Concerned Photography

Please Spin for Turtle Spynergy I Fundraiser for the Animal Rescue League of Boston

2010-01-07T12:30:00.000-05:00

This sweet young dog was found abandoned and severely wounded by the side of the road in Hyde Park. Named Turtle by her rescuers, she is believed to have been a “bait dog” used to test the strengths of other animals in dog fighting. Thankfully she was found and is getting care, but her recovery will be a long one and her medical expenses are high.

The Spynergy Cycling Studio in Wellesley and Hallmark Sotheby’s International
Realty of Hopkinton are hosting a fundraiser to help raise much needed funds
for her. Please join us for this special spin class and 100% of your fee will go
directly to the Animal Rescue League for Turtle’s care.

For just $20.00 you’ll hear great music, get a terrific workout,
and bring hope to this wonderful dog.

Please visit www.arlboston.org/spynergy to sign up for the class, taking place from 11am-12pm, on Saturday, January 16, 2010

Thank you!!!

Google CEO Eric Schmidt On Newspapers & Journalism

2009-10-03T15:22:00.000-04:00

Google CEO Eric Schmidt On Newspapers & Journalism

Manuel H. Rodriguéz: The Colombian Capa | Black Star Rising

2009-09-24T18:18:00.000-04:00

Manuel H. Rodriguéz: The Colombian Capa | Black Star Rising

By Richard Emblin

Richard Emblin became a Black Star photographer in 1993 while based in Bogota, Colombia, and has shot many assignments for international publications through the agency. In 2000, he became the photo editor of Colombia's leading daily, El Tiempo, where he managed a photo department of more than 30 photojournalists. After leaving El Tiempo in 2006, he consulted with South American newspapers to revamp their photo departments for the Digital Age. Last April, he launched The City Paper, Colombia's first free English-language newspaper, with a circulation of 10,000. in Photojournalism on September 23rd, 2009

Manuel H. Rodriguéz, 89, died last week after a long illness. Manuel H. was the Colombian Capa: a man who for more than half a century captured the history and “moments” of his country with his emblematic Rollei. And like Capa, his career in photojournalism was born out of chaos and violence.

Call it circumstance, or destiny — but life has an uncanny way of sweeping certain people into the “moment.” For Robert Capa, undoubtedly the greatest war photographer of our time, that moment came when he photographed the Spanish Republican militiaman falling after being shot in his hills of Andalusia on September 5, 1936.

Assassination and Uprising

For Manuel H. Rodriguez, his moment erupted on the morning of April 9, 1948. “It was a Friday, and the day was clear,” recalled Manuel when I spoke with him last year. “I had just left the Café Colombia where I was talking with my brothers about bullfighting. It was around one o’clock when I heard on Radio Santafé that [Liberal presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer] Gaitán had been shot,” he recalled with painful detail. “Gaitán was a leader of my medio (class).”

Colombian photojournalist Manuel H. Rodriguez died last week at age 89." title="MANUEL2" class="size-medium wp-image-6604" height="253" width="450">

Colombian photojournalist Manuel H. Rodriguez died last week at age 89.

Bogotá in 1948, according to Manuel, was a “divided city” where political tensions ran deep. And so too, the anger of the working classes at their lack of representation in government. Liberals and Conservatives were seen to defend the interests of an elite; those well-to-do families who imported their goods from the finest shops in Paris and lived behind the stonewalls of La Candelaria. The Conservatives were the party in power under President Mariano Ospina Perez. The Liberals were the opposition and supported their man, Carlos Lleras Restrepo.

Gaitán was also a Liberal — except that like Manuel H., he was born on the wrong side of the tracks. So when this man from the Las Cruces neighborhood was shot, while stepping out of his office for lunch, on the corner of the Carrera 7 and Jimenez Avenue, the reaction was immediate and violent.

There are no records of exactly how many people were killed in the aftermath of the assassination of Gaitán, but the carnage and the destruction of the city was absolute. The street cars of Bogotá, operated by the Ferrocarril Central del Norte, where Manuel H.’s father worked, were set ablaze by an angry mob. Shops were looted. Fires blazed out of control. Angry men stormed the Ferreteria Berrio to steal machetes and marched towards the city center looking for revenge.

In one of Rodriguez's famous images, Colombian police officers capture a suspected rebel on the streets of Bogota during the 1948 civil uprising. " title="man77" class="size-medium wp-image-6602" height="253" width="450">

In one of Rodriguez's famous images, Colombian police officers capture a suspected rebel on the streets of Bogota during the 1948 civil uprising.

Manuel H., just seven years younger than his European contemporary Capa, didn’t need to photograph a civil uprising in a faraway country. He had one blazing outside his doorstep. “I saw these men with machetes and they started posing for my camera. I took two pictures,” he remembered. “Then they started following me to take my camera,” he said with the clarity of a cinematographer. “They damaged my camera strap.”

When the civil uprising, known as the “El Bogotazo,” erupted, Manuel was 28. He had already been working for more than a decade as a typographer in a local printing press in the center of town, in order to help his family make ends meet. Photography, until that moment, had only been a pleasant pastime, which offered him the possibility of taking family portraits and snaps of daily life in different parts of the city where he was born. “I wasn’t a photographer. I was just an ordinary person who took pictures.”

Armed with a Rolleiflex, which he had purchased with his savings, Manuel started taking pictures of everything he witnessed on the streets of Bogotá that fateful day. He went to The Ritz to witness the destruction of the grand hotel; he convinced a family friend, a nurse on duty at the Clinica Nueva, to get him inside the hospital where Gaitan’s bullet-ridden body was rumored to be. “There were snipers on the rooftops,” he recalled.

Life as a Photojournalist

For Manuel H., life as a professional photographer began the following day. “I went to the Cementerio Central, which was very familiar to me. I was walking among the bodies when all of a sudden I saw the body of a naked man. The only person there among the corpses who was naked.” Then in another twist of fate, which Manuel H. refers to as “coincidence,” he realized that he had stumbled across the bruised and blood-soaked body of Gaitan’s assassin, Eduardo Roa Sierra.

“It was the identity of a person. Good or bad,” he said about what he felt when he saw the face of the man who in an instant had silenced the dreams of so many. And with a couple of clicks of the Rollei, Manuel H. the photojournalist was born. “I was no longer a typographer!” he exclaimed with a sigh of relief.

Sixty years later, Manuel H. was still taking pictures in his studio on Carrera 7, next to a theater that bears the name of Gaitán. His studio was a shrine to photography, with nearly every inch of wall space covered with his black-and-white portraits. There are thousands of other pictures — some 700,000 to be precise — all catalogued and filed in cardboard boxes.

Near the end, Rodriguez snapped instant photos for passports to help make ends meet." title="MANUEL1" class="size-medium wp-image-6603" height="450" width="337">

Near the end, Rodriguez snapped instant photos for passports to help make ends meet.

In his final years, Manuel H.’s health was failing and money tight. Despite having photographed for every publication in his country, especially the leading dailies, for more than half a century, he received few royalties from his work. He lived in a rented apartment, just blocks away from the streets and places that made him a legend.

But for Manuel, photojournalism was never about making money. “Money ends, but the picture remains,” he told me. “Without photography there is no history.”

[This post is adapted from an article that originally appeared in The City Paper, a free Colombian newspaper launched by the author. The story and accompanying artwork are republished with his permission.]

Grazing with a storm in mind

2009-09-24T14:53:00.001-04:00

Grazing with a storm in mind, originally uploaded by DeDaniel.

Missing girl's father finds help through Twitter | Webware - CNET

2009-09-24T04:40:00.000-04:00

Missing girl's father finds help through Twitter | Webware - CNET

A 14-year-old girl named McKenzie Church has gone missing, and Twitter is being used to spread the word of her disappearance and hopefully find someone who knows where she is.

If you've been on Twitter Tuesday, you've probably seen a tweet similar to "retweet: @genochurch's 14 yr old daughter is missing" followed by a link to Genochurch's blog post asking for help in finding his missing daughter. At first glance, it seems like a simple "retweet" seen almost daily on Twitter. But after some digging, you'll quickly find that it's spreading across the service at an extremely rapid rate.

In fact, "please retweet" and "Twitter Amber Alert" are two of the most popular search terms on Twitter. A quick search of "genochurch" on the service's search page yields thousands of results, which are being updated constantly. In a 30-second stint, the site updated the results pages with tweets containing the username a whopping 40 times.

According to Rob Church, his daughter McKenzie was last seen Saturday around Greenville, S.C. He's unsure where his daughter went, but he believes she may be with her 17-year-old boyfriend, Ryan Schichtel, in his 1997 Honda Accord.

McKenzie Church is not listed on the government's Amber Alert page, but a news report by a local TV station in the Greenville area mentions that the girl has gone missing. It does point out, though, that authorities believe she is in no danger.

"Greenville County deputies told us the missing girl is being treated as a runaway," Greenville's WSPA CBS channel reported. "Her friend is not considered a runaway because of his age. Deputies do not feel the pair is in danger."

Although a number of Twitter "campaigns" have developed over the past year, most were confined to a small group on the service. But this unprecedented response on the part of the Twitter community to help Church find his missing daughter is attracting Twitter users from across the globe and has quickly swept across the service.

There's no telling if the help Church is receiving from Twitter will bring his daughter back home, but it certainly highlights an important point: Twitter cannot only connect people in a community, it can harness the power of that community for something far more important than telling others what you had for dinner last night.

Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET.

New Iberia dog, 26, might be world's oldest | New Orleans Metro Real Time News - - NOLA.com

2009-09-24T03:47:00.000-04:00

New Iberia dog, 26, might be world's oldest | New Orleans Metro Real Time News - - NOLA.com

By The Associated Press

September 19, 2009, 3:34PM

Waiting to hear back from the Guinness World Records people is the hardest part about submitting her 26-year-old mixed terrier as the world's oldest dog, Janelle Derouen says.

AP Photo/The Advocate, Bryan TuckJanelle Derouen of New Iberia, La., holds her dog Max, a 26-year-old terrier mix. Derouen is waiting for confirmation from Guinness World Records that Max is the nation's oldest dog.The New Iberia woman does confess to some anxiety about whether Max — who, if you go for the old multiply-by-seven calculation, is about the equivalent of a 182-year-old human — will survive until the confirmation papers arrive.

Derouen said she is awaiting word from Guinness, after faxing papers that included a veterinarian's record of Max's birth and puppy shots in August 1983.

He's already five years older than Chanel, a dachshund that held the title until her death this past summer at the age of 21.

But there's a lot of competition for top old dog. "We've gotten a lot of claims since Chanel died. I would say hundreds," Jamie Panas, a spokeswoman for Guinness World Records in New York, said Thursday. "And right now we don't have that confirmed."

When all topics are counted, she said, a thousand claims a week come in.

Max, who weighs about 16 pounds, shares home and attention with Murphy, a 4-year-old mixed-Pomeranian.

These days Max is quieter than he was in his puppy years, but he is in relatively good health and likes to recline on a special leopard-print couch.

"Trust me," Derouen said. "He doesn't let anyone touch it, even his 'brother.'"

Max is even older than some of Derouen's five children, who range in age from 21 to 30.

He has a touch of arthritis, one missing tooth, a bit of gray fur, and cataracts. He wears aviator-style goggles when he goes outside to protect his eyes.

He has been featured in the London Daily Telegraph and on a Lafayette television station.

"He did a big yawn on TV," Derouen recalled. "He's not letting it go to his head."

Max still expects to be in the car every time it leaves the driveway, enjoying the wind on his face. He also gets a little animated when he sees the neighbor's black cat. Other than that, it's back to the couch.

Derouen threw a big party on Aug. 9, when Max turned 26. Friends came with their dogs decked out to the nines — Max wore his New Orleans Saints jersey and collar — and chowed down on a big peanut butter and cream cheese cake.

"Boy, he enjoyed it," Derouen said of the cake. "It's the first time he'd had a really big treat."

Aside from that party, Max has eaten kibble all his life, Derouen said.

Veterinarian Andy Reaux of New Iberia has been Max's vet for the last six months.

"It's very unusual for a dog to be that old," Reaux said. "The average age is like 13 or 14."

"I just don't know what I'm going to do when that day comes," Derouen said. "I know I'm going to have a funeral."

She has planned it: a eulogy, singing, and a headstone. And an obituary published in the local paper.

"I already have the picture and all," she said.

Max just dozes away on his couch, waiting for another ride.

When Newspapers Mattered - Photo Gallery, 24 Pictures - LIFE

2009-09-24T00:32:00.001-04:00

When Newspapers Mattered - Photo Gallery, 24 Pictures - LIFE

Posted using ShareThis

Atlantic Blogger Andrew Sullivan Makes Pitch for Supporting Print - NYTimes.com

2009-09-21T07:21:00.000-04:00

Atlantic Blogger Andrew Sullivan Makes Pitch for Supporting Print - NYTimes.com
Blogs are often criticized for helping to kill print media. Last week, though, the prominent political blogger Andrew Sullivan used his forum on TheAtlantic.com to tell readers to subscribe to the print edition of the magazine.

Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images
The blogger Andrew Sullivan.

It worked. Within two days after last Monday’s post, Mr. Sullivan’s appeal pulled in 75 percent of the subscriptions that the Web site draws in a typical month, the magazine’s publisher, Jay Lauf, said. The Atlantic expects this month’s subscription orders to be double an average month’s.

Mr. Sullivan said he was happy that his “open letter to George W. Bush on torture” had made the magazine’s cover, although such a cover has limited commercial appeal, and that led to the spontaneous post about subscriptions.

“With old media in crisis, a decision like that is understandably making some general interest magazines an endangered species,” Mr. Sullivan said in his post.

The Atlantic is having trouble, at least on the advertising side. Ad pages fell 25 percent in the first six months of this year from the same period last year, according to Publishers Information Bureau. However, there is demand on the reader side: circulation rose 6.8 percent in the same time frame, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Mr. Lauf said he was delighted with Mr. Sullivan’s note, but it was not anything he was going to instruct other writers to do.

Mr. Sullivan said he had written the post without any input from executives.

“Whenever I feel grateful for some reason that The Atlantic still exists, I give it a shot,” he said. “Many readers care enough to want to support media that say the hard things and do the uncommercial things. It’s actually wonderful, I think, that new media can support old media in this way.”
STEPHANIE CLIFFORD

How social networking is changing journalism | Media | guardian.co.uk

2009-09-21T06:48:00.000-04:00

How social networking is changing journalism | Media | guardian.co.uk
Information is not journalism, he explained further. You get a lot of things, when you open up Twitter in the morning, but not journalism. Journalism needs discipline, analysis, explanation and context, he pointed out, and therefore for him it is still a profession. The value that gets added with journalism is judgment, analysis and explanation - and that makes the difference. So journalism will stay - he was optimistic about that. However, journalists must understand one rule: if you believe you are in competition with the internet, find your way out. Collaboration, openness and link culture are rules, you can't deny at the moment, he said.

Field Notes | The Humane Society of the United States

2009-09-09T09:42:00.000-04:00

Field Notes | The Humane Society of the United States

	Field Notes

Four Days of Action for Dogs

by Scotlund Haisley

In the past four days our Animal Rescue Team has rescued dogs from puppy mills in four states—ushering more than 500 dogs from a life of confinement and misery into a world of compassion and safety.

This unprecedented rally of action is part of The Humane Society of the United States’ ongoing mission to wipe out the cruel puppy mill industry.

The past few days have been both mentally and physically exhausting, but our team has buckled down for the sake of the animals. It's our devotion to eradicating animal suffering that allows us to continue day after day.

Where it Began

This particular series of rescues started over the weekend in North Carolina. Specialists from throughout the organization assisted with the rescue of more than 150 dogs from a Wilson County puppy mills.

After settling the 150 North Carolina dogs with local rescue groups, our team drove on to the next rescue location. After hours of driving for some team members, and cross-country flights for others, we reconvened in Dickson County, Tenn., for our second rescue mission in 48 hours.

Onto Tennessee

On this property we found approximately 50 small-to-medium-breed dogs living in cramped, filthy conditions. This second rescue was smaller but no less pivotal in the lives of the dogs we freed that day.

After hours in the field, the Tennessee rescue wrapped up around 6 p.m. Monday. By this time, our bodies ached, and we was covered in filth from head to toe. All we could think of was taking a hot shower, changing out of our dirty clothes and crashing for the night.

But just as we were about to pull into the hotel, I received a call for help. An animal control officer in Tupelo, Miss., had gained access to an 81-dog puppy mill but had no resources to remove or shelter the dogs.

No Rest, Yet

I turned to my exhausted team and asked them if it was possible for us to press on and complete another rescue that very night. No one so much as batted an eye before agreeing. We arrived at the Miss. puppy mill at midnight.

After an entire day of grueling work in the field and a six-hour drive, our energy was waning. But the sight of the truly hellish conditions at this canine factory farm immediately recharged our batteries. Maybe it was the late night hour, or the skulls of dead animals that littered the property. Whatever it was, this mill was truly disturbing.


We rescued more than 170 dogs from the S.D. property.© Paul Turner/The HSUS

The approximately 80 dogs were kept in small wire cages caked in feces that looked like it had built up for months.

Many of the dogs suffered from infected cuts on their legs and paws where their feet slipped through the rusted wire crates.

We made our way through the dark rows of cages, turning the rusty locks and taking these dogs out of their nightmare world once and for all.

I made a promise to each of them there in the middle of the night that daybreak would usher in a whole new life.

Forced breeding and constant confinement would be replaced by human compassion and comfort.

Soldiering On

Our team completed this rescue operation just hours before we were scheduled to fly out to our fourth puppy mill raid. Bleary-eyed and stooped, we made our way to the airport. I barely had time to absorb the enormity of the past 48 hours before falling into a coma-like slumber on the plane.

When I awoke, we had arrived in South Dakota. Once in Sioux Falls, we were grateful to be able to take an evening to rest before the next morning’s raid.

In South Dakota

More than 170 dogs, mainly German shorthair pointers and Weimaraners, were being housed in dilapidated barns throughout the property.

Despite the morning sun, we had to use flashlights inside the dark, dank structures just to locate all of the dogs. I was shocked when we heard whimpering coming from the closed door of a grain silo. We found 35 puppies entombed in the pitch-black silo, with no food or water. The food and water we did see on the property was covered in mud, mold and flies.

Many of the dogs suffered from parasite infestation as well as skin and eye infections. The dogs leapt against their wire enclosures, paws extended through the grates. Their eyes begged us to hurry up and get them out. Those who were too weak to jump simply seemed to ask “what took you so long?” We rushed one dog, covered in flies and what looked like bullet wounds, to the emergency hospital.

After several hours of combing the property, we had collected all of the evidence from the scene and removed every dog. It was only after they were safely transported to the emergency shelter that our collective team could step back and think about the massive amount of suffering we had witnessed—and thankfully ended—over the past few days.

Sigh of Relief

Tonight I reflect mostly on the lives we saved during this multi-state rescue mission. But I also think of the dedicated individuals, equipment and resources at HSUS that made the past few days of rescue possible. From undercover agents in our investigations department to dedicated state directors pushing for crucial legislation, we're dedicated to reform, education and action on all fronts. Even our public relations team plays a critical role in changing these animals' lives.

The media coverage that these deployments generate is yet another opportunity to strike at the root of the puppy mill problem. The average person simply does not know that the dogs they see in pet stores or for sale on websites most likely came from the sort of abusive puppy mills that we have helped to shutter this week. Each raid is an opportunity to educate thousands of area residents that if they buy a dog from a pet store or online broker, they are part of the puppy mill problem.

It is truly a gift to be part of an organization with such an incredible impact on animal welfare.

An extremely expensive cover story — with a new way of footing the bill » Nieman Journalism Lab

2009-09-09T06:55:00.000-04:00

An extremely expensive cover story — with a new way of footing the bill » Nieman Journalism Lab
The cover story in this weekend’s New York Times Magazine is a 13,000-word investigation of the New Orleans hospital where patients were euthanized in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. It’s a remarkable and tragic story that may also represent the most expensive single piece of print journalism in years.

This is the new economics of news production: The reporter, Sheri Fink, began working on the project in 2007 as a fellow at the Kaiser Foundation and stayed on the story nearly full-time after joining ProPublica, the non-profit, investigative-journalism outfit, in 2008. Later that year, Fink and her editors began collaborating with the Times Magazine, which did not pay for the piece. It’s also available on ProPublica’s site, and anyone is free to republish the article in full beginning on September 29.

Gerald Marzorati, editor of the Times Magazine, caused a minor stir this week when he estimated that the article cost $400,000 to produce. That turns out to be an exaggeration, but the order of magnitude is correct.

Poynter Online - Top Stories

2009-09-09T06:47:00.000-04:00

Poynter Online - Top Stories

Boston Globe Preparation Pays Off in Covering Ted Kennedy Death

Posted by Steve Myers at 9:47 AM on Aug. 27, 2009 The first news that Sen. Ted Kennedy was dying came to Boston Globe Washington Bureau Chief Christopher Rowland about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night. Susan Milligan, who was on Martha's Vineyard covering President Barack Obama for the Globe, called and told Rowland that Kennedy "might not make it through the evening," Rowland recalled.

By 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, the Globe's home page, Boston.com, had shifted to an all-Kennedy package, which grew over the next couple of hours to include stories, photos, videos and a guest book for people to share their memories of the senator.

The story of how the Globe pulled all that together in several hours, before most people had even heard the news, is really a story of what the staff did in the two months before: reporting and writing stories off deadline, producing video retrospectives, preparing a special home page layout.

Jewish Volunteers Work Hard in the Big Easy - News

2009-09-09T02:32:00.001-04:00

Jewish Volunteers Work Hard in the Big Easy - News

Posted using ShareThis

Six Photography Credentials to Set Yourself Apart | Black Star Rising

2009-09-06T03:28:00.000-04:00

Six Photography Credentials to Set Yourself Apart | Black Star Rising

Digital Counties Winner Posts Videos of Cats Awaiting Adoption

2009-09-05T07:57:00.000-04:00

Digital Counties Winner Posts Videos of Cats Awaiting Adoption

Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Cat found decapitated - Weymouth, MA (US)

2009-09-05T02:06:00.000-04:00

Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Cat found decapitated - Weymouth, MA (US)

Nonprofit News | American Journalism Review

2009-08-28T03:32:00.002-04:00

Nonprofit News | American Journalism Review

Posted using ShareThis

Hyperlocal Profits: They Really Exist | Newspaper Death Watch

2009-08-24T16:46:00.000-04:00

Hyperlocal Profits: They Really Exist | Newspaper Death Watch
Bob Garfield of NPR’s “On The Media” interviews media superblogger Jeff Jarvis and asks “Can journalism be sustained in the top 25 markets if all the dailies fold?

The question was prompted by a recent project by the City University of New York Graduate School Of Journalism that created economic models for next-generation news organizations. Jarvis says a decentralized, hyperlocal newsgathering infrastructure is not only plausible but quite profitable. Some hyperlocal bloggers are already pulling in up to $200,000 annually in revenue, he says, and that’s without the sophisticated funding and advertising mechanisms that are now being developed. We’d like to talk to one of these people.

The metropolitan news organization of the future will be smaller but no less profitable than that of today, Jarvis predicts. His study foresees a full-time staff of about 45 people with substantial contributions from locals. “It needs to work more collaboratively with bloggers and other locals,” he says. All together, a next-generation metro newsroom could have about 275 regular contributors.

“At the end of three years, our research shows that these businesses bring in margins that are reminiscent of the glory days of newspapers,” Jarvis states. “However, they’re much smaller businesses. A 20% margin on a $30 million business is not the same as on a $400 million business. But it is profitable, and that means it’s sustainable.”

Ever the optimist, Jarvis further states that journalism can become “better and richer” in the new model, Although there’s going to be some chaos in the process, “I believe we can actually improve journalism, not just save it,” he says.

Darfur: Photojournalists Respond - Jhappening.Com

2009-08-24T04:25:00.001-04:00

Darfur: Photojournalists Respond - Jhappening.Com
The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center will welcome its first traveling exhibition at the end of August, Darfur: Photojournalists Respond. Based on the book “Darfur: Twenty Years of War and Genocide in Sudan” by Leora Kahn, the exhibition features photographs by world-renowned photojournalists that capture the gravity of the crisis in Darfur, which has led to some of the worst human rights atrocities in modern times. Featured photojournalists include, Colin Finlay, Sven Torfinn, Pep Bonet, Ron Haviv, Lynsey Addario, Chris-Steele Perkins, Kadir van Lohuizen and Oliver Jobard. Contact: Lauren Braun Phone: 312-573-5483 E-mail: lauren_braun@jtpr.com

Grey Villet Photography - LIFE photo-essays

2009-08-23T16:44:00.000-04:00

Grey Villet Photography - LIFE photo-essays
With "The Lash of Success," Grey Villet brought what he called his "psychegraphs" to full effect in images etched with the dark intensity of a man possessed by a private hunger. Victor Sabatino was 33 when he launched his drive to build a national furniture chain called Foam Rubber City. "What I want" he once said, "is to be a winner. People remember winners." A cold eyed autocrat in his dealings with his employees, Sabatino could accept only one way in running his business--his way. He was often found manipulating and intimidating his employees to get what he wanted from them.

Blaming the Editors | Newspaper Death Watch

2009-08-23T16:26:00.002-04:00

Blaming the Editors | Newspaper Death Watch
It hurts to read Bill Wyman’s blunt, sometimes savage piece on Five Key Reasons Why Newspapers Are Failing, but the veteran journalist says some things that need to be said. Unlike recent analyses that have mainly focused on the industry’s business challenges, Wyman aims his guns squarely at the editors and reporters whom he believes fostered a culture of risk-aversion and self-absorption even as the need for change grew urgent. Although the piece is heavy on anecdotes and light on statistical evidence, we found ourselves nodding in agreement frequently as Wyman ticked off a list of editorial missteps.

Five Key Reasons Why Newspapers Are Failing, pt. 2 | Politics & Media | SPLICETODAY.COM

2009-08-23T16:14:00.001-04:00

Five Key Reasons Why Newspapers Are Failing, pt. 2 | Politics & Media | SPLICETODAY.COM

Five Key Reasons Why Newspapers Are Failing | Politics & Media | SPLICETODAY.COM

2009-08-23T16:11:00.001-04:00

Five Key Reasons Why Newspapers Are Failing | Politics & Media | SPLICETODAY.COM

Headed to DC, saluted in Boston

2009-08-23T09:32:00.001-04:00

Headed to DC, saluted in Boston

Shared via AddThis

Richard A. Serino, Nominated for Deputy Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security

2009-08-23T09:31:00.001-04:00

Richard A. Serino, Nominated for Deputy Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security

Shared via AddThis

City EMS chief tapped for number two post at FEMA - The Boston Globe

2009-08-23T09:19:00.001-04:00

City EMS chief tapped for number two post at FEMA - The Boston Globe

Posted using ShareThis

20 Ways to Change the World in Only 15 Minutes a Day

2009-08-23T08:40:00.001-04:00

20 Ways to Change the World in Only 15 Minutes a Day

Posted using ShareThis

‘Psych dogs’ offer valuable service

2009-08-19T04:20:00.000-04:00

‘Psych dogs’ offer valuable service
By Allie Kay Spaulding/Contributing Writer

If you have ever had a beloved dog, if you have ever thrilled to rows and rows of growing things thriving in the earth, you will understand what last Saturday was like at Clos Pepe Vineyard.

At the vineyard, where ripening grapes drooped in profusion, Chanda and Wes Hagen, vineyard manager and winemakers, hosted the first ever West Coast Gathering of the Psychiatric Service Dog Association.

More than 40 psychiatric service dogs and their owners from all across the country and Canada gathered for three days of socializing, touring and fine-tuning the training of their dogs.

I was invited to attend a training seminar at Clos Pepe, 29 rolling acres of French Burgundian pinot noir and chardonnay grapes at 4777 Highway 246, about 7 miles from Lompoc.

After spotting the long white neck of Florenzo, the diplodocus — a large, herbivorous dinosaur rising out of a grassy knoll just past the wrought iron entrance — I entered and followed a winding road bordered on the left with purple lavender, on the right with red and yellow Joseph’s Coat roses growing at the head of each row of sun-splashed vines. Tradition has it that the French planted roses in their vineyards so that when powdery mildew appeared on the roses, they would know it was time to spray the vines.

The road led to the Hagen home and the nearby Pepe estate. In the Hagen’s enclosed front yard, a semi-circle of people and perfectly behaved dogs were listening to Sue Alexander from Guelph, Ontario, Canada, explain aspects of the “psych” dog training.

Sue is the owner of a psych dog named D’fer, a Chesapeake Bay retriever. He was having a good roll in the grass as Sue spoke. The rest of the dogs, sitting quietly attentive within touch of their owners, ignored him.

It was an amazing assortment of animals. There was one handsome German shepherd, but the others ranged from a huge brown mastiff to a busy little pure-white Maltese. Black and white standard poodles, a large fluffy Bouvier des Flanders, some black Labs, several golden retrievers, a Basenji (African bush dog), a cross-bred German shepherd-Rottweiler — clearly psych dogs could be any breed.

And their owners? They fit no mold, either. There was, however, a common thread: their need for assistance.

Three of the owners shared the nature of their psychiatric disorders with complete candor.

Chanda Hagen’s condition defies formal diagnosis. She describes her attacks as “brain flips,” a kind of panic disorder. From the time she was a little kid she had these seizures, often three or four a day.

Then six years ago she got Oliver, a small Italian greyhound. With the help of a local trainer, she led Oliver through the training he needed to become her service dog — how to behave in public, how to behave in a variety of unexpected situations, and what to do when his owner exhibits signs of an imminent seizure. Having Oliver with her has resulted in far fewer and far less severe seizures.

Michelle Ryan, of Issaquah, Wash., suffers from dissociative episodes that stem from childhood abuse and a serious car accident. She suffers from agoraphobia; for four years she refused to leave the house without her mother. Riding in a car, she would scream when another car came near.

Two and a half years ago, Michelle acquired and trained Horton, a beautiful golden retriever.

“How does he help you?”

“Horton grounds me. He is always with me. I can feel him, listen to him breathing, pet him. He is a check-and-balance for me. If he is calm, I am calm.

“Specifically, he reminds me to take my medication three times a day. He can tell if I haven’t taken it by smelling my breath. And if I don’t remember where the car is parked, he can find it.

“I have arthritis. Horton picks up things I drop. He can put clothes in the washing machine and in the dryer; he carries the mail into the house; he brings me my shoes. If I fall, he braces himself so I can pull myself up.

“Horton is a barrier between me and whatever makes me anxious. If I begin to panic, he comes to me, puts his paws on me so that I am reminded to calm down.”

There is legal significance to the term “service dog.” In 1986, a National Council on Disability recommended a law to give people with disabilities equal opportunities. The result was the Americans with Disabilities Act. Among its provisions was the definition of a service dog: an animal trained to provide assistance to a person with a disability. The law now requires that service animals be admitted to public places with their handlers.

Only recently have dogs that provide assistance to people with mental disorders been included in the “service dog” definition. In 2001 an organization called the Psychiatric Service Dog Society was formed to educate the public about this special type of service dog.

The PSDS Web site lists types of mental disorders, their symptoms, and the tasks which dogs can be trained to perform. Among the disorders are major depression, bipolar disorder, panic attacks, anxiety, agoraphobia, post traumatic stress, obsessive compulsive behavior and schizophrenia.

Some of the tasks that can be taught are tactile stimulation, staying with the handler and leading him to a safe place during a panic attack, alerting the handler to an incipient manic episode, waking up the handler and turning on lights during a nightmare, interrupting obsessive compulsive behavior, and buffering the handler in crowded situations.

PSDS was founded by Joan Esnayra of Arlington, Va. She was there on the lawn with Rainbow and Kenji, two beautiful, sleek Rhodesian ridgebacks. Joan, too, grew up in an abusive, violent environment. She suffers from bipolar and post traumatic stress disorder.

Kenji is 4 years old now. He is trained to alert her to a hypo-manic episode. Severe abuse such as Joan suffered causes permanent change in the brain. When something triggers the painful memory, the brain goes into flashback. Kenji can detect the change in her behavior and can alert her by bumping her elbow with his nose. His presence gives her confidence that she will be safe.

There was a remarkable energy among these people and these animals. The handlers were justifiably proud of their dogs. Why not? They were smart, healthy, well-behaved, valuable companions. But it was more than that. It seemed to me that the handlers were proud of themselves, proud to be confident enough to be there, to go on in spite of disability and have a life.

Allie Kay Spaulding can be reached at alliekay@verizon .net.

Alexia Foundation | Our Mission

2009-08-06T19:00:00.000-04:00

Alexia Foundation | Our Mission

The Alexia Foundation promotes the power of photojournalism to give voice to social injustice, to respect history lest we forget it and to understand cultural difference as our strength — not our weakness. Through grants and scholarships, The Alexia Foundation supports photographers as agents for change.

Alexia Tsairis, an honor photojournalism student at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, was a victim of the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. She was returning home for the Christmas holidays after spending a semester at the Syracuse University London Centre. Alexia was known by her peers and professors as one of the most promising photojournalism students at SU.

During the summers of 1987 and 1988 she interned for the Associated Press Graphics and Photography departments in New York City. Alexia was a dedicated supporter of Amnesty International and Greenpeace. She had a deep commitment to world peace.

The family of Alexia Tsairis has established the Alexia Foundation for World Peace, Inc., a non-profit foundation. Alexia's abiding beliefs were in the capacity and responsibility of individuals to shape and advance peace in our time. The Alexia Foundation is dedicated to providing students and professionals the means to do so.

Early closing of Westborough State Hospital protested - Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News

2009-07-30T06:33:00.000-04:00

Early closing of Westborough State Hospital protested - Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News

Very briefly was employed at this facility, beginning January of 2007. I spent the first few weeks feverishly researching the place in my downtime, a phenomenon that proved quite detrimental to my cognition. Sleep may have been a good thing.

Dog missing for 2 weeks found near T station

2009-07-29T02:27:00.009-04:00

Dog missing for 2 weeks found near T station

http://wn.whdh.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=3995084&at1=Station 1&h1=Dog missing for 3 weeks found near T station (07/28/09)

MALDEN, Mass. -- The search for a missing dog has a happy ending.

Christian Mader picked up his new Chihuahua two weeks ago. The animal arrived from by plane from Brazil.

However, she didn't last the day in Mader's fenceless-backyard.

From a plane ride over to the train tracks, the family kept spotting the pooch near the Oak Grove T station – dangerously close to the tracks.

"Sometimes it could have been within five to 10 feet of the tracks and it's a heavily-traveled rail with commuter rail trains," said Officer Kevin Alkins, of Malden Animal Control.

Animal Control teamed up with the Animal Rescue League in setting traps to catch the dog, but it was so small that the Chihuahua wasn't setting off the traps.

Two weeks went by and everyone had just about given up hope, but then Mader got the call that the animal was in the trap. He was thrilled.

"Oh you can imagine, I'm so happy," Mader said.

"And I can't tell you how happy I was to see those ears perked up and looking at me when I came through the woods there," said Brian O'Connor, of the Animal Rescue League of Boston .

The dog will be spending some time with Mader's brother until he can get the dog enrolled in some obedience classes and get a fence put up.

A doggone shame - BostonHerald.com

2009-07-29T01:57:00.000-04:00

A doggone shame - BostonHerald.com

Hot dog!

One lucky pooch is alive and well after cops were called Thursday morning to Woodbine Street in Roxbury, where a black and white pit bull was locked in an abandoned Jeep Grand Cherokee. Cops said the inside of the vehicle was trashed and stripped, and the dog was left in the closed and unventilated vehicle without food or water. Animal Control took custody of the dog. The owner could face animal cruelty charges.

FEMA: Rescuing Animals in Disasters

2009-07-22T14:15:00.000-04:00

FEMA: Rescuing Animals in Disasters:
Rescuing Animals in Disasters
Smart Practices Spotlight
Burke County, North Carolina
Los Angeles County, California

It happens every time there's a major disaster. Animals are left behind and their owners are desperate to save them. Many take their own lives in their hands to rescue their pets or evacuate their livestock, making response operations every more difficult for emergency management and responders.

That's why state and local governments across the country are including animal rescue and evacuation operations in their disaster planning. Take North Carolina, for example. Thousands of animals died and hundreds of others had to be rescued as a result of the flooding caused by Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Randy McKinney, assistant director of Burke County Emergency Services, was part of a swift water rescue team that was sent in to work in that disaster. "After we finished rescuing people, they asked us to rescue animals," he said. "And we were at a loss. In a flood, you just don't put a large animal in the boat with you."

Mouth to Snout Video Clip

2009-07-20T00:05:00.001-04:00

Massachusetts Animal Cruelty Law

2009-07-19T21:13:00.000-04:00

M.G.L. - Chapter 272, Section 77

Chapter 272: Section 77. Cruelty to animals

Section 77. Whoever overdrives, overloads, drives when overloaded, overworks, tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance, cruelly beats, mutilates or kills an animal, or causes or procures an animal to be overdriven, overloaded, driven when overloaded, overworked, tortured, tormented, deprived of necessary sustenance, cruelly beaten, mutilated or killed; and whoever uses in a cruel or inhuman manner in a race, game, or contest, or in training therefor, as lure or bait a live animal, except an animal if used as lure or bait in fishing; and whoever, having the charge or custody of an animal, either as owner or otherwise, inflicts unnecessary cruelty upon it, or unnecessarily fails to provide it with proper food, drink, shelter, sanitary environment, or protection from the weather, and whoever, as owner, possessor, or person having the charge or custody of an animal, cruelly drives or works it when unfit for labor, or willfully abandons it, or carries it or causes it to be carried in or upon a vehicle, or otherwise, in an unnecessarily cruel or inhuman manner or in a way and manner which might endanger the animal carried thereon, or knowingly and willfully authorizes or permits it to be subjected to unnecessary torture, suffering or cruelty of any kind shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years or imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than 2 1/2 years or by a fine of not more than $2,500, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

In addition to any other penalty provided by law, upon conviction for any violation of this section or of sections seventy-seven A, seventy-eight, seventy-eight A, seventy-nine A, seventy-nine B, eighty A, eighty B, eighty C, eighty D, eighty F, eighty-six, eighty-six A, eighty-six B or ninety-four the defendant shall forfeit to the custody of any society, incorporated under the laws of the commonwealth for the prevention of cruelty to animals or for the care and protection of homeless or suffering animals, the animal whose treatment was the basis of such conviction.

Dream Job

2009-07-19T19:49:00.000-04:00

Animal Rescue League of Boston: Available Job Opportunities with ARL of Boston:

Rescue Specialist

Ice rescue, high angle climbing, technical rope work for cats in trees, swiftwater rescue, large animal rescue, disaster response and chemical capture are all part of the skill sets you will acquire as you advance through our training. Duties include responding to calls for injured or at-risk domestic animals and wildlife driving one of the League's Rescue Vehicles, assisting our law enforcement division in responding to cases of animal abuse, piloting our state-of-the-art mobile adoption rescue vehicle (MARV), and transporting animals to our branch shelters, among others. You will learn from team members who are instructors for the animal control academy in Massachusetts, and who work with national and international animal welfare groups to provide expert assistance in natural disasters. Skills will be developed through hands-on work in the shelter and rotating through our dispatch center. Valid MA license and a clean driving record required.

Online Registration by Cvent | Schedule of Events - Taking Action for Animals 2009

2009-07-19T17:26:00.000-04:00

Online Registration by Cvent | Schedule of Events - Taking Action for Animals 2009: "Protect and Serve: Working with Law Enforcement

This panel will provide advice and guidance on how to motivate recalcitrant law enforcement officers and/or prosecutors who might be less than motivated to work an animal cruelty case, including using “Link” data to shape policy. Additionally, panelists will offer some tips that investigators can use to improve their casework and the odds that the prosecutor will file and prevail in court—tips advocates can suggest to officials as a means of offering positive action items to law enforcement as a “choose the carrot” method of attempting to induce action. Lastly, offender treatment options will be discussed, including the appropriate use and application of the AniCare model."

Speakers: Scott Heiser, Sr. Attorney & Criminal Justice Program Director, Animal Legal Defense Fund; Bee Friedlander, Managing Director, Animals and Society Institute; Justin Scally, Deputy Manager, Puppy Mills Task Force, The Humane Society of the United States

Cat Behavior And All About Cats

2009-07-19T11:21:00.000-04:00

Cat Behavior And All About Cats

Animal Rescue League of Boston: What Does it Take to be a Rescue Specialist?

2009-07-19T08:37:00.000-04:00

Animal Rescue League of Boston: What Does it Take to be a Rescue Specialist?

Benjamin pleads not guilty in abuse case - Taunton, MA - The Taunton Gazette

2009-07-18T19:27:00.000-04:00

Benjamin pleads not guilty in abuse case - Taunton, MA - The Taunton Gazette

When Wildlife Bites, Call MassWildlife

2009-07-18T18:41:00.000-04:00

When Wildlife Bites, Call MassWildlife

Prize winning photo journalists arrested | Demotix.com

2009-07-13T23:24:00.000-04:00

Prize winning photo journalists arrested | Demotix.com

America’s Uninsured Crisis: Consequences for Health and Health Care

2009-07-13T21:45:00.000-04:00

WHC_America_Uninsured_Crisis.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Suicidal New Orleans Times-Picayune Photographer Arrested

2009-07-11T17:10:00.000-04:00

Suicidal New Orleans Times-Picayune Photographer Arrested

Time to Move the Mississippi, Experts Say - New York Times

2009-07-11T16:28:00.002-04:00

Time to Move the Mississippi, Experts Say - New York Times

Photographer Helps Rescue Man Swept Over River Dam

2009-07-11T03:48:00.000-04:00

Photographer Helps Rescue Man Swept Over River Dam

2009-07-08T07:22:00.002-04:00

“The philosopher Theodor Adorno, for instance, writing in the dark year of 1938, recognized that in modern culture the ‘pretense of individualism . . . increases in proportion to the liquidation of the individual’—by which he meant that the modern self tries to compensate with posturing and competitive self-display as it feels more and more cut off from anything substantial or enduring. It breaks down under bombardment by images that merge fantasy with reality, or by advertising that becomes news. In such a world it is impossible to distinguish foreground from background or the spurious from the authentic (Italics added).”

Delbanco, Andrew. The Real American Dream: A Meditation on Hope.