Ladies and gentlemen, theys, thems, and everything in between....

May I present to you one of my favorite highlights of my ritual with @vampghoulette, @papasbaseball, @themoderndayvirgin, etc

All I can say is 🥴🫠🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🪦

Was Louis VII a weak king ?

The general consensus of historians on Louis VII before recent times had been to condemn him as a mild, ineffectual king, lacking military ability, outmanoeuvred and outshone by the stronger and more worldly rulers around him, failing to keep Aquitaine, a slave to the Church, a monk in marriage, a simpleton in the world. He has been seen as a 'colourless nonentity', 'almost silly', 'a weak, pious and shifty king'. He has been compared unfavourably with his contemporaries, Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II, with his predecessor Louis VI, and with his sucessor Philip Augustus. Views of the reign were distorted because the two short French chronicles for the early years have been overwhelmed by use of the more numerous and detailed works written in the Plantagenet lands for the later years. But modern historians, by more careful interpretation and by the use of non-narrative sources, have shown that Louis used his piety to advantage, was a successful diplomat, and 'not the feeble monarch of textbooks'.

Pacaut, in defending Louis, was swimming against the tide of opinion, but rightly saw how he built and used personal power, held his own with the Plantagenets, gained ground for the monarchy with regard to his greater vassals, and re-shaped the administration to give the crown greater authority. Such achievements cannot be reconciled with the pious simpleton of popular imagination. Following Pacaut, other historians are now coming round to this viewpoint.

Louis's piety was not a pose; he was genuinely devout, but he was neither stupid nor compliant. He gave less to the Church than Louis VI, but earned higher dividends. He could make a firm stand, and at one point in the crisis over Eleanor's sister Petronilla, faced out Innocent II, Theobald of Blois, and even St Bernard. A Christian life-style was essential to achieve close co-operation with the Church. His was not a passive piety; Louis was also 'the lover of justice, the defender of the weak', and respected by ecclesiastics. Divorcing Eleanor may have been a mistake, but there was no easy alternative, and Plantagenet profit was not long-lasting. After Eleanor's remarriage, Louis combated Henry II with determination, never allowing hirn to get the upper hand for long. Louis devised the strategy which was to destroy the Angevin Empire: he encouraged and used divisions within the Plantagenet family, worked on the jealousies and fears of other great vassals to turn them against the Angevins, and showed his son the way to eventual triumph.

Louis faced stiff opposition at home and abroad, but it is not clear that any of his rivals finally got the better of him. Barbarossa gained nothing in France, and suffered more in his relations with the Church than did Louis. Henry II though master of the Angevin Empire, recognized Louis as his suzerain for the French lands, lost moral stature in the West over his part in the killing of Becket, and ended his life in humiliating defeat by Louis's son. As Fawtier notes, 'Louis cannot fairly be said to have had the worst of the conflict.

Louis VII was the first Capetian seriously to involve the monarchy in the south, making gains in land, prestige and influence. He presented himself as king of all the realm. In 1177 he pointed out that kings were consecrated by holy oil, so 'it followed that only they could labour to govern the people of God'. He referred to himself as 'imperator Augustus' of the Franks. Across the Channel, Ralph of Diceto saw Louis as 'transcending the majesty of his predecessors'. In this period Stephen de Tournai came elose to seeing the king as emperor in his realm. Louis's authority over the great vassals was stronger than that of any earlier Capetian. Far from allowing royal power to diminish, Louis considerably increased it.

Louis also controlled royal officials more firmly than had been done before. Hereditary officialdom disappeared, over-powerful officers were not allowed to become a threat. This was no accident, but consistent and determined policy to oppose hereditary office, to counter the power of officials, to select men he could trust, and to keep their loyalty. Louis made it clear that a Capetian monarch should receive homage from all vassals, however great, and owe homage to none.

It is odd that in our age when warfare is condemned, we reserve our highest praise for those in the past whose triumphs were mainly military, and thus undervalue those who triumphed by other means. If we are to appreciate the Capetians, we need to revise the values we credit in the past. Neither Louis VII nor Philip Augustus gained their main triumphs through war. Since they nevertheless achieved much, ought we not to praise them the more?

Louis VII brought the Capetians to a new peak: master of the royal demesne and thus of a safe income, master of the royal administration, a match for enemies and rivals. He extended royal territorial control and royal influence through the realm. Above all he presented a picture of the Christian monarch which his age could admire, which gained cooperation from the French Church and from Rome, and moral advantage over the murderer of Becket or the supporter of an anti-pope. A monk at St-Germain-des-Pres saw him as 'the most glorious King Louis'. As Fawtier has it, the Capetians 'put right before might', and they should be praised for so doing. Louis was aware of the propaganda value of bearing the oriflamme as defender of the realm, and it was Louis who adopted the symbol of the fleur-de-lys.

Jim Bradbury- Philip Augustus, King of France -1180-1223

Love under Will: Sexuality, Magic & Liberation by Phil Hine

I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star. I am Life, and the giver of Life, yet therefore knowledge of me is the knowledge of death.Liber AL, II, 6. At a time when Magic is (supposedly) undergoing a renaissance, with core ideas & techniques presented in a clear and open manner, Sexual Magic remains entangled in glamours and misconceptions. There is little published material, it seems, which deals with the subject clearly. It is usually the case that Sexual Magic is shrouded (sometimes "drowned") in symbolic asides and allusions. To begin with, what actually constitutes an act of Sexual Magic? A broad definition is: that it is the harnessing of one’s own sexuality with intentionality - literally "Love Under Will", to bring about change. This implies a great deal more than the waving of rods, wands, cups, and roses. Celibacy, as a conscious decision not to be sexually active can be as much an act of Sexual Magic as any ritualised copulation or masturbation. The basis of Sexual Magic is to understand, and experience sexuality as sacred or "Magical". Sexuality is probably the most powerful means of transformation, discovery and knowledge that Humanity has. This is why sexuality is effectively put under 'lock and key' by our Society. The Judeo-Christian attitude to sexuality has become "embedded" in the cultural psyche, to the extent that many of us feel that sexual expression is "naturally" followed by shame and guilt. For orthodox Christianity, sexuality can never be entirely sinless, even within the confines of marriage. The onset of the "Permissive Society" is supposed to have freed us from past constraints and inhibitions, but has it? Sexuality has become another brand of commodity, another source of status. Although we tend to regard our own sexual natures in terms of privacy and "naturalness", it is subject to a great deal of interference and manipulation from external agents. There is a media-borne cultural imperative that we must be good at sex; that success is dependant on the number of orgasms that we can wring from our partners, or indeed from the number of partners we have. For many of us, sexuality is a major means of gaining status and Egocentric power, associated with imposing ones will upon others. The key factor in Rape for example, appears to be that of the male demonstrating his power over another person (woman or weaker male). Society acts to channel sexual energy into acceptable forms - those which maintain alienation; channels such as Sentimental Romanticism and Pornography. More powerful and invasive than any medieval incubi are the neuroses, obsessions and acts of violence which seem to be the inevitable spawn of this Sexual Nihilism. A characteristic of this profoundly Egocentric sexuality is that ones partner is regarded as little more than an instrument to satisfy ones own needs (be they physical or status needs). Human emotions are alienated in the scramble for consumer gratification; in goods, wealth, success, and the conquering of each others orifices. These cultural imperatives, to be successful and goal-oriented in every area of Life, are so deeply embedded that we only tend to notice the most obvious manifestations of them - with regard to work, for example. They can easily pass unnoticed in the very personal domain in which we place our own sexuality, and equally importantly, our sense of "Spirituality". As a result of the cult~ral emphasis placed on goal-orientation, a good deal of what passes for Western Occultism is also goal-oriented. Western Sexual Magic is no exception. There is a tendency to regard Sexual Magic as merely a 'better' way to acquire goods, "powers" or wealth, and there is great emphasis placed on the necessity of visualisation, inhibition of orgasm and mental concentration, rather than bodily awareness and pleasure. This seems to be a rather clinical and narrow approach to sexual potential- as Zach Cox put it (in Aquarian Arrow 22) "like using a microprocessor chip as a doorstop". Part of the problem that Western Sexual Magic suffers from is the enshrinement of the ideas of Aleister Crowley, who is often held up as a paragon of the 'new sexuality.’ However, Pansexuality such as Crowley displayed does not automatically imply total sexual liberation. Though a great innovator and synthesist, Crowley was unable to disentangle himself from the prevailing sexual mores of his time. His sexual philosophy displays a typical (and enduring) dualistic attitude towards women, placing his "idealised" women on a pedestal, yet seemingly unable to accept women as equals. Examples of his Egocentricity are not hard to find: "At about 8.45pm I was on 34th St & Broadway, looking for a soul-mate, a destined bride, an affinity, a counterpartal ego etc.; and should have considered the conditions satisfied by any orifice into which I could plunge my penis at a cost not exceeding $2.50". Rex De Arte Regia. Crowley’s approach to Sexual Magic seems to have been almost totally results-oriented, with his numerous opera for money, fascination, success, youth and magical energy. He implies that the partner in such a working is secondary to the will of the Mage, the selection of an appropriate partner being left to unconscious caprice Unfortunately for present-day occultists, there is little material available concerning the work and ideas of the women who followed Crowley’s system. Doubtless much of Crowley’s attraction as a guru-figure is the way his attitudes uphold male Egocentcic sexual values. All the material currently available on the subject of "suitability" of partners" is male-oriented, and serves to maintain a kind of imbalance On the one hand there is Louis T. Culling’s attitude: "Often, a woman who has studied occultism becomes impossible because she has too many preconceived ideas which are not in agreement with her role as a good, cooperative partner. If there is any possible rapport, the woman becomes responsive automatically to the aspiration of the male, and after this has happened, it would be very easy to give her an explanation and an understanding of the magical aspects" A Manual of Sex Magick, p25. while on the other hand, there is Kenneth Grants implication that Tantra is well-nigh impossible nowadays, due to the lack of suitable partners: "Western women who possess the required traits are rare, and as they have not the hereditary advantage of initiation into occult techniques - as have certain African and oriental women - the sudden impact of magical energy on their personalities tends to disturb their sanity" Aleister Crowley & the Hidden God, p84. Grant notes that according to Tantric practice, woman is the initiatrix of the male, but seems to hold the opinion that such women are a rarity in the West. Although the bulk of his writing is set towards the task of producing a sexual metaphysic based on the "occult" properties of menstruation, it seems to be distant from women in that there are many references about women as the Priestess or Suvasini - but almost nothing from women themselves on this subject. The focus of this issue of "suitability" is couched wholly, it seems, in terms or occult metaphysics. Nowhere is it mentioned that it is beneficial for all concerned to be working on their own sexual/emotional conditioning, or that empathic sensitivity to, and even understanding of ones partners needs and feelings could be paramount. It is these ordinary, Human qualities that are lost in the vast symbolic metastructures that Grant erects. One has the feeling that those who are not party to the ramifications of these "secrets" are not worth considering in terms of degrees of initiation Initiatory experience in areas of life other than the occult does not seem to matter Given this attitude, it does not seem likely that "Priestesses", at least in the way Grant seems to be depicting them, will "re-emerge", since women seem to be tacitly excluded from assuming a coequal role with males, as it is the latter who have erected the metasystem in the first place: "As it is we can but preserve the formula, confident that the present magical revival will discover genuine Priestesses to serve our mass." Aleister Crowley & the Hidden God. Given the current developments in male and female consciousness, it is more likely that the "Priestesses" are already out there waiting for us men to get our act together! It does seem to be a feature of male-oriented Magic that the emphasis is upon building these heavily intellectual metasystems, which are removed from 'everyday reality'. In contrast to this, "Women’s Mysteries" seem to revolve around aspects of daily experience - birth, sexuality, creation, nurturing, menstruation and Death. It appears that "High Magic" is largely concerned with acting within an abstract "inner-space" that has few points of contact with the consciousness of daily experience. I feel that this distinction should be emphasised, as the whole character of Magic is changing. There is a movement away from it being a kind of developmental process which is seen purely in occult terms, that has nothing in common with other spheres of life This traditional attitude is being supplanted by the idea of Magic as a fully integrative process of self-transformation. There has been a rekindling of the power of Magic in making connections, in communicating with, guiding, healing, and "reaching out" to one another, rather than an entirely personal inner-initiation. As 'the general emphasis of Magic changes, so too has there been a shift in attitudes regarding Sexual Magic. Intimations of this shift can be discerned in the writings of Dion Fortune. Her influence upon developing Western Sexual Magic comes from her novels, rather than from her non-fictional output. The underlying theme in her works, especially The Sea Priestess and Moon Magic concerns the intense consummation achieved by the partnership between a man who is in some way "wounded" and a woman who, to further her own Magical intent, takes on the role of the initiatrix. The Priestess "Vivien Morgan" chooses her partner, initiates him and then withdraws. Fortunes writing displays levels of feeling; of intuition and cycles which was absent in the writings of her male contemporaries. There is a fine understanding displayed of how "magical" development blends with ones relationship to life-changes in general. Fortunes approach to Sexual Magic is concerned with interpersonal transformation rather than goal or inwardlydirected experience. Her treatment of Pan for example, in "The Goat-foot God"is more concerned with the inspiration and awareness of "a Greater Whole" than the rutting, phallocentric Pan that typifies Crowley’s approach to sexuality. The Return of the Goddesses Over the last two decades, one of Humanity’s oldest cultural influences has begun to be reasserted, in the return of the Goddesses. Within the Occult subculture, this has manifested as the growth of Wicca and Earth-based Paganism, and in the wider culture of course as the rise of Feminism and the articulation of female consciousness. Wicca places great emphasis upon Sexual Magic. Doreen Valiente, in Witchcraft for Tomorrow notes the similarities apparent between Witchcraft and Tantra: the emphasis on balance between the sexes, the central role of the Priestess as initiator and Earthly representative of the Goddess. The focus of Wicca is directed outwards - into Nature and awareness of cycles (both intrapsychic and Natural rhythm), rather than a highly abstract metastructure. So the emphasis upon Sexual Magic is towards fertility rites and participation in seasonal changes. Some Wiccan writers see their attitude to Sexual Magic as the Hieros Gamos, the sacred marriage between Gods and Humanity There is also the idea of Sexual Magic as a means of "passing power from initiator to new-initiate" (Galadriel, in The Lamp of Thoth, Vol.1 No.2). Again, this shows a shift towards harnessing sexuality as a means to a process of engagement, rather than simply being another technique for acquiring results The rise of Feminism is also a very important factor in considering the shifting emphasis of Sexual Magic. John Rowan (1987) puts it in these terms: "…women starting to notice that the whole thing (i.e. the Sexual Revolution against Victorian attitudes) had been organised by men, with male assumptions and male values, for the benefit of men. The way in which women had been supposed to participate was by being like men in every way". The Horned God. The growth of Feminist ideology saw women demanding self-definition in their own terms, and a recognition of a female culture that is as important as that of male culture. Awareness of the necessity of this process has been growing steadily, not only at the socio-political level, but also as a Spiritual endeavour. It has showed up the glaring omissions in the "traditions" of Patriarchyderived Occult systems. There is now a resurgence of Women rediscovering, and recovering their own "Mysteries" as evinced in the work of Lynn Andrews, Barbara Walker and Monica Sjoo and others. A particularly important crossover for the development of Magic is the work of Starhawk, who provides a Feminist approach to Spiritual/Transpersonal development for both women and men. Her book Dreaming the Dark connects the values of Wicca with a developing Feminist/Therapeutic current. sexuality is seen of in far wider terms than techniques and metaphysics ( which can be seen as being bound up with male values of prowess & potency). Starhawk writes of the idea of the archetypes of Goddesses and Horned Cod providing possible re-evaluations of male and female, - beyond the constraints of Patriarchal culture. Exploring one’s sexuality through these archetypes is a way of transcending our cultural mores about masculinity and femininity. sexuality is understood as "a deep connecting power" (Starhawk, 1982). This is a far cry from the "traditional" ethos of Sexual Magic. The focus has shifted from a "bits" approach, to Sexual Magic as a distinct set of techniques; to an emphasis which regards sexuality as just one aspect of a whole process of transformation. This is very close to the idea of Sexuality as a means to "Liberation" mentioned earlier. But of course, such Liberation is not only Spiritual, but sexual, social and political. Sexuality & Intimacy Sexual Magic as a path to Liberation is a core idea within Tantric philosophy, but does not seem to have been widely explored in Western Magic. It involves the redefinition of gender stereotypes, exploring relationships beyond the cultural confines, and exploring personal sexuality. Exploring sexuality becomes a means to knowledge, both of self and others. This Gnosis (Knowledge of the Heart) can take us beyond our cultural norms and limitations, to actively engage in the realisation of the post-patriarchal individual Very closely linked with this process is the recovery of Love from its imprisonment in consumer-romanticism. Western ideas of Love have become gradually warped by the concept of Egotistical possession, so that the language of Love is equivalent, to a large degree, to the language of ownership. Love bound by rules, duties, morals and projected by television and commerce serves to maintain the alienation of men and women from themselves and each other. The transformational power of Sexual Energy thus becomes destructive, maintaining the wedge driven between self and other, mind and body, Ego and Exo. However it is possible for Love to be discovered despite these cultural blinds. This is the experience of Love as a Spiritual, inwardly-felt quality. again, this idea is emphasised in Tantra, but not in Western Magic (until fairly recently). It appears in the concept of Courtly or Sublime Love idealised by the European Troubadours, considered as heretical by the church. This Sublime Love is spoken of as a positive force that reaches out towards others, taking them on a journey of expansion. The key to Sublime Love is the "Deep Trust and Intimacy" experienced by the partners involved. Again, this recalls a Tantric idea, that the partners in acts of Sexual Magic be beloved to each other. This recognition (when it has actually been stated in Western writings on Sex Magic) tends to have been formerly restricted to statements that Sexual Magic is only valid when carried out by long-established ("married") partners, or else it becomes somehow "Black". This refers of course to Sexual Magic purely in terms of genital activity. However, when the focus of attention shifts from a narrowly-defined view of Sexuality, to one of intimacy (ofwhich physical sex is only one aspect), there also opens the possibility of intimacy in relationships other than those of conventional exclusivity, Close intimacy can develop within a "closed" magical group, without it necessarily moving into what we would otherwise call wife-swapping or group sex. Intimacy and Deep Trust in a group setting are powerful generators of a Group Gestalt which acts as a tribe or clan to each participant. To the prurient, this will be dismissed as an excuse for orgia, but exploration of intimacy can lead to a greater sense of involvement in both the group, and the wider process of transformation. The emphasis is shifted towards mutual growth and development, rather than the pursuit of sexual Conquests that appears to be so rampant in modern Occult groups. Indeed, the exploration of intimacy could almost be a necessity for Magical groups, where there undercurrents of sexual dynamics (attraction, anxiety, jealousy etc.) which develop when members become attracted to others outside their usual relationships, can quickly destroy a groups coherence Ritualised Sex in a group setting is only destructive when there is a lack of trust and intimacy between those taking part. An American Psychologist, Mosher (1980) researching into intimacy found that 'the level of intimacy a person experiences is related to the degree of expression, awareness, and interpersonal contact that is experienced during sex. According to Mosher there are three levels of intimacy; Ego-centred, Surface-centred and Core-centred. Ego-centred involvement only concerns Egocentric gratification; one’s partner being at best an instrument to fulfil physical or status needs.' Surface-centred involvement centres on sexual performance and pleasure, both of self and partner. Core-centred involvement however is typified by the desire at open oneself fully to the partner, or at its "peak" the experience of Bliss and loss of Ego-boundary. There is also 'the implication that once a new level (or depth) of involvement is attained, that those formerly experienced are in future, no longer wholly satisfying in the way they might once have been. It is this "Numinous" experience of sexuality which most closely corresponds to the Tantric experience of Sexual Ecstasy. But in Western Society, the energy liberated by such experience tends to be diverted into the culturally accepted channels of expression - those which maintain the boundaries of Egocentric involvement. Attachment in terms of possession, with all its attendant anxiety and Neurosis. If these constraints can be transcended (which obviously will take a long time and good deal of effort) then the intensity generated can facilitate a "breakout" from the inertia imposed by society. Lovers can find enough support and energy in each other to reject the cultural limitations and seek new forms of living, free to move in any direction. Obviously, blissful sex cannot of itself wipe away a lifetime of conditioning, but it can be an    impetus towards further development in all areas of awareness. Sexual bliss is a powerful Gnosis for imprinting a new vision of reality, as recognised by Timothy Leary in his theory of Neurological circuits. A first experience of the Numinous often marks the "trigger" for an individual’s transformational journey, and each subsequent experience of bliss provides further impetus for the process. It is the "heat" generated by such alchemical processes which moves the psyche from a condition of static identification (Ego-centric) to one of engagement and flow (Exo-centric). Starhawk writes of this sexual alchemy as: "…an exchange of energy, of subtle nourishment, between people. Through connection with each other, we connect with all". The Spiral Dance It is important to note that psychic structures cannot be "wiped away" completely by the transformational process, but they can be built on, and replaced by structures that are more adaptable, open to uncertainty and change. For men this involves letting go of the male Ego, and what John Rowan calls "surrendering to the Goddess". "Experiencing the Goddess through us, completes men and brings them into our world." Alathea the Shamoon This "surrendering" or willing sacrifice is the beginning of a process of psychic death, which leads ultimately to rebirth into a world of participation and engagement. For males, this psychic meeting with the power of the Goddesses - in the form of the Dark Destroyer (for example Kali, Hecate or the Morrigan) has a powerful transformative potential. The Goddess in her dark aspect is the gateway to the Underworld, the place of psychic dissection and restructuring. This aspect of woman appears in Patriachal culture as the male fantasy of the sexually uninhibited woman also linked with the anxiety-creating image of woman as castrator and devourer. If Will can be directed towards change, then any Magical process involving psychic restructuring ca lead to change in outward areas of life - interpersonal and social. The power of the Goddesses (Shakti in Tantric terminology) as experienced by men, opens us to an experience of empowerment (power not couched in male terms). We can recognise that the possibilities of transformation lie within us, which should lessen the tendency to project Egocentric needs onto women. The reality of this Goddess-experience is difficult to deny or rationalise away, once it becomes immediate and heartfelt. This experience of Devi must surely begin to loosen our cultural conditioning. It is part of the painful process of absorption and rebirth - a rebirth into participation. The Way Forwards? Liberation implies the freedom of the whole being, at all levels and in all areas of action. It is a change which is fundamental and total. It is not enough to ignore or try and wish away our current situation. The necessity of "obedience to awareness" is brought home with every update on our headlong plunge to self-destruction. In many ways this essay is a statement of my   personal views of Sexual Magic, as a way of uncovering, energising and realising our potential to evolve as Humans. The insights gained through the process of transformation give us glimpses of future possibilities, which we can then attempt to live towards. At the moment we know very little about what it means to be male of female, beyond the boundaries of Patriarchy. Growing up, or evolving is a hard and painful struggle, but we cannot resist it forever. Magic is a possible avenue by which we may at first glimpse, then realise these possibilities. This to me, is the essential nature of "I.ove Under Will". Bibliography · Aquarian Arrow magazine, no.22 · Crowley, Aleister - De Arte Regia, Liber Agapé · Culling, Louis T. - A Manual of Sex Magick · Grant, Kenneth - Aleister Crowley & the Hidden God · Magee, Mike - A Lecture on Tantrika (in VITRIOL magazine, no.2) · Richardson, Alan - Dancers to the Gods · Rowan, John - The Horned God · Starhawk - Dreaming the Dark, The Spiral Dance · Shual, Katon - Sexual Magick & Sexual Politics (in Nuit-Isis magazine issues 1 & 2) · Valiente, Doreen - Witchcraft for Tomorrow This article first appeared in Chaos International magazine, issue 4, 1988.

