News for today's 2018

GOLDMAN SACHS AND THE VATICAN:

10:57 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx2d-K4wW95mzeE4WX1lPAeIuD8AC0upHBLKhXZIjaqgitwUPqBxZ1EAv8yX-7rzCb6wA8845FG_S5As4VCYUyVu4GdhhX9gijIFEtBCEO7Nym_VSr1gtRrPNPvCqASGZXWCxLosg7NLXK/s1600/gs+vati.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx2d-K4wW95mzeE4WX1lPAeIuD8AC0upHBLKhXZIjaqgitwUPqBxZ1EAv8yX-7rzCb6wA8845FG_S5As4VCYUyVu4GdhhX9gijIFEtBCEO7Nym_VSr1gtRrPNPvCqASGZXWCxLosg7NLXK/s320/gs+vati.gif" width="215" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">TWO CULTURES OF INFALLIBILITY </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Stephan Richter via The Gobalist</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Greg Smiths tell all resignation from Goldman Sachs last week was evidence that the culture of greed is alive and well in one of the world’s top investment banks, He wrote of a “toxic and destructive” culture and a “decline in the firm’s moral fiber.” But Goldman has a lot in common with another global institution, the Catholic Church and its doctrine of infallibility <span> </span></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">From the perspective of Goldman's management, the recent path of the Catholic Church is probably the most nightmarish thing to think about — assuming their imagination and sense of seriousness reaches this far. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Look at the long list of parallels: None, of course, is more powerful — and disastrous — than Goldman's and the Vatican's unceasing belief in the doctrine of infallibility. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The rot, one says, starts at the top — and in the age of democracy and participatory learning, no organization can successfully hold onto the belief that, as far as dealings with the outside world are concerned, its staff members are really incorrigible. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I am not suggesting that there isn't plenty of rigorous debate about the organizations' direction and business (or spiritual) practices — but it occurs strictly in the inner sanctum. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDn883r4G-phVP0ZokFwy9TsXv_eOuMNj2LTSrfl98if0x3m7RaPTx-xoLXWzXIMZNHLi2ORZIVn7oBcO_swha5tEBWVD1hxT7WGYZanXMIS3QmrLOBIWQiG8gE14sqI8VOYc8VkoEOdWM/s1600/dome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDn883r4G-phVP0ZokFwy9TsXv_eOuMNj2LTSrfl98if0x3m7RaPTx-xoLXWzXIMZNHLi2ORZIVn7oBcO_swha5tEBWVD1hxT7WGYZanXMIS3QmrLOBIWQiG8gE14sqI8VOYc8VkoEOdWM/s320/dome.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The instrument of doubt plays a role in both organizational learning cultures. However, it is viewed solely as a method of rigorous inquisition to come to a decision internally, which — once made — is upheld externally with a united front. One for all, all for one. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">With regard to interactions with the outside, such a frame of mind can quickly result in presenting a fiercely clannish, if not secretive, front. That unquestioned commitment to the cause, 24x7x365, surely breeds a strong internal culture, but it also makes the organization as a whole ripe for systemic denial. In short, wrongdoing simply cannot occur because we are perfect, aren't we? </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">What Goldman must realize is that the Vatican had tried to hush things up. It simply could not happen here, it argued. But the harder and longer it tried, the more pushback there was among the victims. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">It is simply inconceivable that a firm with the breadth and depth of Goldman's client dealings in the markets — and its relentless hunger for profit maximization — did not leave behind a lot of broken china. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The second applicable lesson for Goldman which the Vatican's troubles foreshadow is this: While child molestation and sexual abuse are definitely qualitatively different charges than manipulating financial markets, the ultimate fallout of denial on one's reputation, financial well-being and inner morale may well be the same. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">It all starts with the inner logic of the real temptation — "overlooking" the respective crime in question. Regarding the internal culture of the two organizations, there are stunning parallels. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Both cultures are rooted in an intense sense of loyalty to the "company." Both firms' staff members have a strong sense of mission, even though one is very much focused on the immaterial, while the other is very material-minded. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Selection into the ranks of upper management is generally very much merit-based, although it happens in a manner that is totally non-transparent to outsiders. As a result, the selectees' devotion to the organization's cause is unparalleled compared to their peers in the respective "industries." </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQiZoNd2pvmBMqoKvNtLM4JWtM31xBFqQd0t_lBD6eMbOBN9dGdp7rPgknpWMcMqHIcrZ38ykNFXrSkbzNT7AwQrSksCN34S2LkkyBoQTRnKbW5aj0x0SUZi-w8-WL8l3FkjIxkKwjbfi6/s1600/WYWH-front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQiZoNd2pvmBMqoKvNtLM4JWtM31xBFqQd0t_lBD6eMbOBN9dGdp7rPgknpWMcMqHIcrZ38ykNFXrSkbzNT7AwQrSksCN34S2LkkyBoQTRnKbW5aj0x0SUZi-w8-WL8l3FkjIxkKwjbfi6/s320/WYWH-front.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">For all those qualities, high potential and performance, the evidence seems overwhelming that both Goldman and the Vatican, inside their high walls, suffer from a serious organizational birth defect, which is at the root of their respective troubles today. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The archaic, anti-modern and perhaps anti-human vow of celibacy for the Vatican finds its equivalent in the out-of-this-world God-like self-perception of many senior Goldman staffers. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">They clearly feel as anointed — and selected — inside the financial world of today as were the prominent clergy in the Middle Ages and into the early modern era. Appointment to "the firm" came — and comes (in Goldman's case) — with immense social status and access to immense economic wealth. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">True, in the case of the Catholic Church's senior leaders, that wealth was, in effect, "rented" and temporary — and definitely not transferable to one's heirs (hence the requirement for celibacy!). But one could live on the Church's "dime" in a splendor that would make even many a modern hedge fund manager go pale with envy. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Ultimately, it is all a function of an overbearing internal corporate culture. If you put yourself on the pedestal this much, if you promote a sense among the staff that they are the anointed ones, such zeal is bound to come crashing down sooner or later. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In fact, once you are no longer considered untouchable, the whole litany of past transgressions will come to haunt you. Outsiders, previously oppressed and hunted, will come out of the woodwork and contribute to taking you down for all those past sins. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">In conclusion, in the age of democracy and reason, no culture rooted in a doctrine of infallibility will survive. They must adapt. In both Goldman's and the Vatican's case, the lawsuits are the last wake-up call.</span></span></div>

GOLDMAN SACHS AND THE VATICAN:

TWO CULTURES OF INFALLIBILITY By Stephan Richter via The Gobalist Greg Smiths tell all resignation from Goldman Sachs last week was evidenc...

Mad Men: Through a Glass Darkly

6:00 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i>by guest contributor Motorcycle Boy</i> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUjzYRxrBDwBX2t6vu6M8_uomwT1I5AJPD8j1TH-rh6s5DKe37ARF2Ut8-p3XG9C6PFsu_B14TJgipkIJ7LOXJHkpiCWjmSpTRmM8oL-KZSmNEOLVwB4uHe3zbVD0PToBeIJvFEmbbEZHi/s1600/roger+and+don+season+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUjzYRxrBDwBX2t6vu6M8_uomwT1I5AJPD8j1TH-rh6s5DKe37ARF2Ut8-p3XG9C6PFsu_B14TJgipkIJ7LOXJHkpiCWjmSpTRmM8oL-KZSmNEOLVwB4uHe3zbVD0PToBeIJvFEmbbEZHi/s1600/roger+and+don+season+5.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“A personality marked by traits of compulsive and habitual use of a substance or practice in an attempt to cope with psychic pain engendered by conflict and anxiety.”</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">~<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">      </span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">definition of addictive personality, <i>Mosby’s Medical Dictionary</i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“<i>Mad Men</i> glorifies alcoholics.”  This statement was made to me by an acquaintance, clearly meant as a criticism of my favorite television series.  He went on:  “It seems the writers take every opportunity conceivable to shove a glass in the hands of the actors.” </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"></span></span><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: right;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCtbmtuZ_CHfCI919dsMK23-BK1_Gx8ErFNBr9AaKIA-zEjKlYUiwntd7Uw23zc6YI31Zma7Ta5SIsa14yNDHEowcIgCXAgNdkazbAIare7VW4MwukdLzpDIojVXaCTW1dAyBpUcdERYe/s1600/joan+and+the+boys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCtbmtuZ_CHfCI919dsMK23-BK1_Gx8ErFNBr9AaKIA-zEjKlYUiwntd7Uw23zc6YI31Zma7Ta5SIsa14yNDHEowcIgCXAgNdkazbAIare7VW4MwukdLzpDIojVXaCTW1dAyBpUcdERYe/s320/joan+and+the+boys.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Now, there is no denying the fact that at the office of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, alcohol is a constant given. “I drink, therefore I am” seems to be the ad man’s motto.  And everyone on this show smokes – they smoke like chimneys, as if there’s no tomorrow (or at least a tomorrow not leading to premature illness and death). Of course, these characters live in a different time – the early 60’s -  a not so distant past when people freely and thoughtlessly litter a park while they picnic and adults slap children, even ones that aren’t their own.  This was a time when women and minorities were openly treated as second class citizens.  And along with this, it was a time when many people were alcoholics, though they may not have identified themselves as such, who drank throughout the day. <i>Mad Men</i> depicts all this as it enters into the reality of the era, though these things are never portrayed as something to be emulated. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">But as  much attention that is given to <i>Mad Men</i> -  its smoking and drinking, its obsessive attention to period detail (the length of women’s skirts, the hairstyles and interior design of the rooms)  -  there is so much more that lies beneath the glossy, escapist surface of this show. <i>Mad Men</i> is an extremely complicated drama - a human drama.  There is much to discover in its characters and storylines – much about our society and about ourselves. I believe that it’s all these factors that contribute to this show’s great appeal.  Something draws us to watch it - something we’re seeking to discover (whether we’re conscious of it or not) and this, in itself, is addictive.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV_gECQIOs-BV7Lb4KR06dYHJTRCZTJD1FkSJpFkHxDizVBn3CJtumb5uEwh-Joc_ejVUruDkZwlt_xNaxS3AbR_3FaEQ1h0WZo0uV7Z8wCGCY3kwEIwN2kUDihtjzINH9-L-zN0jTPjP9/s1600/peggy+goes+underground+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV_gECQIOs-BV7Lb4KR06dYHJTRCZTJD1FkSJpFkHxDizVBn3CJtumb5uEwh-Joc_ejVUruDkZwlt_xNaxS3AbR_3FaEQ1h0WZo0uV7Z8wCGCY3kwEIwN2kUDihtjzINH9-L-zN0jTPjP9/s320/peggy+goes+underground+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Mad Men</span></i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> depicts a period in American culture when habitual drinking and smoking (and bigotry) were an accepted part of the norm. It deals with the social changes that were happening at the beginning of the 60’s and into the mid-60’s. Often different episodes will show the tension between the passing era of the 50’s – the rigidity, repression and denial – and the approaching of the turbulent changes associated with the 60’s – the civil rights and women’s movements, open sexual freedom, drug experimentation and the events that were about to blow the lid off of American society. It’s quite fitting that there’s an episode in the first season titled “Kennedy vs. Nixon”.  There is the “old order,” in which the different levels of society were much more hierarchical and defined (like the male dominated pecking order of the ad agency), and then there is the dawning of a new awareness that is full of promise and, at the same time, threatening. How society worked and how people coped during this changing time is fertile ground for exploration and producer/creator Matthew Weiner makes the most of it. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">          </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">...So what habits are Don Draper and his agency pushing?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">          </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfNpMctQaSVkwu9ejOqka_fWiXXxYfMAHq1rl9Cty4VOdRNn4Eoi6bbN393iQUMxnku2eimUYGb6-fFffci71QbTjOMV0K73ADbLDWHyzuaCrqifF7Br1quEMjEMcrGtu7ri3sxvZLgh2Z/s1600/betty+picks+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfNpMctQaSVkwu9ejOqka_fWiXXxYfMAHq1rl9Cty4VOdRNn4Eoi6bbN393iQUMxnku2eimUYGb6-fFffci71QbTjOMV0K73ADbLDWHyzuaCrqifF7Br1quEMjEMcrGtu7ri3sxvZLgh2Z/s320/betty+picks+up.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The basic thrust of consumerism is marketing an image to people so that they can be sold a product. It’s not just about what people want, but what they <i>really</i> want – their unconscious desires and the obstacles to fulfillment represented by their unconscious fears.  In the time period of <i>Mad Men</i> - much more so than even today - there were many social boundaries around sex and race, of one’s basic identity, and a suffocating rigidity in roles that people felt pressured to act out in their lives.  This is an obvious formula for the kind of psychic pain that comes from conflict – the conflict that grows from a repressed identity.  How can you know what you really want or need when you don’t know who you really are?  If the “social mask” fits too tightly it makes it difficult to breathe.  The constant drinking in <i>Mad Men</i> is shown more as a socially sanctioned way that many people sought some relief from this internal pressure – or at least as a way to numb themselves.  A person who is imprisoned, whether conscious of it or not, feels the overwhelming need to be released. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPgmpPMNhlQJI0siI6aHf2yyCn9cNYeJlpgF5pvs2rfNeyXOvf8VrqrpeE_RTeAvX_XeWpe5Drjsq8E3DQbOG4HJt3ziKaU_2ZKyBNqyC_uOw1aP1CNoEzHPvhvI1ggF81ntoD3_ZfedC/s1600/don+in+the+dark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPgmpPMNhlQJI0siI6aHf2yyCn9cNYeJlpgF5pvs2rfNeyXOvf8VrqrpeE_RTeAvX_XeWpe5Drjsq8E3DQbOG4HJt3ziKaU_2ZKyBNqyC_uOw1aP1CNoEzHPvhvI1ggF81ntoD3_ZfedC/s320/don+in+the+dark.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Don Draper and his associates cater to this need.  By the 1950s America had undergone a form of mass hypnosis constructed around total consumerism.  Television and growing mass media connected people in a way that opened them further to manipulation by the “professionals” who understood the pressure points of living a false identity and could use it to sell product.  Many people, then and now, present a fabricated image to society - a façade for the real identity underneath. This condition  is embodied in the whole Madison Avenue advertising industry as presented in the show and, in particular, in the central character of Don Draper, who literally has taken on a false identity to hide the truth from the world, and, as best he can,  himself.  If anyone is in psychic pain its Draper and it touches everyone in his life.  Still, no one knows better how to sell people a bill of goods by manipulating their insecurities and, unavoidably, their addictions.  On some level Draper seems to understand that he reflects a kind of mass delusion where consumerism is a substitute for self-knowledge and love.  The whole thing, from the perspective of the men in advertising and the unknowing public, is like one great dysfunctional, addictive process, founded on repression and denial and affecting everyone.  What motivates people is spiritual “thirst” and Don Draper knows how to use that to sell product because he’s so familiar with the feeling himself.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNX3aNOd2Jc9yloTxjFCOO4EJ0N_GEG1COOb8XVG7RCeHXuJLAw-Lg7EHPXAv5zu3FoUW3s2_QtWZWfneJIMREhHvxY14IEnvjTvIZCIr8AD1QuwiG-yxzHPnCFnig33PzdVcLCBFZDiHv/s1600/betty+and+sally+thanx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNX3aNOd2Jc9yloTxjFCOO4EJ0N_GEG1COOb8XVG7RCeHXuJLAw-Lg7EHPXAv5zu3FoUW3s2_QtWZWfneJIMREhHvxY14IEnvjTvIZCIr8AD1QuwiG-yxzHPnCFnig33PzdVcLCBFZDiHv/s400/betty+and+sally+thanx.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Mad Men</span></i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> is a series with many stylish surfaces and is so well done it could easily be appreciated strictly as escapism. But it’s so much more than that.  The characters are full of twists and turns and their fates interest us because they’re very much up for grabs.  What will happen next?  By the fourth season Don Draper is moving headlong into alcoholism and we wonder if he’ll end up a more fashionable version of his rival, Duck Phillips, or a less farcical Roger Sterling.  What’s captivating is that we, the audience, know what is to come for America but we don’t know how these characters will respond to or reflect the change.  The events are part of history, and though these people’s lives are shaped by them, they have to strive and discover for themselves their place in the new society.   We wonder if Betty Draper will completely go over the edge and continue to alienate her children.  She seems hopelessly stuck and unable to discover a path out of her false existence - she could take a number of courses, one of which could easily be addiction.  Sally Draper, the difficult young daughter who also is struggling to find her way, seems to represent a coming generation which will be defiant and loud, sexually active, and impossible to ignore.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmgNdhoAdvrrloUWTogKe4nd3JbDkBxpiuv67VFZvqmeenGqZ_iJTweJf_Brrj2Nlrdst34yQ8ickMWyFkWVyCfZS3fkueJGE3d8sNAbnAYt5lgdBmDD2AYih0EiJSX4IfYQo-iP2-6lw/s1600/don+and+modern+art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmgNdhoAdvrrloUWTogKe4nd3JbDkBxpiuv67VFZvqmeenGqZ_iJTweJf_Brrj2Nlrdst34yQ8ickMWyFkWVyCfZS3fkueJGE3d8sNAbnAYt5lgdBmDD2AYih0EiJSX4IfYQo-iP2-6lw/s320/don+and+modern+art.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">There are multiple angles from which to interpret <i>Mad Men</i>, but I feel that there’s a great overriding tension at the core of the series, and in many ways it’s linked to the addictive process.  When people live within tightly wound conventions and are prevented from expressing their true nature, they can cut themselves off from their life force – there’s no creativity, only conformity.  If, on the other hand, they go deeper and connect with their instincts, it’s possible to feed the soul but it’s inherently dangerous because there is no formula to follow – anything can happen – the “old order” drops away and chaos can emerge.  Fear is what keeps the characters in <i>Mad Men</i> from genuine lives and leads them to grasp at substitutes, whether it be alcohol or consumerism.  Don Draper attempts to stay fixated on externals and selling an image rather than facing his true identity. He functions on the inside of society, spinning out illusions (he’s a powerful force and influence on people’s lives), still, when it comes to his personal relationships and his own inner life, Draper is the ultimate outsider – a living enigma.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">As long as <i>Mad Men</i> is able to peel back the layers and creatively express this very human conflict, it will continue to mesmerize (perhaps the word should be intoxicate).  Over the course of multiple seasons Matthew Weiner and his writers have the luxury to explore these characters and their relationship to the times – to get at the truth of their lives.  <i>Mad Men</i> is addictive on so many levels because it’s a psychological adventure, an entry into a tumultuous past that has shaped our current world of mass media - of reality shows and twenty-four-hour news. In this context, it’s not just a joy to watch and a benign habit, but, through the range of its insight, a lush oasis of sanity.</span></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH9oIMWf1Mrzcp9v_6fMVh1rFdkD6jEWJbAty1EwZ5IuFWAgNjQ5nr5IaOCdhes4_nrm5HH9kjtAvHG7eps7Jyzh_3JBSQVRrYl50lvm06YM5BGd2VtvfChyphenhyphen1ueBZpMnGypv75sHbfIXpk/s1600/season+2+artwork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH9oIMWf1Mrzcp9v_6fMVh1rFdkD6jEWJbAty1EwZ5IuFWAgNjQ5nr5IaOCdhes4_nrm5HH9kjtAvHG7eps7Jyzh_3JBSQVRrYl50lvm06YM5BGd2VtvfChyphenhyphen1ueBZpMnGypv75sHbfIXpk/s1600/season+2+artwork.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Motorcycle Boy, a new contributor to the Lady Eve's Reel Life, is a loyal follower of this blog as well as a family friend. <span style="font-family: Arial;">H</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">e has worked professionally in the fields of psychology and  music, is a longtime resident of the San Francisco Bay Area and  a lifelong lover of art and history.</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

Mad Men Motorcycle Boy Mad Men: Through a Glass Darkly

by guest contributor Motorcycle Boy “A personality marked by traits of compulsive and habitual use of a substance or practice in an attempt...

My Life In Kenya: A Musungu Memoir -- Part 4

8:32 AM Tukiyooo 0

When we weren’t visiting schools in Kenya, we were visiting churches. They often expressed their gratitude to us for visiting them in “such a remote part of Kenya.” I did not have the context to know it was “remote.” But it reminded me of the appreciation our rural congregations in Nevada express just for my ordinary visits. There is a blessing in having one’s presence and mission acknowledged from the outside. We felt blessed to be so welcomed.<br /><br />The first thing to impress me about the Diocese of Machakos was the number of congregations. There are 120 parishes, but a parish can include several congregations. There are about 300 congregations. The second thing to impress me is that they are growing, growing, growing. Everywhere I looked, they were building new churches for new congregations or building larger churches for congregations that had outgrown their buildings. Why is that? I suspect the very different process they use for discernment, formation, and ordination may have something to do with it.<br /><br />Evangelists. While visiting churches, I learned something fascinating about the ordination process in Kenya. While visiting the Philippines, I learned that the discernment and formation process leading to the ordination of a priest can take 8 to 10 years. Well, it is similar in Kenya, though the process is different in a fascinating way.<br /><br />The first step toward priesthood is training as an evangelist. The training is very short and simple. But the newly trained evangelist is then put to work building up the church. Only after putting in one’s time in the field as an evangelist can one begin formal training for priesthood. How long? Some had gotten a fast track – 2 years of evangelism work. Others had spent 6 to 9 years doing evangelism. <br /><br />This evangelism-first process affects the Kenyan Church in two ways. First, it insures they have people in the field with the sole job of church growth. There are 90 stipendiary priests, 30 non-stipendiary priests, and 30 evangelists at work in the Diocese of Machakos today. Second, the priests are formed as evangelists. In the U. S., we still labor under a 1960’s therapeutic model of priesthood. The emphasis is on counseling and pastoral care. That made sense when the society was already churched; but not in a place where 87% of the people have no faith connection. In Machakos, the emphasis is on sharing the gospel truth and bringing unaffiliated people into the community of faith. <br /><br />Here in the U.S., we talk a lot about division and decline. The church is making plans to retrench, to adapt to the inevitable process of shrinkage. Those who still hope to spread the gospel message are looking for ways to replace the church family with a no-demands individualistic spirituality. I call it Dollar General Christianity – sell more by cutting the cost. But Kenya has a different idea. We go about being the church in different ways to achieve different results. I understand the goal in Kenya far better than I understand whatever it is we are up to in the West.<br /><br />Exorcism. We visited one congregation where the Bishop’s specially designated team of exorcists does a lot of mano a mano combat with witchcraft, demons, and supernatural evil. I feel fairly sure Bishop Kanuku took me there with a bit of mischief in his mind. I think he figured me for a Western rationalist who would be utterly wierded out by exorcism. I was grateful for three things that had me ready for them – my experience in the charismatic renewal movement, my training in inner healing training where we learned a thing or two about these practices; and some reading I have done in cross-cultural pastoral care. I learned that what happens or is perceived to happen has a lot to do with our assumptions about what is possible, those assumptions are different in different cultures, and what happens here ain’t necessarily the way it works on the other side of the world. So I was able to have a good give and take conversation with the exorcists – a conversation in which we respected without pretending to completely understand each other. I promised to send Bishop Kanuku the prayers for blessing Holy Water I recently shared with the Nevada priests. Water blessed with this prayer will cure what ails ya, including the random demon.<br /><br />So much can get lost in translation cross culturally. A nice young man in my church in Georgia kept urging his wife to come meet me. He thought she’d like what I had to say. But the one day she finally showed up, I was away and the supply priest was from Nigeria. His sermon was a long tirade against “witchcraft.” Well the poor young woman there for the first time was a practicing tree-hugging Wiccan. The sermon did not leave her heart strangely warmed. Let me just say that the witchcraft African clergy are up against is nothing like the rituals of New Age Americans. It’s about dominating others, often hurting others. The world in which the African Church serves is different. We may not understand it. But we need to respect it. <br /><br />LGBT Issues. Speaking of respecting what we do not understand, yes I was asked about “gay marriage” (the hot button term for a number of LGBT issues). This was a question on which we simply were not going to agree, but the conversation was honest, authentic, and respectful. Again I felt grateful for prior preparation. The Indaba Group process and Bible Studies from Lambeth Conference 2008 had given me a sense of what Anglicans in Africa fear from decisions we make in the U.S. I explained, albeit only in part, our experience and the theology that influences us, but did not try to persuade them that I was right – only that a person could genuinely believe what I believe and still be a Christian. No one walked off in a huff. We discussed it, moved on, and had continuing friendly conversation about other matters. I don’t think that would have been possible a decade ago. It is today. In God’s time, things sort themselves out.

My Life In Kenya: A Musungu Memoir -- Part 4

When we weren’t visiting schools in Kenya, we were visiting churches. They often expressed their gratitude to us for visiting them in “such ...

Library Media Specialist - New Milford High School

1:41 PM Anonymous 0

Library Media Specialist - New Milford High School

Library Media Specialist - New Milford High School. Date Available: tent. 8/22/2012. New Milford Public Schools has an anticipated opening...

Library Media Specialist - Hill and Plain School, New Milford

1:40 PM Anonymous 0

Library Media Specialist - Hill and Plain School, New Milford

Library Media Specialist - Hill and Plain School, New Milford. Date Available: tent. 8/22/2012. New Milford Public Schools has an anticipa...

Children’s Librarian - New Canaan Library

1:39 PM Anonymous 0

<strong>Children’s Librarian position</strong> - Are you creative and energetic, and do you love children? <span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>New Canaan Library</strong></span> is looking for an enthusiastic person, who enjoys working with young  children to develop and present storytime programs; work at the  Children’s Room Information Desk, and perform other tasks for this busy  suburban department. Knowledge of Children’s Literature and strong  computer skill are essential.  Position requires working one evening a  week and some weekends. MLIS required.  New Canaan Library meets CLA  minimum salary guidelines.  Interested applicants can send or email  resume, cover letter, names and telephone numbers of three business  references to Rose Marie Zaharek, Head of Children’s Services, New  Canaan Library, 151 Main Street, New Canaan, CT 06840 or <a href="mailto:rzaharek@newcanaanlibrary.org">rzaharek@newcanaanlibrary.org</a>.  Applications accepted until <span style="color: red;">April 30, 2012</span>.

Children’s Librarian - New Canaan Library

Children’s Librarian position - Are you creative and energetic, and do you love children? New Canaan Library is looking for an enthusiasti...

My Life In Kenya: A Musungu Memoir -- Part 3

9:03 AM Tukiyooo 0

Cowboys, Farmers, And Schools In Kenya<br /><br />After our first Church service in Kenya and our first experience of Home Bible Church, Bishop and Mrs. Kanuku drove us to their rural home, hours away from Machakos, on a mountain top. On a clear day, you can see Mt. Kenya looking one way and Kilimanjaro looking the other. The stars are amazing. Closer at hand you look down on forested valleys. The Kanuku rural home is a work in progress, but already Bishop Kanuku has designed and implemented all manner of clever engineering devices. He has a system to divert and gather rainwater and another system to generate bio-gas which is pumped up to the house. He is a bit of a Thomas Jefferson and this is his Monticello. On the surrounding land, he keeps a few dairy cows for milk, raises a garden (another garden – there is also one at his Machakos house), and of course, plants trees, many trees! He has plans to make his home a place of service to children which he will run after his retirement from the episcopacy in a few years (which reminds me of the game plan of one of my best friends among the American bishops – “Put in a few years as Bishop, then retire and do something good for the Church.”) <br /><br />As Bishop Kanuku showed me his garden, he explained that he is of the Kamba tribe, and they are farmers. The Masai have traditionally not thought well of the Kamba and have various derogatory terms for the things they do to the soil – a Bantu equivalent of “sodbusters.” It reminded me of the range wars and other farmer-cattleman hostilities in our history – and of course the Oklahoma classic “The Cowboy And The Farmer Can Be Friends.” It's an old conflict. It goes back to Abel and Cain and persisted all through the Hebrew Scriptures.<br /><br />The next morning we began visiting schools. I honestly lost track of how many schools we visited. We had brought pens, rulers, calculators, and markers for 6 schools, but did not have enough gifts for all of them, so it was more than 6. At least 3 were the first day in the mountainous rural part of the diocese. Three were on the savannah of the Masai Mara. I think the others were closer in to Machakos or perhaps Nairobi. It blurs.<br /><br />At the first school, ACK Kyandote Bulwa, the teachers and children were assembled outside to greet us with song. We then processed up a hill to the site of the Girls Hostel (which will be a combination Rescue House for girls escaping circumcision and forced marriage, a group home for girls escaping abuse and neglect at home, and a dormitory for boarding students). There Bishop Kanuku and I dedicated the foundation stone inscribed with Linda’s and my names. Then we gathered inside for a school assembly where Linda and I spoke to the students. <br /><br />Then it was on to Maknonga where once again the children and teachers were waiting for us outside with song, dance, and a hearty welcome. Bishop Kanuku and I each planted a tree and I blessed them.  Then came another assembly, where they gave us gifts. Mine was a walking stick with African wildlife carved on it.<br /><br />And so it went, school after school, where we gave gifts and spoke with students. Bishop Kanuku encouraged hard work. I held forth on God’s call to be true Kenyans, not accepting unquestioningly the ways of the West or of China, but staying rooted in the chaste, humble, and communal morality of their own land. Linda encouraged girls to achieve equal educations and professional status. <br /><br />One of the best schools we visited had a classroom named for the late wife of Fr. Lloyd Rupp. The teachers were grateful for Fr. Lloyd’s gifts of a computer (their only computer) and a photocopier. Gratitude to and affection for Fr. Lloyd was expressed at numerous schools and churches. At schools both in the Diocese of Machakos, in the Karen district outside Nairobi, and in the Masai Mara, people were also grateful for the support to individual students from Melvin Stringer and Kenya Keep. Melvin’s program is a scholarship rather than sponsorship program. They support kids who are in dire straits but they have to be more than needy. They must have the talent and the will to become leaders for a better Kenya tomorrow. <br /><br />We also visited one of five schools which had malaria bearing mosquitoes eradicated with a gift from the Diocese of Nevada.

My Life In Kenya: A Musungu Memoir -- Part 3

Cowboys, Farmers, And Schools In Kenya After our first Church service in Kenya and our first experience of Home Bible Church, Bishop and Mrs...

Ernst Lubitsch does Noel Coward: Design for Living (1933)

8:03 AM Tukiyooo 0

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyhSDqicjYJxi5nsWQTd1Y6DXxKAwRu0xoE_58tRzL4kIaB4ysvGzT3IMZFzBZREfTXF16CUldK7McsPOaMIcbc6F4ToGgsv_ozcTwSPJWJNlfy2UCI9r2oLeGxXDrLETDezXadV4ppNkm/s1600/design_for_living_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyhSDqicjYJxi5nsWQTd1Y6DXxKAwRu0xoE_58tRzL4kIaB4ysvGzT3IMZFzBZREfTXF16CUldK7McsPOaMIcbc6F4ToGgsv_ozcTwSPJWJNlfy2UCI9r2oLeGxXDrLETDezXadV4ppNkm/s400/design_for_living_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Gary Cooper, Miriam Hopkins and Fredric March</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fredric March was already an Oscar winner and a newly minted Hollywood star when he co-starred with Miriam Hopkins and Gary Cooper in Ernst Lubitsch’s 1933 adaptation of the Noel Coward play <i>Design for Living</i>. In 1929, when all the major studios were scouring the Broadway stage for photogenic leading men with trained and mellifluous voices, March had been recruited and signed by Paramount Pictures.  He received his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for his 1930 portrayal of ‘Tony Cavendish’ in <i>The Royal Family of Broadway</i><i>, </i>but it was his split-personality tour-de-force as <i>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde </i>in 1931 that brought Fredric March his first Academy Award and movie stardom.</span><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs35tsVmI5_FkUasHW1iOMWwopAjft-qaxI7U2mDV8KNAebexdCCJ6fHQSM-gbHaLLygSJie8SsIWUL13YNWe_NtHWKcic8hQbtnt7GujBLfyBNMGf158K0HEJrgwASumE4W3YnGupWSFk/s1600/dr.+jekyll.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs35tsVmI5_FkUasHW1iOMWwopAjft-qaxI7U2mDV8KNAebexdCCJ6fHQSM-gbHaLLygSJie8SsIWUL13YNWe_NtHWKcic8hQbtnt7GujBLfyBNMGf158K0HEJrgwASumE4W3YnGupWSFk/s320/dr.+jekyll.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i> (1931)</td></tr></tbody></table>Playwright/actor Noel Coward wrote <i>Design for Living</i>, a comedy in three acts,<i> </i>in 1932; it debuted on Broadway in 1933 at the Ethyl Barrymore Theatre starring legends of the stage Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne and Coward himself. Because of its censoriously risqué plot, the play was not produced in London, Coward’s home ground, until 1939. His story of Gilda, Otto and Leo, a sophisticated trio involved in a romantic triangle (not to say threesome), was inspired by the personal lives and relationships of Lunt and Fontanne who were his close friends; Noel Coward would remark that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Design for Living</i> was about three people who love each other very much and that, though the play was a solid hit when it opened, no one loved it more than its three leading actors.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolDgFEzhzZhci3Y4_oh0HJij1tTxI-AItCofCN3tNXdXgndI77Oi5pGobcDV15MMNC1SYECcJVKJL0_ocp8C8lAJd2pG-wTwKdCkj5CHjdkcAfugA-bLWQUPWOjqFBrZhdacVdBDsLIS0/s1600/lunt+coward+fontanne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolDgFEzhzZhci3Y4_oh0HJij1tTxI-AItCofCN3tNXdXgndI77Oi5pGobcDV15MMNC1SYECcJVKJL0_ocp8C8lAJd2pG-wTwKdCkj5CHjdkcAfugA-bLWQUPWOjqFBrZhdacVdBDsLIS0/s400/lunt+coward+fontanne.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The play: Alfred Lunt, Noel Coward, Lynn Fontanne in </span><i style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Design for Living</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When Ernst Lubitsch set out to film Coward’s play, he had a particular cast and screenwriter in mind. Miriam Hopkins, who had starred for him in <i>The Smiling Lieutenant</i> (1931) and <i>Trouble in Paradise</i> (1932), was his first choice for the female lead.</span><span style="font-size: small;">  He was interested in Ronald Colman and Leslie Howard for the two male leads, but couldn’t afford Colman or persuade Howard. He next turned to Paramount leading man Fredric March for the role that was Coward’s Leo but became Lubitsch’s Tom, and approached Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., to portray the character that had been called Otto but would soon be George.</span><span style="font-size: small;">  But Fairbanks came down with pneumonia and the director eventually settled on popular Paramount matinee idol Gary Cooper. Of the three leads, Hopkins had the least experience on-screen, but the most experience with Lubitsch.</span><span style="font-size: small;">  She had also co-starred with March in <i>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde </i>and her film associations with both men helped advance her career.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVe3-RGac_OeDpczmnlHUccw1nYvfLaHlSZ7hSsEqzA3qpxIFl_UfqWnuf0LgYFIS-JQNhHP3BU_DcGmeuVB2WYwQPpPuU_qTchiGW0Ng9hnaccQ9cdh1l-up0xx6OCkt2YOO4uPmhXt1P/s1600/design-on-the-set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVe3-RGac_OeDpczmnlHUccw1nYvfLaHlSZ7hSsEqzA3qpxIFl_UfqWnuf0LgYFIS-JQNhHP3BU_DcGmeuVB2WYwQPpPuU_qTchiGW0Ng9hnaccQ9cdh1l-up0xx6OCkt2YOO4uPmhXt1P/s400/design-on-the-set.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lubitsch (standing), Cooper, Hopkins and March on the set</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">Lubitsch, a writer himself, had hoped to collaborate once again with screenwriter Samson Raphaelson (<i>The Smiling Lieutenant</i>, <i>Trouble in Paradise</i>,<i> The Merry Widow</i>,<i> The Shop Around the Corner</i>) on <i>Design for Living</i>. But Raphaelson was not interested in working on “another damned sophisticated triangle” (referring to <i>The Smiling Lieutenant </i>and<i> Trouble in Paradise</i>) or in rewriting Noel Coward, and declined. Ben Hecht, an esteemed screenwriter and script doctor (<i>Nothing Sacred</i>, <i>Wuthering Heights</i>, <i>Notorious</i>) with a cynical view of the status quo, was Lubitsch’s next choice. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> But it was not an easy partnership. Lubitsch, who commented that the two “weren’t used to each other,” was most at home working closely with his writers and Hecht was comfortable writing on his own. But they managed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the end, the plot was re-engineered and the triangular situation at the heart of Coward’s play was retained. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As Leo became Tom and Otto became George, all three characters became struggling American creative types rather than the play’s free-spirited British socialites. And the situation between the three was toned down; at the beginning of the play Gilda is living with Otto and has just resumed an affair with ex-beau Leo. Lubitsch’s film would follow the amorous adventures of three young, attractive Americans in Paris, London and New York: playwright Tom Chambers (March), painter George Curtis (Cooper) and commercial artist Gilda Farrell (Hopkins). Tom and George are buddy/roommates who meet and fall in love with Gilda. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKsDUF6j1sr-5PjTzG55ZXnDfqpfzPNYmmqwEwgX4fHyl2OhM2TJYKfuNIXpxvVsjRdkB_VgNtHAJwu4AG8sJV93pKcAqOq9g-X3FtwP5SDCzGdZVdcb9voL4ph5tHEGzKAoZQi3fy7k3H/s1600/miriam+hopkins+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKsDUF6j1sr-5PjTzG55ZXnDfqpfzPNYmmqwEwgX4fHyl2OhM2TJYKfuNIXpxvVsjRdkB_VgNtHAJwu4AG8sJV93pKcAqOq9g-X3FtwP5SDCzGdZVdcb9voL4ph5tHEGzKAoZQi3fy7k3H/s1600/miriam+hopkins+3.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miriam Hopkins, pre-Code siren</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Miriam Hopkins is in her element as passionate, independent Gilda (pronounced ‘Jilda’). </span><span style="font-size: small;"> She commands the screen – and her co-stars – with easy charm and confidence. Hopkins was at the height of her delectable pre-Code heyday in 1933; the steamy and controversial <i>The Story of Temple Drake </i>was released just months before <i>Design for Living</i>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In his early films, Gary Cooper is always handsome and appealing, but he does not always convince as an actor. Cast against type in <i>Design for </i>Living he seems awkward spouting Hecht’s snappy dialogue at times and it isn’t hard to understand why Lubitsch had first turned to Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. But the director was satisfied with Cooper’s performance and believed movie-goers would “…be happy to see that he is an accomplished light comedian.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fredric March, experienced in talky roles like this one, is a better fit. In a departure from the more somber roles he was better known for, he shines as dapper, jovial Tom, a character partially informed by Ben Hecht’s own background as a playwright. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Had it been released just six months later, in 1934 when the Production Code was in force, <i>Design for Living</i> would not have gotten past the censors. Not only do Tom and George love Gilda – but Gilda loves Tom <i>and</i> George.</span><span style="font-size: small;">  She cannot and will not choose between them, and so the three decide to live together platonically – for a while… </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gilda is able to take what was then considered the entirely male prerogative without having to pay the on-screen price – usually death – that would soon be ordained by the Code:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gilda: “A thing happened to me that usually happens to men…a man can meet two, three or even four women and fall in love with all of them and then, by a process of interesting elimination, he is able to decide which one he prefers. But a woman must decide purely on instinct, guesswork, if she wants to be considered nice. Oh, it’s alright for her to try on a hundred hats before she picks one out, but…”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tom: “That’s very fine, but which chapeau do you want, madam?”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gilda: “Both”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYHU37z2EJoY7SAmx6bpN0zlcKeFB2-ysinxagM6yZZfS1dtf6TNxIbuw2FhtapmRLgapAt4GVmwJin728sR1xTDHc_gRfrduGo5KFPC-VgTiPKBJ_bhKUcfBu5TnS0W2YR66SC9opa-y/s1600/design-for-living-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYHU37z2EJoY7SAmx6bpN0zlcKeFB2-ysinxagM6yZZfS1dtf6TNxIbuw2FhtapmRLgapAt4GVmwJin728sR1xTDHc_gRfrduGo5KFPC-VgTiPKBJ_bhKUcfBu5TnS0W2YR66SC9opa-y/s400/design-for-living-4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://sittinonabackyardfence.com/" style="color: #cc0000;">Click here</a> to go to </span><i style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Sittin' on a Backyard Fence </i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">where Jill is hosting</span><i style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> March-in-March, </i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">a</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> blogathon honoring the work of two-time Oscar winner (and five time nominee) Fredric March. This piece is my entry for the blogathon and also appears on Jill's blog.</span></span></span></span>

Ernst Lubitsch does Noel Coward: Design for Living (1933)

Gary Cooper, Miriam Hopkins and Fredric March Fredric March was already an Oscar winner and a newly minted Hollywood star when he co-starred...

PHARMAINDUSTRIE UND DAS GESCHÄFT MIT IMPFSTOFFEN

7:45 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjObj9wfeIFZs4237xGz230MUFUfFoOFM-OmvQ8CH8WXV4S9dDZsimogdEk9KcqVnseHb7UTN0a9p8FZk_1qYnrCbRZNHFzCg6lX2RTUnsO_hjt6iz-7rJ0V4c0uD3K1PSzcNsTI8XBqTT/s1600/narkolepsie_schlaf_420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjObj9wfeIFZs4237xGz230MUFUfFoOFM-OmvQ8CH8WXV4S9dDZsimogdEk9KcqVnseHb7UTN0a9p8FZk_1qYnrCbRZNHFzCg6lX2RTUnsO_hjt6iz-7rJ0V4c0uD3K1PSzcNsTI8XBqTT/s400/narkolepsie_schlaf_420.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 2;"><strong><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;"><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></strong><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: #45818e; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: red; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">JUNGE LEBEN IN TRÜMMERN: NARKOLEPSIE DURCH SCHWEINEGRIPPE-IMPFUNG</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Von Gerhard Wisnewski</span></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt;"><strong><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;">Viele haben 2009 vor der Impfung gegen die so genannte Schweinegrippe gewarnt. Die offensichtlich korrupte Weltgesundheitsorganisation </span></strong><em><b><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;">WHO</span></b></em><strong><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;"> schlug Alarm wegen einer angeblichen »PANDEMIE«, weltweit kauften die Regierungen »Schweinegrippe«-Impfstoff ein und drängten ihre Bürger zur Impfung. </span></strong></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;">Siehe: <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/06/manipulative-virus.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/06/manipulative-virus.html</a></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt;"><strong><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;">Mit – wie sich jetzt herausstellt – verheerenden Folgen. Nicht nur, dass inzwischen abgelaufener Impfstoff im Wert von vielen Millionen Euro oder Dollar vernichtet werden musste – mittlerweile erkrankten in Skandinavien Hunderte geimpfter Kinder an der Schlafkrankheit Narkolepsie.</span></strong><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;"></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt;"><strong><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;">»Ein kriminelles Komplott aus Politik, Medien, Medizin und Pharmaindustrie treibt Millionen von Menschen zu einer Impfung mit unsicheren Impfstoffen«, konnte man vor drei Jahren auf Alternativ Medien lesen. Eine Warnung, die sich inzwischen auf schreckliche Weise bestätigt hat.</span></strong></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; line-height: 16pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvb3dSwjch3dclbAyI9lWNef99pRSpAecBmImFhVLOFKxxkZzDuvjOVO6m_IDL4wxXx9X0YakJeDkg8xueZNm8GzrfEcutn0UTFx2_9-H2WAA5aW71GR_XoqNsPjxnfIdRU3KwF9Cf5Zou/s1600/pandemrix-390x285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvb3dSwjch3dclbAyI9lWNef99pRSpAecBmImFhVLOFKxxkZzDuvjOVO6m_IDL4wxXx9X0YakJeDkg8xueZNm8GzrfEcutn0UTFx2_9-H2WAA5aW71GR_XoqNsPjxnfIdRU3KwF9Cf5Zou/s320/pandemrix-390x285.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;">»Wachen Sie auf!«, hörte im Herbst 2010 plötzlich die 17jährige schwedische Schülerin Daniela Dahl ihren Englischlehrer rufen: »Als mich die anklagenden Blicke meines Lehrers trafen, war ich sprachlos und stumm, schließlich brach ich in Tränen aus. Ich war plötzlich ganz wach – und kaputt. Plötzlich wach? Allerdings: Mitten im Englischunterricht war Daniela eingeschlafen. Auch später machten sich immer wieder Klassenkameraden über sie lustig, weil Daniela plötzlich mitten im Unterricht in tiefen Schlaf fiel.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 3.75pt;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">»Ich schlief selbst auf dem Rücksitz des Autos und im Bus. In der U-Bahn verschlief ich meine Haltestelle und bekam sogar beim Klavierspielen Schlafattacken. Wahrscheinlich war ich einfach nur müde, nahm ich an, und dachte nicht mehr so viel darüber nach.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 3.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.75pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: red; line-height: 16pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">DIAGNOSE: NARKOLEPSIE</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 3.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.75pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.75pt;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Erst im Frühjahr 2011 kam die schreckliche Diagnose: Narkolepsie, die »Schlafkrankheit«. Unheilbar. Und unnötig. Denn Daniela bekam die Krankheit erst nach einer Impfung gegen die so genannte Schweinegrippe. Und mit ihr weitere 168 Schweden und 121 Finnen, meistens Kinder. In beiden Ländern hatte man im Zuge der Pandemie-Panik von 2009 auf Massenimpfungen gesetzt.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;">Das Leben von Kindern – zerstört durch die Pharmaindustrie? Dieser Zusammenhang gilt  in den beiden skandinavischen Ländern inzwischen als naheliegend. Ja, nicht nur das: Dass zwischen dem Impfstoff <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">»Pandemrix« (<em>GLAXO SMITH KLINE</em>)</b> und Narkolepsie »ein direkter Zusammenhang besteht«, sehe die finnische Gesundheitsbehörde sogar »als erwiesen an«, schreibt die österreichische Tageszeitung <em>Die Presse</em> (Online) vom 22. Februar 2012. Inzwischen liegen die Zahlen auf dem Tisch. Während ein Impfschutz »nicht nachweisbar« gewesen sei, sei in Finnland »ein mehr als zwölfmal höheres Narkolepsierisiko bei mit Pandemrix geimpften Kindern festgestellt« worden. </span><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="http://diepresse.com/home/panorama/welt/734690/Der-Preis-der-Panik_Folgenreiche-Impfung-gegen-Schweinegrippe" target="_blank"><em><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #0000cc; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;">Die Presse</span></em></a></span><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;"> hat einige herzzerreißende Kinderschicksale zusammengetragen. </span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; line-height: 16pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgPgvvy7LvKgT5fy6-AMunpMRcEEZaFjpmW-ybQKjT3JwG4cgUAci_SStiB_C5voZRDUEsInUGfjBMQ7KeJgvHJojuF7G_EbJjbqq_BJSFR4-pKXSLGohfDKkJ-VQWQc9PrGE2_IWK2aR-/s1600/GlaxoSmithKline50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgPgvvy7LvKgT5fy6-AMunpMRcEEZaFjpmW-ybQKjT3JwG4cgUAci_SStiB_C5voZRDUEsInUGfjBMQ7KeJgvHJojuF7G_EbJjbqq_BJSFR4-pKXSLGohfDKkJ-VQWQc9PrGE2_IWK2aR-/s320/GlaxoSmithKline50.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; line-height: 16pt;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333;">Die jungen Leben lägen »in Trümmern«. Weil die Anfälle meistens im Zustand positiver oder negativer Erregung auftreten, können sich Kinder oft nicht mehr freuen, ohne durch die Narkolepsie bestraft zu werden: »Man darf nicht zu viel lachen«, sagt der neunjährige Nemo, »sonst fällt man zusammen.« – »Ich hatte nicht mal Kraft, die Weihnachtsgeschenke zu öffnen«, erzählt der 13-jährige Manfred. Sie wolle, »dass alles wieder wie früher« sei, sagt die fünfjährige Tindra, »dass mein Gehirn wieder gut wird oder dass ich ein neues bekomme«. »Ehe ich krank wurde, freute ich mich aufs Erwachsenwerden«, sagt die 17-jährige Elin. »Ich werde alles an meine Krankheit anpassen müssen«, befürchtet Filip (15).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><h3 style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: red; line-height: 16pt;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-size: 12pt;">»WIR WÜRDEN ES WIEDER TUN«...</span></h3><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdWYtCJKChoXl49WfbWAHaIStVIULXjbxqWmDuvUJBBvXtKqddbnAkz5RsD48ZiacU1IBjbs_xXeDonoIMJUYYfyShpFAKepS_DfqJRFEeS-RnCaQeXgvyfNGS8k0pdNKuje7j0lMGODK/s1600/WHO-Reports-Industry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdWYtCJKChoXl49WfbWAHaIStVIULXjbxqWmDuvUJBBvXtKqddbnAkz5RsD48ZiacU1IBjbs_xXeDonoIMJUYYfyShpFAKepS_DfqJRFEeS-RnCaQeXgvyfNGS8k0pdNKuje7j0lMGODK/s320/WHO-Reports-Industry.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;">Wer nun bei den Verantwortlichen auf Reue oder Einsicht hofft, ist allerdings schief gewickelt: »Alle Arzneimittel haben Nebenwirkungen, und bei der Schweinegrippe hätten sie nur wenige getroffen«, zitiert <em>Die Presse</em> Anders Tegnell von Schwedens Sozialbehörde, die für die Durchführung der Massenimpfungen verantwortlich gewesen sei. »Es gebe also keinen Grund zu Angst, es wäre eine ›Katastrophe‹, wenn nun eine generelle Skepsis gegenüber Impfungen ausbräche.«</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt;"><br /></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;">Ganz im Gegenteil. In Wirklichkeit ist die so genannte Schweinegrippe ein Lehrstück über die kriminelle Zusammenarbeit von <em>WHO</em>, Politik, Pharmaindustrie und Medizin. Was bei der Schweinegrippe aufflog, dürfte auch auf anderen Gebieten funktionieren und war wohl nur die Spitze des Eisbergs. Gesundheitspolitiker sind sich natürlich keiner Schuld bewusst. So sagt die schwedische Familienministerin Maria Larsson laut <em>Die Presse:</em> »Wir haben richtig gehandelt und würden es wieder so tun«. Was man kaum anders denn als Drohung verstehen kann.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

PHARMAINDUSTRIE UND DAS GESCHÄFT MIT IMPFSTOFFEN

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