Category Archives: Sealand

The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or onbangordailynews.com.

In 1869, businessman Oliver Frost predicted that the time may soon arrive when the three great cities of North America Bangor, New York, and San Francisco shall be representatives of the wealth, population, intelligence, and enterprise of the eastern, central and western divisions of our country.

Bangor and San Francisco have not easily been confused since then, with a notable and entertaining exception.

News of German brewery worker Erwin Kreuz, who accidentally had a two-week layover in Bangor on what was supposed to be a visit to San Francisco, made the wayward traveler an almost immediate local celebrity in October of 1977. The Bangor Daily News first reported about his trip, and how Kreuz initially spent several days in Bangor thinking he was in the San Francisco area after disembarking his plane during a refueling stop, mistakenly thinking he was at his final destination. The realization that he wasnt where he meant to be, and the way Kreuz and this city embraced each other, became a national story and part of Bangor legend.

As far as travel mistakes go, this one turned out rather well. Kreuz was given the key to the city, became an honorary member of the Penobscot Nation and the Old Town Rotary Club, met Gov. James Longley and Andre the Seal, and had his birthday party at the venue of his choice (McDonalds). He might as well have been king of the Queen City.

If Kennedy can say I am a Berliner, then I can say, I am a Bangor, Kreuz said after returning to Germany, in praise of his new American friends. A third and final trip to Bangor didnt result in the employment opportunities Kreuz was hoping for, but a BDN report at the time said he will always carry with him the warm memories of friends he made in Bangor, Maine.

This is one of those feel-good stories with staying power. The BDN has revisited it several times over the years, including last fall. Across the country, in Kreuzs intended destination that he eventually made it to, San Francisco publication SFGATE also had a recent retelling of Kreuzs journey.

I think people really bought into the fun of it, and they didnt make fun of him. They really embraced him, Bangor historian Richard Shaw told the BDN in October of 2020. I think it says a lot about Mainers. He took to us, and we took to him.

He took to us, and we took to him.

This is a fun story, and when we started writing this editorial, we intended to keep it strictly fun, too. That changed, however, with the disturbing news out of Portland on Tuesday that a man allegedly harassed a woman and damaged her vehicle because she is of Asian descent. Disgusting attacks like this have been happening around the country.

According to police, the victim said the man yelled at her to go back to where she came from (for all we know, she may have spent her whole life in Maine) before he kicked and broke her driver side mirror. Her children were in the vehicle.

The man has been charged with criminal mischief and police are investigating the incident as a hate crime. Portland Police Chief Frank Clark said the attack cuts directly against everything we stand for in the city of Portland. That should be the reaction across the state.

As far as were aware, people didnt tell Kreuz to go back to where he came from. Instead, they gave him the key to the city. Mainers today can hold off on all that pomp and circumstance, but lets treat our neighbors and visitors with the same welcoming spirit that Kreuz experienced.

Call it a Kreuz Rule, under which we embrace people who are different from us and welcome them with open arms, like we would a lost German tourist. This shouldnt apply only to endearing folk heroes who find themselves here by accident, but also to the people who make a decision to come here and be part of Maines future, and to the people who are already here but might not look like many other Mainers in one of Americas whitest states.

If we can welcome the German brewery worker who came here by accident, surely we can continue to welcome the Congolese refugee or the Filipino immigrant who came here on purpose. And surely we can treat our neighbors of color with basic respect and dignity.

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EDITORIAL: Welcome everyone as if they are lost German tourists - Bangor Daily News

Ian Shive documents seabirds.Photo: Ian Shive/discovery+

Photographer and filmmaker Ian Shive is known for documenting remote locations, and it doesnt get much more remote than the Aleutian Islands. The chain of 2,500 islands jut off the coast of mainland Alaska and form a 1,200-mile (1,931-kilometer) arc in the Bering Sea. They are one of the most inaccessible, wild places in the world. Shive documented them in his latest special, The Last Unknown, which dropped on Discovery+ this week.

The archipelago formed tens of thousands of years ago when two tectonic plates met, pushing molten rock to the Earths surface and creating volcanoes that are part of the Ring of Fire. Today, there are 14 large volcanoes on the islands and 55 smaller ones. The islands are home to Indigenous communities who have resided there for generations, as well as a rich diversity of species, including orca whales, porpoises, sea otters, sea lions, seals, and tens of millions of seabirds. The islands are protected by their isolation, and also by their designation by the Fish and Wildlife Service as an Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.

The only way to get to the Aleutian Islands is by boat, so to document the region, Shive and a group of FWS scientists spent weeks (split over two summers) on a research vessel, sailing around the archipelago. The result is a rugged, adventurous documentary that provides an up-close look at a rarely seen locale. Shive and his crew, for instance, were the first to ever film at the Bogoslof, a volatile active volcano where one of the largest northern fur seal colonies in the world reside. The crew also captured the first-ever high-definition footage of the military relicslike fox holes and a B-24 bomber plane left on the islands when Japanese armed forces occupied two of the islands for one year during World War II.

The film, which is part of the show Nature in Focus, is full of stunning footage and serene, quiet moments, but is equally rife with adventure. Its parts David Attenborough movie and 1990s Kratt Brothers TV show for kids. You can stream it now on Discovery+.

G/O Media may get a commission

Earther spoke with Shive this week to learn more about the film. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Earther: What makes the Aleutian archipelago so special?

Ian Shive: Well, the archipelago is interesting because I think it gets often really overlooked. Alaska has cruise ships, Denali National Park, and the Kenai Peninsula, I mean its just a magnificent state. But the Aleutians, I think, somehow are always missed a little bit. For me, it was super appealing to say, hey heres this other place that I can explore.

The topography of the place is also really, really different. Its volcanic. Theres over 80 volcanoes that make up the northern edge of the Ring of Fire, so on the Aleutian Islands, you get an unusual mix of landscapes that you wont see in those other well-known other parts of Alaska.

Because theyre volcanic, theyre constantly in flux. So, theres 2,500 islands and theyre all mapped out, as we learned on the boat, theres a lot of islands that are newly reshaped. And some might even be completely new and are just popping out. Or there may be one island that soon might be two islands. Theres a lot of changes and a lot of dynamics happening geologically, that make it very exciting.

Earther: Could you talk more about that dynamism of the region? The film makes it clear that the islands change a lot. Do we know how much of those are based on healthy, natural processes, and how much of it is because of changes caused by humans?

Shive: One of the points of these expeditions is to try and assess the health of wildlife populations which are a broader indication of the health of their ecosystems, and then also of the health of the oceans and the global health of the climate. And you cant just make one trip to find that out.

From this trip and my other trips, Ive learned that nature is very intricate and complex, and that the details that indicate whether something is doing well or not doing well arent always obvious to us. One of the things we were looking at on this trip to the Aleutian Islands is creating long-term datasets, going to the same few spots year after year after year, because thats where trends emerge. Its the trends that really give us a good picture of whats going on in environment.

The seabirds of the Aleutian Islands are probably greatest indicator of the health of the whole ecosystem because they rely on the ocean for their food and also because theres millions of them in this protected area, in the national wildlife refuge. And so, by going to this place and seeing how the seabirds are doing, were able to get millions of samples that say, heres how this is doing.

In terms of the impact of outside society, during World War II, when some crafts landed on the island, they brought some rats with them.

Earther: Wild!

Shive: Yeah, and rats eat bird eggs so they can decimate current populations. A decade before we went out there, a team of people went out and tried to eradicate the rats. But we didnt know if it worked, until now. We went back to these wayward ships and on one island, we did discover that it was successful, that the rats are gone at least where we went.

But to get rid of rats on a remote island is an incredibly difficult thing, and so were trying to learn what kind of impacts we had on these places whether we realize it or not. Theres the big things like climate change that are affecting ecosystems everywhere and all the other challenges facing the oceans, but theres also those kinds of local things.

Earther: The islands are protected by the U.S. government. What do those protections afford them? What else could be done to protect the Aleutians?

Shive: The majority of the Aleutian Islands are protected by the federal government. Their designation is as a national wildlife refuge. Unlike a national park, where its the preservation for future generations of people thats important and given priority, wildlife refuges are wildlife first. So its not about human experience, its about making sure that were protecting wildlife, and that were taking this incredibly vital habitat, and ensuring that the wildlife are able to continue nesting and breeding and doing all the things that they rely on these places to do.