Our country is now facing its worst crisis in modern history. We are in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic that could lead to the death of hundreds of thousands of Americans and infect millions of others, and we are entering an economic downturn that could be worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Last week, 3.3 million Americans filed for unemployment. This week that number doubled to 6.6 million claims — ten times higher than any other week on record. It is certain that well over 10 million people have lost their jobs — more than in the Wall Street crash of 2008.

In this unprecedented moment in modern American history, it is imperative that we respond in an unprecedented way. And that means that Congress must pass, in the very near future, the boldest piece of legislation ever written in modern history.

There are many, many issues that must be addressed in our response to this pandemic, and working together, we will make sure they are addressed.

But today, I am outlining a set of six core provisions that must be included in the next legislation Congress passes to support working people in this country during this horrific crisis. Please read them and add your name to say that you agree:

1. Addressing the Employment Crisis and Providing Immediate Financial Relief

There is little doubt in my mind that we are facing an economic crisis that could be even worse than the Great Depression. The St. Louis Federal Reserve has projected that 47 million more people may become unemployed by the end of June, with unemployment reaching 32 percent. In my view, we must make sure that every worker in America continues to receive their paycheck during this crisis and we must provide immediate financial relief to everyone in this country.

An important precedent for that approach was taken in the recent stimulus package in which grants were provided to the airlines for the sole purpose of maintaining the paychecks and benefits of some 2 million workers in that industry through September 30. We must expand that program to cover every worker in America and we must make it retroactive to the beginning of this crisis. This is not a radical idea. Other countries, such as the UK, Norway, Denmark, France, and others have all come up with similar approaches to sustain their economy and prevent workers from losing their jobs.

Our primary goal during this crisis must be to prevent the disintegration of the American economy. It will be much easier and less expensive to prevent the collapse of the economy than trying to put it back together after it collapses.

To do this, we must also begin monthly payments of $2,000 for every man, woman, and child in our country, and guarantee paid family leave throughout this crisis so that people who are sick do not face the choice of infecting others or losing their job.

2. We Must Guarantee Health Care to All

Let’s be clear: we were facing a catastrophic health care crisis before the pandemic, and now that crisis has become much, much worse. Already, 87 million people are uninsured or underinsured. Layoffs will mean tens of millions of people more will lose their current insurance — which will result in countless deaths and bankruptcies. Already in the last two weeks, an estimated 3.5 million people have lost their employer-sponsored insurance.

And as the pandemic grows, we are seeing more and more reports of people who have delayed treatment due to concerns about cost. In this pandemic, uninsurance will lead to deaths and more COVID-19 transmissions.

Therefore, during this crisis, Medicare must be empowered to pay all of the deductibles, co-payments and out-of-pocket healthcare expenses for the uninsured and the underinsured. No one in America who is sick, regardless of immigration status, should be afraid to seek the medical treatment they need during this national pandemic. Let me be clear: I am not proposing that we pass Medicare for All in this moment. That fight continues into the future. But, for the moment, we must act boldly to make sure everyone can get the health care they need in the coming months.

3. Use the Defense Production Act to Produce the Equipment and Testing We Need

Unbelievably, in the United States right now, doctors and nurses are unnecessarily putting their lives on the line treating people suffering from the coronavirus because they lack personal protective equipment like masks, gloves, and surgical gowns. The CDC has directed health professionals to use homemade gear like bandanas or scarves and some workers at the VA are being told to re-use one surgical mask for a week at a time. HHS estimated that our country needs 3.5 billion masks in response to this crisis.

President Trump has utilized the Defense Production Act thousands of times for the military and for enforcement of his immigration policies, yet he has resisted using its power to save lives during the pandemic. That is unacceptable. We must immediately and forcefully use the Defense Production Act to direct the production of all of the personal protective equipment, ventilators and other medical supplies needed.

We must also utilize this power to produce antibody tests so we can begin figuring out who has already contracted the virus and has developed some immunity to COVID-19.

In addition, OSHA must adopt a strong emergency standard to protect health care workers, patients, and the public during this crisis. We must crack down aggressively on price gougers and hoarders, and use any means necessary to secure supplies.

4. Make Sure No One Goes Hungry

Even before this crisis hit, one in every seven kids in America was going hungry and nearly 5.5 million seniors in our country struggled with hunger. Already in this crisis we see lines at food banks and growing concern that our most vulnerable communities and those recently unemployed may struggle to feed their families.

As communities face record levels of food insecurity, we must increase SNAP benefits, expand the WIC program for pregnant mothers, infants, and children, double funding for the Emergency Food Program (TEFAP) to ensure food banks have food to distribute, and expand Meals on Wheels and School Meals programs. When necessary, we must also develop new approaches to deliver food to vulnerable populations — including door-to-door drop offs.

5. Provide Emergency Aid to States and Cities

Even as state and local employees like police officers, firefighters and paramedics work on the front lines of this pandemic, states and cities that pay their salaries are facing enormous budgetary pressures.

Congress must provide $600 billion in direct fiscal aid to states and cities to ensure they have the personnel and funding necessary to respond to this crisis. In addition, the Federal Reserve must establish programs to provide direct fiscal support and budgetary relief to states and municipalities.

6. Suspend Monthly Payments

Even before this crisis, half of the people in our country were living paycheck to paycheck. In America today, over 18 million families are paying more than 50 percent of their income on housing. Now, with growing unemployment, families are facing financial ruin if we do not act quickly and boldly.

That’s why we must suspend monthly expenses like rent, mortgages, medical debt and consumer debt collection for 4 months. We must cancel all student loan payments for the duration of this crisis, and place an immediate moratorium on evictions, foreclosures, and utility shut-offs.

Brothers and sisters: In this unprecedented moment in our history it is easy to feel like we are alone, and that everyone must fend for themselves. But that would be a mistake and a terrible tragedy. Now, more than any other moment in our lives, we must remember that we are all in this together — that when one of us gets sick, many more may get sick. And when my neighbor loses their job, I may lose my job as well.

New from Every Movie Has a Lesson by Don Shanahan: OSCAR PREDICTIONS 2020: The minor film categories

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PART 2: THE MINOR FILM CATEGORIES

The short turnaround 92nd Academy Awards arrive host-free for the second consecutive year on Sunday, February 9th, barely a month after nominations were announced. The pace has added excitement and urgency right on down to my website’s 2020 Awards Tracker. Let’s start calling some winners. As always, that prognostication data is cited in these predictions. This column examines the minor film categories of international, animated, and documentary films. As I say every year, stick with me and I will win you your Oscar pool!

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

The nominees: Corpus Christi, Honeyland, Les Misérables, Pain and Glory, Parasite

Who should be here: These are likely the top and best five. Maybe I can throw a bone to Monos, but we’re getting pretty obscure once we all realize the juggernaut in the category.

Who should feel lucky to be there: Every film not named Parasite is the answer. Jokes aside, I must say I don’t mind the category re-naming to give this a little extra rub of prominence.

Who should win and will win: This is a no-doubter for Parasite, arguably the hyperbole-driven “movie of the year.” Sure, once could ask for wealth to be spread towards Almodovar’s Pain and Glory, but the renowned filmmaker already owns two Oscars to Bong Joon-ho’s zero. This will be a stunner and a possible precursor if it’s NOT Parasite. That could very well mean Parasite wins the top spot instead of this easy one. Be watching!

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

The nominees: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, I Lost My Body, Klaus, Missing Link, Toy Story 4

Who should be here: In my opinion, these are the right five, Frozen II be damned.

Who should feel lucky to be there: Klaus is the luckiest one where we have Netflix topping Disney, which is a really cool thing. Maybe this will nudge the Mouse House that originality gets honored more competitively that repetition. We could only hope.

Who should win: To keep the originality vibe going, let’s have the indie animated movie win for a change. I Lost My Body is a worthy, original, and soulful work. To me, that beats the cash grab sequel that’s going to win on the home television network it owns.

Who will win: My review flak and soapbox history with Toy Story 4 is well-known here. I don’t think it should win or be here, but it’s going to win. The craft is good enough and the franchise is beloved. The favoritism is too high. I’ll be the jerk rooting for an upset.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

The nominees: American Factory, The Cave, The Edge of Democracy, For Sama, Honeyland

Who should be here: The Academy makes me scratch my head. For the second year in a row, the most popular, well-reviewed, and publicly favored documentary of the year was excluded from the field. Apollo 11 is as imperatively important and worthy as any documentary in history. It has more than 30 award season wins, lapping these other nominees combined and twice over. It should be accepting a trophy on stage Sunday.

Who should feel lucky to be there: With Apollo 11 out, all five should feel lucky whatever discerning voting body that picks this field noticed them. Talk about changing the culture. I’d start in documentary.

Who should win: If we’re going for power and drama along with facts, For Sama is the heartbreaker that should sway voters with gobs of empathy. However, I think politics tend to win in this category and it will again.

Who will win: As a middle-finger to the current administration and wealthy genuflect to a departed hero, I think American Factory produced by the company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama carries the favor and sentiment. If the former first couple walks the red carpet and attend the ceremony, expect a big standing ovation days after a crass State of the Union and an impeachment acquittal.

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

The nominees: Brotherhood, Nefta Football Club, The Neighbours’ Window, Saria, A Sister

Who should be here: Good luck digging. As connected as I am, I don’t know the depth of this field any more than most. The five here are solid enough.

Who should feel lucky to be there: We’ve reached that part of the ceremony of fringe and non-featured categories that will probably be given during a commercial break. They’re all lucky.

Who should win and will win: In this dartboard category with virtually no awards season data to go off of, I go straight to the Vegas betting odds. Brotherhood is where the money is going. Give it a checkbox.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

The nominees: Dcera (Daughter), Hair Love, Kitbull, Memorable, Sister

Who should be here: In a surprise, there was no Pixar-branded short that played before its annual June release, that being Toy Story 4. Normally, that is a shoe-in nominee in this field.

Who should feel lucky to be there: SEE LIVE ACTION SHORT

Who should win: Now I’ve actually seen these five and can give some love and true opinion. The best one I saw was the claymation drama Dcera (Daughter). Smudges matched character and intimate cinematography to move around the family subjects of grief was very striking. It really stood out something unique and artistic.

Who will win: Even without a mainstream Pixar choice, I’m still putting my money on the brand. One of their smaller PixarSpark selections was Kitbull, a charming little story of neighborly friendship between a chained and abused dog and an alley kitten. It went with refreshing 2D animation and brought the Pixar Punch heart. I think it wins people over.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

The nominees: In the Absence, Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone, Life Overtakes Me, St Louis Superman, Walk Run Cha-Cha

Who should be here: SEE BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM

Who should feel lucky to be there: SEE BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM

Who should win and who will win: Fitting and with positive effort, topical politics tends to these documentary categories. Look no further than American Factory in the feature section. Here in the shorts, put your Oscar pool wager on St. Louis Superman chronicling the political rise and struggles of rapper Bruce Franks, Jr. during the post-Ferguson time period. That kind of content pushes the buttons and earns votes.

