Category Archives: Ayn Rand

As we approach the end of 2021, here are some higher education stories that I wish I had more time to pursue now. Some of them Ive dug into pretty deeply already, while others I havent done much with yet. If you have info on these matters, please let me know. Or investigate them yourself.

These are largely stories, one way or another, about what happens when government, through weak rules and lax enforcement, allows college operators to put pursuit of big profits over the interests of students and taxpayers.

1. The New York Daily Newsexposed last month that the president and owner of for-profit ASA College, one Alex Shchegol, who was forced out by his board three years ago amid allegations of egregious sexual misconduct, recently ousted most of the schools board members and regained control. The Daily News mentioned that re-hiring Shchegol, who has been accused of rape, coercing students into sex, and sending unwanted pictures of his penis, was defended at a Florida hearing byPeter Leyton, a lawyer representing ASA; Leyton said Shchegol dumped the old board because his expertise was needed to reverse declining enrollments. The Daily News didnt mention that Leyton is a long-time for-profit college industry lawyer who served for more than a decade on the board of the industrys main lobbying group, now called CECU.

The Daily News also mentioned that ASA, which has campuses in New York and Florida, plus courses online, received some $16 million in federal taxpayer money to enroll students, the majority of whom are people of color, in 2019-20. What we dont know is whether the U.S. Department of Education plans to re-evaluate federal aid eligibility for ASA, attendance at which, under Shchegol, has led to poor outcomes for many students. The schools accreditor, which serves as a gatekeeper for federal aid eligibility, already placed ASA on warning status in October, citing a range of concerns about governance and other issues. (Shchegol denies the sexual misconduct charges.)

2. Nicole Carnagey, the chief operating officer of California for-profit Summit College, is apparently being considered for a job running a larger school. Wouldnt the Department of Education, or that schools accreditor, if not the school itself, be concerned that Carnagey spent almost twelve years, rising to a senior executive role, at Corinthian Colleges until that company, one of the worst predatory college operations, collapsed under the weight of law enforcement probes in 2015? Would the fact that Carnagey ran Corinthians California operations concern Vice President Harris, who noted in her 2020 Democratic convention speech that, as Californias attorney general, she sued Corinthian for abuses in the state, including predatory recruiting, false advertising, and fraud? Personal accountability for top executives of Corinthian and other for-profit college scams has been rare. It shouldnt be that way.

3. Another awful collapsed college chain is the Center for Excellence in Higher Education (CEHE). After a Colorado court, following trial, sided with that states attorney general and found the company liable for deceiving students; and its accreditor, ACCSC, acted to drop the companys schools, including online giant Independence University; and finally the U.S. Department of Education restricted the flow of federal aid, CEHE shut down classes and laid off most staff. But CEHE, which then got a partial reversal and remand of the Colorado verdict and is seeking to regain accreditation through legal proceedings, insisted to the locked-out students that it will continue seeking to collect on the high-interest EduPlan private loans they took out even though the Colorado court concluded that these EduPlan loans were part of the companys illegal scheme. Who owns AR Management, the company that administers these loans? Perhaps CEHE head and Ayn Rand worshipper Carl Barney? And what is the status of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus investigation into CEHEs private loan practices?

Also, will the University of Maryland, or Maryland state agencies, be looking at the relationships between CEHE and University business school professor Rajshree Agarwal? Professor Agarwal joined the CEHE board of directors, giving the companys schools a public endorsement from the traditional higher education world, at a time when CEHE was under investigation for deceptive and predatory practices by multiple federal and state law enforcement agencies. Meanwhile CEHE in 2019 provided $400,000 in grants to the University of Maryland(grants that Agarwal claims as her own on her CV), and Barney boasted on his blog over the summer that he and his foundation are providing Ayn Rand scholarships and grants for intellectuals at schools including the University of Maryland. Marylands flagship state university was taking funding from CEHE and Barney, which got much of that money by fleecing low-income students and federal taxpayers, while a U MD professors cred was being used to validate the predatory school. Is that how higher education is supposed to work?

4. Another corrupt college operation has mostly been under the radar. In 2016, I wrote about Ultimate Medical Academy (UMA), a Tampa-based career school that converted from for-profit to nonprofit status in a troubling deal, and that featured on its management team some former top officials of disgraced Trump University. The school was getting $150 million a year from taxpayer-funded student aid, yet almost no higher ed expert or official I spoke with had ever heard of it. Right after I published, and in the years since, Ive been contacted by more than a dozen former and current UMA staff regarding predatory practices at the school deceptive and aggressive recruiting, financial aid abuses, pressure on faculty and staff to keep students enrolled, and bad outcomes (low earnings, big loan debt) for many ex-students.

The schools IRS filings reveal big salaries and payouts for executives and insiders of the supposedly non-profit operation.

A 2017-19 review by the U.S. Department of Education found violations in several areas, including disbursing federal aid to students with invalid high school diplomas, but the probe was closed after UMA promised to do better.

Journalists, the education department, and the IRS should be taking a close look at UMA.

5. Predatory Ashford University, exposed at a 2011 Senate hearing as, in the words of committee chairman Tom Harkin, an absolute scam, is right now on trial, along with its owner, Zovio, in a San Diego courtroom, facing a case brought by the states attorney general, who alleges unfair and fraudulent business practices. Ashford has received hundreds of millions from U.S. taxpayers, often with dismal results for students.Im getting dispatches from a courtroom observer, but is any media covering the trial?

Maybe citizens of neighboring Arizona would be interested, especially given that that states flagship school now owns Ashford, rebranded University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC), in a shady partnership with Zovio, which still runs the school and is still engaged in predatory practices there. (Check out these Yelp reviews.) Last month I spoke with a former Ashford / UAGC instructor who said school higher-ups pressured teachers to give passing grades so students would remain enrolled and paying tuition, even for students who were incapable of doing the work or submitted obviously plagiarized papers.

Education reporters might also be interested in UAGCs application, apparently still pending at the Department of Education, to get preferential non-profit status, and the recent actions of the schools accreditor, WASC, to demand the school explain how it plans to straighten up.

Does Zovios new CEO, introduced on Wednesday, have answers?

6. On a parallel track, another predatory for-profit school, Kaplan University, is now disguised as Purdue University Global, operating under a dubious arrangement between Kaplans former owner, Graham Holdings, and Purdue president Mitch Daniels. Hows that going these days?

7. Florida Career College, which, numerous former and current employees have told me, engages in deceptive and fraudulent practices and will enroll anyone with a pulse to get their federal aid dollars, is being sued by former students for targeting Black people for their predatory programs. Long-time for-profit college industry lawyer Keith Zakharin and a former George W. Bush White House lawyer are representing International Education Corporation (IEC), parent company of Florida Career College, in the case. Over the summer they managed to convince a Florida federal judge (Trump appointee Roy Altman) to uphold fine-print clauses in the students enrollment agreements barring them from suing the school and requiring them to pursue any grievances in arbitration, a process that favors corporate defendants. The Obama administration had issued a rule barring colleges that get taxpayer aid from enforcing these oppressive mandatory arbitration clauses, but Trump education secretary Betsy DeVos erased that regulation. (Now the Biden administration is moving to reinstate it.)

