text:
Jeter Out Until After All-Star Break
The Yankees have somehow coped without their captain, Derek Jeter, so far this season. They'll have to do it for quite a while longer.
Jeter suffered a small but new fracture in his left ankle while continuing his rehabilitation in Florida and won't return to the Yankees until sometime after the All-Star break in July.
Jeter, who turns 39 on June 26, broke his ankle in the American League Championship Series against Detroit last October and had it surgically repaired a week later by Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, N.C.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Jeter returned to Anderson's office on Thursday after "having issues." A CT scan showed what Cashman called a crack in the area near the original injury. Cashman said Anderson told him surgery wouldn't be required and that 95% of people who suffer similar injuries heal fully, but that it would take six to eight weeks to heal.
Cashman was hopeful that, because the injury was smaller, it might take more like four to six weeks.
"We have to back off and let that heal," Cashman said. "It's obviously a setback."
Cashman said Jeter won't be available until next week to address questions in New York from the news media, but he said he'd talked to Jeter, who handled the setback "like a pro."
Cashman added, "He was just like, 'I'll see you in four to six weeks.' He'll never let anybody see an area of weakness or a problem. His attitude is, 'You're going to see me sooner than later.'"
The CT scan was the third on Jeter's ankle, Cashman said. The first two, taken earlier, showed no new injuries, or a recurrence of the old injury. Jeter had continued having discomfort, however.
Jeter played in five spring-training games for the Yankees, three at shortstop, and had three hits in 11 at-bats. Jeter complained of stiffness in his ankle March 19 at spring training and had a cortisone shot a day later. He played in a minor-league game March 23.
But he was put on the disabled list March 31 and stayed in Florida when the team broke camp for the start of the regular season. He resumed baseball activity April 1, but Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Tuesday that Jeter had trimmed the number of grounders he was taking.
"Sometimes, I think you can take too many ground balls," Girardi said then.
During his daily news conference Thursday before the Yankees played the Arizona Diamondbacks, Girardi said Jeter, who worked out Wednesday, had paid an unscheduled visit to Anderson. Asked if he sensed if it was bad news, Girardi said, "Put two and two together."
A half-hour later, Cashman sat in the same seat in the conference room outside the Yankees' clubhouse and said of Jeter, "He's the toughest one we've ever had. When Derek Jeter continues to have issues that don't go away, it means more than your typical [player]. That led to the follow-up with Dr. Anderson in Charlotte."
The Yankees have done well without Jeter and other injured regular players Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson, winning eight of their first 13 games of the season. Their 4-3 victory Wednesday over Arizona was their seventh in eight games.
Reporter's Journal
Hafner's Homer Was Rarer Than One Might Think
It seems as if the Yankees manufacture late-inning lightning all the time, but Travis Hafner's go-ahead eighth-inning home run in Wednesday's win over Arizona was the first pinch-hit home run that gave the Yankees a lead in the eighth or later since Sept. 14, 2010. On that date, Jorge Posada delivered a pinch-hit solo homer in the 10th inning in a win over Tampa Bay.
Entering Thursday, Hafner, 35, had four home runs, tied for the team lead with Robinson Cano. He last topped 20 home runs in 2007, when he hit 24 for Cleveland.
"He's healthy," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I think that's the bottom line for him."
—Dave Caldwell
Cashman said the Yankees would continue to use Eduardo Nunez and Jayson Nix at shortstop. He said it was unlikely that the Yankees would pursue the acquisition of another shortstop because, as he said, "Those guys have done a nice job. They've earned the right."
Nunez took a .240 batting average and no errors in nine starts at shortstop into Thursday's game, in which he batted eighth. Nix, who had a .182 average and two errors, was at third base and batted ninth. He drove in a run Wednesday with a bases-loaded walk.
Before Cashman disclosed the severity of Jeter's injury, Nunez stood in a corner of the Yankees' clubhouse and said of Jeter, "I hope he comes back well. But I prepare myself to play every day, all year long."
Girardi was complimentary of Nunez, who had made 28 errors in 167 games in his first three major-league seasons. Part of the reason, Girardi said, was that "he's out there every day."
Now Nunez and Nix will continue to play all of the time until Jeter—the team's all-time leader in hits, games played, steals, at-bats, singles and even times hit by pitch—is able to return, much later than at first expected.
"I'm happy with Nixie and I'm happy with Nuney," Cashman said, "but I would be happier with Derek."


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Storm dumps up to 10 inches of snow
MILWAUKEE (AP) – A winter storm has moved on after dumping up to 10 inches of snow on parts of Wisconsin, causing school closings and slippery roads. The National Weather Service reports the storm dumped between 5 to 10 inches of snow. Reports include 5.3 inches in Madison, 9 inches in Portage and 10 inches in Reedsburg. Baraboo, Necedah, Wisconsin Dells, Prairie du Chien, Sparta, Tomah, and Marshfield were among districts calling off school on Wednesday as snow accumulated. The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh canceled classes beginning at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Dane County sheriff's officials warned motorists of extremely slippery roads and some near whiteout conditions. Deputies were dealing with numerous accidents. Arctic air is moving into Wisconsin as the storm moves out. Subzero cold is forecast statewide Thursday night.
Comments are closed.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
"Sunshine laws" require government to be open to its citizens.
Those public access laws are designed to let the "sunshine" in – to ensure that people can attend government meetings and inspect government documents.
The best disinfectant for government corruption? Sunshine.
As a result of this year's election, sunshine should be more plentiful in the Sauk Valley.
And government should be a little more accessible to the public.
WE TRULY BELIEVE that Whiteside County State's Attorney Gary Spencer, Lee County State's Attorney Henry Dixon, and Lee County Board Chairman Jim Seeberg are good people.
They all have done good work in largely thankless jobs in local government.
But they have not been advocates of government transparency, and have not followed public-friendly policies in their official roles.
Spencer and Seeberg chose not to seek re-election, and Dixon lost decisively in his re-election attempt. If they haven't left office already, they will soon.
We wish them well in retirement.
We thank them for their many years of service in the sometimes harsh spotlight that comes with holding public office.
And we look forward to working with their successors to ensure sunshine brightens the halls of local government.
WHILE WE ARE BEING brutally honest, let us say that this newspaper bears some responsibility for a "darkness" in local government over the years.
Reporters and editors didn't always ask the tough questions, seldom challenged the elusive answers, and too often accepted "no" as an appropriate response to requests for openness.
And local officials became comfortable with doing things their way, regardless of their responsibilities – and the public's rights – under the state's public access laws.
The newspaper's approach changed a few years ago with the arrival of editors and reporters who took seriously their role in government transparency.
The Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists says that people in our business should "Recognize a special obligation to ensure that the public's business is conducted in the open and that government records are open to inspection."
Those of us who now write for and edit this newspaper accept that obligation as part of our community advocacy.
We just cannot accept the answer, "That's how it's always been done."
Even if a previously passive approach to reporting on local public affairs helped to create that mindset.
"THAT'S THE WAY it's been done since 1984," Seeberg protested in the spring of 2011. "They did it that way before that. You don't put every issue on the agenda."
At issue was the board's practice of preparing its monthly agenda without listing all matters that were scheduled for a vote.
When a reporter for this newspaper informed Seeberg that the practice was illegal under the state's Open Meetings Act, the chairman was unmoved.
So was his chief enabler, County Attorney Dixon, who concocted a bizarre defense for ignoring case law in the matter: People who wanted that information had a "responsibility" to track it down by reviewing the minutes of the board's committee meetings.
This newspaper asked the state's attorney general to review the board's practice, and the AG found it to be illegal.
When Seeberg was finally forced to call for a revote on a matter the board had passed even though it was not on the agenda, he told the board, "Our wonderful reporter decided we didn't do it right."
Seeberg never understood it was a matter of laws, not of men.
He never did get it.
THAT FINDING BY the AG's office was the second time that month it had determined a County Board action to be illegal.
The other matter involved a complaint by Bob Logan, village president of Franklin Grove, who had objected after a board committee would not allow public comments at hearings conducted on wind energy.
Dixon had defended that practice, too, through a Byzantine explanation about different rules applying to a series of meetings. The attorney general didn't buy it.
To his credit, Dixon did wave off Seeberg when the chairman wanted to prosecute a citizen for making an audio recording of a board meeting.
The Open Meetings Act specifically says, "... any person may record the proceedings at meetings required to be open by this Act by tape, film or other means."
Why that came as a surprise to Seeberg is anyone's guess. He had been a board member for more than 25 years, but apparently had never understood the board's obligations to the public under state law.
No, he never did get it.
AT SOME POINT IN the past few years, Seeberg and Dixon stopped talking to this newspaper's county government reporter, David Giuliani.
That was their right; nothing in the law says a public official has to answer a reporter's questions.
Maybe they didn't like the reporter's questions. Maybe they didn't like his writing style. Maybe they didn't like that his reporting had so often embarrassed them for flouting the law.
During Seeberg's final County Board meeting this week, members were given the chance to comment on the chairman's service.
Although several board members had clashed with Seeberg over the years, all comments were positive – if sometimes restrained. It was not a time to try to settle old scores.
Except for Seeberg. He embarrassed himself one last time as board chairman by directing his comments solely at reporter Giuliani.
The reporter "twists" what people say, said Seeberg, who explained he was being discreet by not "cussing" at the reporter.
No, he never did get it.
Never will.
STATE'S ATTORNEY Spencer is a different matter.
As best we can tell after having observed the criminal justice system from the newsroom for four decades, Spencer knows what he's doing. He just doesn't want anybody else to know.
And he doesn't make it easy to ask. After this newspaper started asking more questions a few years ago, Spencer decided he would communicate by email only.
This is a different issue from the childish games that Seeberg and Dixon have played in Lee County – although it involves the same mix of ego, stubbornness, and "we'll do it my way" attitude.
With Spencer, the question is, To what extent does an elected official have an ethical duty to explain himself to the public?
The prime example is Spencer's handling of criminal cases against Nicholas Sheley – before the slaughter of eight victims in the summer of 2008.
Some people believe that vigorous prosecution of Sheley for serious crimes before 2008 would have put him in prison, where innocent people could not have become victims of a spree killing in those few bloody days of late June.
We will never know.
AS FOR EXPLAINING how the state's attorney prosecuted Sheley's multiple offenses before the killings, Spencer has repeatedly declined to talk.
He explained he was prevented, by court rules, from discussing the prior crimes because of the pending murder charges against Sheley. Any comments could jeopardize the defendant's right to a fair trial, Spencer said.
Colleagues described Spencer's denial as principled reasoning. But it turned out to be only a convenient excuse.
Later, during a meeting of a County Board committee, Spencer referred to Sheley as a "poster boy for the death penalty." So much for concern about prejudicial statements.
Spencer never felt obligated to explain that contradiction.
NOR DID HE EVER publicly explain why he never filed criminal charges against a Whiteside County jailer who admitted stealing the prescription drugs of inmates.
Spencer's explanation at the time was that he couldn't discuss the case because "the allegedly criminal conduct remains within the statute of limitations period."
When that period ended last February, after no charges had been filed, Spencer was silent.
And the circumstances cried for an answer: The jailer was the son of a former state policeman; state police had conducted the investigation of the thefts, at the request of the sheriff; and Spencer, himself a former deputy sheriff, had hinted that state police botched the investigation while interviewing the suspect.
In fact, this newspaper had to get the state attorney general to overrule Spencer's decision that had denied us records of the drug thefts.
Does the public not deserve an official explanation about that investigation and the lack of prosecution?
An email would be fine.
PROSECUTOR DIXON is fond of saying reporter Giuliani "makes the news" instead of reporting it.
Seeberg picked up that refrain, as did some other public officials.
Presumably, they believe reporters should keep their mouths shut and write only what public officials tell them. When it comes to illegal or improper behavior by those officials ... well, reporters ought to mind their own business.
But that's not how it works. Not anymore.
We agree with the SPJ code, about how journalists should "ensure that the public's business is conducted in the open. ..."
We think that's what the public wants, too.


text:
In this episode, Nick arrives at one of the more remote reaches of Rocky Mountain National Park. The appropriately named Wild Basin affords Nick a chance to hike to exotic Bluebird Lake, where he discovers wildfire's unique contribution to the beauty of the Rockies. Nick summiting 14,259-foot Longs Peak, where he basks in this once-in-a-lifetime experience. After some snow-shoeing, Nick enters a soulful sanctuary, perhaps his favorite, in a remote backcountry location. Here he reflects on this experience with an original musical tribute.
Visit the Website: http://www.walkintheparkwithnickmolle.com/
Episode #103 / Length: 25 minutes


text:
Rocky Mountain National Park officials announced Monday that Old Fall River Road will be closed to vehicles throughout 2014, due to the damage the historic dirt road sustained during September flooding.
Park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson said park staff are working with the Federal Highway Administration on assessments of the Alluvial Fan area and Old Fall River Road.
"Cost estimates and design concepts are still being determined," she said.
Patterson added that it has not yet been determined whether hikers and bicyclists will be allowed on the road next year.
Damages on the road are extensive, Patterson noted.
Old Fall River Road is a narrow, winding dirt road built between 1913 and 1920. The historic 9.4-mile route is one-way only and normally is open from early July to early October.
Patterson said many bridges, roads and trails on the east side of the park suffered significant damages in the flooding.
Repairs have been finished in the Wild Basin parking lot and the Twin Sisters Road, and are nearing completion on the McGraw Ranch Bridge and the Aspenglen Bridge, she said.
Trails in the Fall River, Lumpy Ridge, Bear Lake, North Fork, Twin Sisters and Wild Basin areas still have damage.
Patterson said park visitors should be prepared to encounter damaged areas.
"Due to the flood, backcountry travelers may encounter different conditions than they have experienced in the past. Visitors may find missing foot bridges, missing trail segments, uneven trail surfaces, unstable slopes, falling trees due to soil moisture, rutted trails, damaged water bars and steps, difficult water crossings, and missing directional signs," she said.
Park staff will assess at what level damaged trails will be repaired.
For more detailed information about flood impacts to trails, visit nps.gov/romo or call the park's Information Office at 970-586-1206.


text:
Cyber War: A One-Sided Battle Against A Trumped Up Enemy
from the what-is-it-good-for?--absolutely-nothin' dept
The problem, of course, is that anyone who spends a couple minutes studying what's actually happening realizes that this is a one-sided war, likely started by the West, and our opponent is fighting against our tanks with pea-shooters.
The first shot was probably the release of Stuxnet sometime during or before 2009. Even though no one has officially claimed responsibility everyone knows who was behind it. Stuxnet hit with a bang and did a whole lot of damage to Iran's uranium-enrichment capabilities. The United States followed that up with Flame–the ebola virus of spyware.That's what makes all of this seem so monumentally silly. The government is making use of an American public, which is massively ignorant about who and what Iran is and is capable of, to go legislatively nutbars in our own country. Don't ask me why they're doing it, but they are. Perhaps more importantly, we're being told that we need legislation to protect against an incapable enemy in a war that we started. If that makes sense to you, chances are you need psychiatric care.
What did the Iranians fire back with? A series of massive, on-going and ineffective DDoS attacks on American banks. This is a disproportionate response but not in the way military experts usually mean that phrase. It's the equivalent of someone stealing your car and you throwing an ever-increasing number of eggs at his house in response.
And even more problematic, and frustrating for me personally, is that our government isn't even putting in the effort to fool me properly. It's one thing to have Colin Powell waving a test tube at Congress and shouting "We're all going to die!", but it's quite another to have folks like Gen. William Shelton talking about potential risks in a potential war that we potentially started with a potential threat that we created by attacking it. That's entirely too much potential and not enough blatant falsehood. If the government wants to bullshit us, they can't go in half way. I need real creative lying, not nonsense reports that they have to subsequently pull because they're...you know...made up.
ProPublica reported yesterday that a widely cited Defense Department study claiming Iran's Intelligence Ministry constitutes "a terror and assassination force 30,000 strong" has been "pulled for revisions." It seems there's no proof whatsoever that the 30,000 number wasn't pulled out of thin air.See, it's not that I'm siding with the pea-shooters here, it's that I'm more scared of the guys that started this war with their tanks. Particularly when the result is poorly-conceived legislation.


text:
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's health ministry says 28 people have been killed in clashes between security forces and supporters of the ousted president.
The ministry said the 26 were killed in Cairo, and two in cities south of the capital.
The clashes took place on a national holiday celebrating the 40th anniversary of the start of the 1973 Mideast war.


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Maybe someone should tell them it's not FIFO~
Mississippi stays at the bottom of the heap
Don't worry, they'll be joined shortly by many other states hungry for revenue. The problem with this bill (well, one of many problems, actually) is that it will damage the nascent e-book and e-music industry just as they're struggling to get established, even as paper and CD publishers flounder. Also, it will largely tax the teens and 20-30-somethings who actually purchase these kinds of products. A rather regressive tax.
It should be easy enough to get around this law. If you read the bill, it spells out the precise types of electronic "products" that are taxable. So the vendors can simply convert these products to non-ebooks and non-music and non-videos, and provide a little converter that allows the buyer to change them back into ebooks and music and videos at his/her discretion. We don't sell music, we sell blobs of binary data. If you find a way to transform it miraculously into your favorite music, more power to you!
An even better idea would be a refusal to sell to residents of those states. The moment the billing / destination address is identified as a taxing state, refuse the sale based on the tax legislation. If it's online, link to it specifically. Nothing like political pressure to make a politician squirm. Once those states stop having sales from Internet based sources, they'll change their tune.
Obviously such a law can not be enforced. But the thought behind this new law is disturbing. The notion that a government can muck about and stir up things to create a new source of taxation needs to be nipped in the bud so that we are not forced to perpetually fight such obnoxious ideas.
I don't usually go with what's normally a Republican line of thinking, but for something like this, businesses absolutely will move states to avoid being subject to a sales tax.
This will only take jobs away from Mississippi and other states that pursue such policies.
tax fraud, that's how they will nail downloaders.
There Job is to find way to pay for services that people demand.
No one taxes to just tax. It's hard enough to tell people you need to tax for the things they want!
No one taxes to just tax.
Obviously you don't live in California.
I lived in CA long enough to remember when they had an excellent schools system, both K-12 and community college. Watched it all go to hell when they passed prop 13. Limiting taxes.
I left in 2000.
I recently came to California from New Hampshire, which introduced a property tax several years ago. I wasn't around for Prop. 13, but after doing a bit of reading, I'm glad it passed. If someone owns land, and has little income, why should they be punished for that?
I know a man who works as a teacher in New Hampshire who owns over 100 acres of land. The land's been in his family for at least two generations. The property tax was passed, and he nearly went bankrupt paying the taxes on the land because the land value assessments were artificially inflated by the housing market bubble.
I don't like heavy taxation in any form, but property taxes are disproportionately unfair to anyone who owns land and doesn't have a high income.
Land is a finite commodity. If everyone got the same amount, there would only be about 5 acres of land available per person today.
It might not be fair to the teacher to have to pay high taxes on the land, but it's not fair to society to let him keep it for no/low cost when it might be put to better, more productive use for society by someone else.
If he can't afford it, let him sell it to someone who can. If there's no incentive for people to make productive use of capital, the economy stagnates.
I think the next tax will be computer taxes... for every computer you own you will be taxed appropriately. Doesn't matter if the computer is a TI-2 or the latest Dell super computer. To make it easy a computer will be defined by a cpu, for every cpu in your house you're taxed...
If you can't afford to have a quad core computer, microwave, refrigerator, tv, remote control, digital cable box, digital thermostat, hot water heater, alarm clock, cell phone, LAN telephone, home router, home entertainment center,
If there's no incentive for people to make productive use of capital, the economy stagnates.
The incentive for people to make productive use of capital is the reward / gain they get from doing so. I'm no rabid objectivist or "big-L" libertarian, but that's just fundamental economics.
it's not fair to society to let him keep it for no/low cost when it might be put to better, more productive use for society by someone else.
Spoken like a true communist. Other than life itself, there is no more fundamental right than the right to property. From your comments I get the impression that you are not a property owner or you would not be so cavalier in taxing it away.
Reallocating property from one person to another based on "productive use of capital" for the benefit of society over the rights of the individual is always going to be a negative incentive to productivity. Why acquire property if it can just be taken away (or taxed away) at the whim of some powerful individual or group? Some property taxes are probably inevitable to pay for necessary social services (fire, police, etc.) but those taxes should never be used to penalize for some imagined lack of relative "productivity".
Unfortunately, there are others who agree with your line of reasoning, most notably some US Supreme Court justices. See Kelo v. City of New London [wikipedia.org] for a real world example of the results.
So..you're saying you are against the idea that people own things like land/property. That they ONLY 'rent' it from the government (tax==rent)
Boy, now that is a big change from how things in this country started....
"someone owns land, and has little income, why should they be punished for that?"
Umm, since this hadn't happened before the Prop, why would it suddenly start happening without the prop?
Yeah people where all 'Don't throw old ladies out in the street' even though there had never been a recorded incident of that happening.
If I had know the term then, I would have called it FUD.
In every state I have looked into it, taxes are based on the accessed value from the county, not on the market conditions. In CA my con
Why should tax payers support people who can't afford to pay there property tax?
Circular reasoning.
So, just where do you think the county's assessed value numbers come from? Thin air? The Assessor's magic 8 ball? Roll 5d6?
The ignorance in your statement is staggering.
The county's assessed value is based almost exclusively on market value!
Actually, one of the biggest reasons I don't like New Hampshire's property tax is that for the last few years, the assessors were inflating the assessed value. Thing is, the more they say your house/land is worth, the more you're taxed. It was in their best interest to say that your house was worth a fortune! My dad had to appeal on our house to get another assessor to come and give a more reasonable figure.
http://e-city.ca/events/event_details.php?id=143 [marketvalueassessment]
Retired homeowners see their assessments skyrocketing because others are buying and selling, putting their ability to age in place at risk.
NH has had a property tax for a long time. In fact, the property tax in NH pretty much accounts for almost the entire state budget. The problem is that owning valuable property does not necessary equate to ability to pay taxes. Thus, you're anecdote bears some relevance to NH's tax system, but not because the tax is new, rather, because your friend inherited valuable land, but has a limited income and therefore cannot pay the tax.
Sorry, I know this is off topic but I can't let it pass without comment.
So you REALLY think that it was Prop 13 that sank California?
Why is it always the income side of Government that is deficient? How about examining the expense structure of the state and how it changed.
Somehow more tax money NEVER solves the revenue problem faced by Government. NEVER. NOT ONE TIME.
Sorry, I know this is off topic but I can't let it pass without comment.
So you REALLY think that it was Prop 13 that sank California?
Well.... The thing about prop 13... It set up a conflict of interest between the cities and counties and their populace. After prop 13, the cities and counties were opposed to new housing development. Housing demands services that is not covered by the revenue generated. As time goes by, the cities and counties develop complex ways of hiding this problem by implementing all manner of permit fees and revenue enhancements. For example in 2000, in one small east SF Bay area city, in order to build a house, it cost in excess of $70,000 for the required building permits. That means that every single house that has a valid occupancy permit, no matter what condition, has a built in base price of $70,000.
Artificial scarceness drives up prices. When a house changes hands, it can be reassessed under prop 13. So churn is good for cities.
Finally... The banks get to collect 5 - 6 - 7% interest on all this property tax avoidance chicanery. Lather rinse repeat for 30+ years...
We're reading about the results in the paper every day. The house of cards finally folded. Now some of the gross abuses of the state expense structure are coming into view. My favorite... The police and correctional officers union. You do your 20 years, and get to retire with full benefits. So you can retire at roughly 40 years old, and have full pay and benefits for life while you go double dip as a security consultant, etc... Same deal with the firefighter unions.
The problem is... It's easy enough to say "yea, that's wrong. They shouldn't sign those contracts." or "they should repeal prop 13", but they're entrenched. If you benefit from them, you support them. My parents love prop 13. And why shouldn't they? They're paying property taxes last reassessed in 1978. Their son bought a cardboard box of a house, payed 11% income tax, 5% of his income in property tax, 9.25% sales tax, 1% vehicle property tax, and countless fees... and double that again in inflated prices so others could do the same... and got fed up sold his house and transferred his job out of state. They still don't understand why.
The problems were caused by Market Value Assessments. Retirees bought a small house, paid their property taxes, no problem. The next door neighbor decides he wants to cut down all the trees, and turn the back lot into into rental units to make money. OK, they can live with that. At the next MVA, their property tax quadruples because the city figures out that if their neighbors property is now bringing in sixteen times as much property tax as it used to, so should theirs (MVA just averages the property tax o
No, their job is to preserve individual liberty and to stay within the boundaries set for them by the Constitution. The US government is failing terribly at both.
No one taxes to just tax. It's hard enough to tell people you need to tax for the things they want!
I wish I lived in your world. Here in the Real World (tm), governments tax anything they can get away with taxing.
After all, if you have revenue, you'll find a way to spend it....
No, their job is to provide the services they are supposed to be providing. They have gone so far afield in the last few decades that many people believe that "I want" is justification for the state to do something. "I want a place to live", and politicians jump to help. "I want a free college education". "I want a museum honoring left-handed butterfly collectors."
It's hard enough to tell people you need to tax for the things they want!
Typically states do not tax sales to citizens of other states or tax good purchased from other states because 1) its bad for business, driving mail-order companies out of state, and 2) The murky provisions of Article 1 Sections 9 and 10 have, in the past been seen as making such a tax illegal.
Therefore, most states will only tax transactions where the seller has a presence in the state.
Or are they going to tax based on the honor system? What if I lived in Mississippi, but I traveled to Louisiana and downloaded music? What if I host a server in Colorado, pay for downloads from that server remotely, then sync my file system with that server?
I would wager that while technically you would need to pay taxes in those scenarios, but no one is going to give a rats ass because most people will be downloading through a service like iTunes from their home. Your examples would apply to so few people that it wouldn't be worth paying someone to track you down.
They syncing version maybe - though it's an interesting idea.
The leaving the state one - absolutely not. You can't charge sales tax in one state for business done in another state, especially business that is most likely interstate anyways. I'm not going to research the location of the servers to be certain - but iTunes, probably hosted in Washingston state or California. How would Mississippi have any right to tax a transaction between Louisiana and California? I regularly travel between Texas and Loui
You can't charge sales tax in one state for business done in another state
A rose by any other name... [wikipedia.org]
http://window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/use/ [state.tx.us]
Many state do require you to report items purchased in another state, based on how long ago you bought it.
You might want to find out about that tax fraud you've been committing.
Its called a "use tax". For example CA charges one on anything bought on OR (where there is no sales tax). Buy a car there and you'll quickly find yourself being taxed by CA (although admittedly only big things like cars get tracked down. Everything else is done on the honor system, with remarkably few people filling out anything but a 0 on that line.
I have a feeling this will be implemented like sales tax for purchasing items online: you buy an item from Newegg, and they have to charge you sales tax if you live in a state where they have a physical presence (CA, NJ, TN), even if your order is shipped from elsewhere.
Good luck getting a retailer in New Jersey to comply with Mississippi state law if they don't have to, especially small retailers.
Though, getting Apple and a few the largest others, like Amazon to comply wouldn't be as hard.
Read my post again: I listed those three states for Newegg because of sales tax. Newegg has locations CA, NJ, and TN, so if they ship an order anywhere in CA, NJ, or TN, they have to charge sales tax. If Newegg ships a package to any of the other 47 states, they don't charge sales tax.
As far as I can tell, if Mississippi passes a Software Sales Tax, then the only retailers that have to comply are retailers in Mississippi to Mississippi residents.
NY tried something similar last year. Newegg started out complying with NY's sales tax, but then told them to shove it. Plenty of references here - Newegg Defies New York Sales Tax Law [slashdot.org]
I am not a lawyer, but I believe that there is a dormant commerce clause issue when states try to tax sales of businesses that do not have a physical presence in the state.
I believe that was soundly decided against in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota [cornell.edu].
Yes. While technically you should ahve been paying the use tax on that yourself* , nobody does.
Wasn't a big deal when
Mail order companies know this is coming, that's why they are pushing for states to have a single tax for the entire state for these purchases.
It's one thing to ahve to stay up to date on 50 sales tax numbers, it's another for every state county city, etc . . . in the US.
Maybe the feds should apply a flat rate to all sales, and then divi
The problem is, the way the tax codes are from each state it is actually impossible for mail order and internet companies to pay them without added infrastructure.
And it's not just state tax - you need to tax for the county/parish/etc the person lives in, as well.
Take Minnesota for example. There is a 6.5% statewide sales tax. If you live in Hennepin County, you need to pay an additional
When the chips are down, tax people even more and damage the economy further.
Please show me where taxes on the citizens hurt the economy. I am not talking about corporate taxes; that is a different matter.
They only way out of this is education, and education costs money. You need things for civilization, and that takes taxes. Increasing purchase, and decreasing income will not work.
Please show me where taxes on the citizens hurt the economy.
This is the second time I've posted this link [wikipedia.org] today.
If all your money goes into taxes you have less to put into the economy to buy $NEW_SHINY_THING
When the mode of commerce changes , tax people in order to fund the government and pay for things like social services, roads, and other infrastructure.
I get so tired of this argument. Government is not always bad, taxes are not always bad, and markets are not always the answer. The rest of the world has been dealing with these realities since the 1970s. If we don't wake up, our wealth isn't going to last into another generation.
And finally, the "right" to get wealthy is less important than anything on the Bill of Rights. Liberty has nothing to do with owning a Hummer.
Can liberty have something to do with *getting* a hummer? Please?
The problem is that most of the budgets were set with 3-5% unemployment and now there is 7-8% or more nationwide. That may not seem like much, but 4-5% less Income tax adds up to billions of dollars of budget shortfall for both state and federal budgets. Lawmakers then have the burden of either cutting spending or increasing taxes or both, and they also need money to provide stimulus for all those unemployed workers to try to restart the economy.
So lawmakers are really trying to shift the tax burden onto
I live in Canada. Here, all of these products are taxed like any other good or service - and there is no mail order freebie to distory the level playing field of the retail economy by not having to pay them via mial order. Up here? It's not new. It's not shocking. Believe it or not, the sun still comes up every morning - the world turns. Then it gets dark and we go to sleep. Every day. Life goes on.
Thing is, the federal debt in the USA has been spiralling so fast since 2000 that all of these "reports" and pointing to same as the portents of the Four Horsemen are going to go the way of the dodo in a dozen years or so - or less.
You simply will not have a *choice* but to increase taxes in the USA to at least Canadian and possibly Western European levels if you don't deal with it soon enough. (My bet - you won't deal with it soon enough. Americans are nutty when it comes to taxes.) You'll put it off and put it off and then put it off somemore until there is no wiggle room left at all. And then you will point fingers at your politicians - instead of you the voters - which is *precisely* where the blame will lie.
That's the price you will ultimately have to pay for spending money for decades that you simply do not have. That prediction is not a *maybe*. It is a *certainty*. The cheque is coming to your table. Deal with it (and kindly quit your whining about it too, please. It's not a big deal.)
This is a result of the Republicans loosening banking regs. since Reagan and the 'choking the beast' tax cuts.
America was in debt since ever before Andrew Jackson and ever after Andrew Jackson. Certainly long before Reagen.
Jackson despised any form of national bank (in our time, the Federal Reserve), and saw to their bankruptcy and demise, as he thought that whoever controlled the money had power and he wanted the people to have power.
After bankrupting the national bank, he became the first and only president to date to pay off the national debt. I suspect he will also be the last president to pay off national debt
Thing is, the federal debt in the USA has been spiralling so fast since 2000 that all of these "reports" and pointing to same as the portents of the Four Horsemen are going to go the way of the dodo in a dozen years or so - or less.
All very well and good.
But Mississippi isn't the Federal government, and Ms can tax whatever it likes without affecting the Federal deficit in the slightest.
Note, by the way, that Ms, like pretty much all the States (and unlike the Federal government), are required to balance t
I didn't suggest Mississippi was the Federal Government. I did suggest - and do suggest - that the overall deficit burden at all local state and Federal levels is interdependent and is certain to result in cessations of funding and transfers from one government level to the next, requiring significant increase in taxation over the next 12 years to come close to maintaining current commitments.
That means when the federal government runs a deficit, all ogvernment levels will ultimately be paying taxes to deal
I didn't suggest Mississippi was the Federal Government. I did suggest - and do suggest - that the overall deficit burden at all local state and Federal levels is interdependent and is certain to result in cessations of funding and transfers from one government level to the next, requiring significant increase in taxation over the next 12 years to come close to maintaining current commitments.
Not so much as you might think. Federal commitments are just that - Federal. If the Feds don't, or can't, send the
There seems to be a disconnect here. When the issue is one of an ability of a State government to pay its bills which it uses Federal money to do, - and the money stops - there are two choices:
1 - find the money (that means taxes)
2 - stop the program
It's all well and good to shrug and say "not my problem". When the roads are crumbling and the bridges falling down, my guess is that Americans at all local and state levels may share another view.
By the way, issuing long term debt and deficit financing are two
Actually, most of the "blue" states make a net contribution in federal taxes, while the "red" states take that contribution. If the federal government's aid to the states collapses, it will be the south that pays while the north shrugs and continues much as things are now. It could conceivably lead to another civil war along the old lines, over the same reason: Economics. The south simply doesn't have the money or natural resources to survive without the assistance of the north. -_-
I think you misunderstand our method of government. Unlike most "western european" countries, our government is based on a division between the county, state, and federal levels. And it's not a clear division either. For example, a federal law trumps a state law, unless it happens to be in the state constitution, in which case only the federal constition can override or restrict it. You might imagine what merry hell this plays on our justice system (give you a hint: Everyone in this country is a felon, it's
First, I'm a Canadian. I live in a federal state system, same as you do, ok?
Second, I'm a lawyer. I understand how parmountcy and shared field theories of constitutional law work (probably much better than you).
Third, I don't give a rat's ass about how you go about fixing your domestic problems or how you fix your fiscal policy. That's because they are not mine to fix; they are YOURS to fix. Find your own unique American solution, by all means. Take as much American excpetionalism as you can carry; fill yo
1. No, speaking as another Canadian, their federal system is significantly different. There is a much stronger divide between state and federal law than there is between provincial and federal law.
2. In terms of debt:GDP ratio, the US is roughly where we were at in the early 90s after the PCs got finished with things, and they're going into a recession, not coming out of one, so I really agree this is going to get ugly quickly.
For example, a federal law trumps a state law, unless it happens to be in the state constitution, in which case only the federal constition can override or restrict it.
Go back and read the Supremacy Clause again. It clearly says that federal law trumps state constitutions and state law.
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; a
....That's the price you will ultimately have to pay for spending money for decades that you simply do not have....
That is pure and unadulterated BS. We here, as most Americans cannot spend more money than we have or can borrow. Most credit cards have a limit. You also forget, that someone who has the authority to print money, (or program computer bits in a financial system) without going to jail, can never go bankrupt. Throughout most of human history, the medium of exchange we call money has always had so
I well understand the overall complexities of monetary policy. Spending money you do not have means borrowing it. You didn't have it, now you borrowed it. There. No you have it to spend.
We're clear on that part, right?
I'm not talking about pating the mortgage and groceries. Governments don't work that way. But in the end, they entire monetary system still depends upon governments paying it back - and being charged interest in the meanwhile.
At the ned of tha day, when the interest on your debt forms such a g
In most EU countries there is a 17% VAT tax on electronic downloads. Has been that way for a couple of years.
Why shouldn't it be taxed in the US?
Because there's no "value added" by introducing a Value Added Tax.
Why should a business transaction be taxed simply because it happened? Taxes are meant to give the government the bare minimum of income necessary to conduct government business, not to punish people for spending money they received in exchange for their labor.
We have taxes that punish people for conducting transactions [wikipedia.org], being productive citizens [wikipedia.org] and family tragedy [wikipedia.org]. We also reward people for being idle [wikipedia.org].
Hey ho, it seems to broadly work.
Because the USA isn't the EU?
Just because something exists in another country, doesn't mean it should be a world-wide trend.
I live in Canada, we have a maple leaf on our flag, why shouldn't there be a maple leaf on the US flag?
Do you Canadians pay GST/PST on Internet downloads? Or at least GST?
Just wondering since you have to pay it on pretty much everything else.
Yes and No... it depends on the Province, the size of the company, and wether you are selling in-province or out-of-province, in some it's 0, in others its anywhere from about 5% to as high as 18%.
Selling outside of country is generally tax free, with exceptions like the EU, where there's some weird translated tax, where 'our' tax of the item gets sent to the EU.
But naturally, because like all governments it's a clusterfuck of weird loopholes, there are ways around almost all the taxes. But I am by no means an expert on it, so if you really want to know, you'll have to look elsewhere.
Just because something exists in another country, doesn't mean it should be a world-wide trend.
The problem is this: You can either pick
1) Lots of government spending, and lots of all kinds of taxes to pay for it, including taxes on ether like digital downloads
2) Little government spending, and as a result fewer / no taxes.
What those of use struggle with 'in other countries' is that USA has picked both lots of spending and no taxes. It's unsustainable. Pick one or the other, USA.
The main reason is that sales taxes in the US are only at the state/county/city level, not the federal level. Many years ago, there was a federal court ruling against one state trying to charge sales tax on something bought in another state (I don't remember the details but I'm sure Google does), so mail-order businesses did not have to charge sales tax on shipments to states where they did not have a physical presence.
Also, the way sales taxes are handled complicates collections on mail/web-order sales.
Just becasue it's done one way in the EU is no argument for why it should be done here.
Let's start with a fact: If you're over the age of 18 and have ever filed taxes, you're guilty of tax fraud. I don't know what law, but I assure you, you're a criminal. Shame on you. Now, that said, they can pass this law all they want... and it will only succeed in chasing any businesses operating in their state that sell software online away. And really, how many skilled programmers are you going to find in Mississippi anyway? Oh, sorry, that might be stereotyping. Shame on me.
Depends on whether or not Microsoft lobbyists were involved in writing the bill
You can tax my porn when you pry it from my wet sticky fingers
and that New York is considering taxing downloads of all kinds.
Good job, lawmakers. As we all know, the best way out of an economic recession or depression is to increase and create new taxes. After all, the fastest way to economic recovery is to increase the tax burden on citizens!
The bad news is there might be a sales tax on downloads.
The far, far worse news is you are in Missinhippie. Get out while you can.
So, will the downloads that Radio and Televsion stations make from their content providers be covered by this?
If you suspect a man, don't employ him.


text:
Afrobarometer: Round II Survey of South Africa, 2002 (ICPSR 4236)
Published: Mar 13, 2008
Principal Investigator(s):
Robert Mettes, Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA); Annie Chikwanha, Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA)
Version V2
The Afrobarometer project was designed to assess attitudes toward democracy, markets, and civil society in several sub-Saharan African nations, and to track the evolution of such attitudes in those nations over time. This particular survey was concerned with the attitudes and opinions of the citizens of South Africa. Respondents were asked to rate South Africa's President Mbeki and his administration's overall performance, and to state the most important issues facing the nation. Opinions were gathered on the role of the government in improving the economy, whether corruption existed in local and national government, whether government officials were responsive to problems of the general population, and whether local government officials, the police, the courts, the overall criminal justice system, the media, the Independent National Electoral Commission, and the government broadcasting service could be trusted. Respondents were polled on their knowledge of government officials, their level of personal involvement in political, governmental, and community affairs, and the inclusiveness of the government. Respondents were asked to grade the way the country was governed under Apartheid, the current system of government, and the political system of the country as they expected it to be in 10 years. Economic questions addressed the past, present, and future of the country's and the respondent's economic condition, and whether great income disparities are fair. