Registered 501(c)(3)
AaronStronG
Changing Lives through
the Power of a Growth Mindset
To Date : $81,394.48
Donated to Families
and Organizations
About AaronStrong
GRIT Spotlight
Trisomy Fundraiser
Motivational Blog
Adversity defeats people daily.
By inspiring and empowering others to develop:
Resilience,
Initiative and
Tenacity,
The AaronStrong Foundation provides individuals with the tools to confront and persevere through adversity to build inner strength.
Diamond Contributors
Shane Greene - Detroit Tigers
Mark Stolarski
Platinum Contributors
John and Nancy Nilsen
Hancock Real Estate Team
Rojas Properties
to become a contributor!
Who is Aaron?
on Social Media!
#GRIT
#ChangingLives
#BeAaronStrong
The AaronStrong Foundation is a non-profit foundation dedicated to inspiring individuals and groups to lead thoughtful, focused, hopeful lives, choosing a lifestyle that is committed to minimizing the lows and celebrating the highs that come with the power of positive thinking and use of a growth mindset.
Whether it is your individual, family, or professional life, or your team, business, church, or organization, utilizing a growth mindset will help everyone get the most out of all aspects of their lives.
AaronStrong presentations challenge you to win the battle over both internal and external factors in life over which you have no control.
We want you to unleash the power within yourself, to teach you what it means to use GRIT strategies, and to inspire you to become the champion of your own life!
Happy #MotivationalMonday (1/13/20)
When you think of talent, you most likely think of something that you are naturally good at; some ability you have been blessed with. Although being talented at something is an amazing gift, it can also become someone's downfall. When we are talented at a certain skill, sometimes our mindset is one that leads us to believe we don't have to work as hard in that area as someone less talented at that skill. It is this exact mindset that leads us into allowing our talents to become our nemesis. One day you are the best at the ability you have been gifted with, and the next day you have been bypassed by those who have outworked you.
Don't let your talent become your nemesis. Instead, work hard to improve on it everyday. Talent is a gift; it is what you do with that gift that make the difference!
David Bultema - Founder & Executive Director
#WinTheDay #GRIT #GrowthMindset #AaronStrongFoundation #ChangingLives #LoveTheProcess #BeatMondayBattles #MakeYourLifeCount #MyPlatform
September 18, 2019 - The Comeback Kid - One Year Later
Bailey Trinder
Only one year ago, Bailey Trinder was starting his junior year at Foundation Academy, active on the football team and eager for a great season. But a tragic car accident on September 6th, 2018 left him with a 3% chance of survival. After 46 long days at Orlando Health, he miraculously went home to his family in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down.
He returned to school the following January and turned a corner mentally and physically. Even though he had ongoing occupational therapy, he was ready to tackle the real world and get back on track with his schooling and activities. His teachers and friends were an immense support system, as well as his family and local church. They all made acclimating back into normal life smooth for Bailey.
But he had some adjusting to do. After the accident, Bailey's thoughts shifted from normal teenage worries like how he would perform in the next football game, to, How can I help my teammates now, from the sidelines?
Even arriving at places required him to think, Where is the easiest access point for my wheelchair that won't be too much stress on my arms and shoulders?
The AaronStrong Foundation celebrates
$75, 000 in donations!
In January of 2016 when David Bultema registered AaronStrong Foundation as a 501(c)(3) Non-profit organization, his dream was to encourage people struggling through adversity. He had trudged through the valley of death and disappointment, exemplifying what it means to find hope on the other side.
Because fundraising came naturally to him, the vision was to raise funds to give to specific non-profits already in place, such as Trisomy 18 Foundation and Central Florida hospitals. Because of his story, those were close to his heart. (Click HERE for David's Story).
What he didn't know was that in just three years, the foundation would celebrate $75,000 in donations to not only non-profit organizations, thus fulfilling his dream, but local families suffering adversity. His story of pushing through extreme adversity would impact his community of Central Florida in such a personal way.
He couldn't have dreamed of being surrounded by "AaronStrong believers"- those who focus more on the comeback than the setback, and a loyal community that stands behind their neighbors during times of trial.
This month, we are humbly celebrating the following remarkable ways we were able to connect with our community over the past three years with a total of $75,000 in donations.
Perseverance Scholarships for Students
Over $6000 in scholarships for higher education were given to 11 students from local high schools and colleges as a reward for their gritty attitudes in the midst of physical, social and economic challenges.
"Perseverance can only lead to happiness, for even when you fail to reach the stars, you still make it over the mountains."
Sydney Countryman from Lake Minneola High School said that writing a personal essay about her adversity with a nerve condition was very difficult, and she shed a lot of tears in the writing process. But the hope that there was a silver lining to her pain kept her going. She used the scholarship money to pay for several textbooks for her freshman year.
Suzanne Chaar from East Ridge High School wasn't sure she would be able to fulfill her dream of attending UCF. When she received the award, a huge weight fell off her shoulders because she realized she could.It was such a relief not to worry about money. She thought, "Okay, I can go to college now."
Jose A. Perez from South Lake High School shares this personal thought for all those struggling with adversity: "Perseverance can only lead to happiness, for even when you fail to reach the stars, you still make it over the mountains."
Wheelchair for Young Girl in Need
In 2018, we gifted a local 5-year-old with a $3000 wheelchair that was not covered by insurance. David and Leah Bultema met her through friends and were humbled at the chance to give back to someone in our area who has made it this far with the rare disorder of Trisomy 18. (Read the story behind Aaron Bultema HERE.) Most children diagnosed with the genetic syndrome do not make it to birth, and only 5-10% survive the first year.
It was a unique opportunity to be a blessing to others affected by Trisomy 18.
Donations to Trisomy 18 Foundation
We have also been able to donate over $2,000 to Trisomy 18 Foundation founded in 2003
to raise awareness of the genetic syndrome, also known as Edward's syndrome.
The Foundation provides support and community to families suffering from the diagnosis.
They also advocate research, treatments, and prevention.You may notice that we seem to
highlight the numbers 3 and 18 a lot. It is not an accident, because as hard as our struggles are,
symbols remind us to push through and make a better tomorrow. The 18 represents the
Trisomy 18 syndrome, and the 3 represents that it contains a third chromosome when there
should only be two.
In our grief, seeds are planted that grow to reach out to others. What we do after the loss is what defines us.
Family and Individuals Experiencing Setbacks
Our amazing community reaches out when they know someone suffering a setback and AaronStrong has been able to donate $4000 to specific family and individuals. Whether it is a death in the family, an illness or an injury, the hope is that they realize others have walked through dark valleys too and they are not alone. They can keep fighting through, knowing that they have a community of support surrounding them.
We were also happy to donate to South Lake Hospital's program that purchases dinner for families staying at the hospital. We gave $318 to help pay for meals in the fall of 2018.
DJ Myers and Family
When David saw Coach Woolum post on social media that one of his football players at South Lake High School suffered a devastating injury during a game, he jumped at the chance to donate to help out the family. As he realized how much the family was about to come up against, he rallied the masses, even getting the principal at Lake Minneola behind the effort.
"I'm broken but not defeated."
They campaigned for three weeks to raise over $3000. Even though David didn't know them personally he showed up at the hospital to encourage them before they headed home to start the long journey of recovery. DJ Myers spent three months at Orlando Regional Medical Center and has since returned to the football sideline, in his wheelchair, to cheer on his teammates. He is paralyzed from the waist down
but is hoping to finish high school and go on to college.
In November of 2018, his #1 jersey was retired at South Lake High School. He's been known to say, "I'm broken but not defeated." His spirit is strong. Not only did the family appreciate the effort, but David's heart was being prepared for another injury that would hit his community.
DJ Myers
Bailey Trinder and Family
On September 6, high school student Bailey Trinder was involved in a terrible car accident that has left him paralyzed from the waist down. His miraculous recovery after fighting a 4% chance of survival and spending 46 days in the hospital is credited to all the prayers and support from the community.
In total, $45,000 was raised for the Trinder family.
He returned to school on January 7th in his wheelchair and is adjusting to his new "normal.
" He is overwhelmed by the support of his school, Foundation Academy.
AaronStrong hosted several fundraisers from September-December for the Trinder family. In total, $45,000
was raised for the Trinder family. But in special recognition and tradition of the foundation, we added
$318 to the total. The family is grateful for the prayers and support of the community as well as the donations.
100% of our revenue comes in from fundraising, events, and donations. We rely on our community to come behind the mission of AaronStrong and give to keep us around. Without you, we wouldn't have been able to write such a big check to Bailey Trinder's family or provide a wheelchair for a little girl. Our gratitude for your support cannot be overstated.
A special shout-out to our Diamond Contributors: Matt & Chelsea at Hancock Real Estate, Shane Greene with the Detroit Tigers, and Mark Stolarski.
We also want to recognize our Platinum Contributors: John and Nancy Nilsen, Rojas Properties, and Patty Raspa.
To anyone else who has participated in our annual 5K or golf tournament, signed up to donate monthly or came to our many local fundraisers with Bucks for Bailey and others, Thank you! We hope these stories encourage you to get involved in the encouragement of our community.
Written by Kim Patton
Marketing Journalist for AaronStrong
"The POWER of a Growth Mindset"
Power of a Growth Mindset Segment 2
EGL Genetics Blog
In Memory of Aaron — How You Changed Our Lives
Hope. Faith. Family. These three things have been our focus and have strengthened tremendously through Aaron's journey. Although we could've easily chosen a path leading to destruction following the loss of our son, we instead chose a path of recovery. That choice made one of the toughest times of our lives one of the greatest blessings.
When David and I found out we were expecting again we were surprised, but very excited. The thought of a third child was a little scary. While David was worrying about how he would handle a potential girl in the mix of all boys, I had other concerns...
Texas Roadhouse Clermont
We would like to thank Texas Roadhouse-Clermont for their continuous support of the AaronStrong Foundation!
We appreciate this major companies support of
a local nonprofit.
Your continued support really
means a lot to us!!!
Meet the 2019 AaronStrong
Perseverance Scholarship Winners!!!
Eziekiel Faulknor
South Lake High School
Savannah Mitchell
Lake Minneola High School
Katie Stedelin
Laurieanne Shaffer
Tavares High School
Tanner Romano
Eustis High School
David Lee Memorial Scholarship
The AaronStrong Foundation offers a $718 scholarship, to be used towards a post-secondary educational program, to students who have successfully faced adversity while staying on track for graduation. If you feel that the cards were stacked against you, but you were able to persevere through and overcome adversity, then click below to access our scholarship for the 2019-2020 school year (coming soon). This scholarship is for high school seniors graduating in 2020.
Here are two of our past winners share their personal GRIT stories and reflect on life after winning the scholarship.
Suzanne Chaar won the scholarship in 2016 from East Ridge High School and is now studying in her third year at UCF in the Pre-med program.
When she started her freshman year in February of 2013, she was processing through the trauma and grief of leaving her war-torn home country of Syria with only a 12-hour notice. She was in culture shock and didn't know anybody. She was the only one at first wearing a head covering for her Muslim faith and struggled with the sudden flood of a new language, English.
Suzanne leaned heavily on her family during this lonely time, especially her two older brothers who spoke English and helped her in school. She also had great English teachers who used Google translate to help her through the first two years. In the summer she met friends from Lebanon who wanted to practice Arabic, while Suzanne wanted to practice English. They spoke a lot back and forth, and became some of her first friends.
Starting her junior year, she stopped taking ESL and started taking AP classes. That's when she started to make friends, as well as dream about the future. She wanted to go to college, especially UCF.
When she received the award, a huge weight fell off her shoulders because she realized she could attend college. She didn't touch her scholarship money except for summer classes so that she could quickly finish her degree. It was such a relief not to worry about money. She thought, "Okay, I can go to college now."
The money she got from the scholarship combined with others to pay for her two years at Lake Sumter where she earned an Associate's degree before moving on to UCF.
Looking back at how much she has overcome encourages her to keep going. She has learned from every mistake she made and has chosen to accept the challenges instead of running from them. She has learned what it means to be self-aware and know her limits. Since she is studying pre-med, she can very easily be overwhelmed by the workload. Now she knows to take mental breaks, enjoy a day off to de-stress and take care of her health.
Her advice to those struggling would be, "The numbers (GPA, grades, etc. ) don't define who you are." She had to take the English exam ten times in four years to be able to pass. She barely passed the ACT reading section. But she has learned to work hard toward the grade and then let her best be enough.
She advises, "Take life one step at a time, not four steps ahead. Focus on what you have right now."
Sydney Countryman won the scholarship in 2018 from Lake Minneola High School
When Sydney found out about the essay contest to win a scholarship, it gave her hope that there was a silver lining to the struggles that she had in high school. She knew it was a good chance to share her experience to encourage others.
Sydney suffers from Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a Neurological disorder that causes the nerve signals to fire pain constantly. Many days she was wracked with pain, in and out of the hospital, and even used a wheelchair. She wrote her essay about dealing with an illness while working hard to stay consistent with school, winning Bright Futures Scholarship and getting into FSU.
Writing the essay was a bit of a challenge. Because it was personal, she didn't enjoy delving into the details. It was hard, a lot of tears were shed during the process. It took time to formulate the thoughts and feelings, and she invited her mom into the room with her as she wrote. Sydney pushed through because she wanted to prove to herself she could do it, and push back against the naysayers who doubted her worth.
Getting the scholarship was very overwhelming for Sydney and when she got on stage, she was wrapped up in her best friend's hug. He said, "I told you so."
She used the scholarship to pay for five different textbooks, online resources, and classroom materials.
Sydney keeps her nerve disorder in check by doing a treatment program involving intensive physical and occupational therapy. She is remission, but she has to keep moving and pushing herself through the pain. She goes to the gym, eats healthy and has become a self-care "expert."
She has taken the GRIT mindset with her to college at FSU. She studies a lot, doesn't settle for B's because she knows she can do better. She works on campus with a non-profit called Camp Kesem that helps kids who are struggling with parents diagnosed with cancer. The circumstances are unpleasant, but the bond is magical. She knows what it is like to be a scared little girl, as she was a camper herself. Sydney is now repaying the favor and has gone out of her way to get people to send money by hosting a fundraiser.
Her best advice for those struggling is that "The truest strength you are ever going to find is within yourself." She encourages them to keep breathing. As much as you have friends and family to support you, tell yourself you are going to make it through, you can do it. "I am weak, I hurt, but I can do this."
She wants to encourage others that even though things are hard, life isn't about the bad stuff that happens. It helps you appreciate the good stuff. She has learned not to focus on the big things, but the small things like when your friend brings surprise food, class gets canceled unexpectedly, Krispy Kreme donuts, laughs with your best friend.
Lastly, here is some encouragement from Jose A. Perez, 2016 winner from South Lake High School.
"Like a child learning how to walk, you will fall. It will be a guarantee. You will make mistakes, that is fine. But the child will crawl all his life, never being able to explore, if he decides to give up because of some bumps and bruises. Don't give up! Though it may be difficult from time to time, focus on what you are good at. Seek help! Be confident in yourself and humble at the same time. Take life one stage at a time and make it through high school, ten years later after high school and college, you will be very proud and happy that you never gave up. Grace and Peace!"
Thank you to The Daily Commercial for your coverage of the AaronStrong Presentation
at Lake Minneola High School! We appreciate your support!
Click HERE to access the inspirational article!
"Everyday Hero"
David Bultema's interview with a local news station about the AaronStrong Foundation and Trisomy 18.
Click HERE for a link to the article
Interested in donating to AaronStrong? We raise money for high school scholarships, help fund charities, and give presentations to inspire change, growth, and success in others.
The message is just the beginning! Beyond presentations, we give back to the community by raising funds for families in need, offering scholarships, hosting events,
and donating to charitable organizations.
David Bultema
Growing up, David's childhood was similar to that of many American families. His parents were blue collar workers who had enjoyed their share of success, as well as their share of struggles. But they were determined to provide a solid stable home for their family. It was an environment that should have encouraged David to follow in their footsteps and become a solid contributor to society. However, regardless of the experiences presented to him, David's perceptions and responses focused on the negative, which then resulted in a lack of success and a low satisfaction with life.
David's GPA halfway through high school was a 1.6. He had allowed life situations that were outside of his control to negatively affect other aspects of his life.
"I let one tough situation control me, which then turned into multiple other tough situations. I always made excuses about why it wasn't my fault. My perspective was all wrong."
Until one day, when David had a defining moment...
Pitcher -Detroit Tigers
I sat in on one of Coach Bultema's AaronStrong presentations at Lake Minneola High School. To say I was moved would be an incredible understatement. Coach Bultema spoke with a remarkable openness about the misfortunes he has faced in his adult life. He talked about his estrangement from his mother and his desire to rebuild that relationship, only to learn she had committed suicide. He spoke about Aaron and the struggles his family went through and about the sudden death of his father – his best friend – of a heart attack. And through it all, Coach Bultema spoke about the importance of maintaining a positive outlook and approaching each day with the intent of making it a success. His ability to connect with the young people who seemed captivated by his story made his message all the more powerful.
It's one thing to give a presentation where students are using it as an excuse to miss a class. It's another to speak for nearly an hour and have countless students rush you to thank you for telling your story. That was the case with Coach Bultema. Boys and girls alike stood in line to shake his hand and thank him for the inspiration. From my perspective, as a parent of a Lake County Schools student, I would strongly suggest that every school – elementary, middle and high – make plans to host an AaronStrong presentation. For some kids, it could be impetus for future success.
Frank Jolley
The Daily Commercial
"Dave truly has a gift to motivate. I've been a witness of his eagerness to enrich others lives for the last decade. Talk to any of his players, students, co-workers, or peers and you're going to get similar reactions - they would go to battle for that guy.
Dave has an ability to get down to the roots, where things really matter, and where influence can cause sincere change. Through Dave's life experiences and his enthusiasm to genuinely impact others in an uplifting manner, the world now has the opportunity to be positively impacted by Dave.
AaronStrong is something that I'm mindful of everyday for it's relevancy to impact all situations life throws my way. There's no doubt lives will be touched and the impact of AaronStrong will influence each and every community that embraces this movement."
Brian Dempsey
Co-Owner Turn2 Sports and Performance
Watching you build yourself back up through tragedy taught me a lot more than any book or counselor ever could. Showed me that whatever life throws at you, getting back up and finding the flicker of light in the darkness might not always be easy, but once you find it, and feed that light with positivity and hope, you'll be okay. Thank you!
Michael Plant
Click HERE to submit a testimonial!
"Passionate, motivational, committed, and perseverance are just a few words that comes to mind when speaking of David Bultema. I had the honor of hiring Mr. Bultema as a US History teacher at Lake Minneola High School in 2011. His addition to the staff at Lake Minneola has been a true blessing.
I asked Mr. Bultema to share his story with the faculty of Lake Minneola High School. It was then that I realized his high levels of and sincerity genuineness. In spite of all the challenges that today's students bring to the table, Mr. Bultema is committed to finding success in each every student.
Mr. Bultema has been given a gift from God to share his testimony. He has realized that every day is a gift. It is up to us to use our gift to be a blessing to others. That gift can be invested or wasted. Hours can be used or misused. Mr. Bultema, thank you for investing your gift to make a difference in so many lives.
I completely support the vision of The Aaron Strong Movement. Turning negatives into positives is desperately needed in our society and throughout the world."
Linda Shepherd-Miller
AaronStrong Inspiring The Community
info@BeAaronStrong.com


10 Glamorous Jazz Festivals In Australia For All Jazz Admirers
Mani Arora
For the wild and free wanderers at heart, there's no place like Australia for a heady dose of natural wonders, world-class wines, dazzling cities and delightful culture. While each of the coastal cities flaunt their unique character and allow you to immerse in their unique travel experiences, the Australian wild is just as intriguing with so many exotic animals, enchanting ocean roads and enticing rainforests. While scintillating Sydney charms with its stylish cityscapes and gorgeous beaches, Melbourne is the cultural heartland with quaint alleyways, delectable cuisine and art & music running through its veins.
It's not surprising then that Melbourne also leads the way for the country's love for music by hosting one of the best Jazz festivals in Australia. The history of jazz goes back a long way in Australia and almost all cities have popular jazz clubs and festivals. Join us on our hunt for the best Jazz festival in Australia as we hop along this magical country for the love of great music.
Top 10 Jazz Festivals In Australia
Planning to attend an electrifying Jazz festival? Check out these Jazz festivals In Australia that you can attend and have an amazing trip. Keep scrolling down!
1. Melbourne International Jazz Festival
This annual musical extravaganza is one of the leading Jazz festivals in Australia and the world, first held in the year 1998. Carrying forward the spirit that 'jazz can happen anywhere', the international jazz festival in Melbourne Australia aims at making jazz accessible to all and providing a platform for performances, collaborations and engagement with this fantastic musical style at all levels. The festival takes place across concert halls, art venues, jazz clubs and also the streets of Melbourne which come alive with the spirit of jazz in the air. The festival is marked with a diversity of performances that showcase modern masters as well as budding talent, through free shows, late night art events and ticketed shows.
Dates: 28th May-6th June 2021
Suggested Read: Australia On A Budget: An Ultimate Guide For Enthusiastic Backpackers To Explore The Best Of The Country !
2. Jazz By The Bay Festival
This feast for music lovers is undoubtedly one of the most interesting and anticipated Jazz festivals in Australia owing to its outstanding line-up of jazz masters and the picture-perfect setting. Nothing can match the experience of treating yourself to the dulcet notes of jazz as you sip a fine wine and savour gourmet food. Surrounded by beaches & wineries, jazz lovers can soak in the mellifluous music and gently sway to the lilting notes of the piano, saxophone and drums that transport you to musical heaven. Exceeding its own expectations every year, this spectacular event lures jazz loyalists from far off corners for an out of this world experience in one of the most beautiful parts of Australia.
Dates: 1st to 5th April 2021
3. Port Fairy Jazz Festival
One of the newest entrants to the list of Jazz festivals in Australia the Port Fairy Jazz Festival aims to be a celebration of both traditional and contemporary jazz. Voted as the world's most liveable community, the beautiful Port Fairy area is the perfect setting to bring alive the magic of jazz in all its intoxicating avatars. The festival also has the distinction of being a not for profit effort managed entirely by volunteers dedicated to the cause of promoting and popularising jazz in the country. The first instalment of the festival in 2017 was a smash hit and the organisers plan to stick to the same format year after year. The festival moves along its journey this year with the promise of a stellar line-up and an Open Mike session.
Dates: 17th February 2021
Suggested Read: A Handy Guide To Enjoy A Virtual Intercontinent Tour Of The Ghan Australia!
4. Newcastle Jazz Festival
Regarded as one of the top Jazz festivals in Australia, the Newcastle Jazz Festival is organised by the Newcastle and Hunter Jazz Club that aims to promote live jazz performances in the region throughout the year. With its first instalment in 1988 the festival has come a long way and earned an enviable reputation with more than 40 bands performing this year, including local musician and big international ensembles. With a rich variety of music ranging from traditional to contemporary jazz, blues, swing and jazz orchestras the festival attracts music lovers from all states of the country as well as New Zealand.