Unlike other places Ive been, though, they dont have an overlying protection. Theyre not protected as a marine national monument, for instance. In the past, there have been some proposals to extend protections further out. Like, could we protect not just most of the islands and some of the surrounding waters, but a much larger swath of surrounding waters to ensure that the whole ecosystem is afforded all of those protections? I think thats something thats really interesting to be explored.

That said, the refuge is not only protected by its designation, but unlike a lot of other places in the U.S., its also protected by remote isolation. Getting out into the Bering Sea is hard. That gives these islands a certain level of protection, just by the sheer nature of of where theyre located.

But then again, a lot of the species that rely on the islands are migratory. Theyre a really important stop for migrating birds. Even though there may be nesting there or breeding there, they may be travelling from other places that arent protected, and those other places could be affecting their health. The fur seals, for example, spend time in the Aleutians in the Bogoslof volcano where we filmed. But they are also connected to continental states like California. They may travel 3,000 miles (4,828 kilometers) to Los Angeles during migration. I live in Los Angeles. Its a wild thought that I was that far away in one of the most remote places on Earth on an active volcano looking at a fur seal, and that I may have seen that same seal on a beach in Malibu. All of these different worlds are with our everyday lives, which is just yet another reason why protection is so important.

We dont realize how connected all of these different worlds are with our everyday lives, which is just yet another reason why protection is so important.

Earther: I guess in a sense you were also migrating! Could you talk a little bit about the actual process of getting to the Aleutian Islands? You describe it at one point in the film as a brutal journey.

Shive: It was. I have a renewed respect for the scientists who make this trip every season and for a lot longer than I did. Once you get to the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, which in itself is not exactly the most populated part of the world, you would embark on the research vessel, which is a small ship. You go out on this small ship, and you get beat up pretty much. The thing is being thrown around roughly, its never really over 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 degrees Celsius), its almost always misty, or theres light rain, youve got salty seawater splashing over the edge of the boat. Youve got these big coats on all the time and you know if you fall into the water, youve got to get out pretty fast before hypothermia might set in.

In many ways, for where it is, its a real luxury. You get three hot meals a day that are prepared fresh. Unless, of course, its too rough on the water to cook, which happens, but almost always theres good food on there. But even when you get to the beaches, theres no dock, theres all this kelp to get through, youre riding out on a tiny little skiff boat that can get flipped by a wave. Or your engine can get caught in the seaweed, Id say that happened a lot, like nine out of 10 times.

And then you get there to the islands and its boulders that are ankle breakers. So youre trying to get off the boat through these boulders with 400 pounds of camera gear or science equipment. We all help each other. But then then theres no trail on the island, so you might be dealing with shoulder high grass thats also wet. And youre trying you to find an area where you can deploy scientific instruments. We do all of this like three or four times a day. We call it The Last Unknown but its not just the place thats unknown. Its the situations that were placed into, at the hands of so many variables where so many things could happen. You never really know what youre getting into.

Earther: But it was worth it?

Shive: It was the trip of a lifetime.

More here:

The Last Unknown Takes Viewers to Some of the Most Remote Islands on Earth - Gizmodo

There is an old saying that everyone complains about the weather but nobody does anything about it. Alaskan humorist Warren Sitka says the same about global warming. The big problem with global warming is that no one seems to care. From Key West to Port Townsend and San Diego to Bar Harbor, concerned Americans are reducing their carbon footprints from Size 12 to Size 11 , plastic bottles are still washing up on Atlantic and Pacific shorelines and the most popular motor vehicles being advertised on television are still mobile air polluters.

For Alaskans specifically, if you really want to see the deepening tread of our carbon footprint, take a trip to Kivalina, 23 miles above the Arctic Circle.

Cant afford the trip?

Then read Journey Through Fire and Ice.

For the reader looking for an on-the-ground look at a village and region in crisis, this is the book. For three reasons. First, Deanne Burch, a city girl, went with her husband to live in Kivalina for two years 50 years ago. She spent two years in the village at a time there was no telephone service, no internet, no cellphones, no running water, where mail came weekly if the weather was flyable, diet was berries, fish, seal, caribou, and all white women were treated with blatant suspicion. While her husband conducted a study of Natives, Deanne spent her time skinning seals, drying fish, picking berries and living a life of social loneliness. But what was to become critically important half a century later, she understood village life because she had lived it.

