Last Wednesday night at Cardiff’s The Globe nightclub, South Wales heavy-funk band, Monkjack, were on fire.

This may sound like hyperbole, but the ensemble were so in tune with each other — focused on the groove, yet lost somewhere in a mystical land of rhythm — that I wouldn’t have been surprised if their incendiary sound actually had set the stage alight.

Monkjack performing at the Globe

Echoing the standard of performance, the venue itself was a beautiful relic; a refurbished modernisation of the old Globe Theatre. The club’s owner, Alan Jones, decided to keep the old venue’s moniker and has also remained faithful to the original décor.

This, along with a desire to promote good music rather than an excuse to get blind-drunk, sets the Globe apart from other, similar venues in Cardiff. It is the reason why acts like Monkjack, who were playing at the 5th birthday celebrations of Wales’s premier mastering company, Hafod Mastering, are attracted to play there.

However, despite these good intentions, live music at the Globe could be dead by February next year.

A torrid year

The venue opened in November 2008 and, while most adjacent residents were glad to see a positive, cultural influence in the area, complaints from just two neighbours are proving detrimental.

Acting on these complaints, the council’s pollution control department served an abetment notice asking noise levels to be reduced. This was one month after the club opened, on December 11, 2008.

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After further complaints, reporting that noise had not in fact been curtailed, a review of the Globe’s premises licence by the licensing committee advised a halt to live music at the venue. The club have until the appeal — currently being rescheduled for later in February — to solve the problem.

In her report to the licensing sub-committee, Chief Strategic Planning and Environment Officer, Claire Hartrey said: “I would recommend that the premises does not continue to be used as a live music venue until sound proofing works are completed, in order to ensure that local residents do not continue to be disturbed.”

However, speaking to Ms Hartrey, she predicted the venue would not be able to raise the funds needed to provide the necessary soundproofing.

The Globe's impressive 6 kilowatt sound-system

Complaints

The complaints have come almost exclusively from two houses. Retired Reverend Gerald Lovitt lives across Albany Road and, although he was sympathetic to the efforts being made by the venue, he admitted, if noise levels were not reduced, the music would have to stop.

The Globe from Mr Lovitt's window

The Globe’s biggest adversary, however, lies behind it on Wellfield Place. Dean Greenway has been by far the most vocal complainant, issuing constant protests both to the club and to pollution control.

The Globe's manager, Alan Jones

Relations between him and the Globe have frayed dramatically. Mr Greenway has rejected offers by the owner to triple glaze his house and to take his family out for the evening on particularly noisy nights.

Mr Greenway said: “It’s unreasonable having a venue in such a residential area. The music goes on till midnight sometimes and when you’ve got kids that’s just unacceptable.”

The Globe have said they understand Mr Greenway’s perspective — evidenced by their commitment to providing a solution to the problem.

Solutions

The assistant manager of the Globe, Andrew Kitchen, predicted works to prevent any complaints from happening could cost between £30,000 and £40,000 — a steep sum in any period, let alone recession.

Nevertheless, Mr Jones is confident the club will be able to make the requisite changes, despite the economic shortfall.

“It’s just sad really because, in our first year of trading, all this money that’s being pumped into soundproofing could have been used for promotion. It’s set us back quite a bit,” he said.

While the drinks were flowing and the revelers hobnobbed the night away at the anniversary party, Mr Jones was out the back of the venue taking decibel readings. A cherry-picker was used to get onto the roof so that he could assess exactly what needs to be done.

Satisfying the pollution control department is essential and the club have until the hearing to resolve the issue.

The club also realise Mr Greenway must be Sympathised with. He has lived on Wellfield Road for far longer than the club has been open. However, the Globe’s mission statement is to provide a venue which is not centered around drinking, but around providing the best music in a unique setting.

Blanche Rowen, who organized Hafod Mastering’s 5th anniversary celebrations, said: “We looked at a few other venues in Cardiff, namely Clwb Ifor Bach. But the beauty and class of the Globe meant it was our first choice.”

The Globe isn't your average venue

The future

The fact is: unless a compromise is reached the Globe will close. This fate also befell ex-Cardiff Bay club The Point, which shut its doors on 27th January because of debt accrued from having to install sound insulation.

Clwb Ifor Bach, on Cardiff’s Womanby Street, is also facing similar fears after plans to build a youth hostel next door were confirmed earlier this year. If this trend continues, Cardiff could well end up with a dearth of the live music culture which has typified its past.

Dear Treedwellers.

I had been forwarded an interview by 2GB’s Alan Jones with Peter Spencer and Peter King. The interview explains how the Federal Government takes Carbon Credit from its people without compensation, mainly farmers, whilst our polluters keep on puffing on ……

My observation is, that Peter Spencer’s story, which with the  help of 2GB is gaining national attention, has a very similar footprint than that of our Vegetation Protection Overlay (C83) and some other overlays with different names.

Please listen to the interview, Heike.

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Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2009 04:52:49 +0000
From: share@agmates.ning.com
To: peter.gargan@bigpond.com
Subject: Check out “Alan Jones 2GB – Interview with Peter Spencer Tuesday 8th – Day 16″ on Agmates

Agmates A safe & secure online community for real people Steve Truman – Agmates Check out the discussion ‘Alan Jones 2GB – Interview with Peter Spencer Tuesday 8th – Day 16′ BREAKING NEWS – Australian breakfast radio King Alan Jones interviews Peter Spencer by phone and Barrister / Rhodes Scholar Peter King – Now you;ll understand what this is about – don’t miss it Discussion posted by Steve Truman – Agmates: Interview with Australia’s breakfast radio king Alan Jones Radio 2GB – Alan interviews Peter 60 feet up on the Tower of Hope on Day 15 of… Discussion link: Alan Jones 2GB – Interview with Peter Spencer Tuesday 8th – Day 16 About Agmates Agmates empowering real people to instantly publish, share, communicate thoughts, opinions, ideas, news, images & videos with the world. 766 members 766 photos 49 videos 1124 discussions 15 Events 173 blog posts To control which emails you receive on Agmates, click here

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By JANET ALBRECHTSEN

We can only hope that world leaders will do nothing more than enjoy a pleasant bicycle ride around the charming streets of Copenhagen come December. For if they actually manage to wring out an agreement based on the current draft text of the Copenhagen climate-change treaty, the world is in for some nasty surprises. Draft text, you say? If you haven’t heard about it, that’s because none of our otherwise talkative political leaders have bothered to tell us what the drafters have already cobbled together for leaders to consider. And neither have the media.

Enter Lord Christopher Monckton. The former adviser to Margaret Thatcher gave an address at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota, earlier this month that made quite a splash. For the first time, the public heard about the 181 pages, dated Sept. 15, that comprise the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change—a rough draft of what could be signed come December.

So far there have been more than a million hits on the YouTube post of his address. It deserves millions more because Lord Monckton warns that the aim of the Copenhagen draft treaty is to set up a transnational “government” on a scale the world has never before seen.

The “scheme for the new institutional arrangement under the Convention” that starts on page 18 contains the provision for a “government.” The aim is to give a new as yet unnamed U.N. body the power to directly intervene in the financial, economic, tax and environmental affairs of all the nations that sign the Copenhagen treaty.

The reason for the power grab is clear enough: Clause after complicated clause of the draft treaty requires developed countries to pay an “adaptation debt” to developing countries to supposedly support climate change mitigation. Clause 33 on page 39 says that “by 2020 the scale of financial flows to support adaptation in developing countries must be [at least $67 billion] or [in the range of $70 billion to $140 billion per year].”

And how will developed countries be slugged to provide for this financial flow to the developing world? The draft text sets out various alternatives, including option seven on page 135, which provides for “a [global] levy of 2 per cent on international financial market [monetary] transactions to Annex I Parties.” Annex 1 countries are industrialized countries, which include among others the U.S., Australia, Britain and Canada.

To be sure, countries that sign international treaties always cede powers to a U.N. body responsible for implementing treaty obligations. But the difference is that this treaty appears to have been subject to unusual attempts to conceal its convoluted contents. And apart from the difficulty of trying to decipher the U.N. verbiage, there are plenty of draft clauses described as “alternatives” and “options” that should raise the ire of free and democratic countries concerned about preserving their sovereignty.

Lord Monckton himself only became aware of the extraordinary powers to be vested in this new world government when a friend found an obscure U.N. Web site and searched through several layers of hyperlinks before discovering a document that isn’t even called the draft “treaty.” Instead, it’s labelled a “Note by the Secretariat.”

Interviewed by broadcaster Alan Jones on Sydney radio Monday, Lord Monckton said “this is the first time I’ve ever seen any transnational treaty referring to a new body to be set up under that treaty as a ‘government.’ But it’s the powers that are going to be given to this entirely unelected government that are so frightening.” He added: “The sheer ambition of this new world government is enormous right from the start—that’s even before it starts accreting powers to itself in the way that these entities inevitably always do.”

Critics have admonished Lord Monckton for his colorful language. He has certainly been vigorous. In his exposé of the draft Copenhagen treaty in St. Paul, he warned Americans that “in the next few weeks, unless you stop it, your president will sign your freedom, your democracy and your prosperity away forever.” Yet his critics fail to deal with the substance of what he says.

Ask yourself this question: Given that our political leaders spend hundreds of hours talking about climate change and the need for a global consensus in Copenhagen, why have none of them talked openly about the details of this draft climate-change treaty? After all, the final treaty will bind signatories for years to come. What exactly are they hiding? Thanks to Lord Monckton we now know something of their plans.

Janos Pasztor, director of the Secretary-General’s Climate Change Support Team, told reporters in New York Monday that with the U.S. Congress yet to pass a climate-change bill, a global climate-change treaty is now an unlikely outcome in Copenhagen. Let’s hope he is right. And thank you, America.

Ms. Albrechtsen is a columnist for the Australian.

SOURCE:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703574604574500580285679074.html

Gratitude changes everything.

Today I was talking with a friend, a young mother of three. She told me that in the past several days, she was overcome with a spell of grumpiness… brought on by who knows what. When she was at her grumpiest, her husband reminded her that what we pay attention to multiplies. Not surprisingly, when she remembered the gift of gratitude & focused on her blessings… her grumpiness was replaced with thanksgiving… & joy!

In this harvest season, many of us in the U.S. are preparing for the Thanksgiving holidays. Time with loved ones, a savory meal, shared memories. Whether or not you celebrate Thanksgiving, know that gratitude changes everything.

This is a season to pause… & to thank God for all the goodness He has blessed you with—your family, friends, health, employment, & whatever talents you have.

In each of our lives, there are so many good things we take for granted.

When you pause, ask yourself: who or what are you grateful for in your life? Your children, wife, husband, parents, special friends? Your health, job, home? All the wonderful people in your life who cherish you simply for being you?

In this season, let us remember to count our blessings & to humbly give thanks. And let us remember that gratitude is as necessary as air. In fact, it is essential “…for human growth, joy, and creativity. Take away the daily experience and expression of gratitude, and life is quickly diminished. Like a weakened immune system, the spirit is left vulnerable to the diseases of cynicism, anger, low-grade depression, or at least an edgy sense of dissatisfaction. Gratitude-deprived, we suffer a relentless loss of vitality and delight.”**

Gratitude changes everything.

Pass It On!

** Excerpt from Seasons of Grace, by Alan Jones, former Dean of Grace Cathedral, & John O’Neill, President of the Center for Leadership Renewal

Self & Destruction, 2009

Block Projects

Alan Jones talks to Lord Monckton, British climate change sceptic, who says the Copenhagen treaty is about creating a world government
http://2gb.com.au/index2.php?option=com_newsmanager&task=view&id=4998

I grew up in a community in rural New Zealand where many of the adults played the piano, and many of the adults who didn’t play the piano did play some other instrument, and nearly all the other adults were either enthusiastic or talented singers.  I grew up thinking everyone had a piano in their home and that of course everyone would want to play some kind of musical instrument, even if it wasn’t the piano.

Adulthood in Sydney, Australia has provided me with many instances demonstrating the degree to which I got it so terribly wrong: this city is filled with (and run by) people who not only grew up without a piano in the home or the desire to play a musical instrument, but they really have no idea at all about what it means to play a piano, or even what a piano is.

I was at a party held one New Year’s Eve in Darling Point as a guest of a guest. Part of the reason I was there is that one guest had thought it might be fun to sing Auld Lang Syne around a piano as the old year slipped out, and the host thought this to be an excellent development.  I turned up at the party and was surprised to see no piano. “Oh yes, I forgot to get it out of the cupboard”, was the host’s response.  Sure enough, the ‘piano’ was a keyboard that didn’t even have the dignity of its own stand – it would simply sit on a desk or dining room table (if it ever did get out of the wardrobe).  At least it was touch sensitive although, of course, weighted keys would have been nice….

At another social event a well-known business identity was telling me how he had just bought a brand new piano for his daughter to start lessons.  ”What did you buy?”, I asked, meaning the question to refer to which brand of piano, and when this produced a hazy result I offered some names of manufacturers as a prompt: Yamaha, Kawai, Steinway? He’d clearly bought something else, so we moved on. “It doesn’t matter,” I said, “just tell me if you bought an upright or a grand.” This produced similarly blank looks, until he cried in triumph “Oh, I remember! It was a Casio!”

These two stories involve prominent Sydneysiders who would have had an excellent private school education and no lack of material resources whilst growing up.  It’s simply that they grew up with the complete reverse piano expectations to mine: they knew no one who had a piano in their home, or if they did have a piano no one played it. Music was certainly not something that one did.

And this is in a city whose international reputation is heavily associated with a performing arts venue.

By way of contrast, when I stayed in a modest hotel in Vienna for a night back in 2002 I asked the concierge if he could tell me where I might find a print music shop.  ”Ah, you want to go to Doblinger!” he responded, and drew me a little map so I could find my way there.  Admittedly, if it’s going to happen anywhere in the world, it would be in Vienna, but it was clear that all the local citizenry had a basic working knowledge of things musical, irrespective of their occupation or social status.

One facet of Australian life (outside of the ‘arts’) where you do find people playing musical instruments is in sport.  Many of the current Australian cricket team play instruments, and I’ve even seen a few of them perform at a a fundraiser for the Steve Waugh Foundation.  And doctors, as in the rest of the world, have an extraordinary incidence of instrumentalists (and even composers) in their ranks. An Australian GP, Peter Goldsworthy, is the author of Maestro, a fantastic fictionalised account of his own piano studies that has been widely included in literature courses (but note that he resides in Adelaide).

Sports people certainly have a widely recognised and valued brand, and doctors still command a reasonable degree of respect in the community, but when it comes to those who run Australian business, politics and media there seems to be a complete absence of music experience or awareness (Alan Jones’ recent vocalisations at an Andre Rieu concert notwithstanding).

Does it matter?  Only so much as ignorance ever matters….

The New South Wales Board of Jewish Deputies annually sends a contingent of Australian media and political personnel to Israel to see for themselves what the nation is Israel is like, obviously with a view that a visit to Israel will be not only an informative but a positive experience for all involved.  Maybe it’s time Australian music education interests banded together to create a similar scheme to transport those with public influence to the land of Music, and its epicentre, Music-Making.

Australia is a country that produces not just excellent pianists but probably the most technically innovative piano of the past hundred years, the Stuart piano. And yet the businessmen of Sydney can’t tell a Casio keyboard from a concert grand.

Christmas Cabaret not to be missed organised by Rob Hardwick Jones at the Lyric Theatre, Dinnington.

The lovely Kortni Turner (vocaltutor client) and Jason Bowker (another vocaltutor client) are performing within the show along with Rogue Minogue, Jimmy Carrol and Alan Turner (as seen on Xfactor).

It’s going to be quite a night.

12th December 2009.

Amira è un vampiro metropolitano, dei nostri giorni, un essere che crea arte e ne beve dalla giugulare pulsante. L’ho conosciuta grazie a due grandi “artisti” come Manuela Gandini e Alan Jones e dopo aver visto i suoi lavori ho deciso di intervistarla.

Quattro chiacchiere con i canini sul collo.

Amira: vampira antropologicamente modificata, cosa si nasconde dietro questa definizione?

E’ la frase autoironica con la quale inizia il mio libro d’arte sul vampiraggio, argomento molto discusso in questi tempi. Il mito del vampiro affascina da 200 anni e ha avuto anche una sua evoluzione.

Per me è un gioco autoironico sul mio folklore e gli ho dato una connotazione diversa in quanto legata favolette della Transilvania, terra dove io sono nata.

Con la mia arte rivendico la serietà delle cose frivole e l’ironia delle cose serie. Ovvero? Che tipo di arte crei?

Non credo alle tipologie. Le considero termini inventati o assunti da studiosi, critici, che fanno di tutto per schematizzare il lavoro dell’artista e inquadrarlo in una cosiddetta tipologia.

L’artista non la pensa cosi, è libero, crea senza pensare al tipo di arte, alla corrente o alla tipologia in cui verrà poi catalogato.

Come nasce Amira e la sua passione per l´arte?

Sono nata in una casa piena d’arte, i miei erano appassionati e molti dei miei familiari hanno scelto la via dell’arte, dunque ho avuto la fortuna di respirarne sin da piccola.

Perché l’Italia? C’è ancora spazio qui per l’arte e soprattutto per donne artiste?

Lo spazio te lo crei. Sono 12 anni che vivo e lavoro in Italia. Sono arrivata qua per l’arte che appartiene a questa nazione.

Per quello che riguarda la donna artista è un argomento molto discusso, basta non farci troppo condizionare da quello che si dice.

Sei più una performer o un’artista pura?

Chi lo dice che un’artista performer non è un’artista pura? Io uso la performance come contorno o come un aggiunta ad un’’idea, ma non mi limito all’effimerità della performance.

Penso che serva per dare forma a un’idea, ma l’idea non si deve limitare solo alla performance.

Quale forma prediligi per le tue creazioni?

Io creo quello che sento e mi sento molto libera nel farlo.

Cerco di indagare su argomenti che m’interessano veramente nel momento del mio lavoro senza però soffermarmi per anni sulla stessa forma.

Infatti ho spaziato dal figurativo all’astratto, collage, fotografia, scultura, installazioni, performance e anche video.

Cosa fa cultura oggi?

Quasi niente… quello che si fa oggi nell’arte non è cultura, è più vicino a varie forme mediatiche o pubblicitarie.

L’artista fa operazioni troppo individuali e socialmente non esiste un contesto per radunare il lavoro degli artisti contemporanei in una tendenza.

Il lavoro individuale ha bisogno di decenni per diventare cultura e per ciò io non credo che l’arte contemporanea faccia cultura in questo momento.

Quali sono i tuoi riferimenti nell’arte?

La sincerità del pensiero e il lavoro libero senza condizionamenti imposti dal mercato.

Trovo obbligatoria una ricerca sul contenuto del lavoro che si intende fare e diffido dai lavori senza un approfondimento sensato.

Vivere, morire o risorgere?

Immedesimata nelle vesti della vampira direi ”vivere da vampiro”.

Buio e luce. Cosa preferisci?

Direi ”quella luce buia”.

Il silenzio cos’è per te?

Saper far rumore.

La frase che vorresti ti rappresentasse.

Ogni lavoro ha il suo motto, un solo termine lo trovo limitativo.

Il libro che ha accompagnato la mia mostra sul vampiraggio è pieno di frasi ricercate e ironiche sul mito del vampiro, ma come avevo detto il mio lavoro è in evoluzione e dal profano argomento vampiresco mi sto avviando verso un mondo poco esplorato in questo momento: IL SACRO.

Alex Pietrogiacomi

It seems the trend of terror in the media originated in America with the beginning of cable news networks like Fox News. The style of these networks was determinately different from those that preceded them; the segments are short, the tone is aggressive, and the bias is obvious. The advent of cable news allows audiences to select a news network that suits their political persuasion and, in the case of Fox News, satisfy their need for conspiracy and fear mongering. Shouldn’t their be very little difference in the ‘facts’ that are reported by each media organisation? Don’t viewers need a reliable and truthful source of information on which to base their opinions and decisions?

As any significant trend does, the paranoia and fear creation of American mass media has filtered into the Australian mediascape. Talk back radio giant, Alan Jones, has long exploited and manipulated audiences by creating hysteria over issues of national significance. Jones’ role in Cronulla race riots is a prime example of the power media figures have to influence those with underlying ignorance and racial fear. Many were surprised that Jones escaped the level of criticism and retribution that his actions deserved. For more consistent and repeated examples of fact manipulation and fear mongering, you only need to make a comparison between the Daily Telegraph’s headlines and those of the Sydney Morning Herald. On the same day during the swine flu hysteria the respective papers printed the following headlines:

“Five swine flu deaths, with more expected” – SMH

“10,000 Could Die” – Daily Telegraph

 The Sydney Morning Herald’s headline states the actual current death rate associated with swine flu and has a cautionary tone, without attempting to cause panic. In contrast, the Daily Telegraph has chosen to present the most fear-inducing angle by quoting a ‘predicted’ death rate. ABC’s MediaWatch later discovered that this figure was fake and was used purely to create paranoia and panic. Many of the stories featured on ‘A Current Affair’ and ‘Today Tonight’ are disturbing examples of the manipulation of audiences and the engendering of fear in the media.

So what does all of this mean to media students…or anyone for that matter? For me, the increasingly widespread use of fear is extremely disturbing. Anyone who truly cares about matters of global and national importance knows that factual reporting and the realistic portrayal of issues is vital. I feel that this is true now more than ever. In a time when the world desperately needs opinion leaders to make real and drastic changes in order to protect us from the threat of issues like climate change, how can we afford to have media figures like Glenn Beck telling unquestioning audiences that climate change is a hoax. David Brock, President of Media Matters for America, sums it up well when he asserts that cable news networks distortion of facts and presentation of fear is “fundamentally undermining democracy which is based on knowing some good and solid information so [audiences] can make an informed choice”.

Outfoxed is a great film-length documentary that exposes and explores the fear tactics exploited by cable news networks. Very entertaining as well as informative. Thanks to Google Video, you can watch it for free.

Before I revisit what is becoming a pet topic, let me put my hand up to at least acknowledge I’m swimming uphill here.

I’m a Catholic in the Protestant sporting world so to speak (although as I understand it Orange is associated with the Protestants).

In any case, I have catholic sporting interests (which does not mean I play for Celtic or St Pats!).

My point is that I have a personally preference for league over union which could be seen to pollute my view of rugby as a game.

That may be the case but there does appear to be a considerable movement heading in the general direction of my own personal crusade.

(Don’t worry, I’m just about out of religious references!)

And it’s not just nameless, shameless two-bit bloggers putting the boot in.

Aussie Alan Jones (remember him – from when the Wallabies could win in NZ?) is talking about the demise of rugby union.

There’s a lot of issues facing rugby in Australia but in essence it’s dire (which is not the same as Greg Dyer!):

Supporters watch brilliant rugby every week at schoolboy and club level. But the wheels have fallen off at the next level.

We are boring people rigid.

Part of the problem with the Save Our Teams brigade is that they hark back to the amateur days but the game has gone professional:

I have long argued that in the professional era, to survive you’re going to have to play rugby that will make the turnstiles turn, or supporters will vote with their feet.

Well, supporters of Queensland, NSW, ACT and Perth Super 14 teams have done just that, in such a way that those franchises are losing big money on every game they play. And for the first time,  this year’s Bledisloe Cup match in Sydney was not sold out.

With respect, the only country not complaining in Sanzar is the one team that is consistently winning.

Meanwhile, Pommy rugby journalist Mick Clearly thinks rugby is rubbish:

Mates and colleagues tell me that the rugby has been ho-hum for the most part, rank at times and only occasionally worth a hill of beans. Why is this ? The laws ? The players ? The coaches ? The weather ? The salary cap, which means that the superstars are no longer with us ?

There is of course a rich irony in the Poms complaining about the loss of superstars when NZ rugby has been pillaged for the last few years.  Professional rugby has done NZ rugby little favours once the rest of the world went pro.

Clearly (ha ha!), there is a major problem – the first of which is that many rugby administrators simply haven’t adjusted to the needs of running a professional game.

When they do – NZRFU trying to keep a lid on the costs of the NPC – we get emotional responses such as Save Our Teams which is doing more to kill rugby that the laws.

Nevermind, in a couple of months the NRL will be back and we can watch some running rugby again.

Jury convicts Alan Jones of murdering Erin Maxwell

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/jury_convicts_alan_jones_of_mu.html

By Douglass Dowty

September 24, 2009, 4:15PM

Oswego, NY — An Oswego County jury has found Alan Jones guilty of murdering his stepsister, Erin Maxwell, by strangling her with a rope last August in Palermo.

As the verdict was announced, Jones’ head collapsed into his right arm. It was the most emotion he had shown during the 3-week trial in Oswego County Court. His mother, Lynn Maxwell, cried as she reached over the barrier from the gallery to console him.

“I love you,” Lynn Maxwell told him. “It’s just the start. We’ll appeal it.”

When the court clerk asked if all the jurors agreed with the guilty verdict, they all answered “yes” together.

The jury of 12 men said they believed Jones, 28, tightened the green rope around the 11-year-old girl’s neck, causing her death.

District Attorney Donald Dodd said he was convinced Jones knows what happened that day.

“I know that Erin Maxwell is in heaven, with all that young girl had to endure,” the district attorney said. “The defendant will get truly what he deserves.”

Defense lawyer Salvatore Lanza said he expected a guilty verdict, but said it would be appealed. “We knew if this happened, we were going to appeal it,” Lanza said. “The jury did what they could do. The jury worked very hard.”

The prosecution’s case before County Court Judge Walter Hafner centered on an autopsy that declared Maxwell was strangled, not hanged as Jones had claimed.

Former Chief Onondaga County Medical Examiner Dr. Mary Jumbelic testified that rope marks on Maxwell’s neck were caused by a strangulation. She said they were too low, too horizontal and too symmetrical on the girl’s neck to be a hanging.

In hangings, Jumbelic said that the rope would have slid up her neck to the chin and would have been nearly vertical because the suspension point would have been above the girl. They would not have been symmetrical because her head would have fallen to one side after she lost consciousness.

Dodd called Jones’ story about finding Maxwell hanging from a screw in her room “not worthy of belief” during closing arguments. He also pointed out apparent inconsistencies in Jones’ four statements to police after Maxwell was found unresponsive in her bedroom.

The district attorney prosecuted Jones under the theory he acted with depraved indifference by recklessly tightening a rope around Maxwell’s neck, causing her death.

This means the jury did not find that he intentionally killed Maxwell, but acted with such disregard to her life that he was guilty of murder.

MORE ON ERIN MAXWELL’S STORY

http://topics.syracuse.com/tag/Erin%20Maxwell/index.html

Alguns dos melhores surfistas do Nordeste vão encarar as ondas de Baía Formosa, litoral sul do Rio Grande do Norte, no feriadão da Independência – 5 a 7 de setembro, para mais uma etapa do Circuito Nordestino de Surf Amador.

Veja algumas imagens do lugar: Vida Surf RN

August 31, 1944

Little Things About the Stars
by George Lilley

New York, N.Y.—That genial gentleman, Tommy Dorsey, learned to use his dukes early.  It seems he and brother Jimmy when kids were locked in the cellar by Tommy Dorsey, Sr., leader of the Shenandoah (Pa.) brass band, with one saxophone and let fight to see who would toot it.  But Abe Lyman and Phil Harris are rated the most formidable guys with their fists in show business.  Bing Crosby, until his Thursday night radio program made him too big a proposition to risk, once averaged a street fight a month and usually won.

Newest entry in the swooner sweepstakes is Andy Russell, talented 23-year-old Mexican.  He’s now singing Sunday nights on a program over NBC with comedian Jackie Gleason.  He’s rated in the Sinatra league, although not as experienced.  Russell got sick when he came East by train.  Said he never had been on a train before.

Comedians Never End

The comedy field is the hardest to break into, especially on the radio, but once started there seems no end.  Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Bob Hope, Eddie Cantor and Ed Wynn, the latter back Sept. 8 on the Blue network, all have been before the microphones since radio’s infancy days and always making more money.  On the other hand successful newcomers have been few.  Jackie Gleason, the roly-poly 250-pounder from Brooklyn (28 years old), and a young Canadian, Alan Young, performing Tuesday nights on the Blue network, are the best hopes of ‘44.

Gorgeous Georgia Caroll, the Kay Kyser vocalist (and Mrs. Kyser).  With a name like that, she’d sound sweet if she couldn’t sing at all.  Incidentally, a young songstress by the name of Fredda Bibson batted around a long while and never got anywhere until she changed her name to Georgia Gibbs.

Sidelights

Rudy Vallee’s brother, William Lynch Vallee, is an ace magazine writer.  Lynch is the family name.  Rudy, who after a spell in the Coast Guard goes back to broadcasting Sept. 9 on NBC, was born Hubert Pryor Lynch.

Kate Smith is an avid baseball fan and has a financial interest in several small clubs.  Her manager, Ted Collins, owns the Boston Yanks football team.  Al Jolson once backed fighter Henry Armstrong.  Colonel Stoopnagle owned a fighter, Lee Q. Murray.  Frank Sinatra, the Wednesday night vitamin vocalist, had a big slice of heavyweight Tami Mauriello, but recently sold out.

Very Little Things

Jane Froman lisps off the air but you would never know it from her singing.  Bob Ripley conquers a similar impediment.  Kay Francis has trouble with her “r’s.”  Scripts for her are re-written around them. 

After his Wednesday night broadcast on CBS Alan Jones treats himself to a big dinner of ham and eggs at a corner drug store.  No appetite before that.

Don McNeill, the Breakfast Club funster eats lunch at 9:30 a.m.  He gets up at 5 a.m. to make the show from his country home.

The draft already has gotten two Henry Aldrichs.  The third, 18-year-old Dick Jones, hopes to be around for the show’s early September start on CBS.

Ed (Archie) Gardner’s real name is Ed Poggenburg, Dutch-Irish.  That’s why he uses the name “Poggenburg Funeral Parlors” occasionally in comedy on the “Duffy’s Tavern” program (resuming Sept. 15 on NBC).  Nobody can sue him for use of the name!

Morton Downey hates to be called a crooner.  Says he just sings.

The Sherbrooke Telegram

From the same paper:

Picture star, radio favorite and hailed as “King of the Juke Boxes,” Dick Haymes has zoomed to top rank in less than 24 months.

Something of a frustrated song writer, Dick Haymes’ songs failed to click with Harry James—but his voice got him a job.  Dick left to start his own orchestra, only to see his hopes dissolve in thin air when the draft took his key men.

Tommy Dorsey next asked Haymes to come with him to Hollywood, and Haymes, his beautiful wife Joanne, and Skipper, his infant son, trekked West.  He played in “DuBarry Was a Lady,” disguised in a powdered wig and knee breeches, and found that he was just another costume left on the cutting room floor.  Discouraged, he went back to New York.

But it was when Haymes put himself under the able managerial wing of shrewd Bill Burton that his fortune really changed.  Within a short time Burton had the brilliant young baritone booked into La Martinique in New York, had him record “You’ll Never Know” with a vocal background—the orchestra recording ban was on—and with the record selling well past the million mark, took Haymes to Hollywood.  There, Twentieth Century Fox signed him to a seven-year film contract and laid plans to groom him for stardom.

Michael Schumacher esteve próximo de retornar às pistas, mas as fortes dores em seu pescoço o fizeram abandonar, ao menos temporariamente, sua volta a um cockpit de um Fórmula-1. No entanto, na história da F-1, há uma série de pilotos que abandonaram as tardes em casa brincando com os cachorros para brilhar novamente (ou não) nos circuitos.

Alain Prost
Tricampeão da F-1 em 1985, 1986 e 1989, o francês deixou a categoria em 1991. Porém, sua temporada “sabática” em 1992 foi por motivos contratuais.

Prost tinha contrato com a Ferrari até o fim de 1992, mas acertou com a Renault, que havia sido sua segunda equipe na F-1 e passara a ser fornecedora de motores da Williams. Uma cláusula contratual com a Ferrari o impedia de competir por outro time, e ninguém em Maranello estava disposto a fazer favores ao francês após as críticas de Prost à imprensa sobre a Ferrari (sem vencer nenhum GP em 1991, Prost declarou que era mais fácil dirigir um caminhão do que sua Ferrari).

Então, Alain Prost retornou apenas em 1993, aos 38 anos, guiando a Williams para vencer sete corridas, conquistar seu quarto título e aposentar-se definitivamente ao fim daquela temporada.

Juan Manuel Fangio
Em 1951, seu segundo ano na Fórmula 1, o argentino sagrou-se campeão. Em 1952, o campeonato foi disputado sob especificações que a Alfa Romeo não aceitou e decidiu não inscrever seus carros para a temporada, deixando Fangio a pé.

Em Monza, Fangio aceitou correr pela Maserati, mas seu retorno durou apenas duas voltas. Fangio perdeu o controle de seu carro e sofreu um grave acidente, permanecendo 40 dias hospitalizado e seis meses com o pescoço imobilizado por um colarinho de gesso

Em 1953 retornou para conquistar outros quatro títulos, sagrando-se penta aos 46 anos.

Niki Lauda
Campeão da F-1 em 1975 e 1977, o piloto austríaco saiu da categoria em 1979, aos 30 anos, para retornar três anos depois.

Ao fim da temporada de 1979, Lauda comunicou ao então dono da Brabham, Bernie Ecclestone, seu desejo de aposentar-se imediatamente, pois estava cansado de correr em círculos. O austríaco havia fundado uma companhia aérea, tendo retornado ao seu país para dedicar-se exclusivamente ao seu empreendimento.

No entanto, seu tino comercial não era condizente com seu talento nas pistas, e a Lauda Air estava próxima da falência. Precisando de dinheiro, Lauda retornou em 1982 pela McLaren, tendo conquistado seu terceiro título em 1984 e aposentando-se no fim do ano seguinte.

Nigel Mansell
O inglês faturou seu único título da categoria em 1992, guiando uma Williams, e deixou a Fórmula 1. Sua saída era uma das exigências contratuais de Alain Prost, bem como a não contratação de Ayrton Senna.

Mansell mudou-se para a CART, guiando pela equipe Newman/Haas, onde se sagrou campeão logo em sua temporada de estréia. Com o falecimento de Senna, a Williams ofereceu um alto salário para que Mansell retornasse, operação que contou com a ajuda de Bernie Ecclestone para romper o contrato de Mansell nos Estados Unidos.

Mansell fez quatro corridas na Williams e venceu o GP da Austrália. Em 1995 mudou-se para a McLaren, já na terceira etapa, no GP de San Marino, mas na corrida seguinte, na Espanha, deu adeus a F-1, aos 41 anos. No final de 1996, Mansell testou com a Jordan. Sua forma arredondada e os resultados ruins impediram um segundo retorno.

Alan Jones
Após conquistar o título em 1980, o australiano deixou a F-1 no fim de 1981 e retornou duas vezes, a primeira em 1983, quando disputou um GP pela Arrows, e a segunda em 1985, tendo disputado as últimas cinco etapas e a temporada seguinte completa pela Beatrice (Lola-Haas). Chegou aos pontos apenas duas vezes, e seu melhor resultado foi um quarto lugar na Áustria.

Phil Hill
Campeão pela Ferrari em 1961, o piloto americano teve o seu ano sabático em 1965 e voltou para apenas uma corrida pela equipe Eagle, no GP da Itália, em que acabou abandonando a prova.

Além dos campeões – Outros pilotos tentaram retornar à  F-1 sem sucesso. Mike Hailwood, Jean-Pierre Jabouille e Karl Wendlinger são outros exemplos de pilotos que não foram lá muito felizes em seus regressos.

Lynn and Lindsey Maxwell found guilty of child endangerment in death of daughter Erin Maxwell

http://www.examiner.com/x-14537-Albany-CPS-and-Family-Court-Examiner~y2009m8d10-Lynn-and-Lindsey-Maxwell-found-guilty-of-child-endangerment-in-death-of-daughter-Erin-Maxwell

August 10, 8:07 AM

Albany CPS and Family Court Examiner Daniel Weaver

I have been arguing for years that because Child Protective Services spends so much time investigating false allegations and taking children from innocent parents, they don’t have time to investigate serious abuse cases. Nowhere is that more evident than in the case of Erin Maxwell of Palermo, New York, whose parents, Lynn and Lindsey Maxwell, were found guilty Saturday of four counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

For those of you not familiar with Erin Maxwell, the eleven year old daughter of Lynn and Lindsey Maxwell, she was murdered on August 29, 2008. She had also been sexually molested. The police arrested her half-brother, Alan Jones, on murder charges, and he goes to trial next month.

So why were the Maxwells arrested? Because there were 70 cats in the house, cat feces on the floor and Erin’s bedroom had locks on the outside of the door, which could not be opened from the inside. A state trooper testified that their were 20 kittens in a freezer as well as caged birds in the house. The prosecutor said that people who knew the family couldn’t bear to go into the house because of the stench.

The Maxwells could spend up to two years each in the Oswego County Jail. Whether or not the Maxwells should go to jail is not the point of my commentary. Rather why is it that children like Erin Maxwell keep slipping through the cracks in the system and ending up dead, and what are we going to do about it?

If Erin Maxwell was living in such appalling conditions, then why didn’t someone call the child abuse hotline? The truth is that someone did. Social Services Commissioner, Fran Lanigan, admits it. Some people have said that the Maxwells were reported twice. In any event one wonders how Erin Maxwell could have been allowed to remain in the house she was living in if the conditions CPS found in 2006 were anywhere near what they were in 2008 when she died.

While Lynn and Lindsey Maxwell may spend up to two years in prison and well they should, Child Protective Services workers have been let off the hook. Calls for Commissioner Lanigan to be fired have been ignored. In fact Oswego County Child Protective Services has been exonerated and rewarded for their lack of involvement in Erin’s life. A report commissioned by Oswego County and released by Cornell University places most of the blame of Erin’s death on the lack of Child Protective Services investigators in the county.

The New York State Office of Child and Family Services apparently agreed with the Cornell report. Almost one third of the 1.7 million dollars that the New York State Office of Child and Family Services recently allocated to hire more CPS workers went to Oswego County. Oswego County received $500,000. The second highest award was to Nassau County which received $225,000, not even half of what Oswego County received. When you consider that Nassau County has a population of 1,351,625 while Oswego County has a population of only 121,395 people, then Oswego County received more than twenty times the amount of money that Nassau County did.

But more money to hire more workers will not stop child fatalities unless laws are changed that make it possible for Child Protective Services to spend their time going after real child abusers and not innocent parents and caretakers. Child Protective Services in New York State needs reform. I have detailed some of those reforms in an earlier article. Furthermore, people who deliberately make false reports of abuse need to be arrested and prosecuted.

The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta says that two out of every three reports of child abuse and neglect are false, nevertheless Child Protective Services must spend time and money investigating them. Until reforms are made that cut down on the amount of time and money CPS has to spend investigating false child abuse reports, children will continue to die from real neglect and abuse.

This article on proposed regulations for blogs, I think, shows the problems facing new media aren’t so different from decade-old squabbles and problems that have riddled the old media world. Print, radio and television.

Alan Jones: Cash For Comments

Photo: Brendan Esposito, The Age

Akin to the Alan Jones/John Laws cash-for comments furore, or subliminal flickers of coca-cola bottles at the pictures, regulators are concerned that advertising on blogs could be subliminal or covert. Effectively, bloggers are not making it clear that advertising on their blogs is just that – advertising.

Tieing issues of political economy to blogs will surely lead blogs down a slippery slope, in the slipstream of major newspapers and broadcasters. It muddies the puritan waters of grand notions of freedom of expression.

Do we need a code of ethics for bloggers? Legislation?

Blogger James Joyner puts forward a convincing case for keeping blogs unregulated here: ‘FTC to Monitor Blogs’.

Basically, one of the main arguments in favour of regulating blogs is that

“As blogging rises in importance and sophistication, it has taken on characteristics of community journalism — but without consensus on the types of ethical practices typically found in traditional media.  Journalists who work for newspapers and broadcasters are held accountable by their employers, and they generally cannot receive payments from marketers and must return free products after they finish reviewing them.  The blogosphere is quite different.”

 (Joyner quotes AP’s Deborah Yao)

Joyner responds:

“But journalists employed by someone else get paid.   That’s the nature of employment.  Independent bloggers, by contrast, are entrepreneurs.  Actually, most make no money or barely cover expenses, making them, in effect, hobbyists.”

While I largely agree with Joyner’s point, I think that this argument won’t hold up forever. Revenues for bloggers are increasing and in time, the most successful bloggers will rake in profits far greater than journalists at print publications who are rapidly becoming redundant (see ‘Bloggers earning more than Journalists’).  With increased influence comes increased responsibility to act ethically. Where these ethics aren’t adopted voluntarily I think it is reasonable that they be enforced – foremost on issues like monetary gifts and so on, and less stringently on issues like freedom of speech.

Investigator says he was trapped in Erin Maxwell’s room

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/investigator_says_he_was_trapp.html

by Debra J. Groom / The Post-Standard

Thursday July 30, 2009, 11:07 PM

Palermo, NY — A state police investigator, called to look into the death of 11-year-old Erin Maxwell, said he once got locked in the girl’s bedroom when the door closed behind him and he had to yell for help.

Investigator Joseph Harriger, of the Forensic Investigation Unit, testified Thursday night in Palermo Town Court that there were at least two to three locking mechanisms on the exterior door and interior half-door of Erin’s bedroom.

Lindsey and Lynn Maxwell, Erin’s father and stepmother, are charged with four counts each of endangering the welfare of a child. Two of the charges stem from Erin being locked in her room Aug. 15 and Aug. 29. Erin died Aug. 30 of asphyxiation. An autopsy revealed sexual trauma was a contributing factor.

The other two endangering charges stem from the conditions Erin was living in.

Harriger’s observations followed similar testimony from state Trooper Shawn Finkle, who testified on Wednesday. Finkle told the jury he saw cat feces in the carpet, caged chickens and cats in the house, garbage piled in the enclosed porch and an “overpowering” odor of cat urine in the house.

Harriger said he saw feces on the porch, in the living room, the kitchen, on the second-floor landing and in Erin’s bedroom.

He also said he saw caged birds and cats, about 20 kittens in grocery bags in the freezer, a recliner covered with a dirty white sheet spotted with feces and a portable closet in the living room with cats in it and covered with a blanket soiled with cat feces and urine.

Harriger said he wore a special suit, gloves and an air mask when he went through the master bedroom at the Maxwell house and, after the investigation at the house, he had to undergo rabies shots and a tetanus shot.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Moody is trying to prove the living conditions at the Maxwell house at 1678 state Route 264 were so bad that Erin was endangered. Moody also is trying to prove the Maxwells locked Erin in her bedroom on at least two occasions.

Defense lawyer Salvatore Lanza tried to get Harriger to say there really wasn’t that much cat feces in the house. Lanza continually questioned Harriger about state police photos that do not show feces throughout the house.

Lanza also wanted to know why the state police took photos of cobwebs on the light fixtures and if the investigator thought the frozen kittens contaminated any of the food in the freezer.

“How do cobwebs on the light fixture harm the physical or moral welfare of Erin?” he asked.

Harriger did not back down on the condition of the house. He did not answer the cobweb question and said he didn’t know about food contamination.

Lanza said the house could be called cluttered at best and details from investigators and the media about cat urine and feces, garbage and large numbers of cats in the house are untrue.

He also said Erin was never locked in her room.

Alan Jones, Erin’s stepbrother and Lynn Maxwell’s son, goes on trial Sept. 8 for Erin’s murder.

FULL COVERAGE OF THIS STORY:

http://comment-blog.advance.net/cgi-bin/mte/mt-search.cgi?tag=erinmaxwell&blog_id=978

Jury selection complete in Maxwell trial

http://www.cnycentral.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=330377

By Jim Kenyon

Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 11:49 p.m.

PALERMO, OSWEGO COUNTY — Jury selection is now complete in the trial of Lynn and Lindsey Maxwell, the parents of young murder victim Erin Maxwell. Tuesday night, six jurors and two alternates were seated. Two endangerment charges have been dismissed at the prosecution’s request, based on a lack of proof.

Lynn and Lindsey Maxwell are now on trial for four charges of child endangerment stemming from August 29th, the day Erin Maxwell died, and August 15th of last year.

In both cases, they’re accused of locking Erin in her room, which would have prevented her escape in the event of an emergency. They are also accused of forcing her to live in unsanitary conditions in a house full of animals, feces, and garbage. Testimony in the trial is scheduled to begin Wednesday evening in Palermo Town Court.

Palermo Town Justice Robert Wood also ruled that defense attorney Sal Lanza cannot call Oswego County social workers or Department of Social Services Commissioner Fran Lanigan to the witness stand. Lanza hopes to bolster his case by showing that case workers had investigated three complaints about Erin Maxwell’s living conditions up until May of 2006, and yet decided to allow Erin to remain in the Palermo home.

The judge also told the prosecution and defense not to talk to the media during the trial. The trial is expected to last through the week, possibly through Saturday and into next week.

Erin Maxwell’s stepbrother Alan Jones is charged with her murder. His trial is scheduled to begin in September.