Almanacs “The Almanac - March 10 - Post Chronicle” plus 3 more |
- The Almanac - March 10 - Post Chronicle
- March 2010 - RealClearPolitics
- Auction for a New World - Maine Antique Digest
- Handmade blankets send comfort to local refugees - Pennsylvania Almanac
| The Almanac - March 10 - Post Chronicle Posted: 10 Mar 2010 04:41 AM PST Today is Wednesday, March 10, the 69th day of 2010 with 296 to follow. The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Neptune and Jupiter. The evening stars are Venus, Mars, Saturn and Uranus. Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include Italian scientist Marcello Malpighi in 1628; actor Barry Fitzgerald in 1888; French composer Arthur Honegger in 1892; jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke in 1903; poet Margaret Fishback in 1900; assassin James Earl Ray in 1928; playwright David Rabe and actor Chuck Norris, both in 1940 (age 70); college basketball coach Jim Valvano in 1946; Kim Campbell, the first woman prime minister of Canada, and journalist Bob Greene, both in 1947 (age 63); al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in 1957 (age 53); actors Sharon Stone in 1958 (age 52) and Jasmine Guy in 1964 (age 46); Olympic gold medal gymnasts Mitch Gaylord in 1961 (age 49) and Shannon Miller in 1977 (age 33); Britain's Prince Edward in 1964 (age 45); rapper Timbaland in 1971 (age 39); and country singer Carrie Underwood in 1983 (age 27). On this date in history: In 515 B.C., the rebuilding of the great Jewish temple in Jerusalem was completed. In 1862, the U.S. Treasury issued the first American paper money, in denominations from $5 to $1,000. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell transmitted the first telephone message to his assistant in the next room: "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you." In 1880, the Salvation Army of the United States was founded in New York City. In 1945, 300 U.S. bombers dropped almost 2,000 tons of incendiaries on Tokyo, destroying large portions of the Japanese capital and killing 100,000 people. In 1969, James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. In 1977, astronomers discovered rings around Uranus. In 1987, the Vatican condemned human artificial fertilization or generation of human life outside the womb and said all reproduction must result from the "act of conjugal love." In 1992, U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Democratic challenger Bill Clinton got sweeping Southern victories in the Super Tuesday primaries. In 1993, FBI agents arrested a third person, a 25-year-old Kuwaiti-born chemical engineer, in connection with the World Trade Center bombing. Also in 1993, an anti-abortion rights demonstrator fatally shot a doctor at a Pensacola, Fla., clinic. In 1994, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the number of new AIDS cases in the United States had more than doubled in 1993. In 1997, The Citadel announced that 10 male cadets had been disciplined for mistreating two female cadets. The women later resigned from the South Carolina military academy. In 1998, Indonesian President Suharto was elected to a seventh term. In 2003, The Palestinian Legislative Council created the position of prime minister but peace talks with Israel continued under the command of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Also in 2003, Ivory Coast, torn by civil war for six months, got a new premier, Seydou Diarra, under a French-brokered peace accord. 2004, Lee Boyd Malvo, 19, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his role in the 10 Washington-area sniper killings in 2002. His partner, John Allen Muhammad, considered the mastermind, was sentenced to death one day earlier. In 2005, former U.S. President Bill Clinton underwent surgery to remove scar tissue and fluid from his chest. He had quadruple bypass surgery five months earlier. Also in 2005, a suicide bomber killed at least 30 people and injured 27 at a funeral procession in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. In 2006, the body of Tom Fox, a kidnapped U.S. Christian peace activist, was found near Baghdad, authorities report. Three others kidnapped with Fox were reported released. Also in 2006, amid broad U.S. opposition, Dubai Ports World bowed out of an agreement to manage six U.S. ports on the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. The matter would be turned over to a U.S. company, officials said. In 2007, captured terrorist Khalid Sheik Mohammed, long suspected of masterminding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, confessed to planning them and said he played a role in about 30 other attacks and plots. Also in 2007, a federal court threw out a District of Columbia ban on keeping handguns in