NEXT: THE VISUAL AND ARTISTIC CATEGORIES

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"THE CHISHOLMS" (1979): Chapter II Commentary

"THE CHISHOLMS" (1979): CHAPTER II Commentary The first episode of the 1979 miniseries, "THE CHISHOLMS" - otherwise known as Chapter I had focused on the Chisholm family's last year at their western Virginia farm. The episode also explored the circumstances that led to patriarch Hadley Chisholm's decision to move the family west to California during the spring of 1844 and their journey as far as Evansville, Indiana. This second episode focused on the next stage of their journey.

This new episode or Chapter II focused on a short period of the Chisholms' migration to California. It covered their journey from southeastern Illinois to Independence, Missouri. Due to the addition of a guide named Lester Hackett, who had agreed to accompany them as far as Missouri, the Chisholm family experienced its first crisis - one that led to a temporary split within the family ranks. The family's journey seemed to be smooth sailing at first. They managed to become used to the routine of wagon train traveling. Lester proved to be an agreeable companion who helped with both hunting for game and cooking. He even managed to save Bonnie Sue Chisholm, who briefly found herself trapped in the family's wagon being pulled away by their pair of skittish mules. Eventually, Bonnie Sue and Lester began expressing romantic interest in each other. But alas, the family's luck began to fade. A lone rider began trailing the Chisholm party. Lester discovered that he was a friend of someone named James Peabody, who believes Lester was responsible for the theft of some valuables that include a pair of Spanish pistols . . . the same pistols that Lester had claimed he lost in a poker match in Louisville. He and Bonnie Sue enjoyed a night of intimacy together before he abandoned the Chisholms . . . while riding Will Chisholm's horse. Around the same time, Hadley's violent encounter with a drunken Native American at a local tavern fully revealed his deep-seated bigotry towards all Native Americans and foreshadowed the problems it will cause. Then Hadley made one of the worst decisions of his life by allowing Will and middle son Gideon to pursue Lester to Iowa and recover the former's stolen horse. Upon their arrival in Iowa, Will made an equally disastrous decision. Instead of requesting information and help from the local sheriff, he and Gideon appeared at the Hackett farm, asking for Lester's whereabouts. The two brothers ended up being arrested for the theft of chicken eggs and trespassing. Although the charges of theft were dropped, Will and Gideon were convicted of trespassing and ordered to serve on a prison work gang for a month. This left the rest of the family to continue on to Independence, Missouri - the jump-off point for all westbound wagon trains. During their journey through Missouri, the Chisholms joined with the Comyns, a family from Baltimore. Upon their arrival in Independence, the Chisholms and the Comyns discover that most of the wagons trains had already departed. However, they managed to form a wagon party with a plainsman named Timothy Oates and his Pawnee wife, Youngest Daughter. Unaware that Will and Gideon have been sentenced to a prison work gang, and aware that they are already behind schedule, the Chisholms have no choice but to head west into the wilderness. For an episode that began in a light-hearted manner, Chapter II ended on a rather ominous note. You know, I have seen this production so many times. Yet, it never really occurred until recently how the turmoil caused by Lester Hackett in this episode ended up causing so much turmoil for the family. What makes this ironic is that it all began with the sexual attraction that had sprung up between him and Bonnie Sue Chisholm back in Louisville. The first sign of this turmoil manifested in Lester's abandonment of the family and especially, his theft of Will Chisholm's horse. The horse theft led to the separation of the family at a time when it would have been more imperative for them to be together as a unit. Hadley did not help matters by allowing Will and Gideon to search for Lester in Iowa. And the two brothers made the situation worse by failing to immediately contact the local sheriff before appearing at the Hackett farm - an act that led them to be sentenced one month on a prison work gang. Will and Gideon's situation made it impossible for them to catch up with the rest of the family on the trail. And as Beau Chisholm had pointed out to Hadley in Independence, they were not in a position to wait for the other two. The Chisholms had no choice but to leave with two other westbound parties - the Comyns from Baltimore and the frontiersman Timothy Oates and his wife, Youngest Daughter. Two families and a couple does not seem large enough for a safe journey on the overland trail. But considering they were all behind schedule, they could either take the risk continue west or hang around Independence until the next year. But I did notice that despite all of this turmoil, the light-hearted atmosphere of the episode's beginning seemed to have persisted. More importantly, Chapter II seemed to be marked by a good deal of humor. The episode included humorous moments like Hadley's negative comments about the Illinois and Missouri landscapes, Will and Lester's lively debate over using mules or oxen to pull wagon overland, Lester's attempts to win over the family - especially Minerva, and especially his sexy courtship of Bonnie Sue. Once Lester had abandoned the family near St. Louis, the humor continued. Will and Gideon's experiences in Iowa were marked with a good deal of sardonic humor. That same humor marked Hadley and Minerva's low opinion of the Comyn family. Even Hadley's quarrel with the Independence saloon owner permeated with humor and theatricality. Looking back on Chapter II, I can only think of two moments that really emphasized the gravitas of the Chisholms' situation - Hadley's violent encounter with the Native American inside an Illinois tavern and that final moment when the family continued west into the wilderness without Will and Gideon. When the Chisholms left Virginia in Chapter I, their journey was marked with a good number of interesting settings. That episode featured a detailed re-creation of Louisville and travel along the Ohio River. There seemed to be no such unusual settings for Chapter II. The entire episode focused on the family's journey through Illinois, Iowa and Missouri. Not once did the episode featured the family in St. Louis. And a few set pieces (or buildings) served as Independence, Missouri circa 1844. The performances from Chapter I held up very well. Robert Preston and Rosemary Harris, as usual, gave excellent performances as the family's heads - Hadley and Minerva Chisholm. I was especially impressed by Preston's performance in the scene involving Hadley's encounter with the intoxicated Native American. In it, the actor did a superb job in conveying both Hadley's racism toward all Native Americans and his poignant regret over the tragic circumstances (Allen Chisholm had been killed by a Native American in a drunken fight over a slave woman from the Bailey plantation) behind his toxic attitude. Both Ben Murphy and Brian Kerwin clicked rather well during those scenes that involved Will and Gideon Chisholm's search for Lester. The episode also featured solid performances from James Van Patten, Susan Swift, Katie Hanley (as the amusingly mild-mannered Mrs. Comyn) and David Heyward (as Timothy Oates). Veteran character actor Jerry Hardin gave an excellent performance the slightly proud, yet finicky Mr. Comyn, who seemed to run his life by his pocketwatch. But if I must be honest, this episode belonged to Stacy Nelkin and Charles Frank, who did superb jobs in conveying Bonnie Sue Chisholm and Lester Hackett's burgeoning romance. I was impressed by how both of them developed Bonnie Sue and Lester's relationship from sexual attraction to playful flirtations and finally, to a genuine romance that was sadly cut short by Lester's need for self-preservation from a charge of theft. Overall, I enjoyed Chapter II. In a way, it seemed to be the calm before the storm that threatens to overwhelm the Chisholm family on their trek to California. The episode seemed to be filled with a good deal of humor and romance. On the other hand, Lester Hackett's past and current choices in this episode seemed to hint an ominous future for the family by the end of the episode.

Airposts and their Stamps (1921)

This article is probably one of the first airmail articles, certainly of any length, to be published in a philatelic journal. It was first published in Stamp Collectors' Fortnightly (January, 1921) from a paper read by Major RS Archer, MC, as his Presidential Address before the Liverpool Junior Philatelic Society, October 11th, 1920.

The Wabash Railway Company in U.S.A. has recently taken off its fast mail train between Toledo and St. Louis, because it could not compete with its rival in the air. To one who has closely followed the rapid development of the aerial mail, this announcement causes little surprise. The increase in speed of the aeroplane over the train would in itself not affect the rail services, but this, added to the fact that the air line in question has maintained an efficiency of 92 percent for more than twelve months, has demonstrated the reliability of the aeroplane service. All the experiments prove that the universal use of the aeroplane for mail-carrying purposes is coming, and almost daily the papers chronicle the institution of new air lines. The collection of aerial post stamps thus becomes imperative to the up-to-date philatelist. One prophesies the not-far-distant date when the majority of the new stamps, certainly European, occupying the pages of our albums, till be those used in connection with the post conveyed by petrol-driven Mercuries. Tonight, time will only permit a short flight through the intensely fascinating history of the air mail, whilst I pilot you amongst the forty odd stamps which the past three and a half years have brought forth in this connection. The experience gained in the past War has, of course, been an invaluable help in the development of air services, and, curiously enough it was in wartime that the first airpost was instituted. It was necessary, during the Siege of Paris in 1870, to find a means of communication with the outer world, and, for this purpose, a balloon post was brought into being. The first ascent was made on 23rd September, 1870, and the services continued in almost daily use for four months, during which period 68 balloons were despatched, 60 landing on French or neutral territory, five being captured by the Germans, and three being lost at sea. Envelopes despatched in this manner give no indication of their mode of conveyance. However, it may be taken that any envelope or card bearing a postmark dated between 23rd September, 1870, and 28th January, 1871, was forwarded from Paris by balloon post - the first authoritative air mail. A connecting link between balloon and aeroplane posts took place in 1896, when a Mr. Fricker inaugurated a pigeon service between Great Barrier Island and Auckland N.Z., 66 miles apart, a post which continued for several years. Special triangular stamps were used for this service, depicting a pigeon in full flight, the denomination being 6d. (blue) and 1s. (red). The first aeroplane post in the world, however, took place on 18th February, 1911, at Allahabad, India, organised by Captain Windham. The letters were carried by aeroplane from the United Provinces Exhibition to a Post Office receiving-station in Allahabad, from which place they were despatched to any part of the world to which they were addressed. Over 6,000 letters and cards, thus posted, were franked by the Exhibition P.O. with a die, specially cut in the postal workshops at Aligarh, incorporating a design of an aeroplane, encircled by the inscription "Aerial Post, Allahabad Exhibition," together with the date of despatch. A nominal additional fee of six annas per letter or card was charged, which amount was handed, without deduction, as a donation to the new buildings of the Oxford and Cambridge Hostel at Allahabad. In honour of King George's Coronation this same Captain Windham was also the organiser of the first air post in the United Kingdom, which was flown between Hendon and Windsor on 9th September, 1911, and for a few following days. No special stamps were issued, but envelopes and postcards bearing a design of an aeroplane flying over Windsor Castle, with the winding Thames and St. Paul's Cathedral in the distance, were sold at 1s. and 6d. respectively. The postmark was worded "First United Kingdom Aerial Post," and the date; about 100,000 pieces of mail being carried by this service. U.S.A. was busy just about the same time, in 1911, experimenting with air mails, and this, coupled with the knowledge gained in the War, resulted in the establishment early in 1918, of an air line between New York and Washington, 218 miles apart. After the Armistice, lack of trains and engines led to an extension of this service to Cleveland and Chicago. This line now continues right on to San Francisco, by way of Omaha, Nebraska, Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Salt Lake City, Utah. The trip takes three days and is 2,651 miles in length, but results in letters reaching their destination 42 hours before the mail-train is due. Another air line runs between St. Louis, Chicago, and St. Paul, whilst numerous other towns are in process of being linked up by air. In the past twelve months over half a million pounds weight of mail matter has been airborne, and about £50,000 has been actually saved, as compared with the cost of transit by rail. On the 2nd of June, 1912, the Japanese postal authorities experimented with an air mail between Yokohama and Tokyo. A few letters are known to exist, whose envelopes bear the ordinary stamp and obliteration, with a special postmark, inscribed "Japanese Aerial Mail" and the Japanese equivalent for the date, but the attempt, being only experimental, was discontinued after the first day. From 1912 till 1917, aerial mails did not make much progress, but the reason which caused the inception of the air post, namely, war, was responsible for the re-opening of this means of communication. It happened that there was very serious congestion on the Italian railways in 1917, to relieve which an air mail was organised, on the 22nd May, between Rome and Turin. These cities are about 350 miles apart, the air space between them being bridged within four hours. In this connection. Italy achieved fame by being the first country to issue a stamp for use of its air mail, which took the form of an overprint on the 1903 "Inland Express Letter" stamp, 25c. rose, as follows :- ESPERIMENTO POSTA AEREA MAGGIO 1917 TORINO-ROMA - ROMA-TORINO

A month later, on 28th June, owing to the interference of Austrian submarines with Naples and Palermo, Sicily, mail steamers, a special seaplane service was inaugurated between these two places, which are 170 miles apart. The stamp used in this connection was the then unissued 40c. violet "Express Delivery" stamp, overprinted with the words IDROVOLANTE NAPOLl PALERMO NAPOLI 25 CENT 25

Another wartime air mail was brought into being on 30th March, 1918, by Austria, her planes carrying letters from Vienna to Kieff , with calls at Cracow and Lemberg. Three of the 1916 "Arms" type stamps were used, all being overprinted in block capitals with the formidable word "FLUGPOST", meaning "flying post."

"1.50 K 1.50'' was surcharged on the 2kr. (lilac) and "2.50 K 2.50" on the 3kr. (bistre), whilst the 4kr. (grey) was used without any surcharge. To the U.S.A. falls the honour of issuing the first distinctive air post stamp, which made its appearance on the 15th May, 1918, on the inauguration of the New York-Washington service. This stamp, which was recess-plate printed in carmine and blue, without watermark, at the Washington Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and is perforated 11, depicts a mail-carrying plane in flight. Over two million of these stamps were printed, out of which one lucky purchaser secured, over the P.O. counter, a sheet of 100 with the aeroplane inverted , the only sheet known to be printed in error. A Colonel Green eventually bought up the whole sheet, selling half of it, and retaining the remaining 50 in his own collection. These he had with him on hoard his steam yacht when it foundered in 1919, 43 of these stamps being so damaged as to be useless, which makes the error a very rare stamp. The air-mail fee was reduced on 15th July to 16 cents, and again in December, 1918 to 6 cents, for which stamps of these values were issued, yellow-green in the first instance, orange in the latter, the original design being retained. Since then the extra air-post fee has been abolished, and the ordinary mail fee of 2 cents, or 1d., an ounce is charged. It is not contemplated to issue a separate aerial mail stamp. On 4th July, 1918, the Hungarians experimented with an air mail, having Budapest as its starting point, and with various internal towns as destinations; but owing to the weather conditions and accidents to aviators, it was only in existence 20 days. Two of the 1916-17 stamps were surcharged as follows :- "1 K 50f. " on 75 filler (blue). "2 K 50f." on 2 krona (brown). the words "REPÜLÖ POSTA" being overprinted above the value, in red and blue respectively. This overprinting was carried out at the State Printing Works at Budapest, and is not remarkable for its good workmanship. This will be especially noticeable in the copy I show of the lower value, in which several letters are broken, whilst the "P" of "POSTA" has no top at all. It rather looks as if this stamp had taken part in one of the accidents which occurred. In October, 1920, an aerial mail was established, linking Hungary with other European countries, and the 1916-17 10kr. stamp was overprinted with the words "LEGI POSTA" and the new value, 3, 8, or 12 korona.

