Nothing like seeing a car to jog the old memory banks. c5karl posted this ?67 Bonnie at the Cohort, and the lights flashed on: I ?had? one of these. Not exactly owned, but an extended car sitting job, actually. Which is better than ownership anyway.
I can?t remember all the details, but a good old friend somehow needed me to babysit her boyfriend?s old ?67 Bonneville coupe while I was starting my tv career in the depths of the smog of San Bernardino in the summer of 1977. I was driving my rough-and-tumble Dodge A100 van at the time, and every Friday night I would head to Santa Monica to cool off in the fresh ocean breeze, as well as the Pacific?s water. I took the Bonnie one time, and what a contrast to the Dodge, even if it didn?t have AC. it became a regular weekend affair until it was broken up.
Unlike ten-year old cars today, the Pontiac was a bit geriatric already. No rust, of course, but the shocks were MIA, so a Dramamine was recommended before heading off. Slide-Tracking, not Wide-Tracking. But the 400 inch (6.6 L) Trophy V8 backed up by the Turbo-Hydramatic was still willing to impress with its classic GM smoothness and some decent hustle, when the secondaries were drafted for duty. Of course, it extracted its price at the pumps.
It was so wonderful to swoosh along I10 with all the windows down, and start feeling the first wafts of cool ocean air somewhere just east of downtown LA. The temperature would drop from 100 in San Bernardino down to the high sixties in Santa Monica, all within an hour?s drive (traffic permitting). One has to know the California climate to understand the phenomena. I can still feel that salt air in my nostrils, and the subtle throb of the big V8. What a way to start a weekend.
A scrap of papyrus from the early Christian era that refers to Jesus having a wife has met with extreme skepticism since its unveiling 11 days ago. Many scholars have declared the so-called "Gospel of Jesus' Wife" a modern forgery ? one that probably postdates Dan Brown's 2003 novel, "The Da Vinci Code." Others say that conclusion is too hasty.
What are the experts' arguments for and against its authenticity? And will the world ever know for sure whether this dogma-defying artifact is real?
The torn, business card-size fragment found instant fame when Harvard historian Karen King announced its discovery last Tuesday (Sept. 18), because it bears the startling line: "Jesus said to them, 'My wife ?'"?The manuscript is written in Coptic, the language of early Christians living in Egypt.?Although the beginning and end of each line of the manuscript are missing, it could be interpreted as a record of a conversation between Jesus and his disciples, in which the disciples tell Jesus: "Mary [Magdalene] is not worthy of it," and Jesus responds that his wife ? presumably Mary ? "will be able to be his disciple."
King has tentatively dated the artifact to the fourth century, and thinks it may be a copy of a gospel (an account of Jesus' life) written in Greece in the second century, when there was controversy among Christians over the discipleship of Mary Magdalene. If authentic, the gospel suggests some early Christians believed Jesus and Mary were married.?[Translation of Papyrus]
A sloppy fake
However, scholars have identified several peculiarities that have led many to believe the manuscript is a forgery. They say the text was written sometime in the last 50 years, and probably the last decade, upon a blank piece of ancient papyrus that the forger could easily have picked up on the antiquities market.
First, the writing is sloppy. Compared with authentic Coptic papyri, in which letters are written with varying thickness and subtle curves and details, the letters in the Gospel of Jesus' Wife are formed by rigid, straight strokes of equal thickness. In a YouTube video posted Friday (Sept. 28), Christian Askeland, a Coptic scholar based in Germany, explained that the letters look unnatural, as if written by someone with a very limited knowledge of the language.
If a forgery, it's clearly not the work of a professional, but Askeland doesn't think it was written by a fourth-century amateur, either. "He's obviously not writing in a really formal kind of way, but he's not doing the kind of idiosyncrasies you see in a typical informal hand or in a semi-literary text or something like that," he said.
Second, several experts have pointed out that the scribe does not seem to have used either of the writing instruments common to the time period: a stylus (Roman metal pen) or a calamus (Egyptian reed pen). The blotchiness of the letters and what look like brushstrokes in one place suggest the author instead used a paintbrush ? an unorthodox writing tool in ancient Egypt. (Other experts have countered that the pen may simply have been dull.)
Third, the textual content raises questions. Despite much of the manuscript being cut off, its meaning is "too easy" to decipher, Askeland said. "If you look at which parts of the manuscript have the subject and the verb staring right at us, it's most of the manuscript." The center-alignment of all the key phrases seems atypical.
Askeland concludes, "It is very probable that it's a fake." [Did Leonard da Vinci Copy His Famous 'Vitruvian Man'?]
Also regarding the textual content of the piece, the New Testament historian Francis Watson of the University of Durham points out that all the snippets in the text except for "my wife" also appear in the Gospel of Thomas, an authentic Coptic gospel that was discovered in Egypt in 1945; the snippets from Thomas have simply been rearranged to create a new meaning. Watson considers it unlikely that an ancient scribe would have borrowed each of his phrases from a contemporary work. "It's much easier to see how a modern compiler with limited ability in Coptic might gratefully avail him- or herself of material extracted from existing Coptic texts," Watson wrote in an article published on his website.
A translation of the Gospel of Thomas was published in 1956. Watson thinks the Gospel of Jesus' Wife must have been forged sometime since then. "I have a suspicion it's post-2003 as well. That was the year the "Da Vinci Code" was published, and this could have provided the inspiration," he wrote. (In Dan Brown's novel, Jesus is married to Mary Magdalene.) [Who Was Jesus, the Man?]
Answers written in ink
Not everyone is ready to trash the scrap of papyrus. "While these are interesting arguments, I certainly don't think they're conclusive," Paul Dilley, a scholar of early Christianity at the University of Iowa working on non-canonical literature and Coptic, told Life's Little Mysteries.
For one thing, the scribe who wrote the Gospel of Jesus' Wife could simply have had bad penmanship. To the argument that the phrases in the gospel are cut-and-pasted from the Gospel of Thomas, Michael Peppard, assistant professor of theology at Fordham University, rejoins that most of the phrases were in common usage, and so their appearance in both texts is just a small but unsurprising coincidence.
Furthermore, "there is one word that does not match its use in the Gospel of Thomas or its first entry in Coptic dictionaries, and it's the crucial word under discussion: 'wife' (hime)," Peppard writes on his blog. "The most common version of this word is s-hime (with an aspirated 'h')," he writes.
It would be odd for a modern forger to choose a less common version of the "headline-grabbing" word.