private homes as unconstitutional. In 2008, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a former crusading state attorney general against white collar crime, was pressured to resign after being implicated in a high-priced prostitution ring. Also in 2008, some 400 Buddhist monks took part in a protest march in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, to mark the failed uprising of 1959 that resulted in the Dalai Lama fleeing to India. As Chinese forces moved in, what had been a peaceful gathering turned violent. In 2009, a rural Alabama man, identified as Michael McLendon, erupted on a shooting spree, killing at least 10 people, including his parents and several other family members before killing himself. A thought for the day: Dr. Karl Menninger said, "Love cures people -- both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it." (c) UPI Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | ||||
| March 2010 - RealClearPolitics Posted: 10 Mar 2010 04:41 AM PST Thank you, USA men's hockey team, for an awesome couple of weeks and a valiant effort yesterday in the Gold medal game -- tying the score at 2-2 with 24.4 seconds remaining in the 3rd period before falling in overtime. We'll see you in four years, Canada. It's been a month since the Illinois primaries, and it will be two months more until primary season really gets going. But on Tuesday, Texas has its day in the sun. Republicans have their first chance to decide whether they want another four years from Gov. Rick Perry, who succeeded George W. Bush in Dec. 2000. Challenging the incumbent are Republicans Kay Bailey Hutchison, who's currently serving her third full term in the Senate, and activist Debra Medina. Former Houston Mayor Bill White is expected to win the Democratic primary with ease. Here's what else is happening this week in the world of politics: White House: President Obama got a clean bill of health after a physical Sunday. Meanwhile his health care plan still has a pulse, but barely. We're expecting to hear as soon as Wednesday how the White House plans to proceed with the legislation, with a reconciliation vote in the Senate likely needed. "I said at the end of Thursday's summit that I am eager and willing to move forward with members of both parties on health care if the other side is serious about coming together to resolve our differences and get this done. But I also believe that we cannot lose the opportunity to meet this challenge," Obama said in his weekly address. Today, Obama will appear at an event for America's Promise Alliance, founded by General Colin Powell, focused on improving America's schools. On Tuesday, the president makes his first visit to Georgia since taking office for the latest stop on the "White House to Main Street Tour." As of now, he'll spend the rest of the week at the White House. Capitol Hill: Following the health care summit last week, Democrats are attempting to push a health care bill through in the next four-to-six weeks. Democratic House leaders wouldn't say Sunday whether they currently had the votes to pass the Senate bill, but Speaker Pelosi predicted a "very positive result." Resigned to most likely having no Republican support, the Senate would need to make some fixes to its bill later through reconciliation, a legislative maneuver that circumvents a filibuster and requires only 51 votes to pass. This week, Obama is expected to signal his preferred strategy for congressional Democrats to pass health care reform. The next several will be filled with making that happen, once and for all. Politics: This week we have something of a Super Tuesday shaping up in politics. We start in Texas, where all eyes are on the Republican primary for governor. Gov. Rick Perry (R) is expected to lead the vote, but the question is whether he can get the 50 percent he needs to avoid a runoff vote next month. Democrats think a second round of voting could give them a real chance this November, with former Houston Mayor Bill White (D) as their nominee. There's also some interesting Congressional primaries on tap as well. Also Tuesday, Mitt Romney's new book, "No Apology: The Case for American Greatness," is released. Some excerpts have been released, including his memories of the 2008 campaign and is thoughts on the early course of the Obama administration. As part of his book tour, he's scheduled to appear on Tuesday's "Late Show with David Letterman." He'll be up against Sarah Palin on the return of the Jay Leno-hosted "Tonight Show" on NBC. On Friday, the Illinois state Board of Elections is scheduled to certify the results of last month's primaries. We're still waiting on the outcome of the ultra-tight Republican primary for governor. State Sen. Bill Brady led by just a