Just when you think it's safe to firm up your retirement plans, the Social Security benefit rules change. You may need to rethink your strategy and timing.
Budget Deal Ends Two Social Security Spousal Benefit Strategies
In an article on the future of Social Security, we quoted baseball legend Yogi Berra as saying, "It ain't over till it's over." That generally still holds, but a recently passed budget bill means that it ain't over for two popular spousal benefit strategies, but it's close.
With the enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (H.R. 1314), the file and suspend and claim now, claim more later strategies are being closed. File and suspend will be banned starting on April 30, 2016. A ban on claim now, claim more later will apply to anyone who turns 62 in 2016 or later.
Find more articles and resources to help you plan a retirement that meets your goals and dreams. Social Security Reading Room
The end of file and suspend
The file and suspend strategy allows a person to apply for his or her own retirement benefits at the full retirement age of 66, then immediately suspend the benefit without ever receiving a benefit check. Doing this makes it possible for his or her partner to begin receiving spousal benefits, while leaving his or her own retirement benefit unaffected and growing until as late as age 70.
Act before April 30, 2016
If you are eligible for this strategy (over full retirement age of 66 and want your spouse to receive a spousal benefit while your own benefit grows to age 70), you must implement the strategy prior to April 30, 2016. For example, a couple age 66 and 64 previously would simply wait for the younger spouse to reach the full retirement age of 66 for the older spouse to initiate file and suspend; now the older spouse must act soon to secure the voluntary suspension.
While a voluntary suspension of benefits will still be allowed after the April deadline, no spousal benefit will be paid based on a suspended benefit. Fortunately, the new legislation does not apply retroactively to those who have already initiated file and suspend; their payment amounts and schedules will remain unchanged.
Aging out of claim now, claim more later
The claim now, claim more later strategy allows an individual to restrict his or her own larger retirement benefit and take a lesser spousal benefit while waiting to claim a maximized benefit at age 70. It grows unaffected by any spousal benefits already received.
Under the new law, only those who reach age 62 or older in 2015 will be grandfathered in and be able to file a restricted application for spousal benefits at full retirement age.
The next six months mark an important transition period for those affected by these Social Security changes. The new restrictions are a good reason to take a close look at all Social Security claiming strategies; the window where all will remain available is closing. Couples and individuals may learn that what was once only their third or fourth best claiming strategy has now become the best and most accessible.
Contact your advisor to help analyze all of your retirement needs and associated risks.
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Meeting Janette Hegner. Work in Denmark with Niels Bohr
Johns Hopkins: social life
John Wheeler Scientist
11. Fireworks and explosions, age 10 756 03:11
12. Setting off bottle rockets to celebrate discoveries 534 01:22
13. Spanish-American war cannon 496 03:36
14. Johns Hopkins University 610 03:00
15. Johns Hopkins: engineering and physics 725 03:33
16. Johns Hopkins: doctorate years, summer jobs and tutoring 586 03:44
17. Optics, x-rays and radioactivity at Johns Hopkins 477 05:58
18. Far infrared research and the Depression 435 02:16
19. My favourite professors in English, French History and Mathematics 488 01:59
20. Johns Hopkins: social life 486 02:05
Somehow, there were student parties, graduate student dances, roughly once a month. I don't know how I got elected to be chairman of the committee, but I did whatever was needed to make it work. And one of the young ladies, I'd like to take was- I had a fascination with foreign languages, a new window on the world- one of the ladies was the daughter of the professor of French there, Lucienne Chinard. And Lucienne was able to tell me a lot about life in Paris. And then, there was another- I became even more attached to Signe- S I G N E Benzon- B E N Z O N, daughter of a Danish merchant. Unfortunately, I did not take advantage of knowing her to learn Danish, that came only later. But I recall, after we'd been at some swimming excursion on Chesapeake Bay, her telling me afterwards that my knees didn't appeal to her.
John Wheeler, one of the world's most influential physicists, is best known for coining the term 'black holes', for his seminal contributions to the theories of quantum gravity and nuclear fission, as well as for his mind-stretching theories and writings on time, space and gravity.
Title: Johns Hopkins: social life
Listeners: Ken Ford
Ken Ford took his Ph.D. at Princeton in 1953 and worked with Wheeler on a number of research projects, including research for the Hydrogen bomb. He was Professor of Physics at the University of California and Director of the American Institute of Physicists. He collaborated with John Wheeler in the writing of Wheeler's autobiography, 'Geons, Black Holes and Quantum Foam: A Life in Physics' (1998).
Duration: 2 minutes, 6 seconds
Date story recorded: December 1996


Hunt for voter fraud turns up few cases
Dec. 23, 2020 at 5:44 am Updated Dec. 23, 2020 at 10:52 am
Michelle Ye Hee Lee
Jon Swaine
In Pittsburgh, the local police department this year received 10 complaints of possible fraudulent voting in the November election. Eight of those cases have already been closed without charges or findings of wrongdoing.
Wisconsin officials have charged one woman with voter fraud — a resident of suburban Milwaukee accused of attempting to cast a ballot in the name of her partner, who died in July.
In Michigan, two people have been charged with fraud, both accused of forging the names of their own daughters to obtain or cast a ballot.
After an intense hunt by President Donald Trump's allies to surface voting irregularities in this year's election, law enforcement agencies in six key swing states targeted by the president have found just a modest number of complaints that have merited investigation, according to cases tracked by state officials.
So far, only a handful of cases have resulted in actual criminal charges alleging wrongdoing — some of them against Republican voters aiming to help Trump, according to officials, including a man charged Monday with trying to cast a ballot in Pennsylvania for the president in the name of his deceased mother.
The tiny number of incidents further undercut Trump's barrage of false allegations that there was widespread manipulation of the vote — claims that continue to be echoed by many Republican officials, including some who acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden's victory, but assert that fraud was prevalent.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Monday wrote in a tweet that there was "mounting evidence of voter fraud" and members of Congress were preparing to "fight back" against it.
In fact, such allegations have been rejected by dozens of judges across the country, a number of whom noted in their decisions that Trump and his allies failed to put forward evidence to support such claims.
The minimal number of criminal investigations that have so far come out of the November vote further reinforce the absence of sweeping vote fraud schemes.
Officials note that the full picture is not yet known — as is routine, many states conduct exhaustive audits in the months after an election, which sometimes identify cases of double voting or ballots cast by ineligible voters.
Still, they said such cases in the past have been sporadic and in such small numbers that they have not come close to altering the results — and they see no indications that this year's election will be any different.
The potential cases of fraud under investigation this year do not support the wild claims by Trump and his allies, who have spun tales of shadowy conspiracies involving thousands of shifted votes, vulnerable voting machines and foreign interference, but failed to produce firsthand evidence or even to name the individuals they believe pulled off such audacious schemes.
Instead, the alleged voter fraud cases, mostly spotted by astute local election officials, were identified as a result of the kinds of safeguards in place in states and counties across the nation specifically designed to catch problems.
Most of those so far charged with illegally voting in the presidential race sought to cast one or two additional ballots and appear to have been driven less by a desire to actually swing the election than to cut corners on behalf of a friend or relative or, even, merely to test the system — an illegal act that had been encouraged before Election Day by Trump himself.
In Pennsylvania, where Biden won by more than 80,500 votes, three voters — all Republicans — have been charged with voting illegally this year.
Police have alleged that Ralph H. Thurman, 71, voted in Chester County on Election Day — then returned to his polling place wearing sunglasses and attempted to cast a second ballot in the name of his son. He faces four charges, including repeat voting, a felony.
In Wilkes-Barre, Robert R. Lynn, 67, has been charged with requesting an absentee ballot in the name of his mother, who died in 2015, and then attempting to vote in her name by forging her signature. He is charged with forgery and interference with an election, both felonies.
Jeff Oster, a lawyer for Thurman, said in an email that he was "a war hero, philanthropist, family man, and one of the most kindhearted, honest people that anyone could know — a long-standing pillar of the community."
Oster said Thurman, who uses a hearing aid, "merely misheard and/or otherwise relied upon what the mask-wearing poll worker told him through a thick plexiglass barrier in a large, noisy gymnasium where voter check-in was taking place."
"I can firmly state that Mr. Thurman did not break the law on November 3, 2020," he added.
A lawyer for Lynn did not respond to a request for comment.
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Pennsylvania Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman said the two cases were "out of a Benny Hill skit," referring to the slapstick comedian.
"It perfectly illustrates how rare and difficult it is to commit voter fraud," he said in an interview.
Fetterman cited the cases in response to a call-out on Twitter by his Texas counterpart, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who offered a $1 million reward for anyone who brought forward a valid complaint of fraud, part of an effort by GOP officials to put a spotlight on alleged irregularities.
Fetterman requested that his reward money be paid in gift cards to Sheetz gas stations. Patrick, he said, has so far "stiffed" him on the offer.
Sherry Sylvester, a spokeswoman for Patrick, said the offer was for tips that lead to an arrest and conviction. "Fetterman should actually read Lt. Governor Patrick's offer before calling reporters," she said in a statement.
A third case in Pennsylvania surfaced Monday, when the district attorney of Delaware County, outside Philadelphia, announced a 70-year-old man had been charged with requesting and casting a ballot in the name of his mother, who died in 2008. In a statement, District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said the man has admitted voting in his mother's name — for Trump.
Officials in Pennsylvania's two largest cities, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh — where Trump's team alleged without evidence that widespread corruption tipped the state to Biden — said that no one has been charged with voter fraud in connection to this year's election.
In Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh, Police Superintendent Coleman McDonough said in an email that of the 10 cases his office reviewed, one remains open and a second was referred to another county for further review.
The other eight, all now closed, included "alleged 'suspicious' interactions between election workers that were found to be normal elections processes," misunderstandings of election law, and allegations based on Facebook posts which "were found to be fake," he said.
The situation is similar in Nevada, another state where Trump and his backers claimed that the election results were distorted by a virtual kitchen sink of fraudulent behavior, including ballot-box stuffing, illegal out-of-state voting and double voting.
But officials in Clark County, the state's most populous, said a week after Election Day that they had referred just three cases to the secretary of state for investigation.
In one case, it appeared a woman had used her deceased father's absentee ballot instead of her own, Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin said. In another, a deceased woman's ballot was cast with a signature that matched hers, suggesting someone had forged it.
And in a third, a woman named Jill Stokke claimed someone had stolen her vote by forging her signature on a mail ballot.
Republicans featured Jill Stokke as a star plaintiff in one of their unsuccessful lawsuits over ballot-counting in Clark County. But it turned out that Stokke had been offered a chance to vote with a new ballot if she signed a statement swearing that the mail-ballot signature was not hers. She refused to do so.
A spokeswoman for Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske declined to comment on the three cases last week, as did a spokesman for Attorney General Aaron Ford, who also declined to comment on the existence of or status of ongoing investigations.
This month, Cegavske published a fact sheet that said although her office is "pursuing action in a number of isolated cases," she has not been presented with evidence of widespread fraud.
One man in Nevada is scheduled to go on trial in February for allegedly voting twice — in the 2016 election.
In Michigan, a spokesman for the attorney general's office said there are fewer than a dozen ongoing investigations involving allegations of voter fraud or misinformation that are still being reviewed.
Two people have been charged in the state with voter fraud: a 57-year-old woman accused of forging the name of her daughter on an application to request a ballot and a 47-year old man charged with forging his daughter's signature on a ballot itself.
Election officials said developing genuine fraud cases takes time and noted that states have established protocols to flag potential problems.
In Wisconsin, for instance, careful audits will be conducted early next year, comparing lists of everyone who voted to lists of felons who were ineligible to work and consulting lists maintained by a consortium of 30 states and the District to ensure no one voted in Wisconsin who also cast a ballot in another state.
A similar audit following the 2018 general election found 14 possible instances of people who had improperly voted twice or who voted despite being ineligible to do so — out of a total of more than 2.65 million ballots cast.
"There's no reason to believe this year will be any different than the past," Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said in an interview. "We have a lot of safeguards in the system."
So far, Kaul said he was aware of only one voter fraud investigation in Wisconsin. In that case, court records show, a city clerk in the town of Cedarburg called the police after her staff tried to process an absentee ballot that had been cast in the name of a woman who had died in July.
According to court records, Christine Daikawa, 48, the woman's partner, has been charged with election fraud and making a false statement to get a ballot, accused of casting the ballot on her deceased partner's behalf. She has pleaded not guilty.
Her attorney, Michael F. Hart, declined to comment on Daikawa's case, but said based on his experience working election-related cases that such instances are rare.
"The idea that there's a whole swath of people on either side of the aisle who are trying to alter the outcome of an election by systematic fraud, is, in my experience, laughable and not accurate," he said.
Despite claims from Trump allies that the increased use of mail-in balloting due to the coronavirus pandemic would lead to more fraud, a Washington Post analysis of data collected by the consortium, the nonprofit Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), found that in 2016 and 2018, three states that conduct their elections entirely by mail had small numbers of potential fraud.
The analysis found that officials had identified just 372 possible cases of double voting or voting on behalf of deceased people out of about 14.6 million votes cast by mail in the 2016 and 2018 general elections in Colorado, Oregon and Washington, where all voters proactively receive ballots in the mail for every election.
Local officials have complained that they have fielded more false complaints of fraud that must be chased down as a result of the rhetoric from the president and his supporters. Trump's claims encouraged people to report routine procedures they simply did not understand as possible problems, contributing to an atmosphere of suspicion, they said.
An official in the office of Arizona's Republican attorney general said a state tip line was flooded with about 2,000 complaints in the days after the vote — but 1,100 were quickly found to be made by people expressing a general fear there might have been problems with votes cast using Sharpie pens, a rumor that spread online and has been debunked. The official said the state continues to review several hundred complaints related to the election.
"A lot of people don't understand the process. They're looking at things that are perfectly normal," Gabriel Sterling, Georgia's voting system implementation manager, said in an interview.
State officials in Georgia had initially said they were probing 250 complaints of possible voting problems, but have since revised that figure downward, since it included issues related to the primary. Sterling said that as of mid-December, the secretary of state's 23 investigators were examining around 150 complaints related to the November vote in a state where Biden beat Trump by nearly 12,000 votes.
The claims under investigation span a wide range of issues, Sterling said, including allegations of illegal campaigning outside the polling place, miscellaneous issues with the printing of ballots, alleged voter registration fraud, identity theft, compliance issues with American Disability Act requirements, complaints about poll watchers, alleged theft of absentee ballots, issues with poll pads and allegations of vote buying.
There was no evidence of widespread illegal activity, he said.
"We can tell by the nature and volume of what we're looking at that there is not a systemic, widespread, conspiratorial thing that will flip 12,000 ballots potentially right now," Sterling said, referring to Biden's margin in victory in Georgia. "All the procedures were followed."
"Overall," he said, "the guardrails that are there stop a lot of this stuff."
The Washington Post's Emma Brown and David A. Fahrenthold contributed to this report.


An 18MW solar farm has been given the go-ahead at Orchard Farm in Iwade, Kent.
Maxim was appointed by GH Dean & Co Ltd, the company behind the project, to assist with taking it through the planning system in Swale. The company has been farming locally for almost 100 years and chose to install the solar farm as part of diversification plans.
Oliver Doubleday, managing director at GH Dean, said: "Explaining the project to local residents and politicians was crucial, since vociferous opposition to such schemes can at best delay them, or indeed derail them.
"Maxim's in-depth understanding of the issues and the personalities involved resulted in a comprehensive proactive programme of work that was exemplary."
The project will provide enough clean, renewable energy to meet the needs of some 5,000 homes, offsetting the release of more than 6,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. The power produced will be fed into the local electricity distribution network.
Philip Jones, director at Kent PR and public affairs agency Maxim, said: "Orchard Farm was a very enjoyable project to work on and getting a positive result was the icing on the cake for us.
"Public affairs and community engagement is very effective when carried out in the right manner. We have been working on energy projects – including on and offshore wind farms, power stations and waste to energy plants – for many years but this was our first solar success."
Broad scope of work
Maxim's work on the Orchard Farm project included: stakeholder mapping; setting up a project website and phone line; drafting and designing a leaflet and follow up newsletter for local residents; identifying a venue for and organising a public exhibition; producing exhibition boards; drafting letters to key stakeholders; and media relations.
Oliver Doubleday added: "Throughout the project there was a very good level of engagement with the public, the exhibition was informative and any queries raised were addressed accurately and promptly. This important part of the team's efforts helped to ensure a speedy positive outcome and I am pleased to praise Maxim's thorough work."
The Orchard Farm public exhibition


5 On Your Side 9:00 a.m.
With 800 boys on a waiting list, Big Brothers Big Sisters needs you to volunteer
Big Brothers Big Sisters East Missouri is now calling on 90 men to volunteer over the next 90 days to help put a dent in that waiting list.
Author: Chris Davis
Published: 10:25 PM CDT October 1, 2018
Updated: 10:35 AM CDT October 2, 2018
ST. LOUIS — By the end of this month, more than 150 young boys will try to sign up for Big Brothers Big Sisters - and most of them won't even make it on the waiting list.
That's because there are already 800 young boys still waiting to get matched up.
"I always heard about Big Brothers Big Sisters but I never really thought I had time or was cut out to be a good big," said Ben Boyd, a volunteer big brother.
Boyd said he finally took the plunge when he ran out of excuses.
"I decided what am I waiting for? I need to just sign up and see what happens," he said.
That was six years ago. He now considers his little brother, Jarvis, part of his family.
"It's so rewarding to see him grow, see him achieve his goals and be able to try different experiences. I bring him to restaurants and he just loves eating different kinds of food," Boyd said.
Ben said the four hours you're required to spend together a month isn't hard at all. He said the time you spend doesn't have to be a big, expensive outing.
"He was just so excited to play catch in the backyard or ride bikes," he added.
Becky Hatter, the President and CEO of BBBS East Missouri, said they can also help you by providing tickets to Blues and Cardinals games, along with suggested activities.
She said a massive wave of volunteers will help them tremendously.
"We get between 100 to 150 requests from parents to put their boys on the list, so if we could speed this up. We're never going to eliminate the waiting list but if we could eliminate the time they're waiting," said Hatter.
You can go to BBBSEMO.org to sign up and they'll take it from there.
"We interview them, we interview the family, we go to the home of the little. We know a lot about the bigs and the littles and our job is to make the best match," said Hatter.
Ben said he's gotten out just as much as he's put in.
"I've actually found myself being more active and going to events I wouldn't normally go to instead of just sitting around on the couch," Boyd said.
If he has any regrets, it's that he didn't take the plunge sooner.
"Go for it! It definitely doesn't take up as much time as you think. It's so rewarding to be able to impact a child's life and it's so much fun to hang out with him," he said.
Another common misconception - that these are all troubled kids.
That's simply not the case. Becky said most of their young boys are in excellent homes, they just need another role model in their life.
You can apply here.
After 5 On Your Side's report ran Monday night, 13 people--including reporter Chris Davis--applied to be a "Big."
Just heard from our friends at @BBBSEMO that they received 13 new big brother/sister applications last night after our story aired. I was one of those 13. Keep them coming! @ksdknews #90menin90days https://t.co/VUory3nodN
— Chris Davis (@ChrisDavisMMJ) October 2, 2018


Business Aligning with Gen Z to Support March for Our Lives
After sparking a national anti-gun violence movement, the Stoneman Douglas student group #NeverAgain is preparing to once again push for stricter gun laws with a nationwide march, led by the newest generation of activist consumers: Gen Z. This Saturday, over 1 million people are expected to descend on Washington, D.C. for the March for Our Lives, advocating for changes to gun regulations and school safety, with "sibling marches" expected to take place across the country and world. As students, parents, teachers and allies prepare for the demonstration this weekend, several businesses have taken a stance to show their support:
Financial support: Gucci was among the first brands to partner with Everytown for Gun Safety to donate $500,000 to the March for Our Lives rally. The dating app Bumble has also donated to the march. Whitney Wolfe Herd, CEO of Bumble, told The New York Times, "This is not super black and white. It's a very tricky battle we've chosen to take on, but I'd rather pursue this than just ignore it."
Fueling demonstrators: Restaurant groups, ThinkFoodGroup and Eatwell, will be giving away free bagged lunches to students under 18 years old who are marching in Washington, D.C. Additionally, D.C.-based &Pizza, Shake Shack, sweetgreen, Sugar Shack Donuts and Cava will all offer 50 percent discounts to students marching.
Encouraging participation: Lyft announced it would provide free rides to and from 50 rallies nationwide for those who RSVP. The ridesharing app will send a promo code on Friday, March 23 to access the discounted rides. This week, retailer American Eagle sent an email stating, "Young people are coming together. They are changing the conversation. And that is something we can all find inspiration in." The email also included an option to learn more about the march and RSVP to the event.
Spreading awareness: In addition to a $500,000 donation, a group of Viacom networks will be airing special segments on gun violence prior to the march, and will also offer live coverage of the event. BET will partner with nonprofit DISARM to award grants to youth activists, and CMT will collaborate with the music industry to increase efforts in support of gun safety.
Gen Z is a highly engaged, socially conscious group looking to make an impact. Gun control is an issue that is near and dear to this generation and while they have spurred a movement, they are looking to companies to help move the needle forward on this hot-button issue. In fact, over two-thirds (68%) of Gen Z expects companies to step up and take a stand on gun control. Brands looking to put a stake in the ground can build on the momentum of #ENOUGH and March for Our Lives, partnering with key organizations that align with Gen Z's expectations while also reflecting the brands' values.
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Malaysia tour saga rumbles on
THE ongoing saga of Manchester United's proposed tour of Asia continued today with Malaysia's Tourism Minister insisting the clash with a Malaysian Select side on July 27 has not been cancelled. The Asian Football Confederation have put pressure on Tourism Malaysia to reschedule the Premiership champions' tour to ensure it does not clash with the Asian Cup, which takes place from July 7-29.
THE ongoing saga of Manchester United's proposed tour of Asia continued today with Malaysia's Tourism Minister insisting the clash with a Malaysian Select side on July 27 has not been cancelled.
The Asian Football Confederation have put pressure on Tourism Malaysia to reschedule the Premiership champions' tour to ensure it does not clash with the Asian Cup, which takes place from July 7-29.
And on Friday, United chief executive David Gill sent a letter to the Malaysian tourism authority expressing his disappointment that their game in Kuala Lumpur would no longer go ahead.
But Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor has refuted claims they have cancelled the tour, instead insisting United remain welcome in Malaysia.
"The truth is we never did," he told Malaysia news agency Bernama. "How could we not allow them to come here?
"It is their summer holiday programme and one of the countries they will stop at is Malaysia because Tourism Malaysia and AirAsia are among the sponsors of the Manchester United games this season.
"I was shocked (by the news that United may have to cancel their trip). The AFC's view is too narrow. He (AFC president Mohammed Hammam) said Manchester United should not come to Malaysia since the Asian Cup would be on.
"Manchester United's presence in Malaysia is not a problem, so the AFC should let the fans meet their favourite players as this is one way to develop Malaysian football."
Adnan plans to meet with the Football Association of Malaysia and other parties on the matter and insists a change of venue to another city in Malaysia would not be a problem if it would help the tour to go ahead.
He continued: "Manchester United can come and if necessary, we can ask them to play in another place like Penang, Langkawi, Sabah or Johor Baharu instead of Kuala Lumpur."


I love lists...
Darlyn over at Your Move, Dickens found a list of the 100 best novels of the 20th century, as selected by Radcliffe College publishing students for a publishing course list. I'm a sucker for lists so I decided to see how I stacked up against the list they've put together. Bolded are the books I've read
1. "The Great Gatsby," F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. "The Catcher in the Rye," J.D. Salinger
3. "The Grapes of Wrath," John Steinbeck
4. "To Kill a Mockingbird," Harper Lee
5. "The Color Purple," Alice Walker
6. "Ulysses," James Joyce
7. "Beloved," Toni Morrison
8. "The Lord of the Flies," William Golding
9. "1984," George Orwell
10. "The Sound and the Fury," William Faulkner
11. "Lolita," Vladmir Nabokov
12. "Of Mice and Men," John Steinbeck
13. "Charlotte's Web," E.B. White
14. "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," James Joyce
15. "Catch-22," Joseph Heller
16. "Brave New World," Aldous Huxley
17. "Animal Farm," George Orwell
18. "The Sun Also Rises," Ernest Hemingway
19. "As I Lay Dying," William Faulkner
20. "A Farewell to Arms," Ernest Hemingway
21. "Heart of Darkness," Joseph Conrad
22. "Winnie-the-Pooh," A.A. Milne
23. "Their Eyes Were Watching God," Zora Neale Hurston
24. "Invisible Man," Ralph Ellison
25. "Song of Solomon," Toni Morrison
26. "Gone with the Wind," Margaret Mitchell
27. "Native Son," Richard Wright
28. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," Ken Kesey
29. "Slaughterhouse Five," Kurt Vonnegut
30. "For Whom the Bell Tolls," Ernest Hemingway
31. "On the Road," Jack Kerouac
32. "The Old Man and the Sea," Ernest Hemingway
33. "The Call of the Wild," Jack London
34. "To the Lighthouse," Virginia Woolf
35. "Portrait of a Lady," Henry James
36. "Go Tell it on the Mountain," James Baldwin
37. "The World According to Garp," John Irving
38. "All the King's Men," Robert Penn Warren
39. "A Room with a View," E.M. Forster
40. "The Lord of the Rings," J.R.R. Tolkien
41. "Schindler's List," Thomas Keneally
42. "The Age of Innocence," Edith Wharton
43. "The Fountainhead," Ayn Rand
44. "Finnegans Wake," James Joyce
45. "The Jungle," Upton Sinclair
46. "Mrs. Dalloway," Virginia Woolf
47. "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," Frank L. Baum
48. "Lady Chatterley's Lover," D.H. Lawrence
49. "A Clockwork Orange," Anthony Burgess
50. "The Awakening," Kate Chopin
51. "My Antonia," Willa Cather
52. "Howard's End," E.M. Forster
53. "In Cold Blood," Truman Capote
54. "Franny and Zooey," J.D. Salinger
55. "Satanic Verses," Salman Rushdie
56. "Jazz," Toni Morrison
57. "Sophie's Choice," William Styron
58. "Absalom, Absalom!" William Faulkner
59. "Passage to India," E.M. Forster
60. "Ethan Frome," Edith Wharton
61. "A Good Man is Hard to Find," Flannery O'Connor
62. "Tender is the Night," F. Scott Fitzgerald
63. "Orlando," Virginia Woolf
64. "Sons and Lovers," D.H. Lawrence
65. "Bonfire of the Vanities," Thomas Wolfe
66. "Cat's Cradle," Kurt Vonnegut
67. "A Separate Peace," John Knowles
68. "Light in August," William Faulkner
69. "The Wings of the Dove," Henry James
70. "Things Fall Apart," Chinua Achebe
71. "Rebecca," Daphne du Maurier
72. "A Hithchiker's Guide to the Galaxy," Douglas Adams
73. "Naked Lunch," William S. Burroughs
74. "Brideshead Revisited," Evelyn Waugh
75. "Women in Love," D.H. Lawrence
76. "Look Homeward, Angel," Thomas Wolfe
77. "In Our Time," Ernest Hemingway
78. "The Autobiography of Alice B. Tokias," Gertrude Stein
79. "The Maltese Falcon," Dashiell Hammett
80. "The Naked and the Dead," Norman Mailer
81. "The Wide Sargasso Sea," Jean Rhys
82. "White Noise," Don DeLillo
83. "O Pioneers!" Willa Cather
84. "Tropic of Cancer," Henry Miller
85. "The War of the Worlds," HG Wells
86. "Lord Jim," Joseph Conrad
87. "The Bostonians," James Henry
88. "An American Tragedy," Theodore Dreiser
89. "Death Comes for the Archbishop," Willa Cather
90. "The Wind in the Willows," Kenneth Grahame
91. "This Side of Paradise," F. Scott Fitzgerald
92. "Atlas Shrugged," Ayn Rand
93. "The French Lieutenant's Woman," John Fowles
94. "Babbitt," Sinclair Lewis
95. "Kim," Rudyard Kipling
96. "The Beautiful and the Damned," F. Scott Fitzgerald
97. "Rabbit, Run," John Updike
98. "Where Angels Fear to Tread," EM Forster
99. "Main Street," Sinclair Lewis
100. "Midnight's Children," Salman Rushdie
I've got 23 read. I was doing pretty well in the beginning, and then as I went down the list I had read fewer and fewer and nothing at all after Hitchhiker. I wonder how the order was decided. The students had to select 100 books out of a list of 400 for the list, and then a group of instructors put those lists together, so perhaps the books at the top were the ones that showed up the most times on each list. In that case, it makes sense that I'd read more of the ones at the top of the list. Those are the, in general, most popular books. I have no idea if that's actually how the order was decided but makes sense to me.
So how's your list look?
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Sophie Horowitz
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E325 South College
Sophie Horowitz received her BA in Philosophy and Studio Art from Swarthmore College in 2008, and her PhD from MIT in 2014. She joined the Philosophy Department at UMass in 2016. Before that, she was an Assistant Professor at Rice University for two years.
Horowitz works mainly in epistemology. She is currently interested in the relationship between rationality and truth, and in formal questions about how to think about accuracy and partial belief.
Accuracy and Educated Guesses. Forthcoming in Oxford Studies in Epistemology. [draft] [abstract]*Winner of the 2015 Marc Sanders Prize in Epistemology.
Epistemic Utility and the "Jamesian Goals". In preparation for Jeffrey Dunn and Kristoffer Ahlstrom-Vij, eds., Epistemic Consequentialism, OUP. [draft] [abstract]
Uniqueness: A New Argument (with Sinan Dogramaci). In preparation for Philosophical Issues 26: Knowledge and Mind.
Respecting All the Evidence (with Paulina Sliwa). Philosophical Studies 172 (11):2835-2858.
Expecting the Unexpected (with Tom Dougherty and Paulina Sliwa), Res Philosophica 92 (2):301-321, special issue on transformative experience.
Epistemic Akrasia [2014]. Noûs 48 (4):718-744.
Immoderately Rational [2013]. Philosophical Studies 167(1):1-16
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James Watson (1766?-1838)
This article was written by Gerald le Grys Norgate and was published in 1899
James Watson, Spencean agitator, born about 1766, was probably a Scotsman, and may have been the person of that name who in 1787 published at Edinburgh a Dissertatio Inauguralis Medica de Amenorrhea. He afterwards came to London, and was officially described in 1817 as 'surgeon, late of Bloomsbury,' where he lived in Hyde Street with his son, who bore the same name and is similarly described. He may, however, have been only a chemist and apothecary, as he is called in his obituary notice; and in any case he could have had little practice, as he was in very poor circumstances.
"Dr." Watson and his son James early connected themselves with the 'Societies of Spencean Philanthropists' founded in 1814 by Thomas Evans, a traces-maker, to carry on the designs of Thomas Spence. They held that private ownership of land was unchristian, and advocated 'parochial partnership.' They met weekly at one or other of four London taverns, the chief of which was the Cock in Grafton Street, Soho. In spite of the alarmist reports of the secret committees of the two houses of parliament in 1817, the Spenceans were very harmless as a body, and not only never had provincial branches, but, as Evans told Francis Place, at no time numbered more than fifty persons.
The peace of 1815 was followed by great distress and discontent among the labouring population, and of this some of the Spenceans, including the Watsons (father and son) and Arthur Thistlewood, constituted themselves exponents. They were joined by a man named Castle, a figure or doll maker, and a committee was formed consisting of themselves and two others, operatives named Preston and Hooper. They met in Greystoke Place, near Fetter Lane. Castle, it seems highly probable, acted throughout as an agent provocateur for the government. According to his story, he struck up an acquaintance with the others at a Spencean meeting in the autumn of 1816, and went about with Watson preparing a revolution which was to follow public meetings in Spa Fields. Thistlewood was to be the head, and the other five, generals under him, Watson the elder being second in command. Attempts were made to rouse the discontented workmen, and especially the 'navigators' in Paddington, and some efforts were made to seduce the soldiers. Watson himself prepared combustibles for blowing up the cavalry barracks in Portman Square. Two hundred and fifty pikes were made. The streets were to be barricaded and the Tower and the Bank seized.
On 15 November 1816 a meeting of distressed operatives was held in Spa Fields, Islington, at which all the conspirators were present. Henry Hunt addressed them. A petition was prepared which he was to present to the prince regent, and a further meeting was to be called to receive the answer to it. It was proposed that this should take place after the assembling of parliament in the following February; but young Watson opposed this, and it was agreed that the second meeting should be held on 2 December.
Placards were printed and posted in London summoning workmen to attend, and declaring that there were 'four million in distress.' Hunt's petition was not received, and he himself contrived to be late for the meeting on 2 December. The elder Watson opened the meeting on that day. He spoke from a waggon, and concluded, 'Ever since the Norman conquest kings and lords have been deluding you … but this must last no longer.' His son succeeded in a much more violent strain, with allusions to African slaves and Wat Tyler and a personal attack upon the regent. Finally exclaiming: 'If they will not give us what we want, shall we not take it?' he seized a tricolour and called on the people to follow him. The mob then went through Clerkenwell and Smithfield to Snow Hill. A gunsmith's shop in Skinner Street was plundered, and young Watson wounded with a pistol a customer who was in it named Platt. He was arrested, but escaped after having lain concealed for some months in a house in Bayham Street belonging to his father's friend, Henry Holl, an actor.
Meanwhile the mob was met at the Royal Exchange by the lord mayor and a few police, who succeeded in taking their flag from them. Part of them then went through the Minories, where they rifled another gunsmith's shop, towards the Tower. Thistlewood and the elder Watson called to the soldiers on guard to surrender. Soon afterwards, when a few soldiers showed themselves, the people were easily dispersed. The same evening Watson and Thistlewood were arrested at Highgate on suspicion of being footpads. They were armed, and made some resistance. Next day they were committed to the Tower, with Preston and Hooper. A plan of the Tower and of the contemplated operations was found at Watson's new lodgings at Dean Street, Fetter Lane, as well as a list of a 'committee of public safety,' which contained the names of Sir Francis Burdett, Lord Cochrane, Major Cartwright, Hunt, and other radicals.
On 29 April 1817 a true bill was found by the grand jury of Middlesex against the prisoners, who were charged with high treason. On 17 May they were arraigned and assigned counsel. The younger Watson was included in the indictment, and a reward of £500 was offered for his apprehension. The trial began on 9 June before the court of king's bench, presided over by Lord Ellenborough.
Watson was tried first. The proceedings against him lasted a whole week. For the crown the chief law officers, Sir Samuel Shepherd and Sir Robert Gifford (afterwards first Baron Gifford), appeared; (Sir) Charles Wetherell and Serjeant John Singleton Copley (afterwards Lord Lyndhurst) defended Watson. Castle the informer was easily discredited. Orator Hunt, the chief witness for the defence, testified to the comparative moderation of the elder Watson, who briefly disclaimed having had any intention whatever against 'the form of government established by king, lords, and commons.' In spite of an able reply by the solicitor-general, and the summing up of Ellenborough in favour of the prosecution, the jury brought in a verdict of 'not guilty.' The prosecution of the remaining prisoners was then dropped.
Legal authorities held that had Watson and his associates been indicted merely for riot, they must have been convicted; but the government, it was thought, desired something on which they could ground the repressive measures which they soon afterwards passed. In Place's opinion, which appears to be borne out by other considerations, the mob were 'a contemptible set of fools and miscreants, whom twenty constables could have dispersed.' Watson was 'a half-crazy creature,' and his son 'a wild, profligate fellow as crazy as his father.' The elder was, he adds, a man of loose habits and wretchedly poor. He continued his life as an agitator. He was not personally implicated in the Cato Street conspiracy, though his son was. Some time afterwards, however, he went to America, where he died in poor circumstances at New York on 12 February 1838.
Samuel Bamford, who met him soon after the trial, describes Watson as having somewhat of a polish in his gait and manner, and a certain respectability and neatness in his dress. Watson and his friend Preston were in Bamford's opinion two of the most influential leaders of the London operative reformers of the day, though the first had a better heart than head. The younger Watson died two years before his father.