The what are you reading Wednesday posts are hosted by Taking on a World of Words! Not gonna lie, I didn’t do all the things I wanted to do, but I did do a lot of them, and I feel pretty accomplished. Sunday was day, and I was so hyped. I started my day off at 9AM and was so determined to be productive, and I don’t think I ever really wavered. I read a lot, I watched a few episodes of Locke & Key and finally rewatched HTTYD, and I got so many chores done. It was amazing.
what did you recently finish?
Well, I DNF’d Spells Trouble, what a mess. Probably ten pages after I said that it was fine, but not great, there was some seriously awful ageist comments immediately followed by a description of said woman’s body having “perky, but ample breasts”, and I was like well that’s enough for me! And especially written by women? No thanks. Thankfully, I switched over to Seafire, and it was so good that I’ve bought the rest of the trilogy, and Natalie C. Parker may be an auto-buy for me now.
what are you currently reading?
I’ve got A Thousand Beginnings & Endings in my bag, and I plan to start it at lunch today (Monday), but I also don’t plan on steamrolling through it, so I’ll probably start something else before Wednesday, as well. I like to take my time with short story collections, so I’m anticipating taking the entire week to read it while I’m working my way through two other books. (Yes, I’m still on the let’s read all the things train.)
what do you think you’ll read next?
My goal is still to read A Mixture of Mischief, but it’s a middle grade, short, and the end of the trilogy, so I’m really trying to make it a focus and read it quickly. After that, we’re back on the April TBR, and I think Dark Rise is probably up next. I’m still feeling the fantasy vibe, which does not bode well for the rest of my TBR, and I may need to ditch it after that, but I’ve been eyeing Dark Rise for a few weeks now, so I’d like to get to that next.
I do have a busy week both at work and after work this week, but I think I can probably manage three books, especially if one of them is a middle grade and another is a short story collection. I’m currently five books behind on my Goodreads goal, which is sure to drop to six in a day or two, and the beginning of this year has been rough for me with reading & writing, so I’m trying to make an effort to make time for the things I love again.
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1930s meanings in Urdu
1930s meanings in Urdu is 1930 کی دہائی 1930s in Urdu. More meanings of 1930s, it's definitions, example sentences, related words, idioms and quotations.
Please find 1 English and definitions related to the word 1930s.
- (noun) : the decade from 1930 to 1939
What are the meanings of 1930s in Urdu?
Meanings of the word 1930s in Urdu are . To understand how would you translate the word 1930s in Urdu, you can take help from words closely related to 1930s or it’s Urdu translations. Some of these words can also be considered 1930s synonyms. In case you want even more details, you can also consider checking out all of the definitions of the word 1930s. If there is a match we also include idioms & quotations that either use this word or its translations in them or use any of the related words in English or Urdu translations. These idioms or quotations can also be taken as a literary example of how to use 1930s in a sentence. If you have trouble reading in Urdu we have also provided these meanings in Roman Urdu.
We have tried our level best to provide you as much detail on how to say 1930s in Urdu as possible so you could understand its correct English to Urdu translation. We encourage everyone to contribute in adding more meanings to MeaningIn Dictionary by adding English to Urdu translations, Urdu to Roman Urdu transliterations and Urdu to English Translations. This will improve our English to Urdu Dictionary, Urdu to English dictionary, English to Urdu Idioms translation and Urdu to English Idioms translations. Although we have added all of the meanings of 1930s with utmost care but there could be human errors in the translation. So if you encounter any problem in our translation service please feel free to correct it at the spot. All you have to do is to click here and submit your correction.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What do you mean by 1930s?
1930 کی دہائی
Whats the definition of 1930s?
Definition of the 1930s are
- the decade from 1930 to 1939


Of Gifts and the Goddess
A gift of sight. A vow of protection. Two survivors seek their revenge.
Anne McCleary leads the remaining members of her Clan, as they wander the hills and valleys of Ireland. She uses her gifts, even after they are captured. Unknown threats challenge everything from her relationships to her Clan’s survival.
Duncan O’Connor believes his brother was murdered. He vows to end the raiding of his lands by the McCleary. Forced into leadership, he must decide who to believe. What if the one he loves is the betrayer?
Can Anne and Duncan overcome years of lies and treachery in order to thwart the enemies who threaten to take them both?
Of Gifts and the Goddess is a page-turning adventurous, romantic suspense novel set in historical Ireland. If you love intelligent and independent heroines, strong and courageous heroes, emotionally intriguing stories with unexpected twists, then this fast-paced, riveting tale is a must read!


Hi, there! I’m sharing a card with a super cute bunny on a cupcake today, an image from the latest release from Lili of the Valley, which consists of 6 different cupcake images with various critters. You can find the Cupcake Bunny here, and the entire cupcake bundle here.
I printed the image onto X-Press It blending card, which is my favorite for Copic coloring. Once I finished my coloring, I die cut the image down to a panel with faux stitching using the largest of the A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX dies from My Favorite Things. I think this might be my most used die.
I adhered my panel onto a top fold card base I created from Ripe Raspberry cardstock from My Favorite Things. I love the cardstock from MFT, it’s nice and sturdy and they have some great colors!
Using a die from Kort & Godt, I stacked the word “hipp” twice from four layers of the same pink cardstock. I colored the top layers with R85 and R83 for a little bit of a gradient color and for the top layer to match my coloring a little bit better than the actual cardstock color.
On a strip of the same pink cardstock that I’d colored with R85, I heat embossed the word “HURRA” from the Gratulerer stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS using VersaMark ink and white detail embossing powder from Ranger. I added a few more layers of pink cardstock behind it and added my stacked sentiment strip to complete my sentiment.
I added a few sequins from the Rosy Glow mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards, and decided to also cover the green sprinkles with Nuvo Jewel Drops in the color Key Lime. They add even more shine and dimension to the card.
Simple color palette. I love pink, yellow and green together!


Lúthien fleeing with Huan
I’m excited to share with you my latest illustration, which depicts a pivotal scene from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Silmarillion.” The artwork features Lúthien and Huan as they make their escape from Nargothrond.
For those unfamiliar with the story, Lúthien is an elf-maiden who falls in love with the mortal Beren. They embark on a dangerous quest to retrieve one of the Silmarils, the jewels of Fëanor, from the evil lord Morgoth. In their journey, they meet Huan, the loyal hound of Valinor, who aids them in their mission.
In this scene, Lúthien and Huan must make a daring escape from Nargothrond, the underground stronghold of King Finrod.
Nargothrond, where Lúthien was imprisoned, can be seen in the background.
I can’t wait to share my new artwork with all of you. Thank you for your support and encouragement throughout this creative journey.
Stay tuned for more updates, and in the meantime, feel free to check out my portfolio and social media pages to see more of my work.


I transitioned from building any website or eshop in WordPress to building fast websites focused on privacy (including private / GDPR compliant analytics).
Hourly rate, detailed work reports.
I’m efficient – no time wasted in unnecessary meetings, bureaucracy or bells and whistles that take forever, but don’t matter on a website. Focused, deep work and the right tools is how I get the right results :).
Drop me a note, ask a question – you’ll like my approach ;). Happy to advise even if you don’t order anything. I work worldwide – happy customers in SK, DE, US, AU, IT.


Its funny how one seemingly small decision can greatly impact our lives.
While I’ve had some very significant ones in my life — such as getting married, graduating college, having my first child — a small decision that had a big impact on us as a family was the decision to simplify our lives.
We can clearly see a split of before and after we became minimalists. Some of the most obvious before and afters are how our home looked and functioned.
A few months before we came to that decision we purchased our first home. It was nearly twice as big as the small house we had been renting in which we had been really cramped.
I don’t remember getting rid of anything before we moved. We thought with the bigger home everything would be perfect, we would have plenty of space and could breathe. You can probably guess what happened, stuff.
Yes, as those boxes were unpacked the stuff spread and it spread and it spread. Since our HVAC went out a week after moving in, we really didn’t get the chance to buy new furniture or some of the items that had been on our list.
In hindsight, I’m thankful for that. The stuff was from our previous home and it just crowded out the joy, fun and space we were expecting to have in all this new room.
As I turned to Google, Pinterest and minimalist blogs for help, one thing my husband said struck a chord with me as he pleaded for us to get a handle on our stuff. He said he wanted one place he could be in that wasn’t a mess.
At the end of a day of work, or after the kids are in bed, or even with the kids, we crave a safe haven to escape to. We’ve allowed so much stuff into our homes that they are no longer our safe haven.
Maybe this is one of the reasons the amount of digital entertainment we take in is so shockingly high. We are looking for an escape from our own home, the one place we should be safe, comfortable, and at peace.
With that — and the wise words from various minimalist bloggers to focus on one area at a time — I decided to start in our living area. The effect was immediately life changing, and here’s what it looked like for us:
1. A safe haven. Our living area is the first thing you see when you come in. Walking into a calm, beautiful room immediately is so welcoming. Its also relieving after a rough day not to be greeted with cleaning tasks or unfinished projects. It gives you a place to immediately sit down and unwind from the day.
2. Easy to clean. By really being intentional and greatly reducing the items that belonged in this room it has become such a breeze to clean.
3. Welcoming to guests. Gone with the clutter are the chaotic cleanups when you get a five minute warning that some friends are coming over.
4. Creates a standard for the rest of your home. The results of simplifying this room, were so obvious and wonderful it only intensified our desire for the rest of our home to be the same.
5. A canvas for the family. When we get rid of the excess, it is easy for those who enter our home to take note of a few things that are important to us. While possessions are not what is important to us, the pictures of family, or unique travel finds speak of who we are and what we value. It also allows for all types of family time to easily take place, whether its movie night, a round of board games, crafts, or in our case, even an occasional indoor hockey match.
Ready to reclaim your living area? Here’s a few tips before you get started:
1. Remove everything. This is harder when dealing with an entire room. In our case, we had lived here a very short time, so it was good to see that empty room again and remember how much space the room has. This is also the time to follow the “Trash, Treasure, and Transfer” advice. Go through it all.
2. Only keep things that are useful, beautiful or meaningful. This seems easy enough, but can be difficult if you struggle with hanging on to things for sentiment. Not that some things shouldn’t be, but if your aunt gave you a trinket that is not your style, its ok to get rid of it. I’m giving you permission. And if you have ten throws and there are only three of you, you might consider eliminating a few of those.
3. Nothing on the floor but furniture legs. I used to be the queen of piles and I didn’t care to put them straight on the floor. Not so anymore! I love the ease of cleaning when there is NOTHING on the floor. It also makes it easy to see whats out of place, whether it be those socks the husband pulled off or a pile toys from the kids. If there’s nothing on the floor, those things can easily be caught because they don’t disappear into a sea of other things on the floor.
4. A place for everything and everything in its place. For things that do not belong in the living area, like toys, they are completely removed and if they make their way in during a day, the are sent back to their room at night. We have had toys or other items seemingly take up permanent residence because we had grown so accustomed to them sitting there.
Another way this applies, is for the very few things that do belong in the living area, they must have a home and be returned when you’re finished with them.
As with anything in life, there will be times when the day comes to a close and your living area is a mess. It’ then we realize our treasures are our relationships and the pursuit of our dreams. These are the reasons we simplify to begin with.


Let Us Spray?
Vatican Lauds ‘SuperFrank’!
The Associated Press reported on Jan. 28, 2014:
It wasn’t enough that Pope Francis was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year – or that he fronted this week’s Rolling Stone magazine. Now there’s SuperPope graffiti sprouting up around the Vatican.
The white caped crusader appeared on a wall just off Borgo Pio, a tiny cobble-stoned street near St Peter’s Square. In typical superhero fashion, Francis’ right fist is thrust in the air, leading him in flight, while his left clutches his black satchel. “Valores,” or values in Spanish, is written across it.
The artist is identified only as Maupal.
Francis has charmed the masses with his simplicity and message of helping the poor, even as he has cracked down on Vatican waste and corruption.
The Vatican communications office approved of the image, tweeting a photo.
There’s more information about the whole matter at this blog post, where the artist is identified as Mauro Pallotta. Catholic News Agency has more background on the artist, the image, and the intent behind its creation. (A close-up of a part of the graffiti painting, which, by the way, is only temporary, can be found here.) Though it should probably be noted that this isn’t the first graffiti image of Jorge Bergoglio: See ‘Pope Francis’ Graffiti by Elmar Karla
Here is an embed of the tweet of the Vatican communications office, mentioned in the AP news snippet:
We share with you a graffiti found in a Roman street near the #Vatican /
Les compartimos este graffiti que vimos hoy pic.twitter.com/In76sMJE4v
— VaticanCommunication (@SPC_VA) January 28, 2014
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ALBUM: Grave Digger – Symbol Of Eternity
Grave Digger Symbol Of Eternity Album Download [Zip File]
Grave Digger Just Released the most highly anticipated album of the year titled “Symbol Of Eternity” Its a must-listen to album available for your free download on Nubmusik.com.
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Leave No Trace!!! General Meeting 2/16
Posted On February 15, 2022
HELLOOOOOOOO NUHOC!!! I hope that everyone enjoyed the weather this weekend! We even got to enjoy two opposite seasons in the span of two days. This week our meeting will be on Wednesday at 7:30 PM in 104 WVG. Here, Kat will talk to us about the importance of Leave No Trace (LNT) when it comes to the wilderness. Information about some of our awesome upcoming trips will also be at the meeting. We hope to see you there!!!


The watermark in the lower right corner of the image will not appear on the final print.
10.00" x 6.50"
10.00" x 6.50"
New York Knicks V Washington Wizards Canvas Print
by Ned Dishman
New York Knicks V Washington Wizards by Ned Dishman - 10" x 6.5"
Gallery Wrap Stretched Canvas Print - 1.5" Stretcher Bars - Mirrored Image Sides
New York Knicks V Washington Wizards canvas print by Ned Dishman. Bring your artwork to life with the texture and depth of a stretched canvas print. Your image gets printed onto one of our premium canvases and then stretched on a wooden frame of 1.5" x 1.5" stretcher bars (gallery wrap) or 5/8" x 5/8" stretcher bars (museum wrap). Your canvas print will be delivered to you "ready to hang" with pre-attached hanging wire, mounting hooks, and nails.
WASHINGTON, DC -¬ OCTOBER 7: RJ Barrett #9 of New York Knicks shoots the ball against the Washington Wizards during pre-season on October 7, 2019... more
3 - 4 business days
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WASHINGTON, DC -¬ OCTOBER 7: RJ Barrett #9 of New York Knicks shoots the ball against the Washington Wizards during pre-season on October 7, 2019 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Image provided by Getty Images.
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|Wall Plate with connectors for connecting any type of signal.|
|Connectors||With the necessary connectors in each case.|
|Place||Built-in wall with standard box|
|Format||Wall plate Pcuad|
|Manufactured||In Spain by Pinanson S.L.|
FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE PRODUCT
This product is fully customizable.
We will need you to indicate the connectors you need in this type of product and we will return a graphic view and price.
Below you will find a direct link to our email (firstname.lastname@example.org)


2020 was bittersweet, and it presented challenges for many. Emily would have graduated in 2020. Her dream school was UCLA and she loved her friends and teammates.
To allow Emily to help as many of her friends and classmates for graduating year 2020, we provided a $1,000 scholarship to all who had applied for the first time in the history of the Play For Em Foundation.
To the Class of 2020, "Thank you" so much for the love and support you have shown our family and for always loving and keeping Emily in your heart. We love you. #PlayForEm
Copyright © 2023 PlayforEm Foundation - All Rights Reserved.


Most people begin to prepare for cold weather by purchasing wood for their woodstove or fireplace well before winter. Wood is a good source of heat, but do you know how wood is sold? Firewood is to be sold by a cord or a fraction of a cord. A cord is 128 cubic feet. Example a stack of wood 4 feet high by 4 feet wide by 8 feet long is 128 cu. ft. 4 X 4 X 8 = 128. You are also to be provided at the time of sale/delivery of the wood a sales invoice with the following information:
- Name and address of the seller
- Date of the purchase or delivery
- The quantity of wood purchased
- The price paid
For additional information you can click on the link below.
If you have questions please call the Plumas-Sierra Weights and Measures office at 283-6365


- Open Access
Physical punishment of children by US parents: moving beyond debate to promote children’s health and well-being
Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica volume 31, Article number: 16 (2018)
Physical punishment remains a common practice in the USA despite significant empirical evidence of its potential harm and ineffectiveness, arguments that its use violates children’s human rights, and professional recommendations against its use. The purpose of the current paper is to offer explanations as to why, in the face of a worldwide movement to protect children from violence, the USA continues to support physical punishment of children. The paper also summarizes the various debates engaged in by experts that stem from these explanations for physical punishment and argue that the time has come to move beyond these debates and eliminate the physical punishment of children. We offer suggestions for changing attitudes and practices related to physical punishment of children in order to promote their health and well-being. We conclude by suggesting that the burden of proof in debates about physical punishment, which has typically fallen upon those who argue children should never be physically punished, should shift to those who continue to promote its use despite evidence of its harm and ineffectiveness.
The physical punishment of children, defined as “any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort” (United Nations, Committee on the Rights of the Child [UNCRC], 2007, p. 4) is a worldwide issue that has attracted considerable attention in recent years. Attitudes and practices regarding physical punishment and its most common form, spanking with an open hand, have dramatically changed around the world. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted in 1989, states in Article 19 that member nations should “take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence.” The Committee stressed that all physical punishment of children, including that in homes, should be eliminated through “legislative, administrative, social and educational measures” (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2006, para. 18). Currently, 196 countries are party to the treaty, including every member of the United Nations except the USA. Parental use of physical punishment has also been banned in more than 50 countries to date (Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, 2017). These trends suggest a decrease in attitudes and practices supportive of physical punishment of children and are no doubt due to a number of factors, including empirical research questioning its use, as well as international legislation suggesting that physical punishment violates the human rights of children (Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016; UNCRC, 2007).
This worldwide movement to end the physical punishment of children should not lead us to conclude, however, that the problem is solved. In many of the 196 nations who are party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, physical punishment of children remains common (Lansford et al., 2017). For example, in South Korea, which ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, physical punishment of children remains common. A national study on the prevalence rate of violence toward children led the researchers to conclude, “Korean society needs to lower significantly its tolerance level for all forms of violence,” and to “raise awareness regarding the ineffectiveness and damaging effects of corporal punishment” (Ahn et al., 2017). In the USA, physical punishment, while declining (see Straus, Douglas, & Medeiros, 2014), also continues to be viewed largely positively and is commonly practiced.
The purpose of the current paper is to offer explanations as to why, in the face of worldwide movement to protect children from violence, physical punishment against children remains normative in much of the world. We focus on the USA because the use of physical punishment by parents is very common in the USA, but many of the issues we highlight are relevant to other countries. We also summarize the various debates about physical punishment and argue that the time has come to move beyond these debates to eliminate the physical punishment of children. We offer suggestions for changing attitudes and practices related to physical punishment of children in order to promote their health and well-being. Finally, we conclude by suggesting that the burden of proof in debates about physical punishment, which has typically fallen upon those who argue children should never be physically punished, should shift to those who continue to promote its use despite evidence of its harm and ineffectiveness.
Support for physical punishment in the USA
Although US federal law does not provide a definition of physical punishment, its legality is typically stated in the form of a provision that gives parents immunity from prosecution for child physical abuse if the actions are deemed to represent “reasonable force” when used for the purposes of correction and control (Straus, 2010). Unreasonable force, or child physical abuse, is defined by actions that result in “serious physical or emotional harm” (Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Reauthorization Act, 2010). In all 50 states, physical punishment by parents—that is, acts that may cause physical pain but that do not cause harm or injury—is legal.
Attitudinal and behavioral surveys of the US population generally support the legal status of physical punishment. Three fourths of adults agree or strongly agree with the statement, “It is sometimes necessary to discipline a child with a good, hard spanking” (Smith, Hout, Marsden, & Kim, 2015), and behavior surveys estimate that 80% of parents have spanked their child at some point during childrearing (Gershoff, Lansford, Sexton, Davis-Kean, & Sameroff, 2012).
Explaining support for physical punishment in the USA
Some argue that the fundamental parental right to control the upbringing of their own child is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment (Pagliocca, Melton, Lyons Jr, & Weisz, 2002). While this interpretation is a subject of considerable legal debate (Shulman, 2014), the fact remains that the dual concepts of “parental freedom” and “parental rights” are strongly embedded in the US culture (Lane, 1998). Parental rights and freedoms, furthermore, continue to be upheld by US courts and judges, even under conditions involving harsh physical punishment (Moya-Smith, 2013; Schworm, 2015). For example, in a 2013 California case, in which a mother who hit her daughter five or six times with a wooden spoon, resulting in bruises, the judge on the case concluded that the local department of social services violated the mother’s right to impose reasonable discipline upon her child (Moya-Smith, 2013).
The high rate of adherence to Christianity in the USA, especially compared to Europe, also contributes to high rates of support for corporal punishment. Conservative Protestants, in particular, are likely to believe that parents have a right and a responsibility to impose physical discipline. Several Old Testament passages, primarily from the book of Proverbs, have often been interpreted by Conservative Christians to mean that a parent who spares the rod, spoils the child (Ellison & Sherkat, 1993; Perrin, Miller-Perrin, & Song, 2017).
The view that physical punishment is harmless is also reflected, to some degree, in the attitudes of professionals. In a survey of medical center staff conducted by Gershoff et al. (2016), less than half of medical center staff agreed that spanking is harmful to children. In a recent survey of psychologists, approximately one-third were either unsure or disagreed that spanking is harmful to children (Miller-Perrin C. & Rush, R: Attitudes, knowledge, practices, and ethical beliefs of psychologists related to spanking: A survey of American Psychological Association division members, submitted).
A final reason that cultural beliefs persist is reflected in parental attitudes and behaviors toward child discipline. Most people are spanked in the USA, and parents tend to parent the way they were parented (Graziano & Namaste, 1990). In addition, some believe that because they were spanked and “turned out ok,” physical discipline is effective and harmless (Kish & Newcombe, 2015). Others believe that children who are spanked are disciplined and respect authority, while those who are not are uncontrolled and disrespectful (Benjet & Kazdin, 2003). Finally, many US adults equate discipline with physical punishment, as if spanking were the only way to discipline a child (Knox, 2010).
Hitting is rarely viewed as a violent act
Some object to the term “hitting,” when describing the physical punishment of children arguing that it is biased, or too harsh, or has an overly negative connotation. However, as Straus (2010) notes, the word “hit” is no more inherently biased or harsh than any other label that might be used to describe “spanking” (e.g., “swat,” “paddle,” “whack,” “beat,” “whip”). Most US child advocates, as well as those in other countries, actually expand the term “hitting” one step further, arguing that hitting is a form of violent behavior. Violence is “an act carried out with the intention of, or an act perceived as having the intention of, physically hurting another person” (Steinmetz, 1987). Physical punishment, including spanking, is, by definition, a violent act. It is intended to hurt—cause pain—to a child. Physical punishment of children may be “subabusive violence” (Graziano & Namaste, 1990), it may be “acceptable violence,” but it is still a form of violence, no matter what we call it.
In the USA, it is not socially acceptable for a husband to hit his wife, or for a wife to hit her husband. Children on a playground are not allowed to hit. Even dogs, many would argue, should never be hit. Children, however, are the only members in US society for whom hitting is deemed acceptable. One reason why hitting children might be deemed permissible could be the reluctance of adults to view physical punishment as a form of violence. As Bussmann and colleagues have noted, “parents are not aware of the contradiction between their attitude toward nonviolent childrearing and their own use of corporal punishment, simply because they do not define what they do as violence” (Bussmann, Erthal, & Schroth, 2011).
Moving beyond debates about physical punishment of children
Debates about parental use of physical punishment have been ongoing in the USA for decades. Calls to “move beyond” the research, or to “end the debate,” have become commonplace (e.g., Durrant & Ensom, 2017; MacMillan & Mikton, 2017). Three questions, it seems, sit at the center of these debates. Is physical punishment of children a Human Rights Issue? Is physical punishment effective? Is physical punishment harmful?
Physical punishment is a human rights issue
A growing number of international bodies have declared that physical punishment is a violation of a child’s human rights, including six multilateral human rights documents and treaties (Bitensky, 2006; Gershoff & Bitensky, 2007). Most significantly, as discussed above, the United Nations, as articulated in its Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989), states that physical punishment is a form of “legalized violence against children” (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2006, para. 18) that is prohibited by Article 19 of the CRC’s prohibition on “all forms of physical or mental violence” (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, Article 19, para. 1).
The USA signed the treaty in 1995 but has never ratified it. This means, essentially, that the USA has endorsed the general principles outlined in the treaty but is unwilling to be legally bound by the treaty’s mandates. This unwillingness to ratify illustrates the continuing tensions between those who affirm and promote “children’s rights” and those who affirm and promote “parental rights.” Criticism of the treaty has come, in large part, from the political and religious right, which has expressed concerns that the treaty would infringe on the rights of parents (Ruck, Keating, Saewyc, Earls, & Ben-Arieh, 2016).
It is important to note, however, that physical punishment of children is not permitted in most US settings outside the home. It is typically not permitted in child care settings, schools, residential treatment facilities, or juvenile detention facilities (Bitensky, 2006). While much has been made of the fact that physical punishment is allowed in schools in some states, it is important to note that it is illegal in 31 states (Gershoff & Font, 2016). As a society, we appear uneasy about the value of physical punishment of children by individuals who do not hold the role of parent, yet we defer to the parent’s “right” to use physical discipline in the home. The United Nations Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Children has called for explicit prohibition of physical punishment and other forms of “cruel or degrading punishment” in all settings, including the home (United Nations, 2006). Furthermore, the study report stated that “No violence against children is justifiable; all violence against children is preventable. The study marks the end of adults’ justification of violence against children, whether accepted as tradition or disguised as discipline” (United Nations, 2006, p. 17).
If, in the USA, we hope to end the debate on whether physical punishment of children is a human rights violation, the continuing ambiguity with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child must be reconciled. Because ratification of a treaty in the USA requires a two-thirds majority in Congress, it is difficult to imagine ratification any time soon. However, we can still reconcile our continuing ambiguity by acknowledging a fundamental truth: there is no such thing as a “parental right.” Humans—which includes both parents and children—have rights. And all human beings, including children, have a right not to be hit.
Physical punishment is ineffective and harmful
Decades of research has yielded more than 500 studies examining the impact of physical punishment on children (Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016). Within the past 15 years, several meta-analyses have attempted to synthesize this body of research. In a highly publicized meta-analysis, Gershoff (2002) concluded that physical punishment is not only ineffective, but also harmful. Larzelere and Kuhn then conducted a meta-analysis in 2005 and concluded that physical punishment may be effective if used conditionally, such as an open-handed swat on the buttocks with 2- to 6-year-olds when other forms of discipline have been unsuccessful (Larzelere & Kuhn, 2005). Ferguson (2013), who also conducted a meta-analysis on the long-term impact of physical punishment, concluded that the negative effects, while statistically significant, are “trivial to small.” Researchers, he argues, “should take greater care not to exaggerate the magnitude and conclusiveness of the negative consequences.” Exaggerations “might easily backfire, decreasing the credibility of scholarly statements on parenting research overall” (Ferguson, 2013, p. 204).In a definitive meta-analysis examining 50 years of research on outcomes associated with spanking, Gershoff and Grogan-Kaylor (2016) attempted to address two issues about the quality and interpretation of the spanking research, in particular. The first issue has to do with the potential confound between potentially abusive physical punishment and spanking. The second issue has to do with the assertion that physical punishment, including spanking, has only been linked to harmful outcomes in methodologically weak studies. Gershoff and Grogan-Kaylor analyzed 75 studies in the context of these two questions and found no evidence that nonabusive spanking is more effective than other disciplinary techniques at securing children’s immediate or long-term compliance. Indeed, they found that spanking was associated with increased risk of 13 harmful outcomes. Spanking and hitting children was a risk factor for adverse effects on such important outcomes as children’s aggressive behavior, mental health, and relationships with parents. Of all of the outcomes studied, physical abuse victimization was linked most strongly with spanking. Additionally, these researchers found no evidence that spanking is only associated with harmful outcomes in methodologically weak studies. Although not every incidence of spanking results in negative outcomes, the preponderance of evidence clearly suggests that it is ineffective and a risk factor for negative developmental outcomes.
Critics of this research argue, not unreasonably, that almost all of the research on harm and ineffectiveness is non-experimental, making causal connections difficult to establish. This research, they argue, cannot prove a causal link between spanking and harm. However, as defenders of the research remind us, much of the correlational evidence comes from studies that are statistically rigorous and use multi-variate models that attempt to control for extraneous variables. These studies have consistently documented that physical punishment increases the risk that children will experience harm or develop behavior problems, suggesting a causal pathway from parental physical punishment to negative developmental outcomes (Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016; Gershoff, Sattler, & Ansari, 2017). Plus, defenders of the research argue it is neither feasible nor ethical, to randomly assign parents and children into experimental and control groups. As a result, pure experimental evidence on this issue will never be available. It is important to note that any number of public health and safety policy issues rest not on experimental but rather correlational evidence (e.g., see American Psychological Association, 2018).
Professional best practice standards suggest no physical punishment of children
In large part, the underlying cultural support for spanking and debates over the empirical evidence have undermined advocacy efforts to end physical punishment of children. As a result, advocacy and policy organizations have sometimes been reluctant to condemn, or even recommend against, spanking. For example, despite the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Code of Ethics, which obligates psychologists to “do no harm,” to safeguard vulnerable populations, and to protect individuals’ human rights (American Psychological Association, 2010), the organization has resisted the approval of a resolution opposing the use of physical punishment of children by parents. This is true despite the fact that the APA passed a resolution in 1975 opposing physical punishment in schools and other institutions based on far less empirical evidence than is currently available.
Of course, given the overwhelming cultural acceptance of physical punishment in the USA, such resistance on the part of professional organizations is in many ways predictable. As Straus (2010) notes, it took several years of bitter debate before the American Academy of Pediatrics was able to adopt a policy advising parents not to use physical punishment. According to Straus, the publication of this document required a compromise in wording to exclude hitting a child with an open hand, and the document carefully avoids suggesting that parents should never spank (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1998).
Professional attitudes, however, are changing rapidly. A survey of psychologists conducted 40 years ago found that the majority (51%) of those who worked with parents recommended spanking as a discipline technique (Anderson & Anderson, 1976). In contrast, 65% of a sample of APA members in 1990 reported that they had never recommended that parents spank their children (Rae & Worchel, 1991). By 2000, 70% of a sample of psychologists stated that they would never recommend that a parent spank a child (Schenck, Lyman, & Bodin, 2000). In a survey published in 2016, 86% of practicing psychologists indicated that they “never” advise a parent to spank a child with a hand (Miller-Perrin C. & Rush, R: Attitudes, knowledge, practices, and ethical beliefs of psychologists related to spanking: A survey of American Psychological Association division members, submitted).
Other recent surveys suggest that the majority of mental health professionals, as well as other professionals such as physicians and child welfare personnel, do not support the use of physical punishment. In one study, three-fourths of professionals believed that spanking is a “bad disciplinary technique” (Taylor, Fleckman, & Lee, 2017). In Gershoff et al.’s (2016) study of medical center staff, only about 15% agreed that “sometimes the only way to get a child to behave is with a spank.” Similarly, Miller-Perrin and Rush (Miller-Perrin C. & Rush, R: Attitudes, knowledge, practices, and ethical beliefs of psychologists related to spanking: A survey of American Psychological Association division members, submitted) found that only 15% of psychologists agreed that “sometimes the only way to get a child to behave is with a spank.” Furthermore, when this group of psychologists was asked whether spanking is a more appropriate part of parenting for some groups than others, such as some ethnic and religious groups, only 32% and 26%, respectively, agreed or strongly agreed. Many professionals are also changing their views about whether spanking represents an important ethical issue. In a survey of psychologists conducted in 2000, just one third of psychologists believed it was unethical to recommend that a parent use spanking. By 2016, that number had risen to 76% (Miller-Perrin C. & Rush, R: Attitudes, knowledge, practices, and ethical beliefs of psychologists related to spanking: A survey of American Psychological Association division members, submitted). According to these studies, a majority of professionals who work with children believe that spanking should be avoided.
The tide of professional opinion has clearly shifted. Many US professional organizations dedicated to the welfare of children and families have issued statements in recent years recommending that parents refrain from using physical punishment with their children. These organizations include the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2012), the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (2011), and the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (2016), among others. The American Psychological Association may be next. Approximately 60% of APA division members believe that the APA should adopt both a policy opposing any use of spanking or physical punishment by parents/caregivers and a policy stating that its member should never recommend spanking or physical punishment (Miller-Perrin C. & Rush, R: Attitudes, knowledge, practices, and ethical beliefs of psychologists related to spanking: A survey of American Psychological Association division members, submitted). This represents a significant shift in opinion from 2000 when approximately one-third of psychologists thought that APA should adopt such policies.
Over the last 50 years, the physical punishment of children has attracted considerable empirical attention from social scientists. This research suggests, overwhelmingly, that spanking does more harm than good (see Ferguson, 2013; Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016; Gershoff, Sattler, & Ansari, 2017; Gromoske & Maguire-Jack, 2012). Physical punishment has also been acknowledged internationally as a violation of human rights (United Nations, 2015). In addition, many professional health organizations have called on parents to abandon physical punishment as a child disciplinary practice (e.g., American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2012; American Academy of Pediatrics, 1998). Professional experts who work with children and families also overwhelmingly believe that spanking is a bad disciplinary technique, is harmful to children, is unethical to recommend to a parent, and would never advise parents to spank their child (Miller-Perrin C. & Rush, R: Attitudes, knowledge, practices, and ethical beliefs of psychologists related to spanking: A survey of American Psychological Association division members, submitted).
The time has come to move beyond contentious debates. The verdict is in: physical punishment does more harm than good and parents and professionals should act according to that which promotes children’s rights to health and well-being. The way forward will necessarily involve a number of approaches.
First, US culture can no longer hide behind euphemisms for violence. Physical punishment is hitting children and a form of violence against them.
Second, parents should be educated about the empirical research on hitting children and the merits and techniques of non-violent parenting. Several promising intervention strategies to reduce parents’ use of physical punishment have been evaluated and shown to be effective (Gershoff, Lee, & Durrant, 2017). One such program is ACT, created by the American Psychological Association (www.apa.org/act/). The ACT program, which teaches parents and caregivers positive and non-violent parenting, has met with considerable success with research indicating that parents who participate in such programs report using physical punishment significantly less often (e.g., spanking and hitting with an object) and increasing their use of positive parenting practices (e.g., nurturing behavior) compared to parents in control groups (Knox, Burkhart, & Cromly, 2013; Knox, Burkhart, & Howe, 2011; Portwood, Lambert, Abrams, & Nelson, 2011).
Third, professionals need to be educated about the physical punishment research on outcomes and how to talk with parents about never using physical punishment. Professionals that should be targeted include all those who work with children and families such as health care providers, psychologists, child welfare professionals, teachers, child care providers, and religious leaders. Educating professionals on the physical punishment research has been shown to reduce positive attitudes toward it (Hornor et al., 2015) and increase the likelihood that medical staff would intervene if they observed physical punishment (Gershoff & Font, 2016).
Fourth, public health campaigns could be helpful in educating the general public about physical punishment, including media campaigns similar to those used to help prevent child abuse (public service announcements, billboard campaigns, etc.). Evidence suggests that such media campaigns can be effective at increasing awareness about the harm associated with physical punishment (Bussmann et al., 2011).
Fifth, increased advocacy for laws against spanking is needed. Research in countries like Sweden, which in 1979 criminalized spanking, suggests that criminalization led to large reductions in the use of physical punishment, especially severe physical punishment (Durrant, 2000; Durrant, Rose-Krasnor, & Broberg, 2003). Zolotor and Puzia (2010) studied 24 countries that have passed legislative bans and likewise concluded that both general support of physical punishment and actual use of physical punishment declined following the enactment of the ban. Such bans are effective in and of themselves in decreasing physical punishment but may be enhanced by campaigns to promote their awareness and to educate parents about alternative forms of discipline (Lansford et al., 2017).
Sixth, we must acknowledge the important role of unique cultural beliefs—such as religious beliefs—that create and maintain positive attitudes toward physical punishment of children. Interventions that are sensitive and respectful toward parents’ cultural views and values while attempting to change attitudes can be effective (Miller-Perrin & Perrin, 2017; Perrin et al., 2017).
Finally, researchers should continue to design studies that make causal assertions more reasonable (Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016; MacMillan & Mikton, 2017). In addition, although the burden of proof in debates about physical punishment has typically fallen upon those who argue children should never be physically punished, perhaps it is time for a shift in perspective. Advocates opposed to physical punishment of children have been asked, essentially, to provide empirical evidence that spanking does more harm than good. Perhaps, it is time to place the burden of proof on the defenders of physical punishment and ask the defenders of physical punishment to provide empirical support that spanking does more good than harm.
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Miller-Perrin, C., Perrin, R. Physical punishment of children by US parents: moving beyond debate to promote children’s health and well-being. Psicol. Refl. Crít. 31, 16 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-018-0096-x
- Physical punishment
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A few flagship universities–Oklahoma and Alabama, for example– are well-known for the generous merit scholarships, most of which provide the largest awards to national merit scholars or students with very similar qualifications. Now there are several other major players in this game, and all are in the state of Florida, home to several colleges on the rise in national rankings.
In March, Gov. Rick Scott, who is often at odds with higher ed professionals, signed Senate Bill 4. The bill passed the senate with unanimous support in mid-January.
The bill expands the full-ride Benacquisto Scholarship to include not only in-state National Merit and National Achievement Scholars but also out-of-state winners of these awards.
For out-of-state National Merit Scholars, the award is “equal to the institutional cost of attendance for a resident of this state minus the student’s National Merit Scholarship. Such student is exempt from the payment of out-of-state fees.”
The value of the award for in-state students at the University of Florida is $21,210 per year. For out-of-state students, it is $43,448 per year.
The bill provides $124 million to fund these and other merit awards in 2018-2019 alone. Here is a summary:
Expands merit-based state gift aid for high-performing students:
- Reinstates full funding of the Bright Futures Florida Academic Scholar award at 100 percent of tuition and fees, plus $300 in fall and spring semesters to cover instructional materials and other costs, beginning in this 2017-2018 academic year and guarantees funding for 2018 summer term tuition and fees for Bright Futures Florida Academic Scholar awards.
- New provisions of the legislation this year reinstate funding for the Bright Futures Florida Medallion Scholar award at 75 percent of tuition and fees for fall and spring semesters, beginning in fall semester of the 2018-2019 academic year and guarantee funding for 2019 summer term tuition and fees for Bright Futures Florida Medallion Scholar awards.
- Expands Benacquisto Scholarship awards (full cost of attendance) to recruit out-of-state National Merit Scholar award winners.
“Senate Bill 4 ensures universities remain accountable to Florida taxpayers by refining university performance expectations to incentivize and reward state university performance excellence and recognition in academics, instruction, research, and community accomplishments and achievements,” according to a press release from the Florida senate.
Florida lawmakers have also designated “preeminent” and “emerging preeminent” universities. These universities must meet targets for graduation, retention, and post-graduation employment. Florida and Florida State were the first preeminent universities, and the University of South Florida has now moved from emerging preeminent to preeminent. The University of Central Florida will be next.
According to USF, “The designation will bring not only more prestige but more funding for the university. UF and FSU each received $17.3 million as pre-eminent universities this year, while USF and the University of Central Florida each received $8.7 million as ’emerging’ pre-eminent schools.”
The extra funds are used to elevate the quality and recognition of the universities by hiring eminent faculty members, improving grad and retention rates, and funding STEM programs. The University of Florida, for example, has risen from 58th in the 2011 U.S. News rankings to 42nd in the 2018 rankings. Florida State, meanwhile, has moved from 101st to 81st in the same time frame.
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Georgia isn’t a better baseball team than Arkansas. Missouri State isn’t a better team than Arkansas.
But somehow, in the last four games, the Razorbacks have dropped every single contest to those opponents. After the Bulldogs’ weekend sweep, Missouri State handled Arkansas in Springfield, 8-4, on Tuesday night.
A six-run third inning was the difference. Zack Morris entered for Cody Adcock on the Arkansas hill to start the frame and immediately struggled. Morris struck out the first batter then gave up a walk and two singles before another strikeout. Then came the waterfall.
The Bears were up 7-2 and that was all that mattered.
The big inning has been damning for Arkansas recently. Georgia scored five in the third on Thursday in a 6-5 win and four in the second on Friday in a 7-3 victory. The Razorbacks have dropped four straight games, accordingly, as the Razorbacks’ pitching staff is ninth in the SEC in earned-run average (5.05) and 13th in both opponents’ average against (.271) and strikeouts (355).
The Hogs will try to right the ship Thursday through Saturday when Texas A&M, which sits two games back of Arkansas in the SEC West, visits Fayetteville.


Edouard Léon Cortès(1882 - 1969)
Porte St. Denis
Oil on canvas
18 x 22 inches
BIOGRAPHY - Edouard Léon Cortès (1882 - 1969)
Edouard Cortès was born into a family of painters. His grandfather, Andrés Cortès (1800-1861) was an “academician of the Holy Isabel of Sevilla (sic), dignified with several crosses of distinction, founding member of the Diputacion archaeological of Sevilla.” [i] His paintings were shown at the annual Exhibition of Arts in Seville where he won a silver medal in 1858. Andrés’ son Antonio (1827-1908) likewise became a painter, initially at the royal court of Spain, and then in France. At the age of thirty-two, Antonio set his sights on Paris where he began to exhibit his work at the Salon of 1859. He returned briefly to Seville when his father died in 1861, but by 1863, he was living in the Batignolles quarter of Paris at 4 rue des Dames with a studio a few blocks away at 90 rue de Clichy. In the 1860s, the neighborhood was home to a lively arts community including the so-called Batignolles group that gathered around Edouard Manet.
Antonio’s stay in Paris lasted only until 1866 when he married Angélique Berger, a young widow, on September 13. The couple moved about fifteen miles east of Paris to Lagny-Thorigny on the Marne river where the Cortès family would settle; their son, André George Charles Fernand Cortès y Aguilar, was born there on December 20, 1866. The next five years seem to have been both prosperous and pleasant. Antonio continued to exhibit at the annual Salon and established a reputation as a painter of rural landscapes. In the midst of the turmoil surrounding the Franco-Prussian War, Angélique died unexpectedly on January 5, 1871 at age thirty-three, leaving behind her five-year old son. Antonio remarried twenty months later on August 22, 1872; his new bride was the twenty-two-year-old Léontine-Augustine Frappart, a dressmaker. The family continued to live in Lagny where Léontine gave birth to a daughter, Jeanne-Marie in 1874. Antonio’s career was thriving and his son André began studying painting with his father in approximately 1880.
It was not until 1882 that the youngest of the Cortès children made his appearance; Edouard-Léon Henri was born at home at 3 rue des Etuves in Lagny on August 6th. Edouard, who seems to have been called Henri as a child, started school in 1888 and earned his Elementary School certificate in 1895 at age thirteen. At that time, he too began to study painting in his father’s studio. Both his brother and sister had gotten married in 1893 and begun their own families, so Edouard was the only child still at home. Like his father before him, André had made his Salon debut—in 1886—and was pursuing a successful career as a landscape painter. [ii] Sadly, André’s future was cut short in 1898, when he died at age thirty-one; his four-year-old daughter Lucie died four months later in September.
Edouard Cortès followed his brother’s career path the next spring, making his Salon debut at age sixteen in April 1899 with the painting titled Le Labour, a canvas showing a farmer plowing his field behind a team of two horses. The work clearly owes a debt to both Realist and Naturalist painters as well as his brother and father, but its acceptance by the Salon jury signaled that the youngest Cortès showed great promise. The critics agreed. Le Figaro proclaimed: “His style and his color have greatly impressed the jury. Young Cortès did, of course, attend a good school: we all know what a talented artist his father is.” [iii] And the newspaper Le Matin commented that Cortès was “A little chap, only so high, who by rights should still be wearing out the seat of his trousers on his school bench, but who, nonetheless, with his light touch, has already entered canvasses for the Salon: a colleague of Jean-Paul Laurens, and rival to Henner,” [iv] The Salon coverage in Germany and England concurred, with the British illustrated weekly journal, The Sketch, publishing a short piece entitled “A Clever Boy Artist”. The author offered readers a thoughtful assessment of the painting: “This is no “studio picture”, but a work of a disciple of the plein-air school to whom Nature is “un livre toujours ouvert devant mes yeux et où il y a toujours a approfoundir ses mystères—”a book every open before my eyes and in which the mysteries of Nature are ever to be fathomed.” [v]
Shortly after the close of the 1899 Paris Salon exhibition, Marie-Edmond Höner (1830-1900), a painter and lithographer based in Lagny, decided to create a local artistic society; to that end, he founded the Union Artistique et Littéraraire du Canton de Lagny with the goal of establishing a regional exhibition program. This organization would prove to be an important forum for Cortès throughout his life, both as a gathering place for visual artists and as an exhibition venue in Lagny. Le Labour was included in the first exhibition, which opened on August 27 in the courtyard of a local school. The following year, Cortès submitted five paintings to the second exhibition.
Over the next few years, the young painter continued to study with his father, living with his parents in Lagny, and sending several paintings each year for consideration by the Salon jury. His work was included in the annual exhibition in 1901, 1902 and 1903. Because of his father’s advanced age and Edouard’s status as the only remaining son of the family, he was exempted from French military service. This meant that Cortès was not exposed to French colonial life, as was typical for young soldiers, but it did facilitate his exploration of the French countryside instead. After participating in the Salon in 1905, the painter embarked on an extended stay with his sister Jeanne and her family in Le Tréport, Normandy, where he encountered a landscape that would become a recurring theme in his painting.
In 1906, Cortès exhibited a painting of Le Boulevard de la Madeleine, soir d’automne, an early example of what would become his signature image of a Paris streetscape; he chose the same type of image the next Salon as well, submitting Soir de neige près du square Montholon. By 1907, he was confident enough of his painting to organize an auction of his own works at the Hôtel Drouot in April 1907; he earned 250ff.
Having achieved a certain success as a painter, Cortès began to broaden his scope, exhibiting his work throughout France in a number of regional salons beginning with the Toulouse International Industrial Salon in 1908; he received a third class medal for La Port de Pantin, soir de neige. In addition, he joined a professional organization that year, the Association Amicale des Paysagistes Français (Association of French Landscape Painters) under the leadership of Henri Harpignies. The year brought sorrow as well, with the death of his father Antonio at the age of eighty-one.
As the only remaining support of his mother, Cortès seems to have focused ever more intensely on establishing a prosperous career. He continued to display his paintings, and occasionally pastels, at the Paris Salon and to explore other opportunities for exhibitions. Increasingly, his work drew critical attention from the press; in 1910, his Salon painting received coverage in seventeen articles in a variety of publications. He was also able to purchase property at 22 rue Macheret in Lagny as a home for himself and his mother, although they spent the summer of 1910 with his sister Jeanne and her daughters in Loquirec, Brittany.
In the following years, Cortès established a pattern of exhibitions throughout the country. To use 1911 as an example, he exhibited at the annual Paris Salon in April, followed by a show at the Union Artistique des Ardennes in June; the Société des Amis des Arts de l’Avallonnais in August; the Société Artistique de Charenton in September; and the Société des Artists Girondins at the Autumn Salon in Bordeaux in October. Although the locations of the regional exhibitions varied from year to year, this pattern set the rhythm for Cortès’ career for many years.
In 1913, Cortès again spent part of the summer Loquirec, Brittany and had the good fortune to “develop an affectionate relationship with Fernande Joyeuse.” [vi] On December 10, 1914, they were married in Paris. Their honeymoon was short-lived however, as Cortés soon enlisted in the Army to fight the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire). His drawing skills meant that he often moved from one regiment to another in order to visually record military information. Fortunately, he also created postcards of military life that he mailed home to Fernande. These images of the countryside and the soldiers, sometimes in the trenches, have the immediacy of a reporter’s observations at the front. Back in Paris, Fernande opened a millinery shop at 35 rue Piat in the 20th arrondissement and worked with her sister Lucienne to support the family. On March 24, 1916, she gave birth to a daughter, Simonne-Jacqueline Cortés.
Cortés was wounded on November 22, 1917, and was appointed a General Staff officer for the remainder of his time in the service. Nonetheless, he was stationed in the Champagne-Ardennes region from August to November 1918 just after the Second Battle of the Marne (July 15-19, 1918) as part of the “liberation army” routing out the last of the Germans and attempting to begin the reconstruction of the devastated area. In the midst of this unimaginable destruction, Fernande died on October 21, entrusting two-year-old Jacqueline to the care of her sister. Cortés was not demobilized until 1919 when he returned home to 15 rue Mélingue in the Buttes Chaumont neighborhood of Paris.
The next year or two must have been a time of significant adjustment. It certainly was a time of change for Cortès in both his personal life and his career. In the spring of 1919, he participated in a special exhibition sponsored jointly by the Sociéte des Artists Français and the Sociéte National des Beaux-Arts to aid in war repairs. Cortès exhibited several paintings and pastels based on his military sketches. The following year, he presented only one gouache at the annual Salon of the Société des Artists Français, and it was the last time that he exhibited there.
In his personal life, Cortès married his sister-in-law, Lucienne Joyeuse, on September 29, 1919, and moved back to the artist’s home in Lagny that he had purchased a decade earlier. There is a series of gouaches from this period showing a springtime landscape with details of flowering shrubs, wisteria vines and a modest watering can beside a white rose. After the images of destruction and ruin from 1919, the artist seems to have found a sense of comfort in his own home. Likewise, the images from the summer of 1920 in Brittany and Normandy, mostly gouaches, focus not on the drama of the Breton landscape, but on the quiet of an ancient shrine or sunlight on the hills near the sea.
Cortès also found a new market for his art in the modern post-war world. In 1921, he sold 82 paintings to art dealers and discovered that his work was widely appreciated abroad. He began to create a slightly different strategy for promoting it: exhibit at two or three of the big Paris exhibitions early in the year; participate in several regional salons in France; and develop the impressively growing American art market through selected dealers. The year 1922 illustrates this clearly: he participated in the Winter Salon at the Grand Palais, and the Société des Artists Indépendants Salon and at the Ecole Français Salon in Paris. Then he turned to several regional salons in Aube, Dijon and Bordeaux. During the summer, he and Lucienne traveled to Brittany and Normandy, where Cortès could paint and simultaneously visit his sister and her family. The year ended on a sad note with the death of the artist’s mother, Léontine Cortès, on December 11 at age seventy.
The next several years followed this pattern consistently. Of note however, was the reinvigoration of the Union Artistique et Littéraraire du Canton de Lagny in 1926. Originally founded in 1899 when Cortès was only seventeen, he and the surviving members decided to re-establish the organization with patronage from the town council of Lagny and begin to present their own annual exhibition. They received official approval on December 10, 1926 and held their first exhibition in 1927. From this point on, the Union Artistique et Littéraraire would remain a touchstone for Cortès, a link with his hometown community of artists and a reminder of his own roots.
The late 1920s brought an international client, the T. Eaton Company Limited of Toronto. Founded in 1869, Eatons was Canada’s largest department store with offices around the world and a mail order catalogue business that rivaled that of Montgomery Ward—and they were interested in commissioning paintings from Cortès. In 1928, they ordered thirty paintings to be shown in Toronto, Winnipeg and Montreal between November and December. Eatons remained a steady client until the Great Depression of the 1930s, and perhaps more importantly, it introduced Cortès to the possibilities of the North American commercial art market.
The 1930s proved to be challenging for Cortès as well. With the death of his brother-in-law, Emile Froment, in late 1928, his sister Jeanne and two of her daughters relied more often on the painter for assistance at a time when sales were less consistent. In spite of the occasional hardship, Cortès’ public reputation continued to grow, in part because of his persistence in exhibiting in Paris each year regardless of the economy. As the decade passed, he and Lucienne spent every summer with Jeanne and her daughters in Normandy, usually at Cormelles-le-Royal (Calvados) not too far from Caen. And every fall, there was an exhibition at the Union Artistique in Lagny. Perhaps the happiest event of this decade was the wedding of Cortès’ daughter Jacqueline to Georges Chevalier on February 4, 1936 in her childhood neighborhood in the 19th arrondissement of Paris.
When war broke out again on September 3, 1939, Edouard and Lucienne settled in Cormelles-le-Royal with his sister. A neighboring farm family, the Oblins, supplied them with food from their gardens throughout the war. They remained there until the end of World War II, managing to sustain themselves until 1944 when the Allies mistakenly bombed Cormelles and destroyed Cortès’ studio. In the final months of the war, the Oblin’s farm was also bombed, leaving both families without a reliable food source. The Oblins moved into the Froment-Cortès home at that point, managing their meager joint resources until the Germans surrendered on May 7, 1945.
Throughout the war years, Cortès persevered in sending his paintings to the annual Paris exhibitions and to a museum show in Caen. He also made contact with an art dealer named Herbert Arnot during these years and began a long-term business relationship. Arnot came from a Viennese family who had been working as art dealers since 1863, but he had opened a gallery in New York in the early 1940s; Cortès’ painting were first displayed there in 1946. [vii] For the next few decades, Arnot was an enthusiastic supporter of Cortès’ work and an important promoter of his paintings to both commercial and private clients throughout the United States. Gradually, Cortès was able to replenish his bank account and ultimately, to create a flourishing post-war career largely because of the popularity of his Parisian streetscapes with North American art collectors.
In 1954, Cortès’ sister Jeanne died in Indre et Loire and he and Lucienne moved back to Lagny for good. The Union Artistique celebrated its 25th annual exhibition in 1955. That same year, the painter began working regularly with R. Stanley Johnson, an art dealer located at 645 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Cortès’ work had been routinely covered by Chicago media at least as far back as 1923 when the Chicago Tribune mentioned his six paintings in a review of the Salon d’hiver in Paris. [viii] A few years later, the Findlay Galleries in Chicago included Cortès paintings in an exhibition titled French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism; and then in a solo show of his work in their Palm Beach, Florida gallery. Arnot was similarly still actively marketing Cortès’ paintings throughout North America.
In spite of his advancing years, Cortès painted throughout the 1960s, sending two paintings to the Union Artistique 27th annual exhibition in 1966. However, Lucienne’s health was declining and Jacqueline moved her family to be closer to her parents. On November 13, 1967, Lucienne died at age seventy-seven. Cortès continued to paint until November 26, 1969 when he died at age eighty-eight.
Janet Whitmore, Ph.D.
Bair Museum, Martinsdale, Montana
Martin Museum of Art, Baylor University, Waco, Texas
Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
[i] Nicole Verdier, Edouard Cortès, Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint, Vol. 1 (Paris: Contexte, 2002) 19. Originally published in Manuel Ossorio y Bernand, Galeria biografica de artistas expanoles del siglo XIX, 1883-84.
[ii] André Cortès exhibited at the Salon in 1886, 1888, 1890, 1891 and 1894. See Verdier, Edouard Cortès, Vol. 1, 35-43.
[iii] Le Figaro, 26 Avril 1899. Reprinted in Verdier, Vol. 1, 47.
[iv] Le Matin, 1 May 1899. Reprinted in Verdier, Vol. 1, 47.
[v] “A Clever Boy Artist” The Sketch, no. 334, Vol. XXVI: 369.
[vi] Verdier, Vol. 1, 71.
[vii] Verdier, Edouard Cortès, Vol. 2, 15.
[viii] Verdier, Edouard Cortès, Vol. 1, 81.
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Stuart Bee, 62, left Cape Marina at Port Canaveral on Friday afternoon, aboard his 32ft vessel Sea Ray. He didn’t return and was reported lacking on Saturday. A big air and sea mission was instantly launched.
It didn’t flip up any signal of the Sea Ray however vessels in a big space off Florida have been advised to maintain an eye fixed out for the lacking mariner. One such ship, the Angeles, noticed the upturned Sea Ray, full with Bee holding tightly to its prow, the one a part of the capsized boat above water.
“It’s a tremendous story,” PO1 David Micallef of the US Coast Guard advised native information.
“We’re simply very grateful for the motor vessel Angeles and their whole crew for holding a pointy lookout. And we’re simply very grateful, particularly throughout this vacation season, that we are able to deliver this man dwelling to his household.”
Bee advised media the Sea Ray developed mechanical points earlier than he was woken on Saturday evening by a sudden rush of water into his cabin which pushed him outdoors.
He managed to get a maintain on his stricken boat, he mentioned, then held on till he was rescued.


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“When we got to know that we were having twins, we were so happy and grateful for it. Yuvraj and Viraj, it was so lovely to watch our sons grow together. But since September last year, everything changed. Every day was a nightmare for my little Viraj and now, he is in the ICU, crying in pain. He needs urgent surgery.” - Rina, mother
First major surgery at the age of 2
“He was 2-years-old when he woke up in the middle of the night and started screaming. His face was full of tears and he was holding his stomach very tight. We took him to the hospital immediately and after some tests they said he would need a surgery. We were shocked, just one day before he was absolutely fine and now a surgery? I just couldn’t understand it but there was no time to waste.” - Sanjeev
Viraj was diagnosed with intestinal ischemia, a condition when blood flow to your intestines decreases due to a blocked blood vessel, which can cause pain and make it difficult for your intestines to work properly. In severe cases, loss of blood flow to the intestines can damage intestinal tissue and possibly lead to death.
To avoid such serious complications, the little boy underwent stoma surgery. A small opening was created on his stomach in order to divert the flow of faeces or urine from the bowel or bladder.
It is my fault that my child has been suffering for so long
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Here is a case study of how MCC, using a scorecard, has measured progress in governance and respect for human rights between two neighbouring states in the Sadc region, which changed to a multiparty system of government peacefully about the same time.
Simply put: By MCC standards, democratic Malawi under the Mutharika administration has failed while democratic Zambia is on course.
But Zambia is not the only neighbouring country that is doing well where we are failing. As early as 2007, Mozambiqueâ€”a neighbour with a painful past of prolonged civil strife and natural disastersâ€”qualified for a compact of 506.9 million USD and Tanzania, our neighbour up North qualified for a compact of 698 million USD in 2008.
The case of Malawi is particularly depressing. Our compact was signed for between the government and the US through MCC in April, 2011. Three months later, in July, was placed on â€œoperational holdâ€ after agents of the State used excessive force against demonstrations on July 20, killing 20 people in the process.
Since good democratic governanceâ€”not forcing on us alien culture such as legalising gay marriage, as the President claimsâ€”is the condition for MCC grants, the folks in US expected that the country would improve on its governance record, especially in the light of the global condemnation of how the State handled the July 20 demonstrations.
Yet, the government did not relent. The crusade to fight and humiliate the media, civil society organisations and politicians in the opposition seem to be the agenda of Mutharikaâ€™s second term.
We are told we have no mandate as media to question the actions of a government that rose on an unprecedented three million votes. Talk about power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely!
Thank heaven Malawians are not stupid. While Mutharika insists that we should measure the effectiveness of his administration by the old song of fertiliser subsidy, the introduction of free ARVs and infrastructural development, the voice of disenchantment is getting louder and louder by the day.
While obviously in public, the President would pretend all is well, he cannot ignore the fact that leaders representing various sectorsâ€”except chiefs who are highly rewarded so they can serve the government of the dayâ€”met at Limbe Cathedral recently against all odds and bluntly challenged the President to step aside or call for a referendum if he believes Malawians are still with him on the direction he has taken our country.
As I have argued before, there is no short cut to our economic independence. Zero-deficit budget per se, nice though it may sound to the psyche of political arrogance, will not take us there. Instead, it will only help us nationalise excruciating poverty as we have already seen jobs being lost, companies downsizing, cost of living going up and government demanding more and more taxes while the quality of service delivery is deteriorating by the day.
Our neighbours are benefiting as muchâ€”if not more than usâ€”from China, the darling country which gives us aid without strings attached. In Zambia, the Chinese have made heavy investment in the Copper Belt.
Yet Zambia, unlike Malawi, sees the prudence of not just keeping Chinese-collar jackets only in its wardrobe. The same is true of Mozambique. It has China to look to. It also has Russia, Cuba and South Africa. But all that did not stop Mozambique from embracing the Commonwealth despite that it was never been a British colony or protectorate.
Why? Development is not just a function of prudent management of revenue. Its bedrock is the countryâ€™s capacity to generate wealth. Here is where clever African leaders see aid, together with foreign direct investment, tourism and other means of transferring the hard currency from affluent to developing countries as crucial.
Given that there are many countries in the world requiring aid and FDI, I believe an Economic Engineer should be the first to realise that and treat aid and FDI as delicate chinaware to be handled with care.


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