text:
Sounds like a grab to boost G+'s userbase beyond Wil Wheaton and Google engineers.
Not gonna touch Google+ until they get rid of their "real names" policy and I'm not inclined since I've invested so much of my online social life with Facebook.
Sounds like a grab to boost G+'s userbase beyond Wil Wheaton and Google engineers.
Not gonna touch Google+ until they get rid of their "real names" policy and I'm not inclined since I've invested so much of my online social life with Facebook.
Do you use your real name on Facebook? Seriously a lot of people complain about the "real name" policy even though they use it openly on Facebook. This may or may not be hypocritical, I suppose if you keep your porn collection on Picasa....
Seriously, I don't have any accounts on these networks, and I don't intend to, there is just too much trade of IMHO, for my privacy.....to join up on one of these. I mean, even with a fake name.....they've shown they can figure out who you are with who you associate...etc.
Seriously, I've not missed an even with any of my friends...I've not missed a picture I'd want to see.....
I stil do this weird thing, and see my close friends regularly in meatspace....I call them, I email directly with them, sometimes *gasp* with multiple of us on the same email thread?!?!
This way...the conversation, pics and what-have-you...are just between us and not out for the rest of the world to gawk at, and have corporations (and governments) use all that info to advertise or worse at me.
Seriously....it isn't painful.....I don't miss a thing.
There are two possibilities:
(1) all your friends are Luddites, too.
(2) you are the person everyone complains about and has to spend extra time tracking down because you're the only one not using the new technology.
If you want to skip the whole FB/G+ thing, it's not a huge deal. But please, don't complain if you start getting left out of shit. I know some people like you and, quite honestly, I tend to simply not invite them to do meatspace stuff half the time. It's too much effort. Part of my being able to r
How does wanting to have real and personal contact with people make them luddites? I didn't think forming and maintaining relationships was something that could become outdated.
People like you are sad and self-centred. The fact that you think you're so important that people are going to be left out validates that. If a friend can't take a couple minutes out of their oh so busy day to contact me personally, then they are no friend at all and I would rather be "left out" of their dealings.
This is the only redeeming value I place in social networks, their existence sometimes helps me to weed out the fake from the real. I haven't gotten to the point of outright rejecting people as friends because they want to use social networks but if someone ever pulled the crap you do, I remove them from my life.
Relationships aren't something that automatically last. They require nurturing and care. If you're too busy to take care of them, they wither and die.
This is the only redeeming value I place in social networks, their existence sometimes helps me to weed out the fake from the real.
I totally hear this - to an extent towards friends (most of my arrangements are made through email, phone and text), but even more so towards corporations. If they want me to sign up for something on Facebook, they don't want me to sign up. If they're too lazy to make their own webpage, they don't want me to see their webpage. If they're making offers through a third party, they're not making an offer.
The worst was when there was an organization trying to arrange emergency contact information through survey
I find social networking to be most useful not so much with friends (though it's great there, allowing me to stay in touch with many more people than I could without it), but with family. Perhaps you don't come from a large family, but I do, and my wife does, and our combined extended families exceed 200 people. We're only close to maybe 50 of them, but sufficiently close to all of them that keeping updated about important life events -- jobs, kids, illnesses, etc. -- is of great value to all of us. And with social networks we can have much more frequent interactions than that. I have cousins I wouldn't normally speak to for more than a few minutes per year at family reunions, but with Google+ I "talk" to them multiple times per week.
I also find it to be a great way to keep in touch with old acquaintances. Over the course of my 40+ years of life, I've accumulated a lot of friends who've since moved of my life, but I like them and am interested in what they're doing and thinking.
By lowering the effort required to connect and communicate, social networking applications make it feasible to be connected to more people -- and lots of people like that! You may prefer to have only a very small circle of very close friends and avoid others, but if so you're the exception, not the rule. I have a small number of friends that I talk to daily, one way or another. But I keep in touch with a much larger group of people, and social networks make it possible for me to keep in touch with even more.
1. all your friends are clueless about the privacy concerns or just don't give a damn for consequences in general.
2. you are the person everyone complains about because he's always too busy playing 'social' rather than BEING social, like actually doing things with his friends.
If you want to bandwagon hop on to every new e-thingie churned out by corpgovX, it's not a huge deal. But please, don't complain if you are judged out of context on information you put up there 10 years ago under completely different life circumstances and cultural status quo. These include judgment by current/potential employers, law enforcement agents, banks, and insurance companies. Just because it's innocuous today does not mean it will always be. I know some people like you, and quite honestly, they're very cavalier about others' personal information, posting pics without permission (fb and google are doing automated face recog or will be soon) and talking about personal issues online for all to see. People like you trade their friends' privacy for personal convenience, and then justify it with little more than a flippant attitude and self-serving arrogance. It's not worth having such people as friends. Using strawman arguments to further your case when pressed does little to bolster the lack of respect you've already engendered.
I'm sure there are lots of situations where personal information ends up public knowledge as a result of normal human interaction, but this is not the same as such data being stored and transmutated in corporate/government databases, accumulating over time, until used by someone who wants control over your behavior in some way, often by misrepresenting facts, much as you've done here.
This G+ thing is a way of forcing those who have conciously opted out to join out of attrition, because now the data will be collected whether they put it there or not. The process will take longer and likely will not be as specific/useful as the accounts owned by morons who post their entire lives online, but the info could still end up damaging. This is true even if it is incorrect because it place the 'ghost' person in a reactionary position of having to fight with the provider to correct it and save face.
(2) you are the person everyone complains about and has to spend extra time tracking down because you're the only one not using the new technology.
I don't mind advertising, I just don't want to be "on call" 24/7 to everyone I've met in the last 50yrs. I don't own/use a mobile phone, FB, etc. This situation pisses other people off a lot more than it inconveniences me.
I don't own/use a mobile phone
So how do you call for help in case of car trouble, bike trouble, or bus trouble? There used to be pay phones until prepaid cell phones became popular.
Do you use your real name on Facebook?
Yes I do! So do all my friends...except for one or two. So?
One thing that non-clueless people who've actually been paying attention have noticed is that there's a lot of people on FB who DO NOT choose to use their real name. Not all, or even most of them are paranoid Ted Kaczynski types hiding out in log cabins. I've noticed a lot of young black men especially tend to change their FB name to something creative or different.
It's just another form of self expression. Why the fuck would you prevent your users
Sounds like a grab to boost G+'s userbase beyond Wil Wheaton and Google engineers.
no, it's far worse than that: Google is creating a "ghost" profile by mining your youtube, gmail, searches, android phone, etc, and they're going to tell you whenever your friends and family do something by emailing you, etc, to compel you to login to the ghost profile they created for you.
So much for "don't be evil". This sounds about as evil as it gets, stealing your data and subscribing you up for a service you never wanted.
Sounds like a grab to boost G+'s userbase beyond Wil Wheaton and Google engineers.
Not gonna touch Google+ until they get rid of their "real names" policy and I'm not inclined since I've invested so much of my online social life with Facebook.
The real names policy has been relaxed, but that doesn't mean they don't already know precisely who you are.
What's more worrying is that this Patent they are applying for, if used by them, violates their own Privacy Policy, and their own openness pledge. After being dragged through a knot hole by the FTC and Congress, It seems unlikely they will actually put this into service any time soon.
I doubt this is being used yet. There is nothing on my Google Dashboard [google.com], even tho I've ignored multiple invites to G+
Simple as that.
I'm not joining. You won't monetize or profile me. If that means I quit sharing certain things with social junkies, then so be it.
I'm not your datapoint and I never will be.
I'm not your datapoint and I never will be.
Says who? You? Since when were you the law?
You are valuable data whether you want to be or not.
This includes mail records of you acceptability for certain mail by coalitions (such as vouchers, sports mailing list previews, spam and various other things), insurance, medical, hell, even in some cases "threat level" if you ever hit any flags.
Somebody can sit there on the side of a road, recording you and thousands of others going past in cars, recording said information without your permission.
Want to know why? Because you are on public property.
Despite what you (and many others sadly) think, the internet is public property if it contains 3rd party access. Unless that site is fully-contained within its own domain, you are free to be recorded, marked and scrutinized by whatever, whenever.
As long as that information isn't published to others directly, they are free to manipulate it for whatever nefarious purposes.
Google, nor do most of the hundreds of other advertising agencies, directly identify people in ad networking systems.
So, please, don't worry your head over it. Government-mandated records contain far more information on you than Google could ever hope to get from you.
From your dental health to your shoe-buying habits.
Everyone always calls Britain the Big Brother country, the Police-State. Most governments record these things. Some far more, some far less.
The UK barely even has any CCTV, actually. And most of them in those stupid reports were PRIVATE cameras. The silly thing was making it out like there was a camera in every street corner or something... hilarious if you ask me.
If you are really that paranoid over Google, god forbid you could get access to all your records. Stacks upon stacks of folders on everyone, still recorded on paper in the unlikely event that our entire electrical infrastructures fail and we lose everything. (not sure why "Steve McRobertson bought a candied Apple, milk and bacon in 1978" would be useful for any long-term reasons")
You might as well just fake your death and go live in some random forest, the forests don't care about stalking you. Unless it is those damned forests in horror stories who want to gobble up little children. WHY
You are valuable data whether you want to be or not.
I am intentionally an inaccurate datapoint.
I know I can't control that a lot of information is being collected without my knowledge or consent.
So whenever I do get a choice, I'll provide information that is either inaccurate, ambiguous, or flat out contradictory to what is already known about me.
The more polluted their databases are, the less valuable it is to them, and thus the less influence they have over my life.
At least that's my hypothesis.
I am intentionally an inaccurate datapoint.
I know I can't control that a lot of information is being collected without my knowledge or consent.
So whenever I do get a choice, I'll provide information that is either inaccurate, ambiguous, or flat out contradictory to what is already known about me.
The more polluted their databases are, the less valuable it is to them, and thus the less influence they have over my life.
At least that's my hypothesis.
Sorry to tell you this - but it's not working, Mr. James Harrison of Baltimore, Maryland.
1. what is isn't necessarily what should be, which is the implied debate here.
2. there are limits to what you can do to someone on public (or your own) property. you cannot rape them for instance, or murder them, or steal from them. the issue is over whether personal info is personal property.
3. the data points by themselves may be innocuous, but together, or possibly with enough timeshift and cultural evolution, they could very well become so.
And then you get angry at them when they provide you with a way to AVOID giving them information?
And then you get angry at them when they provide you with a way to AVOID giving them information?
Avoid my ass.
This isn't about avoiding giving google more information, it's about another way for google to get more information about you.
Consider the two scenarios here:
1) Refuses to use google+ - google gets the email address the "invitation" went to and nothing else.
2) Uses one of these phatom accounts - google gets your IP address, your browser fingerprint probably drops a cookie on your browser and they get your link to the friend who "invited" you, and can link that with any other friend whose "invit
I had a FaceBook account, but started seeing the writing on the wall - the stalking that you see, the targeted ads, the government getting involved, etc - bailed out with 5 minutes notice to my friends. Pretty much said, if you have my email address, you're important, if not, you've got 5 minutes for me to think about giving it to you. *poof* - done.
That was 2 years ago and I haven't looked back. I don't belong to any of those sites now and I won't do so later either. I actually go so far as to block FaceBo
Remind me again why I want to participate in social networking?
This is the biggest / most ridiculous case of "because it's there" in the history of our species.
Its part of the urge to centralise.
When we are presented with more distributed services such as email, setting up your own wordpress installation, or IRC server, everyone gives there entire online existence to google, twitter & facebook.
This is better because we are putting more, bigger eggs in the worlds largest basket, which doesn't have keep eggs safe on its agenda
Single must fucking insightful comment in this article.
a basket that doesn't protect eggs is useful how?
Remind me again why I want to participate in social networking?
This is the biggest / most ridiculous case of "because it's there" in the history of our species.
Because you suck at talking with people in real life, which is why you're instead posting to strangers on the internet.
Remind me again why I want to participate in social networking?
It's much easier to just go to facebook when I need to contact someone rather than keep their information up-to-date in at least one address book.
It's much easier to post a baby announcement on facebook than to send out individual emails.
Casual multiplayer games are much more fun when your friends are the opponents (e.g. Words with Friends).
Click email icon, click desired recipient, type email, click send. Rough stuff.
Assuming your friends still look at their personal email accounts. I know some people who only check theirs once every couple of weeks, if they remember. Facebook seems to have taken over.
Group email. You know, take the time you did with FB and include those you want in the group. No difference.
Big difference: you don't have to know the details for everyone in the group. It's enough that at least one member of the group knows the details, but it doesn't have to be you. And different people can know the names of different people, and invite them to the group.
Due to this I'm now effortlessly chatting with my gaming clan from 2004, which split up many years ago, and I only recalled the name of one of them.
Can it be done via email and such? Yes. But I must say Facebook makes it a lot easier and more c
I've been (and deep-down still am) one of these anti-social-network types. Sadly, I felt that I had no other choice but to create a Facebook profile after friends and family started using it to discuss plans and all sorts of stuff, and I kept being the last person to find out about, well... everything. I still get a sickening feeling from how basically such a large part of my social life now takes place on a for-profit company's website whose apparent clients are advertisers and I am the product it is offering, but it was litterally becoming a choice between being a social outcast or joining Facebook.. sigh.
And if it was 100 years ago, you'd be forced to get a phone if you didn't want to become a social outcast, too. The reason for the uptake of all this tech is really simple: it makes communication more convenient. No, really, it does, and people who keep suggesting "group email" etc just don't get it - it's like saying that you shouldn't be using a text processor because doing so only indicates that you're too lazy to learn how to type with a typewriter.
The problem with this round is that the tech comes with considerable strings attached. In theory, phone calls are also data-minable, it's just that we didn't have the capability to do so efficiently back then. Today, we have that, and we don't even need it that advanced any more because the (mostly text + some images) social networking communications are trivial to extract useful information from. So it gets done. Many geeks are rightly worried about that - but they make for an insignificant minority, and most people really don't care if their personal information ends up in a database somewhere; all they care is for that information to not come out and embarrass them (and they will be very mad if and when it does - but not until then).
Remind me again why I want to participate in social networking?
Because it's much better to make one company the complete arbiter of all of your interpersonal communication than to give lots of competing companies a small and replaceable slice of it. No, I don't understand it either.
Yes, force people who do NOT want to be social to be social, that is a great way to get product support.
Stupid fucking gits.
If that shit worked, I'd be religious.
Yes, force people who do NOT want to be social to be social
Please can we not conflate not wanting to be part of a massive centralised communications system controlled and monitored by a single unaccountable entity with not wanting to be social?
If that shit worked, I'd be religious.
Heh. You are.
Well, you're Mormon [wikipedia.org] anyway, eventually.
Cheer up, you're in good company. Hitler's Mormon, too, and he plays a mean game of Canasta in Heaven
As soon as the marketers get bored of abusing G+ for SEO purposes, it's going to die a quick death.
Other than the RSS feed posts, it's dead air anyway.
As soon as the marketers get bored of abusing G+ for SEO purposes, it's going to die a quick death.
Can you give us a prediction when MySpace is going to die a quick death?
I've been on G+ since it was incepted when the damn Meme about a real name started. Guess what. Google has never required a Real Name for it as long as you have a valid Log-In for their services. Those who only used GDocs/Gmail were fine. Even iGoogle (start page), Picasa or Google Groups worked if you had a log-in. The only service that has ever required a Real Name was Orkut due Brazil and the South American Problems. For EU/US/Asia, Orkut has been a non-starter as it's never been pushed for us to use it due to Picasa.
No they did not. What they did was revoke the requirement to share your real name with everybody else on google+. They still require it internally, they just let you use one or more fake names for interacting with other people. That's only a marginal improvement because the database is still just as much a risk to your security.
I'd be amazed if Google didn't know your real name by now anyway. I'm surprised it doesn't suggest it when you sign up for G+.
Sure the terms of service specifically state that you must use your real name in your G+ profile and there is documented evidence of Google shutting down G+ accounts due to fake names, and Google has stated in public that they will start allowing pseudonyms but only if they are already well-established. But I managed to use a fake name without getting caught so it must all be a bunch of blogosphere hype.
Is somewhat a need, a lot of people could be already creating alternate profiles to not "pollute" their main ones.
The main problem i have with it is... well, a lot are already doing it (manually, without any ties to their main profile), so doesnt it count as prior art? Even slashdot's anonymous coward (and posting at it even if logged) could count as that. Well, that, and that you even having one of such ghost profiles, you are more easily traceable that having an alternate fake account.
As a result, users that do not want to join the social network are forced to either join with reservations or miss out on the social component, such as viewing pictures.
Why should anyone have to join a social network to view a friend's pictures? The only way this "problem" can exist is when the owners of the social network try to force artificial restrictions on the network.
If I post anything on Facebook - text, pictures, whatever - I can flag it as public, or I can limit access to some arbitrary group. If I want to share photos with someone who's not on Facebook, I will just mark them "public" (in practice, I tend to post my photos elsewhere; but that's beside the point). I can't imagine Google+ doesn't allow this as well - so either their network is artificially restricted in an attempt to force people into some affiliation, or else they are being disingenuous in this patent defense.
Google plus does in fact allow photos/albums (maybe posts? I haven't checked) marked "public" to be viewed by anyone with the url.
Here are the first 99 photos from my trip to Death Valley last month, for example: https://plus.google.com/photos/114127672767084904209/albums/5718366559408412705 [google.com]
Yup, as expected your link works even though I'm not signed into my Google account (and I'm not a participant in Google+, regardless).
So they are indeed being intentionally disingenuous in their patent description - probably assuming the patent examiner won't know any better.
Duh, because people don't want to share with the public?
This is a way to limit access to those photos while at the same time giving access to people with a G+ account: they send you a private URL with which you can authenticate yourself without registering.
the pictures are public once you upload them.. google or whoever can choose to do this anytime...
No, they're not public. Having the possibility that they'll become public in the future is not the same.
It's impossible to live life without trusting people, companies and things. Whether one should trust Google in this case is a different matter - I'm not sure I would. Not that I have to make that decision, since other things (like the real name policy) prevent me from joining anyway.
no it's not, it's also not the point I was making. Most service agreements mandate that anything you upload becomes the property of the service provider. After that, the sky's the limit. There's a difference between trusting a few associates as you occupy a public space, and trusting a distributed database heuristic-analysis operation run by people who don't care about you, only their bottom line and/or political ambitions.
Most service agreements mandate that anything you upload becomes the property of the service provider.
Not exactly; the copyright is still yours, they just require a extremely loose (and non-revocable) license.
There's a difference between trusting a few associates as you occupy a public space, and trusting a distributed database heuristic-analysis operation run by people who don't care about you, only their bottom line and/or political ambitions.
My bank is also run by people who don't care about me, yet I still trust them with my money, which if I were to lose would affect me much more than having my pictures used publicly.
It's a question of deciding how likely is that. And frankly, I don't think it's very likely. They'd have more to lose than to win.
your bank doesn't make it's principal income from selling your personal info to the highest bidder, though they do some of this indirectly through the big three credit monitors..(afaik), and even they are backed by FDIC and regulation (assuming the feds are trustworthy, another whole debate). 'social' media is nothing like this.. their bread and butter is finding out as much as possible and selling that to others...and if any 'lawful' (lobbied-for access) subpoena comes along, they'll happily oblige... it'
Google doesn't sell personal data, that wouldn't make any sense: some business would just buy it and resell it for less. Google sells advertising, where they can sell and resell and resell. It's in their interest to not give too much information away.
Subpoenas are certainly possible, although unlikely for any particular user.
as far as this article is concerned, creating ghost profiles is a war of attrition on those who consciously opt out. it's not just that the info is out there somewhere, it's that it's concentrated in one place, in an easily accessible location for all to see, without their consent. The only way to fight it is to claim the profile (thus validating it 'they got you') and lock it down as much as they let you
I think you've misunderstood the point of these ghost profiles. The objective is to let you participate without giving your personal data. It's not easily accessible for all to see. Fro
If I want to share photos with someone who's not on Facebook, I will just mark them "public"
What if you don't want to make them public? E-mail is probably a good choice, but it's a little less convenient to share the same stuff via two mechanisms.
Are they patenting this to stop it?
I read 'ghost profile' as a dummy login which cannot be traced to me on other services or in meatspace. As far as I can tell, that's been going on in numerous services for many years (so good luck with the prior art part of this). In some cases, setting up such dummy accounts requires establishing your alternate self (via the likes of throw away e-mail accounts) in a few other places. Given Google's preference for the use of real names, patenting this activity could be t
The difference is that these profiles are not created by the user, but when someone else shares stuff with them.
/me checks the date
Sunday April 01, @02:58AM
Yeah, it's already begun.
Sorry, dude, but the linked patent was filed on September 27, 2011.
A problem arises when users of social networks are friends with people that are opposed to social networks. The second group misses out on an important social component. [emphasis mine]
Asserting that there is "a problem" or that non-members are "missing out" assumes your reference frame is the preferred -- and that's the real problem. In addition, while I'll agree that Facebook/Google+ may offer some sort of "social component", their importance is questionable. More to the point, I'd argue that they distract from real, live, more personal social interactions. Lastly, I find patent quote to be a little condescending to us "non-believers".
Ghost users will solve the problem of unregistered users not being able to participate
This codifies the fact that Google (and Facebook, et al.) create a "profile" for every visit to their websites/services, and they don't know the names to go with those profiles.
users of social networks are friends with people that are opposed to social networks. The second group misses out on an important social component.
Time to delete my G+ profile. Seriously, how fucked up is this kind of thinking?
People who are ignorant of social networks may be "missing out" on something.
People who are opposed to social networks are not "missing out", they have opted out. They know what they are missing and have decided that they are better off without.
This is such a fucked-up mindset they are displaying, I don't even know any appropriate english words. It's just hostile to treat people who have intentionally decided against your produc
The Mormons declare prior art. They've been baptizing ghosts [usatoday.com] into their "social network" for years.
As is par for slashdot, the summary contradicts the article -- "the invention is designed to convert anti-social-networking types to the joys of Google+" says the summary, whereas the patent abstract says "The ghost profile allows a user to use certain features in a social network without converting to a social network profile. "
In other words, the patent is for just the opposite of what the summary says it is for.
(Disclaimer: I work for Google. It's a big company; I had nothing to do with this patent.)
This was actually a feature of Facebook for a while, at least when I joined up. The number one driver for me to create an account on facebook was that I already had a sort of ghost account created by the people I knew. Even though I didn't have an account, people could still tag me in photos (prompting an email), view collections of photos that I'd been tagged in, and a few other basic functions. I joined solely so that I could change my privacy settings.
Thus no patent.
It allowed my sister to create a ghost profile for me. I saw it on my wife's facebook session.
If you suspect a man, don't employ him.


text:
Tag archives for moon
Swedish researchers have enlisted the help of artist Mikael Genberg to design a robot that will one day erect a tiny house on the moon. After landing on the lunar surface in 2012, the autonomous robot will scout for a suitable location and build a small red cottage, in keeping with the Scandinavian style. The…

subset: commoncrawl


text:
WASHINGTON — It was a majestic blast, exploding off the bat as if shot from a cannon, and as the ball arced its way toward the outer reaches of Nationals Park, it looked as if it might put a dent in the Capitol dome beyond the left-field wall.
Albert Pujols doesn't hit many cheap home runs, and there was no doubt the shot the Angels slugger launched in the fifth inning of Tuesday night's 7-2 win over the Washington Nationals would make history.
Some 18,000 men have played major league baseball since 1876, and only 26 of them have hit 500 home runs.
INTERACTIVE: Compare salaries on Angels, Nationals
Pujols hammered his way into that exclusive club Tuesday when he crushed career home run No. 500, a two-run shot against Nationals right-hander Taylor Jordan that traveled an estimated 430 feet and over the Angels' bullpen.
"It was a really good swing, a fastball, middle up, probably the best swing I have taken this year," said Pujols, who hit his 499th homer in the first inning, a three-run, 387-foot shot to left. "It came at a good time."
Pujols rounded the bases after his milestone homer with a huge grin, pointed to the sky as he rounded third and clapped his hands twice as he approached the plate. The Angels poured out of the dugout to greet him with hugs and high-fives, and he received a brief standing ovation from a crowd of 21,915.
Pujols, 34, is the first player to collect his 499th and 500th homers in the same game. He is the third-youngest player to reach 500 homers, behind Alex Rodriguez and Jimmie Foxx, and the 10th to do so in the last 15 years.
"It's a pretty special moment — you don't see 500 homers every night, and to be one of only 26 players to do this, it's really special," said Pujols, who also hit his 400th homer in Nationals Park. "It's been a great career. The last couple of years have been really tough, but I feel I'm getting my swing right where I want to be."
BOX SCORE: Angels 7, Nationals 2
Mike Trout, who singled to lead off the fifth, practically floated around the bases on Pujols' homer.
"As soon as he hit it, I knew it was gone," Trout, said. "It's just an unbelievable feeling. I'm getting chills thinking about it now. I was speechless. History was made in front of my eyes. Watching him on TV hit so many homers, and being part of 500 … hopefully, I'm part of 600 too. It's pretty cool."
Babe Ruth would be proud of the newest member of the 500 club — Pujols actually called his shots. After going hitless in five at-bats Monday, Pujols felt so good in the batting cage Tuesday that he "shared with a couple of guys that I had a feeling it was going to be a special day," he said.
Erick Aybar said Pujols was a little more specific.
"He said he was going to hit two home runs and drive in five runs and that today was his day," Aybar said. And did Aybar believe him? "Heck, yeah," he said. "Everyone believes Albert."
If only Pujols' wife and five kids could have shared the moment with him. Deidre Pujols was scheduled to join Albert in New York this weekend, but Pujols told her if he hit homer No. 499 against the Nationals, she should board a flight for Washington. But she couldn't have gotten here in four innings.
"You guys are going to laugh at me, but when I scored, I went in and called her and she was doing her nails," Pujols said. "Everyone was telling her, 'Congratulations,' and she was like, 'Did you just hit 500?' And I was like, 'Sorry.' "
With 22 more homers, a number within reach this season, Pujols, in the third year of a 10-year, $240-million deal, will pass eight players — Eddie Murray (504), Gary Sheffield (509), Mel Ott (511), Eddie Mathews and Ernie Banks (512) and Ted Williams, Frank Thomas and Willie McCovey (521) — on baseball's all-time list.
"He's got a lot of baseball left," Manager Mike Scioscia said. "I don't know if there are many players who work as hard as Albert does in the off-season to get where they need to be. I look for him, when it's all said and done, to be one of those handful of players you're in awe of."
Pujols' first 455 homers came in 11 seasons in St. Louis, a team he won three National League most-valuable-player awards for and led to two World Series titles.
He hit .285 with 30 homers and 105 runs batted in for the Angels in 2012, but he was slowed in 2013 by a painful left-heel injury, hitting .258 with 17 homers and 64 RBIs before suffering a season-ending tear of the plantar fascia in late July.
Pujols has regained his health and power stroke in 2014 — he leads the major leagues with eight homers through 20 games and has a team-high 19 RBIs.
"Being a kid in high school and watching him play, it's amazing to think years down the road I'd be able to witness such a special time in history, wearing the same jersey," said Angels third baseman David Freese, a St. Louis native and former Cardinals teammate of Pujols. "I was here for 400 and here for 500. Hopefully, I'll be around for 600."
Pujols, though, is not chasing numbers. "My goal is to help my organization win a championship," he said. That was clear after the game, when the Angels gathered to celebrate Pujols' achievement.
"I had a little speech and told them this was a great moment to share with them," Pujols said. "But it will be an even better moment to raise a championship trophy with them, because that's what we play for."
Twitter: @MikeDiGiovanna


text: WASHINGTON - John Diamond of Arlington, Va., spent part of the day handing out fliers inviting people to a "disinauguration ball" as people exited the inauguration ceremony."Not my president," said the fliers, which featured the classic Obama "O'' logo as part of the word "not." They were inviting people to an event in Virginia later today.Diamond, who didn't vote in this past election, says he wants to encourage peace and opposes the drone attacks the president has authorized."We're just out here celebrating freedom," Diamond said, "and trying to get people to think about the fact that we don't need violence to control people or dictate the behaviors of other people and we should start looking for alternatives."


text:
When Davis Love III added Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker to the U.S. Ryder Cup team a month ago, he did so with the thought that both were reliable in pressure situations.
It turns out he was wrong.
Furyk bogeyed the final two holes on Sunday afternoon and Stricker mis-hit an easy chip at 17 as both players lost pivotal matches in the final hour of the competition to help Europe pull off a stunning reversal en route to a 14.5 – 13.5 victory at Medinah CC.
As efficient as the United States players were around and on the greens on Friday and Saturday, they were that dodgy on Sunday, with poor chipping and putting contributing more than anything to their miserable afternoon in the singles matches.
Only four U.S. players earned points on Sunday. Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner won their matches outright and Tiger Woods halved his match with Francesco Molinari after the outcome had been decided just moments earlier.
Everyone else lost.
And the Europeans were simply spectacular on Sunday, led by Ian Poulter, who clearly earned "Man of the Cup" honors with his 4-0-0 record and unreal putting display on Saturday and Sunday.
Surprisingly enough, three of the European players who had stunk it up throughout the first two days turned heroic on Sunday. Paul Lawrie pounded Brandt Snedeker, Lee Westwood whacked Matt Kuchar and Martin Kaymer outlasted Stricker by making a 6-footer at 18 to clinch the Cup.
The proceedings officially changed with the Justin Rose/Phil Mickelson match. Leading 1-up at 17, Mickelson nearly holed a tricky chip shot from above the green before settling for a tap-in par. Rose than slammed in an improbable 40-foot putt that would have gone by the hole at least six feet had it not gone in. Then at 18, Rose rolled in a 12-footer for birdie to steal a full point from Mickelson and the USA. If you weren't concerned before that point, you started to think "the U.S. might be in trouble" when Rose stroked his winning putt on the final hole.
It didn't get better after that.
Furyk stumbled down the stretch the same way he did in this summer's U.S. Open. He missed a par putt at 17 that would have guaranteed a half-point, then three-putted from 45 feet behind the hole at 18, badly whiffing on an 8-foot putt at the final hole and handing Garcia a full point.
Stricker was over-par for the day, as was Woods, and his usually-reliable putter failed him at 17 when he wasn't able to convert a par-putt from below the hole. Kaymer, who was playing so poorly coming into the event that captain Jose Maria Olazabal told him on Wednesday he'd probably only play once on Friday and Saturday, bumped in a downhill 4-footer for par at 17 and then made the clinching putt at 18 after running his first one six feet past the hole.
Depending on which team you were pulling for, the weekend will be remembered as "The Miracle at Medinah" or "The Meltdown at Medinah".
The U.S. team won't live this one down for a long time.
They were in complete control heading to Sunday. At one point on Saturday, Davis Love III's team was ahead 10-4 and seemingly in rout mode. But the Europeans won the final two matches on Saturday, including the historical putting display from Poulter, who finished the better-ball session with five straight birdies to pull his team to within four at 10-6.
That set up the singles pairings, where the two captains tried to position their teams in the best possible position for either a Sunday revival (Europe) or a Sunday reclamation (USA). Jose Maria Olazabal went with strength early in an effort to close the gap and get momentum on his side. Love III countered by putting his veterans and best putters near the back end of the 12-man field in the event he needed some reliable performers to close the deal late in the day.
As fate would have it, both captains were right, hunch-wise. Olazabal got terrific early play from Luke Donald, Poulter and Rory McIlroy and Love's "veteran triangle" of Furyk, Stricker and Woods seemed a safe bet to secure a handful of points if necessary.
Only Woods – who certainly didn't play well on Sunday but was better overall than his 0-3-1 mark showed – managed a half-point out of the three, which turned out to be the killer blow for the U.S.
Love III will be questioned over and over about his decision to leave the red-hot duo of Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson out of the Saturday afternoon matches. But the captain put a plan together earlier in the week and stuck with it. He told every player they wouldn't play all four of the Friday-Saturday team matches and he held true to that decision. And when the U.S. team led 10-6 heading into Sunday's singles competition, no one was really questioning the decisions Love III made on Saturday.
The story of the 2012 Ryder Cup will likely center on the outrageous play of Ian Poulter and the trio of Furyk, Woods and Stricker collecting a TOTAL of 1.5 points in three days. Unfortunately for guys like Dufner and the two Johnson's, no one is going to remember how well those three played on Sunday with the whole world watching them.
It's the best event golf has to offer, even more nerve-wracking then the back nine at Augusta on Sunday.
And this weekend at Medinah, we were reminded once again how truly special the best 24 golfers in the world can be…


text:
DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers made three selections in the first 58 picks of the 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft this evening, marking the earliest three selections by the club since making three selections in the first 55 picks of the 2001 draft.
The club selected righthanded pitcher Jonathon Crawford from the University of Florida with the 20th overall pick in the first round this evening. Crawford compiled a 3-6 record, 3.84 ERA (86.2IP/37ER) and 69 strikeouts in 15 starts as a junior with the Gators in 2013. As a sophomore at Florida, he tossed a no-hitter on June 1, 2012 against Bethune-Cookman, marking the first no-hitter by a Gators pitcher since 1991.
Crawford earned Team USA's International Performance of the Year honor in 2012 as he posted a 3-0 record and 2.10 ERA (25.2IP/6ER) in six outings over the summer with Team USA. Four of the outings came against Cuba, which featured a roster that went on to post a 4-2 record during tournament play in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
"The Tigers organization is pleased to select Jonathon Crawford this evening," Tigers Vice President, Amateur Scouting and Special Assistant to the General Manager, David Chadd said. "He has a power arm with a plus slider and we're thrilled to have the opportunity to add him to our organization."
The 6-2, 205-pound righthander was rated by Baseball America as the ninth-best pitching prospect available in this year's draft and the 19th-best prospect overall.
The club selected righthanded pitcher Corey Knebel from the University of Texas with the 39th overall selection in Competitive Balance Round A this evening. Knebel posted a 3-4 record, 3.38 ERA (40.0IP/15ER), nine saves and 51 strikeouts in 26 games out of the bullpen for the Longhorns.
The 6-4, 205-pound righthander posted 37 saves during his collegiate career, four shy of Huston Street's school record. He posted a freshman record 19 saves for the Longhorns during a 2011 season that saw him earn National College Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year and All-America First Team honors. Knebel was also part of the Team USA Collegiate National Team in 2011, posting a 1.80 ERA (5.0IP/1ER) in five outings. He was rated by Baseball America as the 27th-best pitching prospect in this year's draft.
The club selected lefthanded pitcher Kevin Ziomek from Vanderbilt University with the 58th overall selection in the second round this evening. Ziomek has posted an 11-2 record, 1.92 ERA (112.1IP/24ER) and 111 strikeouts in 16 starts with the Commodores during his junior season. He is tied for the SEC lead with 111 strikeouts and ranks 11th in the nation.
The 6-3, 200-pound southpaw became the 10th pitcher in Vanderbilt history to win 10-or-more games in a season and has struck out 10-or-more batters in five outings during the 2013 season. He has compiled a 19-8 record, 2.96 ERA (237.0IP/78ER) and 237 strikeouts in 62 games during his collegiate career.
The Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft will continue on Friday, June 7 and Saturday, June 8.


text:
Charge Filed In Case
ST. MARYS — A Florida man faces a minor misdemeanor charge as the result of allegedly shooting a dog as it became aggressive, dumping its body into Grand Lake St. Marys and failing to notify the proper authorities.
According to Auglaize County Municipal Court documents, Mardie L. Biederman, of Panama City Beach, Fla., has been issued a summons to appear in court for killing a dog that bit a person in order to prevent further injury and failing to do either or both of the following — immediately after killing the dog, notifying the board of health for the district in which the bite occurred and/or holding the body of the dog so it could be tested for rabies. A violation of that statute is a minor misdemeanor.
In a state complaint filed Tuesday by Auglaize County Dog Warden Russ Bailey, on May 4 at the Rustic Haven Campground, a dog by the name of Tia — a white pit bull mix — became aggressive and bit a female, causing an injury to her lip and a black eye. Biederman attempted to restrain the dog but the dog became more aggressive. At that point, Biederman retrieved a gun and allegedly shot the dog. After it was shot the first time, the dog returned to the cage, where Biederman allegedly shot it a second time.
The dog died inside the cage. Biederman then allegedly dumped the dog and cage into Grand Lake St. Marys.
"Biederman did not report the bite or death of the dog as required in Ohio Revised Code 955.261 section three and Biederman did not notify the board of health for the district in which the bite occurred of the facts relating to the bite and killing," Bailey wrote in the complaint. "Biederman also did not hold the body of the dog until the board of health claimed the dog for performing tests for rabies as required in that section."
Biederman has been ordered to appear in Municipal Court at 2 p.m. July 3. A minor misdemeanor is punishable by a maximum fine of $100.
The dog and cage were found near the campground on June 2. Information found on the cage led officials to Biederman, who at that point was called a person of interest.


text:
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Legislative Research Commission Director Bobby Sherman has told lawmakers his agency's review of sexual harassment complaints against a western Kentucky lawmaker took six months.
Sherman, briefing legislative leaders on Wednesday, said he received two complaints against Democratic state Rep. John Arnold of Sturgis on Feb. 19, and that the review lasted until Aug. 27 when "final action" was taken.
Sherman declined to discuss that action publicly, citing confidentiality concerns in the case brought by legislative staffers. Those staffers complained that Arnold had touched them inappropriately and made vulgar comments.
House Speaker Greg Stumbo has appointed a special legislative committee to look into the complaints. That committee could recommend Arnold's censure or expulsion.
Arnold didn't immediately return a phone call to his legislative office Wednesday.


text:
Publications : Details
Community Health Volunteers Update: A Newsletter From the APHIA II Western Project (Issue 1)
In an effort to support community interventions and health service utilization, APHIA II Western produces the Community Health Volunteers Update to help reinforce HIV and AIDS, reproductive health, tuberculosis, diarrhea, maternal and child health, and malaria messages passed through community outreach activities and health facilities; stimulate public discussions; reinforce behavior change; and promote use of health services.
Corporate author(s): PATH
Publication date: October 2008
Available materials
Community Health Volunteers Update (Issue 1)
Hard copies are not available.
Some digital files may be saved at low resolutions to conserve file size. Versions with higher quality may be available; see the contact information below to enquire.
This publication is part of the series APHIA II Western Community Health Volunteers Update
Related regions: Africa
See also: Emerging and epidemic diseases > HIV and AIDS
For more information…
Contact: PATH Publications
Email: email@example.com
Mailing address: PATH, PO Box 900922, Seattle, WA 98109 USA


text:
Office of Development
Trinity Lutheran Seminary forms leaders for Christ's church at work in the world.
With this mission as our focus, Trinity's development team advocates for the most important people on the Trinity campus: students. Through our long-standing focus on the preparation of the whole person for leadership in the church and world, Trinity students are in the process of becoming authentic servant leaders who are healthy, vibrant, maturing, transformative, resilient and evangelical.
Our work with individuals, congregations and other organizations is inspired by the vision to which we hold ourselves accountable. This vision is focused on five pillars of excellence.
- Excellence in Formation
- Excellence in Enrollment
- Excellence in Ecumenism
- Excellence in Impact in the World
- Excellence in Sustainability
Unrestricted gifts
These are critically important to Trinity's health and allow us to fulfill our mission, year after year. Your unrestricted gifts provide support for our world-class faculty, programs, and infrastructure.
Planned giftsThese provide long-term support for Trinity's mission. We invite you to include Trinity in your estate plans. If you have an interest in supporting Trinity in this way, please feel free to contact either of us.
Scholarships and Adopt-a-Seminarian GrantsThese provide much needed support for Trinity's students in all degree programs. You may endow scholarships in the name of a loved one or friend. Adopt-a-Seminarian grants provide annual financial support to our students.


text:
HP results shrug off scandal
Not just an ink/pretexting giant
HP made revenues of $24.6bn in the fourth quarter ended 31 October 2006 – up seven per cent on the same period last year.
GAAP operating income was $1.7bn, up from $0.4bn last year, giving earnings per share of 0.68 cents.
CEO and chairman Mark Hurd welcomed the results and said they were evidence of the success of the company's restructure: "We are well on our way to building a more competitive HP that creates further value for our shareholders"
Personal Systems Group grew revenues ten per cent to $7.8bn and unit shipments grew 16 per cent, making an operating profit of $336m. Imaging and printing revenues were $7.3bn, an increase of seven per cent,which produced a profit of $1.1bn.
HP's Enterprise Storage and Servers division brought in $4.7bn, up four per cent on last year, and made an operating profit was $502m. HP Services made revenues of $4.1bn – up five per cent, and made a profit of $505m.
HP's Software division made $349m, an increase of 14 per cent on last year. Operating profit was $60m. HP Financial services made $545m and a profit of $35m.
For first financial quarter of 2007 HP expects revenues of between $24.1bn and $24.3bn and earnings per share of between 55 and 57 cents.®
Sponsored: Minds Mastering Machines - Call for papers now open


text:
NASA's Stunning Close-Up Photos of Comet Hartley 2 62
Several readers have sent word that NASA's EPOXI spacecraft performed a close approach to comet Hartley 2 yesterday, taking pictures within roughly 700km of the nucleus. Bad Astronomer Phil Plait has a collection of some fantastic photographs, and you can check out a ton of other images on the mission website. The Planetary Society blog put together a neat animation of the flyby. NASA's mission fact sheet (PDF) explains EPOXI's background — it's the supplemental mission of the Deep Impact craft that smashed a small probe into a different comet back in 2005 — and why Hartley 2 was chosen for this flyby (they couldn't find their original target).


text:
What is it about Bill Granger that just makes you think of summer holidays, lounging by the pool/beach/under a tree eating cool, simple food? He should be a busy boy - he has three restaurants in Sydney, four in Japan and the hottest new breakfast spot in London to run, has chalked up 10 cookbooks and the telly series to go with them, and started a weekly column with the Independent on Sunday. Throw in relocating a family of young 'uns to London, and for good measure, a new puppy, and the man is still smiling. Perhaps it's the blonde Aussie sun-god good looks, the pretty table and kitchen settings he uses to prop his food that make you too think you can take everything in its stride.
But really it is that Bill cooks like most home cooks: here's a bag of rice or a tin of beans, now how do I turn this into a meal, quickly? Bill's latest book Easy is arranged just like your pantry or fridge, with great recipes that are so laid-back they're practically horizontal.
Take this book away on holiday, use it when you really can't be bothered doing a grocery shop and just want to whip up something out of nothing, or when the crowds descend and you need to do a loaves and fishes act.
Truly, Bill Granger is your man. His next book should be called Lie Down Quietly.
These recipes are perfect for the barbecue, the pork a great change from the usual chicken or beef. Use the newest stonefruit as it comes into season for the streusel cake.
• Easy by Bill Granger, $55, published by Harper Collins.


text:
Nursing Simulation Lab Dedication
An exciting, high-tech training tool was unveiled to the public Tuesday, Sept. 28 in a dedication ceremony at Heritage Hall, Rome, for a nursing simulation lab. The stars of the event were two computerized dummies completely programmable to react as human patients to medication, stimuli or various clinical scenarios. A room containing the control computer and two two-way mirrors is positioned between rooms designed and furnished as hospital rooms. Each room is large enough to accommodate a bed containing the dummy patient, a bedside chest, and about 15 faculty and students. Video equipment records each interaction so that students can see what they did well, analyze other responses they could have chosen and learn from their mistakes in a risk-free environment.
Now we can initiate nursing students to the patient experience by degrees, said Becca Maddox, interim director of the nursing program. If they make a rookie mistake here, we merely repeat the exercise. Its completely risk-free and a less stressful way to ease students into a clinical setting.
Regional health-care organizations contributed to the lab, including Harbin Clinic, Floyd Medical Center, Tanner Medical Center, The Specialty Hospital, Redmond Regional Medical Center and WellStar Health System.


text:
For Gorge light rail
My wife, daughter and I are building a house in Hood River and, when complete, will be moving to Hood River from our current residence in Camas, Wash. We love the Columbia Gorge and are excited about becoming Hood River residents. We think that extending light rail service from Portland to Cascade Locks and on to Hood River and possibly The Dalles would provide a much needed link that would aid economic development while reducing automobile demand (and pollution) on Interstate 84.
It could provide environmentally friendly transportation for residents of the Gorge to go commute to Portland, for Portland-area residents to explore and enjoy the Columbia Gorge, for Cascade Locks casino customers to access the casino. It could also provide future Cascade Locks casino employees who may not own a car (or want to drive a car with rising gas prices) the freedom to live outside of Cascade Locks. We believe it would be a win-win for tax payers and the environment.
Orhan Beckman
Bridge bad idea
A new vehicle bridge proposed to be built over the Hood River just north of I-84 is not in the best interest to residents and visitors alike. A better idea to ease the "rush hour" traffic slowdown would be to put in a second toll booth at the interstate bridge. The area where the project is planned is used by people to walk their dogs, walk with children; and is somewhat of a parklike setting, which this community needs.
Right now there are four bridges over the Hood River in about a third of a mile. Five bridges in that short a distance is far too many. Rush hour is short-lived. To lose the serenity of the river, and park, is forever.
Stephen Borg
Hood River
Choose responsibly
The letter in the April 6 edition of the Hood River News regarding the candidacy of Cory Roeseler for Port Position 2 causes this response.
It is amazing that local citizens like Mr. Allen Smith can be so misinformed on Port issues. I will not try to refute these statements as most informed people reading this letter can figure this out for themselves. I will mention that present commissioner Don Hosford is, in my opinion, a much better candidate and is a responsible candidate. In my opinion Mr. Roeseler does not appear to be responsible for his own actions.
As treasurer of the Citizens for Responsible Waterfront Development he failed to report campaign receipts and expenditures eight different times from 1998 to 2003. The state elections division assessed fines of around $1,500 for these violations.
As treasurer Mr. Roeseler contested the final order on basis of his not being notified on a "timely" basis. While the county informed him on two separate occasions he chose to ignore these notices for several years and when the State of Oregon took legal action he contested the notification to the Secretary of State's office and fines were dismissed on a technicality — this technicality being that the notices were not issued on a "timely basis." Is this assuming responsibility for one's action? In my opinion, no.
My opinion is that anyone who cannot assume responsibility for their own actions certainly will not make a responsible public official. Why change the present commissioner, who is responsible and has proven himself, for one who appears not be be. Should you wish to verify this information you may call (503) 986-1518 (Nancy Ferry), case numbers L78l5 through L7822.
Percy Jensen
Port Commissioner 1973-93
Hood River
How can this be?
I came upon the following letter when I was searching my files for something else and was struck by how little has changed in two and one half years, and by how much.
Each morning I waken to this prayer:
Let there be PEACE and let it begin with me.
I live in a place of such beauty and abundance it takes your breath away. Though gifted with a very active imagination, it is exceedingly difficult for me to conceive of the desolation and desperate need which defines life as it must be lived in other nooks of our world: Those calling themselves Iraq, Afghanistan, Colombia, Chiapas, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique.
Unacceptable is the rain of sorrow blanketing these communities. Unacceptable, this devastation engendered and supported by activities initiated in my homeland by people I call compatriot, by people who function in what is called a democratic form of government. How can this be?
It makes me wonder. Is democracy something which can function only on North American soil? or ... Can other forms/interpretations of democratic governance exist? If ... we, in the U.S.A., would let them? or ... Are we, here, a democracy in name only? Do our actions and attitude communicate instead a flavor of EMPIRE?
Most importantly, am I living a delusion?
Gloria Krantz of Dee
Growers discredited
In years past I have always considered the Hood River News friendly and supportive of the fruit growers of the Valley. However, articles in recent printings have made me wonder — "With friends like this, who needs enemies?"
The recent Hood River News writings in the series "Mexican Dream" are a good example. These articles are biased, full of half-truths, misrepresentations, and inaccurate statements which tend to discredit Hood River Valley fruit growers. To say the least, Hood River growers are certainly disappointed that the News would print such articles without verifying them for accuracy, and truthfulness.
For almost 100 years, the Hood River News has chronicled events throughout Hood River County. However, recent editions seem to have forgotten that Hood River County is much more than tourism, waterfront development, and windsurfing. Hood River Valley is still one of the major pear-producing districts in the world, producing about one-third of the winter pears grown in the United States — which means over $100 million to the Hood River economy.
I would suggest that the News staff writers get out of their office chairs and see what the rest of the county is doing.
Allen E. Moore
Hood River
Print fire runs
The Hood River News needs a new section — like The Dalles has now that tells the public about the fire runs — like KIHR did several years ago. We in the county hear the siren, but we don't know the reason — maybe we are just nosy.
Paul Nevin
Hood River
Bergstrom for Port
The good Dr. Lars Bergstrom is running for Port! I cannot think of anybody whom I would rather see running for this position. Dr. Bergstrom is smart, willing to dig his heels in and work hard for the community, and he truly cares about Hood River.
I have lived on both sides of the Hood River Bridge for seven years now. And I have known Lars as a friend and a colleague for many of those years. Time and time again he has proven his integrity, energy and vision.
Dr. Bergstrom has brought events and the crowds that follow to Hood River that would have otherwise gone to other towns. He has worked with local businesses, agencies, and organizations in promoting the area. And he has worked hard to do all of these things within the bounds of what local people have wanted.
While other people seem to be flooding into town to tell us what we want, Dr. Bergstrom is willing to stand up for Hood River.
When the Port wouldn't listen, Dr. Bergstrom and many other volunteers organized an initiative to let The People have their say — and in a landslide vote, The People said they wanted a park on the waterfront.
Dr. Bergstrom will listen to The People because he cares.
If you are looking for someone who is honest, hardworking, and who cares about Hood River, I would vote for Dr. Lars Bergstrom for Port Commission on May 17.
Tom St. Clair
Hood River
Lottery shame
The sad truth about Scratch it for Schools:
This program does nothing more than try to get kids hooked on the lottery.
It's a publicity stunt that only generated $94,000 for ALL schools that participated in 2004.
Get a bunch of kids to scratch lottery tickets while the media broadcasts the event. By law, you have to be 18 to purchase a lottery ticket.
The lottery commission ought to be ashamed of this program.
Hein van Swaay
Hood River
Shameful trophies
I am disgusted by recent news broadcasts showing mountain lions being treed and gunned down by so-called sportsmen. If these cowards faced their prey without weapons, they might claim them as trophies should they win in a fair fight.
As it stands, there is only shame in their actions. Hunting for food is one thing, but wanton killing for enjoyment is reprehensible and should be illegal.
Shannon Vance
Hood River
Comments are subject to moderator review and may not appear immediately on the site. A user's first several comments must be manually approved by a moderator.
Please read our commenting policy before posting.
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Information from the News and our advertisers (Want to add your business to this to this feed?)


text:
TLC Premieres New Series HOMEMADE MILLIONAIRE on Friday, November 19 at 10pm ET/PT
(New York, NY) -- Every day, women in the U.S. think of useful inventions and business ideas and yet don't have the time or resources to catapult their creations to the next level. TLC has joined forces with HSN and Milojo Productions (owned by Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos) to premiere the six-part series HOMEMADE MILLIONAIRE on November 19 at 10pm ET/PT. The series offers aspiring female entrepreneurs the potential opportunity of a lifetime - to have their innovative ideas sold on-air and online through interactive multichannel retailer HSN. With product sales on HSN topping $2 billion a year, a deal with HSN could change these women's lives overnight.
"We are super excited to be working with TLC and HSN on this project," explains Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. "We're sent so many innovative products from women every day, and to be able to help them get into the marketplace is a dream come true for us. These inventors have worked so hard in this show. We're beyond proud of them."
"HOMEMADE MILLIONAIRE provides an opportunity to those 'kitchen-table inventors' to get their creative ideas out to the masses," says Nancy Daniels, TLC's SVP of Production and Development. "We are thrilled to be partnering with Kelly and Milojo Productions, and believe HSN is the perfect outlet for these hard-working women to showcase their inventions."
Each hour-long episode of HOMEMADE MILLIONAIRE follows the competitive journey of three women vying for a chance to sell their inventions on HSN. Open calls were held throughout the country, and thousands of women showed up with their unique products in hand, with the hopes of being part of this experience.
"We are very excited to work with Kelly Ripa and TLC to help these inventors realize their dreams," states Bill Brand, EVP of Programming, Marketing and Business Development. "HSN is all about great products and amazing storytellers and that is what this series will deliver to our customers."
The lucky inventors were put through a series of tasks designed to get their product ready for consumers. Helping Kelly coach these women along the way are two business experts, Wendy Robbins and Ed Evangelista, who serve as mentors for these budding business women as they evolve their product and build a unique marketing strategy to present to HSN.
Wendy Robbins, founder of Nowhere To Millionaire LLC and author of "Why Marry a Millionaire? Just Be One!", worked her way out of debt to make millions with her invention the Tingler head massager. She is also a leading expert on mastering the millionaire mindset, and how to manufacture and market ideas to millions. Ed Evangelista became the first advertising executive embedded into entertainment content when he served as a judge, juror, and executioner on ABC's TV series AMERICAN INVENTOR. Evangelista has created award-winning advertising, marketing and alternative content for some of the world's largest consumer brands from diamonds and liquors, to automobiles, finance and bubble gum.
Alongside Kelly on the judges' panel are two HSN executives - Jennifer Cotter, Senior Vice President of Television, and Chris Nicola, Vice President of Product Development - who draw upon their vast experience in television and retail to evaluate each product.
Each episode also features guest celebrity judges and experts in the fields of Home, Beauty, Food, and Fashion, including:
Emeril Lagasse: Celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, and creator of Emerilware and other HSN culinary products
Jennifer Flavin-Stallone: Beauty entrepreneur, wife of actor Sylvester Stallone, and co-founder of Serious Skin Care cosmetics sold at HSN
Colin Cowie: Entertaining authority, author, and creator of the Colin Cowie collection sold exclusively at HSN.
Ingrid Hoffmann: Celebrity cook, creator of the Simply Delicioso collection sold at HSN, and host of Food Network's SIMPLY DELICIOSO and DELICIOSO on Galavisi�n
Diane Gilman: Famed fashion designer and creator of her Diane Gilman collection at HSN.
Stacey Schieffelin: Founder and president of cosmetics line ybf (your best friend) beauty sold at HSN.
Jeffrey Banks: Acclaimed menswear designer, author and creator of a lifestyle collection of home accessories and women's fashions at HSN.
James Mischka and Mark Badgley: Renowned celebrity fashion designers and creators of American Glamour Badgley Mischka sold exclusively at HSN.
Skip Borghese: CEO Multimedia Exposure, Italian Prince and creator of Perlier - Italian Beauty sold at HSN.
Carolyn Forte: Good Housekeeping Research Institute
Allie Lewis: Food Editor, Real Simple Magazine
Lori Bergamotto : Fashion Editor, Lucky Magazine
HOMEMADE MILLIONAIRE is produced by Milojo Productions and Discovery Studios, for TLC. Executive Producers are Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos, and Nina L. Diaz (creator and EP, MTV CRIBS & MY SUPER SWEET 16, EP of REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW JERSEY). Co-Executive Producer is Albert Bianchini (Producer, LIVE WITH REGIS & KELLY).
About TLC
TLC's innovative docu-series and reality-based programming include favorites Jon & Kate Plus 8 , Little People, Big World , What Not to Wear , 19 Kids and Counting, Say Yes to the Dress, and LA Ink . TLC added to its menu of programming with Cake Boss and Ultimate Cake Off , and continues to expand into the food genre. TLC's daytime lineup includes the Emmy Award-winning A Baby Story . The channel is available in more than 98 million homes in the US, nearly 8 million homes in Canada and through the website at www.tlc.com. TLC is part of Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the world's number one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries.
About HSN
Headquartered in St. Petersburg, FL, HSN is a leading interactive multichannel retailer, offering a curated assortment of exclusive products and top brand names to its customers. HSN incorporates experts, entertainment, inspiration, solutions, tips and ideas to provide an entirely unique shopping experience. At HSN, customers find exceptional selections in Health & Beauty (e.g. M. Asam, Carol's Daughter, Coty, FranBrand, FusionBeauty, Andrew Lessman's Procaps, Lancome, Perlier, Serious Skin Care, Wei East, ybf Beauty); Jewelry (e.g. Heidi Daus, Grayce by Molly Sims, R.J. Graziano, IMAN Global Chic, michaeLisa, Noir, Amedeo Scognamiglio, Tori Spelling, Serena Williams Signature Statement); Home/Lifestyle (e.g. Nate Berkus, Bissell, Colin Cowie, Dyson, Todd English, GreenPan with Thermolon, Emeril Lagasse, Joy Mangano, MoMA Design Store, Wolfgang Puck); Fashion/Accessories (e.g. American Glamour Badgley Mischka, Curations with Stefani Greenfield, Sam Edelman, Loulou de la Falaise, Chi by Carlos Falchi, Diane Gilman, "Timeless" by Naeem Khan, Adrienne Landau, Sharif); and Electronics (e.g. Canon, Gateway, GE, HP, JVC, Kodak, LG, Sony).
A leader in transactional innovation, HSN is the only retailer offering live streaming video on three screens: TV network, which broadcasts live to 95 million households in the US in HD 24/7; hsn.com, which ranks in the top 30 of the top 500 internet retailers and features 15,000 product videos; and mobile via its iPhone application. HSN, founded 33 years ago as the first shopping network, is an operating segment of HSN, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSNI).


text:
Oct. 8, 2010
BOSTON, MA -Four different players netted two goals apiece to lead the University of Massachusetts Boston women's soccer team over Wheelock College, 11-0, this evening under the lights at Winsor Field in Boston, MA. The Beacons improve to 7-2-3 overall while the loss drops the Wildcats to 0-9 on the year.
During the win, UMass Boston broke a school record for goals in a half with eight in the first stanza and broke the school standard for goals in a match with 11, eclipsing the previous total of 10 set last season in the Beacons 10-0 win over Newbury College on October 6, 2009.
Junior midfielder Molly Kuchar (Ashville, NC), junior forward Kristin Mulry (Holbrook, MA), freshman forward Tayla Andrews (Plymouth, MA) and freshman forward Kelli Neville (Milton, MA) each netted two goals for the Beacons to mark the first time in school history that they have had four players net two or more goals in the same match.
Andrews got the scoring started just 1:57 into the match when she converted a through-ball pass from senior midfielder Kimberly Campbell (East Bridgewater, MA) to put UMass Boston ahead, 1-0. Mulry made it 2-0 at the 9:31 mark when she connected for her fifth tally of the season on an unassisted score following a scrum in the box. Following a goal by freshman midfielder Samantha Cristoforo (Rockland, MA) at 16:14 into the first half, Mulry increased the Beacon's lead to 4-0 only 20 seconds later with her second goal of the match and sixth of the season coming off of Campbell's second assist on the night. Kuchar got into the scoring mix during the 21st minute of action when she fired a shot from outside the 18-yard box after receiving a cross from freshman midfielder Julie Nutting (Rockland, MA) to make it 5-0, UMB. Neville notched goals less than four minutes apart from each other to put the Beacons up 7-0 with less than 10 minutes to play in the first half. Junior forward Julienne McCuish (Mashpee, MA) assisted Neville's first score while Kuchar picked up the dime on the second marker. Nutting capped the first half scoring with her first collegiate goal with 4:22 to play in the stanza after she finished a shot set up by Kuchar to give the visiting squad the comfortable 8-0 halftime edge.
Sophomore Meghan O'Connell (Abington, MA) opened up the second half's scoring with her first collegiate goal, drilling a shot from 30-yards out after being set up by Kuchar's second assist on the match to make it 9-0. Andrews finished her second goal of the night at the 52:25 mark after being set up by Campbell's third assist of the match, which ties a UMass Boston single-game record last accomplished by Jillian Moreira on October 2, 2007 vs. Newbury College. With 1:13 remaining in the match, Kuchar registered her second goal of the match to cap the scoring and give UMass Boston the 11-0 advantage. Junior midfielder Nicki Finamore (Weymouth, MA) and senior midfielder Jill Collins (West Haven, CT) assisted on the final marker. On the game, UMass Boston owned a 38-0 shot advantage over the Wildcats and attempted seven corner kicks compared to zero by the home squad.
Junior Alexandra Chiesa (Medford, MA) made 14 saves for Wheelock, while freshman Katie Coscia (Pittsfield, MA) did not pick up a stop for UMass Boston in posting her third shutout of the season.
The Beacons are back in action on Saturday, October 9 when they travel to Danbury, CT to face Little East Conference foe Western Connecticut State University at 1:00 p.m. while the Wildcats head to Cambridge, MA to face Lesley University in a 10:00 a.m. tilt.


text: Active in the field of video design since 2001, Quebec producer, stage and video content designer Olivier Goulet specializes in video stage design. Since 2007, he has designed and produced video content for many productions and artists including Maria Carey, Alicia Keys, Joe Cocker, Michael Bublé, Tina Turner, Pink, the shows of Cher and Bette Midler at Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas, as well as the production Paradis Perdu in Montreal. Olivier is the President of the Montreal-based video stage design company Geodezik, which collaborated with Cirque du Soleil on the shows DELIRIUM and ZAIA. Other Quebec (Gilles Maheu, O Vertigo Danse) and American (Linkin Park and The Killers, Justin Timberlake) artists turned to Geodezik to enhance their show through video imagery. Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour is Olivier's latest collaboration with Cirque du Soleil.


text:
PARK CITY, UT (July 10) – The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation has named two new members to its Board of Trustees. Joining the board are Daniel Leever (Palm Beach, FL/ Vail, CO) and Lynn D. Bleil (Park City, UT). The announcement was made by Foundation President Greg Boester, an Olympic ski jumper who took over board leadership last summer. Leever, the CEO of Specialty Products Corporation (PSP) in Miami, has been a passionate supporter of ski racing in his Vail mountain home. Bleil, a longtime senior partner with McKinsey & Company, has long been engaged in the sport and recently was project leader on a valuable study for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. The Foundation is the non-profit fundraising arm of the U.S. Ski Team, U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing. They join a 74-member Board of Trustees representing leaders in American business and sport.
Daniel LeeverDaniel Leever is the chief executive officer of Specialty Products Corporation (PSP) of Miami. Leever is the founder of the Vail Snow Sports Foundation, a foundation that underwrites Team America, an elite alpine team of aspiring World Cup athletes. He attended Kansas State University and holds an MBA from the University of New Haven. Leever also serves on the board of Vail Mountain School and The Atlas Society. A passionate supporter of ski racing, Dan has been involved with Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (SSCV) for more than 15 years. His son Alex is a freshman on the University of Denver varsity ski team. Dan served for many years as a member of the SSCV Board of Trustees and is currently a trusted advisor to the Executive Director and SSCV's Executive Committee. He was recognized as Volunteer of the Year in 2008 and received the club's highest honor, the Zella Gorsuch award, for the greatest contribution to the advancement of skiing in the Vail Valley in 2011.
Lynn D. BleilLynn D. Bleil, a Princeton and Stanford Business School graduate, has advised senior executives and Boards of leading healthcare companies for over 25 years as a senior partner of McKinsey & Company. Since retiring last December, she has been assembling a portfolio of Board Director roles with public and private healthcare companies including DST Systems and Auspex Pharmaceuticals, as well as selected nonprofit organizations, including Intermountain Healthcare's Park City Medical Center. Bleil led the McKinsey project for USSA in 2012-13 focused on improving club support and governance, and has remained an active advisor to the organization. Lynn is also an active ski racing parent, with a 13-year-old alpine racer currently skiing with Rowmark Academy in the Intermountain Division. She frequently volunteers on the ski hill and supports Rowmark in fundraising and marketing efforts.
Greg Boester, President, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team FoundationDan and Lynn are representative of an important new trend in trustees. Each brings a very extensive background in international business to our board. But, just as importantly, each of them are passionate skiers and have been directly engaged in USSA club programs through their children and their direct support. Both understand our mission from the grassroots up.
Trisha Worthington, Executive Vice President, Foundation, U.S. Ski and Snowboard AssociationWhile our trustees are certainly an important resource in supporting athletes and for their business expertise, what's even more important is their willingness to actively engage with our organization. More and more we're seeing supporters like Dan and Lynn who bring firsthand knowledge of our athletic programs.
About the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team FoundationThe U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation is the non-profit fundraising arm of the U.S. Ski Team, U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing. Incorporated in 1964 as a 501(c)3, the Foundation raises money to support year-round athlete training, development, competition and educational needs. Donations to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation are tax deductible to the extent allowed by the law.
The U.S. Ski Team relies solely on the support of the American public. Click here to support the team.


text:
2850 Harbor Blvd, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Orange Coast Nissan is a leading Southern California new and used car dealer. We have an extensive customer base spread throughout Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, San Juan Capistrano, Huntington Beach, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Long Beach, Garden Grove and Los Angeles. Our dealership proudly reaches throughout the counties of Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside with top-quality 2016 & 2017 Nissan models. The knowledge and dedication of our staff ensures a smooth and seamless process whether you are buying a new or used car, requesting car parts or getting car repair in Orange County. We challenge you to find a Nissan dealership that can offer the same level of customer service, price, and selection of vehicles that you will find here.
44,637 Miles
Sale Price
68,818 Miles
Installed Options
Engine block heater
Total Cost:
60,868 Miles
26x laredo customer preferred order selection pkg
Low beam daytime running lamps
2850 Harbor Blvd, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Contact Us|Privacy Policy| © 2017 Orange Coast Nissan
Contact Us|Privacy Policy


text:
This is our pick of the best of the burbs. For more informa-tion, go to www.boston.com and search music, restaurants, arts and crafts, and other goings-on throughout Greater Boston.
Natick: Bass-baritone Ian Pomerantz, a member of the Sephardic (Iberian Jewish) ensemble Voice of the Turtle, performs with Eric Mazonson in a benefit concert that will include music by Mozart, Schumann, Ravel, and 20th-century French composer Jacques Ibert (a cycle of four songs written for a 1933 film about Don Quixote), as well as a set of Yiddish art songs, at 7 p.m. Saturday at Fisk Memorial United Methodist Church, 106 Walnut St. $10, $5 for students and seniors. 508-405-2514, www.fiskumc.org.
Newton: "My Lovely Sister" mixes melodrama, surrealism, and mysticism inspired by a Moroccan fairy tale. The troubled marriage of superstitious Rahma and her coarse husband, Robert, is tested further by his love for a good-looking ghost — Rahma's sister, Mary, who died from the pain of banishment for marrying an Arab man. Part of the Boston Jewish Film Festival, "My Lovely Sister'' screens Thursday, 7 p.m., at West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington St. $12, $10 seniors and students. 617-964-6060, www.bjff.org.
Newton: Ever wonder what your neighborhood looked like 50, 100, or 150 years ago? Join Allison Carter for Map Night at the Jackson Homestead to look at the collection of historic atlases and learn such information as whose farm was subdivided to make your house lot, or when your street was first laid out, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Historic Newton's Jackson Homestead and Museum, 527 Washington St. Free. 617-796-1450, www.historicnewton.org.Event organizers: submit items directly at www.boston.com/ addevents.


text:
Neil Woodford has started to buy shares in several of his favourite technology firms from his former employer.
The Citywire A-rated manager has snapped up exactly the same number of shares as Invesco has sold in companies including ReNeuron, e-Therapeutics and Revolymer.
Woodford (pictured) had held stem-cell specialist ReNeuron through his former Invesco Perpetual funds and in his St James's Place mandate, and has now acquired 242 million shares for his new CF Woodford Equity Income fund. That stake is worth around £7 million and means Woodford now owns 14.9% of the company.
On the same day that Woodford bought his shares in ReNeuron, Invesco reduced its holding in the firm by 242 million shares.
Woodford has also been a longstanding investor in e-Therapeutics and has bought 18.2 million shares in the business for his new fund. That is worth around £5 million and takes Woodford's ownership of e-Therapeutics to 17.7%. Again, Invesco cut its position in e-Therapeutics by the same number of shares on the same day.
Invesco similarly sold 10 million shares in polymer developer Revolymer, worth almost £5 million, on the same day Woodford procured a stake of the same size.
Invesco declined to comment on whether a deal had been struck between them over the formal transfer of holdings, while a spokesperson for Woodford Investment Management told Wealth Manager that 'no conversations' had taken place between the two firms on the subject.
Other investments by Woodford for his new fund emphasise his interest in small-cap tech firms.
Benchmark Holdings listed only in December last year, for example, and focuses on biotechnology for aquaculture and agriculture. Woodford has initiated a position in Benchmark with the purchase of 8.5 million shares, equivalent to 6.2% of the firm and worth around £7 million.
He has furthermore committed to a stake worth around £86 million in Imperial Innovations as part of the venture-capital firm's fundraising.
Woodford has also allocated approximately £12.5 million to RM2 International, a Luxembourg-based pallet innovator that listed on AIM in January.
The CF Woodford Equity Income fund began trading last week, but Woodford has yet to reveal how much he raised during its offer period.
'We don't believe it would be sensible to announce the total amount raised for the fund immediately for reasons of market sensitivity and to protect investors in the fund,' he explained.
'However, we will announce this figure once the portfolio has largely taken shape and we expect the portfolio to be substantially invested by the end of June. In the interests of transparency and keeping our investors informed, we commit to providing full disclosure of the fund's holdings on our website on a monthly basis.'
Woodford added: 'I intend to proceed in a careful and considered manner, with a strong, disciplined focus on valuation – I won't buy any share for the portfolio unless I view its valuation as attractive.'


text:
In this weekly feature, found first in the print edition of The Trentonian every Wednesday, our two heavyweight columnists, L.A. Parker and Jeff Edelstein will square off against one another, with dueling columns on the same topic.
In the lead-up to each Split Decision, our writers agree on a topic then head off to their respective corners to pen their pieces. Then, each Wednesday, you�ll get two unique takes on the same subject.
In this second round of Split Decision, L.A. and Jeff take opposing positions on the question of whether immigrants to the United States should be made to learn and speak English. Check out L.A.�s take on the subject here, and Jeff�s here, then decide which column you agree with more.


text:
Bailey Hejl, who led Southview with 12 points, shoots over Bowsher's Imani Fifer, left, and Isis Dixson in Monday night's game. The Cougars had 10 players score at least four points.
Enlarge | Buy This Image
Bowsher limped into a nonconference meeting with Southview on Monday night.
Three of the Rebels' starters were not available to play because of sickness or injury.
That contributed to Southview making the most of the situation and rolling to a 67-17 victory over Bowsher.
Southview coach Tim Nottke utilized his bench liberally and still had no trouble against Bowsher. Bowsher coach Daryl Dorn went into the game without Celeste Wade (concussion), Ceira Bryant (concussion), and Rachel Marter (flu).
Cougars senior guard Bailey Hejl led the way with 12 points as 10 Southview players scored at least four points.
"Coach Dorn was without three of his starters, but to his credit, his kids came out and played hard," Nottke said.
The Cougars (15-6) jumped out to a substantial lead right from the beginning of the game. They finished the first quarter owning a 19-6 advantage and never looked back.
Lauren Huntsman provided nine points, while Natalie Harlan and Emily Westphal pumped in eight apiece against a Bowsher team that scored only two points in the second quarter and three points in the third quarter.
Bowsher's Tanae Gregory looks to pass around Southview's Morgan Ersig.
Enlarge | Buy This Image
Bowsher's Isis Dixson led the Rebels (4-16) with a team-high seven points. Imani Fifer added six points. The Rebels struggled with the Cougars' pressing defense. Southview scored often on fastbreak layups that came off of Bowsher turnovers.
"For the most part, we're just trying to bring up some freshmen and keep the team's spirit up," Dorn said.
The second quarter resulted in the game being blown wide open as Southview outscored Bowsher 20-2 to go into halftime with a commanding 39-8 lead.
Nottke called on plenty of nonstarters to play a major portion of the minutes after halftime. Yet, the Cougars were still able to add on to their lead.
Southview completed the third quarter with a 51-21 advantage over Bowsher and never looked back the rest of the way.
The Cougars face Northern Lakes League and crosstown rival Northview on Thursday with a chance to sweep the season series.
"We have to use this as a dress rehearsal for Northview," Nottke said.
Contact Donald Emmons at: firstname.lastname@example.com, 419-724-6302 or on Twitter @DemmonsBlade.
Guidelines: Please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Comments that violate these standards, or our privacy statement or visitor's agreement, are subject to being removed and commenters are subject to being banned. To post comments, you must be a registered user on toledoblade.com. To find out more, please visit the FAQ.


text:
In a speech on Tuesday, June 25, at Georgetown University, President Obama announced a broad new federal mandate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric power plants.
The president will instruct federal regulators to apply the Clean Air Act to carbon dioxide issued from power plants.
While the president's plan will impose a massive new climate tax upon all consumers; we at Clarke Electric Cooperative are especially concerned about this proposal because it will unnecessarily increase the rates our members pay.
The president's proposal will hit co-op served families and businesses here awfully hard.
These regulations are costly, and they take autonomy from our co-op by challenging our ability to make decisions that govern our own infrastructure.
The president's climate tax fails to take into account electric cooperatives' existing efforts to integrate renewable energy into our power portfolios. Co-ops are at the forefront of energy efficiency initiatives working hard to reduce the need to build expensive new power plants.
Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO), our power supplier, is 47 percent coal, 30 percent nuclear and 23 percent wind and hydro, and will continue to make efforts to integrate renewable energy resources.
Ultimately, electric cooperatives are about keeping electric bills affordable and providing underserved communities the power they need to improve their quality of life.
The president's proposal will make electric power more expensive, causing families and businesses to sacrifice on top of all the other uncertainty in our national economy.
Without question, electric bills will get bigger for the Americans who can least afford to pay them. If the president doesn't see the importance of affordable electric power, then Clarke Electric Cooperative will join together with other utilities to voice our concerns on behalf of our members.


text:
It seems apparent to everyone who watched the match. But when FIFA.com suggested to Colombia goalkeeper Juan Lozano that he was the hero of their epic defeat of Iran on Sunday, a win that took them through to the last eight of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Thailand 2012 on their first appearance in the competition, he was having none of it.
"No, no, please!" said the shotstopper, with a broad grin etched on his face. "This win was down to the team, not just one individual. It's true that I played the best game of my life, or at least the most important one, but if my team-mates hadn't gone and scored the goals, then we wouldn't be enjoying this wonderful moment right now."
There is no disputing that argument, though the 30-year-old Lozano neglected to say that it was his accurate long throw-out that set Yefri Duque up for Los Cafeteros' first goal.
"The ball had just gone behind and I asked the ball boy to give it back to me quickly because I could see they [the Iran players] had their backs turned to me," said the quick-thinking custodian, recalling the move that would put Colombia in the lead. "Luckily, my throw was a good one and Yefri put it away nicely."
An admirer of fellow countryman Rene Higuita and Spain's Iker Casillas, Lozano had kept Colombia in the game up to that point with some excellent stops, including not one but two remarkable double saves.
We haven't finished yet and we want more. The semi-finals are no longer a fantasy.
"I'd be lying if I told you my hands didn't hurt," added the Colombia keeper, whose stout resistance was only broken 35 minutes into the game. "When they pulled that goal back I felt as if the world had fallen in on me. We recovered quickly, though, and defended really well."
He added, almost with a sense of disbelief: "Now we're among the top eight sides in the world." Colombian football might not traditionally have a reputation for defensive play, but it is their strength at the back that has helped this Cafetero side go as far as they have. In restricting the free-scoring Russians to just two goals and edging out the Iranians by the odd goal in three, they have shackled two of the world's strongest futsal outfits.
Explaining the reasons behind the tactical shift, coach Arney Fonnegra told FIFA.com: "In my experience, every time we have gone out to play an attacking game in tournaments like this, we have been eliminated. Some will compliment us; others will criticise our defensive system. But our concept is clear and our conscience is clean."
What is Lozano's view on that? "The gaffer is absolutely right," came the answer. "In this game you have to defend well first and then attack. It's not the team that plays the best football or scores the greatest goals that wins, but the one that keeps clean sheets and takes its chances."
The durable Ukrainians are up next for the South Americans, and there is every likelihood that Lozano and Co will elect to keep things tight once again, as the keeper explained: "They play a more similar game to Russia than Iran, though all three like to take the game to you. One thing I am sure of is that we'll need to play a near-perfect match to beat them."
An international since 2005, Lozano dedicated his side's win over Iran to his mother, who passed away 18 months ago. He also had dedications to make to his father, brothers, neighbours and the country as a whole: "I bet Colombia is really excited about our performances because it's not every day that one of the country's teams does something like this."
And as he went on to say, Lozano has no intention of leaving Thailand just yet: "Even if we go out in the quarters we'll have had a great tournament, but we are confident in our own abilities. We haven't finished yet and we want more. The semi-finals are no longer a fantasy and it's a 40-minute game where it's the cleverer side that wins. All I can say is we want to be among the top four teams."
The question is, will there be a happy ending for the hero of Colombia's epic voyage?