, a young Martin Luther King, wrote: "The function of education…is… to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society….We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education" (The Maroon Tiger, 1947). What Dr. King, the master teacher, championed then, and throughout his life and career, was learning embedded in moral pursuits. He believed in intellectual and ethical curiosity, and he wanted to know and understand not just his own people but also the other, as exemplified by his alliance with the Jewish community. Did you know that the week after Dr. King was assassinated, he was supposed to attend the Passover seder of his friend and collaborator, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel?
It's always been true that people don't know what they don't know. But these days, too many people don't seem to want to know anything new. And we don't want to know about one another. Long before we were quarantined in our homes, we were siloed on social media, segregated in cities, suburbs and exurbs, not just geographically but emotionally and spiritually and intellectually. We've nearly perfected societal incuriosity. Many have noticed the world is on fire. Some act to put it out. Few wonder why, so just as often we add fuel to the fire.
Abraham, according to the midrash, also noticed the world was on fire:
"Rabbi Yitzchak taught: [Abraham] was like a man who was traveling from place to place when he saw a bira doleket, a burning palace. He said, 'Is it possible this palace lacks someone to look after it?' The owner of the building peeked out [of a window] and said, 'I am the Master of this palace.' Similarly," teaches the midrash, "because Abraham our father [seeing the world on fire] said, "Is it possible there is no one in charge here?" the Holy One of Blessing peeked out and said to him, "I am the Master of the Universe." … Hence, God said to Abraham (in Gen. 12) "Go forth!" (Bereishit Rabbah Lech L'cha 39,1).
Abraham noticed the fire consuming the world, but he was also curious enough to name it and question whether it must be so. We often think of him as a man of faith, but what is the nature of Abraham's faith? First he notices and questions why. Second, he cares about the outcome; he's morally curious, Third, he takes action; he speaks out. "One shouldn't remain indifferent," says Deuteronomy (22:3), We must get involved. "Life's most persistent and urgent question," Dr. King once told a crowd in Montgomery, AL, "is 'What are you doing for others?'"
But, Abraham didn't begin with faith in God. In fact, he questioned God's very existence! The world is like a majestic palace on fire and no one is putting it out, so perhaps the owner's away?! Perhaps there's no one home?! How does Abraham become a man of faith? He listens. He learns. He takes responsibility not for setting the palace ablaze but for mobilizing an army, a legion of family members and followers, those of his faith, and those whose faiths would grow out of his but who say "enough!" Abraham is, among other things, a warrior for social justice.
You think it's an accident he calls God out at Sodom and Gemorah, that he negotiates for every life he can? That this neophyte has the audacity to say to God, "Shall not the judge of all the earth do justice?" (Gen. 18:25). This give and take, this divine-human shared responsibility for the state of the world is at the core of faith. When we find the world is burning, we don't get to give up. We don't get to go home. First we must investigate the cause and put out the fire. And then we must start building it again.
When we're curious, we become holy firefighters.
A version of this post appears in the November 2020 issue of Jmore
The Exurban Rabbi? Not So Fast! (Oct. 2020)
"Alas! Lonely sits the city Once great with people! She that was great among nations is become like a widow"
I've dedicated my career to the celebration of urban living and, in particular, urban Judaism. In my adult life I've gravitated toward cities, attracted to their racial and cultural diversity, museums, restaurants and population density.
But lately cities feel like they're under siege. COVID-19 has led to a rethinking of proximity as a way of life. Home purchases in remote settings are booming. Space, away from others, has become a more coveted residential choice than any time, perhaps, since post-War suburban migration and white flight.
And then there's politics. Progressive policies take root more easily in urban settings. Even in the most conservative of states, cities are blue enclaves surrounded by a sea of red. As a rule, the further you are from urban centers, the more conservative you tend to be. With the election looming, some who prefer a different administration are wondering whether they ought to abandon cities for exurban settings where electoral math means their votes would bear significantly more weight.
Are cities strong or are they vulnerable? Is the nation better with strong cities? When Moses sends spies to reconnoiter the land of Canaan, he wants them to "…see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many…whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds" (Num. 13:18-19). Multiple commentators surmise that "camps" vs. "strongholds" means open vs. fortified cities. 16th century Italian exegete Ovadiah Sforno says open cities suggest "a sign they felt secure, not expecting any war" whereas walled or fortified cities means "the inhabitants were afraid of being invaded."
Sforno points out that great military leaders preclude the necessity of fortification. According to Judges (5:7), Deborah the warrior-prophet was the harbinger of both victory and open society: "Deliverance ceased, ceased in Israel, till you arose, O Deborah, arose, O mother, in Israel!" (The Hebrew word for "deliverance" in this context can also mean "dwellers of unwalled cities"). The ultimate goal of war not simply armistice but a society no longer under siege, so it no longer behaves like it is. Peace is about peace of mind as much as anything else.
But peace of mind is in short supply these days. City-dwellers feel under siege. The president punishes urban enclaves for welcoming refugees, threatens to withhold federal funding from cities he deems "anarchist jurisdictions" because of their citizens' ongoing fight for racial justice, and dog whistles to militant rural white supremacists to defend the white house against a legal and legitimate outcome of the election.
It may be enough to make some lose hope in cities, but not me. My resolve, my faith in the importance and promise of urban life is only strengthened by these developments. The pandemic will end, but the isolation it's foisted upon us is a reminder of just how much we need community. Abandoning the density and diversity of urban settings for electoral reasons is a Faustian bargain that may only serve to reinforce the very phenomena (e.g. institutional racism) those voting for progressive policies wish to dismantle. Greater diversity (of race, culture and ideology) in exurban settings may serve to soften some hearts and minds, but cities are designed for proximity as much as variety. Cosmopolitanism is tough to maintain beyond the metropolis.
So, instead of losing hope, I pray for the restoration of urban life. In the words of Jeremiah (33:10-11): "…Again there shall be heard in this place, which you say is ruined…—in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate…, the voice of bridegroom and bride…. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as of old" (Jer. 33:10-11).
A version of this post appears in the October 2020 issue of Jmore

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Teessiders died when this ship sank - but can you help complete its story?
It was a Second World war tragedy which devastated Teesside.
And 77 years later, the sacrifice of Teesside dock workers and French sailors is finally set to be recognised with a poignant memorial tribute.
On June 22, 1940, during sea trials off Hartlepool, Flower Class corvette La Bastiaise - one of 19 built at Smith's Dock in South Bank for the French Navy - struck a German mine and sank.
Tragically, 43 French naval personnel and 18 Smith's Dock staff died, and a memorial service was held in their honour on July 7, 1940 at St John's Parish Church, South Bank.
Now, after years of delays, the Smith's Dock Trust has secured funding to erect an obelisk and memorial walk for the men who lost their lives all those years ago.
Liz Chambers, chairman of the Smith's Dock Trust and the Friends of Smith's Dock Park War Memorial, said: "Twelve of the French crew members have no mention on any war memorial anywhere in France and we believe they deserve far more recognition after having paid the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country.
But before it's finished, and a booklet is published to coincide with the memorial's unveiling, a couple of mysteries need clearing up - including establishing if it was actually 22 Smith's Dock men, not 18, who died.
Liz explained: "Three men - Robert E Fenwick, W A Hebden and F Morton - are displayed at Eden Camp as having lost their lives on La Bastiaise but they were not included in the ship's crew list and have not been traced on any family history websites.
Liz said they also want details of Johan Gustof Andersson who lived in Pym Street, South Bank. Described as "Husband of the late Mary Rebecca Andersson", his obituary in the Evening Gazette on June 28, 1940, corresponded with all those who died on La Bastiaise, but he wasn't included on the crew list or any other memorial.


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Pearson to skip Oceania championships
Sally Pearson will step up her preparations for what would be an unprecedented third 100m hurdles world title with a series of meets in Europe in July.
The 2012 Olympic champ was planning to compete at the Oceania championships in Townsville this week but has made a late decision to give the four-day titles a miss.
Her first meet in Europe will be in the Swiss city of Lucerne on July 9, followed by Diamond Leagues in Monaco and London.
"Sal sent a message through and we've been in touch," Australian head coach Craig Hilliard told AAP on Monday.
"She had initially planned to race here in Townsville but she's been very open with us about what she's going to do.
"She's jumping on a plane fairly soon to Europe and she's got the schedule all worked out.
"She's still training and there's nothing wrong with her fitness-wise."
Pearson made a successful return to competition in April after a year on the sidelines overcoming the Achilles injury that ruled her out of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
As the defending title-holder, the 32-year-old has a guaranteed wildcard into the 2019 world championships in Doha beginning in late September.
She also bettered the qualifying mark with a time of 12.70 seconds last month in Japan.
But with a change in the qualifying system for the Tokyo Olympics - and the 2019 world titles little more than three months way - the biennial Oceania championships take on added importance this year for athletes on the cusp of selection.
Discus thrower Dani Stevens is another high-profile withdrawal.
The 2017 world championships silver medallist is yet to fully recover from a back problem.
But Hilliard is confident Stevens will be back to full fitness in time for the latter stages of the Diamond League season and the world titles in Doha.
Among the big Australian names competing in Townsville at the four-day meet beginning on Tuesday are high jumpers Brandon Starc and Joel Baden, 400m runners Steve Solomon and Bendere Oboya and sprinters Jack Hale and Riley Day.
The women's 800m shapes as the strongest event of the championships, with Australia represented by rising star Catriona Bisset, Georgia Griffith and Morgan Mitchell.
"If you can get the automatic qualifier here that's a big tick straight away because the Olympic qualifiers are harder than those for the world championships," said Hilliard.
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Social workers to strike over caseloads, IT systems and pay
Unison members at an 'inadequate' council are set for a one-day walk out on 27 January
By Luke Stevenson on January 13, 2017 in Workforce
Photo: Markus Mainka/Fotolia
Children's social workers in Kirklees have voted to go on strike after a dispute with the council over working conditions.
The local Unison branch said its social worker members will strike on January 27 after the walk out was backed by 79% of 75 members who voted on a ballot.
Social workers want action on a "long-running" dispute over pay, unmanageable caseloads, the council's IT system, bullying, working environments and high dependency on agency staff, the union said.
Councillors in Kirklees accused the union of playing politics with a vital service and claimed the 75 members who voted in the ballot represented a small proportion of union members and social work staff.
In a separate development, the council's director of children's services, Sarah Callaghan, has left after less than nine months in post.
'Not fit for purpose'
The news brings further turmoil to Kirklees children's services, which has been under government intervention since being given an 'inadequate' Ofsted rating in November last year. Inspectors referred 100 cases back to the authority for urgent review during the inspection and found social care IT systems were "not fit for purpose".
Paul Holmes, the local Unison branch secretary, said Ofsted's judgment had reinforced problems members had been raising since 2011, but talks with the council to resolve them had "gone nowhere".
He said social workers were "at the end of their tether", adding: "Members are saying the caseloads are too big, the other issue is…people have a wide caseload ranging from easy to middle to hard cases. People accept that, [however] when you get increasing numbers of agency social workers…you get a bigger proportion of the harder stuff.
"I don't want to achieve a strike, I want to achieve a resolution to the six problems."
Erin Hill, lead Kirklees councillor for family support and child protection, said documents provided by Unison showed no issues were officially raised between 2014 and 2016, by which point the council "were aware of the scale of the problem and putting plans in place to resolve it."
"While I recognise we still have a way to go, my view is that we are dealing with the issues he raised as well and as quickly as we can, with support from the DfE [Department for Education]," she said.
Hill questioned Unison's mandate for the strike, claiming 75 members voted but "around 300" people were balloted.
"When you consider there are almost 400 of our workers with social worker qualifications, and 1300 staff in children's services – this is a lot of disruption on a small number of votes in favour," she said. "I repeat my initial offer to all staff, regardless of union affiliation – my door is always open for you to talk about any concerns you might have."
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23 Responses to Social workers to strike over caseloads, IT systems and pay
Longtime SW January 13, 2017 at 10:30 am #
The problem is that Councillor Hill won't be hauled before the HCPC or in the tabloid press if there is a tragedy – no notice will be taken of the six issues raised, (quite rightly), by the 75 social care workers as contributing to a disaster waiting to happen – there will be more of this as social and health care staff, working with adults and children, finally begin to say enough is enough
Govt needs to understand that the answer isn't selling public services off to your fat cat mates who race to the bottom to maximise profits – the answer is to listen to the frontline who deal with these things day-to-day
As for whether the 75 are true representatives, look at your own houses politicians – how representative are you? Either majority balloting works across the board for everyone no matter the turn out or it doesn't – in which case Govt's should resign immediately until they have a majority vote from a majority of the electorate.
Finally, how many others in Kirklees feel the same way but face intimidation or worse if they speak up? Are all the 300 employed in social care? Or are some members in other Local Government vocations and worried about supporting union colleagues at the risk of being accused of wildcat striking if they take action in support?
Another Social Worker January 14, 2017 at 11:19 am #
Totally agree and the non agency social workers are afraid to speak out. Many are even too afraid to go to Unision meetings or do not have the time to. .The concerns in question have been raised by the Unison as far back as at least 2011 and the bullying goes on expecting SWs to do the impossible all the time.
H January 13, 2017 at 12:08 pm #
We need to do more of this
Everyone needs to do this to be listened to
One day won't be effective
Leon Summerfield January 13, 2017 at 3:37 pm #
I'm surprised it hasn't been done by others, sooner! Im a social work student, have I got all this to look forward to…:-(
Leanne January 13, 2017 at 8:09 pm #
High five to my colleagues xx we need to unite to create change xx BASW
Dani January 13, 2017 at 9:03 pm #
It never ceases to amaze me when I see doctor's striking or medics talking about the difficulties they encounter. Teachers, train and tube staff will act and their unions will challenge the management or compsny bosses. What do we do as social workers ?Who talks on the professions behalf? Workers are working all hours yet are in fear of being on informal capabilities or dismissed. I love my job but it is demoralizing working the excessive hours with the continual threat of ofsted looking….. to criticize. It shouldn't be one local authority striking yet I'm afraid it won't make a difference.
Hortense January 13, 2017 at 10:48 pm #
"My door is always open….." some of the most dangerous words in the English language for social workers who have had enough to hear….
E January 14, 2017 at 1:19 am #
I don't think it's just social workers but all of Children's services that should strike. The system is failing and is set up all too fail. To much is being put on front line workers and the impact is like dominos they cut left right and centre and they want more in return. Overworked and underpaid! A strike is well overdue!
Rumplestiltskin January 14, 2017 at 1:59 pm #
Sadly Leon…yes this does appear to be the future.
Disempowered social workers who are often flogging their hearts out from a physical and emotional perspective. I could rant and go on about left wing, radical social work etc and the inept influence of the basw and other unions for that matter but it's a waste of time. Social workers have no power en mass and despite the strike on a localised scale such as this one….there needs to be a national strike en mass but this is never likely to happen because we are caught and tied up in the emotional links to service users to let them down.
My view is that it's right to strike but action needs to be orchestrated on a national level to force the government to act positively and stop beating the social workers themselves via the offsted machine.
The only critique I have about the six issues raised…is the comments re agency workers…why would someone not be an agency worker? More money (at least in your ass pocket) the capacity to move and a level of flexibility… People need to ask why do agency workers not want to work perm? The answer is often money. Councils will likely always need agency staff to help out..in my opinion perm staff should ask themselves why there is a need for agency staff in the workplace? In one place I am working now, the treatment of agency staff is awful and perm staff are rude. How can they expect agency staff to become perm with treatment like that? You can't blame the agency workers…the issues here are basic…employ more staff, cap case loads and ensure systems are set in place to support.
Also I want to add…an example of the insular world of social services and the lack of power or lack of motivation weilded by the numerous unions who apparently care for social workers. issues like this debate are very insular and for the most part not heard or cared for by the general public across the nation. For example the rail services go on strike and is all over the national media, social workers go on strike and no one cares….the only messages that ever receive national awareness is sadly when a young person dies…and then social work is yet again vilified.
Phil Sanderson January 14, 2017 at 6:34 pm #
Well done Kirklees workers let us all send a message of support to encourage them.Playing politics? Councillors should stop cutting childrens services!
Miss Taylor January 16, 2017 at 11:34 am #
Brilliant and very brave of you at Kirklees. More of us should do the same.
Please take note we in adult services are treated just as badly for lesser pay too.
Please don't blame agency staff. For many there are other reasons apart from money which spurs them into agency work. Freedom being the main reason – freedom from autocratic management regimes especially bullying. Freedom from being told when you can take leave and for how long, and freedom from office and organisational politics being the main reasons.
A lot of agency staff are very experienced and bring a lot of knowledge to the service and are given the work no-one else wants to do – they get on with it. Agency pay for adult workers is a lot less than people believe too.
In view of the corporate cosh, fear of HCPC referral, fear of speaking out I agree whole heartedly with Rumplestiltskin, more agency workers may force the good and great to be mindful of how they treat their workers.
I wish you all the best and look forward to colleagues around the country standing up for themselves too . . .Good luck
Kim January 23, 2017 at 12:27 pm #
Being an agency worker does not give you any freedom from bullying. I was continually bullied by a manager who gave me an unmanageable caseload of 38 whilst the cut off was 25 and then told me to close cases down. Workers were continually threatened with a referral to the HCPC, myself included. Time spent with families to attempt to enact change was frowned upon. And personal crisis was ignored. I feel like I have nothing to offer anymore as this is how I was made to feel.
Grace Easie-Edgar January 16, 2017 at 3:53 pm #
It is a shame that the pressures being faced by social workers is forcing this possible strike but when you feel that you are not being listened too or you feel that you are dealing with a case load that a manager does not know or understand to support you what else can you do?
HCPC should also be looking into these issues to support registrants.
Probably not Helpful Horace January 16, 2017 at 7:44 pm #
When foster carers have been regularly put through the wringer social workers have stared at their own feet. A bit of support would have been nice then maybe you'd have had company on the picket line from those of us unprotected and unable to strike.
One of the advantages of being in social care professions for so long is memory – my comments above were not meant as a criticism of Locum agency staff
However looking not too far ahead, the race to the bottom will happen for agency's once there are no more public services and we all work for companies – many years ago, some London authorities got together and told agencies the maximum they would pay for Locum's (still above Local authority pay rates) – you have probably guessed that what happened was that there was no cut in the 'cut' the agency's took, Locum's were told that it was take it or leave it when their pay rates were slashed
Sadly, I foresee that once all social care is in the private sector there will be again a race to the bottom to undercut wages with little or no protection for individuals – please don't be fooled – this is and always has been about privatisation of public services
Remember when hospital cleaning services were contracted out? Within months less staff (on minimum wage) were expected and ordered to do twice as much work resulting in a rise in avoidable infections and infestations.
Kirklees should be supported – if like-minded people in unions as individuals decide that they should withdraw their labour in support that may be a start.
Darren January 17, 2017 at 6:35 pm #
I am all in favour of this action however it is unlikely to have much impact with social workers in just one department in one local authority striking for just one day. The same social workers will arrive at work the following day with even more work to do and the scabs will deal with any urgent matters thus negating any backlash from the public. We need national action and a longer strike period. As for councillor Erin Hill with her "my door is always open" nonsense, an open door doesn't equate to any commitment to improve conditions for social workers and without capped caseloads and other improved conditions a demoralised workforce is inevitable. And to undermine the workforce even more by questioning the ballot shows how much she really cares about us. The only power that workers really have to make change in the current political climate is to withdraw our labour. I predict more of the same.
D Smith January 17, 2017 at 6:57 pm #
Get tired of people assuming agency staff earn a lot more and colleagues being arsey over it does not help. I am self employed and i do earn more up front yes but I also have to personally try to provide for my own future and pension pot not to mention lots of expensive s like renting second accommodation and accounting fees and also the risk of me falling unwell, which due to stress happens quite often. The fact that some colleagues are judgemental towards agency staff is disappointing. If they worked on creating a place I really wanted to work that then who knows may be I would stay. However I am finding relief in the fact that I can move into a new area when things get too much and somehow it helps me to cope. I did agency work to try and empower myself and only did it to get on the ladder as it does work well if you have a certain goal you're saving towards.
SW and proud January 17, 2017 at 6:58 pm #
Think you are missing the point. This is not an argument over agency v perm staff. The problems are clearly stated in the statement from Unison. This service would not be functioning without agency staff because so many perm staff have left. The agency staff don't stay for the same issues and some have contacted BASW. These are deep issues within the Authority which due to a line in the Ofsted report have been deflected onto agency staff.
It's cheaper for councils to fund agency staff than their own perms as they don't have to put into a pension pot and match pound for pound so to speak!
Yvonne Bonifas January 18, 2017 at 3:20 pm #
If you work out the sums, and take pensions into account, agency staff generally are being paid less than permanent staff for no security. It is very difficult indeed to make up for the LA pension scheme even in it's reduced state.
Social worker from another authority January 19, 2017 at 7:21 am #
Well done Kirklees social workers for challenging a bullying culture managed by inexperienced senior managers. In all honesty other local authorities unsatisfied should be joining you in your strike this is a message not just to local council but government. We are under resourced tired stressed and fed up of CHANGE moving teams changing structures just to save money. New managers come with what they think are better ideas but it's all about them not the children and not the staff.
why are unison not tackling these issues nationally? Why do people pay fees for them?
I think that this is the right action for all social workers to take. Management in my experience are less than supportive and have only one agenda which is to get reports written in a timely manner. This equates to starting work at 6 and working until the early hours with no lunch and working weekends too. There is absolutely no way that work can be completed without social workers having to complete it in their own time. Social workers are contracted to work 37 hours but work at least double that just to try and keep on top of things. There is a continual threat of referrals to the HCPC who then uphold management and suspend social workers! Caseloads spiral out of control and I know that at Kirklees many workers were given full caseloads upwards of 28 / 30 all out of timescales upon arrival and many agency workers left at that point. My experience of child protection social work has been very negative apart from a time when I had a supportive and nurturing manager. Something needs to be done about this before more children are harmed. The only way to really understand children and their families is to spend time with them but this is frowned upon and the emphasis is put upon typing in the office instead. Whilst I totally agree that all paperwork is vital we should not forget that the reason we are working in this area is to make life for children / young people better and enable them to live in loving caring nurturing environments. This is what is vital. And it is about time that all authorities had capped caseloads. At 20 / 23 I would manage. 38 and I sink. I told management this yet to no avail. Something needs to be done about this and urgently. Well done Kirklees workers who have decided to strike 🙂
Executive Director of Children's Services – Salary £133,707 plus relocation
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The Wiles Lectures were founded in 1953 by Mrs Austen Boyd of Craigavad, Co. Down, in memory of her father, Thomas S. Wiles of Albany, New York. Acting with the advice of the then vice-chancellor of Queen's, Sir Eric Ashby, and of Sir Herbert Butterfield, then master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, Mrs Boyd generously endowed a trust fund to support an annual series of lectures 'to promote the study of the history of civilisation and to encourage the extension of historical thinking into the realm of general ideas'.
The fund brings to Belfast each year an expert in a particular field of historical scholarship to deliver four lectures on successive days, related to the lecturer's research and reflecting on the wider implications of their work for historical understanding.
The Wiles Trust also supports other scholarly activities at Queen's, including a series of Wiles Colloquia on historical topics, convened by members of School staff.
For more information, contact the Chair of Trustees, Prof. Peter Gray.


We take CERES knowledge and skills directly to schools primarily through the ResourceSmart Schools framework. Our team deliver presentations about CERES at a state, national and international level. We also provide consultancy services and mentoring for community groups who are creating CERES-type eco centres.
Click here to read about ResourceSmart Schools.
Click here to read about Outreach consultancy.
Click here to read about our work in Thailand.
Click here to read about our work in South Korea.
This year's ResourceSmart Schools Awards finalists have been announced!
CERES has been announced as a finalist in the Education category for this year's Premier's Sustainability Awards for our Sustainability and Alternative Pathways program. For 35 years, CERES has been a place for community-based learning and action that creates environmental, social, economic, and cultural benefits and enhance nurturing ways of living together.


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Here's the latest on Carteret's ferry terminal and 'evolving waterfront'
CARTERET - Plans for the borough's ferry terminal are progressing with the completion of 130 feet of steel sheet pile bulkhead along the Arthur Kill and dredging of the waterside of the bulkhead set to begin.
Meanwhile the borough is set to receive $6 million in federal funding for the Intermodal Transportation Building that will serve the ferry terminal.
An additional $1 million in Congressionally Directed Spending will go toward a new $2.5 million Office of Emergency Management building on Pershing Avenue.
Installation of the bulkhead, a $473,258 project awarded to Agate Construction of Clermont in June, began earlier this year and was completed in November, according to Mayor Daniel J. Reiman.
The next phase of the project includes dredging the waterside of the bulkhead to reach sufficient depths for the ferry slips and docking area. The $2.5 million project, which includes 19,500 cubic feet of dredging, will be overseen by the New Jersey Department of Transportation Office of Maritime Resources. Funding for the first two phases of the project were received from the state DOT Transportation Capital Trust Fund.
"These are the first steps in what will be a spectacular transportation project on a constantly evolving waterfront," Reiman said. "Eventually, there will be restaurants, bars, retail shops, a movie production studio, and office space that will help to transform our once entirely industrial waterfront into a work-eat-play destination."
The borough and NJDOT are finalizing bid documents for the next two phases, which is the construction of waterside improvements and other site work, Reiman said.
Waterside improvements will include docking and slips. The site improvements will include a 700-space parking lot anticipated to break ground in 2023, followed by a 20-foot-wide elevated pedestrian boardwalk connecting the parking lot and the ferry loading area. A boardwalk is expected to be completed in 2024, Reiman said.
The borough also is in final design phase for an intermodal transportation building, which will host a ticket office, restrooms, bar, lounge, office space, banquet center, restaurants and retail.
U.S. Rep Frank Pallone Jr., D-6th District secured $6 million in appropriations for the intermodal transportation building and U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, both D-N.J., sponsored $1 million in Congressionally Directed Spending for the OEM building planned for 315 Pershing Ave.
Earlier:Here's when South Amboy ferry terminal construction is expected to begin
Pallone said he was glad to deliver critical funding to help move the intermodal transportation building closer to completion. The project is among 15 in Pallone's congressional district that he secured funding for as part of the $1.7. trillion fiscal year 2023 government funding bill.
Pallone said Reiman and Carteret officials are working hard to make the ferry a reality.
"Once completed the ferry will allow New Jersey residents and tourists to easily travel between New Jersey and downtown Manhattan. This funding will deliver efficient and reliable transportation options to residents in Central New Jersey and will help reduce vehicle congestion." Pallone said.
Reiman said the plan for the OEM building is to modernize the former volunteer first aid building which was acquired by the borough several years ago.
More:Pallone secures $18.3 million in federal funds for 9 Middlesex County projects
"Currently OEM is housed on Roosevelt Avenue in an old 1900s era firehouse that is beyond repair. Once completed, all OEM operations and our 911 backup will be housed on upper Pershing Avenue in the modernized OEM building," Reiman said.
The ferry terminal is part of Reiman's vision to turn the borough's industrial waterfront into a popular regional destination. The waterfront already includes a fishing pier, a public park, a mini golf course, a 185-slip marina, a future events center, and an expanded Riverwalk that will open soon.


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College of Osteopathic Medicine
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The University of New England is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (formerly New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Institutions of Higher Education), whose mission is to establish and maintain high standards of education through the doctoral level.
The College of Osteopathic Medicine receives accreditation from the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA), the only national accrediting agency for pre-doctoral osteopathic medical education in the United States.
In the spring of 2018, UNE COM earned COCA reaccreditation "with exceptional outcomes." Being granted full accreditation signifies that UNE COM has met or exceeded the COCA standards for educational quality and is deemed to have the credentials to confer the degree of Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) to its graduates.
Postdoctoral Medical Education
Since the merger of AOA residencies and M.D. residencies under the umbrella of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), UNE COM has continued to affiliate with a consortium of residency institutions through the North East Osteopathic Medical Education Network (NEOMEN).
This organization combines the previous members of the OPTI into an educational consortium promoting Osteopathic Graduate Medical Education (OGME) within an ACGME residency structure. Membership dues are paid by institutional members and UNE COM is a founding member.
Research programs, OGME support, faculty development, and application support for further ACGME residency promulgation and the growth of GME across UNE COM's catchment area are some of the programs offered through NEOMEN.
UNE COM's Office of Continuing Medical Education (CME) is accredited by the AOA and the Maine Medical Association and provides postdoctoral medical education to both osteopathic (D.O.) and allopathic (M.D.) physicians. Each agency grants accreditation based on the demonstrated ability to plan and implement CME activities in accordance with accreditation requirements.
UNE COM is one of a handful of providers to hold the distinction of maintaining this dual accreditation and sponsor collaborative CME activities for these two physician groups. The College of Osteopathic Medicine maintains its accreditations with continued adherence to required sets of criteria and its commitment to continual quality review and improvement of its programs and services.
The College of Osteopathic Medicine receives accreditation from the American Osteopathic Association Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, the only national accrediting agency for predoctoral osteopathic medical education in the U.S.
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January 16, 2019 (ATLANTA, GA)- Bay Tree Solutions, creators of one of the timeshare industry's most robust and ethical on line timeshare marketplaces, has named Doug Milbrath to the position of Chief Executive Officer. Previously in the role of Chief Marketing Officer of the 12 year old company, Doug was instrumental in forming and implementing the strategy that has successfully helped thousands of owners sell their timeshare at a fair price.
Bay Tree Solutions, founded in 2006, works only with a limited number of actively selling resorts with demand on the resale market.
Milbrath was the co–founder of Bay Tree Solutions. During his years as Chief Marketing Officer, he created a proven proprietary process that has helped timeshare owners and buyers for more than a decade.
Milbrath says "I'm proud to lead our company which specializes in the process of selling and buying a timeshare at fair market value. With our deep roots in the timeshare industry and digital marketing, Bay Tree helps timeshare owners who are interested in reselling their timeshare interest to connect with interested buyers.
Milbrath says that the timeshare industry has numerous solutions for the vacation ownership secondary market and he is pleased that Bay Tree Solutions is met with high regard by both consumers and developers as a third-party solution to a long standing challenge.
Bay Tree Solutions advertises resales at resort properties in active sales. By avoiding depressed properties and desperate sellers, Bay Tree clients are able to sell their timeshare at prices considerably higher than their closest competitors. Bay Tree Solutions is a proud member of ARDA, an eleven year member of MAC (Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce) and the Greater Atlanta BBB. For more information contact Doug Milbrath @ 800-647-4130.


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package org.wso2.carbon.mediator.header;

import org.wso2.carbon.mediator.service.AbstractMediatorService;
import org.wso2.carbon.mediator.service.ui.Mediator;

/**
 *
 */
public class HeaderMediatorService extends AbstractMediatorService {

    public String getTagLocalName() {
        return "header";
    }

    public String getDisplayName() {
        return "Header";
    }

    public String getLogicalName() {
        return "HeaderMediator";
    }

    public String getGroupName() {
        return "Transform";
    }

    public Mediator getMediator() {
        return new HeaderMediator();
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Our judicial review – the first in the UK – took place in July and the wait for a verdict is almost over. This Thursday 13th October at 10 am at the High Court (Strand), we will find out just what Mr Justice Ousely has to say about library closures in Brent in a ruling that could affect local councils across the country.
The verdict for the Judicial Review has been postponed until October. This is good news as our libraries will remain open until then. We're glad the judge is taking his time considering such an important issue.
As Brent Council promised to keep the libraries open until the decision this means that the Summer Reading Scheme should go ahead as normal at the six threatened libraries. Bindmans the solicitors handling the case will have talks with Brent's solicitors to ensure that no significant damage is done to the Brent library service in the meantime.
Meanwhile, we have reached a whopping £20,000 – two thirds of our fundraising target – in just a few month. keep coming to our events, tell your friends and help us save your library.
In the first legal challenge against library closures in the country, Brent library users' case against the council will be heard in the High Court on Tuesday and Wednesday (19 & 20 July 2011).


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Shah Rukh Khan rumoured to shoot action scene in Dubai
in News, Production
In 'Pathan', Shah Rukh Khan will be seen performing action sequences at the Burj Khalifa, just like Mission Impossible's Tom Cruise.
The Yash Raj banner movie directed by Sidharth Anand and starring Shah Rukh Khan, John Abraham, and Deepika Padukone will reportedly feature an action scene that will be shot at Dubai's iconic Burj Khalifa.
According to a report in Pinkvilla, a source close to the development revealed: "The idea is to go one notch above what's already done so far. Apart from Mission Impossible and Fast and Furious franchise, not many films have been shot inside Burj Khalifa, and Pathan will be among the first few Indian films (probably the first) to have actual visuals of the tower from inside. A big-scale action scene centred around Burj Khalifa is in the offing from the team of Pathan."
The source added: "It's a prolonged action sequence designed by an international stunt team, and one can expect spectacular visuals on the screen. It's a culmination of Siddharth Anand, Aditya Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan's vision, to shoot a massive action scene at Burj Khalifa. Don't be surprised if you find SRK fighting on the top of the tower just like Tom Cruise, when you watch Pathan on the big screen. However, all the details of this Burj Khalifa fight scene have been kept under wraps."
With Pathan, Shah Rukh Khan will be making a comeback to the silver screen after two years.
Pathan went on the floors in November last year and is expected to be wrapped up by June 2021.
Tags: featuredpostBurj KhalifaShah Rukh KhanPathanSidharth Anand
'Spider-Man: No Way Home' earns $14m so far in the Middle East
Riot Games promotes Netflix series 'Arcane' on Burj Khalifa
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TikTok partners with Egyptian megastar Tamer Hosny
Image Nation's 'History of the Emirates' premieres on Burj Khalifa


The idea of the rangefinder is simple, it's an optical triangulation device coupled to a cam on a lens. Align the two images in the viewfinder and the camera is in focus. People put a lot of trust into the Leica cameras; the camera works smoothly and the viewfinder and rangefinder are bright and clear and focus onto infinity – in fact the rangefinder unit contained within is probably the most complex of any camera.
Coupled with some very expensive lenses, a Leica rangefinder camera should be capable of producing some very sharp shots shouldn't it? Not necessarily….
Within a lens, there two things that are important to ensure correct focus. Firstly, the RF coupling cam should be accurate and second, the optics should be correctly collimated. Generally, it is unusual for there to be any error in the RF cam. In other words, when the lens is set to infinity, the position of the cam usually agrees but it can be out occasionally.
What I do find quite regularly though, is that some lenses focus a little past infinity. This is a problem with an RF camera because shooting at infinity with such a lens, no matter how good it may be, at any aperture will produce exceedingly poor results. At closer distances this shouldn't be a problem but it's worth mentioning.
On lenses with goggles there is an additional complication. The goggles themselves have to be precisely calibrated. I was checking a goggled lens earlier on today with a camera with a good rangefinder. At infinity all was well but at 1 metre, the rangefinder was 5cm out. This would be immediately spotted on an SLR but one would not expect that of a Leica. I had to drill out and replace a grub screw to fix it.
As far as the camera goes, many people know how to adjust the rangefinder within a Leica M camera. You have the large slotted screw on the rangefinder arm which is on a concentric. This allows for horizontal adjustment. Behind the small screw near the illuminator window is a screw that allows vertical adjustment (later cameras need a special tool for this). Most repairers or the DIY owner will make the horizontal adjustment for infinity but on 'M' cameras there's a third adjustment that I call linearity.
When the camera has been correctly set up, there is an imaginary line on a graph that intersects the 1m point and infinity. If this setting is wrong – as it usually is, the rangefinder may be perfectly set to infinity but as the subject gets closer to the camera, accuracy diminishes at an increasing rate. The third adjustment is found just under the smaller screw that attaches the RF arm to the camera.
A number of iterative adjustments are required between close focus and infinity to get this right. So what? You may say. In most cases it probably doesn't matter too much, but when so much has been invested in a camera and probably even more for the exotic lenses that go with the system, an inch or two focus shift when focussing on the sitters eye could leave the photographer very disappointed with the result.
With something like a SLR, what you see is what you get. It's extremely unlikely that the focussing screen would be out of alignment and even a badly collimated lens would be automatically corrected by the visual focus confirmation in the viewfinder.
So, the lens cam has to be right. The lens collimation has to be right. The rangefinder needs to be correctly adjusted so that the camera accurately focusses through infinity and down to 1m and below. Any lenses with supplementary goggles need to be correctly set in addition to the lens itself. I suppose in most cases these things go largely unnoticed. General photography, street photography etc where precision is less important than ergonomics.
I don't wish to portray this as a bad camera, not by any means. The trouble is that like a Ferrari, everything has got to be just right in order to get the performance and there are many small things that can go wrong that wouldn't be obvious when using the camera. Of course, this isn't blaming the camera. Correctly set-up, all should perform well, but the nature of the system means you have to put your trust into it.
I would pretty much call this Leica bashing. By the way: any source about Leitz management and their good enough standards? Because this is exactly what German camera's are known for: low technical standards and lack of reliability?!
I'm not sure it's Leica bashing. It's pragmatism from a well known and well regarded Leica repairer. I suspect Alan has forgotten more than most of us will ever know about the internals of these cameras.
Leica bashing? Don't be so thin-skinned. They're not perfect and recognition of this fact only leads to greater understanding of them. I thought Alan's comments well worth the time taken to read them.
to work with but like every tool you have to check it by service from time to time.
It is not the case that it works precefctly over decades and there is n, mistery about it at all.
There is no mechanical device working perfectly over decades. Even a tank needs maintenance. It is nice and important to know that cameras need maintenance and that there are qualified people dealing with them. Wether this makes them a Ferrari, Porsche or T34 I do not know – I keep those things separated. For as long as you use your tools you will notice once they need a check up – I never ever trusted in any of my cameras: I just use them and send them in once they develop some quirks.
So nothing is unfailable, not even a Leica. I can well live with that.
Pardon my ignorance but what is a goggle lens?
Hamish, KR only shows the f2.8/35 Summaron with spectacles or "goggles" as this is needed for the M3. Leica aficionados know of the verson for the f2.8/135mm Elmarit-M, a beast of a lens. With the M3 having frame lines for 135mm and there being other 135mm lenses in the line-up, why spectacles for the M3? Well, it assists with focusing the lens more accurately via the rangefinder. The rangefinder spot is magnified making it easier to check that the superimposed images is spot on, felt more necessary with the more limited dof of the f2.8 aperture.
Many thanks. Looking forward to seeing the guide.
There are probably several ways of criticizing Maserati.
For example you could argue is a car for idiots. But that would be bashing (not actually the brand but the users).
With Leica would be the same.
Anecdotes like "however, … the results obtained were quite good enough for all general requirements" maybe are acceptable if you get a camera from 1930, but not a brand new one, specially if expensive.
Of course, users of digital M's can employ the Visoflex EVF to check accuracy of the viewfinder and use it for critical focus since the image is generated directly off the sensor. While you may lose the joy of working with a viewfinder camera, the EVF does serve a useful purpose. Some longer lenses such as the 135 Apo-Telyt can be almost impossible to critically focus using the viewfinder, even one perfectly adjusted.


USB library ports mismatch datasheet?
I'm using a XU216 processor and according to the USB device library some ports are reserved when using this library.
All ports match the datasheet except for port XS1_PORT_1C (usb clk). This port is according to datasheet PORT_1J.
Is this a bug or am I missing something??
Re: USB library ports mismatch datasheet?
The spreadsheet does not state any issue in using port 1C so that means it is free.