The air fairly hummed in 1919 with air post developments, and in all parts of the world aerial mails were instituted or carried out with this object in view. Early in the year an aeroplane post was started between Bombay and Karachi to expedite delivery of mail brought by steamers to Bombay. Public apathy and lack of support, however, caused the speedy discontinuance of this air line. Alexandria, Cairo, and Ismailia were linked together by air mail of 17th March, by "R.A.F." planes, which carried only official correspondence during the native disturbances, no special stamps or postmark being used. The envelopes, however, were marked with rubber stamp, "Aerial Post, E.E.F.", meaning "Egyptian Expeditionary Force". This service was discontinued as soon as conditions were normal. Switzerland was next in the field, or air, I should say, by the opening of a summer aerial post between Zurich and Lausanne, with calls at Berne and Neuchâtel, which took place on 28th April, 1919. The ordinary postage was charged, plus an air fee of 50c. For this latter purpose the current 50c. "Helvetia " type stamp was overprinted at the Federal Mint, Berne, with a design in red, showing the Swiss Military Air Force badge. Postmarks bearing the words "Schweiger Flugpost" were used, in addition to the ordinary express letter postmark. On the 5th May, 100,000 copies of the 35c. stamp of the 1906 issue of Tunis were ready for sale in connection with the air service which connected Gabés, Djerba, Zarzis, and Ben Gardane, as from that date. These stamps had been overprinted at the French Government Printing Works in Paris, and, in addition to the central overprint of the French aviator's badge, the air fee denomination of "30" centimes appeared on the stamp with the words "POSTE AÉRIENNE", the old value being obliterated by three bars. The stamp depicts the ruins of Hadrian's Aqueduct and, with its overprint, shows a true blending of the ancient with the modern. I wonder what Hadrian would say if he knew? This stamp has recently been replaced by a 30c. stamp of similar design, in blue and grey-green. We now come to the gallant, but unsuccessful attempt of Messrs. Hawker and Grieve to fly the Atlantic from Newfoundland to the United Kingdom. This took place on the 18th May, 1919, on a Sopwith machine, and resulted in the aeroplane falling into the sea, the two aviators with their mail being fortunately salved by a passing steamer. The mail reached the P.O. intact with the help of the British Fleet. The contents were undamaged, though in some cases wet, but none was in such condition as to prevent ultimate delivery. For the purposes of this mail 200 of the 3c. "Caribou" issue were overprinted at the Royal Gazette Office, St. John's (where all the other air-stamp overprints have been carried out), with the words "FIRST TRANSATLANTIC AIRPOST, April, 1919." - for the flight was expected to take place in April, though weather conditions were unfavourable until the following month. Of the 200 stamps, 18 were damaged and destroyed in the presence of the Auditor-General, 11 were used as presentation copies (one of which was sent to H.M. the King), and 95 were used and cancelled in the mail itself, leaving 76 still to be accounted for. These were sold at $25 each on behalf of the Marine Disaster Fund. and as only 182 of these stamps are known to exist, they are of great rarity. The first Trans-Atlantic Air Stamp was presented by the aviators, to be auctioned for the benefit of the Marine Disaster Fund. Lieut.-Col. E. S. Halford. of the Air Ministry, eventually bought the stamp for £210. Later in the month of May the air mail, ready for despatch by the Raynham-Martinsyde Atlantic flight, bore stamps of the 1c., 2c., 3c., and 24c. current "Caribou" series. These were overprinted as follows :-"1st Atlantic Airpost, Martinsyde-Raynham, Morgan". The cheers of the send-off had hardly died away before the plane crashed to earth to become a useless wreck, and the mail had to be despatched through the usual channels. The 15c. stamp of the 1897 (Jubilee) series, surcharged "Trans-Atlantic AIR POST, 1919. ONE DOLLAR" was now issued to prepay postage on letters sent by the Alcock-Whitten Brown flight to U.K. This non-stop flight commenced on 14th June, 1919, in a Vickers-Vimy machine, and by this means mail posted in Newfoundland on the early morning of 14th June was delivered in London on the night of the 17th-three days after leaving Newfoundland. The stamps were sold at $1 each, but the limited edition, was speedily bought up. 10,000 were surcharged in sheets of 25, making 400 sheets in all. In the overprinting errors hme crept in. Each sheet, therefore, contained 16 stamps normally overprinted; seven stamps with no comma after "POST"; one with an imperfect comma; and one without the full stop after "1919" and no comma after "POST". Thus it will be seen that of the 10,000 stamps issued, 6,400 were normally overprinted, 2,800 had no comma, 400 had an imperfect comma, and 400 had no stop or comma. It will be noticed that the block of four stamps, which I show, contains all four varieties - a rare combination. To celebrate an experimental air post between Puerto, Port Colombia, and Barranquila, 200 of the 1917 2c. Colombian stamps were overprinted locally with the inscription "1 en SERVICIO POSTAL AEREO 6-18-19" in five lines in black. Only one flight was made and the stamps were not accepted by the P.O. and were never cancelled by them. In October, 1920, an attempt was made to institute an air service between Cartagena and Barranquila, but owing to serious fatal accidents, this air mail has been indefinitely suspended. The contract for this service was given by the P.O. to a local firm, and letters carried through the air travelled at ordinary postage, plus 10c. per 15 grammes. Two thousand copies of a 10c oblong stamp were printed, depicting a vessel on the sea, with aeroplane above, and setting sun on the horizon. This was superseded by a set of seven values, issued privately by the air contractors, the design showing a map of the Colombian coast, with aeroplane in flight. To signalise the first air mail over the Rocky Mountains the envelopes of letters thus conveyed were franked with a special postmark bearing the words "1st B.C. Alberta Aerial Post." The mail in question was carried by plane, on August 5th, 1919, from Vancouver to Calgary, via Vernon and over the Great Divide to Lethbridge. On the return journey the pilot was forced to descend at Golden, and the letters were sent on by rail. Japan had made no serious attempt since its 1912 experiment to commence an air post, but with the intention of instituting regular flights between Tokyo and Osaka nearly 300 miles, stamps were issued for use on letters to be conveyed by the first air mail on October 3rd, 1919. These stamps were the current 1½ sen (blue) and the 3 sen (carmine), overprinted with the design of an aeroplane in red and black respectively. These two air stamps were on sale only at Head Post Offices on October 3rd, and in spite of elaborate precautions to prevent one person buying more than two stamps of each value, the entire issue of 40,000 overprinted stamps was sold out in a very short time. The weather played an important part in connection with this mail, and behaved so badly for day after day from October 4th, that the flight was abandoned for a further attempt (to the delight of the more superstitious Japanese and the letters sent by the usual method. The "King Albert Aerial Mail Service" was commenced early in January), 1920, in Belgian Congo. This service, which is carried out by seaplanes, embraces the whole of the Upper Congo River, and is flown in conjunction with the arrival of the Belgian mail steamers. In August last, four finely-drawn stamps, depicting scenes in the Congo with a seaplane above, made their appearance for use in this connection. The perforation is 12 and the values are :- 50c. orange and black. 1fr. violet and black. 2f blue and black. 5fr. green and black. By some unfortunate mistake, one which has caused the Belgian Government much annoyance, the word printed at the foot of each stamp, "Postluchtdienst," should have appeared as "Luchtpostdienst." As it stands the translation reads: "Service of the Postal Air," instead of "Postal Service of the Air." Of course, the printer may have been a man of imagination, and this was his way of prophesying that the air was soon to be so impregnated with correspondence as almost to describe the term "postal air." The air post instituted between Reval and Helsingfors in Estonia. was the direct outcome of the icebound nature of that country's coastline in the Gulf of Finland, which, at the time, permitted only a few Ships to arrive at Reval. Thus it happened that, on 7th February, 1920, three British-piloted planes left Reval with mail and reached Helsingfors in less than an hour later. Weather conditions prevented the return journey being made for over a week. The service, however, was continued until two months later, when, owing to a shortage of aeroplanes, only a very small proportion of the mail could be carried. Preference was given to diplomatic and Registered letters, ordinary being taken if there was room. The breaking up of the ice early in May permitted the re-opening of sea communication, and the air mail was discontinued. In March a five mark imperforate triangular stamp was issued for use on this mail, printed in yellow, blue and black, and showing an aeroplane in flight. The ordinary postage was charged in addition to the air fee. A Tientsin-Pekin aerial mail was inaugurated as a regular service on 7th May, 1920, with Handley-Page machines. Letters posted at 5 p.m. in Tientsin can now be delivered in Pekin three hours later. No special stamp has so far been issued, but the postmark reads: - "Chinese Post Office - despatched by aeroplane - Tientsin-Pekin." The Chinese Cabinet has now sanctioned the opening of an air service between Pekin and Shanghai, with three intermediate stations, and 80 landing grounds. Siam, a country whose airmen are so intrepid and so seemingly without nerves, has commenced in September an aerial post between Bangkok and Chantzboon, roughly 300 miles. The current 5 satangs stamps has been overprinted by hand-machine, with the Siamese emblematic bird, the garuda, under which appear four lines of native wording. When the London-Paris Airpost was opened to the general public on 10th November, 1919, the charge was excessive, viz, 2s. 6d. per ounce. The total number of letters sent on the first day after this charge was made totalled 315, whilst the aeroplanes ready for use had a capacity of 76,000 letters. Since then, however, steps have been taken to popularise the aerial mail, the chief of which has been the reduction of the air fee to 2d. per ounce, plus ordinary postage, whilst the express fee is 6d. an ounce. A blue label, inscribed "BY AIR MAIL," which can be obtained free from the Post Office, is the only outward and visible token on the left-hand corner of the envelope that it has travelled from England by aerial mail. The absence of this label, so long as the envelope is clearly marked as to its means of conveyance, will not debar the letter from being forwarded by air and delivered. In France, a label is attached to the envelope, depicting as its central design, the great French aviator, Guynemer. Besides the twice daily service to Paris and back, carried out by the Aircraft Transport and Travel Co., Ltd., recent air lines have linked together six countries, namely, England, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. This service was inaugurated on 15th September, when a Danish-piloted de. Haviland plane left Copenhagen with the London mail and, travelling via Hamburg, reached Amsterdam, where the letters were transferred to the Handley-Page and Airco joint air service, and so to London. On the return journey, Queen Alexandra sent a basket of fruit to the Empress Dowager of Russia. The fruit left London a 3p.m. and was conveved to Her Majesty, outside Copenhagen, by 5 p.m. the following day. Last week a mail plane flew from Cricklewood, London, made a stop at Amsterdam, and arrived at Copenhagen in 5 hours 40 minutes, the distance being 520 miles. The London-Amsterdam service, instituted on 5th July, 1920, is carried out by the Handley-Page Transport Co., and the journey of 265 miles has been flown in 1 hour 50 minutes, or an average of 150 miles per hour. For use in connection with this inking up of countries, Sweden, at the end of September, issued three overprinted stamps, viz. :- 3 öre brown, Official, surcharged "LUFTPOST 10" 2 öre orange, Official, surcharged "LUFTPOST 20" 4 öre lilac, Official, surcharged "LUFTPOST 50" Envelopes bear a blue label, similar to that of Great Britain, but the word "LUFTPOST" is printed in red thereon. A provisional overprinting of the 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50c. current Spanish stamps with the words "CORREO AEREO," marked the opening of an aerial post between Seville and Larache, in Morocco; between Barcelona and Palma, Morocco; and between Malaga and Melilla, on April 4th. Only 20,000 sets were issued and these provisionals are to be superseded at an early date, by a distinctive series of air stamps, portraying the progress of aerial navigation. One of the latest countries to send mail through the air is the go-ahead State of Czecho-Slovakia. Three of the Hradschin series of stamps have been surcharged with new values, whilst a design of an aeroplane now forms the centre of the stamp. The 200 heller value is surcharged "14 KRONES," which is the ordinary postage plus air fee between Prague and Warsaw. The 500 heller bears a new value of 24 krones, for use between Prague and Paris, a 5½ hours' journey, carried out thrice weekly, travelling via Strashourg. The planes are sufficiently roomy to allow the carrying of passengers and goods. The 1,000 heller now takes the value of 28 krones, for use between Prague and London. On October 16th Danzig advertised its air mail by the issue of three provisionals. These stamps were the 40pf. Germans, already overprinted "DANZIG"; and further overprinted with new denominations, 40 and 60pf. and 1 mark, together with the design of an aeroplane on the two lower values and a winged posthorn on the 1 mark. From this brief survey, of the development of the aerial mail, it will be admitted, I think, that the prophecy contained in my opening remarks as to the coming of universal air posts, is well-founded - or well-aired, whichever is the correct term. Only a week or two ago the newspapers reported a combination of seven air transport firms, British, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, French, Roumanian, and German, with a view to completing a network of air lines that will shortly spread over the whole of North-West Europe. A new world to conquer has sprung up before the philatelist, one in which his imagination, initiative and foresight can play an important part, and I trust that my remarks this evening may prove of use to those whose flight of fancy take them into the ethereal realms of aerial philately. Read the full article

State and local public health officials are in a tough spot. After months of imposing restrictions to protect their residents from the highly infectious coronavirus—at great cost to families’ livelihoods and the broader economy—they now must balance those efforts with another, equally vital imperative: protecting Americans’ right to gather en masse to protest police brutality and systemic racism.

This balancing act is further complicated by timing. New daily cases of COVID-19 worldwide hit a record high on June 7, according to the World Health Organization, indicating that the pandemic is perhaps worsening. And after months of stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the disease, many states and counties are just now beginning to reopen their economies, despite ample evidence many of them have not yet met containment benchmarks, further increasing the likelihood of an uptick in new infections nationwide.

In response to this confluence of factors, public health officials are performing something of a high-wire act. In most states and regions, political leaders have refused to discourage the protests, and are instead moving to prepare local hospitals, testing sites and contact tracing forces for what many predict will be a resurgence of COVID-19 across the country. But just as the danger of the virus itself has not changed, neither have the funding or organizational obstacles that left states scrambling in the early months of the pandemic.

Now, as two crises that disproportionately impact black Americans collide—one, the pandemic, and the other ongoing police brutality—officials predict that the country’s patchwork response could mean a rocky, and perhaps deadly, road ahead.

Weighing the risk

In the days and weeks after George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police sparked mass protests, most governors, mayors, physicians, epidemiologists and local health commissioners did not condemn the gatherings or encourage participants to go home. Instead, mayors from Atlanta to Oklahoma City to Washington D.C. joined marchers, while city employees in Minneapolis, New York, St. Louis and Baltimore distributed masks to demonstrators. Nearly 1,300 public health workers signed an open letter calling the protests “vital to the national public health and to the threatened health specifically of Black people in the United States.”

But these acts of solidarity were not taken lightly, public health experts tell TIME. While the threat of COVID-19 has not diminished, the circumstances have shifted, requiring protesters, and thus officials, to make informed calculations about the relative threats to public health and safety. “The impact of systemic racism over centuries is far greater than the impact of COVID,” says Julia Marcus, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School. “And if we can make progress toward dismantling structural racism in a moment of collective action, then that actually could have a positive impact on public health.”

But, Marcus adds, state and local officials must also work to encourage protesters to gather as safely as possible. “What we should be doing right now is very clearly communicating the risks and ways that people can reduce any potential harms,” she says. For example, on June 6, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene released recommendations for protesters, encouraging people to use noisemakers instead of singing or chanting, carry hand sanitizer, and avoid contact with vulnerable people after attending demonstrations. Public leaders in many cities have encouraged residents to get tested for COVID-19 after they participate in protests.

Police interactions

While many protesters nationwide appear to be wearing masks, not everyone is doing so. And police officers’ actions can make things worse, public health experts say. Photos and videos across the country have shown police officers not wearing masks, and other police actions, like corralling demonstrators, spraying chemical irritants that produce tears and coughing, and crowding people into vans and jails can exacerbate the spread of the virus. In Chicago, Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, an alderman for the city’s 33rd ward, spent hours at a precinct helping release on bail detained protesters last week and told TIME “there was not a single officer wearing a mask.”

Taylor Barros, a 16-year-old who was arrested at a protest in Brooklyn, told TIME that the police officers she interacted with acted inconsistently regarding mask usage. “As soon as we got on the bus, they removed my bandana from my face because the cops said I could choke myself,” Barros said. Another officer later handed out masks to those in custody.

Department protocols require New York City and Chicago police officers to wear masks during the pandemic. The NYPD previously told TIME it was “working as fast and safely as we can to process arrests during this unprecedented time.” A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department told TIME that in addition to requiring masks and gloves outside, it is “strongly recommended” that officers wear these items inside precincts and department vehicles, but acknowledged that given “the heightened activity that officers have been responding to in the past week,” those recommendations have not always been followed.

Keep up to date with our daily coronavirus newsletter by clicking here.

Preparing for a surge

Research shows it can take up to 14 days for those newly infected with the coronavirus to exhibit symptoms of the disease. As a result, epidemiologists expect that cases linked to the ongoing protests will begin appearing in the next week or two. But, they warn, the data is muddy: already, almost half of states are seeing an uptick in coronavirus infection rates, likely tied to the lifting of stay-at-home orders beginning in late April and May. By June 9, at least 22 states had increasing COVID-19 cases.

This dynamic—a bump in infections due to reopening, combined with another expected rise due to protests—means that states are again scrambling to prepare for an increase in hospitalizations. But in early June, some cities and regions are much better prepared than others. NYC Health + Hospitals, the corporation that operates New York City’s public hospitals, said that if the city, the epicenter of the outbreak, sees another spike, it is “prepared to re-activate strategies it implemented in late-March/early-April to respond to COVID-19.” These steps included nearly tripling ICU capacity, reassigning doctors to treat coronavirus patients and recruiting additional clinical support, a spokesperson said.

In Minneapolis, doctors say they are also on track to handle a surge of new cases. Abbott Northwestern Hospital, which is near where Floyd was killed, has not taken specific steps in response to the protests, but Dr. Timothy Sielaff, chief medical officer of Allina Health, which runs the hospital, said the health system is ready to scale up its response if needed. “Allina Health has been actively preparing for a surge in COVID-19 patients for the last few months,” he said in a statement. “We have solid plans in place and will run the plans in accordance with patient volumes.”

Data suggests that other parts of the country where cases are increasing are less prepared. Thirty two states had low ICU availability on Tuesday, according to data from Covid Exit Strategy. Hospitals in Montgomery, Alabama have gotten so crowded they had to send patients to other parts of the state, and metropolitan areas such as Phoenix and Memphis are projected to run out of ICU beds in three weeks, according to the COVID-19 Burden Index, run by the health care intelligence firm Leavitt Partners.

In Arizona, the state health director urged hospitals on June 6 to “fully activate” their emergency plans and to reduce or suspend elective surgeries. That directive came one day after Banner Health, the state’s largest health system, told reporters its ICUs are “very busy” and that if trends continue, the system would soon need to exercise its surge plan. By June 8, Banner Health said it also recently reached capacity on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines, which act as external lungs for patients with severe lung damage, a potential complication of COVID-19.

Racial disparities

As local governments make their preparations, public health officials say hospital care, testing and contact-tracing efforts must be designed carefully to reach out to Black Americans, who have been dying at a much higher rate from COVID-19 than white people, and who express lower rates of trust in public institutions. “Black and brown people are especially aware of the unethical treatment that happens, and the ways in which even public health policies have been complicit in exacerbating health disparities,” says Lorraine Dean, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University who studies racial health disparities.

Dean notes that actions by the federal government—from President Trump’s defense of white nationalists in Charlottesville to his administration’s slow response to the current pandemic—make it harder for people to trust their local governments and health departments too. “If there’s already a distrust of the U.S. as a whole, and U.S. systems as a whole, the health care system is a part of that,” she says.

Some states have taken proactive steps to address this trust gap. The Minnesota Department of Health, for instance, is working to set up voluntary COVID-19 testing sites for anyone who participated in mass gatherings such as demonstrations, clean-ups and vigils, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on June 7 that his state was adding 15 testing sites for protesters and that New York City would conduct 35,000 tests a day so that demonstrators can better protect themselves and their families. Atlanta added free testing sites for protesters on June 6. Public health officials in other large cities have frequently reminded residents they can now get tested for COVID-19 even without symptoms.