Dates: 27th-29th August 2021
5. Manly Jazz Festival
Once a year the world-famous Manly beach plays host to the shining stars of jazz from around the world for one of the most popular Jazz festivals in Australia. Manly Jazz Festival is a befitting celebration of jazz with packed performance across various indoor and outdoor stages along the gorgeous beach. Jazz enthusiasts throng the more than 100 free performances to soak in the myriad flavours of jazz presented by world-renowned artists and bands. What sets this festival apart is not just the beautiful location but also the diverse hues of music that it presents, ranging from New Orleans jazz to fusion, blues, swing and roots to enthral music lovers of all tastes.
Suggested Read: 7 Villas In Townsville Where One Can Enjoy A Comfortable Stay While Holidaying At Australia!
6. Wangaratta Festival Of Jazz & Blues
Running in its 30th year, this stalwart amongst Jazz festivals in Australia has played a pioneering role not only in shaping the course of jazz in the country but also keeping its flag flying high on the musical landscape. Over the years the Wangaratta Festival has maintained its commitment to showcasing new talent with outstanding potential as well as presenting large-scale events featuring leading names in the world of jazz. This dynamic festival perfectly balances large ensemble performances amidst thousands of spectators with intimate sessions in charming settings like the Holy Trinity Church. With its innovative and consistent efforts, the festival has succeeded in generating a loyal base of jazz aficionados that throng the festival annually.
Dates: 1 to 28th February 2021
Suggested Read: 10 Romantic Places In Queensland One Must Visit To Rekindle The Love In Australia!
7. Perth International Jazz Festival
Finding a place amongst the top seven Jazz festivals in Australia, the Perth International Jazz Festival was initiated in 2012 by the visionary professor Graham Wood. Since its inception, the festival aims at making this genre of music popular amongst the local and international community. The PIJF endeavours to bring both fresh talent and acclaimed jazz musicians from Australia and around the world to an enthusiastic audience of music lovers. There is a perfect blend of ticketed as well as free community events across a range of venues in Northbridge, each offering a unique experience. Performances vary from intimate to boisterous depending on the audience and their understanding of jazz.
Dates: 25th June to 3rd July 2021
8. Brisbane International Jazz Festival
Held every year over a 6-10 day stretch this is one of the most anticipated Jazz festivals in Australia with an impressive line-up of internationally renowned jazz stalwarts and new-age performers along with talented Australian jazz artists and composers. Spread over multiple venues, the Brisbane International jazz Festival takes pride in presenting new talent, encouraging international collaborations and organising workshops as well as free events. The vocal and instrumental workshops allow serious jazz lovers to interact with and learn from the doyens of the genre, making it a truly memorable experience.
Suggested Read: 10 Restaurants In Townsville Every Foodie Must Visit To Get A Taste Of The Authentic Australian Cuisine!
9. Murray Bridge Jazz Festival
This 'not for profit' musical event is considered the leading Jazz festival in south Australia and makes an important contribution towards keeping the jazz flag flying high with its superior performances. This annual celebration of traditional jazz and Dixieland music features bands from across the country as well encourages promising local talent in the region. This popular annual jazz event held every year October, offers the unique experience of listening to your favourite jazz bands on a river cruise as well at the Town Hall and Murray Bridge Hotel.
Date: To be announced
Time: 11AM-10PM
Ticket price: Early birds can avail a price of $35/person for the entire weekend.
10. Devonport Jazz Festival
One of the iconic winter Jazz festivals in Australia, the Devonport Jazz is held every year in the north-western Tasmanian coast since 2002. With more than 200 performers enthralling audiences across more than 30 venues, this award winning festival celebrates various genres and styles of jazz. The program each year aims to win the hearts of not just ardent jazz lovers but also to those seeking introduction to this versatile form of music. Young and old music lovers throng to the diverse venues including churches, art venues, pubs, cafes and community halls for a rendezvous with outstanding local and international jazz artists. Workshops and international collaborations add to the immersive jazz experience.
Dates: 22nd to 25th July 2021
Further Read: Gold Coast In June: An Ultimate Guide To Enjoy A Thrilling Summer Vacation In Australia!
Considering the incredible jazz scene in the country, this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as Jazz festivals in Australia go. As you experience the magic of Australia, do not miss out on attending one of these for some truly unforgettable musical moments.
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Category: Australia, Festivals, Jazz
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Warship Wednesday, March 2, 2016: Fritz and the short career of an Italian battlewagon
Posted on March 2, 2016 by laststandonzombieisland	4 comments
Here at LSOZI, we are going to take off every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week. These ships have a life, a tale all of their own, which sometimes takes them to the strangest places. – Christopher Eger
Warship Wednesday: March 2, 2016 Fritz and the short career of an Italian battlewagon
Photo colorized by irootoko_jr
Here we see the Littorio-class battleship (corazzata) Roma, the pride of the WWII Regia Marina and last flagship of Admiral Carlo Bergamini. While her 15 months of service to Mussolini's Italy was uneventful, she ended her days with a bang.
Although the modern Italian Navy saw little service in the first few decades of the 20th Century– primarily being used in an uneventful blockade of the Austro-Hungarian fleet in World War I and a few skirmishes with the Turks before that– the admirals in Rome had a twinge of panic in the 1930s when the French laid down new, fast battleships for service in the Med.
To augment the Regia Marina's four modernized Conte di Cavour (29,000-ton/10×12.6-inch guns) and Andrea Doria-class (25,000-ton/13×12-inch guns) World War I battleships, four new fast battleships of the Littorio-class (Littorio, Vittorio Veneto, Roma, and Impero) were envisioned with the first laid down in 1934.
These ships, which if you squint and look at them from a distance look a lot like the U.S. North Carolina-class battleships which followed just after, were beautiful, modern vessels.
With a full load displacement pushing 50,000-tons, they carried nine 381 mm/50 (15″) Model 1934 guns in three triple turrets guided by distinctive "Wedding Cake" Fire Control Directors and were capable of firing a 1,951-pound AP shell to a maximum range of a staggering 46,807 yards– and keeping it up at 1.3 rounds per minute.
Her 381 mm (15.0 in)/50 cal guns were tested to nearly 50,000 yards in experiments on land.
While the Littorios were reasonably fast, capable of 30 knots, they achieved this by using thin armor (just 11 inches in belt and much less on deck) which put them at risk against other large battleships (or significant aircraft-dropped ordnance) though below the waterline they used the innovative Pugliese torpedo defense system, a 40mm armored bulkhead blister outer hull over a 15-inch liquid-filled void. Although the Pugliese wasn't ideal, the Soviets copied it for their last battleship class and the Littorios survived no less than four serious torpedo attacks during World War II (though air attack is another story).
But we are getting ahead of ourselves.
The hero of our sad tale, Roma, was the third and last of the class to be completed (Impero was canceled, her unfinished hulk ultimately sunk as a target). Laid down 18 September 1938 at Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico in Trieste, when WWII came less than a year later, work slowed on Roma and she was only completed on 14 June 1942.
Roma upon commissioning
Gunnery trials
Roma was beautiful on the inside too it would seem – rather lavish officer's quarters.
Commissioning. She would never be this beautiful again
Arriving at Taranto on 21 August, she was assigned to the Ninth Naval Division, though with the general lack of fuel experienced in all of the Axis countries by that stage of the war, she rarely went to sea.
In November, with the Americans landing in North Africa in Operation Torch, all three Littoros were moved from Taranto to Naples to lay low. The Americans quickly found them, however, and after air attacks Roma and her two sisters were moved to La Spezia where, for the next several months, they endured near-weekly air attacks that left all of the ships bruised and battered though unbroken.
Soon after commissioning she was given a distinctive camo pattern
In all, over a 15-month period, Roma spent a grand total of just 130 hours underway under her own steam.
Her deck fore and aft had red and white diagonal stripes
As Rommel was defeated in North Africa and the Allies began landing on Sicily in July 1943 during Operation Husky, the Italian fleet at La Spezia consisting of the three Littoro sisters, a few cruisers and eight destroyers was put under the command of Admiral Carlo Bergamini, who chose Roma as his flag. An old-school surface warfare officer, Bergamini had picked up a silver medal in 1918 during the Great War while the gunnery officer of the cruiser Pisa, and commanded the Italian battleship division from the deck of Vittorio Veneto during the Battle of Cape Spartivent– which was about the closest thing to an Italian victory over the Royal Navy during WWII.
Then in September, the Allies began Operation Avalanche, the invasion of Italy proper. This led Bergamini, under orders from the new Italian government who sought an armistice with the Allies, to take his fleet across to La Maddalena in Sardinia where King Victor Emmanuel III was setting up new digs, thus keeping the flower out of navy out of German hands.
The only thing was, the Germans weren't a fan of that plan, as the Allies jumped the gun and announced the secret Italian armistice on the radio in Algeria on 8 Sept.
Battleship Roma, date unknown
Slipping out in the predawn hours of 9 Sept, Bergamini's fleet, joined by three cruisers from Genoa, made for Sardinia and just after dawn saw Allied planes observing their movements– but not attacking. Then, around 1340 that day came the news the Germans had seized La Maddalena, leaving Bergamini in a pickle as he cruised through the narrow Strait of Bonifacio between Corsica and Sardinia.
Over the next two hours, six German Do 217K-2 medium bombers from III. Gruppe of KG 100 (III/KG 100) were seen by lookouts, each carrying what appeared to be a single large bomb. At 1530, these bombers climbed and hurled one of these oddball new bombs– that seemed to maneuver in flight– at the battleship Italia (Littorio), exploding just off her stern, damaging her rudder.
Then at 1545 a second bomber dropped a 3,450-pound, armor piercing, radio-controlled, glide bomb, which the Luftwaffe called Fritz-X, right down Roma's gullet.
Depiction of the Dornier Do-217 Fritz X attack on Italian battleship Roma. The glide bomb had a flare in its tail to allow the bombardier to guide it to its target from up-to 5km away
"End of the Roma 1943" by Paul Wright. Note the very distinctive markings on deck. However, the flare on the Fritz-X seems a little too rocket-like as the bomb was unpowered.
The Italian battleship Roma listing after being hit by German Fritz X radio-controlled bombs launched by Do 217s, Sept. 9, 1943. Italian Navy photo
Eight minutes later, another Fritz struck the already crippled ship, leading to a magazine explosion that killed the vast majority of her crew– including Bergamini.
Explosion aboard Roma, Strait of Bonifacio
Capsized, she broke in two and sank by 1615. In all, two Admirals, 86 Officers and 1264 sailors were taken down to the seafloor with the stricken flagship who had less than 3,000 miles on her hull.
The rest of the fleet carried on and eventually made Malta where they were interred under British guns for the duration of the war, later moving to Alexandria where they remained until 1947. While Roma's sisters, Italia/Littorio and Vittorio Veneto were on paper given to the U.S. and Britain respectively as war prizes, this was largely to keep them out of Soviet hands and both were scrapped at La Spezia in the early 1950s.
On Fritz, KG 100 continued to use these amazingly destructive weapons– the first effective smart bombs and precursors to current anti-ship missiles– in attacks on the cruisers USS Savannah, USS Philadelphia, HMS Uganda and the British battleship HMS Warspite, though without sinking them. Within months, the Allies figured out Fritz could be foiled by attacking his radio waves and by the Normandy invasion had issued some of the first electronic countermeasures to the fleet to jam the German wunderweapon.
German aerial picture of the KG100 attack on Warsprite
As for Roma, her wreck was discovered in 2012, found at a depth of 1,000 meters around 25 km off Sardinia's coast. It is preserved as a war grave.
An Italian Navy picture of a AAA gun on the Roma, found at a depth of 1,000 meters around 25 km off Sardinia's coast.
Bergamini in death was promoted to the rank of Ammiraglio d'Armata and two frigates, one in 1960 and another in 2013, have been named in his honor, the latest of which had top of the line air defenses against anti-shipping missiles.
Italy's first FREMM class frigate, Carlo Bergamini (F590)
Image by Shipbucket
Displacement: Full load: 45,485 long tons (46,215 t)
Length: 240.7 m (790 ft.)
Beam: 32.9 m (108 ft.)
Draft: 9.6 m (31 ft.)
8 × Yarrow boilers
128,000 shp (95,000 kW)
Propulsion: 4 × steam turbines, 4 × shafts
Speed: 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement: 1,920
3 × 3 381 mm (15.0 in)/50 cal guns
4 × 3 152 mm (6.0 in)/55 cal guns
4 × 1 120 mm (4.7 in)/40 guns for illumination
12 × 1 90 mm (3.5 in)/50 anti-aircraft guns
20 × 37 mm (1.5 in)/54 guns (8 × 2; 4 × 1)
10 × 2 20 mm (0.79 in)/65 guns
Main belt: 350 mm (14 in)
Deck: 162 mm (6.4 in)
Turrets: 350 mm
Conning tower: 260 mm (10 in)
Aircraft carried: 3 aircraft (IMAM Ro.43 or Reggiane Re.2000)
Aviation facilities: 1 stern catapult
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tagged with battleship, battleship roma, Bergamini, coal fired ironclad, KG100, Littorio, Littorio battleship, old warships, Regia Marina, Roma, steampunk navy, vintage warships, Vittorio Veneto, warship wednesday
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Tag Archives: trickle down economics
How Much Will It Cost? (Revisited)
The questions of "how much will it cost?" or "How will you pay for it?" are always posed by the media's journalists to the planned spending proposals of Labour and all the other parties, bar the Tories. That the Tories have dominated the economic discourse since the 1980s cannot be denied. Indeed, political journalists have accepted the economic orthodoxy uncritically in the decades that have followed and there are, in my mind, two reasons why they do this. First, they're not economists and second, they're lazy. Even the economics editors of the major news organizations tend to be drawn from the Thatcherite School of Household Management Economics, and will base their analyses and their questions on its flawed logic.
Now, I'm not an economist but my instincts regarding national finances are correct: household analogies are nonsense and journalists who repeat them are foolish. The reductivist economic dogma of the Tories and UKIP has dragged this country into recessions (there were three during the Thatcher years) and have forced people into ever greater poverty, while the rich have seen a manifold increase in their incomes.
In an article by Richard Murphy of Tax Research (two days after my piece), he puts to bed the myths that have passed for economic competence and credibility for over 30 years. He opens by saying:
The most dangerous question in political debate in the UK is the one always rolled out by every journalist, on air or in other media, which is to ask a politician 'How are you going to pay for it?' where 'it' is whatever the politicians has just proposed to do.
He then provides three reasons why this question is a dangerous one and provides handy replies to the clueless hacks who insist on asking the question.
You can read the rest here.
All governments borrow and spend money. That's how national finances work. In seven years, the Tories have racked up more debt than the previous Labour government did in 13 years. Moreover, Labour has a better record of paying off debt. In 1976, the Wilson government was forced to take out a loan from the International Monetary Fund to pay for the Sterling Crisis, which was caused by the Heath government's economic mismanagement. It was paid off by 1979. Thatcher's Tories continued to use the IMF loan as a stick to beat the Labour Party even though the loan had been repaid. Yet Kinnock refused to counter these lies. Finally, the Corbyn-led party has awakened to the need to counter the Tories' myths and lies about the national economy and borrowing/spending. And about time too.
Filed under economic illiteracy, Economics, General Election 2017, neoliberalism
Tagged as economic illiteracy, economic incompetence, Richard Murphy, tories, trickle down economics, voodoo economics
I can barely believe it. A little over 24 hours after I wrote the last "Life on Hannan World" blog, up pops Dissembling Dan with another. This time, it's about taxation and flat taxes in particular.
Talk of flat taxes will always get right-wingers and self-styled libertarians moist. They (the followers of obscure economic theories) love the idea of everyone paying the same rate of tax. They believe that everyone (sic) will benefit from a flat tax system. Of course, it's a lie and they know it, and no matter how plausible they make their argument sound, the simple truth is that only the rich will benefit from such a tax system.
So what's prompted the Lyin' King to write a piece in defence of flat taxes? This article in the Daily Mirror, which reports Oliver Letwin's remarks about simplifying the tax system. Inevitably the issue of flat taxes is mentioned. But that's not the reason why The Cat is interested in Hannan's blog. It's the fact that he actually claims flat taxes would benefit the poor (sic). Have a look at this title:
Lower, flatter, simpler taxes will help everyone – especially the poor
Gloriously misleading and, quite frankly, nuts. I once had some right-wing libertarian tell me, apparently straight faced, that the poor were "richer" at the end of the 19th century than at the beginning. The clue is in the word "poor". If you are poor, then you aren't, by definition, "rich". But it's the way he claims flat taxes will "help" the poor that get me. It's not as if he knows what it's like to be poor and, at any rate, Hannan usually approaches the poor through fictional characters. Even the photo he uses to accompany his blog reveals more about his attitude to dissent that he'd care to admit.
Hannan claims, among other things, that a flat tax system would eliminate tax avoidance. But is that all? Well, no.
The real benefit of the flat tax, though, is not in stopping top-end avoidance. It's in cutting the cost of compliance for everyone else. I have yet to come across a small business in my constituency that doesn't need an accountant. Nor have I met a single person who has read and understood the tax code in its entirety.
Did you see that? He says the "real benefit of the flat tax" is apparently about "cutting the cost of compliance for everyone else". The problem with taxation in Britain is this: the system is regressive. Britain has possibly the most regressive taxes in the world. Where else in the world would one have found a window tax, for example? Only in Britain, which is still run like a technologically advanced Norman kingdom. Council Tax, for example, is a regressive local tax that is not based on a person's ability to pay; it is levied on outdated property values. Therefore, in theory, a person on an income of £12,000 per annum living next door to someone on £53,000 a year, and living in a similarly banded property, pays the same amount in Council Tax. Got that?
Hannan claims:
Flat taxes make tax avoidance both purposeless and impossible.
Oh? And where's the proof? There isn't any. It's hypothetical.
The only way the Lyin' King can proclaim the supposed 'benefits' of a flat tax system is by having a pop at his greatest foe: socialists.
You'd think that socialists would approve. Instead of the super-wealthy exploiting exemptions, moving their assets abroad, emigrating or simply retiring earlier, they'd be paying a higher share of our national revenue. The state could then either spend more in absolute terms or cut taxes for everyone.
Why on earth would socialists approve of a flat tax system? It's absurd. Only greedy capitalists adore the idea notion. The last time this country had a flat tax was in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was called the Poll Tax.
First, almost no one is pushing for a completely flat rate – supporters of the idea recognise that, in a welfare state, there needs to be an exemption before you start paying tax at all, ideally set at around £12,000 a year. Second, a flat tax will, in a short time, make middle- and low-earners considerably better off as the rich pay more and the tax burden on the rest of us falls commensurately.
"£12,000 a year'? I wonder if Wonder Boy knows what it's like to live on £12,000 a year? But it's this idea that, somehow, the rich will magically pay more tax that's a real sticking point here. If everyone is paying near enough the same rate of tax, then it's only logical that those at the lower end of the income scale will suffer. That's the people on £12,000 or slightly more, Dan. Have you got that?
At the end of his piece, he lets fly at UK Uncut. Why? Because he doesn't like the way they chase down tax avoiders. He'd rather they didn't exist.
I sometimes wonder whether UK Uncut types are happier nursing their grudges, warming themselves with the glow of righteous anger, than on fixing the problem. Or, to put it another way, whether they are keener on attacking the rich than on stimulating the economy. That, of course, is their prerogative. But what a pity to see the government humouring them.
What the Lyin' King deliberately misses is that UK Uncut is a pressure group and is thus not in a position to "fix" the problem. They aren't the ones who devise tax codes, nor are they in a position to implement economic policy. That's the job of the government. The same government that Hannan supports. He whines that UK Uncut is "keener on attacking the rich than on stimulating the economy". Why shouldn't they attack the rich? Why shouldn't they attack greed? Now Dan would tell you that greed is "natural". But then, so is violence. Yet we have laws on the statute books to punish the violent, but we don't punish the greedy.
Hannan's claim that a flat tax system would create parity between incomes is misleading. The rich would dearly love to see a flat tax because it would mean they actually pay less, not more tax. He stands up for the powerful in society and regards the weak as parasites, draining the life force of the nation. If he talks about the poor, he regards them in the abstract. Tories can only see the world through the prisms of wealth, privilege and power. Anything else is of no consequence. The flat tax is a dangerous fantasy.
Filed under Media, Tory press
Tagged as daniel hannan, flat tax myth, greed, Laffer Curve, Oliver Letwin, taxation, tories, trickle down economics, UK Uncut
The Mythical Laffer Curve
I've mentioned the Laffer Curve a few times on this blog, often in connection with one of its greatest proponents, Señor Daniel Hannan. This excellent blog from Robert Nielson expertly debunks the myth of the Laffer Curve. The curve was allegedly sketched on a napkin in a restaurant by right-wing economist Arthur Laffer to illustrate "taxable income elasticity" and to thereby rationalize the so-called "trickle-down effect" (also known as voodoo economics) and flat taxes, in particular. The Laffer Curve is closely associated with supply side economics and, in particular, Reaganomics. The idea that flat taxes will magically benefit everyone is patently absurd, especially when one considers the example of the Poll Tax and the effect that it had on low-income households.
The Laffer Curve is also known by the name "Laffer-Khaldun" Curve on account of the fact that it was originally devised by the 14th century Muslim philosopher Ibn Khaldun. Laffer simply appropriated it and deployed it as a sort of neoliberal talisman.
Filed under economic illiteracy, Economics, neoliberalism
Tagged as Arthur Laffer, daniel hannan, flat taxes, holy icons, neoliberalism, Poll Tax, Thatcher, trickle down economics
Why right libertarians take semantic refuge in classical liberalism
Classical liberalism in action – Victorian workhouses were prisons for the poor
Recently, I've noticed the numbers of right libertarians who have suddenly started claiming that they're really "classical liberals". Like cockroaches when they're exposed to the light, vigorous scrutiny of their soi-disant libertarianism sends them scurrying into the gap between the skirting board and the floor of discourse. There, in the darkness, they feel safe. There they can claim that they are "classical liberals". But their new-found old position relies entirely on the mass ignorance of the term "classical liberalism" and the historical materialism of the 19th century when classical liberalism (then called liberalism) was first applied as an economic doctrine.
These born-again classical liberals will apply the same narratives that exponents of neoliberalism will use as a defence of their doctrine: that wealth can only be created for all if the state is "smaller" and business is freed from "bureaucracy" and "red tape" and that wealth will consequently trickle down to those below. This, they argue, will bring forth 'freedom' but the freedom that they speak of only applies to a small section of the population: the factory owners and the rentier capitalists. Trickle down doesn't work, yet these born again classical liberals will claim that it does – though none of them can point to examples of where trickle down has succeeded.
So what are the key defining features of classical liberalism and how does it differ, if at all, from right libertarianism?
Classical liberalism's key features are
smaller state/limited government
Laissez faire capitalism/free markets
Freedom of speech, religion, press and assembly
Disregard for the poor and the needy
Right libertarians
Smaller state/limited or no government
Freedom of speech. religion, press and assembly
Disregard for the poor and needy
As you can see, there isn't much difference between either of them and when right libertarians suddenly proclaim that they are "classical liberals", they are dishonest in making this largely artificial distinction. The real reason for declaring themselves as classical liberals has more to do with romanticism, nostalgia and outright dishonesty than anything else. They want to go back to a time when people knew their place and stayed there. Social mobility did not exist; the working class stayed in their place. They were denied access to higher education and were tied to their places of work. Knowledge was reserved for the privileged and the powerful. In the eyes of the dominant political hegemony, knowledge in the hands of the subaltern classes was considered dangerous (think of William Tyndale's struggle to publish the Bible in English). Because with knowledge and ideas came the possibility that authority could be questioned, which could lead, in turn, to civil disobedience and insurrection…even though this happened anyway and was met with considerable force.
The neoliberals and those right libertarians who subscribe to the small state notion are actually the descendants of classical liberals. They can no more return to the past, then I can become the King of Tonga. They have selectivized the past by appropriating certain memories of the classical liberal period, which always seem to orbit the sun-like narrative of the British Empire. When one puts the point to them that Adam Smith's assertion that "free markets will lead to world peace" is fallacious proposition, they will respond by asking, "did free market states go to war against each other"? It's a red herring. There were plenty of wars, many of them waged by free market states against other nations. Free trade relied on wars and the colonization of other countries. It also meant outdoing the competition from other free market nations. Presumably, for our apologists, the Opium Wars were not waged in the name of free trade but were waged to punish the Chinese for not accepting opium rather than silver as payment for silk? It's a fatuous argument but it's the sort of defence right libertarians would use. In the 19th century, the British Empire was the biggest drug pusher on the planet- there is no getting away from it. It was because of this idea of "free trade" that countries like China were forced to "open" their markets and thus open themselves to decades of foreign domination.
Classical liberals denied the right of workers to organize. It was only when the last of the Combination Acts was repealed that workers were able to organize in any meaningful way. Socially, classical liberals were very much against the idea of the relief of poverty and sought to contain it within the Poor Laws. The workhouse, which had been around since the 14th century, saw an expansion in the 19th century after the passing of the Poor Law of 1834. Today's born again classical liberals have similar ideas with regards to the poor and the unemployed, for whom they have resurrected the artificial distinctions of "deserving" and "undeserving". Any money spent on the relief of poverty was seen as another impediment to the freedoms of the rich and powerful. One 'argument' that I encountered was "The working class were richer (sic) in 1899 than they were in 1801". But this is another red herring: the working class were never "rich" and lived in overcrowded rented accommodation. Few of them moved up the social ladder. Those that did became the petite bourgeoisie: the shopkeepers, market traders or were otherwise recruited as instruments of oppression, nor did they buy their own properties in leafy districts of the industrial cities nor did any of them become industrialists. There was a glass ceiling preventing those at the bottom from becoming say, MPs, because of the property qualification.
The right libertarian is a dishonest creature that substitutes myths and tropes for facts. They extrapolate their arguments from sets of numbers in the hope that no one will spot the flaws in their thesis – which always overlooks society in favour of cold economic statistics. This decontextualization of numbers from the societal whole is their only defence and it's a weak one. But the worst offence is to claim that they are "classical liberals" when they are really right libertarians looking for a way to divert attention away from their very postmodern interpretations of selfishness and greed by hiding in the darkness of the past.
The use of the phrase "classical liberalism" by right libertarians is therefore an exercise in semantic subterfuge and should be laughed off as such.
I found this interesting blog written by an anarchist. Right libertarians don't live in the real world.
Filed under 19th century, Economics, History, History & Memory, Ideologies, Labour history, Language, Society & culture, Trade Unions, workers rights
Tagged as Adam Smith, British Empire, classical liberalism, Combination Acts, decontextualization, Jeremy Bentham, neoliberalism, Opium Wars, Poor Laws, right wing libertarianism, social Darwinism, trickle down economics, workhouse
Murdoch tells Lord Snooty to "stay the course"
When Rupert Murdoch tells mainstream politicians to jump, they always ask "how high"? Today, the Old Bastard advises Cameron to "stay the course". The Guardian (a paper now caught between a rock and a hard place after backing the Lib Dems) says,
Drawing a direct comparison between the government and Margaret Thatcher, Murdoch said: "Like the lady, the coalition must not be for turning."
Delivering the first annual "Baroness Thatcher lecture" to a group of enthusiastic neoliberal apologists, he opened by lavishing praise on Thatcher,
This evening we have come here to celebrate a great leader who championed a profound idea. That idea was freedom. At home and abroad, she expanded the boundaries of freedom – and sculpted a legacy that spans generations and crosses party lines.
What "freedom" would that be, Old Bastard?
Today the ideals of individual freedom and responsibility find steadfast advocates in the Centre for Policy Studies. You were founded by the then-Mrs Thatcher and her loyal friend, Keith Joseph, back in the early 1970s.
When Keith Joseph began his work, he described it as an effort to convert the Tory party to economic liberty. Let me say: You have more missionary work ahead.
Their idea of freedom comes with a price tag that most of us cannot afford. The Old Bastard opines,
It was that appreciation of individual aptitude and ability that made her so intolerant of the strictures of socialism. How quickly too many people have forgotten that she has not only changed Britain, but, along with Ronald Reagan, changed the world, much, much for the better.
Funny, I don't see that: I see a world where people are forced to work until they drop. I see the gap between rich and poor getting wider and I see the same old lies about freedom in your papers. Free trade is not free for those countries that have their industries ruined by cheap imports from the richer nations.
The Old Bastard tells us that,
President Lula of Brazil may have started life as a socialist, but now he is a Thatcherite. Without pride, people will not prosper. And without a bigger cake, the portions will get smaller, and the vulnerable will suffer most.
Funny how they like to come out with stuff like this. The vulnerable are already suffering yet Murdoch and his cronies can only see things from the perspective of extreme wealth. They talk about 'wealth creation' as though their steadfast adherence to neoliberal economic policies will genuinely result in 'wealth' trickling down to those below. You've tried this stuff for 30 years and it still doesn't work. Time to give it up.
Murdoch's lecture is a timely reminder of who really pulls our politicians strings.
Filed under Media, News Corporation
Tagged as David Cameron, Margaret Thatcher, neoliberalism, Rupert Murdoch, trickle down economics
The Tory response to the IFS report: shoot the messenger and then kill his extended family
There's an old saying, "if you don't like the message then shoot the messenger". And so it is with this coalition. When the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report on the Honorable Gid's emergency budget was presented, it didn't take long for the usual suspects to start complaining of some sort of 'left wing conspiracy'. One commenter on this blog described it as "Daily Mail headline-grabbing". This is ironic, given that the Daily Mail is a Tory-supporting paper.
Clegg was the first to slam it, complaining that it was "partial". The usual suspects have entered the fray to both praisesong Osborne and complain how 'fairness is ruining Britain'. The first is this article from Policy Exchange bod, Neil O'Brien who also writes for the Daily Telegraph (quelle surprise!). He presents a series of bar graphs (yeah, bar graphs) which he then uses to justify how the poorest in Britain will be 'better off'. Then he says,
I don't really want to get into the ins and outs of who is right in these arguments here, which are pretty complicated. Even the IFS admit their claim is fair less clear cut if you look at expenditure rather than income. And everyone knows that the statistics at the bottom end are dodgy and hard to measure. If you believed the stats, lots of households in Britain would appear to be surviving on no income of any kind, benefits or otherwise.
So you admit that you haven't got a clue then? What makes the statistics at the bottom 'dodgy'? Is it because those stats undo your argument?
Then he says,
The third problem is even more profound. Free societies like ours are complicated, and difficult to understand or steer. It's often difficult to predict the effects of any given policy change. Brilliant government wheezes can have disastrous effects, and ideas which were seen as hopeless can end up saving the day.
So there is a possiblity that these changes could have disastrous effects?Policy Exchange man in two-face shocker! But Hannan leaps on this and makes the bold claim,
Neil O'Brien has already done a superb job of demolishing the claim that the last Budget was unfair to the poor. (The BBC, like The Guardian, told us that these claims came from a report by the "respected" Institute for Fiscal Studies, neglecting to mention that the report had been commissioned by a Left-wing pressure group).
Oh yeah? Which "left wing pressure group" is this? The left wing pressure group in question is End Child Poverty. What's the matter Dan, don't you want an end to child poverty or do you see child poverty as a 'price worth paying'? It shouldn't surprise any of us that Hannan is against such things. He is a self-confessed fan of Ayn Rand, after all. Yet if this report had been commissioned by say, The Freedom Association (of which Mad Dan is a member), there would be no issue? Not that the Freedom Association would be interested in such an issue. Their raison d'être is, er, something rather vaguely called 'freedom'.
The 'rationally self-interested' Hannan ends his blog by saying,
Wouldn't a truly "fair" society be one in which welfare budgetsfell, as former recipients were lifted out of dependency?
And how do you propose to "lift people" out of what you call "dependency" when there are no jobs and the gap between rich and poor is getting wider? Are you going to employ them on your estate or maybe your parents will give them job on the family chicken ranch? Hannan's solution is, in common with so many of his colleagues, to create as Thatcher once said a "nation of entrepreneurs". Though how everyone in the country could be an 'entrepreneur' was never elucidated by Thatcher or any of her acolytes. Of course the other option is to rely on 'trickle down economics' to produce non-results. Even Capitalism Magazine says that,
[…] there has never been any school of economists who believed in a trickle down theory. No such theory can be found in even the most voluminous and learned books on the history of economics. It is a straw man.
While that may be the case, it hasn't stopped the likes of the Tories from claiming that it will produce 'wealth' further down the income scale.
This part of the IFS's report is pretty crucial
The report also questioned the government's decision to use the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) instead of the Retail Prices Index (RPI) when calculating certain benefits.
It's like using GDP to measure a country's economic performance. GDP does not take into account factors such as unemployment, the black economy and waste. Yet both Tory and Labour governments use it.
This blog from Tim Montgomerie on Conservative Home is laughable only for its suggestion that the Tories take a leaf out of Orwell's 1984. First of all he says, "We should say that we want to help people overcome poverty and not make it more comfortable". Since when has poverty ever been "comfortable"? Friends, this is the warped mindset that we are dealing with. The whole idea here is to redefine the word 'fairness' in the same way that Hannan and his zombie army have attempted to redefine 'left wing'.
Meanwhile The Independent says that the Budget may have breached equality laws. The mere mention of a word like 'equality' will have Dan and his pals foaming at the mouth.
It is looking into complaints that a Treasury website asking the public to suggest where cuts should be made has attracted racist comments. It is also considering the wider impact on women of the proposed cuts. Under the Act, the Commission has power to take "enforcement action", which could range from encouraging a change of practice to starting a formal inquiry – a move which could delay some of the proposed cuts.
This is the most revealing part of the article,
Justin Webb, the presenter, asked Mr Hoban whether the Treasury had conducted an assessment of how the Budget would affect specific groups, as required under the Act.
The Treasury minister appeared not to know the answer. Mr Hoban stuck rigidly to his brief, insisting: "We went through a very detailed distributional analysis at the time of the Budget, it was the most extensive piece of work anyone has done.
Oops! It looks like someone has messed up. Have a look at the rest of the ambush interview and decide for yourselves.
Filed under Big Society, ConDem Budget 2010, Government & politics, Public spending
Tagged as Ayn Rand, daniel hannan, End Child Poverty, Freedom Association, George Osborne, Institute for Fiscal Studies, Orwellianisms, Thatcher, Tim Montgomerie, trickle down economics


CFO Ruth Fowler: Ready for Anything at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
- Thursday, January 10th, 2013 Print	| Email
Resulting from this year's early flu season, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta saw a record 10,000 emergency room visits in December, a clear sign of how the community depends on the hospital.
Good thing the non-profit system has ample cash reserves — a whopping 939 days cash on hand last September, according to Moody's Investors Services. That's due in part to the leadership of CFO Ruth Fowler, a 12-year veteran of CHOA.
Moody's affirmed the "Aa2" ratings on the system's $467 million in outstanding bonds last month, attributable to its "seasoned management" and history of exceptional operating margins. Its operating cash flow margin was 19.6 percent in 2011 and 21.2 percent through the first nine months of fiscal year 2012.
Fowler, a certified public accountant, earned her first business degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her master's of business from Georgia State University.
If you have more information or updates for this profile or would like to recommend a leader to be profiled in the future, please contact Lindsey Dunn, editor in chief, Becker's Hospital Review at ldunn@beckershealthcare.com.
More Articles on Hospital CFO Profiles:
CFO Paul Pernice: Bringing Beebe Medical Center Back
CFO Diane Blake: Meeting Critical Needs at Cascade Medical Center
CFO Joe Guarracino: Changing the CFO Role at The Brooklyn Hospital Center


Columbia named one of the nation's least stressful cities
4 years 4 months 2 weeks ago Thursday, September 03 2015 Sep 3, 2015 Thursday, September 03, 2015 2:57:00 PM CDT September 03, 2015 in News
By: Jasmine Lee, KOMU 8 Reporter
COLUMBIA - A study done by SmartAsset found Columbia as the fifth least stressed city in the U.S.
The study collected city and county level data on 500 of the largest cities in the country. Researchers then considered nine different metrics into two different sub categories.
One of the categories was "stressors." The metrics included were average work week length, average daily commute, the unemployment rate, the personal bankruptcy rate, the divorce rate and the ratio of housing costs to income.
Smart Asset found the average daily commute in Columbia to be about 16 and a half minutes. The unemployment rate in Columbia, according to the April 2015 study by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is 3.6 percent.
The cost of living in Columbia is just below average. According to numbers from the Columbia Chamber of Commerce staff, residents pay about $97 for items that have a national average cost of $100. The highest cost of living is in Manhattan, New York, which scored 219.70.
Matt McCormick is the president of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. He said he was not completely surprised to see Columbia to be in the top ten of the least stressful cities.
"It's a great quality of life. The cost of living is one thing and health care, access to jobs, and our unemployment rate, there's a lot of great factors of staying here and being here," McCormick said. "The college students being here with game day and all the rush, it's a lot of fun and it's kind of the life blood."
The other category studied was "stress-relievers." The three metrics considered were average hours of nightly sleep, the number of entertainment establishments per 1,000 business places in the city and the population receiving recommended weekly exercise.
Researchers ranked all of the 500 cities on the nine metrics and then average all of the rankings. The cities with the best average received a "100" and the cities with the worst got a zero.
Eight of the top ten cities are in the Midwest and all of the cities in the top ten are home to major public universities.
Brie Wagner is a Columbia native. She said that she has stayed in the city because she enjoys being around an "educated" and "diverse" population.
"There's a lot of different types of people that come here for the schools and some of them choose to stay. There's always that kind of feeling of meeting interesting people," Wagner said.
She also said the large volume of students does not stress her in a way that makes her want to move.
"If you live here, you kind of get an idea of when those events are, and the days you should hang out with your friends at home instead drive down Stadium," Wagner said.
Jackie Floyd, the owner of the Smoothie King on East Nifong Boulevard, said she thinks the cost of living for Columbia isn't as low as she would like.
"There's a lot of people that come and go here, and there are a lot of students and there is a demand for high quality places to live" Floyd said. "I think if people provide that, then they are going to charge the price that it's worth."