And Peppard said it would also be odd for a modern forger to manage to fade and fray the papyrus fragment authentically enough to convince Roger Bagnall, director of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University and one of the world's most respected papyrologists. Bagnall says the absorption of the ink by the papyrus, especially in faded and damaged areas, stands up to scrutiny. "It's hard to construct a scenario that is at all plausible in which somebody fakes something like this," he told the New York Times. "The world is not really crawling with crooked papyrologists."
With compelling arguments on both sides, the marital status of Jesus ? or, at least, early opinions on the subject ? may come down to chemistry. The chemical composition of the manuscript's ink will be tested at Harvard in mid-October.
"I think that the results of an ink test would be conclusive," Dilley wrote in an email. "A carbon dating of the papyrus would not be conclusive, because if it is a modern forgery, the forger could have obtained an ancient papyrus fragment relatively easily, and then written over it.?It would be far more difficult to reproduce ancient ink accurately."
An authentic Coptic manuscript would most likely be written in carbon-gum ink, made from carbon soot and gum arabic (made from the sap of acacia trees).?But even if the tests reveal the right kind of ink of the right age, naysayers have argued that a clever forger could have bought an ancient scrap of papyrus, burned part of it to produce carbon soot, used the soot to make ink, then used the ink to write the phony gospel on the remaining fragment.
Follow Natalie Wolchover on Twitter @nattyover?or Life's Little?Mysteries @llmysteries. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.
Copyright 2012 Lifes Little Mysteries, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Hafeez confident ahead of India clash ? Cricket News Update
Pakistan skipper Mohammad Hafeez is taking heart from his side?s comprehensive five-wicket win over India in the world cup warm-up match as the arch rivals gear up to face off in a crunch Super Eight match, here at the R Premadasa Stadium, in Colombo, on Sunday, September 30, 2012.
?Everyone is looking forward to the India match. Since we have won against them in the warm-up game, it will give us confidence going into the match,? said the prolific all-rounder while speaking to media reporters on the eve of the clash of titans, here in Colombo.
The two sides had clashed in a practice match at the same venue prior to the World Cup, and Hafeez? Men in Green had won that high scoring fixture, despite a middle order collapse. India, after opting to bat first, rode on Virat Kohli?s unbeaten 75, well complemented by Rohit Sharma's 40-ball 56, to put a competitive 185 for 3 on board.
In reply Pakistan were struggling at 91 for 5 in the 12th over, but Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik played wonderful cricket to take the side home, with five balls and five wickets to spare. Akmal played a whirlwind knock of 92 not out, off just 50 balls, plundering six sixes and five fours, while Malik returned unbeaten on 18-ball 37.
?That victory has been a real morale booster for us and the boys are upbeat and raring to go against India,? Hafeez added further.
The Pakistan skipper also dismissed the pressure talks saying they have played enough against Dhoni and his men in the past and are up for the challenge.
"For us, the match against India is like another game. We have played them a lot in the past and that pressure is not there anymore," insisted the all-rounder, who was given the reins of the national T20 side in May this year.
Pakistan go into today?s Super Eight fixture against nemesis India at the back of a close win against South Africa, and Hafeez said that his side was brimming with confidence after clinching the thrilling victory over the Proteas.
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Yesterday, 04:38 PM
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I'm miserable, please help.
Hi everybody!
I'm brand new here as of today. No, actually, I've been lurking for about a month and finally signed up today. Anyway, I am simply miserable and feel like I'm backed against a wall. My husband of a year and a half is what I consider to be an alcoholic. If he had it his way, he would drink vodka everyday and chase it with beer every evening. I have guilted him because of the stupid things he's done (dui, tried to smother me, and quite the array of verbal fights) and finances to only drink on the weekend and no hard liquor. If he drinks hard alcohol, he gets drunk and stupid. Our finances are so bad that our grocery budget is $130 a month for us and my 4 kids. He has a budget (that he never sticks to) of $200 a month for gas, cigarettes, and whatever else he needs. He buys beer with his extra money of course. Does anyone know how hard it is to feed 6 people on $130 a month?! I'm starving! I don't work because I can't find a job that would even cover half of what childcare would cost. I have tried working from home (childcare, house cleaning etc.) but the wages for those jobs are so low because we live in an area with a LOT of illegals who are willing to do work for next to nothing. I'd be making $2 an hour! Before the Army moved us to Fort Bliss, I had a decent paying job, my own house, friends and family near and now I have NOTHING. He makes all the money so I feel so unentitled to complain because at least we have a decent place to live, healthcare and a car to drive.
Anyway, he has gone from a nightly drunk, to only drinking a six pack on week nights and getting loaded on the weekend and now to only drinking beer (three or four 32oz beers) on the weekend. He is highly functional in that he is doing very well at work, is wonderful with the kids and most of the time me. He helps around the house when needed and cooks a few nights a week (he loves to BBQ). What bothers me is that he has told me outright that if I wanted him to stop drinking altogether (and I do) that we're through. I want him to quit drinking because I know that once our financial problems begin to resolve themselves and we have money for alcohol, he'll go back to drinking more. He has cut back a few times before but it always creeps back in. Naturally he denies this, denies he has a problem and says that he will never give up that part of his "manhood".
I just started therapy this last week and after I had gotten home, the minute I walked into the door, he said he needed to talk to me upstairs. We went into our room and he said that he was done with "us" and he had a bag packed and would go stay at a buddies' house. This was all because he got onto my facebook page and read my messages. I had forgotten to erase (he gets into my fb all the time, and my phone) a message to a friend whom I have been talking to about my situation. I told her about how recently him and I has made some amends after I threatened to leave and how just in case, I am working on a backup plan to move back home if I need. I had told her about a few of the things he had done in the past. This mad him more angry than I've ever seen him. Usually I just sit there and cry and let him push me further into guilt but this time I told him that I NEED to talk to somebody because what he's doing to me is killing me. I told him that I would be stupid not to have a contingency plan for my 4 kids and I at this point in our relationship. Then I asked him, "what did I tell her that wasn't true?" He had nothing to say. He went out to smoke for much longer than usual and came back in with an apology that included everything but "sorry".
Since then he has been SO nice to me, and promised to stick to his budget and to only drink on weekends (still three or four 32oz beers on friday, saturday and sunday). I am still so angry because his beer "budget" combined with his cigarette budget is as much as our grocery budget. I'm not joking when I say I'm starving. Granted, it won't hurt me none to lose some weight, but going hungry so that I can feed my kids is depressing.
I have talked to his VERY Mormon, very anti-alcohol brother and parents about what's going on and his parents look the other way. His brother tells me that I knew he was a drinker when I married him and that I need to accept him for who he is. I have friends who tell me that since he has made progress and never gets stumblingly drunk, that I should give him credit. However, my family (my mother a recovering alcoholic herself) wants me to leave him and come home. Several of my closest friends do too.
Here's why I stay (I'm not saying it's right but here it is): 1. Our family didn't abandon my mom when she was at her sickest and now we have a strong family. 2. It's true, I knew what I was getting myself into and fell like I should deal with it. 3. He truly loves me with all his heart and I can't bear to see him hurt. 4. Aside from his alcohol problem, he's a wonderful husband. 5. My kids absolutely adore him and my youngest knows him as "daddy" (even though he is not his biological father.
But here's the thing I worry about if I stay: 1. His disease will progress and I and my kids will be further affected. 2. He loves beer more than he loves me 3. The things he has done in the past make it impossible to trust him, and 4. I hate sex with him and any intimacy. I am not entirely sure why this is but once when he was drunk he tried to smother me during sex and it scared me bad. Sorry, TMI.
And another kicker, he deploys in 2 and-a-half months to Afghanistan. I am petrified of being here in the middle of nowhere with no support for 9 months just to have him come home worse (PTSD is an issue, I believe). How will it be staying here alone, homesick as hell, knowing that our problems could only get worse when he gets home? I refuse to leave while he is deployed. That's just cold and I do respect him as a soldier. He deserves better.
I guess my question to everyone who had the patience to read this whole thing is "what do I do?" Do I point out that despite his improvements, I can't live with this uncertainty? Do I stay and hope it gets better? He is such a sweet talker and I do feel he is sincere.
BTW, I have been to AA meetings and they seem to be no help. The one I went to most recently only left me more confused as to how to handle my situation which is why I have "graduated" to a psychiatrist.
Please give me any advice you have, good or bad, hard to hear or not.
Thank you!
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Yesterday, 04:54 PM
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Welcome to SR, derbygirl.
Advice - well - the first thing that comes to mind is support through the Army? I know its a huge issue for military folks, especially those coming and going to the Middle East.
Second - there's Al-Anon. AA is for the alcoholics, and I do recommend attending open meetings for information, but Al-Anon is our support group. Try a handful of meetings, see if it helps to simply be in a room with other friends & family of alcoholics and addicts. Sometimes, just sharing the common experience is comforting.
The grocery issue - good heavens I spend $130 a week for 3 people. Three girls, to boot! Granted, where I live, food prices are much higher than your region, but still...I understand how you feel starving to feed your kids. How about local churches and food pantries for a while? Just to supplement your own pantry in the interim? It'll be an immediate band-aid on a gunshot wound, but at least you'd have some more staples in the house without having to starve.
I would set everything else on the back burner for now. Is he or isn't he an alcoholic? Should you stay or should you go? What to do, what to do??? This kind of thinking and what we call here "future tripping" creates a lot of unnecessary anxiety. Try to take things one at a time, in order of priority. Let the rest go for now. You don't need to make any major decisions today, do you?
And lastly, keep reading and keep coming back. And know the snooping and threatened behavior that you are talking to others about this is normal for the alcoholic. Secrets keep us sick, so good for you for reaching out as you have. Keep doing that!
Take good care,
~T
__________________ Do or do not. There is no try. Yoda
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Yesterday, 06:30 PM
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I couldn't get one word beyond > tried to smother me
That was the end of reading for me. I rarely say this - but if you're honest that he basically tried to kill you - you need to get immediate help to leave.
I'm so sorry, but that is no going forward with that. Please, get yourself help, carefully. There are domestic violence hot lines and safe houses . . .
Sending you my concern!
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Yesterday, 06:48 PM
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I am sorry, but soldier or not, you deserve better. no one should have to go hungry so their spouse can drink.
you cant make him stop.
and I agree with wishingwell, that he is dangerous to you. your children deserve security, and you don't have that with him. and I agree with you, that it will probably get worse again. that sounds like a horrible way to live. if he truly loves you, he will want you safe.
This is not their biological father, and maybe if you haven't been with him for very long, the children won't suffer as much as you think. he is going to be deployed anyway. why not take a break, go home, and get your head together with some support.
for every family that stays together through alcoholism and gets stronger, I would bet at least 50 dont. if not more.
be safe.
__________________ Life's sweetest joys are hidden In unsubstantial things...
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Yesterday, 07:01 PM
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Quote:
I am sorry, but soldier or not, you deserve better. no one should have to go hungry so their spouse can drink.
you cant make him stop.
and I agree with wishingwell, that he is dangerous to you. your children deserve security, and you don't have that with him. and I agree with you, that it will probably get worse again. that sounds like a horrible way to live. if he truly loves you, he will want you safe.
This is not their biological father, and maybe if you haven't been with him for very long, the children won't suffer as much as you think. he is going to be deployed anyway. why not take a break, go home, and get your head together with some support.
for every family that stays together through alcoholism and gets stronger, I would bet at least 50 dont. if not more.
be safe.
After rereading the thread, I 100% agree with your comment. If this was the actual father, there would be many factors to consider. Being that is not the case, and you cannot feed your children, I would leave.
As a man, if I do not put myself above my family, then I am not a man. He does not consider you a spouse or the children as his.
As the product of a father who left me at 12 (my brother was 15), without financial support, my mother survived, and did a great job. You will be respected more for removing them from this situation than exposing them to a selfish alcoholic.
Just my opinion,
Toss
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Yesterday, 07:30 PM
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Hello Derbygirl, and welcome to SoberRecovery
Quote:
...Please give me any advice you have, good or bad, hard to hear or not....
Tuffgirl gave you some suggestion that are exactly right. You can get a lot of support thru the Chaplain's office at whichever base your husband is stationed at. They have a lot of experience with this sort of thing and take it very seriously. They will be particularly interested in the financial hardship you are experiencing as a result of his drinking, they have a number of programs you might qualify for. They can also help you find a job on base.
When your husband deploys you do not have to stay near the base. Since you had a good job prior to moving you can move back to where you came from and the military will be _very_ understanding about that. They are very much in favor of helping the spouses and families and completely understand what financial hardships are like.
Oh, and as far as him being a soldier, the military considers you to be a soldier too. The work you do as a spouse on home soil is just as vital for the safety of our country as the work he does overseas.
Al-anon meetings are highly recommended. You can find them in your phone book, or here
How to find a meeting in the US/Canada/Puerto Rico
Another resource is the women's shelters in your area. Not for you to go live there, but because they know _all_ the programs that can help you with groceries, getting a job, working on your contingency plan, etc. I am not familiar with your part of the country so I can only suggest you call the Salvation Army and Catholic Charities as a start.
You have a lot more options available than what you mentioned in your post, and there are a _lot_ of resources available to you. All you have to do is make a few phone calls.
Welcome again. I'm sorry that you are in such a situation, I can't even imagine how stressed you must feel. I'm glad you found us, there are a lot of kind, wise people here who will come by and post over the next few days. Most people here have gone thru much the same hardship you are dealing with today. They made it through, and have a much better life today. You will get through this, just like everybody else on this forum has. Don't give up, keep coming back. We will be here to cheer you on.
Mike
Moderator, SoberRecovery
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Sunsets are not endings. If I have enough faith, they are beginnings.
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Today, 07:48 AM
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Here's the thing about help for him through the military, HE WON'T DO IT! If he refuses to do it on his own, then what good will it do? If I go to the chaplain or his commander and he is forced into treatment, what good would that do? He would just keep drinking because it's his "right" and hold resentment towards me for having made him look foolish, just like when I talked to me friend about the problem. Getting him into treatment against his will is NOT a good idea.
I am seeking help for groceries and am having no luck. The one church that does have a "pantry" one weekend a month doesn't have much to go around. Last week they were able to give me four cans of vegetables, a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter. I'm grateful but it's not going to help much. I will keep trying.
As far as al anon, the meetings are very confusing to me honestly. The talk about how to live with the problems, not solutions. That is why I don't leave, because I feel like since he's been a drinker since we met, I should live with it and stop complaining.
I just feel so stuck and confused. How did my life get so bad? Before I gave up everything that meant anything to me and moved here, I was as happy as I had ever been. I so badly want that back.
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Today, 07:51 AM
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#9 (permalink)
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Also, I have to sneak behind his back to go to al anon meetings! He thinks al anon is a bunch of weirdos and family members of "real" alcoholics.
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The Internet has helped promote artists who work with such varied mediums as hole-punch dots, breakfast foods, and pennies. The latest unexpected art tool? Those oft-tangled earphone cords that come with your iPods.
Courtesy of Etcetera
One of the portraits created with earphone cords.
A project devised by Amsterdam-based marketing agency Etcetera and CGI post-production studio Souverein consists of a series of portraits created out of the twisty cords of earbuds. It was created for a promotional campaign surrounding T-Mobile?s ?Life for Sharing? collaboration with Deezer music, and is meant to highlight a new streaming add-on for mobile phones that allows users to create playlists and share them with their friends.
To embody the musical camaraderie, the promotion crew decided to bring their friends to life with cords.
?We made portraits of people who created a playlist with earphones, which symbolizes someone?s personal taste of music,? Stan van Zon, creative director of Etcetera told NBCNews.com. ?We started with photos of random people. Then we had a sketcher take a look at it, and emphasize the true characteristics with just a couple of strokes. We simplified these sketches to make the complete drawing with just two single strokes.?
Courtesy of Etcetera
The company is working on a project where anyone can create an image using the cords.
From there, the design was given to Sovereign, a company who specializes in image manipulation, CGI/3D, Photography and Fine Art printing.
?They prepared the job by modeling all kinds of earphones, just to see what works best,? van Zon explained. ?Black lines, black earplugs, not too much design-y stuff, and an off-white background.?
While the project began for advertising purposes, the flair of the idea has already inspired new editions. The original models were based on the faces of colleagues and friends, but Etcetera is working on a project that will enable music lovers to create their own portraits with earphones in conjunction with their personal playlists. Their plan is to?have the computer produce an earphone image based on someone?s Facebook profile or another photo available online. That portrait will then become a kind of album cover for the person?s playlist.
These renditions will likely prove a simpler task to construct than their prototypes.
?When the means to make an expression are so limited, really everything needs to be exactly right,? commented van Zon. ?Of course, this also depends on the specific characteristics of a person. With a nose twice as big as usual, it?ll make the job somewhat easier.?
What do you think of the unusual art? Tell us on Facebook.
BAGHDAD (AP) ? Iraq's Interior Ministry says a prison break in Saddam Hussein's hometown in which dozens of al-Qaida-linked militants escaped was an inside job and that 20 people were killed, including 16 security force members and four inmates.
The ministry's statement late Friday said there was "clear collusion" between some guards and inmates at the Tasfirat prison in Tikrit, 130 Kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad. Weapons were brought into the prison during family visits, and wardens left locks inside the facility open.
Of 303 inmates at the prison, 102 escaped in Friday's jailbreak. Four were killed and 23 captured, the statement said.
It said the police chief of Salahuddin province where Tikrit is located, Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim al-Khazraji, was sacked.
Authorities earlier reported 12 people dead in the break.
Defenders of Elizabeth Warren?s failure to obtain a Massachusetts law license have argued that Warren did not operate an office for the practice of law or maintain a systematic and continuous presence in Massachusetts for the practice of law because all she allegedly did was help write a few Briefs in the Supreme Court and out-of-state federal courts.
Michael Fredrickson, General Counsel of the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers even took the unusual move of giving media interviews defending Warren before any investigation, suggesting that a law professor who merely ?dabbles? in legal consulting doesn?t need to be licensed.? Fredrickson later clarified that he merely was expressing a personal opinion, and that he really didn?t know much about Warren?s practice.
The Warren campaign refuses to detail the full scope of Warren?s private legal activities from her Cambridge office, but details are being uncovered day by day.? Much as with Warren?s history of ?checking the box,? Warren?s campaign makes categorical statements, refuses to release records, and waits to see if others will be able to find details and documents.
The evidence mounts day by day that Warren did a lot more than ?dabble? in the practice of law from her Massachusetts office.?? Among other things, Warren represented to the Texas Bar that Cambridge was her ?primary practice location,??in 2002 billed over $14,000 for ?professional legal services? in?the GAF bankruptcy case, ?and even entered a court appearance for a Massachusetts client in 2001 on Massachusetts legal issues in a federal court in Massachusetts.
More details are coming out about the extensive nature of Warren?s private practice.
In a March 20, 2002,?Verified Statement?(embedded at bottom of post), Warren submitted in the Kaiser Aluminum bankruptcy, Warren detailed for the Court the extensive nature of her law practice at that time, which included at least 9 bankruptcy matters plus other legal work.
Interestingly, Warren disclosed?that she had advised Dow Chemical Company,?in keeping with?a long history of representing large corporate entities:
10. ?. In addition to these academic and legislative activities, have consulted with a?number of companies on mass tort issues. I served in an advisory capacity to Dow Chemical, the?parent company of Dow Coming, in the early days of the Dow Coming bankruptcy I have?assisted the Johns Manville ?rust and the National Gypsum Trust in appellate litigation. I have?been an expert witness on behalf of the National Gypsum Trust and the Fuller Austin trust.? These trusts were formed as part of the confirmation of a plan of reorganization in mass tort?asbestos bankruptcies. I have assisted in the preparation for petitions for certiorari to the United?States Supreme Court in two cases involving future claims, one in an environmental context and?one in an employee liability context. I have argued a case on behalf of Fairchild Aviation, an?airplane manufacturer facing future claims liability. I have filed an amicus brief in future claims?litigation involving Piper Aircraft. [Note - it appears there was a paragraph numbering problem in the original, and that the above paragraph was supposed to be numbered "11"]
12. In addition, I am working with Caplin & Drysdale as a consultant in Chapter 11?proceedings involving the Babcock & Wilcox Company, Pittsburgh Coming Corporation, Owens?Coming Corporation, Armstrong World Industries, Inc., W.R. Grace & Company, G-1 Holdings, Inc., United States Gypsum Corporation, Federal-Mogul Global, Inc. and North American?Refractories Company.
In addition to the nine bankruptcy cases, we also know that Warren was working on the ?FCC v. Nextwave Communications case detailed in my original post.? Even if none of the additional matters listed in paragraph 10 of Warren?s Verified Statement were active in 2002, that would mean Warren was involved in handling a minimum of 10 active private legal matters during 2002.
That hardly is ?dabbling? in the practice of law.? Of course, there may be more, but the Warren campaign will not disclose anything other than the few Supreme Court briefs she worked on.
It is significant that Warren informed the Court in the opening paragraph that she was admitted in Texas, but did not inform the Court that she had been on inactive status since 1992.? Additionally, Warren designated her Cambridge location as her office in connection with this retention:
There are other interesting details in the Verified Statement which will be explored in future posts, such as the Harvard disclosure and reporting requirements, the guidelines limiting faculty to spending 20% of their time on non-law school related matters, and this admonition from the Harvard Law School Faculty Manual in effect in 2001-2002 against the unauthorized practice of law:
The investigation will continue.
[Special thanks to Morgen Richmond, who used to blog at Verum Serum, for helping locate documents referred to here and which will be referred to in?upcoming posts.]
In Re Kaiser ? Elizabeth Warren Verified Statement
This undated image provided by the Potomack Company shows French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "Paysage Bords de Seine," which was purchased for $7 at a flea market in West Virginia.
By NBC News staff and wire reports
The Renoir painting that caused a sensation when it was bought at a flea market for $7 may have been stolen from a museum six decades ago, and an auction house has put its sale on hold.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir's painting "Paysage Bords de Seine" was due to go to auction through the Potomack Company on Saturday, but its sale was put on hold after a Washington Post reporter discovered documents in the Baltimore Museum of Art's library showing it was on loan there from 1937 until 1951, when it was stolen.
The Impressionist work, whose title translates as "Landscape on the Banks of the Seine," was purchased two years ago at a West Virginia flea market.
The buyer, a Virginia woman who has not revealed her name, took it to auction house The Potomack Co. in July, and experts there confirmed it was by the French master Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The frame of the painting includes a "Renoir" plaque.
"I originally bought it for the frame," the buyer admitted to NBCWashington.com earlier this month. "I was trying to rip it apart... I was like, well, maybe I should wait." The buyer's mother encouraged her to get it appraised.
It was expected to fetch $75,000 to $100,000 at auction.?
"The rest of the auction will go on, but the Renoir has been withdrawn," said Lucie Holland, a spokeswoman for The Potomack Co.
Read the story on NBCWashington.com
Potomack said that the?London-based Art Loss Registry had said that the painting had never been reported stolen or missing and the FBI's art theft website did not list it as stolen either. There was also no police report from the theft.
The FBI is now investigating.
'Caught by surprise' The Renoir came to the Baltimore museum through one of its leading benefactors, collector Saidie May. Her family?bought it from the Bernheim-Jeune gallery in Paris in 1926.
The Washington Post found records in the museum's library on Tuesday that showed May had lent the paintings and other works to the museum in 1937, Potomack said.
After the newspaper told it of the findings, the Baltimore museum checked its files and found a loan record showing the Renoir had been stolen on November 17, 1951. What happened to it after the theft is unknown.
Doreen Bolger, the museum director, said the museum's probe into what happened to the painting was in early stages.
May died in May 1951 and the art collection was willed to the museum. As its ownership was going through legal transfer, the painting was stolen while still listed as on loan.
?
The Mona Lisa Foundation, based in Switzerland, is claiming Leonardo da Vinci painted an earlier version of the Mona Lisa. Is she or isn't she? NBC's Jim Maceda reports.
"We were caught by surprise," Bolger said on Thursday.
"At this point we just want to make sure that the painting winds up where it belongs and that we provide all the information we can to law enforcement about this issue," Bolger said.?
She said that she would be happy to show the painting again if it is ultimately returned to the museum.
NBC News staff, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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There are lots of things that are important for becoming successful at selling in the B2B market.? Some seem to be discussed all the time, while others receive less attention.? One topic that falls into the latter category is internal champions.
So when recently we came across a Harvard Business Review blog by Steve Martin about five types of internal coaches, we thought it was useful to highlight what Steve had to say.
Steve makes the interesting point that five different types of internal coaches can exist and only one type is what we would label a true internal champion. For example there is the coach who is a Well-Wisher.? A ?Well-Wisher talks to you on an intimate, friendly basis. He provides information that you consider proprietary. However, the Well-Wisher is an extremely amiable person and is probably providing the same information to all the salespeople competing for the business.?
Steve goes on to provide a particularly effective definition of an internal champion (Guide in his labeling). ?Internal champions ?are confidants who provide all the inside details about the internal politics of decision making, but they also help you plan and execute your strategy to win the business.?? It is this latter part that is the distinguishing characteristic.? A true internal champion is both willing and able to help you win the business.
The major mistake is failing to distinguish the Well-Wisher from an internal champion.? If that mistake is made, you end up getting blind-sided when the chips are down.
With the rigorous definition of internal champion in mind, what do we know about developing and managing the relationships with internal champions?? Let?s take a look at four highlights:
Getting one is a must-have versus a nice-to-have. In major accounts a lot of decision making is going on when you not there.? Changes occur all the time ? what was true yesterday may not be true today.? In such an environment, you absolutely need someone who has a seat at the table who can sell for you when you are not there and keep you up to speed.
Managers need to establish internal champions as a coaching priority.Because internal champions are a must-have, how one goes about developing one should be a part of the account strategy for every account executive in every major account.? In order to make that happen managers need to establish developing and managing internal champions as a sales coaching priority.? If front-line managers do not keep the internal champion objective on the front burner, the importance of internal champions will fade over time.
It?s not about finding one. This is not an Easter egg hunt sort of thing ? internal champions are not something you find.? It takes time and effort to develop an internal champion.? With that in mind several points are noteworthy:
Well-Wishers and other pretenders must be spotted early on.
It is always a two way street, there has to be something in it for the internal champion.
The competitors also have internal champions.
A determination must be made as to what does and does not constitute a reasonable request to help you sell.
Rehearsing is a big deal.It is almost alwaystrue that internal champions do not have selling skills and it is always true that they do not know as much your solutions and company as you do.? So, if they are to sell for you effectively, then rehearsing becomes a big deal.? Rehearsing is probably the most poorly executed of all the requirements of developing and managing internal champions.? Many, other wise skilled sales reps, don?t even do it.
If you found this post helpful, you might want to join the conversation and subscribe to the?Sales Training Connection.
PARIS (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande puts his fiscal credibility on the line on Friday when he delivers France's toughest budget in 30 years in the face of a stagnant economy, record unemployment and plunging poll ratings.
The Socialist leader's first budget, to be presented to the cabinet at a mid-morning meeting, needs to make 30 billion euros ($39 billion) in savings to keep deficit-cutting pledges on track and not fall foul of financial markets.
The belt-tightening, via tax rises for high earners and a freeze on spending, aims to slash the 2013 public deficit to 3 percent of economic output and ensure France's place beside Germany as a core euro zone power and trusted borrower.
"This budget is about struggle, about reconstruction," Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on France 2 television. "If we abandon the (3 percent) target, our interest rates will rise immediately."
Economists, however, are concerned the budget goals look ambitious, especially based on a 2013 economic growth forecast of 0.8 percent that is widely seen as over-optimistic.
Ayrault repeated a pledge to cut unemployment within a year and defended the government's 0.8 percent growth target as "realistic and within reach".
The risk of below-target growth raises the chances that Hollande, whose approval ratings have slid as low as 43 percent just four months into his term, may have to make more savings to keep his deficit goals in reach.
Friday's budget bill is expected to lay out 10 billion euros in expected new revenues from extra taxes on mainly well-off households and another 10 billion from either corporate tax rises or cuts to existing tax breaks.
A further 10 billion will come from keeping a lid on central government spending, continuing a policy of replacing only one in two retiring civil servants and postponing spending. Calls from some economists for broader cuts will be ignored.
Hollande's promise to cut the deficit to 3 percent of gross domestic product from 4.5 percent this year is a step towards his pledge to balance the budget in 2017.
BNP Paribas economist Helene Baudchon said the target was optimistic and the deficit was likely to come in above 3.0 percent given the weak growth outlook for next year. "As things stand, achieving a deficit of 3.3 percent would in itself be a remarkable outcome," she said.
Any sign of wavering could not only prompt financial markets to rethink their attitude towards France, in terms of low bond yields, but also trigger further downgrades after Standard & Poor's stripped France of its triple-A rating this year.
At the same time, the state belt-tightening risks putting further pressure on an economy which has stagnated over the last three quarters to teeter on the brink of recession, while the unemployment rate has risen to a 13-year high above 10 percent.
"It's a big risk, because it's possible that, as they try to reduce government spending and return to a balanced budget, they have a negative impact on growth," said Christopher Bickerton, an associate professor at Paris' Sciences Po university.
He said Hollande was betting that the short-term pain of a tough 2013 budget would sow the seeds for growth in the medium term by maintaining the confidence of the financial markets.
"If growth falls, deficits increase, and they won't be able to balance the budget," he said. "So it's clearly a risk that he is taking, but that's the calculation."
Tax increases on companies could hardly come at a worse time, with corporate profit margins at their lowest since the mid 1980s and firms cutting staff in the face of falling demand.
($1 = 0.7775 euros)
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Catherine Bremer and Giles Elgood)
NEW YORK (AP) ? A New York City woman has pleaded guilty to stalking "The Dark Knight Rises" actress Marion Cotillard (koh-tee-YAR').
Teresa Yuan pleaded guilty Friday in Brooklyn federal court. Prosecutors say she sent 504 emails and 120 webcam videos of herself to a Cotillard fan website over four days in 2011.
In some of the videos shown in court, Yuan appears to be topless, hisses like a cat and discusses playing Russian roulette. Her lawyer says he agrees the videos could seem threatening.
The Daily News reports (http://nydn.us/TOhkYD ) the 32-year-old Queens resident told a judge that she's undergoing psychiatric treatment for bipolar disorder.
The charge carries a sentence of up to 16 months in prison, but her lawyer says prosecutors have indicated they wouldn't object to probation and psychological treatment.
___
Information from: Daily News, http://www.nydailynews.com
Adhesive technologies are increasingly used in the car industry and in vehicle repair shops. Adhesive bonding is replacing conventional joining techniques such as welding, riveting or bolting. This not only increases safety but also simplifies many production operations. At Automechanika 2012, Henkel will be presenting recent product innovations and a broad product portfolio for reliable car repair in OEM quality.
Henkel has developed two new high-performance adhesives for repairing plastic components on vehicles and for bonding body parts. The new products are particularly low in emissions and thus offer excellent health and safety attributes. More and more automotive components ? from bumpers, fenders and spoilers to the fuel flap ? are made from plastics of every kind. If these components crack or break, then a dependable adhesive is required.
Teroson PU 9225 SF ME and Teroson PU 6700 ME Mixing the two-component adhesives is extremely easy thanks to a special mixing nozzle that is used to apply them. The two components are mixed automatically in the nozzle, ensuring the optimal quality of the adhesive during application. Teroson PU 9225 SF ME can be used to repair all plastic parts on the vehicle exterior. The product has a pot life of two minutes, is applied at room temperature and subsequently cured using an infrared heat source at 60 to 70 degrees Celsius. Teroson PU 6700 ME is ideal for bonding different materials. The product can be used for metal, wood and most plastics and on painted surfaces. The adhesive cures in around ten minutes, regardless of the ambient temperature and the humidity level.
Low odour and low bloom: Loctite 403, 408 and 460 Loctite 403, 408 and 460 are three improved instant adhesives from Henkel that can be used for bonding virtually any materials. Already market leaders in terms of health and safety, these products now offer even better performance.
The three Loctite instant adhesives are suitable for bonding almost all materials, from plastic through metal to rubber. Thanks to a special formulation, they do not irritate the skin, nor does their safety data sheet list any hazard symbols or chemical substances that pose a risk to health. In launching these improved products, Henkel is strengthening its portfolio of innovative solutions with regard to occupational health and safety. The improved formulation has higher moisture tolerance and leads to a longer lasting bond.
Long processability, straightforward mixing: Terokal 5010 TR Terokal 5010 TR, the two-component material being unveiled by Henkel at Automechanika, is an entirely new solution for the perfect repair of body damage ? and far superior to hot soldering using tin. The product, which is sold under the Teroson brand name, has been tested by the ?Allianz Zentrum fuer Technik? with positive results.
For workshops, the use of Terokal 5010 TR offers significant time and labour savings. In contrast to working with tin, no high temperatures are required and the vehicle components do not have to be dismantled and then fitted again following the repairs. Neither is there any impact on the plastic components close to the repair, as the application and curing temperatures are no higher than if the vehicle was standing in bright sunlight.
New flange sealant silicones suitable for throughout the vehicle Sealing mechanical components is made even easier with Loctite new silicone products, Henkel is unveiling at this year?s Automechanika in Frankfurt. The innovative premium silicones were developed to satisfy the highest demands in automotive repair shops. Henkel is completing and optimising its silicone sealant line with two new products Loctite SI 5660 and Loctite SI 5990 in addition to the well-known Loctite SI 5980 Quick Gasket. The silicones can be used for sealing a variety of components on the vehicle, for example in the engine compartment they are used on the oil pan, water pump and valve covers. All three products adhere to both metals and plastics.
Henkel, the world?s largest manufacturer of adhesives, sealants and surface technologies, supplies the innovative products in a user-friendly ready-to-use cartridge developed especially for workshops. The sealant is applied from the pressurised cartridge through the integrated nozzle, without the need for an additional dispensing device.
Environmentally compatible corrosion protection at OEM level Free from volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, the Terotex Aqua product line from Henkel is designed for corrosion protection on vehicles. Working with the products does not pose any risks to the user?s health, while the repair shop can reduce its VOC emissions.
Welded metal repairs, new body panels, retrofitted spoilers, tuning components and even spare parts are used during the repair work all require comprehensive corrosion protection. In most cases, only a primer has been applied to the parts and this is insufficient to prevent corrosion occurring in the long term. In addition, the existing corrosion protection may have been removed or damaged by welding, cutting or grinding work and the associated high temperatures. The result is weaknesses in the body that compromise the safety, comfort and look of the vehicle.
For comprehensive corrosion protection, Henkel has developed the Terotex Aqua product line for the auto repair industry. This high-quality coating range guarantees maximum corrosion protection and, because it does not contain solvents, also offers an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional products. The products do not pose any health risks for the workshop employee, while the workshop can reduce its VOC emissions in compliance with legislation.
Further training initiative with added value benefits for practitioners Messe Frankfurt has launched a ?Further training? campaign as part of this year?s Automechanika. An important component of the campaign will be the ?accident damage repairs? training package. The goal here is to give interested participants practical sessions on this demanding area of work and allow them to try out tools and methods themselves. One workshop will be hosted by Henkel.
During the ?Body bonding techniques? workshop ? Henkel, with its Teroson branded products, will show participants chemical bonding materials as important elements of today?s vehicle bodies. They will receive information about health and safety regulations regarding the use of chemical products and will have the chance to apply the products themselves. Participants will also find out about the main tools used to apply sealants and adhesives. Here too there will be a hands-on component, the aim of which will be to return a vehicle body as closely as possible to its original appearance following the repair process.
Henkel at the fair At the leading international show for the automotive industry, visitors can learn about the latest innovations in adhesives and sealants at the Henkel stand A05 in Hall 11. Visitors will find Henkel as well at the education and training hall GAL1 at stand A03.
RCMP escort Jason Will into a waiting prison van after receiving 7 years for the smothering death of a toddler. Photo taken in Regina on August 30, 2012.
Photograph by: Don Healy , Regina Leader-Post files
REGINA ? Jason Brian Emil Will, currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for smothering a toddler, is on a hunger strike, his family said on Thursday.
Members of Will?s family gathered to speak to reporters on Thursday morning at the law office of Bob Hrycan, the lawyer who is handling Will?s conviction and sentence appeal. They said the 25-year-old Regina man is protesting his manslaughter conviction as well as a Court of Appeal judge?s recent refusal to release him pending the appeal.
Will, currently incarcerated at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert, is into the 12th day of his hunger strike, family said.
Hrycan is anticipating filing an appeal of the bail decision within the next week and will ask that a hearing be held soon after to determine whether the Appeal Court judge?s decision should be overturned.
A date for the conviction and sentence appeal has yet to be set, but Hrycan expected it wouldn?t happen before spring.
Will was found guilty after trial at Regina Court of Queen?s Bench of suffocating his then-fiancee?s 18-month-old son, Raime Myers, in July 2009, causing a fatal hypoxic brain injury. Will and his family continue to claim he?s not guilty.
The Crown has also filed an appeal in this case, asking that the sentence be upped. The Crown had initially been looking for a 10-year prison term.
Time bomb: Military ordnance in Gulf poses threat to shipping, says Texas A&M proffesorPublic release date: 28-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Keith Randall keith-randall@tamu.edu 979-845-4644 Texas A&M University
Millions of pounds of unexploded bombs and other military ordnance that were dumped decades ago in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as off the coasts of both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, could now pose serious threats to shipping lanes and the 4,000 oil and gas rigs in the Gulf, warns two Texas A&M University oceanographers.
William Bryant and Neil Slowey, professors of oceanography who have more than 90 years of combined research experience in all of the Earth's oceans, along with fellow researcher Mike Kemp of Washington, D.C., say millions of pounds of bombs are scattered over the Gulf of Mexico and also off the coasts of at least 16 states, from New Jersey to Hawaii.
Bryant says the discarded bombs are hardly a secret. "This has been well known for decades by many people in marine science and oceanography," he explains.
He will give a presentation in San Juan, Puerto Rico Monday (Oct. 1) about the bombs to a group of oceanographers and marine scientists in a conference titled "International Dialogue on Underwater Munitions."
"This subject has been very well documented through the years," Bryant explains. "My first thought when I saw the news reports of the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf two years ago were, 'Oh my gosh, I wonder if some of the bombs down there are to blame.'"
Military dumping of unused bombs into the Gulf and other sites started in 1946 and continued until 1970, when it was finally banned.
Millions of pounds no one, including the military, knows how many were sent to the ocean floor as numerous bases tried to lessen the amount of ordnance at their respective locations.
"The best guess is that at least 31 million pounds of bombs were dumped, but that could be a very conservative estimate," Bryant notes.
"And these were all kinds of bombs, from land mines to the standard military bombs, also several types of chemical weapons. Our military also dumped bombs offshore that they got from Nazi Germany right after World War II. No one seems to know where all of them are and what condition they are in today."
Photos show that some of the chemical weapons canisters, such as those that carried mustard gas, appear to be leaking materials and are damaged.
"Is there an environmental risk? We don't know, and that in itself is reason to worry," explains Bryant. "We just don't know much at all about these bombs, and it's been 40 to 60 years that they've been down there."
With the ship traffic needed to support the 4,000 energy rigs, not to mention commercial fishing, cruise lines and other activities, the Gulf can be a sort of marine interstate highway system of its own. There are an estimated 30,000 workers on the oil and gas rigs at any given moment.
The bombs are no stranger to Bryant and Slowey, who have come across them numerous times while conducting various research projects in the Gulf, and they have photographed many of them sitting on the Gulf floor like so many bowling pins, some in areas cleared for oil and gas platform installation.
"We surveyed some of them on trips to the Gulf within the past few years," he notes. "Ten are about 60 miles out and others are about 100 miles out. The next closest dump site to Texas is in Louisiana, not far from where the Mississippi River delta area is in the Gulf. Some shrimpers have recovered bombs and drums of mustard gas in their fishing nets."
Bombs used in the military in the 1940s through the 1970s ranged from 250- to 500- and even 1,000-pound explosives, some of them the size of file cabinets. The military has a term for such unused bombs: UXO, or unexploded ordnance.
"Record keeping of these dump sites seems to be sketchy and incomplete at best. Even the military people don't know where all of them are, and if they don't know, that means no one really knows," Bryant adds. He believes that some munitions were "short dumped," meaning they were discarded outside designated dumping areas.
The subject of the disposal of munitions at sea has been discussed at several offshore technology conferences in recent years, and it was a topic at an international conference several years ago in Poland, Bryant says.
"The bottom line is that these bombs are a threat today and no one knows how to deal with the situation," Bryant says. "If chemical agents are leaking from some of them, that's a real problem. If many of them are still capable of exploding, that's another big problem.
"There is a real need to research the locations of these bombs and to determine if any are leaking materials that could be harmful to marine life and humans," Bryant says.
###
For more information about the underwater munitions conference, go to
http://www.underwatermunitions.org/
Media contact: Keith Randall, News & Information Services, at (979) 845-4644 or keith-randall@tamu.edu or William Bryant at (979) 845-2680 or wbryant@ocean.tamu.edu
More news about Texas A&M University, go to http://tamutimes.tamu.edu/
Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamu/
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Time bomb: Military ordnance in Gulf poses threat to shipping, says Texas A&M proffesorPublic release date: 28-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Keith Randall keith-randall@tamu.edu 979-845-4644 Texas A&M University
Millions of pounds of unexploded bombs and other military ordnance that were dumped decades ago in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as off the coasts of both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, could now pose serious threats to shipping lanes and the 4,000 oil and gas rigs in the Gulf, warns two Texas A&M University oceanographers.
William Bryant and Neil Slowey, professors of oceanography who have more than 90 years of combined research experience in all of the Earth's oceans, along with fellow researcher Mike Kemp of Washington, D.C., say millions of pounds of bombs are scattered over the Gulf of Mexico and also off the coasts of at least 16 states, from New Jersey to Hawaii.
Bryant says the discarded bombs are hardly a secret. "This has been well known for decades by many people in marine science and oceanography," he explains.
He will give a presentation in San Juan, Puerto Rico Monday (Oct. 1) about the bombs to a group of oceanographers and marine scientists in a conference titled "International Dialogue on Underwater Munitions."
"This subject has been very well documented through the years," Bryant explains. "My first thought when I saw the news reports of the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf two years ago were, 'Oh my gosh, I wonder if some of the bombs down there are to blame.'"
Military dumping of unused bombs into the Gulf and other sites started in 1946 and continued until 1970, when it was finally banned.
Millions of pounds no one, including the military, knows how many were sent to the ocean floor as numerous bases tried to lessen the amount of ordnance at their respective locations.
"The best guess is that at least 31 million pounds of bombs were dumped, but that could be a very conservative estimate," Bryant notes.
"And these were all kinds of bombs, from land mines to the standard military bombs, also several types of chemical weapons. Our military also dumped bombs offshore that they got from Nazi Germany right after World War II. No one seems to know where all of them are and what condition they are in today."
Photos show that some of the chemical weapons canisters, such as those that carried mustard gas, appear to be leaking materials and are damaged.
"Is there an environmental risk? We don't know, and that in itself is reason to worry," explains Bryant. "We just don't know much at all about these bombs, and it's been 40 to 60 years that they've been down there."
With the ship traffic needed to support the 4,000 energy rigs, not to mention commercial fishing, cruise lines and other activities, the Gulf can be a sort of marine interstate highway system of its own. There are an estimated 30,000 workers on the oil and gas rigs at any given moment.
The bombs are no stranger to Bryant and Slowey, who have come across them numerous times while conducting various research projects in the Gulf, and they have photographed many of them sitting on the Gulf floor like so many bowling pins, some in areas cleared for oil and gas platform installation.
"We surveyed some of them on trips to the Gulf within the past few years," he notes. "Ten are about 60 miles out and others are about 100 miles out. The next closest dump site to Texas is in Louisiana, not far from where the Mississippi River delta area is in the Gulf. Some shrimpers have recovered bombs and drums of mustard gas in their fishing nets."
Bombs used in the military in the 1940s through the 1970s ranged from 250- to 500- and even 1,000-pound explosives, some of them the size of file cabinets. The military has a term for such unused bombs: UXO, or unexploded ordnance.
"Record keeping of these dump sites seems to be sketchy and incomplete at best. Even the military people don't know where all of them are, and if they don't know, that means no one really knows," Bryant adds. He believes that some munitions were "short dumped," meaning they were discarded outside designated dumping areas.
The subject of the disposal of munitions at sea has been discussed at several offshore technology conferences in recent years, and it was a topic at an international conference several years ago in Poland, Bryant says.
"The bottom line is that these bombs are a threat today and no one knows how to deal with the situation," Bryant says. "If chemical agents are leaking from some of them, that's a real problem. If many of them are still capable of exploding, that's another big problem.
"There is a real need to research the locations of these bombs and to determine if any are leaking materials that could be harmful to marine life and humans," Bryant says.
###
For more information about the underwater munitions conference, go to
http://www.underwatermunitions.org/
Media contact: Keith Randall, News & Information Services, at (979) 845-4644 or keith-randall@tamu.edu or William Bryant at (979) 845-2680 or wbryant@ocean.tamu.edu
More news about Texas A&M University, go to http://tamutimes.tamu.edu/
Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamu/
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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