Even before the protests, Baltimore started piloting three mobile testing sites that do not need appointments or doctor referrals, in addition to its other community testing sites. The city used print fliers and radio ads to reach parts of the community who may not be on social media, and these continue to be options for people who want to get tested after attending protests.

A trust gap

The next step is contact tracing, which entails workers identifying anyone who has come into contact with an infected person, and then providing guidance on quarantining, medical treatment and other services. This tracking is widely considered indispensable to slowing the spread of COVID-19. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield told Congress on June 4 that in order to control the next wave of COVID-19, the U.S. needs an army of between 30,000 and 100,000 contact tracers. While many cities have begun hiring rafts of new contract tracers, they’re still largely playing catch up.

A few weeks ago, Los Angeles had just 400 of the 6,000 contact tracers it estimated it would need for California’s reopening, while New York City launched its contact tracing program on June 1 with 1,700 workers after Mayor Bill de Blasio said in early May he aimed to have 2,500 by early June and eventually hire between 5,000 and 10,000 contact tracers. Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health, which created a new contact tracing division, currently has only about a dozen contact tracers on staff, the department told TIME. In Columbus, Ohio, health department staffers have been reassigned as contact tracers and have seen their workloads increase significantly in recent weeks. John Henry Jr., an HIV counselor currently doing contact tracing there, told reporters at a press briefing on June 4 that a few weeks ago, he was supposed to reach about a dozen contacts each day, and now he has to call as many as 30 contacts daily.

As police continue to arrest—and in some cases abuse—protesters, public health officials say contract tracers face an uphill battle. Protesters, many of whom are already distrustful of police and public authorities, may be unwilling to provide government workers with the names and contact information of friends or colleagues with whom they were protesting. “I fear that there will be even less uptake, especially in communities that really do need the most contact tracing,” says Dean, the expert at Johns Hopkins. “I definitely think that distrust of the health care system that already existed and was warranted—there’s no reason why it shouldn’t continue to play out when it comes to COVID.”

Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa told TIME that her city is working to bridge the trust gap. “Even leading up to this point, we tried to be somewhat intentional about our messaging around contact tracing and tried to indicate that we’d never ask for certain personal information, like social security or credit card number or immigration status,” Dzirasa says.

On June 4, Baltimore announced it would hire some 300 additional contact tracers to support the roughly 100 full-time and 28 part-time staffers it had already put on the task. The city is also partnering with trusted local figures such as church leaders, community organizers and peer recovery specialists to help tell residents about the importance of everything from mask-wearing to contact tracing. This last part is perhaps the most essential: “We recognize that we may not get the accurate answer every single time,” Dzirasa says. “But I think it’s important that we continue to make the effort and build trust within the community and say, ‘Please let us know who you’ve been in contact with.’”

Effective contract tracing, after all, may be one of the only ways to encourage mass public protests while also containing the rampant spread of a deadly disease.

— With reporting by Andrew R. Chow/New York

Please send any tips, leads, and stories to [email protected]

State and local public health officials are in a tough spot. After months of imposing restrictions to protect their residents from the highly infectious coronavirus—at great cost to families’ livelihoods and the broader economy—they now must balance those efforts with another, equally vital imperative: protecting Americans’ right to gather en masse to protest police brutality and systemic racism.

This balancing act is further complicated by timing. New daily cases of COVID-19 worldwide hit a record high on June 7, according to the World Health Organization, indicating that the pandemic is perhaps worsening. And after months of stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the disease, many states and counties are just now beginning to reopen their economies, despite ample evidence many of them have not yet met containment benchmarks, further increasing the likelihood of an uptick in new infections nationwide.

In response to this confluence of factors, public health officials are performing something of a high-wire act. In most states and regions, political leaders have refused to discourage the protests, and are instead moving to prepare local hospitals, testing sites and contact tracing forces for what many predict will be a resurgence of COVID-19 across the country. But just as the danger of the virus itself has not changed, neither have the funding or organizational obstacles that left states scrambling in the early months of the pandemic.

Now, as two crises that disproportionately impact black Americans collide—one, the pandemic, and the other ongoing police brutality—officials predict that the country’s patchwork response could mean a rocky, and perhaps deadly, road ahead.

Weighing the risk

In the days and weeks after George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police sparked mass protests, most governors, mayors, physicians, epidemiologists and local health commissioners did not condemn the gatherings or encourage participants to go home. Instead, mayors from Atlanta to Oklahoma City to Washington D.C. joined marchers, while city employees in Minneapolis, New York, St. Louis and Baltimore distributed masks to demonstrators. Nearly 1,300 public health workers signed an open letter calling the protests “vital to the national public health and to the threatened health specifically of Black people in the United States.”

But these acts of solidarity were not taken lightly, public health experts tell TIME. While the threat of COVID-19 has not diminished, the circumstances have shifted, requiring protesters, and thus officials, to make informed calculations about the relative threats to public health and safety. “The impact of systemic racism over centuries is far greater than the impact of COVID,” says Julia Marcus, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School. “And if we can make progress toward dismantling structural racism in a moment of collective action, then that actually could have a positive impact on public health.”

But, Marcus adds, state and local officials must also work to encourage protesters to gather as safely as possible. “What we should be doing right now is very clearly communicating the risks and ways that people can reduce any potential harms,” she says. For example, on June 6, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene released recommendations for protesters, encouraging people to use noisemakers instead of singing or chanting, carry hand sanitizer, and avoid contact with vulnerable people after attending demonstrations. Public leaders in many cities have encouraged residents to get tested for COVID-19 after they participate in protests.

Police interactions

While many protesters nationwide appear to be wearing masks, not everyone is doing so. And police officers’ actions can make things worse, public health experts say. Photos and videos across the country have shown police officers not wearing masks, and other police actions, like corralling demonstrators, spraying chemical irritants that produce tears and coughing, and crowding people into vans and jails can exacerbate the spread of the virus. In Chicago, Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, an alderman for the city’s 33rd ward, spent hours at a precinct helping release on bail detained protesters last week and told TIME “there was not a single officer wearing a mask.”

Taylor Barros, a 16-year-old who was arrested at a protest in Brooklyn, told TIME that the police officers she interacted with acted inconsistently regarding mask usage. “As soon as we got on the bus, they removed my bandana from my face because the cops said I could choke myself,” Barros said. Another officer later handed out masks to those in custody.

Department protocols require New York City and Chicago police officers to wear masks during the pandemic. The NYPD previously told TIME it was “working as fast and safely as we can to process arrests during this unprecedented time.” A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department told TIME that in addition to requiring masks and gloves outside, it is “strongly recommended” that officers wear these items inside precincts and department vehicles, but acknowledged that given “the heightened activity that officers have been responding to in the past week,” those recommendations have not always been followed.

Keep up to date with our daily coronavirus newsletter by clicking here.

Preparing for a surge

Research shows it can take up to 14 days for those newly infected with the coronavirus to exhibit symptoms of the disease. As a result, epidemiologists expect that cases linked to the ongoing protests will begin appearing in the next week or two. But, they warn, the data is muddy: already, almost half of states are seeing an uptick in coronavirus infection rates, likely tied to the lifting of stay-at-home orders beginning in late April and May. By June 9, at least 22 states had increasing COVID-19 cases.

This dynamic—a bump in infections due to reopening, combined with another expected rise due to protests—means that states are again scrambling to prepare for an increase in hospitalizations. But in early June, some cities and regions are much better prepared than others. NYC Health + Hospitals, the corporation that operates New York City’s public hospitals, said that if the city, the epicenter of the outbreak, sees another spike, it is “prepared to re-activate strategies it implemented in late-March/early-April to respond to COVID-19.” These steps included nearly tripling ICU capacity, reassigning doctors to treat coronavirus patients and recruiting additional clinical support, a spokesperson said.

In Minneapolis, doctors say they are also on track to handle a surge of new cases. Abbott Northwestern Hospital, which is near where Floyd was killed, has not taken specific steps in response to the protests, but Dr. Timothy Sielaff, chief medical officer of Allina Health, which runs the hospital, said the health system is ready to scale up its response if needed. “Allina Health has been actively preparing for a surge in COVID-19 patients for the last few months,” he said in a statement. “We have solid plans in place and will run the plans in accordance with patient volumes.”

Data suggests that other parts of the country where cases are increasing are less prepared. Thirty two states had low ICU availability on Tuesday, according to data from Covid Exit Strategy. Hospitals in Montgomery, Alabama have gotten so crowded they had to send patients to other parts of the state, and metropolitan areas such as Phoenix and Memphis are projected to run out of ICU beds in three weeks, according to the COVID-19 Burden Index, run by the health care intelligence firm Leavitt Partners.

In Arizona, the state health director urged hospitals on June 6 to “fully activate” their emergency plans and to reduce or suspend elective surgeries. That directive came one day after Banner Health, the state’s largest health system, told reporters its ICUs are “very busy” and that if trends continue, the system would soon need to exercise its surge plan. By June 8, Banner Health said it also recently reached capacity on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines, which act as external lungs for patients with severe lung damage, a potential complication of COVID-19.

Racial disparities

As local governments make their preparations, public health officials say hospital care, testing and contact-tracing efforts must be designed carefully to reach out to Black Americans, who have been dying at a much higher rate from COVID-19 than white people, and who express lower rates of trust in public institutions. “Black and brown people are especially aware of the unethical treatment that happens, and the ways in which even public health policies have been complicit in exacerbating health disparities,” says Lorraine Dean, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University who studies racial health disparities.

Dean notes that actions by the federal government—from President Trump’s defense of white nationalists in Charlottesville to his administration’s slow response to the current pandemic—make it harder for people to trust their local governments and health departments too. “If there’s already a distrust of the U.S. as a whole, and U.S. systems as a whole, the health care system is a part of that,” she says.

Some states have taken proactive steps to address this trust gap. The Minnesota Department of Health, for instance, is working to set up voluntary COVID-19 testing sites for anyone who participated in mass gatherings such as demonstrations, clean-ups and vigils, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on June 7 that his state was adding 15 testing sites for protesters and that New York City would conduct 35,000 tests a day so that demonstrators can better protect themselves and their families. Atlanta added free testing sites for protesters on June 6. Public health officials in other large cities have frequently reminded residents they can now get tested for COVID-19 even without symptoms.

Even before the protests, Baltimore started piloting three mobile testing sites that do not need appointments or doctor referrals, in addition to its other community testing sites. The city used print fliers and radio ads to reach parts of the community who may not be on social media, and these continue to be options for people who want to get tested after attending protests.

A trust gap

The next step is contact tracing, which entails workers identifying anyone who has come into contact with an infected person, and then providing guidance on quarantining, medical treatment and other services. This tracking is widely considered indispensable to slowing the spread of COVID-19. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield told Congress on June 4 that in order to control the next wave of COVID-19, the U.S. needs an army of between 30,000 and 100,000 contact tracers. While many cities have begun hiring rafts of new contract tracers, they’re still largely playing catch up.

A few weeks ago, Los Angeles had just 400 of the 6,000 contact tracers it estimated it would need for California’s reopening, while New York City launched its contact tracing program on June 1 with 1,700 workers after Mayor Bill de Blasio said in early May he aimed to have 2,500 by early June and eventually hire between 5,000 and 10,000 contact tracers. Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health, which created a new contact tracing division, currently has only about a dozen contact tracers on staff, the department told TIME. In Columbus, Ohio, health department staffers have been reassigned as contact tracers and have seen their workloads increase significantly in recent weeks. John Henry Jr., an HIV counselor currently doing contact tracing there, told reporters at a press briefing on June 4 that a few weeks ago, he was supposed to reach about a dozen contacts each day, and now he has to call as many as 30 contacts daily.

As police continue to arrest—and in some cases abuse—protesters, public health officials say contract tracers face an uphill battle. Protesters, many of whom are already distrustful of police and public authorities, may be unwilling to provide government workers with the names and contact information of friends or colleagues with whom they were protesting. “I fear that there will be even less uptake, especially in communities that really do need the most contact tracing,” says Dean, the expert at Johns Hopkins. “I definitely think that distrust of the health care system that already existed and was warranted—there’s no reason why it shouldn’t continue to play out when it comes to COVID.”

Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa told TIME that her city is working to bridge the trust gap. “Even leading up to this point, we tried to be somewhat intentional about our messaging around contact tracing and tried to indicate that we’d never ask for certain personal information, like social security or credit card number or immigration status,” Dzirasa says.

On June 4, Baltimore announced it would hire some 300 additional contact tracers to support the roughly 100 full-time and 28 part-time staffers it had already put on the task. The city is also partnering with trusted local figures such as church leaders, community organizers and peer recovery specialists to help tell residents about the importance of everything from mask-wearing to contact tracing. This last part is perhaps the most essential: “We recognize that we may not get the accurate answer every single time,” Dzirasa says. “But I think it’s important that we continue to make the effort and build trust within the community and say, ‘Please let us know who you’ve been in contact with.’”

Effective contract tracing, after all, may be one of the only ways to encourage mass public protests while also containing the rampant spread of a deadly disease.

— With reporting by Andrew R. Chow/New York

Please send any tips, leads, and stories to [email protected]

State and local public health officials are in a tough spot. After months of imposing restrictions to protect their residents from the highly infectious coronavirus—at great cost to families’ livelihoods and the broader economy—they now must balance those efforts with another, equally vital imperative: protecting Americans’ right to gather en masse to protest police brutality and systemic racism.

This balancing act is further complicated by timing. New daily cases of COVID-19 worldwide hit a record high on June 7, according to the World Health Organization, indicating that the pandemic is perhaps worsening. And after months of stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the disease, many states and counties are just now beginning to reopen their economies, despite ample evidence many of them have not yet met containment benchmarks, further increasing the likelihood of an uptick in new infections nationwide.

In response to this confluence of factors, public health officials are performing something of a high-wire act. In most states and regions, political leaders have refused to discourage the protests, and are instead moving to prepare local hospitals, testing sites and contact tracing forces for what many predict will be a resurgence of COVID-19 across the country. But just as the danger of the virus itself has not changed, neither have the funding or organizational obstacles that left states scrambling in the early months of the pandemic.

Now, as two crises that disproportionately impact black Americans collide—one, the pandemic, and the other ongoing police brutality—officials predict that the country’s patchwork response could mean a rocky, and perhaps deadly, road ahead.

Weighing the risk

In the days and weeks after George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police sparked mass protests, most governors, mayors, physicians, epidemiologists and local health commissioners did not condemn the gatherings or encourage participants to go home. Instead, mayors from Atlanta to Oklahoma City to Washington D.C. joined marchers, while city employees in Minneapolis, New York, St. Louis and Baltimore distributed masks to demonstrators. Nearly 1,300 public health workers signed an open letter calling the protests “vital to the national public health and to the threatened health specifically of Black people in the United States.”

But these acts of solidarity were not taken lightly, public health experts tell TIME. While the threat of COVID-19 has not diminished, the circumstances have shifted, requiring protesters, and thus officials, to make informed calculations about the relative threats to public health and safety. “The impact of systemic racism over centuries is far greater than the impact of COVID,” says Julia Marcus, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School. “And if we can make progress toward dismantling structural racism in a moment of collective action, then that actually could have a positive impact on public health.”

But, Marcus adds, state and local officials must also work to encourage protesters to gather as safely as possible. “What we should be doing right now is very clearly communicating the risks and ways that people can reduce any potential harms,” she says. For example, on June 6, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene released recommendations for protesters, encouraging people to use noisemakers instead of singing or chanting, carry hand sanitizer, and avoid contact with vulnerable people after attending demonstrations. Public leaders in many cities have encouraged residents to get tested for COVID-19 after they participate in protests.

Police interactions

While many protesters nationwide appear to be wearing masks, not everyone is doing so. And police officers’ actions can make things worse, public health experts say. Photos and videos across the country have shown police officers not wearing masks, and other police actions, like corralling demonstrators, spraying chemical irritants that produce tears and coughing, and crowding people into vans and jails can exacerbate the spread of the virus. In Chicago, Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, an alderman for the city’s 33rd ward, spent hours at a precinct helping release on bail detained protesters last week and told TIME “there was not a single officer wearing a mask.”

Taylor Barros, a 16-year-old who was arrested at a protest in Brooklyn, told TIME that the police officers she interacted with acted inconsistently regarding mask usage. “As soon as we got on the bus, they removed my bandana from my face because the cops said I could choke myself,” Barros said. Another officer later handed out masks to those in custody.

Department protocols require New York City and Chicago police officers to wear masks during the pandemic. The NYPD previously told TIME it was “working as fast and safely as we can to process arrests during this unprecedented time.” A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department told TIME that in addition to requiring masks and gloves outside, it is “strongly recommended” that officers wear these items inside precincts and department vehicles, but acknowledged that given “the heightened activity that officers have been responding to in the past week,” those recommendations have not always been followed.

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Preparing for a surge

Research shows it can take up to 14 days for those newly infected with the coronavirus to exhibit symptoms of the disease. As a result, epidemiologists expect that cases linked to the ongoing protests will begin appearing in the next week or two. But, they warn, the data is muddy: already, almost half of states are seeing an uptick in coronavirus infection rates, likely tied to the lifting of stay-at-home orders beginning in late April and May. By June 9, at least 22 states had increasing COVID-19 cases.