In recent briefs filed with the court, the students lawyers, from the Harvard Project on Predatory Student Lending, ask the judge to reconsider, arguing, among other things, that the students had a right to sue because DeVos had not yet revoked the Obama rule at the time they sued. They also argue that forcing the students into arbitration would violate FCCs agreement with the Department of Education for participating in the federal aid program, where they promised not to do that.

The Harvard projects filings also include the transcript of a deposition of IEC vice president Bob Adler in which he makes a number of telling admissions, including that: FCC recruiters cold call people who may have been looking on job training websites and have never expressed interest in attending the school; FCC instructs admissions representatives to emphasize urgency in a prospective students need to enroll; FCC makes no effort to determine whether prospective students have criminal records that may prevent them from obtaining the jobs they are training for; FCC has no policy for rejecting applicants who lack a high school diploma or GED and are unwilling to take a qualifying test; FCC admissions representatives are not required to verify English language fluency, even though the schools programs are in English; FCC financial aid staff provide students with documents showing the loans they have signed up for only on request; and FCC does not follow up to ensure that its graduates are employed in the field for more than one week.

Multiple FCC employees tell me that IEC and FCC are abusing the federal ability-to-benefit rules by enrolling an extremely high volume of students who lack a high school diploma, and also are enrolling many students who dont speak enough English to comprehend the classes.

In declarations the students lawyers have submitted in the case, former FCC employees report egregious abuses at the school echoing allegations that employees provided to me last year.

Former FCC admissions representative Twyla Prindle said that: many prospective students did not understand the costs of the programs they were enrolling in, and could not afford them; prospective students who did not want to enroll were pressured into talking with at least three FCC representatives before they could leave campus; FCC enrolled students whom it knew would not be able to jobs in their fields, such as students with criminal records and students with intellectual disabilities; students without high school diplomas were assisted by proctors in passing a test in order to enroll; FCC admissions representatives were yelled at by supervisors for failing to meet enrollment quotas; and FCCs Jacksonville admissions director would pressure black students to enroll, but would provide white students recommendations for other options.

A former FCC loan collections officer, Howard Glantz, declared that: FCCs financial aid process during enrollment was rushed, and a high percentage of FCC students did not understand what they owed; FCC collections staff were paid bonuses based on how much they collected from students; the purpose of FCCs high-pressure collections process was to help FCC meet its legal obligation to maintain at least 10 percent of its revenue from sources other than federal aid; and FCC faculty falsified class attendance records, vouching for students who were not actually there.

Kenneth Lundy, who focused on recruiting veterans, compared FCCs operations to a used car dealership. He said that: some prospective students were invited for job interviews when the real intent was to enroll them in the school; IEC officials routinely berated FCC employees for not meeting admissions targets; and IECs CEO, Fardad Fateri, was personally involved in monitoring the recruitment performance of recruiters.

Given the powerful evidence of its abuses, how is IEC/FCC still receiving tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, and the Departments seal of approval to enroll students, every year?

8. As Inside Higher Ed reported last month, Ohios Eastern Gateway Community College radically cut instruction expenses after partnering with a for-profit company called Student Resource Center. The deal has made millions for Student Resource Center, which has been taking 50 percent of the profits, as enrollment, mostly online, has skyrocketed, but the school is now in trouble with its accreditor, Higher Learning Commission, over educational quality. Student Resource Center CEO Michael Perik, a long-time education industry executive, has strong ties to Eastern Gateways president, and faculty and staff at the school say, according to Inside Higher Ed that Perik seems to have unchecked power in academic matters at Eastern Gateway.

As we reported in 2019, Mike DeWine, now Ohios governor but in 2018 its attorney general, engaged in discussions with the collapsing Dream Center Education Holdings (DCEH) and the Betsy DeVos Department of Education about Eastern Gateway acquiring Argosy University from DCEH. Under the plan, Michael Periks operation would have received the servicing contract for Argosy after Eastern Gateway bought it, and DECH would have kept a piece of the action. DeVoss team, led by Diane Auer Jones, later insisted that the Eastern Gateway servicing contract for Argosy would go to a company called Colbeck, though Perik and others could get subcontracts. Colbeck ended up buying many of the DCEH schools, but the deal with Eastern Gateway didnt happen. However, the deal-making efforts suggest that Perik had even bigger dreams for making money off state-owned Eastern Gateway. What is his next move?

9. When retired Army Major General James Spider Marks, a familiar cable news guest on national security issues, offered comments (echoing his written submission) at a Department of Education public hearing in October, he attacked recent bipartisan legislation that was aimed at protecting U.S. military service members and veterans by strengthening the federal rule which prohibits for-profit colleges from obtaining more than 90 percent of their revenue from federal aid. Marks referred to this federal 90-10 rule as arbitrary and said the new legislation, closing a loophole that motivated aggressive recruiting of veterans and service members, would actually harm military students, even though a large number of national veterans groups strongly supported the provision. Marks did not mention in his statement he previously worked as Military Advisor to the President and Executive Dean, College of Security and Criminal Justice at the countrys biggest for-profit college and one of the biggest recipients of G.I. Bill dollars, the University of Phoenix, a school that has been caught by federal authorities engaging in improper recruiting on military bases and running deceptive TV ads. Marks did identify himself as an advisor to the Centurion Military Alliance. Who funds that?

10. Also, who is funding the Defense of Freedom Institute, a new think tank headed by Robert Eitel, who was one of the top higher education aides at the Trump-DeVos Department of Education and before that worked at not one but two of the worst predatory college operations, Zovio (then called Bridgepoint) and Perdoceo (then called Career Education Corporation)? The group says it will fight the Biden education agenda through lawsuits and vigorous oversight of the regulatory process, and its already advocatingfor public money for religious schools. Is the group, which is already wealthy or connected enough to hire as its lawyers both Bill Barr and David Boies, getting or seeking any funding from billionaire Betsy DeVos, who is quoted in their recent press release? Are there connections to the ultra-wealthy non-profit Strada Education Network, which repurposes old student loan profits to support and invest in for-profit colleges, and is headed by former Bush deputy education secretary William Hansen, who sits on the Perdoceo board of directors?

11. The New York Times media columnist Ben Smith published an article in August, headlined Youve Never Heard of the Biggest Digital Media Company in America, about South Carolina-based Red Ventures (barely 100 yards over the state border from suburban Charlotte, NC). Smith notes that the company owns popular travel websites Lonely Planet and The Points Guy, tech site CNET, and Healthline, plus the education advice site BestColleges. But the sophisticated Mr. Smith missed a piece of the story: BestColleges may be styled as an advice site, but its searches quickly lead visitors not to the best colleges, but to ones that pay to advertise on the site, some of them schools with records of misleading, overcharging, and abusing students, such as American Intercontinental, the University of Phoenix, and Purdue Global. And BestColleges isnt the only shady lead generation site run by Red Ventures; we came across, for starters, accounting.com, which feeds into the same search engine that spits out the names of online schools.