few hundred votes, but state Sen. Kirk Dillard has yet to concede. If the final margin is more than 100 votes after the final totals are accounted for, Dillard said he would likely not seek a full recount, the Chicago Tribune reported last week. **Poll Watch: **In Case You Missed It: Some politics news that dropped over the weekend: Republican John Linder of Georgia's 7th District announced he is retiring from the House this year; Indiana Rep. Baron Hill announced he will not make a bid for Evan Bayh's Senate seat, leaving Rep. Brad Ellsworth as the sole Democratic contender; and Joseph Kennedy III, an assistant DA in Massachusetts, announced he will not run for Democrat Bill Delahunt's House seat should he retire. Team USA's loss in the gold medal game means two losing bets for West Wingers. President Obama now has to send a case of Molson Canadian to Prime Minister Stephen Harper (had USA won, Obama would have gotten a case of Yuengling). Meanwhile, press secretary Robert Gibbs will have to don a maple leaf jersey at one of his upcoming press briefings. He had gone double or nothing after the women's team lost to Canada as well. 2010 Winter Olympics Final Medal Count: USA, 37; Germany, 30; Canada, 26; Norway, 23; Austria, 16. --Mike Memoli and Kyle Trygstad Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | ||||
| Auction for a New World - Maine Antique Digest Posted: 10 Mar 2010 05:10 AM PST |
Bloomsbury Auctions, New York City by Jeanne Schinto Photos courtesy Bloomsbury The sale won't be considered a landmark by those who love rare books. It wasn't something on the order of, say, the sale of Frank T. Siebert's collection by Sotheby's in New York City in two sessions in May 1999. But bibliophiles will consider Bloomsbury's auction, called "The De Orbe Novo Collection: Exploration of the New World, 1492-1625," at least a signpost—and a sign of the times—in years to come. That's because of the unprecedented catalog, which noted not only the provenance but the exact amount that the collector, Bruce McKinney of San Francisco, paid for each item he consigned. It's also because McKinney discussed publicly and stated in a short essay that served as the catalog's introduction that the reserves were "low." Transparency is the distinguishing characteristic of our era. In the auction realm, openness can only increase as more and more information is available to everyone on line. While no one is suggesting that McKinney has started a trend, if anyone did want to follow his lead, they would be doing so knowing that the first experimental auction of this kind was a success on a couple of levels. "Bloomsbury was looking to maximize price; I was looking to maximize involvement," McKinney said in a phone conversation after the sale. "They wanted higher reserves, but they're dealing with this guy, this consignor—me—who is saying, 'I will let the market decide.'" To the suggestion that he was possibly the most unusual consignor who has ever walked through an auction house door, he laughed. "Exactly. They're going, 'The guy's a madman.' And I'm going, 'No, I'm a mathematician.' I saw it very clearly. If we were reasonably priced with superb material, people would be interested. And they were. They came in." The offering of 81 books, maps, and charts pertaining to European explorers of the New World—primary accounts of New Spain, New France, and New England—took place in New York City on December 3, 2009. It was not quite a white-glove sale; 76 lots were sold, with the five passed lots finding buyers "within twenty minutes of the end of sale," according to Bloomsbury specialist Richard Austin. The gross was approximately $3.4 million (includes buyers' premiums). It's an outcome that McKinney claimed was 40% more than he would have been satisfied with. "I have to tell you, when you send material to auction without any material reserves, it's a little…" He laughed as he searched for the right word. "Different! I think Bloomsbury did a remarkable job, and I'm very grateful to every bidder." The sale's material was itself fascinating, never mind the mechanism that got it into the hands of new owners. It featured such items as a first edition of the Petrus Apianus Map, which established "America" as the name of the New World; the first authoritative account of Hernando Cortés's expedition to Mexico; one of the earliest accounts of Magellan's circumnavigation and his voyages to Patagonia through the strait that now bears his name; a first edition of one of the earliest books on Florida; and the first cartographic representation of the Appalachian mountains. This specialized collection, which is part of a much greater (and mostly chronologically later) Americana library, was built between 1992 and 2002 by McKinney