This dynamic—a bump in infections due to reopening, combined with another expected rise due to protests—means that states are again scrambling to prepare for an increase in hospitalizations. But in early June, some cities and regions are much better prepared than others. NYC Health + Hospitals, the corporation that operates New York City’s public hospitals, said that if the city, the epicenter of the outbreak, sees another spike, it is “prepared to re-activate strategies it implemented in late-March/early-April to respond to COVID-19.” These steps included nearly tripling ICU capacity, reassigning doctors to treat coronavirus patients and recruiting additional clinical support, a spokesperson said.

In Minneapolis, doctors say they are also on track to handle a surge of new cases. Abbott Northwestern Hospital, which is near where Floyd was killed, has not taken specific steps in response to the protests, but Dr. Timothy Sielaff, chief medical officer of Allina Health, which runs the hospital, said the health system is ready to scale up its response if needed. “Allina Health has been actively preparing for a surge in COVID-19 patients for the last few months,” he said in a statement. “We have solid plans in place and will run the plans in accordance with patient volumes.”

Data suggests that other parts of the country where cases are increasing are less prepared. Thirty two states had low ICU availability on Tuesday, according to data from Covid Exit Strategy. Hospitals in Montgomery, Alabama have gotten so crowded they had to send patients to other parts of the state, and metropolitan areas such as Phoenix and Memphis are projected to run out of ICU beds in three weeks, according to the COVID-19 Burden Index, run by the health care intelligence firm Leavitt Partners.

In Arizona, the state health director urged hospitals on June 6 to “fully activate” their emergency plans and to reduce or suspend elective surgeries. That directive came one day after Banner Health, the state’s largest health system, told reporters its ICUs are “very busy” and that if trends continue, the system would soon need to exercise its surge plan. By June 8, Banner Health said it also recently reached capacity on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines, which act as external lungs for patients with severe lung damage, a potential complication of COVID-19.

Racial disparities

As local governments make their preparations, public health officials say hospital care, testing and contact-tracing efforts must be designed carefully to reach out to Black Americans, who have been dying at a much higher rate from COVID-19 than white people, and who express lower rates of trust in public institutions. “Black and brown people are especially aware of the unethical treatment that happens, and the ways in which even public health policies have been complicit in exacerbating health disparities,” says Lorraine Dean, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University who studies racial health disparities.

Dean notes that actions by the federal government—from President Trump’s defense of white nationalists in Charlottesville to his administration’s slow response to the current pandemic—make it harder for people to trust their local governments and health departments too. “If there’s already a distrust of the U.S. as a whole, and U.S. systems as a whole, the health care system is a part of that,” she says.

Some states have taken proactive steps to address this trust gap. The Minnesota Department of Health, for instance, is working to set up voluntary COVID-19 testing sites for anyone who participated in mass gatherings such as demonstrations, clean-ups and vigils, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on June 7 that his state was adding 15 testing sites for protesters and that New York City would conduct 35,000 tests a day so that demonstrators can better protect themselves and their families. Atlanta added free testing sites for protesters on June 6. Public health officials in other large cities have frequently reminded residents they can now get tested for COVID-19 even without symptoms.

Even before the protests, Baltimore started piloting three mobile testing sites that do not need appointments or doctor referrals, in addition to its other community testing sites. The city used print fliers and radio ads to reach parts of the community who may not be on social media, and these continue to be options for people who want to get tested after attending protests.

A trust gap

The next step is contact tracing, which entails workers identifying anyone who has come into contact with an infected person, and then providing guidance on quarantining, medical treatment and other services. This tracking is widely considered indispensable to slowing the spread of COVID-19. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield told Congress on June 4 that in order to control the next wave of COVID-19, the U.S. needs an army of between 30,000 and 100,000 contact tracers. While many cities have begun hiring rafts of new contract tracers, they’re still largely playing catch up.

A few weeks ago, Los Angeles had just 400 of the 6,000 contact tracers it estimated it would need for California’s reopening, while New York City launched its contact tracing program on June 1 with 1,700 workers after Mayor Bill de Blasio said in early May he aimed to have 2,500 by early June and eventually hire between 5,000 and 10,000 contact tracers. Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health, which created a new contact tracing division, currently has only about a dozen contact tracers on staff, the department told TIME. In Columbus, Ohio, health department staffers have been reassigned as contact tracers and have seen their workloads increase significantly in recent weeks. John Henry Jr., an HIV counselor currently doing contact tracing there, told reporters at a press briefing on June 4 that a few weeks ago, he was supposed to reach about a dozen contacts each day, and now he has to call as many as 30 contacts daily.

As police continue to arrest—and in some cases abuse—protesters, public health officials say contract tracers face an uphill battle. Protesters, many of whom are already distrustful of police and public authorities, may be unwilling to provide government workers with the names and contact information of friends or colleagues with whom they were protesting. “I fear that there will be even less uptake, especially in communities that really do need the most contact tracing,” says Dean, the expert at Johns Hopkins. “I definitely think that distrust of the health care system that already existed and was warranted—there’s no reason why it shouldn’t continue to play out when it comes to COVID.”

Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa told TIME that her city is working to bridge the trust gap. “Even leading up to this point, we tried to be somewhat intentional about our messaging around contact tracing and tried to indicate that we’d never ask for certain personal information, like social security or credit card number or immigration status,” Dzirasa says.

On June 4, Baltimore announced it would hire some 300 additional contact tracers to support the roughly 100 full-time and 28 part-time staffers it had already put on the task. The city is also partnering with trusted local figures such as church leaders, community organizers and peer recovery specialists to help tell residents about the importance of everything from mask-wearing to contact tracing. This last part is perhaps the most essential: “We recognize that we may not get the accurate answer every single time,” Dzirasa says. “But I think it’s important that we continue to make the effort and build trust within the community and say, ‘Please let us know who you’ve been in contact with.’”

Effective contract tracing, after all, may be one of the only ways to encourage mass public protests while also containing the rampant spread of a deadly disease.

— With reporting by Andrew R. Chow/New York

Please send any tips, leads, and stories to [email protected]

Open Letter from African Intellectuals to Leaders Over COVID-19

Dozens of prominent intellectuals, writers and academics from across Africa have co-signed an open letter addressed to the continent’s leaders, asking them to use the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to spur “radical change” in direction. “In the call, we urge African leaders to also think beyond the current crisis as a symptom of deep structural problems Africa has to confront if it is to become one day sovereign and an actor that contributes to the new global order,” Amy Niang, one of the academics behind the initiative, told Al Jazeera. “We are calling for a second independence.” Read the open letter below: THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW: Letter Addressed to African Leaders Concerning the COVID-19 Crisis The threats that are hanging over the African continent with regards to the spread of COVID-19 demand our individual and collective attention. The situation is critical. Yet this is not about mitigating another ‘African’ humanitarian crisis but to diffuse the potentially damaging effects of a virus that has shaken the global order and put under question the bases of our living-together. The coronavirus pandemic lays bare that which well-to-do middle classes in African cities have thus far refused to confront. In the past 10 years, various media, intellectuals, politicians and international financial institutions have clung to an idea of an Africa on the move, of Africa as the new frontier of capitalist expansion; an Africa on the path to ’emerging’ with growth rates that are the envy of northern countries. Such a representation, repeated at will to the point of becoming a received truth, has been torn apart by a crisis that has not entirely revealed the extent of its destructive potential. At the same time, any prospect of an inclusive multilateralism – ostensibly kept alive by years of treaty-making – is forbidding. The global order is disintegrating before our very eyes, giving way to a vicious geopolitical tussle. The new context of economic war of all against all leaves out countries of the Global South so to speak stranded. Once again we are reminded of their perennial status in the world order in-the-making: that of docile spectators. Like a tectonic storm, the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to shatter the foundations of states and institutions whose profound failings have been ignored for too long. It is impossible to list these, suffice it to mention chronic under-investment in public health and fundamental research, limited achievements in food self-sufficiency, the mismanagement of public finances, the prioritization of road and airport infrastructures at the expense of human well-being. All of this has in fact been the object of an abundant specialized research, except that it seems to have escaped attention in spheres of governance on the continent. The management of the ongoing crisis constitutes a most glaring evidence of this gap.

On the necessity to govern with compassion

Adopting the all-securitarian model of ‘containment’ of northern countries – often without much care to specific contexts – many African countries have imposed a brutal lockdown upon their populations; here and there, violation of curfew measures has been met with police violence. If such containment measures have met the agreement of middle classes shielded from crowded living conditions with some having the possibility to work from home, they have proved punitive and disruptive for those whose survival depends on informal activities. Let’s be clear: we are not advocating an impossible choice between economic security vs. health security but we wish to insist on the necessity for African governments to take into account the chronic precarity that characterizes the majority of their populations. Yet, as a continent that is familiar with pandemic outbreaks, Africa has a head start in the management of large-scale health crises. However, it should gird itself against complacency. Here and here, civil society organizations have shown tremendous solidarity and creativity. Despite however the great dynamism of individual actors, these initiatives could in no way make up for the chronic unpreparedness and the structural deficiencies that states themselves will have to mitigate. Rather than sit idle and wait for better fortune, we must endeavor to rethink the basis of our common destiny from our own specific historical and social context and the resources we have. Our belief is that ’emergency’ cannot, and should not constitute a mode of governance. We must instead be seized by the real urgency, which is to reform public policy, to make them work in favor of African populations and according to African priorities. In short, it is imperative to put forth the value of every human being regardless of status, over and beyond any logic of profit-making, domination or power capture.

Beyond the state of emergency

African leaders can and should propose to their societies a new political idea of Africa. For this is a question of survival, fundamentally, and not a matter of rhetorical flourish. Serious reflections are needed on the functioning of state institutions, on the function of a state and the place of juridical norms in the distribution and the balancing of power. This is best achieved on the basis of ideas adapted to realities across the continent. The realization of the second wave of our political independence will depend on political creativity as well as our capacity to take charge of our common destiny. Once again, various isolated efforts are already bearing fruit. They deserve to be heeded, debated and amply encouraged. Furthermore, PanAfricanism also needs a new lease of life. It has to be reconciled with its original inspiration following decades of shortcomings. If progress on continental integration has been slow, the reason has much to do with an orientation informed by the orthodoxy of market liberalism. In consequence, the coronavirus pandemic reveals the deficit of a collective continental response, both in the health and other sectors. More than ever, we call upon leaders to ponder the necessity to adopt a concerted approach to governance sectors related to public health, fundamental research in all disciplines and to public policy. In the same vein, health has to be conceived as essential public good, the status of health workers needs to be enhanced, hospital infrastructure need to be upgraded to a level that allows everybody, including leaders themselves, to receive adequate treatment in Africa. Failure to implement these reforms would be cataclysmic. This letter is a small reminder, a reiteration of the obvious: that the African continent must take its destiny back into its own hands. For it is in the most trying moments that new/innovative orientations must be explored and lasting solutions adopted. The present letter is addressed to leaders of all walks of life; to the people of Africa and to all those that are committed to re/thinking the continent. We invite them to seize the opportunity of the coronavirus crisis to joint efforts in rethinking an African state in the service of the well-being of its people, to break with a model of development based on the vicious cycle of indebtedness, to break with the orthodox vision of growth for the sake of growth, and of profit for the sake of profit. The challenge for Africa is no less than the restoration of its intellectual freedom and a capacity to create – without which no sovereignty is conceivable. It is to break with the outsourcing of our sovereign prerogatives, to reconnect with local configurations, to break with sterile imitation, to adapt science, technology and research to our context, to elaborate institutions on the basis of our specificities and our resources, to adopt an inclusive governance framework and endogenous development, to create value in Africa in order to reduce our systemic dependence. More crucially, it is essential to remember that Africa has sufficient material and human resources to build a shared prosperity on an egalitarian basis and in respect of the dignity of each and everyone. The dearth of political will and the extractive practices of external actors can no longer be used as excuse for inaction. We no longer have a choice: we need a radical change in direction. Now is the time! Have signed: Wole Soyinka (Nobel Prize in Literature 1986) Makhily Gassama (Essayist) Cornel West (Princeton University) Kwame Anthony Appiah (New York University) Henry Louis Gates Jr (Harvard University) Cheikh Hamidou Kane (Writer) Odile Tobner (Librairie des Peuples Noirs, Cameroon) Iva Cabral (daughter of Amilcar Cabral, University of Mindelo) Olivette Otele (Bristol University) Boubacar Boris Diop (American University of Nigeria) Siba N’Zatioula Grovogui (Cornell University) Véronique Tajdo (Writer) Francis Nyamnjoh (University of Cape Town) Ibrahim Abdullah (Fourah Bay College) Sean Jacobs (The New School) Oumar Ba (Morehouse College) Maria Paula Meneses (Coimbra University) Amadou Elimane Kane (PanAfrican Institute of Culture and Research) Inocencia Mata (University of Lisbon) Anthony Obeng (The African Institute for Economic Development and Planning) Aisha Ibrahim (Fouray Bay College) Makhtar Diouf (Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar) Koulsy Lamko (Writer) Mahamadou Lamine Sagna (American University of Nigeria) Carlos Nuno Castel-Branco (Economist, Mozambique) Touriya Fili-Tullon (University of Lyon 2) Kako Nubupko (University of Lome) Rosania da Silva (University Foundation for the Development of Education) Amar Mohand-Amer (CRASC, Oran) Mame Penda Ba (Gaston Berger University of St Louis) Medhi Alioua (International University of Rabat) Rama Salla Dieng (University of Edinburgh) Yoporeka Somet (Philosopher, Egyptologist, Burkina Faso) Gazibo Mamoudou (University of Montreal) Fatou Kine Camara (Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar) Jonathan Klaaren (University of the Witwatersrand) Rosa Cruz e Silva (Agostinho Neto University) Ismail Rashid (Vassar College) Abdellahi Hajjat (Free University of Brussels) Maria das Neves Baptista de Sousa (Lusiada University of Sao Tome e Príncipe) Lazare Ki-Zerbo (Philosopher, Guyana) Lina Benabdallah (Wake Forest University) Iolanda Evora (University of Lisbon) Kokou Edem Christian Agbobli (The Universite du Quebec a Montreal) Opeyemi Rabiat Akande (Harvard University) Lourenço do Rosario (Mozambique Polytechnic University) Issa Ndiaye (University of Bamako) Yolande Bouka (Queen’s University) Adama Samake (Felix Houphouet Boigny University) Bruno Sena Martins (Coimbra University) Charles Ukeje (University of Ile Ife) Isaie Dougnon (Fordham University) Cláudio Alves Furtado (Federal University of Bahia, University of Cap-Verde) Ebrima Ceesay (University of Birmingham) Rita Chaves (University of Sao Paulo) Benaouda Lebdai (Le Mans University) Guillaume Johnson (CNRS, Paris-Dauphine) Ayano Mekonnen (University of Missouri) Thierno Diop (Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar) Mbemba Jabbi (University of Texas) Abdoulaye Kane (University of Florida) Muhammadu M.O. Kah (American University of Nigeria & University of the Gambia) Alpha Amadou Barry Bano (University of Sonfonia) Yacouba Banhoro (University of Ouaga 1 Joseph Ki-Zerbo) Dialo Diop (Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar) Rahmane Idrissa (African Studies Center, Leiden) El Hadji Samba Ndiaye (Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar) Benabbou Senouci (University of Oran) José Luís Cabaco (Universidade Tecnica de Mocambique) Mouhamadou Ngouda Mboup (Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar) Hassan Remanoun (University of Oran) Salif Diop (Universite Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar) Narciso Matos (Mozambique Polytechnic University) Mame Thierno Cisse (Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar) Demba Moussa Dembele (ARCADE, Senegal) Many Camara (University of Angers) Ibrahima Wane (Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar) Thomas Tieku (King’s University College, Western University) Jibrin Ibrahim (Center for Democracy and Development) El Hadji Samba Ndiaye (Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar) Jose Luis Cabaco (Technical University of Mozambique) Firoze Manji (Daraja Press) Mansour Kedidir (CRASC, Oran) Abdoul Aziz Diouf (Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar) Mohamed Nachi (University of Liege) Alain Kaly (Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro) Last Dumi Moyo (American University of Nigeria) Hafsi Bedhioufi (University of Manouba) Abdoulaye Niang (Gaston Berger University of Saint-Louis) Robtel Neajai Pailey (University of Oxford) Slaheddine Ben Frej (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciencees of Tunis) Victor Topanou (Universite d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Paul Ugor (Illinois State University) Djibril Tamsir Niane (Writer) Laroussi Amri (University of Tunis) Karine Ndjoko Ioset (University of Wuerzburg and University of Lubumbashi) Magueye Kassa (Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar) Lionel Zevounou (Paris Nanterre University) Amy Niang (University of Witwatersrand) Ndongo Samba Sylla (Economist, Senegal) Source:ZambianObserver Read the full article

CLEVELAND | Cavs' Love has head injury, status for Game 7 unknown

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CLEVELAND | Cavs' Love has head injury, status for Game 7 unknown

CLEVELAND — Kevin Love’s troubled season has twisted again.

The Cavaliers All-Star forward, who has battled injuries and criticism while revealing he suffered panic attacks in the past, may have to sit out Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals after injuring his head Friday night during the first quarter of Cleveland’s 109-99 win over the Boston Celtics.

Love was kept out of the second half of Game 6 following his violent collision with Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum.

Cleveland’s medical staff checked Love for a concussion, and the team announced at halftime the 29-year-old would not return to the game as a precaution.

Love has not been placed in concussion protocol, but that could change if he has an onset of symptoms — headaches, dizziness, sensitivity to light — in the hours ahead. He will be re-examined Saturday before the team flies to Boston.

Cavs coach Tyronn Lue did not know if he would have his second-best player for the season’s biggest game as the Cavs try to win their fourth straight conference title.

Following Game 6, Love told a reporter it was “a toss-up” whether he would be able to face the Celtics.

Love is Cleveland’s most reliable scoring option after LeBron James, who scored 46 points in another tour-de-force performance in Game 6 — possibly his last game with the Cavs.

James, too, is hurting.

Teammate Larry Nance Jr. fell into James’ right leg in the fourth quarter, and the three-time champion said there was a moment when he feared his injury was serious.

“I felt some pain throughout my entire right side of my ankle into my leg,” said James, who played 46 of 48 minutes. “I was just hoping for the best, obviously, because I’ve seen so many different injuries, and watching basketball with that type of injury, someone fall into one’s leg standing straight up. Luckily, I was able to finish the game.”

James doesn’t have much time to recover, and sleep will be imperative.

“It’ll be around-the-clock treatment, and we’ll see what happens,” he said.

James walked slowly, almost shuffling his feet as he left Quicken Loans Arena early Saturday morning.

Love and Tatum inadvertently collided midway through the quarter and both immediately dropped to the floor. Love, who has a history with concussions, raised his left arm as if to signal he needed help. He stayed down for several minutes and sat rubbing his head before he was pulled to his feet.

Love walked unsteadily to the bench with guard George Hill holding one of his arms. He spent a few moments on the bench before heading to the locker room for further evaluation. Love didn’t score and had five rebounds before getting hurt.

Tatum was checked on the bench and stayed in the game.

“I didn’t see him coming, it was bad,” Tatum said. “I have a knot on the back of my head, I should be all right. I wish the best for Kevin Love because he’s a great player, and it’s been a long season.”

The Cavs appeared to be in big trouble when he went out in Game 6, but Cleveland got 20 points from Hill, 14 from Jeff Green and 10 from Larry Nance Jr. to offset losing Love.

“Very encouraging,” Lue said of the contributions. “I think when you lose an All-Star like Kevin and our second go-to guy, pivotal part of what we try to do, and when he goes down and then you help your brother up, that’s what they did. Kevin left the game. He didn’t come back, and guys got together and they played. They played for Kevin. They played for each other and were able to get the win.”

For Love, who missed most of the 2015 playoffs with a separated shoulder, the head injury is the latest blow in what has been a challenging few months.

In March, he disclosed that he had suffered a panic attack during a game in November, and he experienced a similar episode in January. Following the second incident, several players challenged Love in a team meeting that came shortly after he had left that game and missed a subsequent practice.

Love, who has suffered at least two prior concussions, was also sidelined seven weeks with a broken left hand.

He’s had a fairly steady 2018 postseason, averaging 14.8 points and 10.4 rebounds but his critics have often insisted he should be doing more.

Now he may not be able to do anything.

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By TOM WITHERS, AP Sports Writer,By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (Z.S)

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USA: The Glenn Crytzer Orchestra CD Release Party Wed., May 9th 7:30pm @ the Montauk Club

The Glenn Crytzer Orchestra "Ain't It Grand?" CD Release Party Wednesday, May 9th 7:30pm @ the Montauk Club 25 8th Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11217 Tickets & Info New Double CD Set

Artist: THE GLENN CRYTZER ORCHESTRATitle: AIN’T IT GRAND? Label: BLUE RHYTHM RECORDS (self produced) Artist Website: glenncrytzer.com Release Date: MAY 9, 2018 UPC Code: 088907213631 Glenn Crytzer (g, bj, v, dir, a) Sam Hoyt, Mike Davis, Jason Prover (t) Rob Edwards, Joe McDonough, Jim Fryer (tb) Jay Rattman (as, ss, cl) Mark Lopeman, Marc Schwartz (as,ts,cl) Matt Koza (ts,cl) Henry “Ricky” Alexander (as,bar,cl) Rob Reich (p) Ian Hutchison (sb) Andrew Millar (d) Hannah Gill, Dandy Wellington (v) TRACK LISTING DISC ONE 1. The 408 Special 2. Black Beauty 3. Just Like A Broken Record 4. Up and at ‘Em 5. Ain’t It Grand? 6. When I Get Low I Get High 7. A String of Pearls 8. Blue Jay 9. Steppin’ In Rhythm 10. Who’s Yehoodi? 11. A Woman Needs A Man 12. Jive at Five 13. I’m Nuts About Screwy Music 14. Thank You for the Moments 15. Well, Git it! TRACK LISTING DISC TWO 1. Rhythm is our Business 2. The Glory of Love 3. Jubilee Stomp 4. Who Needs Spring? 5. Shorty’s Got to Go 6. Solo Flight 7. Marche Slav 8. I Get Ideas 9. The Ugly Duckling 10. The Little Orange Man 11. The Mooche 12. Massachusetts 13. Swing My Soul 14. Bear Foot Blues 15. Traffic Jam

Available From: Amazon•CDBaby•iTunes• Bandcamp

This may sound like a left-field introduction to this exceptional album by Glenn Crytzer, but bear with me: have you ever heard any of the classic big bands of the 1930s as recorded by the Associated transcription service? (Technically, the company was known as “Associated Music Publishers” and in 1936, their office was located at 25 West 46th St, Manhattan.)  The recordings made by Associated sound very different from the standard 78 RPM singles that were commercially released by the various labels, major and minor, and they also sound very different from the other transcription services at the time, like Thesaurus, Standard, or MacGregor. The Associated recordings all sound like they were made in a huge studio space, with lots of reverb, and plenty of sonic space around the instruments; they’re incredibly “live,” as an engineer might say.  When you listen to the Associated recordings of, say, the John Kirby Sextet, Teddy Wilson, the Ray Noble Orchestra, or that rather amazing 1934 Joe Venuti big band date (with Louis Prima and Red Norvo), just to name a couple, there’s a very specific kind of a disconnect happening. You don’t quite feel like you’re listening to historical recordings from 80 years ago, but you know they’re not newly-recorded either. They seem to exist in a unique space all their own, one that’s completely timeless.

  That’s the same way that this album landed upon my ears: it doesn’t quite feel like any kind of a recreation, rather it seems like some contemporary scientist who specializes in both sound recording and astrophysics found a way to send a microphone drone into the past and make new recordings of historical big bands.  I had a similar sensation when I watched the 2013 re-release of The Wizard of Oz, in which the classic 1939 film was re-jigged somehow for two 21st century movie technologies, digital 3D and IMAX.  (I’ve also heard the original soundtrack adapted for 5.1 surround sound on DVD.) The 3D IMAX Oz was fascinating and highly illuminating.  Naturally, going forward, I would still want to re-watch The Wizard of Oz in the original 1939 format again - this might have been just a one-off experience - but that it gave me a whole new way to look at a classic.  And that’s what this album does, it allows us hear vintage big band swing in a whole other way, auditorily speaking, and takes classic music and makes us hear it in the audio equivalent of 3D IMAX - it’s a quite a wonderful, unique sensation.

  The combination of the familiar and the unfamiliar is consistently startling, to the point where we can say that the music is being re-imagined rather than re-created.  I keep feeling like some collector friend of mine stumbled across a set of previously undocumented Associated transcriptions recorded in the immediate pre-war period. In some cases, where the tune is very familiar, I feel like these are newly-discovered versions by alternate bands, like “Jive at Five” being played by Charlie Barnet rather than Count Basie, say, or Alvino Rey playing the central guitar part on “Solo Flight” with own his orchestra back around the same time that Charlie Christian and Benny Goodman introduced it.  And this “Well Git It” makes me wonder what that classic flag waver might have sounded like if it came from the band book of Jimmy Dorsey rather than Tommy. Other tracks make me feel like I’m discovering some previously unknown local local or territory band that never made it into the history books or the discographies.

Some of Glenn’s arrangements truly sound like a wrinkle in time: the North American popular song “I Get Ideas” originated in 1927 as an authentic and famous Argentine tango titled “Adios Muchachos.”  In 1951, it was adapted into “I Get Ideas” (with most of the tango rhythm extracted), wherein it became a hit for both Tony Martin and Louis Armstrong. Glenn’s treatment sounds like if some early swing bandleader - say, Alex Hill, or maybe the Mills Blue Rhythm Band - somehow got a hold of the 1951 lyrics (by Dorcas Cochrane of “Again” fame), even though they weren’t written for many years.  There’s more than a hint of Louis Armstrong in Jason Prover’s trumpet solo at the heart of it, but more like Armstrong’s 1930s big band, the one led for him by Luis Russell, rather than the groups he recorded with in the 1950s, and Crytzer’s vocal here is clearly part and parcel of the 1930s idiom.

  And I find myself surprisingly impressed by Glenn’s originals; normally I try to encourage contemporary musicians and singers to avoid the temptation of writing their own original songs if only because the overwhelming majority of them are lousy at it.  (Make that extremely lousy at it!) But Glenn has succeeded in his highly commendable goal of creating new songs that sound like they were written in the late 1930s and recorded by bands of the period (if only on Associated Transcriptions). “Just Like a Broken Record,” for instance, really sounds like something that Larry Clinton would have played in a 1938 Vitaphone short - or on a 1938 buff Bluebird.  (So does “Marche Slav”; I had a hard time believing that was a new arrangement of the iconic 1876 Tchaikovsky piece, not a transcription of Clinton or Les Brown’s Blue Devils or some other historic band that specialized in “swinging the classics.”)

  There are also plenty of surprises in the vocal department: Hannah Gill is a name new me, but a formidable singer who sounds so authentic to the period that I don’t think she would even mind if I referred to her as a “band canary.” (That term has somehow become un-PC in the millennial era, go figure.)  I know Dandy Wellington, as does anyone who has attended any kind of swing-centric event in New York, but mainly as a dancer and an emcee for contemporary retro-burlesque events - in fact, so much so whenever I hear his name and his voice, I expect to see a woman start taking off her clothes. Clearly he’s developed into the most perfectly appropriate male singer for this band on both ballads and novelties (especially “Swing My Soul”).  And Glenn also captures the idiom very well, adding vocalist to the list of many hats (and caps) that he wears, along with bandleader, arranger, conductor, composer, lyricist, and guitarist.

  I’ve possibly made too much of a fuss over the way this music plays with notions of chronological time and not enough about how the music is about time in the sense that it really swings - that Glenn and his bandsmen play with a lift, a drive and a danceable imperative that’s all too rare in the 21st century.  Glenn Crytzer has, in fact, achieved something of a temporal miracle, in assembling 17 musicians and singers who have so perfectly absorbed the classic swing idiom that it’s like a language they can speak without any trace of a foreign accent. Astrophysicists may insist that time travel is impossible, but now I have cause to wonder.

-Will Friedwald

NATIONAL PRESS CAMPAIGN:  JIM EIGO, JAZZ PROMO SERVICES, 272 State Route 94 South #1, Warwick, NY 10990-3363 Ph: 845-986-1677 [email protected] • www.jazzpromoservices.com “Specializing in Media Campaigns for the music community, artists, labels, venues and events.” NATIONAL RADIO PROMOTION: LISA REEDY PROMOTIONS www.jazzpromotion.com 775-826-0755 [email protected]

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Ramblings: Blues Riding Hutton’s Hot Hand (Jan 19)

  As much as the condensed bye week setup was supposed to spare teams from having to go against active opponents coming off their bye we saw five games pitting rusty teams against active teams. Tampa Bay, Ottawa, Buffalo, Washington and Columbus all came off their bye last night and faced teams that had their bye last week. Unsurprisingly, those teams went 1-4 with only Columbus prevailing in overtime.

It’s for this reason that I’m not too hung up on Andrei Vasilevskiy giving up four goals for the fourth straight game. I’m not happy about the trend, but at least in this case I saw the implosion coming.

Vegas, by the way, is fortunate to have their cross-country road trip yield Nashville, Tampa Bay and tonight at Florida against teams coming off the bye. So far, they are 1-1 having conceded just two goals. Hmmm. Indeed, I do like their chances against the Panthers tonight. Other teams coming off the bye against active opponents: Carolina @ Detroit on Saturday, Chicago vs. the Islanders on Saturday, and Minnesota vs. Tampa Bay on Saturday. I’d bet against all the teams coming off the bye.

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Tampa Bay’s new look power play clicked for one goal three opportunities. The new top unit looked as follows:

Nikita Kucherov – Steven Stamkos – Brayden Point – Ondrej Palat – Mikhail Sergachev

Outside of Palat, that group is near universal ownership. Some gain here for Palat.

Obviously, Vladislav Namestnikov takes another hit now having been dumped off the top line AND the top PP unit. However, lines get juggled often. I’ve no doubt Namestnikov will jump back onto the top line and top PP unit at some point.

The Lightning’s second unit is much less dynamic with Point and Sergachev on the top unit. Sergachev’s promotion was demanded by the Victor Hedman injury. I’m not sure about Point jumping up, but the latter move is not something I’d expect to be permanent.

We might see Anton Stralman gain a little more relevance with some secondary PP time.

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Shea Theodore ended a five-game scoreless drought. He has been better since his lineup slot became permanent, but we’re talking roughly a 0.5-point-per-game pace. That’s good for a defenseman, but is right on the borderline where you might not want to own him outside of hot streaks. He remains widely available so if you could sell high on a guy like Nick Leddy, Charlie McAvoy or Will Butcher (to name a few), you’d have a replacement who would offer the same production, or close to it.

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I have been clamoring for Pavel Buchnevich to get put back onto the Rangers’ top line and last night it happened. The result, a three-point night including finishing off this beauty:

{source} <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">Nash-Zibanejad-Buchnevich a tour de force. <a href="https://t.co/6mwgwYBgO0">pic.twitter.com/6mwgwYBgO0</a></p>— Stephen Laidlaw (@SteveLaidlaw) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveLaidlaw/status/954187705138728960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

  Rick Nash also had a three-point night skating on that top line. Nash now has four goals in the past two games, which might be enough to convince you to give him a spin. It would depend on the size of your league. I have been using him in one league where I need his consistent shot volume. I don’t love that they have a four-game Western road swing ahead of the All-Star break.

Kevin Shattenkirk is mired in an awfully cold run with only one point in the last 13 games, however all the reasons to like him are still there. He offers good shot volume and PIM, and is consistently their lone defenseman on the top PP unit. That PP has gone sideways after a hot start, but should still provide him enough points to score 45+ on the season. Defensemen are simply more difficult to own because the margin for error is much thinner.

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Kyle Okposo continues to trend upward. He has seven points in the last three games and 11 points in nine games since Christmas. Five of those 11 points have come on the power play where the Sabres have gone 6/30 (20%) since Christmas. Obviously, Okposo isn’t going to be a point-per-game guy the rest of the way, but if the power play gets rolling again he could score 30 in the final 37, which would have relevance in every league. No guarantees on that front, but they should be better than they were in the first half.

Okposo isn’t the only one riding high. Both Rasmus Ristolainen and Ryan O’Reilly have scored seven points in the last nine games. Ristolainen should be targeted for a strong second half run at a position of scarcity.

Evander Kane has not been propped up by this recent run as he has lost his top PP privileges. For whatever reason the Sabres aren’t showcasing him for a trade despite the astronomical price tag they’ve put on him.

I don’t mind that the Sabres are asking the moon for Kane. They need to get a win in return for one of their few appealing assets. The problem is that these trades can take a long time to piece together. The Matt Duchene trade took a year and three teams to finally make it work. The clock is ticking much faster for the Sabres. Worse, as we saw with Duchene, players don’t always fit in with their new squads immediately, which should put some imperative on teams to get their rentals done early, but that doesn’t seem to be how most teams want to operate. They want their rentals cheap, even if it means waiting so long you cost yourself the time required to build chemistry. It’s almost a lose/lose for those renting.

The only resolution to that conundrum might be a team being able to workout an extension with Kane prior to a deal being consummated. Is their any willingness on the player’s part to do that? Is their any willingness from a franchise to commit to Kane long-term before seeing how he fits into their locker room? Ultimately, Kane’s going to go for something similar to the Shattenkirk return from last year’s deadline. At which point we spin the wheel as to whether or not he’ll click in a small sample of games.

Kane still has plenty of value in multi-category leagues, but his scoring is trending the wrong way, and we are already seeing what it looks like when he is not longer getting top unit PP time. Not that his PP numbers were off the charts, but it could cost him five points the rest of the way. And I could definitely see Kane being on the outside looking in for PP time if (when) moved to a contender.

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Carter Hutton made his second straight start coming out of the bye week, and his sixth start in the past eight games. It’s pretty clear that he is clawing away the starting gig from an inconsistent Jake Allen. I was able to snag Hutton in most of my leagues and don’t plan on dumping him until there is indication that he is getting less than a 50% share in St. Louis. He has been too good to ignore.

That said, there is still reason for skepticism. Not skepticism in terms of “don’t pick him up”, but rather skepticism in terms of “don’t expect 30 starts the rest of the way”. I have referenced Hutton’s poor career numbers heading into the season on many occasions. His career save percentage is now at a slightly-below-average .915. Now that he is getting a starter’s workload he’ll be under higher scrutiny, expectations, wear and tear. We’ll see how he handles all of that.

Any slippage is going to offer an opportunity for Allen to jump back into the driver’s seat. He carried St. Louis on a strong second half run when Mike Yeo took over last season. Plus, Allen has the big contract, which is always good for earning a few more chances.

