Takata to file for bankruptcy Monday, SMBC to provide bridge loan: Sources – CNBC

Buddhika Weerasinghe | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Signage for Takata are displayed at the company's Echigawa plant in Echigawa, Shiga, Japan, on Friday, Nov. 25, 2016.

The firm, whose defective air-bag inflators have been blamed for at least 16 deaths and more than 150 injuries worldwide, will file for protection in Tokyo District Court under the Civil Rehabilitation Act, Japan's version of U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy, said the sources, one of whom has direct knowledge of the matter and one who was briefed on the process.

Takata will then seek bridge loans from the core banking unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, which will provide tens of billions of yen (hundreds of millions of dollars) in bridge loans, one source said.

Takata spokesman Toyohiro Hishikawa said nothing had been decided regarding any filing or financing.

Shares in Takata changed hands for the first time since sources said last week that the struggling airbag maker was preparing to file for bankruptcy.

By mid-afternoon shares had more than halved in value to 116 yen, eroding Takata's market capitalization by about 75 percent from a week ago to nearly $86 million now.

Any filing would coincide with a deal for financial backing from U.S. auto parts maker Key Safety Systems Inc. Key is expected to acquire Takata assets as part of a restructuring in bankruptcy, a source told Reuters.

Takata would stop making air-bag inflators after completing a global recall as part of the restructuring plan with Key, separate sources said.

Takata plans to begin bankruptcy proceedings in both the United States and Japan, sources have said. Such moves would culminate a long, tumultuous fall for the family-controlled company that grew to become a global supplier to most of the world's major automakers.

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Takata to file for bankruptcy Monday, SMBC to provide bridge loan: Sources - CNBC

Sears Canada Closing 59 Stores as It Seeks Bankruptcy Protection – Fortune

Retail's bloodbath has spread north of the border.

Sears Canada announced on Thursday it has entered bankruptcy protection in the Great White North and will close 59 stores and slash nearly 3,000 jobs while it tries to get back on its back after a years-long slump.

The retailer, which was spun off from Sears Holdings ( shld ) in 2012, won protection from creditors under Canada's equivalent to a Chapter 11 knowns as "Companies Creditors Arrangement Act" and said it plans to exit bankruptcy "protection as soon as possible in 2017, better positioned" to executive a turnaround.

Sears Canada, which is independent of its U.S. namesake, will close 20 of its 94 full-service locations, 15 home stores, 10 outlet stores and 14 hometown locations and will cut 2,900 positions across its store fleet and at its Toronto headquarters.

The spin off in 2012 was one move made by Sears Holdings CEO and top investor Eddie Lampert to raise urgently needed cash will inflict pain on Sears Holdings: the U.S. namesake company still owns 12% of Sears Canada, and Lampert and his investment vehicles still own about 45% of its shares. Sears Holdings has also been closing stores and failing to hang on to shoppers: last week, the retailer, which also operates the Kmart discount chain, said it was cutting 400 jobs at its Chicago area headquarters in addition to a previously announced $1.25 billion cost restructuring of the company.

Its Canadian siblings said in its statement that "the continued liquidity pressures facing the company as well as legacy components of its business are preventing it from making further progress." Last week, it issued a warning that it might not be able to generate enough cash to meet debt payments and other obligations in the next year. Sears Canada has posted losses in its last three fiscal years. (Sears Holdings, which is run entirely independently, stoked its own bankruptcy chatter when it acknowledged fears in the marketplace about its longer-term viability in its annual report released in March.)

As for Sears Canada, its much-hoped for comeback involves selling more discounted designer fashions and its own house brands while also improving its e-commerce, things its rivals have been doing for years.

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Sears Canada Closing 59 Stores as It Seeks Bankruptcy Protection - Fortune

Lakeland day care files for bankruptcy without paying workers – wreg.com

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LAKELAND, Tenn. Some parents and employees are upset after a day care abruptly closed its doors and filed bankruptcy on payday.

"The person who is most heartbroken is me because not only did I lose my business my job, I lost people who I thought were my friends," owner Lisa Naquin said.

She said overnight her dream went up in smoke she was forced to close the doors at the business she built, turning clients and workers away.

She said she filed for Chapter 7 Monday but kept the center open and continued to take tuition payments up until Wednesday.

"We found out we were going to be filing on Sunday night around 9:30," said Naquin.

Naquin claims she was hoping to sell the day care and kept that quiet because she did not want to alarm anyone, but she says that deal fell through.

"We had to make the hard decision to just let it go and file bankruptcy."

Sandra Mays worked at the day care just over a year and says the closing came just as they were supposed to get paid.

"If you knew this you could have let us know, told us we are going through changes but trying to work it out so we could have been prepared," she said.

She said filing for bankruptcy on payday without letting anyone know about financial problems just doesn't sit well with her.

"We expected to work and get paid and we did neither."

Naquin showed WREG a text message explaining why she didn't pay her workers, saying her attorney advised her giving out paychecks without the funds could land her in trouble. That has left some workers feeling taken advantage of.

"That's not how the process works, it's like she tricked us, and knowing she may never see the fruits her labor really strikes a nerve."

Through the liquidation process, the employees could get paid, but may not.

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Lakeland day care files for bankruptcy without paying workers - wreg.com

Puerto Rico Bankruptcy: Uncertainty, But Also Stock Profit Opportunity – Seeking Alpha

Puerto Rico opened a new "chapter" in distressed securities investing when it filed for court protection in early May. However, in this case, it is not a chapter of the bankruptcy code, such as Chapter 11 (which generally applies to companies) or Chapter 9 (which applies to municipalities). Because Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the U.S., it was not eligible for traditional bankruptcy protection. Instead, it filed under a new statute that was passed last year by Congress primarily to deal with the island's problems.

After years of economic decline, Puerto Rico is now in default on an estimated $74 billion of bond debt. On top of that, the Commonwealth has approximately $49 billion of pension obligations and an ongoing need for funds to provide basic government services. Because of special tax law provisions that exempt the territory's debt from not only federal taxes but also state taxes in every state, the bonds are widely held by investors across the country. Since the legal action is under a new law that has never been tested, there is tremendous uncertainty about how much creditors will recover and how long the process will take.

Distressed bond investors seem to be favoring either the territory's general obligation (or "GO") bonds or its bonds backed by sales tax revenues (known as "COFINAs"), both currently trading around 50 cents on the dollar, and there are many other Puerto Rican bonds trading at even lower levels. But there may be opportunities for stock investors to profit from the island's restructuring as well, perhaps with less downside risk than in many of the bonds.

Our most recent newsletter details four public companies based in Puerto Rico that could benefit from stabilization in the island's finances. Those companies are detailed below, and an additional three major insurance companies with exposure to Puerto Rican debt can be found in The Turnaround Letter. Learn more about these contrarian Puerto Rico investing opportunities.

Closing prices on May 31, 2017

Ambac (NASDAQ:AMBC) - At the most strategic level, the Ambac story is straightforward: an insurer of municipal bonds with an impressive new CEO who is strengthening the company's balance sheet, working off its obligations following its 2010 bankruptcy, reducing risks and building book value. Underneath is a highly complicated financial and legal structure that even most of Wall Street avoids, as only a few analysts cover the stock. The shares trade at 63% of adjusted book value and near their post-emergence lows. Much of the concern is related to Ambac's $276 million of exposure to the Puerto Rico General Fund debt and $2.1 billion in current exposure to Puerto Rican municipal debt. While the eventual costs to Ambac are unknowable, the company has established reserves that would cover the most likely outcomes. There could be an interesting opportunity developing in Ambac.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) - Assured Guaranty is probably the strongest player in the bond insurance business. Its exposure to Puerto Rico is relatively modest, and it could buy up competitors if they falter. Management has been aggressively working to boost shareholder value through stock buybacks. The stock has performed well over the past few years, but it could rise a lot further.

EVERTEC (NYSE:EVTC) - EVERTEC, with sales of nearly $400 million, is a full-service transaction processing business similar to The Turnaround Letter recommendation First Data Corporation (NYSE:FDC), with operations in 18 countries across Latin America. The company was created in 2004 as a unit inside of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) (the Puerto Rico bank), which still owns a 16% stake. Apollo Management bought a 51% stake in 2010 and then exited following EVERTEC's IPO in 2013. Despite the weak local economy, EVERTEC continues to grow its revenues and profits through both organic expansion and acquisitions. The company's debt is moderately elevated at 3.3x EBITDA, but management is committed to reducing this. Management appears capable and brings considerable experience from larger industry peers. At an attractive 9.7x EBITDA, this underfollowed stock is worth a closer look.

First Bancorp (NYSE:FBP) - With $12 billion in assets, First Bancorp is Puerto Rico's second-largest local bank. Loan quality is a struggle, as nonperforming loans are over 5% of its loan book, but this is largely offset by a high level of capital (its Tier 1 common equity ratio is 18.2%). First Bancorp's net interest margin is wide, at nearly 4.5%, compared to less than 2.5% at most U.S. banks. Several major shareholders have been selling, including the U.S. Treasury, which completed its sale under the TARP program, as well as private equity firms Oaktree and Thomas H. Lee, and this has been weighing on the stock price. While there are definitely risks here, the stock's valuation at 67% of tangible book value (many banks trade at 100-200%) and 11.9x this year's expected earnings appears to be a bargain.

Disclosure: I am/we are long AMBC.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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Puerto Rico Bankruptcy: Uncertainty, But Also Stock Profit Opportunity - Seeking Alpha

Implant Sciences Bankruptcy Objections Filed – Bankrupt Company News (press release) (blog)

Implant Sciences and the U.S. Trustee assigned to the case filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court separate objections to the official committee of equity security holders motion to retain D.F. King & Co. to provide plan solicitation services.

The Company asserts, Simply put, the retention of D.F. King & Co. is unnecessary and not in the best of the Debtors estates, shareholders or other parties in interest.Prior to this (self-created and purported) emergency filing, the Equity Committee made no effort to discuss with the Debtors either the necessity of D.F. Kings proposed retention, or the nature and scope of services it seeks to have D.F. King provide in light of the services that KCC, who is the Debtors previously engaged noticing and claims agent, would be providing in connection with solicitation of the Plan.