with help from Hugh Betts of London's Maggs Brothers Rare Books; William Reese of that dealer's eponymous company in New Haven, Connecticut; Stephane Clavreuil of Librarie Thomas-Scheler in Paris; and Richard Lan of New York City's Martayan Lan. Reese, Thomas-Scheler, and Martayan Lan were among the sale's major buyers, with Reese taking a lion's share. By his own account, the dealer bought 23 of the 81 lots, spending a little under $750,000-or approximately 22% of the sale by value and approximately 28% by lot. Reese, who said his purchases were for clients and for stock, was also the underbidder or an underbidder on a substantial number of other lots. Reese did not buy the top lot, but it had passed through his hands. Its prior history with price paid is a detail we don't need him to reveal, since it's right there in the catalog. A key work in early American studies, that star lot was a first edition of Les voyages du sieur de Champlain by Samuel de Champlain. A meticulously recorded account by the artist-explorer—who crossed the Atlantic 27 times without losing a ship, founded Quebec City, encouraged French migration to Canada, and established friendly ties with many of the local Indian tribes—it also contains the first accurate mapping of the coast of New England. Published in Paris in 1613, the volume was bought by Reese at Sotheby's Siebert sale on May 21, 1999, for $398,500. It was sold by Reese to McKinney a year later for $360,000. (Reese told this reporter that he bought the book initially for another collector, who failed to pay him.) This time, estimated at $250,000/ 350,000, it was bought for $751,000 by the London firm of Peter Harrington Books, whose representative was, it was presumed, executing bids for the private collector seated next to him. (The collector who reneged on Reese may want to take a long look at that final number.) Not every lot showed such dramatic returns. Many were modest. A few lost money. McKinney doesn't seem to mind. He had a limited-edition bookplate designed for the sale; each piece has one affixed to it. ("They're marked for life as part of this experiment," said McKinney.) The bookplate states in Latin "Let the market decide" (Liceat decernere foro). McKinney's introductory essay in the catalog said he hoped his price disclosures and low reserves would "help settle a roiling market." We asked Richard Austin if he thought that settlement was accomplished by this sale. "I think the whole auction season is going to help decide that," he said. "In the past two days [December 3 and 4], between ourselves and Christie's, over fourteen million dollars' worth of books and manuscripts changed hands. There are two more sales upcoming, at Christie's [December 9] and Sotheby's [December 11]. At the end of it all, you're going to have a good idea of the strength of the market. The McKinney sale showed there's a consistent audience for the best and the rarest. This sale was not spotty. That does help settle things somewhat. Now, this is the top end of the market. Whether the settlement trickles down to the middle market, it's going to be some time before we see." We asked Bill Reese the same question. "Well, I don't think the market really was roiling," he said. "The rare-book market has, I think, stayed more stable than a lot of other areas. And I think that is typical. I have now lived through four recessions while selling rare books." He started his business in 1975 at age 19. "The book market has never gone up as spectacularly as art markets have and has never gone down as spectacularly, either. I think it's because people who collect books tend to have a strong commitment to being book collectors. It's not a matter of fashion or furnishing a home. It's a kind of quiet passion, so the people who get involved with it tend to be involved for the long term. And while they may stand down or step aside, as people did late last year and the beginning of this year, simply because they were concerned—because everyone was—they didn't go away. And so, I think not just this sale but recent sales have shown that people who have put themselves on the sidelines for a while are stepping back into the market." Reese has often named scarcity as the central issue in collecting rare books. Scarcity has been the fundamental concern of every auction market recently. "People have been afraid to put stuff up, and so there's been a dearth of material," the dealer said. "But it was really reinforced over the last year. Nobody was putting any material out there. And the result was that we saw a couple of instances where, when really first-rate things showed up, they set record prices"—i.e., a 1773 edition of Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac brought $566,500 