Second, Journey Through Fire and Ice is a look back and forward at the same time kind of book. The photographs in the book, taken by Joe Raedle of Getty Images, show a mix and mixing of then and now. Some of the photographs show the only difference between hunting then and hunting now are ATVs and more powerful rifles. Seal and caribou still have to be skinned and the fish still have to be dried.

Third, the now photographs are a flashing red DANGER sign. The ocean is advancing on the settlement in seven league boots. The village, situated on an isthmus, is protected temporarily by a massive, snakelike stretch of gravel that extends to the edge of the village. But only on the ocean side. On the lagoon side, the waters have eaten their way into the backyards of the residences. Bulldozer pour gavel onto the seaside while on the lagoon side, the residents are simply waiting to be flooded out.

For those who have lived in the bush, the book is a snapshot of the future of both coastal and riverine villages. The future is now because there is not a single indicator that the world is, can or has to the willingness to reduce its carbon footprint significantly in the next decade. By then it will be too late for the Kivalinas of the world. In a decade, Journey Through Fire and Ice may very well be an historical study rather than a story in progress.

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Journey Through Fire and Ice: A tour of our carbon footprint, 23 miles above the Arctic Circle - Anchorage Press

Gordon Ramsay has reacted to many cooking videos on TikTok, but one of his most popular clips to date involves Nutella spread all over a pricey Wagyu steak.

"Nutella on Wagyu? Seriously!! You idiot Nutella sandwich," Ramsay wrote in the caption of the video, which has been viewed more than 31 million times.

##duet with @realguga Nutella on Waygu? Seriously!! You idiot Nutella sandwich ##fyp

"They said, 'Guga, we love Nutella, we love steaks, why don't we combine them together?' And my first thought was, 'That's crazy, why would I do that?'" he said with a laugh.

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"What are you doing? Oh come on, Nutella on Wagyu?" Ramsay exclaims during the video. "You have to be kidding me. Stop it! Seriously? What an idiot!"

Tosta admits he also got a bit worried that the Michelin-starred chef didn't realize his Nutella steak was just an experiment. But his loyal followers soon flooded Ramsay's comments to set the record straight.

"I started looking at the comments and, to my surprise, all of my subscribers and viewers were telling him everything that I was thinking. 'Gordon you cannot roast Guga, what are you doing? He knows everything about meat!' I was like, wow, my viewers got my back! It was awesome," Tosta said.

"I'm pretty sure the first thing I ever cooked was a hot dog," he told Insider. "I've always grilled stuff. My grandma used to cook for me all the time, and I always used to be in the kitchen and cooking outdoors."

Nowadays, Tosta loves to share his tips and tricks - along with his more unconventional food experiments - on his popular YouTube and TikTok channels, where he's always honest about the outcome.

"I don't recommend you do that," he said. "It was a lot of fun, and that's the thing - when you're doing experiments, you learn a lot. Even as horrendous as it might sound, you really never know how meat will behave until you try it."

"If you really want to use a cheap kind of meat, you need to tenderize it first," he said. "And one of the great ways to tenderize a steak is by using natural enzymes from fruit."

"Then I'm pretty sure he'd approve of it," Tosta said. "But then, maybe not. It's Gordon, so who knows!"

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Gordon Ramsay roasted a chef who covered an expensive Wagyu steak with Nutella - Business Insider India

The latest statistical surveying research study on Global Coriolis Mass Flowmeters Market 2020 by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2026 provides a near look at the market scenario and dynamics impacting its growth. The report is inclusive of an in-depth evaluation of this industry that incorporates a basic overview of the global Coriolis Mass Flowmeters market with respect to its current status and the market size, with regards to its volume and revenue. The research allows the readers to measure concurrent developments to make accurate growth speculations and forecast assessments. It gives the key market insights of knowledge and the development of promoting factors. The report presents an exclusive overview of the competitive spectrum to identify major giants and ambitious players in the market.

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Major market players covered in the market are: GE Rheonik, ABB, Siemens, Honeywell, Brooks Instruments (ITT), Yokogawa Electric, TRICOR Coriolis Technology (TASI), Emerson, Schneider Electric, KROHNE Group, FMC Technologies, OMEGA Engineering, Endress+Hauser, Liquid Controls (IDEX), TOKYO KEISO CO., LTD, Heinrichs Messtechnik (KOBOLD), OVAL Corporation, Azbil Corporation, Zhejiang Sealand Technology, Shanghai Yinuo Instrument, Xian Dongfeng Machinery & Electronic

On the basis of type, the market is segmented into: Liquid Coriolis Mass Flowmeters, Gas Coriolis Mass Flowmeters

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Based on regions, the market is classified into: North America (United States, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia etc.), Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)

The research team has investigated principals, key players in the market, geographical fragmentation, product type and its description, and market end-client applications. Each and every player is studied in the global Coriolis Mass Flowmeters market report on the basis of the main business, gross margin, revenue, sales, price, competitors, manufacturing base, product specification, product application, and product category. Then, key players, major collaborations, mergers & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies are reviewed in the report. While showcasing a competitive landscape of this sector, the report marks the prevalent industry competition that is visible on both domestic as well as the global level.

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Global Coriolis Mass Flowmeters Market 2020 Applications, SWOT Analysis, Remarkable Growth and Competitive Landscape by 2026 KSU | The Sentinel...

DP WORLD has announced that London Gateway, Britains fastest growing container terminal, is now the UK port of call for two new major international shipping services, connecting the economies of Western Europe with the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa and Russia.

DP World the leading provider of smart logistics solutions has created an integrated business in the UK comprising two deep water ports with freight rail terminals at London Gateway and Southampton, meaning greater flexibility and choice for shipping lines and cargo owners.

London Gateway is now the UK port of call for Sealand-Maersks North Sea service, which connects the key economies of Northern Europe with the Eastern Mediterranean. Previously calling at the Suffolk coast, this major international shipping service has a 42-day rotation stretching from Western Europe to Cyprus, Egypt and Israel. After London Gateway, the service calls at Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Hamburg, Antwerp, Limassol, Ashdod, Alexandria, Haifa, Mersin, and finally at Port Said East before returning to London Gateway.

Also, London Gateway last month became the UK port of call for Unifeeders new St Petersburg service. Increasing its UK service in response to a growing demand for multimodal transportation, Unifeeder has introduced an additional loop connecting the Benelux and Russian markets with Britain. London Gateway is the preferred import hub because of its proximity to the capitals consumer market and is becoming a vital gateway for Shortsea and Feeder shipments to and from the UK. The new service has fixed day weekly connections on a rotation from London to Antwerp, St Petersburg, Bremerhaven and then back to London, offering connectivity with the entire Unifeeder network with multiple transhipment options.

Ernst Schulze, CEO of DP World in the UK, said: We are delighted to welcome two new services to the most technologically advanced and fastest growing container port in the UK. We have the capacity to continue to prioritise delivering first class services for all existing customers at the same time as handling new sailings which expand customer choice.

DP World in the UK is committed to being at the heart of Britains trading future, providing the right trading infrastructure and smart logistical solutions for our customers. We believe in the UK market and have the ambition and the resources to boost growth, support businesses, create jobs and improve living standards.

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London Gateway is now the UK port of call for two new major international shipping services - Fleet Transport

BANGKOK (Feb 6):Thailand is implementing the seal and bubble strategy to curb the spread of Covid-19 in factories in Samut Sakhon, the epicentre of the latest outbreak in the kingdom.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs deputy spokesmanNatapanu Nopakun said for factories providingon-site accommodation for their workers, the seal method would be used to prevent the workers from leaving the factory compound.

For workers staying outside the factorycompound, thebubble method would be used to allow officials toregulate the workersmovements between theirdormitories andworkplaceto prevent them from wandering off to other locations.

The seal and bubble strategy is expected to bring local transmission under control within 28 days, he said at a daily Covid-19 briefing here today.

Besides that, Natapanu said public health officials would scaleup active case detection in Samut Sakhon.

To date, he said, more than 140,000 workers at 845 factories in Samut Sakhon had undergoneCovid-19 tests.

Samut Sakhon, a province south of Bangkok, has recorded 18,897 cases and 19 fatalities since it was hit by the pandemic inmid-December .

Over the last 24 hours, Thailand recorded 490 new Covid-19 cases and zero deaths,bringing the cumulative figures in the kingdom to 23,134 cases and 79 fatalities.

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) assistant spokesmanDr Panprapa Yongtrakul said 412 of the new cases were confirmed through active case detection, with410 in Samut Sakhon and one case each inSamut Songkhram and Samut Prakan.

She said 67 new cases were from those seeking treatment at hospitals and another11 cases were imported, including one illegal entry.

After the fresh wave of Covid-19 in Thailand since mid-December last year,14 provinces are still free from Covid-19, while 47 provinces havenot reported new cases for at least seven days, she said.

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Covid-19: Thailand implements 'seal and bubble' strategy to curb transmission in factories - The Edge Markets MY

During a recent discussion of the challenges the new Biden administration faces, retired Adm. William McRaven said Russian President Vladimir Putin has outplayed the US and that Russia is the greatest external security threat.

I am often asked where do I think the greatest external security threat is, and I always point to Russia, McRaven, a former Navy SEAL and special-operations commander, said at a Chatham House event on Tuesday. A lot of people think about China, but Russia jumps to mind first.

While he acknowledged that Russia is not the superpower it once was, he stressed that Putin has outplayed us.

He has played the great game better than anyone on the world stage, McRaven said of the Russian president. Pointing to Russian actions in Crimea, Ukraine, Syria, and even the US that were detrimental to American interests, he said: Putin is a very dangerous person.

China is often regarded as the pacing threat for the US, and during the Trump administration, tremendous emphasis was put on countering China with less attention paid to Russia.

Nonetheless, Russia is a great power rival, listed as a leading threat alongside China in the 2018 National Defense Strategy.

We do need to find areas where we can partner with the Russians, McRaven said, but make no mistake about it, I think we need to take a hard line with respect to Russia We need to let Putin know that there are lines you just shouldnt cross.

McRaven praised President Joe Bidens first phone call with Putin, in which the president,according to a White House readout, made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies.

Biden is said to have discussed arms-control concerns, asserted US support for Ukraine, and pressed Putin on the massive SolarWinds cyberattack that affected a number of federal government agencies and bureaus, election interference, and the poisoning of the Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

I was pleased to see the president in his first phone call with President Putin addressed Alexei Navalny issue, McRaven said. I dont think President Trump would have done that.

As president, Donald Trump did not condemn Russia over the poisoning of Navalny, whom Russia recently put in prison.

Commenting on his discussion with Putin, Biden said Thursday that he made it clear to President Putin, in a manner very different from my predecessor, that the days of the United States rolling over in the face of Russias aggressive actions interfering with our election, cyberattacks, poisoning its citizens are over.

We will not hesitate to raise the cost on Russia and defend our vital interests and our people, he added.

McRaven said Tuesday that the US needed to not only make its position clear to Russia but also rebuild and leverage alliances to make sure that Russia understands how they need to play.

The Biden administration has made priorities of rebuilding alliances, reengaging in international affairs, and leading with confidence and humility. The presidents foreign-policy approach stands in stark contrast with Trumps America First policies.

During his presidency, Trump was criticized by Democrats and some Republicans for pushing away allies and partners while at times cozying up to adversaries.

In particular, critics expressed concern as Trump struck a conciliatory tone toward Russia, despite warnings from across the intelligence community and other parts of the US government that Russia was engaged in activities that harmed US interests.

McRaven,who voted for Biden despite considering himself a conservative, was an outspoken critic of Trumps policies.

In anopinion columnpublished in August, McRaven wrote that Trump was actively working to undermine every major institution in this country as the US struggled with rising threats from China and Russia, among other challenges.

One of hismore famous op-eds was a 2019 articletitled Our Republic Is Under Attack From the President, in which he said: If this president doesnt demonstrate the leadership that America needs, both domestically and abroad, then it is time for a new person in the Oval Office.

He said Trumps actions threatened the trust of Americans allies and partners.

If our promises are meaningless, how will our allies ever trust us? If we cant have faith in our nations principles, why would the men and women of this nation join the military, McRaven wrote. And if they dont join, who will protect us? If we are not the champions of the good and the right, then who will follow us? And if no one follows us where will the world end up?

McRaven served nearly four decades in the military. As the commander of Joint Special Operations Command,he oversaw Operation Neptune Spear, the successful military raid that killed the al-Qaida leader Osama bin Ladenin 2011.

After retiring from the Navy in 2014, he went into academia and has written best-selling books on leadership, including Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life and Maybe the World and Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations.

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Former Navy SEAL commander says Putin has outplayed the US and Russia is the greatest external security threat - We Are The Mighty

The death of Professor David Washbrook (b. April 25, 1948 d. January 24, 2021) has robbed South Asian history of one of its most incisive and robust voices. Over a career spanning five decades, Washbrook was a significant figure in many of the key debates that animated the field. And in many ways, his intellectual trajectory reflects the shifts in its historiography.

Washbrooks career as an historian of colonial South Asia began and ended at Trinity College, Cambridge. As an undergraduate, he became drawn to the study of colonial India under the tutelage of Anil Seal; and, as a Junior Research Fellow at the college (1971-74), he completed a doctorate on the politics of the Madras Presidency. In 2007, he returned to Trinity as a Senior Research Fellow, after holding academic positions at the universities of Warwick (1975-1993), Harvard (1986) and Oxford (1993-2007).

Washbrooks early books South India: Political Institutions and Political Change (1975, co-edited with Christopher Baker) and The Emergence of Provincial Politics: The Madras Presidency, 1870-1920 (1976) swiftly established him as one of the rising stars of the so-called Cambridge School. This new approach to the study of Indian nationalism sought to set aside its high flown rhetoric and uncover the underlying material imperatives that drove politicians and their local patrons. Understandably, the Cambridge approach was met with criticism, especially in India, where it was seen as a Namierite reading of Indian politics, downplaying the ideology, norms and values of the anti-colonial struggle. Yet even in his early writings, Washbrook was not the cynically detached analyst conjured by his critics. He had already begun to draw important connections between ecology, agrarian class relations and the political economy of colonialism.

These themes were to inform the next phase of his scholarly career, which saw him move back in time to 18th-century South India. The shift in research focus yielded essays that contributed to a new account of late pre-colonial South Asia and its transition to colonialism. Notably, Washbrooks interventions highlighted the significance of an incipient capitalism and its impact on class formation and corporate institutions prior to the English East India Companys rise to political power. Moreover, he argued, the early colonial state consolidated the practices of state mercantilism that it had inherited from pre-colonial regimes. Two major essays published in Modern Asian Studies Law, State and Agrarian Society in Colonial India (1981) and Progress and Problems: South Asian Economic and Social History, c. 1720-1860 (1988) offer richly suggestive distillations of the revisionist perspectives that transformed South Asian historiography in the 1980s. As with his earlier writings on Indian nationalism, Washbrooks arguments about the colonial transition had its critics, especially scholars of the Subaltern Studies collective. And as before, the ensuing debates drew a new generation of scholars to the study of South Asian history.

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Washbrooks turn to the study of 18th-century South India also led him to frame the regions past within the history of the evolving capitalist world economy. In the mid-1980s, he critiqued Immanuel Wallerstein and his world systems analysis for its ahistorical assumptions about South Asias economic past. Over time, this critique paved the way for a series of essays in which Washbrook located India firmly at the centre of the early modern global world.

The final decade of his scholarly career saw Washbrook expand his scholarly interests in new directions. There were forays into the intellectual and cultural worlds of 18th-century South India, the history of the scribal classes in early modern India, and the role of princely states in the making of Indian modernity. Some of this work was published over the last decade, but it would not be surprising if the scholars proverbial bottom drawer contains much that was being worked up for publication.

Yet for all the shifts, there were enduring continuities in Washbrooks oeuvre as a historian. For one, there was the deep investment in the study of South India, the vast and varied region that was his favoured unit of historical analysis. Equally, one can discern a constant preoccupation with the social history of capitalism and class relations. Indeed, Washbrooks focus on class prompted some to consider him a Marxist. (I once asked him if this was the case; I am all for the Marx of the 18th Brumaire, he responded.) This perception was strengthened by his methodological approach, which tended to combine astute sociological analysis with a sharp sense of historical conjunctures and structural contradictions. And finally, much of his best work was conducted in dialogue and partnership with colleagues who shared his concerns and interests: the early publications on Madras with Chris Baker; the revisionist perspective on the 18th century with Chris Bayly; the writings on South Asian historiography with Rosalind (Polly) OHanlon; and the essays on transnational and global history through his engagement with the scholarship of Joya Chatterji, Prasannan Parthasarthi and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, as well as the activities of the Global Economic History Network (GEHN). The range of his scholarly collaborators and interlocutors, and the high regard and affection that they had for him, was fully in evidence at the conference held in his honour at Trinity College, Cambridge, in May 2014.