In addition, The Application lays bare the fallacy of the Equity Committees supposed concern for the administrative burn in these chapter 11 cases it proposes an entirely unnecessary and unreasonable expense to be borne by the Debtors estates and ultimately the common shareholders, which is fraught with the potential to create even more unnecessary costs in the future. The Debtors cannot agree to for the needless expenditure of estate resources for a superfluous, targeted campaign that, as demonstrated by the Equity Committees proposed Plan Support Letter, could potentially be rife with misstatements and mischaracterizations of fact, as well as unfounded, irresponsible personal attacks against the Debtors management team.

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Implant Sciences Bankruptcy Objections Filed - Bankrupt Company News (press release) (blog)

Foundation Healthcare Chapter 11 Bankruptcy – Bankrupt Company News (press release) (blog)

Foundation Healthcare (f/k/a Graymark Healthcare) and subsidiary University General Hospital (UGH) filed for Chapter 11 protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Texas, lead case number 17-42571. The Company, which owns and operates surgical hospitals, is represented by Vickie L. Driver of Husch Blackwell.

According to documents filed with the Court, As of June 30, 2016, FHI had extensive accumulated and working capital deficits.FHI was unable to address the cash flow shortage either through the sale of assets, increase in revenues, decrease in expenses, or by reaching additional modifications or extension agreements with the Senior Lenders.

The Company also notes, Without access to the funds provided for in the proposed cash collateral and DIP budget, the Debtors will be unable to continue with the orderly wind-down and liquidation process, including the Debtors proposed joint liquidating plan, which seeks to appoint a liquidating trustee to administer various assets to creditors as appropriate through a liquidating trust.

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Foundation Healthcare Chapter 11 Bankruptcy - Bankrupt Company News (press release) (blog)

Mesothelioma Law Firm | Sokolove Law

Trusted Nationwide for Mesothelioma Legal Services

The national reach of Sokolove Law allows us to help victims in any state, and to maximize the value of their cases and potential settlements.

Our goal is to maximize the compensation that a mesothelioma victim may be entitled to. What makes Sokolove Law unique is that we are not restricted to filing lawsuits in certain states. As a national law firm, we will file wherever a mesothelioma or asbestos-related claim can be best litigated, in order to increase the value of a case.

For more information, we recommend reading: 5 Tips for Finding the Right Mesothelioma Lawyer for You

A mesothelioma law firm, or a law firm that specializes inasbestos cases, files claims on behalf of those suffering from diseases triggered by asbestos, which includes mesothelioma. These firms develop a deep understanding of the nitty-gritty details involved in bringing justice to the victims and families impacted by these devastating diseases.

Torts, as theyre known, or, more commonly, civil actions, are part of an extremely complex area of the law. This is the area where asbestos litigation falls. All U.S. states have their own unique statutes, and these statues can vary on things like burden-of-proof, meaning one states requirements could be different or even more demanding than anothers.

Thats why its best to work with an experienced lawyer. Firms like Sokolove Law have for years prioritized keeping up with the latest mesothelioma research and asbestos-related legal developments. Sokolove Law maintains massive databases containing information related to virtually every aspect of the asbestos industry.

Whenever youre considering legal action, its vital that you interview a potential law firm and check their past experience in mesothelioma claims, settlements and specialized legal experience.

Here are some questions you might ask if you were looking to partner with a mesothelioma law firm:

How many years of experience does yourmesothelioma law firm have?

Will youtake mycase on a contingency basis?

What are the typical outcomes of yourmesothelioma cases? Out-of-court settlement? Win? Loss? Appeal?

Will Ibe able to speak with members of yourlaw firm as needed? Will mycalls be returned promptly and your questions answered clearly?

How many mesothelioma (not just asbestos) cases or claims has yourlaw firm handled?

Will mycase be handled on an individual basis, or bundled with several other similar cases? (This may hurt you if your case is a strong one, but could be helpful with weaker cases.)

Does your mesotheliomalaw firm have a nationwide network of attorneys and lawyers who will share their research and expertise in order to build a solid case on mybehalf?

Will yourlaw firm be handling mycase personally? (At times law firms may refer your case to another firm that may be better suited to help in your situation often providing you with the services of both their firm and another at no extra cost to you.)

Remember, its in your best interest to be comfortable with the mesothelioma law firm and attorneys that handle your case.

Sokolove Laws staff of experienced mesothelioma paralegals is here to help you and to answer any questions you might have about filing a mesothelioma lawsuit. Dont wait request a free legal consultation today.

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Mesothelioma Law Firm | Sokolove Law

Malignant Mesothelioma (Asbestos Cancer) > The Mesothelioma …

Malignant mesothelioma (pronounced "mez-o-theel-e-oh-ma"), also known as "asbestos cancer," is a rare form of cancer found in the lining of the heart, lungs, abdomen, or the internal reproductive organs. This lining is called the mesothelium and is where mesothelioma gets its name.

Because tumors of the mesothelium are rarely benign (non cancerous), cancerous malignant mesothelioma is usually referred to simply as "mesothelioma," or in casual terms simply "meso."

The mesothelium covers various organs in the body protecting them and allowing organs to move against each other as the lungs expand and contract or the heart beats. Where the mesothelium covers the internal organs, it is called the visceral mesothelium and where it covers the body walls, it is called the parietal mesothelium.

Malignant mesothelioma occurs when cells within the mesothelium become abnormal and divide uncontrollably. If not caught early enough, the cancer may metastasize, spreading to other organs of the body. While it is a very aggressive form of cancer, several treatment options are available for malignant mesothelioma.

The only known cause of mesothelioma is asbestos. Because asbestos exposure is the only known cause of mesothelioma, it is sometimes referred to as "asbestos cancer." However, malignant mesothelioma is not the only cancer caused by asbestos. Exposure to asbestos can also cause laryngeal, colon, and lung cancer.

There is no known safe level of asbestos exposure, but asbestos cancers are dose dependent, meaning those exposed for longer periods of time and to greater amounts of asbestos are more likely to develop asbestos-related disease. If you were exposed to asbestos, you should tell your physician so he or she can make a determination for appropriate testing based on your history of exposure and symptoms.

One of the earliest descriptions of malignant mesothelioma was written in 18701, although the tumor was referred to as tuberkelhnliche lymphadenome ("tubercle-like" lymphadenoma) in this early, German-language review. It wasn't until the start of the 19th century that tumors arising out of the mesothelium were named mesotheliomas. The process of appropriately identifying, and thus naming, mesothelioma was not without some debate, confusion, and even controversy.

In an article that would help define the modern ideas on the pathology and diagnosis of mesothelioma, Klemperer and Rabin's 1930 "Primary Neoplasms of the Pleura: A Report of Five Cases" noted that thirty different names had been used to describe the neoplasms being studied:

The names applied most frequently, endothelioma, endothelial carcinoma, carcinoma, sarcoma, lymphangitis proliferans, sarcocarcinoma and mesothelioma, are indicative of the different morphologic pictures and the different opinions of the authors as to the point of origin. To make this confusion more complete, there have been included in the literature on primary tumors of the pleura a number of cases that, on critical examination, are proved to originate definitely in the lungs or in the bronchi."2

Even as late as 1943the year many consider asbestos was determined a cause mesothelioma (see Wedler, below)researchers suggested "pleuroma" as a name for these tumors3, however, mesothelioma gradually became the accepted term. Likely as a result of relative rarity of mesothelioma, the connections between asbestos and mesothelioma began to be made even as mesothelioma itself was still not well understood or identified.

In 1933, London pathologist Steven Roodhouse Gloyne published a study in which he discussed the movement of asbestos fibers through the lymph system and the particularly high concentrations of asbestos that collected in the lymph nodes in the central chest in a person with asbestosis4. Two years later, in 1935, Gloyne is considered the first to make a possible connection between occupational asbestos exposures and mesothelioma.

Gloyne described malignancies arising from the pleura of an asbestosis victim5, noting that "at the moment" there was no indication that the tumor correlated to the asbestosis present. However, in 1938, when the German government began to recognize and compensate lung cancer as an occupational disease of asbestos workers, mesothelioma was included as a compensable respiratory cancer.

What is often regarded as the first study to connect mesothelioma with asbestos was published in 1943 by German researcher, Dr. H.W. Wedler6. Wedler reviewed a collection of autopsy records belonging to asbestosis victims, his results revealing an excess of both lung and pleural malignancies. Also of interest in Wedler's study, was his observation of an often a long interval between exposure and the development of cancer and his assertion that these diseases must be regarded as occupational.

Several more publications in a similar vein followed, and throughout the 1940s and 1950s, articles discussing asbestosis cases often mentioned accompanying lung cancers and/or mesotheliomas. In 1954, F. Leicher reported the first case of peritoneal mesothelioma in an asbestos textile factory spinner7. Many researchers, physicians, and other specialists believe the causal relationship between asbestos and mesothelioma was, or at least could, have been established by the mid-1950s. (Interestingly, even as late as 1955, some studies did not refer directly to "mesothelioma," but to a malignancy of the pleura or similar.)

It was an article published by South African researchers J.C. Wagner, Christopher Sleggs, and Paul Marchand that is generally attributed as the removing any doubts that asbestos causes mesothelioma. Wagner had initially been hired by the South African Government Mining Engineer to study occupational diseases, namely, asbestosis; however, Wagner began to focus his attention on the unusual pleural tumors he was finding during his research. It was not a decision the mining industry in South Africa was happy about, as they were busy investing in new operations to meet the growing global demands for asbestos.

The study, first presented at a conference in Johannesburg in 1959 and published in 1960 in the British Journal of Medicine, detailed 33 cases of mesothelioma with all but one case having a proven asbestos exposure history. In eight cases, their exposure history was occupational, however, some twenty of the mesothelioma cases discussed simply lived as infants near the mines.

Although the language of Wagner's study left the association between asbestos and mesothelioma "possible," the results of such damaging evidence against asbestos in occupational and, perhaps more importantly, bystander asbestos exposures was not lost on the industry. Partly as a result of pressures from industrial interests, Wagner left South Africa in 1962 for a new position in the UK. Any lingering doubts about asbestos' tie to mesothelioma left open by Wagner were shortly quieted by several studies which further confirmed the link.

In the 50s and 60s, New Jersey physician Irving J. Selikoff saw several men suffering from pulmonary abnormalities as a result of inhaling asbestos dust on the job at the Patterson, NJ UNARCO (Union Asbestos & Rubber Company) plant. UNARCO's specialty was in producing asbestos insulation materials for the US Navy. When several of Selikoff's UNARCO patients died as a result of cancer, he contacted UNARCO requesting their participation in a study of workers' health.

When UNARCO declined, Selikoff tried a different tactic. If the makers of the insulation were being injured by asbestos, Selikoff supposed, those installing it might face similar risks. Early in 1962, Selikoff contacted the International Association of Heat & Frost Insulators & Asbestos Workers (New York Local 12 and Newark Local 32). The union officials were, in fact, quite concerned about workers' health. So much so, that they had contacted the Industrial Hygiene Foundation (IHF) about them several years prior. Originally called the Air Hygiene Foundation, the IHF was almost wholey industry-funded, so their responses to the union's concerns were, not surprisingly, reassurances about the safe handling of asbestos insulation materials.

Over the course of the next year, Selikoff examined more than a thousand insulators, performing pulmonary function tests and administering x-rays. Selikoff finally presented his findings in 1964 at the New York Academy of Science sponsored conference 'Biological Effects of Asbestos.' His results were staggering. Among the insulators, mortality was 25% higher than was expected, and not from asbestosis alone, but from lung cancer, stomach cancer, colon cancer, rectal cancer, colorectal cancer, and malignant mesothelioma.

Along with Selikoff's presentation at the 1964 conference, Wagner and other researchers presented further evidence of the connection between asbestos and mesothelioma. British physician Molly Newhouse echoed Wagner's own findings when she presented her research regarding mesothelioma cases among people who lived near, but were not employed by, a London asbestos factory. Many of the presentations emphasized that victims often did not suffer long or heavy exposures, work with asbestos, nor have asbestosis.

In 1968, the British Medical Journal asserted that "at the end of 1965, it was clear that asbestos workers [were] at special risk of developing cancers of at least two typebronchial carcinoma and mesothelioma."

Last update: December 03, 2015. 02:54:51 pm.

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Malignant Mesothelioma (Asbestos Cancer) > The Mesothelioma ...

Mesothelioma Veterans Center – Access Benefits & VA Claims

Choose Your Service Branch Below What is Mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lungs (pleural mesothelioma) or abdomen (peritoneal mesothelioma) that is caused by exposure to asbestos. In over 30% of all mesothelioma cases, asbestos exposure happened during military service. Veterans from all branches of service are at risk, with the most common being the United States Navy and the Marines. There are a variety of mesothelioma treatments available, as well as doctors in the VA system who are capable of treating it.

Veterans Benefits are available for people in the form of VA Disability, Aid & Attendance and more. Learn more about Asbestos in the military and the benefits available for you.

Learn more about this disease that affects the lining of the lungs (pleural) or abdomen (peritoneal). Find the top treatment options and ways to improve your prognosis.

Veterans with mesothelioma are often eligible for thousands of dollars in disability compensation, access to top mesothelioma specialists and more.

Hundreds of thousands of veterans were exposed to asbestos during their service in the military. Learn how and where you may have been exposed.

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Mesothelioma Veterans Center - Access Benefits & VA Claims

Testicular and Cardiac Mesothelioma – Surviving Mesothelioma

Most cases of mesothelioma occur around the lungs (pleural) or around the abdomen (peritoneal). However, there are two rare subtypes that can occur. One is found around the testis and the other can be found around the heart. Estimates place each type to less than 50 cases a year.

Testicular Mesothelioma is also called paratesticular or mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis. It is a rare subtype of mesothelioma that involves the testis.

A major risk factor is exposure to asbestos, typically with a long latency between exposure and diagnosis.

The most common symptom is a mass or hydrocele (buildup of fluid) inside the scrotum. Symptoms of testicular mesothelioma may include scrotal problems, pain, and discomfort. Your doctor may use a physical examination, X-ray or other imaging to detect the lesions. An ultrasound may also be used. A biopsy may be performed and the tumor may be examined by a pathologist to determine exactly what type of cancer it is. Pathologists use immunohistochemical staining to help them identify the genetic markers of various cancers.

Treatment of testicular mesothelioma may include surgery followed by radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Recent studies have concluded that surgery may be curative in some cases. For example, in one study, two patients with this disease were treated by radical inguinal orchiectomy where one or both testicles and the spermatic cord are surgically removed. According to their doctors, Both patients are currently in complete remission. These doctors go on to say that the use of chemotherapy and radiation therapy may not always be necessary in this type of mesothelioma. However, other studies have concluded that treatment is only curative in early stages.

The mortality rate from testicular mesothelioma has been reported to be 53% over a mean follow-up time of two years. Even with treatment, this tumor has a very poor prognosis with a median survival of about 23 months.

Pericardial Mesothelioma an extremely rare subtype of the asbestos-caused cancers. The cancer develops within the pericardium, the membrane that surrounds the heart. This membrane actually has two layers: An outer layer called parietal and an inner layer known as visceral.

Primary pericardial malignant mesothelioma is extremely rare with an incidence less than 0.0022%. It comprises 0.7% of all mesothelioma cases. As of 2012, approximately 350 cases of pericardial mesothelioma have been reported in the peer reviewed medical literature.

Due to its rarity and lack of studies, the role of asbestos in pericardial mesothelioma is unclear.

The symptoms of pericardial malignant are usually not specific and may resemble those of other heart conditions. The symptoms may also relate to a fluid buildup around the heart and thickening of the pericardial layers. The symptoms may also be related to constrictive pericarditis, heart attack, or congestive heart failure. Symptoms that have been reported include: heart palpitations or irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, fatigue and chest pains. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms see your licensed healthcare provider immediately.

Treatment options are limited because the tumors are so close to the heart.

With the exception of a handful of case reports, patients typically pass away within 6-10 months of diagnosis. An example of a longer term survivor is a 59-year-old woman who underwent surgery for malignant pericardial mesothelioma. The tumor was successfully removed with clean surgical margins. The cell type of her mesothelioma was epithelioid. The patient tolerated the operation and chemotherapy without any complications. She remained alive for almost 3 years after surgery.

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Testicular and Cardiac Mesothelioma - Surviving Mesothelioma

Time Between Surgeries Helps Predict Mesothelioma Survival – Asbestos.com

A new study from researchers at the City of Hope cancer center in Los Angeles and Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, reveals how the length of time between initial and follow-up cytoreduction surgery and HIPEC plays a role in patient survival.

The study, published in June in the Journal of Surgical Oncology, shows peritoneal mesothelioma patients who repeat the procedure between one and two years after the initial surgery have the most favorable outcome, with a median overall survival of nearly four years.

Peritoneal mesothelioma is an aggressive, asbestos-related cancer, and recurrence is common.

These results are very promising for a select group of patients who recur after cytoredutive surgery (CRS) and HIPEC, Dr. Konstantinos Votanopoulos, associate professor of surgery at Wake Forest School of Medicine, told Asbestos.com. In this group, a complete CRS and HIPEC essentially resets the clock in terms of anticipated survival.

The multimodal approach of CRS followed by heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is the standard treatment option for peritoneal mesothelioma patients.

In 2013, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center concluded patients who opted for a second procedure survived nearly three times as long as those who underwent only one procedure.

The goal of CRS, also known as debulking, is to remove any visible tumors or cancer from multiple sites in the abdomen. It may require removing some or all parts of major organs, including the gallbladder, liver, pancreas, stomach, spleen and intestinal tract.

HIPEC involves delivering heated chemotherapy drugs directly to the abdominal cavity to treat any cancer cells that may remain. It is considered a risky procedure, and not all peritoneal mesothelioma patients are candidates.

Sometimes, multiple rounds of HIPEC are necessary to send the cancer into remission.

In addition to peritoneal mesothelioma, CRS and HIPEC are used to treat other gastrointestinal cancers and peritoneal surface malignancies including cancers of the colon, appendix and gallbladder.

Using a City of Hope database of 1,314 CRS and HIPEC procedures performed between February 1993 and December 2015, Konstantinidis and his team identified 103 (8.5 percent) patients who underwent repeat procedures.

The group included:

Mesothelioma patients carried the most significant disparity of overall survival, according to the time interval between first and second CRS and HIPEC procedures.

Overall survival rates for peritoneal mesothelioma patients in the study were:

Median overall survival for all peritoneal mesothelioma patients in the study was 2.4 years.

All other cancer patients who underwent repeat procedures after two years saw a significant increase in overall survival compared to those in the one- to two-year range, including a four-year difference for low-grade appendiceal cancer and three-year difference for colon cancer patients.

The median overall survival for all cancers in that interval was seven years, far longer than mesothelioma patients in that group, for all patients who underwent repeat procedures after at least two years. This can be attributed to the high recurrence rate of peritoneal mesothelioma and its ability to spread quickly.

Although the study links repeated procedures more than two years after initial surgery with the best overall survival, the optimal time interval for mesothelioma patients is between the first and second year.

Essentially, the amount of time between procedures functions as a powerful selection tool to predict the patients that will do well, Votanopoulos said. A recurrence within a year from the initial operation is a sign that the tumor is very aggressive and more surgery is unlikely to offer a survival benefit.

Researchers at Wake Forest were part of a 2015 study analyzing the survival-time gap between the two most common types of mesothelioma peritoneal and pleural.

The study showed the median survival for peritoneal patients is four times that of a patient diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, which develops on the protective lining surrounding the lungs and accounts for roughly 70 percent of all mesothelioma cases.

Median survival for peritoneal patients was more than six years, compared to just 18 months for pleural patients.

Advancements in therapy, most notably the cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC procedures, are credited for the significant difference in prognosis between the two types.

Combining heated chemotherapy with aggressive surgery has not been as successful for treating pleural mesothelioma.

There are still limitations for CRS and HIPEC. Peritoneal patients are eligible on a case-by-case basis, depending on tumor growth and whether the cancer has spread outside of the abdominal cavity.

But ongoing research continues to demonstrate the procedures as the standard therapy for peritoneal mesothelioma.

A complete CRS and HIPEC, or in other words resection of all visible tumor, is the most important factor in predicting improved survival, Votanopoulos said. Therefore, early detection of recurrence when the volume of disease is low is of paramount importance.

Read more:

Time Between Surgeries Helps Predict Mesothelioma Survival - Asbestos.com

Targeted Therapy May Soon be Primary Approach for Mesothelioma Treatment – MesotheliomaHelp.org (blog)

Targeted care optimizes the potential for success of mesothelioma treatment and provides the patient with the assurance that his cancer is being treated according to his unique characteristics. Personalized cancer treatment is gaining popularity among physicians and oncologists, however, it is far from mainstream. If researchers from University of Michigan have their way, however, treatment for all cancers will soon be personalized based on the patients biomarkers.

In a new study released from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, the team looked at the DNA sequencing of nearly 500 patients. Of those, almost 75 percent of them had biomarkers that can be targeted by either existing or experimental anti-cancer treatments.

Biomarkers, including EGFR and PD-L1, that are present in mesothelioma and other cancers, help indicate the reason for the growth of the cancers and are the focus of current and experimental treatments used to fight the deadly disease. Many clinical trials are being offered now for mesothelioma patients that pinpoint particular biomarkers. One well-known trial is the Keynote-28 trial, that eight-year mesothelioma survivor Mavis Nye of England participated in, that targeted the PD-L1 marker and put her mesothelioma in remission.

Availability of biomarker trials is crucial for being able to act on these results, says Erin Cobain, M.D., clinical lecturer of hematology/oncology at the University of Michigan Medical School.

The value of the study lies in the method used to sequence the genes and the process for developing patient care based on the results of the sequencing. Using next generation sequencing the team reports that the genetic sequencing looks at all of the DNA and RNA expressed within a tumor, as well as sequencing the patients normal genome to identify genes that may be inherited from the patients parents.

Erin Cobain, M.D., University of Michigan

Using MI-ONCOSEQ, the tool developed at the Michigan Oncology Sequencing Center, the test uses a fresh biopsy from the patient, as opposed to frozen tissue samples used by commercially-available tools, allowing the Michigan researchers to perform a more comprehensive analysis. According to the press release, commercial tests analyze only about 350 genes compared to MI-ONCOSEQs ability to cover at least 1,700 genes.

Mesothelioma is an incurable, asbestos-caused cancer of the membranes that surround many of the bodys vital organs, including the lungs. The cancer is highly aggressive and is resistant to many cancer treatments making it a difficult disease to treat effectively. Thus, developing a treatment protocol that specifically targets the genetic makeup of the patients cancer is vital for improving survival rates.

More here:

Targeted Therapy May Soon be Primary Approach for Mesothelioma Treatment - MesotheliomaHelp.org (blog)

Dangerous levels of intolerance exposed in Reserve Bank row – Independent Online

What kind of financial system is sure to collapse if the central bank cares about peoples well-being?

The recommendation by South Africas Public Protector that the Reserve Banks mandate change, says much about Busisiwe Mkhwebane, none of it flattering. It says just as much about mainstream economic debate - and none of that is flattering either.

Mkhwebane recommended that the central banks constitutional mandate, which makes protecting the currency its primary goal, be changed to one which requires it to promote balanced and sustainable economic growth while ensuring that the socio-economic well-being of the citizens are protected. She also said the constitution should require the bank to achieve meaningful socio-economic transformation.

This triggered a wave of protests, as well as an announcement from the South African Reserve Bank that it would take the matter to court. The Reserve Bank had no option. The constitutional court has ruled that the Public Protectors findings are binding unless they are challenged in court. Her recommendation wildly exceeded what she is allowed to do by the constitution or democratic good sense - and the Reserve Bank could not allow it to stand.

Democratic constitutions are changed by large majorities of the people or their elected representatives not by individuals. By making a binding recommendation that the constitution be changed, Mkhwebane signalled that she either doesnt understand or does not care for democracy.

Her report is also very useful to a faction of the governing party which wants to deflect charges of state capture by claiming that white monopoly capital already controls the state. There are real questions about the fitness for office of a Public Protector whose report seems more interested in protecting connected politicians and business people than with taking the peoples will seriously.

But the reaction did not stop at insisting that Mkhwebane has no business telling the people what the constitution should say. Much of it objected not only to her saying what the Reserve Banks mandate should be, but to anyone at all doing that.

An important debate

The prize for the wildest reaction went to the commentator who declared that Mkhwebanes ideas on the Banks mandate were inspired by someone who denied that the Nazi genocide happened. Others stopped short of tarring constitutional change with the same brush as mass murder but were united in claiming that to suggest that the Reserve Banks mandate be broadened is economically illiterate and deeply damaging.

Absa, who was the subject of a separate finding by the public protector on the issue of a controversial bailout, asked a court to rule that her proposed change posed a serious risk to the financial system. For its part the rating agency Standard & Poors, happy as ever to police the boundaries of economic correctness, warned that any interference with the Reserve Banks independence could trigger new downgrades.

To insist that anyone who proposes changing the Reserve Banks mandate is economically damaging and stupid is as contemptuous of democracy and dangerous to the economy as Mkhwebanes excess. It is undemocratic because it seeks to close down policy debate by declaring that only one view of the Reserve Banks mandate can ensure a healthy economy. It is dangerous because it blocks the search for economic remedies by seeking to bully even those who propose only mild changes to what the country now has.

The idea that the Reserve Bank should have a broader mandate is neither radical nor dangerous. The most famous central bank, the US Federal Reserve, has a broader mandate. Its dual mandate requires it to seek maximum employment as well as price stability.

The Australian equivalents mandate includes maintenance of full employment and economic prosperity and welfare of the people. The European Central Bank, famed for its love of austerity, has a mandate to seek sustainable growth.

And the the Bank of Englands website says that, subject to its goal of price stability, it aims to support the governments economic objectives.

In South Africa, not only has the view that the central banks mandate is too restrictive been repeated periodically but it may well have been implemented for a while. In 2010, then finance minister Pravin Gordhan wrote to then Reserve Bank governor, Gill Marcus, proposing a mandate which included growth and employment. Marcus reacted positively, which suggests that the bank acted on Gordhans letter. The financial system survived.

The US, European and Australian financial systems have also not collapsed. Their mandates have not triggered a downgrade and no one has accused these societies of economic illiteracy.

So either double standards are being applied or we are being told that restrictive central bank mandates are essential only if countries are in particular parts of the world (such as Africa) and governed by particular types of people (Africans).

And why does a change in the Banks mandate undermine its independence? A central bank loses its independence if politicians (or anyone else) can tell it what to do, not if its mandate changes.

For all its flaws, the Public Protectors proposal would retain the Reserve Banks independence, leaving it to the bank to decide what promotes the well-being of the people or transformation.

Closing down debate is common

None of this means that the Reserve Banks mandate must change. Or that central bank independence must go. But it does mean that no one should be discouraged from debating the issue, as people routinely do in other democracies and market economies. What, besides that prejudice which we prettify by the term Afropessimism, explains the insistence that we may not debate what is freely discussed in most other places?

Closing down debate in this way is common in South Africa. It also lies behind complaints of policy uncertainty which does not mean, as it does elsewhere, that government keeps changing its mind and sending mixed messages the macro-economic framework has been stable for more than two decades. It means, rather, that some people who some others may take seriously raise policy ideas the economic mainstream does not like.

This demand that people can say anything they like about economic policy as long as the mainstream likes it too offers a misleading view of the economy. It says that there is nothing wrong with it except political interference and that it will flourish if politicians simply leave alone what is done now.

The contrary evidence is offered by mainstream organisations such as the International Monetary Fund and the South African Reserve Bank itself which have shown that the current economic rut is a product of problems in the private economy as well as what government does.

This means that the economy must change. This, in turn, requires new ideas. They will not emerge unless everything is up for debate and ideas are not silenced because they trigger the fears and prejudices of a few.

*The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.

The Conversation

Continued here:

Dangerous levels of intolerance exposed in Reserve Bank row - Independent Online

The Wonderful World of Binary Categorizations – Geopoliticalmonitor.com

A new Cold War knocks on our doors, suddenly. Why so? How did it previously cease?

The end of the Cold War came abruptly, overnight.

Many in the West dreamt about it, but nobody really saw it coming. The Warsaw Pact, Red Army in DDR, Berlin Wall, DDR itself, Soviet Union one after the other, vanished rapidly, unexpectedly. There was no ceasefire, no peace conference, no formal treaty and guaranties, no expression of interests and settlement. Only the gazing facial expression of Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, who circles around and unconvincingly repeats: We now better understand each other.

On the contrary, Bush (the 41st US president) calmly diagnosed: We win, they lose! His administration immediately declared that US policies, including all military capabilities, will remain unchanged but with a different pretexts to respond to the technological sophistication of the third world powers and to radical nationalism (meaning any indigenous emancipation). The world-is-flat mantra saw the non-West rest still enveloped in the Huntingtonian clash. Hence, the so-called normative revolution from the Atlantic followed shortly, in which the extensive (assertive) rights were self-prescribed on the global south. Thus, the might-makes-right interventions were justified through the new (de facto imperial) doctrines: humanitarian intervention, R2P (incl. Kouchner-Lvy bombing for a noble cause), doctrine of preemption, uninhabited access to or beyond the grand area, as well as the so-called Afroasia forward deployment, as a sort of the enlarged Brezhnev and Monroe doctrines combined together, etc.

Simultaneously, Washingtons darling, Francis Fukuyama, published his famous article The End of History? and the book which followed. Tounderline how sure he was about that claim, he even dropped the question mark in the title of the book.

Was this sudden meltdown of the Soviet giant and its Day After intrinsic or by design?

Brutality respected?

The generous support, the lavish and lasting funds that Atlantic-Central Europe enjoyed in the form of Marshall Aid has never reached the principal victim of WWII Eastern Europe. Despite the weak ethical grounds, this was due to ideological constrains in the post-WWII period. Total WWII devastation of the East and their demographic loss of 36 million people (versus only 1.2 million in the West), was of no help.

Moreover, only eight years after the end of WWII, the West brokered the so-called London Agreement on German External Debts (also known as the London Debt Agreement or Londoner Schuldenabkommen). By the letter of this accord, over 60% of German reparations for the colossal atrocities committed in both WW were forgiven (or generously reprogramed) by their former European victims, including quite unwillingly several Eastern European states. The contemporary world wonder and the economic wunderkind, Germany that dragged world into the two devastating world wars, is in fact a serial defaulter which received debt relief like no one else on the globe four times in the 20th century (1924, 1929, 1932 and 1953).

Despite all the subsidies given to the West, the East recovered remarkably fast. By the 1950s and 1960s, many influential western economists seriously considered communism as better suited for economic advancements, along with a Soviet planned economy as the superior socio-economic model and winsome ideological matrix.

Indeed, impressive Soviet results were a living example to it: A backward, semi-feudal, rural country in 1920s, has won WWII and in parallel it evolved into a highly industrialized and urbanized superpower all that in just 30 years. Spain needed two centuries (and never completed), Holland 130 years, the UK 110, Germany 90, Japan 70 years to revolve from a backward agricultural cultivator into an industrial giant. Moscow achieved that in only 30-35 years, all alone. Thus, by the mid-1950s besides its becoming a nuclear power the Soviet Union was a pioneer of cosmos exploration, sending a woman into orbit while many in the West still struggled with elementary gender equality this was an ethical and technological blaster. Morality of communist narrative as well as its socio-economic advancements appealed globally.

Master-blaster

If all the above is true, why then did the Soviet Union collapse? Was it really a bankruptcy caused by the Afghan intervention and its costly space program? And finally, if the U.S. collapsed earlier with the so-called Nixon shock, why did America become stronger afterwards, while after the Gorbachev-era bankruptcy of the Soviet Union, the Russian historical empire melted away so rapidly?

There are numerous views on it. Still, there is nothing conclusive yet neither in the form of a popular nor scientific consensus.

Some years ago, I had the honor to teach at the famous Plekhanov University of Economics in Moscow. It was a block-week with students of the Plekhanovs elite IBS program. Twelve days in Moscow proved to be an excellent opportunity to ask these questions to some of the most relevant economic authorities among academic colleagues.

The line of answers was quite different to anything Ive usually heard or read in the West. Muscovites claimed that right after Nixon shock, the Soviet Politburo and Gosplan (the Soviet Central Planning Economic Body overseeing the entire economic performance of the Soviet Union and, indirectly, its satellites) sat jointly in an extensive closed session. They debated two items only:

After much debating, answer to both questions was a unanimous NO.

Consequently, the logical conclusion was: The Soviets need to save the U.S. as to preserve balance of power. Without equilibrium in world affairs, there is no peace, stability, and security over the long run a clear geostrategic imperative.

Indeed, right after the Nixon shock, an era of dtente has started, which led to the Helsinki process and its Decalogue (that remains the largest and most comprehensive security treaty ever brokered on our planet). The U.S. was left to re-approach China (so-called Triangular engagement). Soon after, it recognized the Beijing China (One-China policy), and closed the chapter on Vietnam.

Simultaneously, Americans (re-)gained a strategic balance elsewhere, like in Latina America and (horn of and western) Africa, with a brief superpowers face-off in the Middle East (Yom Kippur War) which though bloody and intensive did not damage the earlier set balances.

Why goodbye?

Why, then, the instability in todays world?

Apparently, Washington did not really consider these two questions when it was their turn. Soviet planetary stewardship was misused and Gorbachevs altruism was ridiculed. As a consequence of today, the edges of the former Soviet zone from Algeria to Korea and from Finland to the Balkans are enveloped in instabilities. On top of it, the Chinese powerhouse is unstoppable: Neither of the Western powers alone nor a combination of them is able to match the Sino-giant economically. Asia, although the largest continent, is extremely bilateral. Its fragile security structures were built on the precondition of a soft center.

A bear of permafrost worried about global balance and was finally outfoxed, while a fish of warm seas unleashed its (corporate) greed and turned the world into what it is today: a dangerous place full of widening asymmetries and unbalances. Climate, health, income, access to food and water, safety and security each regionally and globally disturbed. Exaggerated statement?

For the sake of empirical test, let us apply the method of sustainability on this short story of 21st century geopolitics. As per tentative definition, Sustainable Development is any development which aims at the so-called 3Ms: the maximum good for maximum species, over maximum time-space span comprehensive stewardship.

How did our superpowers behave? Was our 3M better off before or after 1991?

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi (in his just released Global Trends Report) notes the unprecedented asymmetries of todays world. The facts are as heart-freezing as my Moscow winter years ago. The UNHCR notes: Every 113th person on this planet is displaced. Of the 65.6 million people forcibly displaced globally, 10.3 million became displaced in 2016 This equates to one person becoming displaced every 3 seconds less than the time it takes to read this sentence.

You are either with us or against us is a famous binary platform of Bush (the 43rd US president). Indeed, our planetary choice is binary but a bit broader.

An End of history in re-feudalization or a dialectic enhancement of civilization. Holistic or factionary. Cosmos (of order) or chaos (of predatory asymmetries) simple choice.

The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the authors are theirs alone and dont reflect any official position of Geopoliticalmonitor.com.

Excerpt from:

The Wonderful World of Binary Categorizations - Geopoliticalmonitor.com

Whom Are You Fooling? – The Jewish Press – JewishPress.com

Photo Credit: Jewish Press

In the End By R Jack Riemer

In the end, man destroyed the heaven and the earth. The earth had been tossing and turning, and the destructive spirit of man had been hovering over the face of the waters. And man said: Let me have power over the earth. And it was so. And man saw that the power tasted good, and so he called those that possessed power wise, and those that tried to curb power he called weak. And there was evening, and there was morning, the seventh day. And man said: Let there be a division among all the peoples of the earth. Let there be a dividing line, or a wall, between those that are for me and those that are against me, and it was so. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

And man said: Let us gather all of our resources into one place, and let us create instruments of power to defend ourselves: Let us make a radio to mold mens minds, and a draft to control their bodies, and flags and symbols of power to capture their souls. And it was so. And there was evening, and there was morning, the fifth day.

And man said: Let there be censorship to divide the light from the darkness. And it was so. And man made two great censorship bureaus to control the thoughts of men, one to tell only the truth that he wanted to be heard abroad, and one to tell only the truth he wanted to be heard at home. And it was so. And there was evening, and there was morning, the fourth day.

And man said: Let us create weapons that can kill millions and hundreds of millions from a distance, and let us make clean bombs, and let us learn sanitary germ warfare, and let us make guided missiles. And it was so. And there was evening, and there was morning, the third day.

And man said: Let us make God in our image. Let us say that God thinks what we think, that God wants what we want, that God commands what we want Him to command. And man found ways to kill, with atomic power and with radiation fallout, those that were living, and those that were not yet born, and he said: This is Gods will. And it was so. And there was evening, and there was morning, the second day.

And then, on the last day, a great cloud went up over all the face of the earth, and there was a great thunder over all of the face of the earth, and there was a great cry that reached up from over all of the earth, and then man, and all of his doings, was no more. And the earth rested on the last day from all of mans labors, and the universe was quiet on the last day from all of mans doings, which man in his folly had wrought. And there was nothing. There was no more evening, and there was no more morning there was no more day.

It is mind-boggling that despite Moshe Rabbeinus warning to Korach and his followers of what would occur if they persisted in their rebellion, they did not waver or even hesitate.

Moshe said, Through this you shall know that G-d has sent me to perform all these acts, that it was not from my heart G-d will create a phenomenon and the earth will opens its mouth and swallow them and all that is theirs, and they will descend alive into the pit then you shall know that these men have provoked G-d (Bamidbar 16:28-30). Korachs assembly was comprised of people who had witnessed all the miracles Moshe initiated and had seen him standing atop Har Sinai during the revelation of Matan Torah. Yet here they brazenly persisted in their attempted coup, undeterred. It seems analogous to imprudent sailors who refuse to abandon their sinking ship even as it plunges into the depths with safety boats available.

The Gemara (Eruvin 19a) states that even at the doorway of purgatory, the wicked will not repent. A person can be so utterly blinded by his opinions and feelings that he may fail to adhere to logic and reason. He can become so consumed and convinced by the veracity of his mission that there is no convincing him otherwise, even though the truth of where he is heading seems so obvious to everyone else. This can happen to even the greatest of men. They fall prey to their own machinations and intrigues, as did Korach and his worthy followers.

Rav Shlomo Levinstein relates (Umasok Haohr) that a person once approached the Tchebiner Rav, Rav Yissocher Dov Berish Weidenfeld ztl, to inform the Rav that he had appointed himself as a Rebbe, and he planned to invite people to seek his blessing and advice.

The Rav knew the man well and knew that he was far from worthy of such a title. When the Rav asked him why he felt he was worthy of the position, the man emphatically replied, Why not? If the Bais Yisroel can be the Gerrer Rebbe, and Rav Aharon Rokeach (known as Rav Arele Belzer ) could be the Belzer Rebbe, why cant I become a Rebbe as well?

The Tchebiner Rav was stunned. He replied by quoting the aforementioned statement from the Gemara and asked the man how it is possible for a wicked person not to repent when he sees an ignominious end awaiting him.

The Rav explained that at times a sinner whose soul has been sent to Gehenom to be purged of its iniquities may be on the verge of being released, but still requires a little more time. But then the soul of a righteous person being led to Gan Eden may be led past Gehenom, so that he can seize those lingering souls and insist that they ascend with them.

The Rav looked into the self-appointed Rebbes eyes and said, A wicked person while being led into purgatory will still not repent because he will continue to delude himself of his righteousness. Even at that fateful moment, he will be convinced that he is being led towards Gehenom so that he can rescue the lingering souls while on his way to his eternal reward. He wont even be able to fathom his own culpability.

G-d has endowed man with an imagination that can help him build worlds and accomplish incredible feats. Yet, at the same time, man can destroy himself and his world in the most horrific manner.

The Torah states (Bamidbar 26:11) that the sons of Korach did not die. Rashi explains that although Korachs sons were at first part of their fathers rebellion, while the dispute was unfolding they did teshuvah. Therefore, a special place was designated for them in purgatory where they still dwell.

Rav Shalom Schwadron ztl noted that if the sons of Korach repented before the punishment began they would not have been affected at all. If they repented after the ground opened up beneath them, it would have been too late. So why does it say that they have an elevated place in purgatory? When exactly did they repent?

We must conclude that they repented as the earth was opening beneath their feet. They saw that they were about to be swallowed up, and, at that moment, they began to contemplate that they may have been mistaken. Even at that moment their repentance accomplished something.

What is truly frightening is that the rest of the rebels, including Korach himself, did not harbor any such thoughts of repentance, even then!

Moshe had warned Korach and his adherents of what would transpire if they didnt desist, yet even when they saw it begin to happen, they obdurately maintained their position, even as they descended into Gehenom.

We often read about the tragedies of our ancestors in the Torah with a certain measure of disregard for the folly of their actions. We would be wise to realize that these sins were committed by people of stature, righteous individuals who were privy to the greatest miracles ever performed. If they could stumble so profoundly, we are surely far more vulnerable.

The Mishna in Avos tells us that that Jealousy, desire, and honor remove a person from the world. The tragedy of the meraglim was the result of the pursuit of honor, the rebellion of Korach was the catastrophic result of unbridled jealousy, and the tragedy in Shittim (where the men of Klal Yisrael were enticed to sin by the women of Moav) was the result of intemperate lust/desire. These three tragic accounts are generally read on consecutive Shabbosos during the weeks preceding the Three Weeks of mourning for the Bais HaMikdash: Parshas Shlach contains the story of the spies, Parshas Korach relates the story of the rebellion, and Parshas Balak contains the story of Shittim.

These accounts demonstrate that even the greatest of people must be wary of the dangers of their own passions and pursuits. A person needs to seek the guidance and counsel of teachers and mentors to ensure that the path he is following and the pursuits he is engaged in are not the results of his own foolish machinations, despite his best intentions.

My Rebbe, Rabbi Berel Wein, noted that the twentieth century was a century of Korach. In his words, Rebellion against tradition and the old and the veneration of new theories of social engineering, morality and religion have been the unfortunate hallmark of this, the bloodiest of all centuries. Nowhere has this been more noticeable than in Jewish life. Socialism, Communism, Secularism, Nationalism, atheistic Zionism, Reform, Conservatism, Reconstructionism, Feminism and other assorted theories and movements arose in this century to claim the place of prominence in fashioning the Jewish people and its future. All of them have proven themselves to be woefully inadequate for the task set forth.

Much of the ruin currently clearly visible in the Jewish world is directly traceable to the rebellion against Moshe and his Torah, against Holyoke and tradition, which marks every one of these theories and movements and is in fact the common denominator for all of them. From our perch just above the abyss of Jewish destruction and assimilation, there are determined Jews who shout out loudly that Moshe is true and his Torah is true.

But there are many sons of Korach who still maintain the belief in the false shibboleths of this past century. After an intermarriage rate approaching seventy percent in America, one strains to hear the admission of error from these groups. Unless there is an honest reappraisal of theory and belief on the part of these groups, these sons of Korach will not survive.

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Whom Are You Fooling? - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

Leave monuments choice up to local governments – Times Daily

More than 150 years after Gen. Robert E. Lees surrender at Appomattox Court House, we are still fighting the Civil War, highlighting that more than states rights and maybe even more than slavery, the War Between the States was a clash of cultures.

How else can one describe how people look at monuments to the Confederacy today and see such radically different things? To some, they are monuments to bravery and heroism in the face of inevitable defeat. To others, they are monuments to a political system built on oppression oppression not only of blacks held captive in chattel slavery but of poor whites held down by the plantation aristocracy.

Just as the Civil War was a cultural battle between a rapidly industrializing, mercantile North and an agriculture-dependent, feudal South, so, too, the modern battle over Confederate monuments often comes down to culture.

On the one hand, there is the Old Souths preoccupation with tradition, honor and all the sorts of aristocratic, upper-class virtues one finds in old Arthurian romances. On the other, there is the New Souths hard-nosed pragmatism, which focuses on the commercial values of the middle class.

Perhaps no one has ever understood this divide better than Mark Twain, a man of the South who ultimately sided with and moved to the North. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court both take the side of common-sense pragmatism over what Twain saw as aristocratic hypocrisy.

The debate over Confederate monuments isnt just about race. Its about one side that wants to honor its past, and another that fears scaring away business and tourists. And now the divide isnt North vs. South, but between different groups within the South.

That is why the most sensible compromise in dealing with Confederate monuments is to leave the matter to the local governments whose taxpayers ultimately foot the bill for the monuments upkeep.

New Orleans decided to take its Confederate monuments down. Agree with the decision or disagree with it, it was the citys decision to make, and no other level of government stopped them.

The same, however, cannot be said in Alabama. Here, the state Legislature has stepped in where it is not needed, forbidding the removal or renaming of monuments and buildings without first going through a cumbersome review and approval process. The new laws backers say theyre protecting history, but none of this would be an issue were not other states and cities re-evaluating their Confederate memorials, many of which were erected during the height of the civil rights era and with, at best, dubious motives.

That is why Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail might ought to be careful what he wishes for.

Nail has written the mayor of New Orleans a letter asking to take New Orleans unwanted Confederate statues off its hands.

New Orleans leaders have other plans for the monuments and are unlikely to say the least to gift them to Hanceville. So, Hanceville may have dodged a bullet.

Once erected, the monuments would be subject to Alabamas new law, and who is to say that in a few years the people and leaders of Hanceville would feel the same about maintaining Confederate monuments and unwanted hand-me-downs from another state at that?

South Carolina lowered its Confederate flag for good when it threatened to cost the state business.

The spirit of Twains Connecticut Yankee prevailed even in the sharpened edge of the Confederacy. It might someday prevail in Hanceville and other Alabama cities and towns, too.

Thats the real reason the modern-day aristocrats in Montgomery took the decision out of local hands and into their own.

See the article here:

Leave monuments choice up to local governments - Times Daily

The Yoke of Oppression – Morung Express

June 23, 2017

Panger Aonok, Advocate

The idea to forge a Pan Naga Organisation was first visualized by the men of the Naga Labour Corps amidst the First World War. They were recruited by the Imperial British Government and deployed in France and Asia Minor to assist the British and its allies in logistics as non-combatant soldiers in their war against the Central power led by Germany. It was during the said foreign sojourn that they came in contact with people of the civilised world and were fascinated by their lifestyle which was built on the modern concept of liberty, equality and fraternity. Besides, they realized that they were neither European nor Indian. Awakened by the above ideals coupled with bitter experiences in the theatre of war they eventually realised the need to have unity, brotherhood and the urgency to inculcate the spirit of comradeship amongst the Naga tribesmen. After the end of the war, back home in the Naga Hills, the remnants of the Labour Corps along with some politically conscious Naga tribesmen formed the Naga Club, a socio-politico organisation with a view to pursue certain goals of common interest. Meanwhile the Indian Statutory Commission, popularly known as the Simon Commission, which was appointed under the Government of India Act, 1919 came to India and also visited Kohima on 10th January, 1929. The Naga Club submitted a memorandum stating inter alia their opposition to include the Naga Hills from the purview of the proposed reform scheme and further raised a demand for self-rule in the event of the British relinquishing power in India. They told the said Commission member Mr. Atlee and Mr. Cadogan that you are the only people who have ever conquered us and when you go we should be as we were.

Pursuant to the recommendations of the Commission, the Government of India Act, 1935 was passed and a part of the demand of the Nagas was conceded. Accordingly on 1st April, 1937 the Naga Hill District became an Excluded Area within the province of Assam. This meant that no Act of Central or Provincial legislature would apply to the Naga Hills without the concurrence of the Governor of Assam and the power to administer the Naga Hills was placed directly under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Assam. It is in the fitness of things that the government of Nagaland has erected a monolith and is set to build a memorial park to commemorate the contribution and sacrifice of the Naga Labour Corps. In Garo Hills, the Garo Labour Corps who went to France are remembered every year and it appears that no such day is organised to remember the Naga Labour Corps. The writers would suggest that June 28th ought to be chosen as the day for remembering the Naga Labour Corps since the treaty of Versailles was signed on that day in the year 1919 that brought the World War I to an end.

The next important landmark political development in the history of Nagas is the formation of the Naga National Council (NNC) in March, 1946. The initial objective of NNC was to achieve maximum autonomy within the province of Assam, however the temperament of the NNC began to change rather quickly and under its banner the Nagas started to demand complete independence. Following the demand of the NNC in January, 1947, the then Governor of Assam Sir Akbar Hydari held political negotiation with the top leaders of NNC which culminated in the signing of the historic Nine Point Agreement, however the agreement failed to see the light of the day. Apparently it was drafted hurriedly as the clauses were worded with ambiguous and equivocal language which eventually resulted in both sides interpreting them to suit ones own purpose. The chief point of conflict was Clause -9 which according to the Nagas was the crux of the agreement. The Nagas interpreted Clause-9 to infer right to secede and to opt out of the union at the end of ten years. But Sir Hydari Ali took a diametrically opposite stand and warned the Nagas that India would use force against them in the event the people of Naga Hills refused to join the Union of India. In view of the contradictory interpretation of Clause -9, the agreement was destined to die a natural death and was soon pushed into historical oblivion.

Shortly a delegation went to Delhi to call Mahatma Gandhi to apprise him of the resolve of the NNC to declare Naga independence on 14th August, 1947. Gandhiji gave them a patient hearing and told the members of the delegate that they have every right to be independent and assured his willingness to stand by the Nagas in their fight for independence. But as destiny would have it, Gandhiji was soon assassinated by the cruel hand of an assassin Shri NathuramVinayak Godse on 30th January, 1948. In the wake of the failure to implement the Nine Point Agreement, the extremists within the NNC who favoured complete independence gained control of the organization and toyed with the idea of armed struggle. The moderates who denounced the cult of violence resigned en masse from NNC. Over the years the persistent demand of NNC for self-rule was put into cold storage by the Central Government of Nehru on the ground that the desire for independence was held by a handful of educated Nagas and to disprove such a notion, the NNC held a plebiscite in the year 1951, in which ninety nine per cent of the people voted for a separate Naga country. With the overwhelming mandate of the people, the NNC supremo and others met Prime Minister Nehru as many as three times between 1951-1953 and put forth the desire of the Nagas for self-rule as evident from the result of the plebiscite but to no avail due to the indifferent and unrelenting attitude of Nehru. The Nagas boycotted the First General Elections held in 1952. A.Z. Phizo was all set to internationalise the Naga issue and many Naga tribesmen flocked to take on the armed might of the Indian Government. They formed the Home Guards and many joined the fledgling fighting force. Womens wing was organised to perform the duties of nurses, cooks, tailors and were assigned as couriers in the espionage game. The Naga youth movement came into being and the members became the auxiliary forces of the Home Guards.

The arms and ammunitions dumped after the Second World War were collected. More weapons were captured during raids on police station and a good number of Assam Police Personnel were either captured or killed and their arms were snatched and taken away. Home Guards volunteers were trained in the art of handling modern weaponry. Arson, looting, murder, intimidation became the order of the day. The Assam Police and limited numbers of Assam Rifles failed to contain the uprising and thus the Indian Army was called in to assist the civil administration. The Naga Hills and Tuensang Frontier were declared as disturbed areas and subsequently the Armed Forces Special Power Act, 1958 (AFSPA) was promulgated in the year 1958. The said Act provides a wide range of power to the Indian Army such as to shoot, to arrest, to search without warrant etc. The Armed forces operating in disturbed area enjoy full legal immunity. Under the protection of AFSPA, 1958, the Indian Army let loose a reign of terror and violated the human rights of innocent civilians with impunity. In the wake of the imposition of AFSPA fierce encounter ensued in regular interval. Skirmishes took place on a daily basis and many innocent civilians were killed in crossfire thereby causing large scale collateral damages to both public and private properties. The following is the lists of heinous crime perpetrated by the Indian Army with impunity: (1) Murder and extra judicial killings; (2) physical assault leading to maiming of limbs; (3) sexual assault and rape; (4) outraging the modesty of women; (5) detention without legal defence; (6) desecration of churches; (7) grouping of villagers; and (8) acts of arson such as burning down of dwelling houses, granaries, church buildings etc.

There are innumerable instances of crime committed by the Indian Army but owing to constraint of space, it is pertinent to mention one deplorable incident which shocked the conscience of the Naga people. The said incident occurred on 11th July, 1971, a Sunday, in which incident a unit of the 1st Maratha Regiment led by the Commanding Officer swooped down on Yankeli Village in Wokha District and picked up four minor girls; the eldest amongst whom was a girl of 17 years. They were forcibly dragged inside the church precincts and were sexually assaulted and raped by the Commanding Officer and his subordinates taking turns in the pulpit, which is the sanctum sanctorum (holiest of the holy) of a Christian church. The Indian Army not only committed this heinous crime against humanity in the most perverted and revolting manner but also desecrated the sanctity of the church with impunity.

Waging a war against India had broken many a Naga home. Hundreds of young women were widowed, thousands of young patriots perished in one of the most inhospitable terrains and jungles of India and Burma (now Myanmar) in their fight against the mighty Indian Armys crack Mountain Division on one side and the fighting-fit and ruthless Burmese army under the Junta regime on the other. As a result of this senseless ethnic conflicts and internecine rivalries many children became orphans and homeless, who struggled and fought hard against all odds to survive.

Another milestone in the Indo-Naga political conflict is the signing of the cease fire agreement on 25th July, 1997, between the Government of India and the Naga leaders. The said Agreement was followed by several rounds of political talks which was instrumental in recognising the unique history of the Nagas by the Government of India in July 11th, 2002. Subsequently, in the year 2003, the then Prime Minister of India Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee in exercise of his sovereign power publicly declared the Government of Indias recognition of the unique historical past of the Nagas. The declaration is a turning point in the long and chequered history of the Nagas struggle for the right of self-determination and thereafter the balance of power and convenience is leaning in favour of the Nagas vis--vis the Government of India to amicably settle the long drawn Indo-Naga political conflict through peaceful means.

The recognition is in no way the magnanimous gesture of the Government of India but owes its origin to the distinctive historical background, socio-cultural diversity, legal and constitutional framework being inherited from the British era Government which has been zealously guarded and upheld by the Nagas under the leadership of A.Z. Phizo and a galaxy of stalwarts who joined the movement and played stellar roles at different relevant points of time. The political acumen, statesmanship and tenacity of the Naga leaders coupled with the fighting prowess, perseverance and will power of the underground fighters is yielding dividend as evident from the signing of the Framework Agreement. However, factional feud, egoism and schism has become endemic in the current Naga political scenario which is the Achilles heel that comes in the way to further carry forward the peace process to its logical end. Uncertainty still looms greatly over the fate of the Indo-Naga peace talk chiefly due to the mushrooming of political groups. After decades of violence and oppression, the Naga people are now yearning to restore peace and harmony. To this end, it would be prudent for all leaders of diverse group to reconcile themselves in the Christian spirit to forgive and forget and come together under one platform for political negotiation with the Government of India and resolve the issue amicably through peaceful means.

The Rev. LongriAo, Apostle of Peace, and Naga conscience keeper, as Chief of Liaison Committee of Naga Peace Council had once said that in reconciliation there is no victor or vanquished and there is no humiliation involved. The Bible says, Blessed are the Peace maker, for they shall be called the Children of God.

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The Yoke of Oppression - Morung Express

Exiled monk Golog Jigme Gyatso: not silenced by fear or oppression – The Sydney Morning Herald

Tibetan monk activist Golog Jigme Gyatso.Photo: Edwina Pickles

He was tortured by Chinese authorities for his role in a documentary about repression in Tibet. Then he escaped into exile, he tells Amanda Hooton, to continue raising the alarm.

Golog Jigme Gyatsoenters the Vajrayana Buddhist Institute in Sydney looking calm and cheerful. This is almost a default expression for Tibetans, but it's doubly impressive in Jigme's case, since he's been exiled from his country since 2014; he's an escaped prisoner of the Chinese government; and he's a victim of torture. He has supple olive skin, and dark eyes crinkling behind his glasses. He reminds me of the Dalai Lama, whom I interviewed many years ago: the same aura of seriousness, enlivened by jokes.

He settles his claret-coloured robes in a low-backed chair and folds his hands. The worst thing he suffered in prison, he says conversationally through his interpreter, actually occurred in a chair: the so-called tiger chair (a well-known interrogation tool in China), onto which his wrists and ankles were shackled, holding him immobile while he was given electric shocks. He was also made to half-squat facing the chair, arms and feet locked onto its legs, for hours on end. He still bears the scars from having most of his weight hanging from his wrists.

I feel light-headed just thinking of this: how does he manage to be so matter-of-fact about it? "Well, from an early age I lived under very physically difficult conditions," he says calmly. "And my Buddhist faith helped, perhaps; it allowed me to have clarity of mind and accept challenges. But also I think, as a Tibetan, this is not an individual problem it is the struggle of all Tibetans. As an individual, the worst scenario was death, or imprisonment, and I was prepared for both of these. So I was not too badly affected." He leans forward, clasping his hands.

"But one thing that does still make me very nervous is that tiger chair. No matter how much I say I'm strong, I do have dreams, nightmares, and hear the police officers' voices I hear them interrogating me in that iron chair."

Jigme was born in his nomadic family's tent in remote eastern Tibet, and grew up in increasing poverty as the Chinese confiscated Tibetan livestock and land. He was drawn to the monastic life by his great uncle, a monk. "Many monks were being forced to give up their way of life at that time, but my uncle refused. I was a young boy and he was in his 80s, but I thought he was very brave.

"He used to give us lots of advice about overcoming problems, and he made me feel very happy."

He entered the monastic life at 12. "I tried to be like my uncle, and not be silenced by fear or oppression." In 2008, before the Beijing Olympics, he and filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen took a single video camera and travelled across Tibet, recording more than 40 hours of footage of 108 ordinary Tibetans discussing their lives. The resulting documentary, Leaving Fear Behind, was called "an unadorned indictment of the Chinese government" by The New York Times. Jigme was arrested for his role in it, imprisoned and, he says, tortured. Released in 2009, he was rearrested in 2012. And then he escaped.

How does anyone escape from a Chinese prison? "Mah-jong," says Jigme, smiling. Realising his guards gathered at night to play the board game, he waited until the sole sentry fell asleep one evening and simply let himself out of the main gate. "And then he just ran and ran and ran," says the interpreter, wide-eyed.

He spent 20 months in hiding. "The first two or three months were very difficult," he recalls, "because it was hard to get food and my legs were not good from the torture. And from those years of imprisonment, I was not so fit. I was mostly hiding in the mountains and just going down to the village to beg. I learnt there was a 200,000 yuan reward [$40,000] for my arrest. But fortunately I had a long beard, had lost a lot of weight, and was not in my robes. I was in disguise!" He pauses. "And even though it was very difficult, I also really enjoyed it because it was very beautiful. I saw all sorts of flowers and plants I'd never seen before, and at times the weather was good. I really enjoyed being on the run in summer!"

He escaped over the border to India in 2014, and then to Switzerland, where he was accepted as a political refugee. "Now I see my role to tell the world what is really happening inside Tibet," he concludes. He has testified before the UN Human Rights Council, the US Congress and the parliaments of the UK and the EU. What does he do in his spare time, I wonder. "Well, Zurich is a busy, crowded place," he says, smiling. "But what I like about Switzerland is the mountains. I like climbing in the mountains; that's my favourite activity. It reminds me of home."

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Exiled monk Golog Jigme Gyatso: not silenced by fear or oppression - The Sydney Morning Herald

Walker faces new Native art controversy – KUOW News and Information

Native American artists from around the country are criticizing a new show opening at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

"Jimmie Durham: At the Center of the World" features work from the 40-year career of an internationally lauded American sculptor. He identifies as Cherokee. But his critics say he is not Native, and is hurting artists who are.

The exhibit fills several galleries at the Walker. Created by the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the show is touring to four major cities. Vincenzo de Bellis, the Walker curator for the exhibit, says Durham is multifaceted.

"He's a poet, writer, an intellectual and also, and mainly, a visual artist," de Bellis said.

He is also prolific. There are sculptures, paintings, videos and installations. Many of the pieces take aim at the establishment. Often they are funny, and disturbing.

"Jimmie is extremely sarcastic in everything: when he speaks and when he makes the works. The exhibition has a lot of possibly funny works, but they are often dark humor," said de Bellis.

Durham makes sculptures from found objects. Near the center of the show stand two enormous figures. One is the conquistador Cortez, made from car parts, sheet metal and pulleys. Curator Anne Ellegood of the Hammer Museum said the other is Malinche, the Aztec woman sold to Cortez as a slave who became his interpreter and wife. Ellegood said Malinche is often portrayed as a traitor in Mexico, as opposed to an oppressed, enslaved, indigenous woman.

"Colonization and the oppression of indigenous peoples and various forms of power structure and marginalization and discrimination are very much in Jimmie's work throughout," she said. "So, these are a very powerful example of that." Minneapolis Sculpture Garden: Cock of the Walk(er), and other highlights

Durham claims Cherokee heritage. He never tried to enroll in any of the three Cherokee tribes, saying he objects to what he sees as an oppressive government system. A lot of his early work is about the struggle for Native rights. He was on the board of the American Indian Movement for years, but resigned and moved first to Mexico and later Europe. While he's well known and broadly exhibited there, this is his first major show in the United States in 30 years.

One part of the exhibition gathers pieces in which he parodies the interest in collecting Native artifacts by creating assemblages of animal skulls, fur and feathers with legs made from pieces of construction and police barricades. He has a full-length nude self-portrait as a native man.

Now in his late 70s, Durham has long been a subject of controversy among Native artists.

"It's not that he's like claiming to be Native," said Cherokee artist America Meredith. "He's claiming to be the Native. He's claiming to be the spokesperson for all Native American people. And that's offensive."

Meredith is based in Norman, Okla., and edits First American Art Magazine, devoted to indigenous artists. Meredith said researchers cannot find any Cherokee connection at all to Durham. She said the way the art world characterizes him as a Native artist is damaging.

"Art historians have really latched onto him. And he represents us. He's occupying a space. He's written more about than any actual Cherokee artist in the literature," she said.

Some Minnesota-based Native artists approached the Walker last year with concerns about the Durham show. One was choreographer Rosy Simas, who has presented work at the Walker. She is Seneka. She says there are very few visual arts shows by Native artists at the Walker.

"It has always been very heartbreaking to never see myself reflected in the work there," she said.

The exhibit's curators are paying attention. The Walker recently experienced a storm of criticism over a sculpture that contained design elements from a gallows used in the mass hanging of 38 Dakota men in 1862. That piece was removed. More: Why 'Scaffold' struck so raw a nerve

The Hammer Museum recognizes that Durham is not an enrolled Cherokee, said Anne Ellegood.

"Curatorially and in the field of contemporary art, we allow for self-identification," she said. "We have just operated from the position that this is Jimmie's history."

Ellegood said the research that suggests Durham may have no Native roots opens an opportunity for a broader conversation, and the Walker said it's looking for appropriate ways to do that. Artist Edgar Heap of Birds is a Cheyenne tribal member from Oklahoma. He's been Durham's friend for many years, and has exhibited with him in Europe. He described his friend's work as unique and honest, but when asked about the controversy, he sighed.

"I think it was probably hurtful to him," he said.

Heap of Birds will deliver the show's opening lecture Saturday afternoon.

Native American artists from around the country are criticizing a new show opening at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

"Jimmie Durham: At the Center of the World" features work from the 40-year career of an internationally lauded American sculptor. He identifies as Cherokee. But his critics say he is not Native, and is hurting artists who are.

The exhibit fills several galleries at the Walker. Created by the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the show is touring to four major cities. Vincenzo de Bellis, the Walker curator for the exhibit, says Durham is multifaceted.

"He's a poet, writer, an intellectual and also, and mainly, a visual artist," de Bellis said.

He is also prolific. There are sculptures, paintings, videos and installations. Many of the pieces take aim at the establishment. Often they are funny, and disturbing.

"Jimmie is extremely sarcastic in everything: when he speaks and when he makes the works. The exhibition has a lot of possibly funny works, but they are often dark humor," said de Bellis.

Durham makes sculptures from found objects. Near the center of the show stand two enormous figures. One is the conquistador Cortez, made from car parts, sheet metal and pulleys. Curator Anne Ellegood of the Hammer Museum said the other is Malinche, the Aztec woman sold to Cortez as a slave who became his interpreter and wife. Ellegood said Malinche is often portrayed as a traitor in Mexico, as opposed to an oppressed, enslaved, indigenous woman.

"Colonization and the oppression of indigenous peoples and various forms of power structure and marginalization and discrimination are very much in Jimmie's work throughout," she said. "So, these are a very powerful example of that."

Durham claims Cherokee heritage. He never tried to enroll in any of the three Cherokee tribes, saying he objects to what he sees as an oppressive government system. A lot of his early work is about the struggle for Native rights. He was on the board of the American Indian Movement for years, but resigned and moved first to Mexico and later Europe. While he's well known and broadly exhibited there, this is his first major show in the United States in 30 years.

One part of the exhibition gathers pieces in which he parodies the interest in collecting Native artifacts by creating assemblages of animal skulls, fur and feathers with legs made from pieces of construction and police barricades. He has a full-length nude self-portrait as a native man.

Now in his late 70s, Durham has long been a subject of controversy among Native artists.

"It's not that he's like claiming to be Native," said Cherokee artist America Meredith. "He's claiming to be the Native. He's claiming to be the spokesperson for all Native American people. And that's offensive."

Meredith is based in Norman, Okla., and edits First American Art Magazine, devoted to indigenous artists. Meredith said researchers cannot find any Cherokee connection at all to Durham. She said the way the art world characterizes him as a Native artist is damaging.

"Art historians have really latched onto him. And he represents us. He's occupying a space. He's written more about than any actual Cherokee artist in the literature," she said.

Some Minnesota-based Native artists approached the Walker last year with concerns about the Durham show. One was choreographer Rosy Simas, who has presented work at the Walker. She is Seneka. She says there are very few visual arts shows by Native artists at the Walker.

"It has always been very heartbreaking to never see myself reflected in the work there," she said.

The exhibit's curators are paying attention. The Walker recently experienced a storm of criticism over a sculpture that contained design elements from a gallows used in the mass hanging of 38 Dakota men in 1862. That piece was removed.

The Hammer Museum recognizes that Durham is not an enrolled Cherokee, said Anne Ellegood.

"Curatorially and in the field of contemporary art, we allow for self-identification," she said. "We have just operated from the position that this is Jimmie's history."

Ellegood said the research that suggests Durham may have no Native roots opens an opportunity for a broader conversation, and the Walker said it's looking for appropriate ways to do that. Artist Edgar Heap of Birds is a Cheyenne tribal member from Oklahoma. He's been Durham's friend for many years, and has exhibited with him in Europe. He described his friend's work as unique and honest, but when asked about the controversy, he sighed.

"I think it was probably hurtful to him," he said.

Heap of Birds will deliver the show's opening lecture Saturday afternoon.

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Walker faces new Native art controversy - KUOW News and Information

Jeff Sessions Draws New Battle Lines for War on Drugs – Observer

Last weeks revelation that Attorney General Jeff Sessions was plotting to target medical marijuana providers was largely obscured by his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee the next day. In a letter written to Congress on May 1, Sessions argues that because marijuana remains illegal under the controlled substances act, representatives should disregard longstanding protections against the prosecution of medical cannabis. These protections had just been renewed as part of a budgetary bill two days prior. Its no coincidence that when the bill hit President Donald Trumps desk on May 6, he included a signing statement that largely echoed the attorney generals sentiments. On May 10, Sessions outdid himself when he issued a memorandum calling on US Attorneys to seek the harshest punishment allowed by law when prosecuting drug crimes, directly overturning the more lenient sentencing guidelines pushed forth by Eric Holder in 2013.

This threatens to undo significant progress that drug war opponents have made in recent years. Since Colorado voters made the Rocky Mountain State the first to legalize recreational cannabis in 2013, eight other states have followed suit. Added with the 21 states that allow medicinal cannabis, 60percent of Americans live in a jurisdiction that has legalized marijuana. Moreover, former President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of over 1,000 non-violent drug offendersmore than any previous president.

In the current political environment, ramping up the War on Drugs would cause backlash for both the Trump administration and the GOP. In 2018, incumbent Republicans in states that have legalized marijuana would be forced to answer for an administration intent on disregarding the will of voters. Conversely, any Democrat running on a pro-marijuana platform would gain an instant boost in support as well as financial backing from an increasingly profitable cannabis industry. Come 2020, the issue would also give a boost to Democratic presidential candidatessuch as Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris, both of whom have expressed support for legalization.

Even if Trump loses in 2020 and these policies are overturned by a future administration, their impact over the next four years could prove devastating. If Sessions memo is followed by federal prosecutors, it would mean an increase in the enforcement of mandatory minimum laws, which remove judicial discretion and carry automatic 10 and 20 year sentences. Prior to Holder ratcheting back enforcement of these laws, they led to disproportionate sentences on numerous occasions. In one instance, a man was sentenced to a triple life prison sentences merely for introducing two drug dealers to each other. In another, a man was sentenced to a 42-year prison term for selling crack, a sentence the judge was obligated to impose under the three strikes law because he had two previous misdemeanor arrests for selling pot.

Increased enforcement of medical marijuana laws will lead to more horror stories such as these and will further increase the U.S. prison population, which is already the largest in the world. For medical cannabis users, many of which suffer from debilitating health conditions, a federal crackdown would make it more difficult for them to get the relief they need. It could also increase the risk many users already face of losing child custody.

For drug war opponents, the ultimate goal is that Congress pass a law decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level. This would be the only surefire way to both restrain Sessions and ensure that somebody of his ilk never again sets their sights on the War on Drugs.

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Jeff Sessions Draws New Battle Lines for War on Drugs - Observer