Foot Solutions in Long Beach, California and Soles4Souls have joined forces to bring shoes to victims of the devastating earthquake in Japan.
Foot Solutions Long Beach is collecting footwear to support Soles4Souls' commitment to donate footwear to affected areas in Southeast Asia. From now through the end of April, customers at Foot Solutions Long Beach will have the opportunity to drop off a gently worn pair of shoes. All donations will directly support relief efforts. The store has collected many hundreds of pairs of shoes on behalf of Soles4Souls for the past six years. The need, of course, is even more pressing now.
Long Beach area residents are invited to drop off their donations at Foot Solutions Long Beach, 1811 Ximeno Avenue, Long Beach, CA, 90815 phone: 562-961-3200.
Karen Widerynski, Foot Solutions Long Beach owner said she is proud to offer her customers a way to be charitable by giving a pair of shoes that is likely just collecting dust in a closet somewhere to those in need.
"As we continue to realize the magnitude of this disaster for our friends in Japan, we cannot forget how important basic necessities – such as shoes – will be in the ongoing rescue and rebuilding efforts," said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls. "We deeply appreciate the support of Foot Solutions Long Beach and their customers in helping us provide shoes to survivors."
Soles4Souls has partnered with organizations on the ground in Japan to transport and distribute the aid needed as the devastation from the earthquake continues to unfold. Since the charities inception after the Asian Tsunami in 2004, the shoe charity has continued to respond to natural disasters like the one in Japan with footwear that protect victims against foot-borne diseases.
2011年3月31日星期四
2011年3月30日星期三
Civil War Program Focuses on Local Family Stories
Two days before Gen. Sterling Price's Confederate forces entered Pacific and destroyed railroad property, officers stopped at the Catawissa stone farmhouse of Riverboat Dan McAuley looking for horses.
Upon learning that McAuley had hidden his horses, they forced his wife to cook for them and kidnapped his two oldest daughters. They kept the girls, ages 18 and 19, for three nights before releasing them to return home. It was an incident that scarred the family for three generations.
"Gen. Sterling Price is no hero of mine," Billy Murphy, McAuley's great-great grandson, recently told an audience that packed the Pacific High School auditorium March 24. "After that none of the local men would have anything to do with those girls. It damaged their lives for years."
It was a story that had been whispered in Catawissa and told among family members, but not talked about publicly. Murphy said it was a story that needed telling to give a true look at the Civil War.
Murphy was one of eight speakers who related incidents of the Oct. 1, 1864, battle of Pacific that academic historians refer to as a skirmish - if they mention it at all.
As the nation observes the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, descendants of Pacific families were asked to relate their family's experiences.
The Meramec Valley Genealogical and Historical Society staged the program as part of the 2011-2015 Civil War Sesquicentennial celebration. The society, which collects local family histories, looked at its own archives to identify speakers.
Bobby Kommer, Catawissa, said his family fought on both sides of the war. His Musick ancestors, who had fought in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, joined the Missouri State Guard before the start of the Civil War and later joined the Confederate Army. His Whitworth relatives remained loyal to the Union and volunteered to fight for the north.
After he spoke, Kommer dropped down on the second-to-bottom auditorium step and watched the rest of the presentation, nodding in agreement as each of the speakers told their stories.
"Bobby is representative of Missouri, and of our region, because that's how it was, cousin against cousin," said Maggie Brundick Koetting, the program narrator.
Nancy Thater, MVR-III Odyssey director, said Missouri was unique in the Civil War, having two governors, two seats of government and two volunteer militia groups.
"It was all very confusing for citizens," Thater said. "Loyalties were divided across the state."
There were more than 1,000 battles and engagements in Missouri during the Civil War, the third highest of any state, Koetting said. And Pacific was a center of troop movements throughout the four-year conflict because it sat at the junction of two of the four railroads west of the Mississippi River.
It was the Pacific Railroad and its southwest branch that battalions, companies and regiments of Union solders were sent to guard. The Pacific rail center survived until the last months of the war when Confederate forces finally destroyed it.
On Oct. 1, 1864, Price's ragtag army torched the railroad bridge over the Meramec River south of town, looted stores on St. Louis Street and burned every railroad building in downtown Pacific to the ground, including the depot, eating commissary, repair shops, roundhouse, storage buildings and water towers.
After a four-hour conflict that included pounding Union forces with cannon fire, the rebels were driven from town. They took a railroad baggageman, known locally as Uncle Peter Morrison prisoner, robbed him of his shoes and sent him to walk home barefooted.
But in Gray Summit, at the home of the Ming family, Southern sympathizers who had barbecued the fatted hogs and baked big cobblers, they found what could have been the first good meal they had in months, according to local history writer Sue Reed.
"Johnny Ray, have I died and gone to heaven?" one Confederate foot soldier rhetorically asked another.
Reed uncovered the story of the barbecue held for Price and his men during oral interviews for her book on the Jeffries family. Like Kommer's relatives, Jefferies family members chose their sides and enlisted in opposing armies.
"At that picnic dinner, there actually were first cousins of the men they had just fought at Pacific," Reed said.
Local lore and stories told by grandparents were often what kept the Civil War stories alive in families, Reed said.
But there were documents that survived. Henry Alt displayed the original discharge that his great-uncle Charles Frise carried with him from the time of his discharge until the war ended.
"It's amazing that it's still in as good shape as it is," Alt said. "He couldn't put it away at home. He had to carry it with him all the time, folded up, to prove he wasn't a deserter in case he got stopped."
Many papers have been lost or not yet discovered. Dale Hoffman recalled that when he and his father demolished the old St. Louis Street mansion, called The Blue Goose, his father found a large scrapbook containing a diary and letters written by soldiers who had been patients in the army hospital set up in the building.
"I think my dad gave the scrapbook to a relative of one of the soldiers," Hoffman said. "I don't recall who he gave it to."
There were letters, too, that Robert B. Denny and his wife Maleta wrote to each other during his three years as captain of Company B, 26th Missouri Infantry, perhaps as many as a 100 letters, according to Bryon Denny, Catawissa, Denny's great-great-great grandson.
The husband-wife letters have not surfaced but the diary that Denny kept survived. Written in lead pencil, with an entry for each day, Denny recorded every time he received a letter from his wife Maleta and every time he wrote to her.
His company was with Sherman's forces at Atlanta, Ga., when the September invasion of Catawissa took place. Day after day he made a diary entry, ‘no mail from the north,' ‘no letter yet.' Finally on Oct. 26, he received a letter from Maleta.
"Old Pap Price only got one horse from me," the diary entry said. "That's all he got."
As Price's army moved north through Missouri it conscripted a growing number of wagons, horses and mules - all it could find, Koetting said.
Still there weren't enough horses to pull the artillery pieces, according to local Boy Scout Zach Myers, who researched what type of artillery a moving army would take with them so he could purchase an accurate replica for his Eagle Scout project.
"Because it was so hilly in the Ozarks they used the lighter 12-pound Howitzers. They wouldn't have been pulling the big Napoleon cannons that you see in pictures of Gettysburg," Myers said. "The 12-pounders were usually pulled by six horses, but by the time they got here they were usually only using four horses because they didn't have enough horses."
Bill McLaren owns the farm where the fenced Whitworth family cemetery is located and rents the adjoining Phelan property that overlooks the Meramec River and the railroad bridge, guarded for most of the war by Union solders.
"There's a Civil War campsite up there that's pretty clear," McLaren said. "You can envision the encampment."
McLaren said he had known about the burning of the railroad bridge most his life.
"I was about 4 or 5 when the late Jim Phelan's mother Annie Dailey Phelan, who was very old at the time, told me how she recalled when she was a small girl and the Rebel soldiers made the women and children carry brush onto the railroad bridge that they set on fire."
Portions of the presentation were a repeat of a program at the genealogy society's annual meeting at the Pacific Presbyterian Church last July.
"I'm glad we're doing it again because it gives me a chance to say what finally happened to my great-aunts, the McAuley girls," Murphy said. "When Riverboat Dan died he left each of his daughters $426 in cash.
The oldest one right away took her money and moved to Colorado. She later sent for her sister. They both married, one to a store owner and one to a miner. They ended up doing OK, but for a long time it was a sad, sad story. Neither one of them ever came back to Catawissa."
Henry Alt also had an after-the-fact story. He carried onto the stage with him a large spent shell that had been found in Pacific after the Civil War.
"We always had this on our farm, but I was almost afraid to claim it was from the Civil War," Alt said. "Last night I went to another Civil War event with Ron Sansone and there was an artillery expert there. I can confirm that this was definitely a Civil War shell and it was found in Pacific."
Patricia Sewell, Genealogy Society president, said additional research is being done in the society archives to locate correspondence and photographs that relate to the Civil War.
"We want to make the record as complete as possible," Sewell said.
Pauline Masson, who wrote the program script, said the use of the Pacific High School auditorium for the presentation was made possible Tom Sauvage, PHS principal. Fred Nolley and Cheryl Schlemper, MVR-III technology director who coordinated the video projection, sound and lights.
"Our little society never envisioned a program quite this grand," Masson said.
The Pacific Tourism Commission, Chamber of Commerce and Pacific Partnership sponsored the program, which Step Productions, New Haven, recorded on video.
Upon learning that McAuley had hidden his horses, they forced his wife to cook for them and kidnapped his two oldest daughters. They kept the girls, ages 18 and 19, for three nights before releasing them to return home. It was an incident that scarred the family for three generations.
"Gen. Sterling Price is no hero of mine," Billy Murphy, McAuley's great-great grandson, recently told an audience that packed the Pacific High School auditorium March 24. "After that none of the local men would have anything to do with those girls. It damaged their lives for years."
It was a story that had been whispered in Catawissa and told among family members, but not talked about publicly. Murphy said it was a story that needed telling to give a true look at the Civil War.
Murphy was one of eight speakers who related incidents of the Oct. 1, 1864, battle of Pacific that academic historians refer to as a skirmish - if they mention it at all.
As the nation observes the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, descendants of Pacific families were asked to relate their family's experiences.
The Meramec Valley Genealogical and Historical Society staged the program as part of the 2011-2015 Civil War Sesquicentennial celebration. The society, which collects local family histories, looked at its own archives to identify speakers.
Bobby Kommer, Catawissa, said his family fought on both sides of the war. His Musick ancestors, who had fought in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, joined the Missouri State Guard before the start of the Civil War and later joined the Confederate Army. His Whitworth relatives remained loyal to the Union and volunteered to fight for the north.
After he spoke, Kommer dropped down on the second-to-bottom auditorium step and watched the rest of the presentation, nodding in agreement as each of the speakers told their stories.
"Bobby is representative of Missouri, and of our region, because that's how it was, cousin against cousin," said Maggie Brundick Koetting, the program narrator.
Nancy Thater, MVR-III Odyssey director, said Missouri was unique in the Civil War, having two governors, two seats of government and two volunteer militia groups.
"It was all very confusing for citizens," Thater said. "Loyalties were divided across the state."
There were more than 1,000 battles and engagements in Missouri during the Civil War, the third highest of any state, Koetting said. And Pacific was a center of troop movements throughout the four-year conflict because it sat at the junction of two of the four railroads west of the Mississippi River.
It was the Pacific Railroad and its southwest branch that battalions, companies and regiments of Union solders were sent to guard. The Pacific rail center survived until the last months of the war when Confederate forces finally destroyed it.
On Oct. 1, 1864, Price's ragtag army torched the railroad bridge over the Meramec River south of town, looted stores on St. Louis Street and burned every railroad building in downtown Pacific to the ground, including the depot, eating commissary, repair shops, roundhouse, storage buildings and water towers.
After a four-hour conflict that included pounding Union forces with cannon fire, the rebels were driven from town. They took a railroad baggageman, known locally as Uncle Peter Morrison prisoner, robbed him of his shoes and sent him to walk home barefooted.
But in Gray Summit, at the home of the Ming family, Southern sympathizers who had barbecued the fatted hogs and baked big cobblers, they found what could have been the first good meal they had in months, according to local history writer Sue Reed.
"Johnny Ray, have I died and gone to heaven?" one Confederate foot soldier rhetorically asked another.
Reed uncovered the story of the barbecue held for Price and his men during oral interviews for her book on the Jeffries family. Like Kommer's relatives, Jefferies family members chose their sides and enlisted in opposing armies.
"At that picnic dinner, there actually were first cousins of the men they had just fought at Pacific," Reed said.
Local lore and stories told by grandparents were often what kept the Civil War stories alive in families, Reed said.
But there were documents that survived. Henry Alt displayed the original discharge that his great-uncle Charles Frise carried with him from the time of his discharge until the war ended.
"It's amazing that it's still in as good shape as it is," Alt said. "He couldn't put it away at home. He had to carry it with him all the time, folded up, to prove he wasn't a deserter in case he got stopped."
Many papers have been lost or not yet discovered. Dale Hoffman recalled that when he and his father demolished the old St. Louis Street mansion, called The Blue Goose, his father found a large scrapbook containing a diary and letters written by soldiers who had been patients in the army hospital set up in the building.
"I think my dad gave the scrapbook to a relative of one of the soldiers," Hoffman said. "I don't recall who he gave it to."
There were letters, too, that Robert B. Denny and his wife Maleta wrote to each other during his three years as captain of Company B, 26th Missouri Infantry, perhaps as many as a 100 letters, according to Bryon Denny, Catawissa, Denny's great-great-great grandson.
The husband-wife letters have not surfaced but the diary that Denny kept survived. Written in lead pencil, with an entry for each day, Denny recorded every time he received a letter from his wife Maleta and every time he wrote to her.
His company was with Sherman's forces at Atlanta, Ga., when the September invasion of Catawissa took place. Day after day he made a diary entry, ‘no mail from the north,' ‘no letter yet.' Finally on Oct. 26, he received a letter from Maleta.
"Old Pap Price only got one horse from me," the diary entry said. "That's all he got."
As Price's army moved north through Missouri it conscripted a growing number of wagons, horses and mules - all it could find, Koetting said.
Still there weren't enough horses to pull the artillery pieces, according to local Boy Scout Zach Myers, who researched what type of artillery a moving army would take with them so he could purchase an accurate replica for his Eagle Scout project.
"Because it was so hilly in the Ozarks they used the lighter 12-pound Howitzers. They wouldn't have been pulling the big Napoleon cannons that you see in pictures of Gettysburg," Myers said. "The 12-pounders were usually pulled by six horses, but by the time they got here they were usually only using four horses because they didn't have enough horses."
Bill McLaren owns the farm where the fenced Whitworth family cemetery is located and rents the adjoining Phelan property that overlooks the Meramec River and the railroad bridge, guarded for most of the war by Union solders.
"There's a Civil War campsite up there that's pretty clear," McLaren said. "You can envision the encampment."
McLaren said he had known about the burning of the railroad bridge most his life.
"I was about 4 or 5 when the late Jim Phelan's mother Annie Dailey Phelan, who was very old at the time, told me how she recalled when she was a small girl and the Rebel soldiers made the women and children carry brush onto the railroad bridge that they set on fire."
Portions of the presentation were a repeat of a program at the genealogy society's annual meeting at the Pacific Presbyterian Church last July.
"I'm glad we're doing it again because it gives me a chance to say what finally happened to my great-aunts, the McAuley girls," Murphy said. "When Riverboat Dan died he left each of his daughters $426 in cash.
The oldest one right away took her money and moved to Colorado. She later sent for her sister. They both married, one to a store owner and one to a miner. They ended up doing OK, but for a long time it was a sad, sad story. Neither one of them ever came back to Catawissa."
Henry Alt also had an after-the-fact story. He carried onto the stage with him a large spent shell that had been found in Pacific after the Civil War.
"We always had this on our farm, but I was almost afraid to claim it was from the Civil War," Alt said. "Last night I went to another Civil War event with Ron Sansone and there was an artillery expert there. I can confirm that this was definitely a Civil War shell and it was found in Pacific."
Patricia Sewell, Genealogy Society president, said additional research is being done in the society archives to locate correspondence and photographs that relate to the Civil War.
"We want to make the record as complete as possible," Sewell said.
Pauline Masson, who wrote the program script, said the use of the Pacific High School auditorium for the presentation was made possible Tom Sauvage, PHS principal. Fred Nolley and Cheryl Schlemper, MVR-III technology director who coordinated the video projection, sound and lights.
"Our little society never envisioned a program quite this grand," Masson said.
The Pacific Tourism Commission, Chamber of Commerce and Pacific Partnership sponsored the program, which Step Productions, New Haven, recorded on video.
Why Religious People Struggle with Economics
For years I've puzzled over the question of why religious people have such trouble coming to terms with economics. This problem applies only to modern religious people, for it was Catholics in 15th- and 16th-century Spain who systematized the discipline of economics to begin with. That was long ago. Today, most of what is written about economics in Catholic circles is painful to read. The failing extends left and right, as likely to appear in "progressive" or "traditionalist" publications. In book publishing, the problem is so pervasive that it is difficult to review the newest batch.
It's not just that the writers, as thoughtful as they might otherwise be on all matters of faith and morals, do not know anything about economic theory. The problem is even more foundational: the widespread tendency is to deny the validity of the science itself. It is treated as some kind of pseudoscience invented to thwart the achievement of social justice or the realization of the perfectly moral utopia of faith. They therefore dismiss the entire discipline as forgettable and maybe even evil. It's almost as if the entire subject is outside their field of intellectual vision.
Here is a theory (with a debt to Rothbard, Hoppe, Kinsella, et al.) about why this situation persists. People who live and work primarily within the religious milieu are dealing mainly with goods of an infinite nature. These are goods like salvation, the intercession of saints, prayers of an infinitely replicable nature, texts, images, and songs that constitute nonscarce goods, the nature of which requires no rationing, allocation, and choices regarding their distribution.
None of these goods takes up physical space. One can make infinite copies of them. They can be used without displacing other instances of the good. They do not depreciate with time. Their integrity remains intact no matter how many times they are used. Thus they require no economization. For that reason, there need to be no property norms concerning their use. They need not be priced. There is no problem associated with their rational allocation. They are what economists call "free goods."
If one exists, lives, and thinks primarily in the realm of the nonscarce good, the problems associated with scarcity — the realm that concerns economics — will always be elusive. To be sure, it might seem strange to think of things such as grace, ideas, prayers, and images as goods, but this term merely describes something that is desired by people. (There are also things we might describe as nongoods, which are things that no one wants.) So it is not really a point of controversy to use this term. What really requires explanation is the description of prayers, grace, text, images, and music as nonscarce goods that require no economization.
So let us back up and consider the difference between scarce and nonscarce goods. The term scarcity does not precisely refer to the quantity of goods in existence. It refers to the relationship between how many of these goods are available relative to the demand for goods. If the number available at zero price is fewer than people want for any reason whatever, they can be considered scarce goods. It means that there is a limit on the number that can be distributed, given the number of people who want them.
Scarcity is the defining characteristic of the material world, the inescapable fact that gives rise to economics. So long as we live in this lacrimarum valle, there will be no paradise. There will be less of everything than would be used if all goods were superabundant. This is true regardless of how prosperous or poor a society is; insofar as material things are finite, they will need to be distributed through some rational system — not one designed by anyone, but one that emerges in the course of exchange, production, and economization. This is the core of the economic problem that economic science seeks to address.
It is almost impossible to think of a finite good that is nonscarce. We can come up with a scenario, perhaps, like two people living in paradise surrounded by an ocean of bananas. In this case, the bananas would be a nonscarce good. They could be eaten and eaten forever, provided that the bananas do not spoil. Another proviso is that there can be no free trade between paradise and the rest of the world, else one of the inhabitants might get the bright idea to arbitrage between nonscarce bananas in paradise and scarce bananas everywhere else. In this case, the bananas would obtain a price and would therefore have to be called scarce goods, not nonscarce goods.
In the real world outside of the banana paradise, nonscarce goods are of a special nature. One feature is that they are typically replicable without limit, like digital files or the inspiration one receives from an icon that can be copied without limit.
As an example, consider the case of the loaves and fishes, an incident in the life of Jesus recorded by all four Gospel writers. Jesus is speaking to the multitudes, and the listeners grow hungry. The Apostles only have five loaves and two fishes: These are scarce goods. They could have thrown them into the air and created a food riot over who got what. They could have opened a market and sold them food at a very high price, rationing them by economic means. Both solutions would produce outrageous results.
Instead, Jesus had a different idea. He turned the scarce bits of food into nonscarce goods by making copies of the scarce food. The multitudes ate and were full. Then the food evidently turned back into scarce goods, because the story ends with Jesus instructing His disciples to collect what is left. Why collect what is nonscarce? Clearly, the miracle had a beginning and end.
The story nicely illustrates the difference between a scarce and nonscarce good. Jesus often used this distinction in His parables, which are mostly stories about the scarce world told in order to draw attention to truths about the nonscarce world. Think of the merchant who bought pearls at a low price and sold them at a high price. One day he found the pearl of the highest possible value, and he sold all he had just to buy and hold it. The pearl, of course, represents salvation and the love of God — nonscarce goods, because there is enough for everyone who desires them.
We are in fact surrounded every day by nonscarce goods exactly like the loaves and fishes. All ideas are of this nature. I can come up with an idea and share it with you. You can possess it, but in so doing, you do not take that idea away from me. Instead, you hold a replica of it — just as real and intact as the original version. Words are this way: I do not need to parse them out in order to save some for myself. Tunes in music are this way, too. I can sing a tune to you, and you can repeat it, but this action does not remove the tune from me. A perfect copy is made, and can be made and made again unto infinity.
This is completely different from the way things work in the realm of scarce goods. Let's say that you like my shoes and want them. If you take them from me, I do not have them anymore. If I want them again, I have to take them back from you. There is a zero-sum rivalry over our use of the goods. That means there must be some kind of system for deciding who can own them. It means absolutely nothing to declare that there should be something called socialism for my shoes so that the whole of society can somehow own them. It is factually impossible for this to happen, because shoes are a scarce good. This is why socialism is sheer fantasy, a meaningless dreamland as regards scarce goods.
The difference between scarce and nonscarce goods has long been noted within the Christian milieu. St. Augustine was once challenged to explain how it is that Jesus can speak for the Father in heaven though the Father is separate. He responded that there is a special nonscarce nature associated with words so that the Son can speak the same words and possess the same thoughts of the Father.
This is true on earth, too, Augustine continued:
The words I am uttering penetrate your senses, so that every hearer holds them, yet withholds them from no other. … I have no worry that, by giving all to one, the others are deprived. I hope, instead, that everyone will consume everything; so that, denying no other ear or mind, you take all to yourselves, yet leave all to all others. But for individual failures of memory, everyone who came to hear what I say can take it all off, each on one's separate way.
In saying these things, Augustine was both establishing and following up on a tradition that prohibited the buying and selling of nonscarce things. Jewish Halachic code prohibits a rabbi or teacher to profit from the dissemination of Torah knowledge. He can charge for time, the use of a building, the books, and so on, but not the knowledge itself. The Torah is supposed to be a "free good" and accessible to all. From this idea also comes the prohibition on simony within Christianity.
The moral norm is that nonscarce goods should be free. There is no physical limit on their distribution. There is no conflict over ownership. They would not be subject to rationing. This is not true with regard to material goods.
To further understand this, let's try an alternative scenario in which a nonscarce good like salvation (nonscarce because it is infinitely replicable) is actually a scarce good that must be rationed. Let's say that Jesus had not offered salvation to all but instead had restricted the number of units of salvation to exactly 1,000. He then put His Apostles in charge of allocating them. (When I mentioned this to a nonbelieving friend of mine, he said: "You mean like tickets to Paradise? I bought five of those in a mosque in Istanbul!")
The Apostles would have immediately confronted a serious problem. Would they give them all out immediately or dispense them over the course of a year, or ten years? Perhaps they suspected that the world would last another 100 years; they might limit the distribution of salvations to only ten per year. Or perhaps they needed to reserve them to last 1,000 years. Regardless, there would have had to be rules and norms governing how they were distributed. Perhaps this would be based on personal displays of virtue, of monetary payment, of family lineage, and so on.
No matter what the results, the history of Christianity would have been very different if Jesus had not made salvation a nonscarce good, but instead had limited the supply and charged the Church with allocation. There would have been no liberality in spreading the gospel. Forget the whole business of going to the ends of the earth or becoming fishers of men. Under a limited supply, the salvation could not be replicated. If, for example, the Apostles had chosen a 1,001st person to be saved, eternal life would have been taken away from the first person to receive it.
This might sound preposterous and even frightening, but this is precisely the situation that persists with all material goods in the real world. All scarce things are fixed, and all things must be allocated. Even under conditions of high economic growth and rapid technological progress, all goods in existence at any one time are finite and cannot be distributed without norms or property rights, lest there be a war of all against all. Another factor of production that is scarce is time, and this too must be allocated by some means.
As it happens, salvation is indeed a nonscarce good available to all who seek it. So are the intercessions of saints. No one fails to ask for the intercession of a saint, but no one knows for a fact whether someone else is employing that saint at the moment. No, we rightly assume that saints have no limits on their time for prayer. Indeed, the limitlessness of salvation is the prototype for all forms of nonscarce goods like music, texts, images, and teachings.
But consider people who have dedicated their life to the work of these nonscarce goods. One can easily imagine that they find immense power and glory in these goods. I certainly do. They are the things to which all religious people have devoted their lives. This is a fantastic thing — and truly, without nonscarce goods, the whole of civilization would come crashing down to the level of the animals.
At the same time, the world does not only consist of nonscarce goods. The economic problem deals with the issue of scarce goods. And this is just as important to the flourishing of life on earth. All things finite are subject to economic laws. We dare not ignore them nor ignore the systems of thought seeking to explain their production and distribution. Note that Jesus's parables deal with both realms. So should we all.
It's not just that the writers, as thoughtful as they might otherwise be on all matters of faith and morals, do not know anything about economic theory. The problem is even more foundational: the widespread tendency is to deny the validity of the science itself. It is treated as some kind of pseudoscience invented to thwart the achievement of social justice or the realization of the perfectly moral utopia of faith. They therefore dismiss the entire discipline as forgettable and maybe even evil. It's almost as if the entire subject is outside their field of intellectual vision.
Here is a theory (with a debt to Rothbard, Hoppe, Kinsella, et al.) about why this situation persists. People who live and work primarily within the religious milieu are dealing mainly with goods of an infinite nature. These are goods like salvation, the intercession of saints, prayers of an infinitely replicable nature, texts, images, and songs that constitute nonscarce goods, the nature of which requires no rationing, allocation, and choices regarding their distribution.
None of these goods takes up physical space. One can make infinite copies of them. They can be used without displacing other instances of the good. They do not depreciate with time. Their integrity remains intact no matter how many times they are used. Thus they require no economization. For that reason, there need to be no property norms concerning their use. They need not be priced. There is no problem associated with their rational allocation. They are what economists call "free goods."
If one exists, lives, and thinks primarily in the realm of the nonscarce good, the problems associated with scarcity — the realm that concerns economics — will always be elusive. To be sure, it might seem strange to think of things such as grace, ideas, prayers, and images as goods, but this term merely describes something that is desired by people. (There are also things we might describe as nongoods, which are things that no one wants.) So it is not really a point of controversy to use this term. What really requires explanation is the description of prayers, grace, text, images, and music as nonscarce goods that require no economization.
So let us back up and consider the difference between scarce and nonscarce goods. The term scarcity does not precisely refer to the quantity of goods in existence. It refers to the relationship between how many of these goods are available relative to the demand for goods. If the number available at zero price is fewer than people want for any reason whatever, they can be considered scarce goods. It means that there is a limit on the number that can be distributed, given the number of people who want them.
Scarcity is the defining characteristic of the material world, the inescapable fact that gives rise to economics. So long as we live in this lacrimarum valle, there will be no paradise. There will be less of everything than would be used if all goods were superabundant. This is true regardless of how prosperous or poor a society is; insofar as material things are finite, they will need to be distributed through some rational system — not one designed by anyone, but one that emerges in the course of exchange, production, and economization. This is the core of the economic problem that economic science seeks to address.
It is almost impossible to think of a finite good that is nonscarce. We can come up with a scenario, perhaps, like two people living in paradise surrounded by an ocean of bananas. In this case, the bananas would be a nonscarce good. They could be eaten and eaten forever, provided that the bananas do not spoil. Another proviso is that there can be no free trade between paradise and the rest of the world, else one of the inhabitants might get the bright idea to arbitrage between nonscarce bananas in paradise and scarce bananas everywhere else. In this case, the bananas would obtain a price and would therefore have to be called scarce goods, not nonscarce goods.
In the real world outside of the banana paradise, nonscarce goods are of a special nature. One feature is that they are typically replicable without limit, like digital files or the inspiration one receives from an icon that can be copied without limit.
As an example, consider the case of the loaves and fishes, an incident in the life of Jesus recorded by all four Gospel writers. Jesus is speaking to the multitudes, and the listeners grow hungry. The Apostles only have five loaves and two fishes: These are scarce goods. They could have thrown them into the air and created a food riot over who got what. They could have opened a market and sold them food at a very high price, rationing them by economic means. Both solutions would produce outrageous results.
Instead, Jesus had a different idea. He turned the scarce bits of food into nonscarce goods by making copies of the scarce food. The multitudes ate and were full. Then the food evidently turned back into scarce goods, because the story ends with Jesus instructing His disciples to collect what is left. Why collect what is nonscarce? Clearly, the miracle had a beginning and end.
The story nicely illustrates the difference between a scarce and nonscarce good. Jesus often used this distinction in His parables, which are mostly stories about the scarce world told in order to draw attention to truths about the nonscarce world. Think of the merchant who bought pearls at a low price and sold them at a high price. One day he found the pearl of the highest possible value, and he sold all he had just to buy and hold it. The pearl, of course, represents salvation and the love of God — nonscarce goods, because there is enough for everyone who desires them.
We are in fact surrounded every day by nonscarce goods exactly like the loaves and fishes. All ideas are of this nature. I can come up with an idea and share it with you. You can possess it, but in so doing, you do not take that idea away from me. Instead, you hold a replica of it — just as real and intact as the original version. Words are this way: I do not need to parse them out in order to save some for myself. Tunes in music are this way, too. I can sing a tune to you, and you can repeat it, but this action does not remove the tune from me. A perfect copy is made, and can be made and made again unto infinity.
This is completely different from the way things work in the realm of scarce goods. Let's say that you like my shoes and want them. If you take them from me, I do not have them anymore. If I want them again, I have to take them back from you. There is a zero-sum rivalry over our use of the goods. That means there must be some kind of system for deciding who can own them. It means absolutely nothing to declare that there should be something called socialism for my shoes so that the whole of society can somehow own them. It is factually impossible for this to happen, because shoes are a scarce good. This is why socialism is sheer fantasy, a meaningless dreamland as regards scarce goods.
The difference between scarce and nonscarce goods has long been noted within the Christian milieu. St. Augustine was once challenged to explain how it is that Jesus can speak for the Father in heaven though the Father is separate. He responded that there is a special nonscarce nature associated with words so that the Son can speak the same words and possess the same thoughts of the Father.
This is true on earth, too, Augustine continued:
The words I am uttering penetrate your senses, so that every hearer holds them, yet withholds them from no other. … I have no worry that, by giving all to one, the others are deprived. I hope, instead, that everyone will consume everything; so that, denying no other ear or mind, you take all to yourselves, yet leave all to all others. But for individual failures of memory, everyone who came to hear what I say can take it all off, each on one's separate way.
In saying these things, Augustine was both establishing and following up on a tradition that prohibited the buying and selling of nonscarce things. Jewish Halachic code prohibits a rabbi or teacher to profit from the dissemination of Torah knowledge. He can charge for time, the use of a building, the books, and so on, but not the knowledge itself. The Torah is supposed to be a "free good" and accessible to all. From this idea also comes the prohibition on simony within Christianity.
The moral norm is that nonscarce goods should be free. There is no physical limit on their distribution. There is no conflict over ownership. They would not be subject to rationing. This is not true with regard to material goods.
To further understand this, let's try an alternative scenario in which a nonscarce good like salvation (nonscarce because it is infinitely replicable) is actually a scarce good that must be rationed. Let's say that Jesus had not offered salvation to all but instead had restricted the number of units of salvation to exactly 1,000. He then put His Apostles in charge of allocating them. (When I mentioned this to a nonbelieving friend of mine, he said: "You mean like tickets to Paradise? I bought five of those in a mosque in Istanbul!")
The Apostles would have immediately confronted a serious problem. Would they give them all out immediately or dispense them over the course of a year, or ten years? Perhaps they suspected that the world would last another 100 years; they might limit the distribution of salvations to only ten per year. Or perhaps they needed to reserve them to last 1,000 years. Regardless, there would have had to be rules and norms governing how they were distributed. Perhaps this would be based on personal displays of virtue, of monetary payment, of family lineage, and so on.
No matter what the results, the history of Christianity would have been very different if Jesus had not made salvation a nonscarce good, but instead had limited the supply and charged the Church with allocation. There would have been no liberality in spreading the gospel. Forget the whole business of going to the ends of the earth or becoming fishers of men. Under a limited supply, the salvation could not be replicated. If, for example, the Apostles had chosen a 1,001st person to be saved, eternal life would have been taken away from the first person to receive it.
This might sound preposterous and even frightening, but this is precisely the situation that persists with all material goods in the real world. All scarce things are fixed, and all things must be allocated. Even under conditions of high economic growth and rapid technological progress, all goods in existence at any one time are finite and cannot be distributed without norms or property rights, lest there be a war of all against all. Another factor of production that is scarce is time, and this too must be allocated by some means.
As it happens, salvation is indeed a nonscarce good available to all who seek it. So are the intercessions of saints. No one fails to ask for the intercession of a saint, but no one knows for a fact whether someone else is employing that saint at the moment. No, we rightly assume that saints have no limits on their time for prayer. Indeed, the limitlessness of salvation is the prototype for all forms of nonscarce goods like music, texts, images, and teachings.
But consider people who have dedicated their life to the work of these nonscarce goods. One can easily imagine that they find immense power and glory in these goods. I certainly do. They are the things to which all religious people have devoted their lives. This is a fantastic thing — and truly, without nonscarce goods, the whole of civilization would come crashing down to the level of the animals.
At the same time, the world does not only consist of nonscarce goods. The economic problem deals with the issue of scarce goods. And this is just as important to the flourishing of life on earth. All things finite are subject to economic laws. We dare not ignore them nor ignore the systems of thought seeking to explain their production and distribution. Note that Jesus's parables deal with both realms. So should we all.
2011年3月29日星期二
‘Love Indonesian shoes’ campaign
To counter the inflow of imported products from China, the Indonesian footwear Association (Aprisindo) is cooperating with government institutions and schools to promote the use of domestically-made shoes.
Aprisindo chairman Eddy Widjanarko said in Jakarta on Monday that the association would soon hold an exhibition at the National Education Ministry as part of the “Love Indonesian Shoes” campaign.
The exhibition will be the second of the campaign program. The first expo was held in cooperation with the Trade Ministry early this month. Eddy said the association would also hold exhibitions at schools to promote locally-made shoes.
“We will also cooperate with the Foreign Ministry in organizing an exhibition at its building in May,” Eddy told The Jakarta Post.
He said promoting the use of domestically-produced shoes through exhibitions was necessary because foreign products, mainly those from China, the world’s largest footwear producer, dominated the domestic shoe market.
Aprisindo chairman Eddy Widjanarko said in Jakarta on Monday that the association would soon hold an exhibition at the National Education Ministry as part of the “Love Indonesian Shoes” campaign.
The exhibition will be the second of the campaign program. The first expo was held in cooperation with the Trade Ministry early this month. Eddy said the association would also hold exhibitions at schools to promote locally-made shoes.
“We will also cooperate with the Foreign Ministry in organizing an exhibition at its building in May,” Eddy told The Jakarta Post.
He said promoting the use of domestically-produced shoes through exhibitions was necessary because foreign products, mainly those from China, the world’s largest footwear producer, dominated the domestic shoe market.
2011年3月28日星期一
Fans go to extreme lengths to bag a ticket for mouth-watering game
The Very Very Important People (VVIP) list of those expected to come to watch the India-Pakistan match at Mohali tomorrow is growing by the day.
The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) officials are in a mad rush to make sure the most comfortable seats are made available for them.
With Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani both expected, security screening to enter the stadium has been unprecedented.
As I entered the stadium yesterday, for the first time in this World Cup, I was frisked from top to bottom, with the policeman going to the extent of searching my socks and shoes.
I felt bad for these policemen who have to search every single leg entering the stadium.
Black market ticket rates are mounting by the hour. I've heard a Rs1,000 (Dh82) ticket was purchased by a visitor from Delhi for Rs25,000 (Dh2,047). "I cannot understand the madness in spending such money. For this money he could have bought an LCD 42-inch television and watched the match comfortably from his home!" said a PCA official.
It was nice to see Yuvraj Singh respecting PCA officials.
He touched PCA president I.S. Bindra's feet and hugged him. Bindra has played a big role in Singh's development.
Film actor Rahul Bose managed to get himself a ticket but screen villain Gulshan Grover has failed.
Security pressure
Superstar Shah Rukh Khan was supposed to attend the match but decided against as it could put additional pressure on the police.
Local newspapers here reported an Indian fan offering his kidney for a ticket!
A fan was permitted into the stadium while India were practising. He had a replica of the World Cup on his shaven head and wore a Sachin Tendulkar shirt.
Meanwhile, bookmakers are favouring India over Pakistan. Bets on the semi-final are expected to cross to dizzy heights. Ladbrokes, the British betting syndicate, has given the Indian team 4-7 odds. Bets have also been placed for huge amounts on whether Tendulkar will score a century.
The harsh treatment of Kamran Akmal by the fans has also continued. As he was boarding the team bus, a fan shouted: "Akmal, can you also drop me on the way?"
The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) officials are in a mad rush to make sure the most comfortable seats are made available for them.
With Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani both expected, security screening to enter the stadium has been unprecedented.
As I entered the stadium yesterday, for the first time in this World Cup, I was frisked from top to bottom, with the policeman going to the extent of searching my socks and shoes.
I felt bad for these policemen who have to search every single leg entering the stadium.
Black market ticket rates are mounting by the hour. I've heard a Rs1,000 (Dh82) ticket was purchased by a visitor from Delhi for Rs25,000 (Dh2,047). "I cannot understand the madness in spending such money. For this money he could have bought an LCD 42-inch television and watched the match comfortably from his home!" said a PCA official.
It was nice to see Yuvraj Singh respecting PCA officials.
He touched PCA president I.S. Bindra's feet and hugged him. Bindra has played a big role in Singh's development.
Film actor Rahul Bose managed to get himself a ticket but screen villain Gulshan Grover has failed.
Security pressure
Superstar Shah Rukh Khan was supposed to attend the match but decided against as it could put additional pressure on the police.
Local newspapers here reported an Indian fan offering his kidney for a ticket!
A fan was permitted into the stadium while India were practising. He had a replica of the World Cup on his shaven head and wore a Sachin Tendulkar shirt.
Meanwhile, bookmakers are favouring India over Pakistan. Bets on the semi-final are expected to cross to dizzy heights. Ladbrokes, the British betting syndicate, has given the Indian team 4-7 odds. Bets have also been placed for huge amounts on whether Tendulkar will score a century.
The harsh treatment of Kamran Akmal by the fans has also continued. As he was boarding the team bus, a fan shouted: "Akmal, can you also drop me on the way?"
2011年3月22日星期二
Celebrations Spotlight: Andi Stabryla and Robert Stein
Andi Stabryla, 30, and Robert Stein, 29, married on October 30, 2010. The couple now resides in Gibsonia.
Q: How did you meet?
Bob: We met on October 30, 2004 at a club in the Strip District. Our wedding day was exactly six years later!
Q: Where did you each grow up?
Andi: I grew up in Ellwood City. Bob grew up in Monongahela.
Q: Who proposed? How?
Andi: Bob proposed in NYC at the bar in our favorite hotel. I ordered a Cosmo and, to my surprise, it arrived on a silver tray with an Indian scroll that was inscribed with a sweet note. When I looked up, he was holding a ring. (A replica of this very same scroll was used as our wedding invitation.)
Q: Where were you married? Why did you choose that site?
Bob: We were married at Heinz Chapel. We chose it because I work at Pitt and got my MBA there. It is beautiful!
Q: Where's the reception and honeymoon? Why did you choose those sites?
Bob: Our reception was at Carnegie Museum Music Hall. For our honeymoon, we went to Frankfurt, Germany then to Cairo, Egypt, then Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt and Amman, Jordan and ended up in NYC for a night at our favorite hotel. We thought it would be only right to end there. We both love to travel and neither of us had been to any of those places, so we wanted an adventure!
Q: What was the best part of your honeymoon?
Andi: Everything was perfect. We visited the Sphinx, pyramids, Petra and snorkeled daily in the Red Sea. Egypt and Jordan were beautiful!
Q: Who came the farthest?
Andi: Bob's cousin and our little flower girls travelled from Seattle to share in our day.
What was new, blue, borrowed at your wedding?
Andi: New --Chanel Camellia flower I wore in my hair given to me by our friend Kristen. Borrowed -- My grandfather's rosary which was in my bouquet. Blue -- Christian Louboutin shoes that were purchased at the boutique in NYC as a gift from my husband.
Q: What was the funniest thing that happened?
Bob: Our ring barrier, Lukas, was so shy. He only made it halfway down the aisle and his older (but still young) sister, Katrina, who was handing out programs, had to run and go get him.
Q: Who was your favorite wedding vendor? Why?
Andi: Anthony and the staff at Philip Pelusi in Squirrel Hill did a fabulous job with hair and makeup for the entire bridal party. I couldn't ask for anything more. Also, our florists at Hearts & Flowers Floral, photographers at R. Fritz Photography and Kelli Burns DJ all did a great job. We also had a photobooth from Shutterbooth Pittsburgh which was fun.
Q: What's the most creative wedding present you were given?
Andi: The most creative gift was wine from Bob's best man. He gave us three bottles to enjoy on our first, fifth, and 10th-year anniversaries. The wine, which was totally encased in about 20lbs of mints, was an inside joke between he and Bob. They would always take handfuls of mints from restaurants when they were in high school.
Q: What's the best marriage advice you received?
Andi: A family friend actually gave us this advice, "On your wedding day, hold hands as much as possible." We didn't really understand the importance of it until after the day was over. During our wedding day, we were being pulled in so many different directions, we stuck to that advice and it kept us side-by-side during the whole event.
Q: What is one item of your spouse's that you wish you could throw out?
Andi: His bright white sneakers that he keeps in tip-top shape.
Bob: Andi loves chapstick and she leaves them everywhere. In my opinion, she has too many. I'd throw some of those out.
Other details:
Andi: I have to be the luckiest person on earth to have married such a wonderful man and to get to wake up to him every single day of my life. Marriage is magical!
Bob: It's nice to be married to your best friend. We were also so lucky to have all of our friends and family share in our wedding day with us!
Q: How did you meet?
Bob: We met on October 30, 2004 at a club in the Strip District. Our wedding day was exactly six years later!
Q: Where did you each grow up?
Andi: I grew up in Ellwood City. Bob grew up in Monongahela.
Q: Who proposed? How?
Andi: Bob proposed in NYC at the bar in our favorite hotel. I ordered a Cosmo and, to my surprise, it arrived on a silver tray with an Indian scroll that was inscribed with a sweet note. When I looked up, he was holding a ring. (A replica of this very same scroll was used as our wedding invitation.)
Q: Where were you married? Why did you choose that site?
Bob: We were married at Heinz Chapel. We chose it because I work at Pitt and got my MBA there. It is beautiful!
Q: Where's the reception and honeymoon? Why did you choose those sites?
Bob: Our reception was at Carnegie Museum Music Hall. For our honeymoon, we went to Frankfurt, Germany then to Cairo, Egypt, then Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt and Amman, Jordan and ended up in NYC for a night at our favorite hotel. We thought it would be only right to end there. We both love to travel and neither of us had been to any of those places, so we wanted an adventure!
Q: What was the best part of your honeymoon?
Andi: Everything was perfect. We visited the Sphinx, pyramids, Petra and snorkeled daily in the Red Sea. Egypt and Jordan were beautiful!
Q: Who came the farthest?
Andi: Bob's cousin and our little flower girls travelled from Seattle to share in our day.
What was new, blue, borrowed at your wedding?
Andi: New --Chanel Camellia flower I wore in my hair given to me by our friend Kristen. Borrowed -- My grandfather's rosary which was in my bouquet. Blue -- Christian Louboutin shoes that were purchased at the boutique in NYC as a gift from my husband.
Q: What was the funniest thing that happened?
Bob: Our ring barrier, Lukas, was so shy. He only made it halfway down the aisle and his older (but still young) sister, Katrina, who was handing out programs, had to run and go get him.
Q: Who was your favorite wedding vendor? Why?
Andi: Anthony and the staff at Philip Pelusi in Squirrel Hill did a fabulous job with hair and makeup for the entire bridal party. I couldn't ask for anything more. Also, our florists at Hearts & Flowers Floral, photographers at R. Fritz Photography and Kelli Burns DJ all did a great job. We also had a photobooth from Shutterbooth Pittsburgh which was fun.
Q: What's the most creative wedding present you were given?
Andi: The most creative gift was wine from Bob's best man. He gave us three bottles to enjoy on our first, fifth, and 10th-year anniversaries. The wine, which was totally encased in about 20lbs of mints, was an inside joke between he and Bob. They would always take handfuls of mints from restaurants when they were in high school.
Q: What's the best marriage advice you received?
Andi: A family friend actually gave us this advice, "On your wedding day, hold hands as much as possible." We didn't really understand the importance of it until after the day was over. During our wedding day, we were being pulled in so many different directions, we stuck to that advice and it kept us side-by-side during the whole event.
Q: What is one item of your spouse's that you wish you could throw out?
Andi: His bright white sneakers that he keeps in tip-top shape.
Bob: Andi loves chapstick and she leaves them everywhere. In my opinion, she has too many. I'd throw some of those out.
Other details:
Andi: I have to be the luckiest person on earth to have married such a wonderful man and to get to wake up to him every single day of my life. Marriage is magical!
Bob: It's nice to be married to your best friend. We were also so lucky to have all of our friends and family share in our wedding day with us!
2011年3月20日星期日
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2011年3月15日星期二
Buying the Latest Handbags for Your Own
For most women they can never have enough shoes or handbags. In this summer, they are brightly colored casual bags, leather bags, and superb artificial ones, some special details exist. Taking with the most updated handbag, there are several new businesses popping up that allow a woman the chance to experience what it is like to carry designer handbags each day.
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2011年3月13日星期日
Season o' shamrocks: Area parades celebrate St. Patrick's Day
A chilly wind may have blown down streets and boardwalks Saturday, but the mood was definitely spring as Atlantic City and two towns in Cape May County held their annual St. Patrick's Day parades.
Adults, children and even dogs sported green clothing as they watched bagpipe-and-drum bands, floats, community groups and vehicles make their way from one end of the Atlantic City Boardwalk to the other. Youngsters scrambled for candy, green beads and other goodies thrown from the floats and cars along the route.
Maddy, 10, and John, 7, Wood of Linwood started jumping for joy when they saw the lights of the police motorcycle at the head of the parade inch towards their spot.
Maddy Wood said she was anticipating the float from McGettigan's 19th Hole in Galloway Township, because they are family friends.
"I do an Irish jig when (the music) comes by," said Maddy, wearing a green beret with a white pompom and a shirt declaring, "Not only am I perfect ... I'm Irish too."
The parade, which took about a half-hour to pass any given spot on the Boardwalk, was led by a police motorcycle, the Atlantic City High School color guard and grand marshal Cathy Burke, owner of the Irish Pub, riding in a rolling chair.
A few riders on horses from the upcoming rodeo, scooters from the Seniors on the Go rental company, a trolley carrying members of the Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers and sporting pro-union signs and the Adopt-A-Setter group with dogs in green jackets and collars joined the more traditional participants in the parade.
Victoria Mancinelli, 19, of Absecon squealed with joy as she caught a small heart-shaped box of chocolate thrown from a passing vehicle.
"Show us your shoes," Mancinelli shouted as Ms. New Jersey Senior America Becky Orsatti, of Atlantic City, rode by in a 1929 Ford Phaeton. Orsatti happily complied.
Ten-month-old Patricia Casey, of Northfield, sported a green, shamrock-shaped bib that read "My First St. Patrick's Day Parade" with a bow in her hair to match.
Older brother Steven Casey, 9, said he hoped to spot a leprechaun in the parade. Sister Madeline Lynskey, 7, said she wanted to see a pug dressed like a leprechaun.
Parents Paula and Martin Casey said they came for the music and the Irish spirit.
Hundreds came out in North Wildwood to honor the patron saint of Ireland and bask in the only holiday where one nationality is celebrated by everyone.
The crowd sang the Irish national anthem and celebrated with a parade down Atlantic Avenue. The Irish flag was raised at City Hall and the crowd, many from Irish organizations in the area, listened to speeches. Members of the Angelsea Irish Society, Cape May County Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Cape May County Emerald Society talked about all their programs to support the community.
"Some people think we made this holiday up to have a party and get drunk. We are a giving-back organization," Hibernian Michael Maguire said.
The Irish wit was in abundance.
"We originally offered grand marshal to Charlie Sheen but he was busy today," joked Joe Rullo, the grand marshal of the parade.
Several priests were on hand to lead prayers. St. Patrick, who died March 17, 461 A.D., was above all a holy man, though he may be more well-known for driving the snakes from the Emerald Isle. Celebrations have been held in his honor on March 17 since around 800 A.D.
After the serious part of the program, it was time to parade. The procession included the Wildwood High School Marching Band, a 10-foot tall leprechaun, an organization trying to save turtles called Team Turtle, Miss North Wildwood Hannah DiBruno, firefighters and beach patrols, Duffy's String Band and many others.
Duffy's included local resident Cheryl Crowe who recently became the first female inducted into the Philadelphia String Band Hall of Fame. Crowe plays the banjo and bass fiddle.
"I've been doing this all my life, 59 years," Crowe said.
The parade included a replica of the legendary vessel Jeanie Johnson made by North Wildwood Public Works and escorted by Boy Scout Troop 185 of North Wildwood.
"It used to be a wooden lifeguard boat. We got it from Beach Patrol," said Tim Chester, of the Public Works.
The original Jeanie Johnson, a 408-ton three-masted barque, was famous for transporting Irish immigrants to America during the great potato famine. From 1848 through 1855 it made 16 crossings with more than 2,500 immigrants and not a single one died in spite of cramped quarters and almost two months at sea.
Historians credit the amazing track record to kind-hearted ship owner Nicholas Donovan and skilled captain James Attridge. The Jeanie Johnson always had a doctor on board. Sanitation was stressed and the immigrants were even pushed to take daily walks on the deck.
Sea Isle City held its 21st St. Patrick's Day Parade before hundreds lining the route along Landis Avenue. City Council President Mary Tighe said the Irish Weekend brings the seasonal residents back to town.
"The weekend people are down starting to open their homes up. They enjoy the parade and see people they haven't seen all winter. Everybody's Irish today," Tighe said.
As the Atlantic City parade wound down, Kai MacNeill, 6, of Galloway Township tallied up his booty collected from the floats.
His favorite part of the parade was "when they give out stuff," and he picked up lucky coins, beads, candy and a T-shirt.
"Daddy's going to wear that one," said his mom, Ginger MacNeill.
Sister Kiera, 4, said her favorite part was "seeing Grampy" march and play with the Atlantic City Sandpipers Band.
Dad Gavin MacNeill said he just enjoyed "watching the kids catch candy and wave to everyone who went by."
Adults, children and even dogs sported green clothing as they watched bagpipe-and-drum bands, floats, community groups and vehicles make their way from one end of the Atlantic City Boardwalk to the other. Youngsters scrambled for candy, green beads and other goodies thrown from the floats and cars along the route.
Maddy, 10, and John, 7, Wood of Linwood started jumping for joy when they saw the lights of the police motorcycle at the head of the parade inch towards their spot.
Maddy Wood said she was anticipating the float from McGettigan's 19th Hole in Galloway Township, because they are family friends.
"I do an Irish jig when (the music) comes by," said Maddy, wearing a green beret with a white pompom and a shirt declaring, "Not only am I perfect ... I'm Irish too."
The parade, which took about a half-hour to pass any given spot on the Boardwalk, was led by a police motorcycle, the Atlantic City High School color guard and grand marshal Cathy Burke, owner of the Irish Pub, riding in a rolling chair.
A few riders on horses from the upcoming rodeo, scooters from the Seniors on the Go rental company, a trolley carrying members of the Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers and sporting pro-union signs and the Adopt-A-Setter group with dogs in green jackets and collars joined the more traditional participants in the parade.
Victoria Mancinelli, 19, of Absecon squealed with joy as she caught a small heart-shaped box of chocolate thrown from a passing vehicle.
"Show us your shoes," Mancinelli shouted as Ms. New Jersey Senior America Becky Orsatti, of Atlantic City, rode by in a 1929 Ford Phaeton. Orsatti happily complied.
Ten-month-old Patricia Casey, of Northfield, sported a green, shamrock-shaped bib that read "My First St. Patrick's Day Parade" with a bow in her hair to match.
Older brother Steven Casey, 9, said he hoped to spot a leprechaun in the parade. Sister Madeline Lynskey, 7, said she wanted to see a pug dressed like a leprechaun.
Parents Paula and Martin Casey said they came for the music and the Irish spirit.
Hundreds came out in North Wildwood to honor the patron saint of Ireland and bask in the only holiday where one nationality is celebrated by everyone.
The crowd sang the Irish national anthem and celebrated with a parade down Atlantic Avenue. The Irish flag was raised at City Hall and the crowd, many from Irish organizations in the area, listened to speeches. Members of the Angelsea Irish Society, Cape May County Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Cape May County Emerald Society talked about all their programs to support the community.
"Some people think we made this holiday up to have a party and get drunk. We are a giving-back organization," Hibernian Michael Maguire said.
The Irish wit was in abundance.
"We originally offered grand marshal to Charlie Sheen but he was busy today," joked Joe Rullo, the grand marshal of the parade.
Several priests were on hand to lead prayers. St. Patrick, who died March 17, 461 A.D., was above all a holy man, though he may be more well-known for driving the snakes from the Emerald Isle. Celebrations have been held in his honor on March 17 since around 800 A.D.
After the serious part of the program, it was time to parade. The procession included the Wildwood High School Marching Band, a 10-foot tall leprechaun, an organization trying to save turtles called Team Turtle, Miss North Wildwood Hannah DiBruno, firefighters and beach patrols, Duffy's String Band and many others.
Duffy's included local resident Cheryl Crowe who recently became the first female inducted into the Philadelphia String Band Hall of Fame. Crowe plays the banjo and bass fiddle.
"I've been doing this all my life, 59 years," Crowe said.
The parade included a replica of the legendary vessel Jeanie Johnson made by North Wildwood Public Works and escorted by Boy Scout Troop 185 of North Wildwood.
"It used to be a wooden lifeguard boat. We got it from Beach Patrol," said Tim Chester, of the Public Works.
The original Jeanie Johnson, a 408-ton three-masted barque, was famous for transporting Irish immigrants to America during the great potato famine. From 1848 through 1855 it made 16 crossings with more than 2,500 immigrants and not a single one died in spite of cramped quarters and almost two months at sea.
Historians credit the amazing track record to kind-hearted ship owner Nicholas Donovan and skilled captain James Attridge. The Jeanie Johnson always had a doctor on board. Sanitation was stressed and the immigrants were even pushed to take daily walks on the deck.
Sea Isle City held its 21st St. Patrick's Day Parade before hundreds lining the route along Landis Avenue. City Council President Mary Tighe said the Irish Weekend brings the seasonal residents back to town.
"The weekend people are down starting to open their homes up. They enjoy the parade and see people they haven't seen all winter. Everybody's Irish today," Tighe said.
As the Atlantic City parade wound down, Kai MacNeill, 6, of Galloway Township tallied up his booty collected from the floats.
His favorite part of the parade was "when they give out stuff," and he picked up lucky coins, beads, candy and a T-shirt.
"Daddy's going to wear that one," said his mom, Ginger MacNeill.
Sister Kiera, 4, said her favorite part was "seeing Grampy" march and play with the Atlantic City Sandpipers Band.
Dad Gavin MacNeill said he just enjoyed "watching the kids catch candy and wave to everyone who went by."
2011年3月8日星期二
Archive Reissue Center Lo basketball shoes by PF Flyers
A cut above your average old school plimsoll, the PF Flyers Archive Reissue Center Lo basketball shoes takes things back to the beginning.
In this case, we're talking 1953, with the latest issue of the Center Lo being a replica of the original basketball shoe in a choice of five colours, two of which are pictured above. Details are much the same as you would expect - a canvas upper, rubber sole, cushioned footbed, ribbed toe guard and a diamond pattern outsole.
$45 is the price if you want a pair.
Find out more at the Stuarts of London website
Via His Knibs
Also, check out our newly-launched His Knibs men's style website
In this case, we're talking 1953, with the latest issue of the Center Lo being a replica of the original basketball shoe in a choice of five colours, two of which are pictured above. Details are much the same as you would expect - a canvas upper, rubber sole, cushioned footbed, ribbed toe guard and a diamond pattern outsole.
$45 is the price if you want a pair.
Find out more at the Stuarts of London website
Via His Knibs
Also, check out our newly-launched His Knibs men's style website
2011年3月6日星期日
Fabi Shoes Montegranaro-Canadian Solar Bologna
Atmosfere tetre in quel del PalaSavelli di Porto San Giorgio, dove la Fabi Shoes si ripresenta al proprio pubblico dopo una serie aperta di quattro sconfitte e con innumerevoli problemi a martoriarla. L’avversario odierno sarebbe quello della grandi occasioni, la Virtus Bologna e formazione storica dal blasone pesante e con un palmares infinito ed in altri tempi, neppure troppo lontani, la partecipazione sarebbe stata massiccia e la tensione a mille. Oggi invece si giocheroin un palas con molti vuoti in tribuna e col pubblico che ha preferito altri spettacoli all’attuale Fabi. Andrebbe fatta una seria riflessione su questo argomento, su come per esempio e stato presentato il ritorno a Montegranaro di Pillastrini e sulle aspettative riguardo alla partecipazione del pubblico da parte della dirigenza, ma oggi non e tempo di bilanci di questo genere, c’e una partita , possibilmente da vincere, sicuramente da giocare con spirito diverso dalle ultime disastrose uscite.
La Fabi presenta il neo arrivato Toolson, deve rinunciare all’acciaccato Maestranzi ed al malato perenne Musli, recupera, ahime Allan Ray mentre la Virtus di coach Lardo si presenta al gran completo guidata dall’indimenticato ex Valerio Amoroso, salutato da un grande applauso al momento delle presentazioni.
Parte bene Toolson subito a segno da tre ma Koponen risponde da par suo con due canestri in fila . La Virtus viaggia che e un piacere in attacco e dopo 3 minuti e gio5-11 per i bianconeri con il finlandese gioa 7 punti e con Pillastrini costretto al primo time-out. La Fabi fatica ad entrare nei giochi d’attacco per il pressing della Virtus , prova ad avvicinarsi a canestro ma Homan e Sanikidze fanno buona guardia ed i bianconeri si mantengono avanti, 11-15 a 4' e 30" dal primo intervallo. Primi cambi per Lardo con Amoroso subito a segno, dentro anche Ray, ma con risultati opposti. Una tripla di Rivers da il massimo vantaggio alla Virtus , 13-20 a 2 giri di lancette dal primo stop. Toolson fa due falli in un amen e si siede in panca mentre il tempo si chiude sul 15-20, con la Fabi bloccata in attacco che spreca un paio di occasioni per riavvicinarsi.
Il secondo quarto inizia con le difese più aggressive ma la Virtus e sempre un passo avanti e con due triple consecutive scava il solco del primo vero break, 17-28 con 7' da giocare nel secondo periodo. Cavaliero e Ray riavvicinano la Fabi poi Cinciarini ruba un contropiede e confeziona un 7-0 che induce Lardo a chiamare subito time-out, 24-28 a 6' dall’intervallo lungo. Pillastrini abbassa il quintetto, giostrando Antonutti da numero 4, ed alza il pressing, la mossa frutta un’altro recupero con facile canestro di Cinciarini e la partita e completamente riaperta. Antonutti firma il pari ed il Palas si infiamma con la partita che adesso si gioca punto a punto. Ivanov dalla lunetta completa la rimonta e con 2' e 30" da giocare la Fabi mette il naso avanti, 33-32. Si siede Cinciarini anima della rimonta Sutor sostituito da Ray che alterna buone cose a stupidaggini apocalittiche, ma la Fabi tiene in difesa ed il quarto si conclude sul 35 pari fissato da un tap-in schiacciata di Sanikidze sulla sirena.
Un primo tempo dai due volti, dieci minuti soft in perfetto stile Fabi consegnavano l’inerzia iniziale alla Virtus, sospinta da Koponen e Homan ed un secondo quarto dove invece i gialloblu sono riusciti a mordere in difesa ed hanno ricucito lo strappo fallendo anche alcune occasioni per cercare l’allungo, tra gli uomini di Pillastrini positivi i due lunghi e Cinciarini, a fasi alterne gli altri con il neo arrivato Toolson troppo presto gravato di falli.
Ford apre il secondo tempo in fade away ma Rivers risponde e la partita non si sblocca. I bianconeri sembrano meno sciolti che nella prima frazione ma la Fabi fatica in attacco e non decolla. La Virtus si incarta in attacco e con tre perse consecutive manda la Fabi sul 42-38, massimo vantaggio con 6' da giocare nel terzo quarto. La Sutor avrebbe l’inerzia dalla sua in questa fase, ma non ne approfitta e con scelte scriteriate in attacco regala un 8-0 agli avversari che riportano l’inerzia dalla parte bolognese, 42-46 a 4' e 30" dall’ultimo stop. Le rotazioni ridotte della Fabi cominciano a farsi sentire, manca la luciditosopratutto in attacco, la Fabi lotta si sbatte in difesa ma la Virtus sente l’odore del sangue, accelera in attacco e stringe le maglie in difesa. Esce Ray tra i fischi ed il coach, per difenderlo innesca un battibecco con la curva a partita in corso. La Fabi si aggrappa a Cinciarini, vero capitano, ma e alle corde: 44-52 a 1' e 30" e quando Winston schiaccia il +10 Virtus a poco più di un minuto all’ultima sirena, sembra che sia il preludio ad un finale svaccato come ormai ci ha abituato questa squadra, ma Cavaliero non ci sta, prova a scuotere i suoi e con un gioco da 3 punti tiene ancora in piedi la Fabi ed i gialloblu, barcollanti ed aggrappati alle corde non vogliono andare al tappeto, si scuotono e piazzano un controparziale di 6-0 per chiudere il quarto sul 50-54.
Toolson con 2 triple in fila riapre i giochi ad inizio quarto periodo 56-56 e comincia una nuova partita. Il neo arrivato si esalta e riporta avanti i suoi in una bolgia infernale. Ivanov fa 2+1 e porta di nuovo la Fabi a +3, 61-58 a 7 dal termine con Lardo che vuole parlarci su. La battaglia diventa aspra e nella bolgia si esalta il coraggio dei ragazzi gialloblu. Alla ripresa Gaulius pareggia e si viaggia sul filo del rasoio con la partita in bilico pronta a cadere da una parte o dall’altra e con l’impressione che saranno i nervi e gli episodi a deciderla. Il time out di Lardo ha l’effetto di affievolire la spinta emotiva dei gialloblu che in attacco ricominciano a faticare. Rientra Ray dopo i fischi e produce subito un bel 2+1 che riporta avanti la Fabi ma in difesa fa acqua e non a caso Rivers, ben controllato fin ad allora replica subito insaccando 7 punti in fila e sparigliando l’equilibrio, 66-71 a 1' e 41" con Pillastrini che chiama l’ultimo time out. Ray riporta i suoi ad un possesso di distanza ed Ivanov accorcia ulteriormente , 70-71 a 22" dalla fine, con i gialloblu che non ne vogliono sapere di mollare. Comincia la lotteria dei liberi, e su una rimessa dal time out la Fabi riconquista il pallone con 17" sul cronometro ma la palla della vittoria viene consegnata a Ray che commette l’ennesima stupidaggine della sua dannosa stagione alla Sutor, si fa stoppare e riconsegna alla Virtus due liberi che Sanikidze insacca puntualment . Si chiude sul 72-75 tra i fischi del pubblico che ha visto vanificarsi una rimonta bellissima dalla solita ennesima palla persa di Allan Ray, pervicacemente tenuto in campo e designato per l’ultimo tiro da coach Pillastrini che inspiegabilmente ha dato ad un giocatore, pesantemente osteggiato ed in palese difficoltoemotiva, il pallone della possibile vittoria.
Vince con merito la Virtus, che ha interpretato in maniera lineare la contesa, che ha attaccato cercando di evidenziare le debolezze di una Fabi che, a parte i soliti noti, Pillastrini-Ray, ha interpretato la paritita in maniera positiva, lottando su ogni pallone e non mollando mai, anche quando le energie erano al lumicino e la spia della riserva al rosso fisso. Buona la prova di Rivers, che quando si e trovato contro Ray ha maramaldeggiato e Koponen nonche Homan e Sanikidze che hanno retto l’impatto dei lunghi gialloblu. Tra le fila della Fabi, buona prova corale di quasi tutti gli elementi con Ivanov, Cinciarini e Cavaliero gladiatorii e debutto più che promettente di Toolson, peccato per la rimonta abortita, con chiunque altro in panchina e senza Ray in campo, probabilmente racconteremo un’altra storia.
La Fabi presenta il neo arrivato Toolson, deve rinunciare all’acciaccato Maestranzi ed al malato perenne Musli, recupera, ahime Allan Ray mentre la Virtus di coach Lardo si presenta al gran completo guidata dall’indimenticato ex Valerio Amoroso, salutato da un grande applauso al momento delle presentazioni.
Parte bene Toolson subito a segno da tre ma Koponen risponde da par suo con due canestri in fila . La Virtus viaggia che e un piacere in attacco e dopo 3 minuti e gio5-11 per i bianconeri con il finlandese gioa 7 punti e con Pillastrini costretto al primo time-out. La Fabi fatica ad entrare nei giochi d’attacco per il pressing della Virtus , prova ad avvicinarsi a canestro ma Homan e Sanikidze fanno buona guardia ed i bianconeri si mantengono avanti, 11-15 a 4' e 30" dal primo intervallo. Primi cambi per Lardo con Amoroso subito a segno, dentro anche Ray, ma con risultati opposti. Una tripla di Rivers da il massimo vantaggio alla Virtus , 13-20 a 2 giri di lancette dal primo stop. Toolson fa due falli in un amen e si siede in panca mentre il tempo si chiude sul 15-20, con la Fabi bloccata in attacco che spreca un paio di occasioni per riavvicinarsi.
Il secondo quarto inizia con le difese più aggressive ma la Virtus e sempre un passo avanti e con due triple consecutive scava il solco del primo vero break, 17-28 con 7' da giocare nel secondo periodo. Cavaliero e Ray riavvicinano la Fabi poi Cinciarini ruba un contropiede e confeziona un 7-0 che induce Lardo a chiamare subito time-out, 24-28 a 6' dall’intervallo lungo. Pillastrini abbassa il quintetto, giostrando Antonutti da numero 4, ed alza il pressing, la mossa frutta un’altro recupero con facile canestro di Cinciarini e la partita e completamente riaperta. Antonutti firma il pari ed il Palas si infiamma con la partita che adesso si gioca punto a punto. Ivanov dalla lunetta completa la rimonta e con 2' e 30" da giocare la Fabi mette il naso avanti, 33-32. Si siede Cinciarini anima della rimonta Sutor sostituito da Ray che alterna buone cose a stupidaggini apocalittiche, ma la Fabi tiene in difesa ed il quarto si conclude sul 35 pari fissato da un tap-in schiacciata di Sanikidze sulla sirena.
Un primo tempo dai due volti, dieci minuti soft in perfetto stile Fabi consegnavano l’inerzia iniziale alla Virtus, sospinta da Koponen e Homan ed un secondo quarto dove invece i gialloblu sono riusciti a mordere in difesa ed hanno ricucito lo strappo fallendo anche alcune occasioni per cercare l’allungo, tra gli uomini di Pillastrini positivi i due lunghi e Cinciarini, a fasi alterne gli altri con il neo arrivato Toolson troppo presto gravato di falli.
Ford apre il secondo tempo in fade away ma Rivers risponde e la partita non si sblocca. I bianconeri sembrano meno sciolti che nella prima frazione ma la Fabi fatica in attacco e non decolla. La Virtus si incarta in attacco e con tre perse consecutive manda la Fabi sul 42-38, massimo vantaggio con 6' da giocare nel terzo quarto. La Sutor avrebbe l’inerzia dalla sua in questa fase, ma non ne approfitta e con scelte scriteriate in attacco regala un 8-0 agli avversari che riportano l’inerzia dalla parte bolognese, 42-46 a 4' e 30" dall’ultimo stop. Le rotazioni ridotte della Fabi cominciano a farsi sentire, manca la luciditosopratutto in attacco, la Fabi lotta si sbatte in difesa ma la Virtus sente l’odore del sangue, accelera in attacco e stringe le maglie in difesa. Esce Ray tra i fischi ed il coach, per difenderlo innesca un battibecco con la curva a partita in corso. La Fabi si aggrappa a Cinciarini, vero capitano, ma e alle corde: 44-52 a 1' e 30" e quando Winston schiaccia il +10 Virtus a poco più di un minuto all’ultima sirena, sembra che sia il preludio ad un finale svaccato come ormai ci ha abituato questa squadra, ma Cavaliero non ci sta, prova a scuotere i suoi e con un gioco da 3 punti tiene ancora in piedi la Fabi ed i gialloblu, barcollanti ed aggrappati alle corde non vogliono andare al tappeto, si scuotono e piazzano un controparziale di 6-0 per chiudere il quarto sul 50-54.
Toolson con 2 triple in fila riapre i giochi ad inizio quarto periodo 56-56 e comincia una nuova partita. Il neo arrivato si esalta e riporta avanti i suoi in una bolgia infernale. Ivanov fa 2+1 e porta di nuovo la Fabi a +3, 61-58 a 7 dal termine con Lardo che vuole parlarci su. La battaglia diventa aspra e nella bolgia si esalta il coraggio dei ragazzi gialloblu. Alla ripresa Gaulius pareggia e si viaggia sul filo del rasoio con la partita in bilico pronta a cadere da una parte o dall’altra e con l’impressione che saranno i nervi e gli episodi a deciderla. Il time out di Lardo ha l’effetto di affievolire la spinta emotiva dei gialloblu che in attacco ricominciano a faticare. Rientra Ray dopo i fischi e produce subito un bel 2+1 che riporta avanti la Fabi ma in difesa fa acqua e non a caso Rivers, ben controllato fin ad allora replica subito insaccando 7 punti in fila e sparigliando l’equilibrio, 66-71 a 1' e 41" con Pillastrini che chiama l’ultimo time out. Ray riporta i suoi ad un possesso di distanza ed Ivanov accorcia ulteriormente , 70-71 a 22" dalla fine, con i gialloblu che non ne vogliono sapere di mollare. Comincia la lotteria dei liberi, e su una rimessa dal time out la Fabi riconquista il pallone con 17" sul cronometro ma la palla della vittoria viene consegnata a Ray che commette l’ennesima stupidaggine della sua dannosa stagione alla Sutor, si fa stoppare e riconsegna alla Virtus due liberi che Sanikidze insacca puntualment . Si chiude sul 72-75 tra i fischi del pubblico che ha visto vanificarsi una rimonta bellissima dalla solita ennesima palla persa di Allan Ray, pervicacemente tenuto in campo e designato per l’ultimo tiro da coach Pillastrini che inspiegabilmente ha dato ad un giocatore, pesantemente osteggiato ed in palese difficoltoemotiva, il pallone della possibile vittoria.
Vince con merito la Virtus, che ha interpretato in maniera lineare la contesa, che ha attaccato cercando di evidenziare le debolezze di una Fabi che, a parte i soliti noti, Pillastrini-Ray, ha interpretato la paritita in maniera positiva, lottando su ogni pallone e non mollando mai, anche quando le energie erano al lumicino e la spia della riserva al rosso fisso. Buona la prova di Rivers, che quando si e trovato contro Ray ha maramaldeggiato e Koponen nonche Homan e Sanikidze che hanno retto l’impatto dei lunghi gialloblu. Tra le fila della Fabi, buona prova corale di quasi tutti gli elementi con Ivanov, Cinciarini e Cavaliero gladiatorii e debutto più che promettente di Toolson, peccato per la rimonta abortita, con chiunque altro in panchina e senza Ray in campo, probabilmente racconteremo un’altra storia.
2011年3月2日星期三
You, too, can snag a prince
You might be disappointed that you weren't standing in Kate Middleton's shoes when she and Prince William told the world they were engaged, but you can still be in the picture for the photo opportunity.
American artist Jennifer Rubell has created a life-size waxwork of William that mimics his pose at the press event on the day the engagement was announced.
Best of all, you'll discover that when you slip your hand through the royal arm, there is already a replica of the diamond and sapphire engagement ring affixed to "William's" arm.
Just slip your ring finger through and voila! You're engaged to the man who is second in line to the British throne.
Rubell said the aim of the waxwork was to allow wannabe princesses the opportunity live out a fantasy.
"As I looked at the photo, I noticed that William is standing ... like a solo statue in the photo and Kate comes over and puts her arm in and shows off the ring," the 40-year-old New York-based Rubell told Reuters.
"And the thought occurred to me, oh it would be fun to be her going in and putting my arm in and putting the ring on. I think it's a feeling that a lot of women have of this fantasy of meeting Prince Charming."
Rubell said fantasy for women was all about security.
"The way a man might fantasize about winning the lottery, women might fantasize about marrying Prince William -- it's a similar fantasy of security," she said.
She believed Americans were drawn to the drama of the royal family because they had no equivalent of their own. "I think Americans get all the fun of royalty with none of the burden," she said. "For us, it's just like they're celebrities: they're celebrities who have a fun job and we can think about them in that way and they can occupy the space that we need them to occupy."
William's waxwork will be on show at the Stephen Friedman Gallery in London until March 5.
American artist Jennifer Rubell has created a life-size waxwork of William that mimics his pose at the press event on the day the engagement was announced.
Best of all, you'll discover that when you slip your hand through the royal arm, there is already a replica of the diamond and sapphire engagement ring affixed to "William's" arm.
Just slip your ring finger through and voila! You're engaged to the man who is second in line to the British throne.
Rubell said the aim of the waxwork was to allow wannabe princesses the opportunity live out a fantasy.
"As I looked at the photo, I noticed that William is standing ... like a solo statue in the photo and Kate comes over and puts her arm in and shows off the ring," the 40-year-old New York-based Rubell told Reuters.
"And the thought occurred to me, oh it would be fun to be her going in and putting my arm in and putting the ring on. I think it's a feeling that a lot of women have of this fantasy of meeting Prince Charming."
Rubell said fantasy for women was all about security.
"The way a man might fantasize about winning the lottery, women might fantasize about marrying Prince William -- it's a similar fantasy of security," she said.
She believed Americans were drawn to the drama of the royal family because they had no equivalent of their own. "I think Americans get all the fun of royalty with none of the burden," she said. "For us, it's just like they're celebrities: they're celebrities who have a fun job and we can think about them in that way and they can occupy the space that we need them to occupy."
William's waxwork will be on show at the Stephen Friedman Gallery in London until March 5.
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