Also read: A Tribute to D.N. Jha, a Historian Who Will Be Remembered for Treasuring Plurality

Alongside his considerable achievements as a historian, Washbrook taught, supervised, mentored and examined two generations of scholars working on South Asia. I became his doctoral student shortly after he succeeded Tapan Raychaudhuri as Reader in Indian History at Oxford. As a supervisor, he was generous, patient and wise. He wore lightly both his erudition and his authority. One looked forward to supervision sessions with him at St. Antonys, not only to receive feedback but also to feed off the throwaway remarks that came thick and fast on such occasions.

Above all, it was hard to reconcile the pugnacious writer with the affably avuncular figure, radiating reassurance and good humour, that one encountered in person.

Prashant Kidambi, Centre for Urban History, University of Leicester, United Kingdom.

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Remembering David Washbrook, and His Historical Insights on Class Relations in South Asia - The Wire

The use of Native American mascots at public schools has again come into question as a Massachusetts bill proposes eliminating the practice, which Native Americans say mocks their culture.

Sen. Jo Comerford, a Northampton Democrat, refiled a Senate bill, SD 417, that would make the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education create regulations prohibiting public schools from using Native American epithets in team names, logos or mascots, as well as references to Native culture or specific tribes. Rep. Nika Elugardo, a Boston Democrat, and Tami Gouveia, an Acton Democrat, refiled the House version.

Native American leaders who for years have advocated for the bill say its a matter of increasing racial equity.

Native mascots hurt everyone, said Elizabeth Solomon of the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag in a statement. Their negative effects on Native peoples are most evident but, because they promulgate and reinforce stereotypes about Native Americans, they are damaging to anyone who aspires to an equitable and just society.

The mascot bill is part of a larger agenda pushed by Native leaders in Massachusetts, Comerford told MassLive last month. Lawmakers passed another proposal under that agenda at the end of the legislative session the morning of Jan. 6, a bill that launched a commission to review and change the state seal.

The seal shows a hand holding a sword believed to belong to English militia leader Myles Standish hovering over the head of a Native person with the Latin motto that translates to, by the sword we seek peace. Gov. Charlie Baker signed the bill to review the seal and motto into law on Jan. 11, according to the Legislatures website.

The work to rethink the commonwealths seal is important, but its not the only thing we have to do, the Northampton Democrat said at the time. Native leaders have laid out a number of steps for us in the indigenous agenda. Theres this bill, theres a bill to ban Native mascots, theres a bill to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day, so theres a number of things theyd want to see.

School officials in Pittsfield, Athol and other Massachusetts communities have retired athletic team mascots and teams, while others doubled down. In September, the Agawam City Council voted to keep the Agawam High Schools sports team name, The Brownies, as well as its caricature of a Native American as the mascot.

At least 26 schools in Massachusetts have mascots or logos that reference Native Americans.

Shawna Newcomb, a Mashpee Wampanoag tribal member who teaches at Hanover Public Schools, said she sees schoolchildren growing up seeing their heritage derided through mascots and logos.

It is nearly impossible for Indigenous students to thrive and feel confident in their skin when their heritage is mocked and continuously stereotyped by their school mascot, Newcomb said.

The bill would require the states school board to set a deadline for schools in violation of the regulations to choose a new athletic team name, logo or mascot.

Schools would be allowed to keep the old name, logo or mascot on its signs or marquees until the district is scheduled to replace those items under its maintenance schedules. That means any new marquee, sign or fixture would need the new name, logo or mascot.

Schools would be allowed to continue using uniforms or other materials with the old markers if they were bought before the deadline, according to the bill. But those schools would have to have picked a new name, logo or mascot and refrain from buying materials with the old name, logo or mascot. They also would have to refrain from replacing any signs or buying yearbooks with the old name, logo or mascot.

The bill states it does not prohibit Native American tribes identified by the Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs from choosing a Native name or logo for a sports team, including tribal schools or intramural leagues.

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Native American mascots under spotlight as Massachusetts bill proposes eliminating their use in public schools - MassLive.com