This likely ends with Hutton’s save percentage slipping closer to league average and Allen’s climbing up towards league average and something closer to a 50/50 split, albeit with each goalie going on extended runs as the starter. Right now, it’s Hutton in the driver’s seat and the Blues don’t have a back-to-back until February 8-9. There’s no way they allow Allen to go an entire month without playing, but his appearances could be low.

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Jonathan Bernier and the Colorado Avalanche continue to ride hot. Their winning streak is up to eight games. More interesting to me is what happens after their streak is broken. We’ve seen some teams go into tailspins after a long winning streak is busted.

Nathan MacKinnon is currently running at a top-five clip, while Mikko Rantanen looks like he could score 70 points. Is any of that harmony disrupted once their losing streak ends? I’m less comfortable spelling gloom and doom for those two. Their chemistry runs back to the final few weeks of last season when Rantanen scored nine in his last 10 and MacKinnon scored eight in his last 11. Meanwhile, their hot streak this season, kicked off at the start of November when Gabriel Landeskog joined their line. Use these two with extreme confidence! It’s the rest of the roster I am skeptical of.

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Jake Muzzin returned from injury to skate some big minutes and notched an assist. He is near universal ownership so make sure you activate him off your IR.

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We have seen an early surge from Richard Panik in Arizona. He has played 16 minutes per game with some secondary PP time skating on a line with Derek Stepan and Brendan Perlini. He has three assists in four games. Still not enough to get me excited, but I’m not sure what would on this Arizona roster.

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Carl Hagelin is enjoying his latest stint alongside Evgeni Malkin. He has six points on a five-game scoring streak. He should be damn near universally available after a miserable start, but you may not find the room to use him given the Penguins’ Saturday/Tuesday/Thursday schedule heading into All-Star weekend.

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Be on alert for news on Morgan Rielly:

{source} <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Morgan Rielly will be re-evaluated tomorrow. He hurt his left arm at the end of the second period, and Mike Babcock said he was limited late in the third.</p>— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) <a href="https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/954202468656689152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

  If Nikita Zaitsev were healthy, I’d suggest he could step into a bigger role, but since he’s not maybe it’s Connor Carrick who’d grab some scraps of PP time? Jake Gardiner would likely take the top PP minutes, but ultimately there may be no real winners if Rielly misses time, he has been spectacular this season.

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An update on Roberto Luongo:

{source} <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Boughner said he believes Luongo has “turned a corner” in his recovery. Still on track for an early-February return, but could return to practice sooner rather than later.</p>— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesonCoop/status/954035466067734528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

  James Reimer has been an adequate replacement, but you’ll obviously need to be on the lookout for other options if Reimer has been a mainstay for you. And don’t think for a second you are convincing anyone to buy high on Reimer.

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Bo Horvat has been cleared to travel and practice, which should mean a return to the lineup will come shortly. This should help Brock Boeser who has slowed with two points in his last seven games, but really, it’s more likely that Boeser is going to help Horvat transition more smoothly back into the lineup.

This could also spell the end of the marriage between Boeser and the Sedins who had gone on a hot run over the past month or so. Add the return of Horvat to the back spasms that cost Daniel Sedin the game before Vancouver’s bye week and perhaps you have the narrative required to bail on the Sedins entirely.

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For our Fantasy Hockey Geek users:

{source} <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Midseason projections are now uploaded into the <a href="https://twitter.com/FantasyHockeyGk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FantasyHockeyGk</a> tools!</p>— Dobber (@DobberHockey) <a href="https://twitter.com/DobberHockey/status/954207601792659458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

  Also, if you haven’t yet picked up the Mid-Season Guide, please do so. It’s only $10 and helps support the site. Plus, you get updated projections that will help you to close out a win this season.

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Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.

from All About Sports http://www.dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-blues-riding-huttons-hot-hand-jan-19/

Gov. Albert G. Porter, Harrison’s Former Law Partner, Nominated Him in 1888

What follows is the address that nominated Benjamin Harrison for president in 1888. It contains many stories that were part of Harrison’s public image: his ability as a campaigner in a doubtful state, his Civil War service, and his illustrious name.

When, in 1880, Roscoe Conkling visited Indiana to take part in the memorable campaign of that year, he was asked on every hand, ‘How will New York go at the Presidential election?’ ‘Tell me,’ replied the great orator, ‘how Indiana will go in October, and then I can tell you how New York will go in November.’ In October, Indiana’s majority of nearly 7,000 for the Republican candidate for Governor informed the county how she would go, and in November New York and the Nation echoed her October voice. Indiana is no longer an October State. Yet not, in 1888, as before 1880, she seems largely to hold the key of the position. She is always regarded as being a close State; but when the Republican party is thoroughly organized, when it has done the preliminary work of the canvass well, and when its spirit is kindled into flame, Indiana seldom fails to elect the Republican candidates. She have never been better organized for a successful Republican contest than now; the preliminary work has never been more complete and thorough, and the Republican masses seem never to have been more highly roused and eager for the struggle.

Give Gen. Benjamin Harrison your commission to lead them, and they will immediately fall into line and press forward with enthusiastic confidence to victory. The convention that lately met at St. Louis disappointed the Democracy of Indiana by refuse to place an Indiana candidate on their ticket. There is a tide in the affairs of parties, as well as of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. The present condition of Indiana is the Republican party’s opportunity. Why risk shipwreck on any shallows when the full and welcoming sea invites your sails?

Benjamin Harrison came to Indiana in 1854 at the age of twenty-one. He came poor in purse, but rich in resolution. No one ever heard him make a first reference to his ancestors. Self-reliant, he mounted the back of prosperity without the aid of a stirrup. The hospitality of his ancestors had given their property to those whom they had served. The core had gone to the people, the rind only to them and their families. He received, indeed, something from them--their talents, their integrity, their fitness for public trusts, and what to some persons would have seemed a misfortune, but to a heart so stout as his was the highest good fortune, he received from them the inestimable legacy of penury.

Upon his arrival in the State he entered at once upon the practice of law and immediately achieved success. Amplitude of preparation, a large view of questions a mind marvelously prompt in yielding up its stores, and so exhaustive in its power of reasoning that no argument that would help his cause was ever found to have been omitted--these gave him rank at once in his profession. In union with these was found a fairness that sought no mean advantage and an integrity that never could be shaken. The young lawyer leaned on nobody’s arm for help. Modest but self-confident, his manner seemed to say, ‘I am an honest tub, standing on its own bottom.’ It was perceived from the start that in web and woof he was of heroic stuff. 

While he was engaged in the practice of law and was rapidly rising to distinction, the great rebellion raised its head to strike down the Union. Relinquishing his profession, its emoluments, and the fame to which it was beckoning him, he yielded to the imperative demand of duty, raising a regiment and receiving from Morton the commission of a Colonel. He marched with Sherman to the sea; he was in the thick of the fight at Resaca and Atlanta, and his gallantry and the efficiency of his well disciplined command were so conspicuous on those fields as to draw from the heroic Hooker, in a letter to the Secretary of War, the highest possible commendation of his industry as a disciplinarian, and skill and intrepidity as a soldier. 

He was not unknown to the people of Indiana before he entered the army. At a State election they had chosen him to the office of Reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court. His opponents took the office from him while he was serving as a soldier in the field. The people, while he was yet in the field, re-elected him, and on returning home on the disbandment of Sherman’s forces he received his commission. 

On account of his eloquence as a speaker and his extraordinary power as a debater, Gen. Harrison was called upon at an uncommonly early age to take part in the public discussions of the mighty questions that had begun to agitate the country, and was early matched against some of the most prominent speakers of the Democratic party. None who ever felt the point of his blade desired to engage with him again. Possessing oratorical powers of a high order, he has never spoken for mere rhetorical effect. He seems to have remembered the saying of the great Irish orator and patriot, O’Connell, that a good speech is a good thing, but that the verdict is the thing. He therefore pierced the core of every question he discussed, and fought to win in every contest in which he engaged.

He has taken part in every Presidential campaign since he came to Indiana, except the one that occurred during his service in the army, and he threw his sword into that. In recognition of his services in the ardent and prolonged struggles of the Republican party for the rights of man and for the restoration and integrity of the Union, the Republicans in the Legislature of 1881 chose him to be a Senator of the United States. 

I have not time to enter into any detailed narration of his services in the Senate. His rank was among the highest. The delegates from Dakota will bear witness to the unremitting energy of his efforts to have that Territory admitted as a State into the Union, when, for the crime of being faithful to Republican principles, the Democratic party resolved to keep it out.

Everybody will recall his complete exposure of the civil service reform sham in Indiana under the present administration. He possesses all that you should desire in a President--soundness in Republican doctrine, a comprehensive grasp of mind, a calm judgement, firm principle, unquailing [sic] courage, and a pure character. 

The eloquent gentleman from Illinois has commended to your favor another distinguished citizen of Indiana. A State’s place in civilization is denoted by the manner in which she treats whose who have served her faithfully. I have always honored old historic Massachusetts for the manner in which she cherishes the fame of those who, in whatever department of service, have reflected honor upon the Commonwealth; how she calls the roll with prides; how impatient she becomes when their names are unjustly aspersed or disparaged. I have not come here to disparage that honorable gentleman, brave and just judge, and heroic soldier whom the gentleman from Illinois has commended. If the roll of all of Indiana’s sons were called who led in battle or carried the knapsack, she would bid me honor them all.

There is no need that I should strive to dwarf others in order that Gen. Benjamin Harrison may stand conspicuous. He stands breast to breast with the foremost of Indiana’s soldiers; distinguished also in civic trusts; heroically faithful to public duty; skillful in marshaling men, to the sound of whose bugle they quickly rally and fall into ranks, whom they have followed in fierce canvasses, and more than once to the desperate charge crowned with victory. 

Standing here, on behalf of a man who, disdaining all adventitious helps, has risen to distinction by the force of his own merits, I should regard myself unchivalric [sic] did I not recall, at least in brief review, some of the worthy public achievements of his ancestors. Whatever tends to show that a life which has been strong and useful has a foundation in traits have have long clung to the stock from which the man sprang, is in the nature of a guaranty that he may be trusted under all trials. It is something that the public, who are interested in being faithfully served, are entitled to know. We stand here to-day in the imperial city of the Northwest. The name of no family has ever been more identified with the Northwest than the family of Gen. Benjamin Harrison. It is woven into the very fabric of the history of her people. I need only give a passing reference to that sturdy Benjamin Harrison from whom he takes his name, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was the Governor of Virginia when the possessions of Virginia embraced the whole of the Northwest. When the Northwest was formed by Congress into a Territory, William Henry Harrison was, first, its Secretary, and afterward its Delegate to Congress. When the Indiana Territory was formed, embracing all the territory of the Northwest except Ohio and a part of Michigan, he was appointed its first Governor. He held commissions as Governor successively from Adams, Jefferson and Madison. He was a man of deeds. While a Delegate in Congress he obtained the passage of a law requiring the sales of public lands to be made in smaller subdivisions than have ever been allowed before, so that the first time a man of humble means might now buy from his Government a home.

The historian McMasters, in his admirable history of the people of the United States, has said with reference to this measure that it did far more for the good of the country than even his great victory over the Prophet at Tippecanoe, or his defeat of Tecumseh at the battle of the Thames. He negotiated treaties with the Indians, while Governor, by which their titles to 70,000,000 acres of land was extinguished and the land was thus opened for settlement. In a single one of these treaties the Indians relinquished lands which embrace a third of Illinois and a vast section in southern Wisconsin.

He fought the battle of Tippecanoe, and, defeating the plans of the great statesman and warrior, Tecumseh, kept the portals of the West open for the admission of the emigrant, and what, though less shining, was not less welcome to the settlers of the Territory, scanty in means and struggling with difficulties, he procured the passage of laws that made the burdens of taxes lighter upon the poor. The language of the farm and the practice of hospitality were native to him. After the battle of Tippecanoe, when parting with a regiment of his soldiers, he said: ‘If you ever come to Vincennes you will find a plate, and a knife, and a fork at my table, and I assure you that you will never find my door shut and the string of the latch pulled in.’ And what he promised he faithfully lived up to.

We hear of civil service reform as if it were some quite new suggestion. But President Harrison, in a single month that he held office, directed the heads of the several departments to give information to all their officers and agents that partisan interference by them in the popular elections, whether of State officers or the Federal government, or the payment of any contributions or assessments on salaries, or official compensation for party election purposes, would be regarded by him as cause for removal. The old war Governor, the hero of Tippecanoe, having left Indiana in 1813, to enter a larger field of activity, and when, twenty-seven years afterward, he was a candidate for President of the United States, Indiana, though a Democratic State, gave him a majority of nearly 14,000 votes. He died in a month after he entered upon his great office, but not the memory of his services, which will ever remain fresh and imperishable. 

And now to-day in Indiana, among a people estimating highly the character and services of Gen. Benjamin Harrison, and holding in affection the memory of ‘Old Tippecanoe,’ the latch strings of the people are hospitably out to you, and their doors are waiting to fly open at your touch to let in the joyful air that shall bear upon its wing the message that Benjamin Harrison, their soldier statesman, has been nominated for President of the United States.

From the Proceedings of the Ninth Republican National Convention, 1888, pg. 121-125. 

There are a few factual errors in the address. Col. Harrison did not march with Sherman to the Sea. He was called back to Indiana on furlough for the 1864 campaign by Gov. Morton. Porter claimed that Harrison did not take part in the 1864 campaign, but he was on hand giving speeches that season.

The Role of Online Archives in Contemporary Art and Activism

A member of the press interviews a protester near the Ferguson Police Department, August 11, 2014. Dale D. Gebhardt, “Interview,” Documenting Ferguson, accessed January 12, 2017.

Recent years have seen an increased presence of the archive within contemporary art. Scholars and curators have pointed out the myriad ways that the form, function, and concept of the archive are appropriated by artists, underscoring their historical weight and capacity to engage us. Along with practitioners in the art world, journalists and activists are increasingly looking to the archive as a form of display, particularly as mediated through the Internet. At the outbreak of Syria’s civil war in 2011, for example, the New York Times created “Watching Syria’s War,” an online project that presents in-depth news coverage accompanied by amateur videos sourced from YouTube. In September 2014, Washington University in St. Louis created a website to document the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, inviting individuals to upload photos, videos, newspaper clippings, and other content related to the protests. Using the tagline, “Don’t let these images be lost to history,” Documenting Ferguson became a crowd-sourced archive that is at once educational and evidential.

The strategic practices of creating and maintaining an archive—the collecting, organizing, storing, and presenting of documents—are appealing to artists as methods to make sense of today’s constant bombardment of information and images. Whereas trained archivists typically led the production of archives, increasing numbers of artists are assuming this responsibility, particularly within the context of social-documentary photography.

Documenting Ferguson (Homepage, Documenting Ferguson, Accessed January 16, 2017).

A critical example is Susan Meiselas’s documentary work in Kurdistan. The project began in the late 1980s, when Meiselas accompanied a forensic anthropologist to document the mass graves in the region. Feeling that she needed more historical context to understand what was happening there, Meiselas turned to archives for guidance in her research and traveled to private homes to find photos in personal collections. In her resulting 1991 book, Meiselas embeds her own and historical photographs within a timeline of Kurdish history, creating a selected photographic archive of the region.

What began as a document in time was transformed into a platform in which to trace time—past, present, and future

With the advent of the Internet, Meiselas saw a new strategy for engagement. In 1997, she launched the website aka Kurdistan, where viewers could explore the history of the region through photographs and text, add context to rare or personal images related to Kurdish history, and contribute their photographs and stories. Thus, Meiselas’ book became a digital, crowd-sourced archive of photographs, texts, videos, and documents dedicated to Kurdish history. The decision to create the archive was rooted in its flexible and inclusive form, as well as its ability to engage a greater audience. The archive enabled a space for historical reconstruction that was rooted in evidentiary truths and aspirations for political recognition. What began as a document in time was transformed into a platform in which to trace time—past, present, and future.

aka Kurdistan. (Accessed January 16, 2017.)

As projects like aka Kurdistan or Documenting Ferguson show, the role of the citizen, particularly as a producer of content, is increasingly critical. The online archive is a way of weeding the thousands of images taken on camera phones every day; it offers greater accessibility of and context for the images and videos and lets the public engage with information embedded within photographic narratives. Indeed, as images both current and historical continue to proliferate, the role of many photographers and artists has shifted from documenter to collector.

Furthermore, recent projects—like Akram Zaatari’s extraordinary Arab Image Foundation, or even Rhizome’s institutional initiative to preserve digital art—emphasize the importance of collection. Reimagining and re-presenting content rather than exclusively creating it, Meiselas, Zaatari, and others show and contextualize what we need to see.

Screenshots of the akaKurdistan website. Susan Meiselas, akaKurdistan, 1997-Present. Source.

The online archive is not without downsides. Encompassing large quantities of content, the interface must balance user-friendliness with aesthetic considerations. Creating a visual vocabulary that communicates to a wide audience is imperative not only for the archival project’s functionality and appeal but also for its accessibility.

when an archive is constructed through the eyes of an artist, it has the potential to reveal, engage, and educate differently

Many archival projects come out of communities that are attempting to define their history or are looking to create spaces in which that history may be communicated. While online archives have flaws, they more importantly have capabilities. And when an archive is constructed through the eyes of an artist, it has the potential to reveal, engage, and educate differently.

from Art21 Magazine http://ift.tt/2kq4zSN

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