12. In 2018, California for-profit San Joaquin Valley College (SJVC) acquired health care career school Carrington College from the much larger Adtalem Global Education group (formerly DeVry). An industry source questions how SJVC has the capacity to run Carrington, which operates in larger markets and relies more on major advertising. This source says wealthy and powerful college baron Arthur Keiser, who runs some big college operations and appears to have gained influence over yet another school, St. Andrews University, has been meeting regularly with the owners of SJVC. Any connection to the Carrington deal? (Also, has any college president prior to St. Andrewss head, Keith Wade, made alumns sign a nondisclosure agreement laden with heavy digital rights management before they can read a transcript of his campus meeting with other alums?)

13. Keiser also has long been a central player in the for-profit lobbying group CECU. What did that group mean when it boasted in its annual report last month that it had forged new partnerships with pro-student groups including the Education Trust, Third Way, and the National Student Legal Defense Network? And in the more than 50 meetings with the Biden Administration the CECU report boasts of, what Biden officials attended? Also, what will be CECUs next moves if, as some expect, wealthy California beauty school owner Lynelle Lynch, who took over the reins of Bellus Academy from her husband, becomes the next chair of the group?

14. The Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, an online school, sends a torrent of press releases celebrating its growth and successes. The school has been bringing in some $27 million a year, three-quarters of that from Department of Education grants and loans. Did you know that Escoffiers founder, Jack Larson, was also the founder of Career Education Corporation, now called Perdoceo, one of the most egregiously predatory companies in the industry, until he left, suddenly, in 2006? Larson, who also worked at other predatory college chains, boasts that while at CEC he acquired renowned brands, including Le Cordon Bleu Schools North America. But that culinary school, once bought by CEC, eventually faced major legal consequences for deceiving students.

15. Finally, what does it say about the promise of the Internet for bringing education to the masses rather than just offering endless scams that edX, the online platform created in 2012 by Harvard and MIT to offer free lectures by the worlds greatest professors, has been acquired by 2U, an online program provider that is getting increasing negative attention for turning numerous traditional universities into predatory operations through overpriced online programs? While the free online edX lectures will remain, they will now serve as lead generators for 2Us expensive degree offerings.

See the original post here:

15 Higher Education Stories Worth Investigating - Republic Report

TCSs Deepak Chaudhari discusses his move to Ireland, the countrys impressive ecosystem for businesses, and how he has become a bit of a Teams and Zoom guru during the pandemic.

Deepak Chaudhari is the country head for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in Ireland. In this role, he is responsible for strategy, sales and operations, bringing IT and business services to customers in a range of sectors.

India-headquartered TCS is a global player in IT services, including digital, cybersecurity, agile development, infrastructure support and data centre services. The company first established a base in Dublin in 2001 and significantly expanded its presence in Ireland last year when it acquired Donegal-based Pramerica. TCS now has more than 1,400 employees in Ireland.

Chaudhari has more than 20 years of experience in leadership roles across India, the US and UK. He has been based in Ireland for the past three years and now lives in Dublin with his family.

He studied engineering at Pune University in India and has completed executive courses at UCD Smurfit School. He is also the vice-chair for the Ireland India Business Association and a board member for Junior Achievement Ireland.

I came to Ireland three years back because of the opportunity that I saw to make a real impact DEEPAK CHAUDHARI

I have always led teams with purpose. We are here to solve challenges faced by our clients and we leverage our global experience to design and implement the most appropriate solution to meet our clients needs.

I usually divide my working week into three parts. Roughly one-third of my time is focused on my senior stakeholders, which includes customer CXOs, as well as my internal stakeholders. Another third of the time is spent with my industry peers, understanding the market, liaising with alliance partners, etc. The remaining third of the time I spend with my employees, understanding any challenges, identifying any mentorship that may be required, learning and development activities, etc.

This approach gives me a balanced way to stay relevant and connected.

The technology sector is rapidly evolving across multiple dimensions, including innovation, scale, complexity, cost to serve, time to market, etc. We provide a multitude of services in Ireland such as data analytics, application modernisation, agile services, digital transformation, infrastructure support, etc. We have a strong focus on cybersecurity services and cloud services, including the hyperscalers and data-related services.

Due to the strong demand of our growing business, TCS Ireland has recently invested in Letterkenny to create a technology and business operations centre. This centre has over 1,200 highly skilled people working in teams serving customers based internationally and in Ireland.

The key focus for us remains serving customers in the areas of digital transformation, cybersecurity services, cloud services, and data and analytics services.

We are seeing tremendous traction with our customers in the above areas and we wish to continue to invest and grow these practices. Our key mantra for Irish customers is to deliver global experiences locally.

I have had a 21-year career across various TCS management roles in UK, US, India and now in Ireland. I came to Ireland three years back because of the opportunity that I saw to make a real impact.

Ireland is a great place to do business. It provides an impressive ecosystem of local companies, global companies, academia, innovation partnerships, Government support, high-calibre talent etc and all of it in such a connected fashion.

I am proud of the impact that TCS has made in Ireland. We serve over 45 customers from our centre in Donegal, as well as other locations in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Athlone.

In my experience, the priority is to develop a shared vision for what we are trying to achieve and a clear roadmap for how we are going to get there.

Within this context, I find that people achieve the best results when they are given the right mix of autonomy and support to help them achieve their personal objectives.

With a workforce exceeding 500,000 people, achieving diversity within our organisation is a key priority for TCS. We were very proud that TCS in Ireland was recently selected by the Diversity in Tech Awards as the International Diverse Company of the Year.

I have taken inspiration from many people and leaders around me. I believe everyone is good at something and it is about getting to know that and taking that inspiration back into your life.

My passion for books started in college with classics like The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.

Now I especially enjoy management books including 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma. I believe that when great authors and leaders have poured their experience and expertise into a book, one should read and try to absorb as much of it as possible.

I am a strong believer in the importance of face-to-face communication, but the global pandemic has forced all of us to rely heavily on technology for our communication needs.

I am fortunate to work for a global technology company that had invested in the required infrastructure to operate in a virtual world. Like lots of people, I have become a bit of a Teams and Zoom guru over the last 18 months.

Dont miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for theDaily Brief, Silicon Republics digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

Excerpt from:

TCS country head: 'Ireland is a great place to do business' - Siliconrepublic.com

This is a republishing from George Siosi Samuels Medium post, Craig Wright, Satoshi Nakamoto & Why People Ridicule The Greats In Their Lifetimes. Read the full piecehere.

A look into theKleiman v Wrighttrial and what this may mean for the legacy of Bitcoins creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.

Theres a major trial happening in courts right now that most people arent even aware ofbut may have huge ramifications.

Its between Dr. Craig S. Wright and the estate of David Kleiman (a friend of Craigs who died tragically many years ago). His estranged brother, Ira Kleiman, is now trying to claim half of what he thinks the Kleiman estate deserves.

The interesting thing about this trial is that it involves one of the largest potential settlements in U.S. court historyto the tune of $68 billion+ (maybe more).

Why so much$68 billion? How?

It is assumed that Craig is one-half of the team behindSatoshi Nakamoto, the creator of the real Bitcoin. And that David was the other. His combined fortune comes from BTC, BCH, and potentially BSV holdings.

The reason this all matters is because by Craig sharing evidence with the courts about his involvement in the creation of Bitcoineven if that includes some contributions from David Kleimanits enough to set a legal precedent on various other aspects of the entire Bitcoin ecosystem.

Coinbase itself revealed that the biggest threat to its business model is the reveal of whos behind Satoshi Nakamotoeven if that information was hidden in plain sight the whole time. Its just whether or not people choose tobelieveit.

Craig has been mocked and ridiculed ever since coming out onto the public stage around 2015. Some could argue this was his own doing, but once you learn more of the details, youll discover why it all ended up the way it did.

But you know who else has been laughed at or ridiculed by experts or authorities during their lifetimes? Jesus, Joan of Arc, Galileo, Charles Darwin, Nikola Tesla, Alan Turing, and more.

It wasnt until much later did these people get the recognition they deserved.

Mastercard & commandeering a brand

Right now, everyone supporting Bitcoin (BTC) has no idea that most of the companies that have commandeered the brand are owned mostly by Mastercard (look up Digital Currency Group).

This is why the push for digital gold, while users experience high transaction fees and congestion. BTCs lack of innovation is what spurred all other digital currencies and blockchains to emerge. BTC is no longer an everymans game. Its a rich mans one.

By taking the Bitcoin brand but crippling the actual system, BTC has placed self-imposed limits to implement other systems to take profits without you knowing. Much like putting in a toll or redirecting water through a dam. Its all out in the open. Its just that no one understands any of it, which makes it easier to continue on with it.

Bitcoin was meant to be more than just digital gold. Micropayments is the real killer feature, but this cant run if it costs you $20-$200 to send $5 (a scaling problem even Ethereum is currently experiencing).

Micropayments, Layer 2 solutions & Ayn Rand

Under the current leaders of the BTC space, you will never see a system of micropayments manifest on-chain in the way it was designed. There will be a push for Layer 2 solutions, etc. But this is why Craig is going through the courts to (hopefully) steer his legacy back on the right path. Because if he is the creator, he has every right to.

A rather interesting video to watch is from the film adaptation of the novelFountainheadby Ayn Rand. It might give you some insight into what Craig is experiencing in real life:

I strongly believe that Craig is someone to watch, even if his personality ruffles a few feathers. Hes not great with people (thanks to his Aspergers and Metal Dog Chinese zodiac), which is why the Satoshi monicker and mythology became bigger than he ever could alone. Still, his creation is (and will) benefit many for generations to come. His life story is stranger than fiction but, then again, sometimes the truth is like that.

Read the full piece onGeorge Siosi Samuels Medium.

Check out all of the CoinGeek special reports on theKleiman v Wright YouTube playlist.

This article was lightly edited for clarity purposes.

New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeeksBitcoin for Beginnerssection, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about Bitcoinas originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamotoand blockchain.

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Craig Wright, Satoshi Nakamoto and why people ridicule the greats in their lifetimes - CoinGeek

A&E DELVES INTO THE PSYCHE OF DENNIS RADER IN "BTK: CONFESSION OF A SERIAL KILLER" FEATURING NEW NEVER-BEFORE-HEARD CONVERSATIONS WITH RADER HIMSELF FROM INSIDE A KANSAS MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON

AMONG OTHER BOMBSHELL CONFESSIONS, THE BTK KILLER REVEALS HE HAD A LIST OF AN ADDITIONAL 45 POTENTIAL VICTIMS THAT WERE "CLOSE TO MEETING THE HANDS OF DEATH"

FROM EXECUTIVE PRODUCER DICK WOLF, THE TWO-NIGHT EVENT AIRS SATURDAY, JANUARY 8 AND SUNDAY, JANUARY 9 AT 9PM ET/PT

New York, NY - December 2, 2021 - A&E Network announces new documentary event examining the horrific crimes and psyche of notorious serial killer Dennis Rader in "BTK: Confession of a Serial Killer." From Wolf Entertainment and Good Caper Content, this gripping documentary provides unprecedented access into the mind of Rader who is currently serving 10 consecutive life sentences in El Dorado Correctional Facility. Dr. Katherine Ramsland, whose correspondence with Rader has spanned a decade and is still on-going, shares the intimate details of Rader's past and his gruesome murders while providing insight to arm criminologists and law enforcement on how to better identify and potentially deter extreme violent offenders in the future. The definitive documentary "BTK: Confession of a Serial Killer" premieres Saturday, January 8 and Sunday, January 9 at 9pm ET/PT on A&E.

The two-night event sheds new light on Rader's double life as both an upstanding citizen and a heartless killer. Dr. Ramsland, the renowned professor of forensic psychology and author, leads the examination of his transformation from an American boy to an American monster who wreaked havoc in Wichita, Kansas and went uncaptured for thirty years. With exclusive phone conversations with Rader himself, eye-opening new archival, comprehensive interviews, and access to Rader's drawings and coded diaries all paired with Dr. Ramsland's expertise, viewers get to know the man behind the moniker, the truth behind the headlines and a glimpse at the secrets Rader is still holding onto.

"Through her deep and extraordinary work mapping some of the darkest corners of the human psyche, Dr. Ramsland has performed an invaluable service to law enforcement and the country at large. Her insights become tools with which we can identify other monsters like BTK earlier in their evolution, and I am pleased to further Dr. Ramsland's mission through this important and gripping new series" said Dick Wolf.

Dr. Ramsland has worked with Dennis Rader for over a decade forging a rapport in an effort to meticulously detail Rader's progression from quintessential family man to The BTK Killer.

Dr. Ramsland teaches at DeSales University, where she is an assistant provost, and has published almost 70 books, including Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, The BTK Killer that was released in 2016. The audiobook edition from Blackstone Publishing is on pre-sale now on Audible and Amazon and will release on January 11, 2022.

Join the conversation by following @AETV and @AETVTrueCrime and using #BTKConfession

"BTK: Confession of a Serial Killer" will be available on demand and to stream on the A&E app and aetv.com.

"BTK: Confession of a Serial Killer" is produced for A&E Network by Wolf Entertainment and ITV America's Good Caper Content. Dick Wolf and Tom Thayer serve as executive producers for Wolf Entertainment and Jordana Hochman, Alison Dammann and Cynthia Childs serve as executive producers for Good Caper Content. Dr. Katherine Ramsland also serves as an executive producer. Elaine Frontain Bryant, Shelly Tatro and Brad Abramson serve as executive producers for A&E Network. A+E Networks holds worldwide distribution rights for "BTK: Confession of a Serial Killer."

About A&E Network

A&E leads the cultural conversation through high-quality, thought-provoking original programming with a unique point of view. Whether it's the network's distinctive brand of award-winning disruptive reality or groundbreaking documentary, A&E always makes entertainment an art. The A&E website is located at aetv.com. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/aetv and Facebook at facebook.com/AETV.

About Wolf Entertainment

Wolf Entertainment, headed by multiple Emmy winning television producer Dick Wolf, produces content for all platforms. The company, in conjunction with Universal Television, produces NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," which in its 23rd season is the longest-running primetime scripted series on television; "Law & Order: Organized Crime" (S2); the original "Law & Order" returning for its 21st season in February 2022; "Chicago Fire," (S10); "Chicago PD" (S9); "Chicago Med" (S7); CBS' "FBI"(S4), "FBI Most Wanted (S3) and the new "FBI: International." Wolf's first streaming series "On Call" for IMDb TV is slated for the new year. Wolf's non-fiction series in addition to "Nightwatch" include "Cold Justice," "Criminal Confessions" and "Murder for Hire." NBC has also ordered "LA Fire and Rescue." Wolf's first podcast "Hunted" premiered in November 2019. The company also produced the Oscar-winning documentary "Twin Towers" and the Grammy-winning documentary about the Doors "When You're Strange" as well as the Emmy-winning HBO film "Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee." Wolf is also creator and executive producer of the Emmy-winning drama series "Law & Order" which ran for 20 seasons on NBC and will be returning for Season 21 in 2022, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" which ran for 11 seasons on NBC and USA Network, among other network series.

About Good Caper Content

Good Caper Content, an ITV America company, develops and produces an array of projects for broadcast, cable and streaming platforms, and is devoted entirely to crime and investigative programming. In addition to BTK: Confession of a Serial Killer (A&E), recent and current Good Caper series and specials include True Life: Crime (MTV), Taken at Birth (TLC) and Killing Fields (Discovery), as well as upcoming series Fruitcake Fraud (discovery+), and Final Moments, produced in partnership with Dick Wolf, and New York Homicide (both for Oxygen). Good Caper also has projects in development with networks and platforms including CBS, Netflix, NatGeo and many more.

About Blackstone Publishing

Founded in 1987, Blackstone Publishing is an independent, privately owned company headquartered in Ashland, Oregon. Offering a growing catalog of over 13,000 titles in print, e-book, and audiobook formats, the authors we publish are as varied as the books themselves, including works by Gabriel Garca Mrquez, Ayn Rand, Ian Fleming, Karin Slaughter, Don Winslow, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and many more. Blackstone is home to a vibrant and eclectic community of storytellers and story lovers, providing superior content and offering hundreds of new titles each month.

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Breaking News - A&E Delves Into the Psyche of Dennis Rader in "BTK: Confession of a Serial Killer" Featuring New Never-Before-Heard Conversations with...

CLIMATE PLEDGE - One benefit that Amazonhas provided society with is a reduction in shopping-related violence.

The once legendary fights over low-priced electrical items have moved online, and the fight is now between who has the fastest fingers and the fastest internet connection. Black Friday, however, continues to supercharge an already hyper-consumerist society and push us closer to climate breakdown. Extinction Rebellion (XR) decided to call out the major online retailer on its most profitable day by blocking fifteen fulfillment centers in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. The fulfillment centers blockaded account for 50% of Amazon deliveries in the UK. In all, more than thirty arrests were made as the environmental group brought attention to Amazons wasteful business practices, tax avoidance and worker exploitation.

Extinction Rebellion (XR) decided to call out the major online retailer on its most profitable day by blocking fifteen fulfillment centers in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands.

While XRs detractors claim businesses are being affected in tough economic times, one man who has certainly not been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic is the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. As people around the world hunkered down in their homes due to the deadly virus sweeping the planet, Amazon shares soared 8% as people switched to online shopping as bricks and mortar shops remained shuttered. In a single day in July 2020, the worlds richest man added $13 billion to his already burgeoning fortune. His net worth rose from $113 billion in March 2020 to over $200 billion today.

Now, many will counter that Mr. Bezos deserves his wealth because he had the foresight to start Amazon back in the early days of the internet and he is a hardworking benign genius. Its easy to understand this thinking, especially for dedicated followers of Ayn Rand, but on closer inspection, Mr. Bezos and his online empire have benefited from a broken system that he and his billionaire chums would like to stay broken. Amazon has put the nail in the coffin for many high street retailers, and modern-day high streets may be unrecognizable when the pandemic finally ends. Shops that once provided society with tax revenues to pay for education and health care have been replaced by a global behemoth that in 2018 had revenues of $233 billion and a market value approaching $1 trillion and yet paid no federal income taxes and actually got a tax refund of $129 million.

Wherever and whenever Amazon can avoid taxes, it does. In Europe, it transfers 90% of its operating profits to Luxembourg where it pays 7.25% instead of 29%. Its easy to see how Amazon is able to provide its products so cheaply and undercut its brick-and-mortar competitors when it doesnt need to play by the same rules as brick-and-mortar shops.

In addition to legal tax avoidance, Amazon is also infamous for its inhumane working conditions where workers routinely complain of being treated like robots and being denied even basic bathroom breaks. Workers complain of being fired for taking sick days during the pandemic and drivers tell of urinating and defecating in bottles and bags as they cannot afford to stop to use a bathroom.

To counter his increasingly negative reputation, Bezos announced a $10 billion pledge to help fight the climate and biodiversity crises. Again, kudos to Mr. Bezos, but lets remember that he paid four times as much money to make his ex-wife happy, and that he made more in a single day in 2020 than he is providing humanity in its fight for survival. In 2020, Bezos named the first recipients of his Earth Fund with $791 million going to sixteen organizations focussed on conservation. In the same year, he invested $1 billion in his vanity space project, no doubt hoping that he will have a Plan B should our ecosystems and societies collapse. Thats not the worst of it because Amazon is one of the biggest polluters in the U.S. His operation not only encourages wanton consumerism, which is the driving force behind the planetary collapse we are witnessing, but also produces more than 44 million metric tons (MMT) of fossil fuel waste. To put this into perspective, Amazons carbon footprint is more than those of the nation-states of Switzerland (38.95 MMT), Ireland (36.92MMT), Norway (39.8MMT) and Denmark (37.45MMT). In early 2019, 8,000 Amazon employees wrote a letter to Bezos asking him how the company was planning to address pollution and in September, 3,000 tech workers in Seattle walked out in protest at the companys inaction on the climate crisis. Additionally, the group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice claim more than 1,800 employees in over 25 cities and 14 countries walked off the job in protest.

As more and more people move online to do their shopping, companies like Amazon will be able to slash their prices even further due to tax avoidance and unethical working conditions, and rampant consumerism will be encouraged even more. Maybe its time we join the members of XR and Amazon workers themselves in calling out the company, and maybe we could even go one step further, or a few more than that, and actually walk into the town center to buy things we really need from a real person in a real shop. By continuing to fund Bezos mission to Mars, we are ensuring that he leaves an inhospitable planet mired in climate chaos behind him.

(Simon Whalleyis a writer for CommonDreams, an educator in Japan, the co-founder ofExtinction Rebellion Japanand the author of the upcoming book,Dear Indy: A Heartfelt Plea From a Climate Anxious Father.)

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This Is How Amazon Is Fueling the Climate Crisis - City Watch

Ideas have consequences is a maxim one hears in conservative intellectual circles. It was the title of a 1948 book by Richard Weaver. In the 1990s, I was a regular freelance writer forInsight on the News, a now-all-but-forgotten conservative magazine, where I first came into contact with Weavers contention that the ills of the world derived from long-dead philosophers, starting with William of Ockham. Weaver was long-dead by the time I was readingthis, but if I recall correctly,Insightran an essay under his byline without making that clear.

AWashington Postcolumn by Marc Thiessenhascaused a stir by blaming critical race theory on Immanuel Kant, quotingCivil Warhistorian Allen Guelzoto make that case. It wasnt the first time Id seen Kant show up in the Ockham role in a Weaver-type narrative. Ayn Rand called Kant the most evil man in mankinds history, whod undermined human reasonand madeway for Marxism and Nazism.Reading that long ago,Id no particular affinity for Kants philosophyIdlearnedinScientific Americanthat Kants antinomy of space didnt anticipate non-Euclidean geometrybut this most evil claim struck me as severely lacking evidence. I thought the samenowaboutCRTs putative Kantian origin, which soonwas widely criticized.

Ideas have consequences, but tracing specific things happening in the world today to particular thinkers of centuries past risks oversimplification and likely veers into obscurantism. Back atInsight, I oncewrote an articleabout alien visitations and how interest in them had risen inthe culture of the1990s; I interviewed a space policy analyst who said this phenomenon was a repackaging of first-century Gnosticism, a claim I happily quoted though Isuspectedit was bullshit.One might wonder why a space policy analyst would be talking about Gnosticism, or why a Civil War historian would be talking about Kant. Those are good questions, and the relevance of a quoted persons professional focus is a point that should be considered whenfact-checking.

At the same time, theremay be some tendency of people in, or enthused of, a particular profession to overestimate its influence. PercyByssheShelley wrote that poetsare the unacknowledged legislators of the world.John MaynardKeynesgave a similar role to the economics profession: Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defuncteconomist. Thereve been influential philosophers, poets and economists, but anemphasis on howaparticularprofession,or some of its key members,impacted history could reflectsome degree of disciplinary chauvinism.

I was an economics and history major. Philosophy, for me, was a subjecttinged withanxietybefore and during college; not something I was willing to make my main focus. Ive always had a love of esoteric topics, though, and over the years I veered into science journalism because ofinterests in physics, astronomy and biology thatarose, in major part, from philosophical preoccupations. I still think its good to have a double major, or a major and a minor, since numerous topics dont fit neatly into one discipline.

Unfortunately, the esoteric can also be deployed as a tool of distraction. If someone says some deep-rooted problem of current societyhas occurredbecause ofthe thinking of William of Ockham or Immanuel Kant, keep in mind the possibility that theyre changing the subject fromthe matter at hand, or perhaps from some other figure, such asan ex-president they support who tried to overturn an election.

Kenneth Silber is author ofIn DeWitts Footsteps: Seeing History on the Erie Canaland is on Twitter:@kennethsilber

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Ideas and Dubious Consequences - Splice Today

I dont normally care about cars. But then Im whipping down a desert highway in the middle of a sandstorm guided by magical glowing arrows into the warm embrace of Hermes himself. Suddenly, I care a lot about cars.

Such is the power of Forza Horizon 5s intro. Like a street performer doing something so wild you cant help but stop, stare, and drool, the first 10 minutes of Playground Games open-world racing title require your attention. Its not enough that the intro drops you out of a plane and onto the smoldering slopes of an active volcano. It drops you four times, in four different cars, into four vastly different Mexican biomes, all while the soundtrack thumps and bumps and barely lets up long enough for you to catch your breath before the next sequence begins.

The raw euphoria it conveys is so impressive that its easy to miss how fantastic of a tutorial it all is. In the same time it takes other games to wax poetic about Ayn Rand, or convince Vaas to stop talking, Forza Horizon 5 has already shown you:

Whats more, it does all of this without actually saying all that much. Theres a button prompt for the Rewind ability (possibly because I had smashed into a palm tree after my eyes rolled back into my head), and it tells you how to change your perspective (the first-person cameras are not welcome in my household), but by and large, Forza Horizon 5 understands that youre mainly just here to haul ass. For a solid eight out of 10 minutes, my pedal was smooching the floor. By the time I crossed the finish line and stumbled, dazed, into the meat of the game, with its cavalcade of activities, checklists, and challenges, I was hooked. Nay, I was obsessed. I needed more cars with which to see more of this world as soon as possible.

One day after Forza Horizon 5s official release, Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced that more than 4.5 million players had already played the game across Windows PC, Xbox consoles, and cloud gaming. It was also the largest launch day for an Xbox Game Studios title, and reached three times the number of peak concurrent players as Forza Horizon 4s launch.

That last figure doesnt surprise me. Forza Horizon 5 launched on Xbox Game Pass, after all, a service with 18 million subscribers as of January, and a reported 23 million in April. Its hard to imagine any of those players booting up, downloading this game, and not sticking around to see those first 10 minutes through to the end. Its also not hard to imagine them being hooked like I was, and drawn into the absolute waterfall of cars to unlock.

Im speculating wildly here, but it feels as if Playground Games designed this intro specifically for Game Pass subscribers a player base that would be coming across Forza Horizon 5 much like we used to come across rental games at the supermarket. The intro is ecstatic and momentous, its energy contagious. And as soon as its over, Playground Games beckons to the rest of its sweeping landscape, replete with tropical storms, Aztec ruins, and shiny cars, all but daring you to go play another game.

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Forza Horizon 5s amazing intro shows why its a huge hit on Game Pass - Polygon

There is no Covid zero. But, through vaccines and better treatments, we can learn to live with the virus. So argues Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins and one of the most consistent and reasonable voices through the pandemic.

Right now, though, Colorado is getting crushed by the Fifth Wave of the Pandemic. Measured by daily cases or daily hospitalizations, this wave threatened to become the states worst into the holiday season, according to a November 3 modeling report from the Anschutz Colorado School of Public Health. (See also my summary.) That report estimates the true number of cases, far higher than the number of positive tests. The strain on hospitals prompted the state to institute crisis standards of care regarding staffing and to consider further emergency measures.

Covid-related deaths also spiked in this Fifth Wave, although the total deaths during the wave remain far below those of the brutal Third Wave, which peaked on December 9 with 80 deaths in a single day. That one wave accounts for around 4,000 deaths, nearly half of the total.

As Adalja points out, better treatments have helped reduce the death toll. Doctors found that better oxygen management, dexamethasone (a steroid), remdesivir (an antiviral), and monoclonal antibodies can help. Both Merck and Pfizer are working on new antivirals that hopefully will prove to be game-changers. Britain already has ordered hundreds of thousands of doses, Reuters reports.

And vaccines have proved highly (not perfectly) effective against infection, hospitalization, and death. As of November 12, 81% of people hospitalized for Covid at that time were unvaccinated, even though the unvaccinated made up less than 30% of the population. Based on data from September and October that compared vaccinated and unvaccinated populations, the unvaccinated were 3.8 times as likely to test positive for Covid, 9.7 times as likely to be hospitalized with Covid, and 12.4 times as likely to die from the disease.

As the Anschutz report shows, vaccinations also benefit others. The report splits Colorado into eleven regions and charts Covid hospital admissions per hundred-thousand people against percent of the population in the region vaccinated. It then does the same for Covid deaths per million. Two facts clearly emerge: The unvaccinated are at substantially higher risk, and more-heavily vaccinated regions better-protect everyone.

In the reports words: The toll of [the virus] SARS-CoV-2 is most severe in regions where vaccination rates are low and among unvaccinated populations. Vaccinated individuals in high-vaccination regions have the lowest hospital and mortality rates in the state. Conversely, unvaccinated individuals in low-vaccination regions have the highest hospital and mortality rates in the state. Notably, unvaccinated individuals in high-vaccination regions have lower hospitalization and mortality rates than unvaccinated individuals in low-vaccination regions, suggesting that vaccination is protecting not only the vaccinated, but reducing transmission risk in regions with high vaccination coverage.

True, immunity gained from vaccines, as well as immunity gained from infection, wanes somewhat over time. And antibody levels vary widely from one individual to another after an infection, notes the Washington Post based on a CDC report. Its clear that getting vaccinated after an infection increases immunity; its safe to say that being exposed to the virus after getting vaccinated does the same. (My wife had mild Covid symptoms for a few days after being exposed to our test-positive son, having previously gotten the Johnson and Johnson shot.)

Waning immunity prompted Governor Polis to declare on November 11 that the entirety of Colorado is a high-risk setting, enabling anyone over 18 to get a booster shot.

So why did Colorado get hit so hard with this wave? Eric Topol Tweeted a map of U.S. hotspots. On August 7, the southeast, including Florida, was hard hit. On November 7, the northwest, including Colorado, was. A good explanation Ive heard is that, as the weather cooled, more people went outside in the southeast but inside in the northwest. And of course the virus spreads easier indoors. The Anschutz report isnt sure of that, though, saying, The extent to which weather is driving the current surge is unclear.

That report does find, Population movement is at or beyond pre-pandemic levels. Increasingly, people are out living their lives normally.

Interestingly, the Anschutz report also finds, We examined mask-wearing patterns using public survey data. Facebook survey data do not show a sharp downturn in reported use of masks coincident with the timing of the surge. In fact, there is a gradual increase in mask wearing, particularly in Boulder and Larimer counties, which recently implemented mask mandates, which may explain why Colorados increase in SARS-CoV-2 spread has been more gradual than other states. We do not see evidence that a decrease in mask wearing is driving the current surge.

Eventually this wave will quiet down, but right now its severe. The way I look at it, at this point, people who dont get vaccinated who end up in the hospital or in the morgue are, for the most part, victims of their own choices. The people I most worry about are the relative few number of vaccinated people who get a serious breakthrough case, the people who have a harder time getting medical care for non-Covid problems, and the healthcare professionals working with Covid patients who have faced an absolutely punishing couple of years.

Covid aint going away. But its damage to our lives will lessen with time. Through our prudent choices we can mitigate the damage of this wave and help make Covid a low-level background disease. And that will be victory enough.

Ari Armstrong writes regularly for Complete Colorado and is the author of books about Ayn Rand, Harry Potter, and classical liberalism. He can be reached at ari at ariarmstrong dot com.

Our unofficial motto at Complete Colorado is Always free, never fake, but annoyingly enough, our reporters, columnists and staff all want to be paid in actual US dollars rather than our preferred currency of pats on the back and a muttered kind word. Fact is that theres an entire staff working every day to bring you the most timely and relevant political news (updated twice daily) from around the state on Completes main page aggregator, as well as top-notch original reporting and commentary on Page Two.

CLICK HERE TO LADLE A LITTLE GRAVY ON THE CREW AT COMPLETE COLORADO. Youll be giving to the Independence Institute, the not-for-profit publisher of Complete Colorado, which makes your donation tax deductible. But rest assured that your giving will go specifically to the Complete Colorado news operation. Thanks for being a Complete Colorado reader, keep coming back.

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Armstrong: Learning to live with Covid Complete Colorado Page Two - Complete Colorado

Jugal Hansraj wears many hats hes an actor, writer and a National Award-winning film director. Jugal made inroads into the audiences hearts as a child artiste in the movie Masoom and then went on to star as the lead in movies like Papa Kahte Hain and the multi-starrer, Mohabbatein. He also took the directors chair for the animated film, Roadside Romeo and the Priyanka Chopra-starrer Pyaar Impossible.

Jugal made his debut as an author in 2017 with a childrens book, Cross Connection The Big Circus Adventure. Now, he is back with another childrens book, The Coward and the Sword. Speaking about what inspired him to pen the book, Jugal says, A journey I started over three years ago after the birth of my son has finally come to fruition. My novel The Coward and the Sword is truly a labour of love for me. The inspiration came to me from a Buddhist quote by the 13th century Japanese reformer, Nichiren Daishonin A sword is useless in the hands of a coward. A story started to form in my head and I started writing. To have the opportunity to be able to share my work with the world makes me feel so fortunate. I hope (if anything) I can inspire others through this book to find the courage within their own hearts. Here the author, who has entertained many with his writings, gives a glimpse of his reading habits. Excerpts:

Whats your writing process? Where do you draw inspiration from?

My writing process is not a complicated one: I first visualise my story as if it is unfolding on the big screen and based on that I start making notes. I then develop it from there.

When did you get into reading? School or college? Or later?

I got into reading way back when I was in school. I loved spending time in my school library, so much that I eventually became a student librarian.

Which are your favourite books? How have they made an impact on you?

There are too many... In fiction, theres The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and in non-fiction, I would pick A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. The former taught me about the difference between ego and pride. The latter was truly educational and informative... It gave me a deeper understanding of our planet and us people got to where we are today.

Favourite authors and why do you like them?

Too many to mention but to name a few: PG Wodehouse, Bill Bryson, Ayn Rand; Anthony Bourdain, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, JRR Tolkien JK Rowling. William Dalrymple, Ruskin Bond, RK Narayan and many more!

Favourite genre and books you enjoyed reading from the genre?

I love reading fantasy, and travelogues by authors like Pico Iyer, Bill Bryson and J Maarten Troost.

You have a busy schedule, how do you take out time for reading?

When Im busy and have a bit of downtime, instead of scrolling through my phone I read a book.

How many books do you read in a month?

After fatherhood, its a lot less about one in six weeks, nowadays.

From where do you get book recommendations?

Friends, Kindle recommendations and from articles.

Do you prefer an ebook or a physical book? Why?

I prefer physical books... The feel and smell of the pages of a book are just wonderful. But I must confess, I read more ebooks nowadays just so I can save some space at home.

Whats on your currently reading shelf?

I just finished reading We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter. Next in the line are The New Human Revolution by Daisaku Ikeda; The Map of Knowledge by Violet Moller, and Autumn Light by Pico Iyer.

Any special bookish memory you would like to share?

Laughing aloud heartily while reading books by PG Wodehouse and attracting stares from people who thought I was crazy!

Book adaptations (films/theatre/TV) you have watched and loved. Why?

I loved the movie adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein, and the Noble House mini-series based on the book of the same name by James Clavell.

A book you want to see being made into a film?

My book, The Coward and the Sword

Classic (one or more) you havent read but claimed to have read?

(Laughs) I havent claimed to have read books that I havent read yet, but this sounds like a good idea!

Have you ever saved money to buy a book?

As a kid, I used to borrow books from the library, so I didnt have to save up.

Book/ books you would recommend to our readers?

There are many, but the must-reads are books by Bill Bryson... They are educative, informative and yet entertaining and funny. I wish my school textbooks would have been as interesting and fun as Brysons books!

(To receive our E-paper on whatsapp daily, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)

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Celeb Shelf: Instead of scrolling through my phone I read a book, shares actor-turned-author Jugal Hansraj - Free Press Journal

Jane Fonda's younger brother Peter Fonda was an actorlike her. However, before reaching the famed heights, he endured some childhood tragedies. Find out more about him.

Jane Fonda's little brother, Peter Fonda, died on August 16, 2019. His death was difficult for the actress to take, given how close they were. She even spent his final days with him.

Just like Jane, Peter was an actor. They were close to each other and shared many experiences. Peter experienced tragedy in his childhood, including the death of his mother, which he found difficult to cope with.

Peter was born on February 23, 1940, in New York City. He was the only son of actor Henry Fonda and his wife, Frances Ford Seymour.

Henry was known for his roles in Western films like "My Darling Clementine," and "The Ox-Bow Incident." and classics like "The Grapes of Wrath" and "12 Angry Men." In addition, he won an Oscar for his role on "Golden Pond."

Meanwhile, Frances was a Canadian socialite from an aristocratic family. She was King Henry VIII's third wife, Jane Seymour's distant relative, and named her daughter Jane Fonda after her.

Jane and Peter were the only children of Henry and Frances. However, Frances had a daughter named Frances de Villers Brokaw from her first marriage.

The Fonda family struggled as a result of Henry's fame. It was not easy for Peter and Jane to grow up with their father, especially after their mother's death.

Peter has previously revealed how difficult it was to grow up with his dad. He said he and Jane did not look forward to having dinner with Henry.

Their dad was quiet and said little. Hence, they felt he was judging them, and they did not do much that was right. This made their dinner table a scary place.

Also, Peter once revealed that crying was not acceptable in their household because their father grew up in a Christian Scientist household. Hence, he raised them to believe they could cure their pain or hurt by praying.

After Henry died at 77 in 1982, it was discovered that he had left Jane, Peter, and his stepdaughter, Frances, out of his will. Instead, he left his assets to his widow, Shirlee Fonda, who he married in 1965, and his adopted daughter with Susan Blanchard, Amy Fonda.

PETER'S CHILDHOOD STRUGGLES

Peter had a fraught relationship with his father. He was sent to boarding school at six and did not see Henry often in his youth. Sometimes, Henry was abusive towards him.

One of the things Peter struggled with in childhood was the absence of his mom. After Frances and Henry had been married for 13 years, she found herself part of a fraught existence.

Frances suffered from debilitating mental illness while her marriage with Fonda broke down. Henry also requested a divorce from her because he wanted to marry a much younger woman.

On the day Frances turned 42, she tragically killed herselfwhile living in an institution. Jane and Peter were 12 and 10, respectively, when their mom died.

The then-young kids did not know the actual circumstances behind her death and were told she died of a heart attack. However, a year later, Jane was in a study hall when a female friend handed her a movie magazine that revealed the truth.

Also, Jane has previously revealed that her mother had visited home with a nurse shortly before her death. Then, she and Peter were not told their mom was staying in an institution. Instead, they were told she was simply away.

When Frances requested to see Jane, she refused to come downstairs, and that happened to be the last time she ever saw her mother. Jane still feels guilty about that incident.

Like his older sister, Peter found out about the true circumstances of his mother's death years later. In his 1998 book, "Don't Tell Dad: A Memoir," he wrote that no one ever talked about his mom, and it was almost as though she never lived.

Although Peter was estranged from his dad, Henry, partly due to his mom's suicide, he ultimately reconciled with him before his death in 1982.

Peter reached out to Henry by offering him a role in the 1979 movie "Wanda Nevada." Henry accepted the role and the father-son duo began mending their broken relationship.

Two years after their reconciliation, Henry became critically ill. When Peter visited him, Henry's last wordsto his son were about how much he loved him.

PETER'S CAREER AT A GLANCE

Peter was an actor, director, and screenwriter. He was part of the counterculture of the 1960s and is famed for producing and co-scripting the 1969 film "Easy Rider," for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Peter also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his starring role in the 1997 movie "Ulee's Gold." In addition, he won the Golden Globe Awards for the Best Actor Motion Picture Drama for the same film.

He also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor Series, Miniseries or Television Film for his performance in "The Passion of Ayn Rand" (1999).

He also appeared in "Grace of My Heart," "Escape from L.A," and made a cameo appearance in "Bodies, Heat & Motion," which his daughter, Bridget Fonda, also starred in.

JANE AND PETER'S RELATIONSHIP

Jane and Peter shared a close sibling bond. After Peter's death, his sister spoke to People and revealed she was devastated by his passing.Jane also said she spent some time alone with Peter before he died and revealed he went out laughing. The actress said:

"I am very sad. He was my sweet-hearted baby brother, the talker of the family. I have had beautiful alone time with him these last days. He went out laughing."

In her memoir, "Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman," Jane also wrote about her relationship with her little brother when she was young.

In one of the chapters, she revealed she was jealous of how her mom kissed Peter's feet when he was a baby. She cried and ran away unhappy.The situation worsened as the young Jane felt doubly rejected as her mom focused all her attention on Peter.

However, Jane outgrew her jealousy over her younger brother and formed a close bond with him. The siblings leaned on each other amid their tough childhood, mom's death, and estrangement from their dad.

Peter was married thrice in his lifetime. His first wife was Susan Brewer, with whom he shared Bridget and Justin. They married in 1961 but divorced in 1974.

Peter married Portia Rebecca Crockett in 1975. They were married for 36 years before divorcing in 2011. That same year, the actor married Margaret DeVogelaere and remained married to her until he died in 2019.

Peter died at 79 of respiratory failure due to lung cancer. When his family announced his death, they urged people to celebrate his indomitable spirit and love of life by raising a glass to freedom.

Nearly a year after Peter's death, his wife sued Providence Saint Joseph's Health Center in Santa Monica and some of its doctors for alleged negligent behavior, which according to her, led to his death.

She claimed the doctors did not order the right tests and failed to properly advise Peter of more follow-up tests, which contributed to his death.

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Inside Final Days of Jane Fonda's Brother Peter Who Was Also an Actor & Suffered Tragedy at 10 - AmoMama