at Sotheby's on June 9, 2009, and a 1768 copperplate engraving of a Paul Revere print of the British troops landing at Boston sold for $469,000 at Northeast Auctions on March 21 and 22, 2009. Perhaps nobody has been more aware of these market dynamics, at least in the field of rare books, than McKinney. In 2001 he founded the Americana Exchange (www.americanaexchange.com), a Web site that publishes on line "an enormous statistical index of pricing history for books, manuscripts, and ephemera." By his count, it has approximately 2.2 million auction records available to date, with more posted weekly as it follows some 170 venues. Data collecting is one thing. Interpretation is the other crucial element, by which, McKinney believes, the market "increasingly can kind of self-determine its direction." Indeed, by using his data, he has developed an index for "rate of change." "By March [2009] we discovered that the rate of change had begun to lessen, and the sense was that the market was not deteriorating." Following it through the summer he found that the market was stable in Europe, while the U.S.—or "dollar-dominated" market—had "plunged." By the end of the summer, however, the U.S. market had stabilized. He saw strength in that market; yet he also saw consignors afraid to consign. At the end of August, he predicted, the fall 2009 rare-book auction season would have buyers willing to spend but not necessarily substantial private collections to tempt them. "There was going to be a shortage of premium material in December. So I saw the numbers, and I believed in what I was seeing. So I decided I would send a collection into the rooms, which I had never done before." It can sometimes be distracting when a consignor is present at a sale. McKinney wasn't at his. He had no choice. "I asked if I could be there and was told no [by Bloomsbury]. So I was upstairs. The auction was on the second floor. I was on the sixth floor, watching it on closed-circuit TV. The camera was only on the auctioneer." As McKinney reflected on the sale, he expressed happiness not only for himself and his family but "for the field." He added, "It confirms that highly collectible material is continuing to enjoy significant support. It doesn't tell us yet about the broader market." That information will come, he is convinced, via his Web site. "As time goes on, statistics and data are going to become more and more important. The business has in the past relied on people with photographic memories, but the rest of us need a database." For more information, contact Bloomsbury at (212) 719-1000 or see the Web site (www.bloomsburyauctions.com). Originally published in the March 2010 issue of Maine Antique Digest. (c) 2009 Maine Antique Digest
Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | |||
| Handmade blankets send comfort to local refugees - Pennsylvania Almanac Posted: 10 Mar 2010 05:24 AM PST 
Handmade blankets send comfort to local refugees By Terry Kish For The Almanac writer@thealmanac.net Homework, sports, chatting with friends - there are a lot of ways teens can choose to spend their free time. But recently, about a dozen eighth grade Fort Couch Middle School students in Upper St. Clair spent a few hours after school making blankets, scarves and laundry bags for refugee families at Alvern Gardens in Castle Shannon. Daniel Brennan was making blankets and scarves. While he was earning service hours toward Confirmation, he said, "It makes me feel good to make something for someone who can use it." Sydney Turnwald also needed community service hours for Confirmation and the IB program. She said she wanted to help because she likes sewing. Regina Zelik, whose son Samuel was among those working, organized the project. Zelik said her parish, St. Louise de Marillac, had been working with Bhutanese refugee families at Alvern Gardens since late summer. When the weather started to get cold, Zelik made about 80 fleece scarves for the refugees out of remnants that she had at home. After delivering the scarves, she realized that the families could use blankets as well, prompting her to enlist the students help. Using remnant material from around her house, the double sided fleece blankets are soft, bright, and cheerful, and most important, warm. While the largest remnants were made into blankets, smaller pieces of fleece were used for the scarves. Laundry bags were made of sturdy cotton material. Students spent several hours cutting, pinning, and sewing, chores they enjoyed doing. Dominic Caruso summed it up by saying, "I like helping people out."
Home Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | ||||
| You are subscribed to email updates from Almanacs - Bing News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment