The Future of American Soccer

       What the Future Holds

If one were to approach a random stranger and ask him or her if America is a soccer nation, whether or not that person knew anything about the sport, the answer would probably be “no”. After all, the MLS (Major League Soccer) is only the fifth most viewed sport in the U.S.A, after American Football, Baseball, Basketball, and Ice Hockey respectively. In 2018 America's National Men’s team didn’t even make it into the World Cup, losing out to Trinidad and Tobago. Even America’s success story in soccer, the Women's National Team doesn’t seem to be particularly valued by its own country, garnering attention when it wins an international title, and then flatlining for years when it comes to regular season viewership.   The women’s team is also paid less than the men’s team despite their much more impressive showings. Still, this, my final article, stands to prove that even in the face of all its many challenges, soccer is on track to keep growing as an American sport.

 The NSL (National Soccer League) is only about 20 years old, and already has the following to fill NFL sized stadiums, something the NFL couldn’t do in its initial 20 years as a league. The MLS has broken its average season attendance for three years straight. The U.S. is a nation that boasts millions of players and supports a fanbase of millions more.  In fact, America ranks sixth in world average attendance - ahead of both France and Italy. New men’s clubs are currently sprouting up across America with the introduction of new pro teams in LA, Miami, Atlanta, and others all being introduced to the MLS in recent years. Yet another good omen for American men’s soccer comes in the form of immigrants. Ever since the MLS signed a five year contract with internationally renowned former British pro footballer David Beckam in July 2007, more and more talented players have switched to play for Team U.S.A.. Such names as Ricardo Kaka, Thierry Henry, and Steven Gerrard, all of whom became known and respected in their home countries are now wearing the stars and stripes, placing their bets on the up and coming. The other kind of immigrant that spells good news for men’s soccer are the ones that come to the U.S. for life opportunities, especially those who come from soccer loving countries which are likely to support and become avid fans of the American teams. Not only are immigrants more likely to follow America’s men’s teams, but they are also more likely to grow up playing soccer. An estimated 13 percent of MLS players are second generation South American immigrants, and they bring a great deal of talent to the league. My final point in favour of Americas men’s pro soccer is that although they did lose out embarrassingly early in the 2018 World Cup, that is the first time that they hadn’t qualified in nearly 30 years - not a bad streak.

           USA men’s pro team fills NFL team Texans stadium

The next topic of concern is that of the NWSL’s future. Before COVID-19 struck, the NWSL was planning to make an aggressive move towards expansion in 2020. The last post highlighted the successes of America's National Women’s Team. The most recent American victory, the 2019 Women’s World Cup, garnered the attention of more Americans than ever before. The NWSL had plans to harness the enthusiasm after flatlining three years prior. COVID-19 may have destroyed the NWSL season, but it didn't stop the league from expanding from nine teams to ten - welcoming the Racing Louisville into the NWSL ranks. The “Racing” in the name comes from the team’s close proximity to the home of the Kentucky Derby. It is a tradition for soccer teams located near great racing tracks to incorporate racing in the team name. By 2022 the NWSL plans to be a 14 team league, with cities across the country like Sacramento, Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Austin already showing interest in the prospect, it seems like an attainable goal for the set timespan. The NWSL picked up ESPN as a national TV partner as well as achieving a sponsorship from Bud Light and renewing another one with Nike. Thanks to the record setting turn out to the Women’s World Cup, NWSL president Amanda Duffy made it known in late 2019 that the NWSL games would be “in a different place from a commercial standpoint, and in a good position to propel us to a new television deal”. On top of all of this, the Portland Thorns set a new league record for average home game attendance of over 20,000 people filling the stands as well as reaching an end of season profit of over seven figures, another historic league record. Women’s pro soccer is making its move, the question is whether its efforts will stick.

                                   Portland Thorns A team (2019)

 A few months ago, the University of Cincinnati announced that it will no longer sponsor the men’s soccer program.

  RIP Cincinnati Bearcats (1982-2020)  May they rest in peace

The announcement was a surprise to absolutely no-one who follows the team. Men’s soccer is not a huge revenue point for schools, and with the coronavirus outbreak at hand, Cincinnati is not the only school looking at making this tough call due to lack of funding. The trouble that some college teams are currently in has led some to ask if college soccer is necessary in today's America at all. In recent years, national men’s teams have been investing heavily in training programs, and today it is more likely that a national men’s soccer team will recruit from it’s own secondary team than from college teams. This recruiting from a young age and drafting into secondary programs is commonplace throughout the rest of the world. It is a system that has proven highly successful, and oftentimes will lead to a better end player. Colleges are most concerned with winning games while a club has the freedom to focus on player development.  So, should there be worry about whether college soccer might die in the U.S.? The short answer to this question is, “not any time soon”. When the current head coach of the Men’s National Team, Jurgen Klinsmann, was approached with the question, he made the point that America is a unique country when it comes to higher education and athletics. That is a good thing. In most European countries, a young person's future has been decided by the time he or she is 16 years old, but in America, no matter how many times that person may have fouled up academically, that person could have the chance to get themselves back in order and become a doctor, lawyer or even a politician. Klinsmann, and the rest of the MSL it seems agrees that this principle should hold true for soccer. So then, in the eyes of America's pro teams, they will be there to draft the early risers, and the colleges are there to pick up the second wave, a not unimportant task. 

So, in conclusion, America is now, more than ever before, a soccer country, and it's only going up from here.

                                          Recommended Readings for this Post

• Because this blog post focuses on the future of soccer, my final citations are not up to the usual academic standards, nevertheless I encourage you to read them as they contain valid, up to date information. 

Bonte-Friedheim, Julian. “Can Soccer Be the next Big American Sport?” Theperspective.com/, The PERSPECTIVE, 8 July 2019, www.theperspective.com/debates/sports/can-soccer-be-the-next-big-american-sport/.  

This brief article takes a look at some of the most widely accepted reasons for why soccer, most specifically the MLS could come to be one of America’s next big sports. The article also weighs some counterpoints and challenges that soccer faces in collecting a competitive following.

Wahl, Grant. “What the Future Holds for NWSL in Pivotal, Historic Year for Women's Soccer.” Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated, 24 Oct. 2019, www.si.com/soccer/2019/10/24/nwsl-future-expansion-player-signings-us-soccer.   

This second piece focuses on the NWSL and what the league is planning on to grow interest in teams on a national level.

Rollins, Sean. “College Soccer Remains Important to American Soccer.” The Mane Land, The Mane Land, 20 Apr. 2020, www.themaneland.com/2020/4/20/21226770/college-soccer-remains-important-to-american-soccer.  

This final reading simultaneously examines school and club soccer, with an emphasis on men's collegiate level soccer and why it is weigning. The article gives some insight as to what direction pre-pro soccer is headed. 

[Status - Brehon] Imaginary Book Review: "Differentiating The Irish Gaels from other Celts"

"Differentiating The Irish Gaels from other Celts:" A Review

    There is not a lot of direct historical information available about the Irish Gaels before the arrival of monks who could write (~7th Century), and even after that, not much accurate information was written. Because of this, historians rely on what they know about other similar Celtic peoples. This is often fairly accurate because Irish Gaels are descended from the same culture as other Gaels. However, one could say that the Ghaznavid Empire was descended from the same Indo-European roots as the Byzantine Empire. As such, it is obvious that common characteristics dwindle with time and geography. This is the premise of Liam Breatnach's "Differentiating The Irish Gaels from other Celts."

    Breatnach starts the book by introducing Ireland as fairly isolated island off the coast of its much more visited neighbor England. He points out that it only had a few broad historical international interactions after the main migrations that made up its population, and before its complete assimilation to the British Empire. The Hiberno-Roman and Norman interactions are the main focus of this chapter. The Romans wrote as outsiders, while the Normans burnt books and tried to forcefully change Irish culture and history. These were thus not the most trustworthy historians, and all writings about the Irish from these people are highly edited and biased. As such, there is not much written information about the Early Irish. This is not a particularly new take on matters, but it serves as his introduction to the rest of the book, where he talks about the differences between Celts in gruesome details.

    Breatnach's massive scope covers the differentiating of groups all the way back to Indo-European roots, from the Nordic regions to the Northern Germanic region to the Iberian Peninsula to the Mainland tribes of the Gauls and their neighbors, all of which is contained in the 600 dry yet vividly detailed pages of pure historical analysis. Heavily relying on archaeology, as anyone studying early History does, Breatnach shows not only obvious differences of language, material goods, and architecture, but he shows probable differences in governmental structure, judicial systems, hierarchy, lay versus aristocratic culture, and small differences in religion, all while relating these differences back to a probable cause and source of information.

    This is undoubtedly one of the most influential books in the field, and will inevitably serve as a go-to reference for many other authors and academics. Not all of the information is new, but it is all laid out in an accessible, logical manner that will allow casual readers to approach the subject, but will also influence how many academics go about their research. This is a must-read for anyone with an imagination great enough to conjure the contents of this book all within their minds. Infinite power and rule over the entire Solar System is guaranteed to all who find a copy of this book. It is said to have been written on yellow pages.

Disclaimer: I have not read this book.

[This Place is Not a Place of Honor] Imaginary Book Review: The 10,000 Year Telephone Game

    The vast variety of proposed nuclear waste warnings, from 10-foot tall granite spikes to glowing cats, is instantly intriguing; however, many of the solutions seem to exist in isolation from the others, with a clear gap between the odd-ball marker proposals and the DOE proposals. The only sources which seem to discuss the entire breadth of the proposals are news and magazine articles, which barely scratch the surface of the topic so as not to bore the average reader. Nuclear Semiotics: The 10,000 Year Telephone Game bridges this gap, offering comprehensive background to the solutions, as well as their relationships to each other. It opens on an almost-narrative cautionary note, describing how millennia-old monuments such as Stonehenge and the serpent mound have become all but meaningless today, a wonder to behold but impossible to interpret. Proceeding in a chronological order, it first gives background to the field of semiotics and some of the previous work of those on the human interference task force, supplying the reader with context as to how the team arrived at their conclusions. When it finally describes the off-color solutions prompted by the Zeitschrift für Semiotik poll in 1984, it highlights the skeptical response of the Human Interference Task Force to each idea, and the solutions are referenced often in later chapters on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant report in 1993, tracing the inspirations for the Sandia team’s menacing earthworks back to previous research in the field. With a particular focus on how each solution can influence a network of other marker proposals, The 10,000 Year Telephone Game gives its reader a full understanding of the small world of nuclear semiotics. 

Gene Editing Ethics

Throughout the course of this blog we have discussed the scientific possibilities of gene editing and how it works. Gene editing is a complex and controversial topic among the world today. Ethical concerns play a very important role in gene editing, a role which we have not discussed yet. We have discussed the good that gene editing can do and it's possibilities of treating life threatening illnesses. The major question is where is the line?
CRISPR offers a great opportunity to treat life threatening or seriously impinging  illnesses. Beth Baker stated “From a scientific and societal viewpoint, the potential benefits from research on human genome editing are many: from deepening understanding about human biology and fertility to eliminating genetic defects that cause terrible diseases and creating disease resistance”. All of this being true and valid points. Gene editing offers treatments to an expansive amount of people who previously had no form of treatment. As good as this seems safety and ethical questions follow in wait.
As we have learned CRISPR is ideal for monogenic illness (affected or caused by one gene). However many of these monogenic illnesses are generally rare. Our more common illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease and schizophrenia (a few examples) present much more of a challenge in treating as they are polygenic, (caused or affected by many genes). Our understanding of the human genome and it's self interactions are incredibly slim. There is little knowledge regarding how these genes interact and affect each other. Deleting or altering one gene may unknowingly lead to change in another gene.  “A gene that lowers an individual’s risk of getting HIV increases the risk of succumbing to the West Nile virus. Similarly, a gene that lowers the risk of type-1 diabetes brings a higher risk of Crohn’s disease.” With the little knowledge that we have it is understandable why people show hesitation on gene editing, what happens if there are unintended consequences?
The topic becomes more controversial the further the changes are pushed. Baker stated “If germline editing were approved, most seem to agree that it would be very difficult to limit its use to disease prevention. And one person’s “disease” may be another’s view of the human condition, whether it is aging or autism.” George Church added that  “the real battle would not be between editing somatic cells and germline cells but over where to draw the line between disease prevention and enhancements. Even with somatic cell engineering, “enhancement will creep in the door,” he said, “not necessarily by consumer demand but in terms of treating serious diseases, like HIV, like muscle wasting during aging, cognitive decline during Alzheimer’s, or cognitive disadvantage in newborns with autism spectrum disorder. The point is [that enhancements] will come in through very serious disease and they will be spread by somatic gene therapies.” Ruha Benjamin described gene editing ethics as being “ seeded with values and interests—economic as well as social— that without careful examination easily reproduce existing hierarchies including able-ist assumptions about which lives are worth living and which are worth editing out of existence”. 
While gene editing offers massive expansion to the medical world of treatment, holding technology that's able to change people's lives, much discussion is required for safety and ethicality. If no line is drawn between illness and non life threatening superficial changes,(eye color, height, intelligence, hair color, etc…) gene editing could very well become like eugenics. Careful consideration of the implications of gene editing need to be considered. We must be careful. While I personally believe gene editing should only be used for life threatening or severely impinging illnesses, I hope this blog has helped bring knowledge to the new world of gene editing 

BAKER, BETH. “The Ethics of Changing the Human Genome.” BioScience, vol. 66, no. 4, 2016, pp. 267–273. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/90007578. Accessed 12 Dec. 2020.

JUENGST, ERIC, et al. “From ‘Personalized’ to ‘Precision’ Medicine: The Ethical and Social Implications of Rhetorical Reform in Genomic Medicine.” The Hastings Center Report, vol. 46, no. 5, 2016, pp. 21–33., www.jstor.org/stable/44159266. Accessed 12 Dec. 2020.

NEWSON, AINSLEY, and ANTHONY WRIGLEY. “Being Human: The Ethics, Law, and Scientific Progress of Genome Editing.” AQ: Australian Quarterly, vol. 87, no. 1, 2016, pp. 3–40., www.jstor.org/stable/24877806. Accessed 12 Dec. 2020.

CRISPR {SCD & β-Thalassemia Applications}

CRISPR Applications {Blood Disorders - Sickle Cell Anemia & β Thalassemia}

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder. With SCD the normally disc shaped red blood cells (RBC) are mutated into a crescent shape, distorting the shape and function of the RBC. Because of this crescent shape, the deformed blood cells have trouble traveling through blood vessels often getting stuck, clotted, or completely blocked. All of these can result in slowed blood flow and oxygen to vital parts of the body. SCD often creates a shortage of oxygen for the body as blood flow is restricted and or blocked. Additionally while healthy disc shaped RBC have a lifetime of around 120 days, Sickle cells live for around only 10-20 days before completing the cycle of apoptosis.

     β-thalassemia is also an inherited blood disorder. People with  β-thalassemia are not able to make a sufficient amount of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is affluent with iron rich proteins. Hemoglobin carries oxygen to parts of the body.  β-thalassemia effects this process, starving the body of oxygen as is the case in SCD. There are a few types of  β-thalassemia, for the purpose of this study and post we will be focusing on the most severe - Beta Thalassemia Major (Cooley's anemia). With this type of  β-thalassemia two genes are affected creating a more severe illness that along with SCD requires frequent blood transfusions.  

Both of these disorders require frequent blood transfusions and hospitalizations. The need for blood transfusions continues to grow at a rapid rate while the supply plummets. With blood transfusion, there are many factors one has to consider, first blood typing. It can be harder to find the right blood if you are not o+ a universal receiver. Additionally blood transfusions can cause a build up of iron, which can become life threatening.  Blood transfusions serve as a 'stabilizer' at best. 

Because both SCD and  β-thalassemia are inherited disorders, the genes have mutated.  As a result of these mutations CRISPR would seem to be a wonderful treatment, or even cure for these blood disorders. As early studies demonstrate. Companies like Vertex Pharmaceuticals, CRISPR Therapeutics and Bluebird Bio are all in various stages of clinical trials. My next post will discuss the specifics of the procedure.

Please don't hesitate to comment any questions.

The Women's World Cup

  The American Success

About 90 years ago, in Prague, Czechoslovakia, the American National Soccer Team won the first unofficial Women's World Cup, prevailing over the Netherlands with a final score of 2-0. This very short three day tournament, consisting of only 17 teams, was only one of many events held as a part of the Women's World Games (WWG). The WWG was founded in 1922, originally only holding track and field events, to compensate for the lack of women's events in the Olympics. Due to rising tensions in Europe, the WWG held its final event in 1934 and another Women’s World Cup would not be seen again until the embarrassingly late date of 1991.      

                                                    1934 Women's World Games Overall Best Athlete, Stanislawa Walasiewicz

A significant step towards an eventual Women’s World Cup was made with the advent in 1972 of America’s Title IX, which I have addressed in depth in another post. Title IX had a strong global impact, and played a large part in the slow growth of more international tournaments. Just two years after the passing of Title IX and an astounding forty years after the death of the WWG, women's international tournaments were being held sporadically across the globe. Still, it was not until 1991 that FIFA announced the first official Women’s World Cup would be held in China. The women on the American national team won the initial Women’s World Cup, kicking off a trend of medals and records.  In 1996 women's soccer was finally, belatedly  welcomed into the Olympics.  The US took home gold.   In fact the American women have placed in every Olympic tournament, through to the present day, with the exception of 2016. In addition to a successful history in the Olympics, the American women have never failed to place in the World Cup. The Women's National Soccer Team is the most successful American international team to date.

                    1991, American Women Win the Olympics 

Most of America's successes can be attributed to a head start in sports equality through Title IX and secondarily to the size of America's population.  Some other nations have handicapped themselves through the sexist discouraging of the athletic development of half their population.  Winning is clearly not an issue for the  Americans. Women's soccer’s real challenge in America, is the same challenge that  women's soccer faces across the world. According to FIFA, 1.12 billion people tuned in to watch the 2019 Women’s World Cup, which although impressive, and significantly more than the viewership of the Superbowl, is still only about one-third of the attention that the Men’s World Cup received in 2018. Women's soccer has been growing in popularity over the years, with viewership of the Women’s World Cup regularly jumping 15-50 percent, yet the players are still treated unequally. Female American soccer players are being paid less and questioned more about their actions than any equivalent player on a men’s team, despite the team's incredible successes. America, claiming to be a country of winners, is doing a sorry job supporting the most proportionally successful team in U.S. history. The best thing that any American can do, is to sit back and watch their team win. Viewership matters. Please, tune in to the 2023 Women's World Cup - you can feel virtuous and you might 

even like it.

                                          Recommended Readings for this Post

Charis-Molling July 9, A., & Charis-Molling, E. (2019, July 9A). The Story of the Women's World Cup. Retrieved December 03, 2020, from https://www.bpl.org/blogs/post/the-story-of-the-womens-world-cup/ 

This article, though a little unfocused, does a good job stating the minimum amount of information that most people should get to know about this topic. The reading is mostly about the Women's World Cup, but does address other similar topics towards the end.

Soccer, U. (2000). Timeline. Retrieved December 03, 2020, from https://www.ussoccer.com/history/timeline 

US Soccer is a big name in the soccer community and this is a reputable source, although it is hard to navigate. I chose this site mainly because of its huge database of stats regarding teams and individual players, which goes back quite a long time. If you are someone who is interested in current American stats, this is a good place to check out.

Litterer, David. “Womens Soccer in the History USA: An Overview.” American Soccer History Archives, 17 Aug. 2011, soccerhistoryusa.org/ASHA/. https://soccerhistoryusa.org/ASHA/womensoverview.html

This citation appears again! If you’ve stuck with my blog for any length of time then you’ll probably have noticed this citation before. As always author, David Litterer, does a great job exploring this topic in depth. You'll have to skip around to find the sub-pieces on the Women’s World Cup, there are multiples.

[The Knightly Hub] The Livonian Brothers of the Sword

 The Livonian Brothers of the Sword

   Commonly referred to in modern times as the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, Livonian Knights, or the Sword Brethren, this order began in 1202 as the Order of the Knights of the Sword. The order was founded by Albert von Buxhoevden, third bishop of Livonia, with approval from Pope Innocent III. Its primary goal was to make Christianity the dominant religion by forcibly converting Livonian pagans. The order was officially blessed in 1204, and (like many others) shaped itself in the image of the Knights Templar. The Knights of the Sword all hailed from nobility, accepting vows of obedience, poverty, and celibacy. The grand master, once elected by an assembly of knights, would serve for life with the ability to dictate most aspects of the order. The order also consisted of clerics and artisans, who observed no fighting role. 

    The Swordbrothers became the dominant military force in its area of focus. Regardless, it still faced strong resistance from certain peoples, including the Semigallians who, together with Samogitians, would later deliver a crushing defeat to the order at the Battle of Saule (1236). Grand master Volquin was killed in the fight, leading to an abrupt loss of the Knights' military authority. Additionally, both the Holy Roman emperor (Frederick II) and Pope Gregory IX criticized the order for abuse of both pagans and recent Christian converts. 

    It seemed that the Swordbrothers' primary intent was to develop its own fiefdom rather than contribute to the Catholic Church. As a result, in 1237, Gregory IX disbanded the order and forced it to integrate into the Teutonic Knights. This gave the grand master of the Teutonic Knights the authority to determine who looked after the Livonian branch, which maintained its hold on the region despite earlier losses. This hierarchy persisted until 1525 when the Teutonic Knights were forced to give up Prussia, granting autonomy to the Livonian Brothers of the Sword as the former began to shrink in on itself. Sadly, the order was forced to disband (again) in 1561 after it lost control of Livonia during the Livonian War (1558-1583) due to neighboring states striking an interest in the area- or rather, in not letting other states control the area.

Further Reading: 

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Livonia.” Encyclopædia Britannica. ©2020 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 13 August 2010. Accessed 9 December 2020. <https://www.britannica.com/place/Livonia-historical-region-Europe>.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Order of the Brothers of the Sword.” Encyclopædia Britannica. ©2020 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 25 October 2011. Accessed 8 December 2020. <https://www.britannica.com/topic/Order-of-the-Brothers-of-the-Sword>. 

Anonymous. “Livonian Order of Knights / Order of the Brothers of the Sword.” The History Files. Copyright © 1999-2020 Kessler Associates. All rights reserved. Publication Unknown. Accessed 8 December 2020. <https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/EasternLivonianKnights.htm#top>.

Smirl, J.D. “A Wayward Crusade: The Short Life of the Livonian Swordbrothers.” J.D. Smirl: Graphic Art, Illustration, Writing, and Bookbinding. © Jordan D. Smirl. Published 27 May 2019. Accessed 8 December 2020. <https://jdsmirl.wordpress.com/writing/livonian_swordbrothers/>. - I’m somewhat surprised I didn’t come across this source sooner. While the majority of Smirl’s work doesn’t directly coincide with what I myself am doing, I’d imagine his blog to be rather fascinating to other lovers of art, history, and art history. I don’t have any experience commissioning him, so I can’t review that aspect of his work, but I recommend clicking through some of his galleries if nothing else. There is a specific one I found intriguing in which he compiles references for medieval armor. Here's a link for those interested.

[Status - Brehon] Body of the Senchus Mor

(Here's a late post on the Senchus Mor. This one took a while because it covers the first volume of the most significant piece of Brehon legal text).

     The first part of the Introduction of the Senchus Mor (different from the prologue) contains a religious and spiritual context, with many pages of plain theology and mythology, which is fairly odd for a legal text. It starts with the creation of the Earth and its geological and meteorological features, followed by its population by Adam and Eve, and claims about the Earth's astrological context. This part is an odd blend of potential old Druid beliefs washed over by Christian Canon. Christianisation often took this approach to slowly make Christianity more approachable and familiar to the people who were being Christianised, mixing Christian Canon with beliefs, mythology, and style of the native people. 

    This tells us a lot about what the Senchus Mor was aiming to be. It was not just a legal text pertaining to ruling civil legal disputes, it was also a piece of literature meant to teach Irish Gaels history (which we see more as mythology in retrospect) and philosophy. However, after the introduction, the tone and content changes quite a lot. There is slightly less blatant Christian Canon, and more references to purely Gaelic mythology. This shows the introduction, alongside the preface, were appendages to the text of the Senchus. However, the whole Senchus Mor is a collection of transcribed oral laws, legal precedents, and other written legal tracts, so the introduction and preface are not the only thing that stand out. 

    The text itself starts (on page 64 here) by introducing 'distress' via a long metaphor using parts of the story of the Cattle Raid of Cooley, a very famous myth. When mentioned in this text, distress means payment of some kind of property from a wrongdoer to a victim or someone associated with the victim as reparation for a wrongdoing. 

    The large typeface text is a more general text, while the small typeface text is elaboration on the larger text. This smaller text may have come from another actual written text, or it could have been written during the creation of the Senchus Mor. In the preface, it is claimed that the Senchus Mor is only a compilation of texts; however we determined in the previous post that it was most likely written up to several centuries after the creation of the Senchus Mor and was filled with inaccuracies. There is an even smaller typeface text that provides even more elaboration or correction to the small typeface text. 

    Nonetheless, the Cattle Raid story given in this section serves as a legal precedent. It goes through what crimes were committed and what punishments and corrective measures were enacted in response. It is impossible to know if this story actually occurred or not, but given the widespread nature of the Senchus Mor, and especially this story/myth even without the Senchus Mor, it was definitely used as a basis for many legal cases and had a profound impact on Ireland for several hundred years. 

    After the story of the Cattle Raid, the text gets into more concrete legal information. The story and reasoning behind the information is always given, hence why the vast majority of the Senchus Mor is precedent. The smaller and smallest text are always the most elaborate and concrete, restricting interpretation a little bit, which is very useful given that this is a widespread legal text with great authority.

    As soon as it gets into this direct legal information, a lot is revealed about Irish society at that time. Page 85 mentions a "court" making decisions about punishment for crimes, "advocates" who "aid" the criminal during the legal process, an eyewitnessing - all of which is mentioned in the large text, which means hopefully most information is not anachronistic. It then goes through lists of "seds," which are punishments, which include imprisonment.

    A lot is then revealed about classes and how they are each treated by the law. As seen in the post about marriage Law, women had fewer rights than men, especially if they were not teir husband's cetmuinter. We also saw that criminals and "outlaws" were treated differently, and the profession and amount of property one possessed had a lot to do with their status and thus treatment in the law. Here, all of this is similarly reflected. The text is always referring to the "Feini" in the context of the laws, which means free people (non-criminals or non-outlaws, non-slaves). What is extremely interesting is how those who cannot "bind" or "make" contracts, those "unqualified for the court" cannot "take distress" (p.85). It is unclear exactly what these terms mean, but this generally means that people with little legal education, and maybe even all illiterate people, cannot receive distress for crimes committed unto them. This shows a clear institutional oppression ingrained in society by legal classes ('judges' and kings). 

    What is also interesting is that the large text says 'kings' are on the same social status as "the orders of religion [and] learning," but that they can "decide against every class of persons." (p.79). This means that 'kings' had a lot of legal power over not only their subjects, but also any lower class than them, similar to many places in medieval Europe at the time and many years into the future. The term 'king' here probably doesn't only refer to High King, but also the other smaller 'kings' equivalent to Earls, Dukes, etc. This also means that 'kings' had somewhat equal power to the aristocracy (includes judges) and the clergy (Christian and potentially Druidic). 

    The following passage is also very revealing of how the law treated the layman: 

"No labourer, no 'fuidhir,' no imbecile vagrant, no shepherd, no cowherd, no cart-boy is distrained in a decision about debts due of himself or others, or for the regulations of a territory, but his foot is fettered or a chain put about his neck, and during his impri- soiiment he is not entitled to any food except the ' bochtan,' or the ' urchaelan,' or the cake of the noble festival with its obsoniurn, until their chiefs compel them to do their duty."

    This is interesting because it almost seems dismissive of lower classes. It seems as if if someone is of a lower class, they are not entitled to lighter punishments, and are instead placed in prison no matter the severity of the crime. This goes against what most people say about Brehon law, about it being light in centralised punishment and mostly void of imprisonment. This may passage may reflect a more modern introduction to the Law, after the influence of other European cultures had brought over these ideas.

    What is interesting about this copy of the Senchus Mor is the somewhat invasive marginalia. The person writing it never reveals their identity, but from the notes it seems they are someone who knows a lot of Gaelic, as they are ceaselessly correcting the translation on every page. These corrections change the meaning of the text quite drastically, which is why reading Gaelic proficiently would really help. Sine I cannot find any other translations, these margin notes help remind me that information gathered from translations is always subject to error. 

References

The text, Volume 1: Ancient Laws and Institutes of Ireland, volume 1 from Archive.org. https://archive.org/details/ancientlaws01hancuoft/page/64/mode/2up?

[This is an incredible, professional blog also on blogger that is full of solid recent scholarship on the topic, mentioning countless other useful sources. If my blog continues for many more years, this is what I would want it to end up like. What I particularly like is the work he is doing to sort out history and fictional fabrications, giving the field more solid objective information for use in further interpretation. This person is also the author of a different blog I used in a previous post.] Tichelaar, Tyler R. (2014, May 9.). Vennicni, Feni and Donegal. Dark Age History blogspot. https://darkagehistory.blogspot.com/2014/05/vennicni-feni-and-donegal.html

What is the Legal Definition of Distress. https://www.upcounsel.com/legal-def-distress

Bind. https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/bind

Distrain. https://www.thefreedictionary.com/distrained

Wikipedia:

'Fergus mac Roich' 

'Ulster Cycle'

[This Place is Not a Place of Honor] History Repeats Itself: Archeological Models for Nuclear Markers

  One of the greatest challenges in designing warning markers for a future so distant as (at least) 10 millennia is that it is impossible to run an accurate simulation to determine how a message will be received through years of cultural, political and societal change. Yet there are already plenty of experimental results which display the survival of meaning in a structure over thousands of years; we only need to look in the past. When considering their marker designs, the Human Interference Task Force, and later the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant team, used lessons learned from monuments throughout history to model their requirements. 

    Serving as the foremost archeology consultant for the HITF was Maureen Kaplan, who later contributed to the design panel of the WIPP project as well. The first distinction she used in her research was that historical markers were composed of 3 communication elements: Language, pictures, and symbols. Outlined in her report were 6 different historical examples of ancient markers surviving at least 1,000 years, including information on their location, history, material composition, intended purpose, state of preservation, and relevance to repository marker construction. 

    The first and likely most famous of the archeological examples are the Pyramids of Giza. One of the most impressive features of the already breathtakingly enormous structures is how long they’ve lasted, 5,000 years, which is half of the nuclear semiotic time frame, and for the most part they’ve remained both physically intact and recognizable in purpose: tombs for the rulers who constructed them. If records of Egyptian culture in historical documents, like the writings of Herodotus, Pliny the Elder, and Abd el Latif weren’t available to designate the intent of the great pyramids, the same intent could be gleaned from the numerous markers and writings inside the tombs themselves, displaying the efficacy of redundant linguistic and pictorial markers used in tandem with physical and symbolic ones. The structure of the pyramids has remained untarnished for a number of reasons, but mainly their immense bulk, which dampens the effects of erosion and discourages the quarrying of its materials or removal under new governments. 

    Utilizing size works for the pyramids, as they’re built to designate a certain spot, however, a nuclear repository would have to cover an area at least 14 times the size of a pyramid, and the devotion of resources to a pyramid of that size is impossible, or at the very least impossibly uneconomic. Additionally, over the centuries the tombs have been entered through under the pyramids and looted, aided by the fact that the written tradition around the pyramids informed people of the treasures inside. Hopefully any writing about nuclear waste repositories will avoid conveying the impression of having valuable contents, though this presents the possible benefit of adding buried markers to the system to discourage digging under the site (we’ll get back to this later in the post). Though nuclear waste markers with a pyramid’s shape and size would be inefficient, the pyramids are a testament to the longevity of a structure’s purpose through surrounding information. 

    The next archeological marker Kaplan examined are the Stonehenge megaliths in England. Out of the 6 archeological examples, these are the most similar in shape to the eventual waste marker proposals, and for good reason; a pattern of numerous standing stones around 13 feet high is physically imposing whilst still requiring less building resources as the pyramids, and even though around a third of the stones have been lost in the roughly 3500 years since the monument was finished, you can still tell each one is part of a greater formation due to their redundancy and proximity to each other. Stone seems to be a favorable material choice for markers, as proven by this example, which has survived both an unfavorably moist climate and an unfavorable political climate, standing strong amidst multiple invasions, the wars of the roses, and the two world wars. The glaring downside to Stonehenge’s success (for our purposes) is that despite its physical longevity, historians are still unclear about its original function due to a lack of inscriptions or records regarding the monument.

    Inverting the pros and cons of Stonehenge would give you the Acropolis of Athens, Greece. Its religious significance, and the specific purposes of several structures within the Acropolis, is apparent throughout the building’s sculptures, art and reliefs, as well as through extensive documentation, through which we know extremely specific information such as the architects and sculptors who contributed to the project, and even how the money was raised to build it. It may prove to be a useful model for archiving nuclear information on the site, a relevance recognized later by the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant team. 

    There’s been a great deal of structural damage to the Acropolis, for the most part due to human interference. In Maureen Kaplan’s words, “The Acropolis is an excellent example of ancient monuments that have suffered far more from the hands of man than from the ravages of nature.” Over the years the structures have been corroded by acid rain and pollution, the caryatids on the Porch of the Maidens have had to be replaced by casts, and the old iron bolts holding up the building were replaced by steel ones, which then expanded causing fractures in the surrounding marble. Some of this damage is attributed to its political proximity, such as the Venetian bombardment in the 17th century which triggered gunpowder explosions from inside the Acropolis and caused a great deal of structural damage, though if not for constant upkeep and restoration it is doubtful the Acropolis would still be standing.

    There are other historical structures which have survived due to consistent maintenance, though, perhaps implying that a nuclear waste warning structure could see a similar treatment from future civilizations. For instance, the Great Wall of China, another monument lasting over 2,000 years. Throughout its history it’s been breached in battle numerous times, then repaired with new materials, giving it a patchwork construction that remains structurally sound. The defensive purpose it serves, as well as oral and literary tradition remarking on its impressive creation and duty have incentivized its restoration. This may be a good indicator that nuclear waste repository markers will be maintained, as both structures are designed to protect the people surrounding them. 

    Damages to these monuments seem to occur most often when they are built close to civilization, as apparent by the continued survival of the Nazca Lines in Southern Peru, built around 100 BCE. The Nazca Lines are a series of immense pictures of animals and geometric shapes on the ground, drawn by removing the dark-colored rocky “pavement” that was formed naturally over thousands of years by erosion and rock decomposition in the desert. Due to its remote location, the lines had remained unbothered for some time, though in the recent few decades they’ve seen a good deal of degradation from tourist activity, and the patterns have been found to be quite fragile. Nuclear waste markers are to be much more durable, though the Nazca Lines prove that a sufficiently unpopulated location greatly increases the survivability of a marker, and that nature itself is not as likely to damage a marker as human interference. 

    The last structure Kaplan examined was mostly an example of what not to do: The Serpent Mound in Peebles, Ohio. The structure is a large line of gathered earth with a stone and clay core which forms the shape of an uncoiling serpent, assumed to be built by either the Adena or Fort Ancient Native Americans. This is about all that is known for certain about The Serpent Mound. There are many theories about when the structure was built, ranging from 3rd century BCE to 11th century CE, and without any existing oral tradition or written records about the site, historians are puzzled as to what the snake symbol means, or what the structure could have been used for. This loss of record is not the fault of the mound’s creators, but the structure is completely unique in the US, and without any point of reference from any signs or additional symbols on the site it’s impossible to firmly interpret. The serpent mound might be another convincing piece of argument against the use of the trefoil symbol in a marker, as though it may mean something to modern civilizations, a unique symbol alone is difficult to glean significance from without cultural context in the future. Additionally, the mound is very low to the ground, making it difficult to see the shape from eye level, a problem it shares with the Nazca lines. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the significance of the designs in both have been lost over time, implying there may be a correlation between symbolic memory and visibility. 

    In addition to the six examples here, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant team expanded on a few other archeological examples as models for more specific functions of the repository, such as the Vatican’s archives as a model for onsite long-term records storage. There are more than enough extra examples to include here, many of which are redundant with Kaplan’s research in the 80’s, though one of the more interesting references is to using a general feature of archeological digs to mark the site, that is, burying shards of ceramic pottery printed with pictographs and information which will convey that there was civilization on the site. Distributing these shards randomly may ensure that even if some pieces are removed for future archeological digs, there will be some left over for intruders to encounter as they dig or build on the site. These would certainly be in addition to larger physical markers, as sort of a backup plan, the kind of repetitive message delivery that is everywhere within the field of nuclear semiotics. It’s debatable whether buried pottery might inspire civilizations to excavate the repository for museums or archaeological purposes, spurring unnecessary activity on the site, though the reference to buried pottery has influenced many other ideas on underground nuclear markers, such as burying small bits of radioactive material on the outskirts of the repository almost as a “sample” of the contents deeper within.

    All in all, there are a few clear trends within these structures. The most survivable designs are made of stone, such as basalt or granite rather than marble or limestone, and have redundant patterns that can function even if part of the whole is removed. Kaplan’s 6 examples are all constructed from natural materials, which contributes to their lifespan, as metals have a tendency to be looted, recycled, or corroded (as is the case with the Acropolis). Additionally, it seems the longevity of the meaning behind these structures is dependent on written and pictorial markers, both on and off the site itself, and that structures serving a specific purpose to the civilization or community are more likely to be renewed, though also more likely to be damaged. Building the markers so that the entire system can be seen at once at eye level, rather than relying on an aerial perspective for the message’s reception, may play a part in reinforcing its cultural and symbolic memory. 

    Using archeology as a reference for deep-time structural design is an intriguing inversion of the study to me. Rather than examining a physical structure to design the narrative of the past, Nuclear Semiotics is examining the past (and potential futures) to design the narrative of a physical structure. 



References:

Trauth, Kathleen, et al. United States, Department of Energy, Sandia National Laboratories. Expert Judgment on Markers to Deter Inadvertent Human Intrusion into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Albuquerque, New Mexico, Government Printing Office, 1993. https://prod-ng.sandia.gov/techlib-noauth/access-control.cgi/1992/921382.pdf

United States, Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation. Reducing the Likelihood of Future Human Activities That Could Affect Geologic High-level Waste Repositories. Columbus, Ohio, Government Printing Office, 1984. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/6799619

Trauth, Kathleen, et al. United States, Department of Energy, Sandia National Laboratories. Effectiveness of Passive Institutional Controls in Reducing Inadvertent Human Intrusion into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant for Use in Performance Assessments. Columbus, Ohio, Government Printing Office,1996. https://www.wipp.energy.gov/library/cra/baselinetool/documents/Appendices/EPIC%20Revison%201.PDF 

[This paper was published as part of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant project. It discusses the requirements of passive institutional controls, and lists a number of historical examples of long-term information preservation, assessing what we can learn from the past in order to create effective future markers.]

Joyce, Rosemary A. The Future of Nuclear Waste: What Art and Archaeology Can Tell Us About Securing the World’s Most Hazardous Material. New York, NY, Oxford University Press, 2020. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=R8XLDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=art+in+nuclear+waste+warning+messages&ots=Xj5VaDwT9W&sig=yZVml2hgfFBG-rBRLCNV1nLggqE#v=onepage&q=art%20in%20nuclear%20waste%20warning%20messages&f=false 
Anderson, Kelli. Designing for Deep Time: How Art History is Used to Mark Nuclear Waste. Pratt Institute, Master’s Thesis, 2005. http://www.kellianderson.com/MSthesis.pdf 

Kaplan, Maureen F and Adams, Mel. “Using the Past to Protect the Future.” Archeology, vol. 39, no. 5, Sept 1986, pp. 51-54. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41731805 

Kaplan, Maureen. United States, Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation. Archeological Data as a Basis For Repository Marker Design. Columbus, Ohio, Government Printing Office, 1982. https://books.google.com/books?id=RxMCF4ncI-8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false  

Engler, Miriam. “Post-nuclear Monuments, Museums, and Gardens.” Landscape Review, vol. 9, no. 2, 2005, pp. 45-58. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/38935797.pdf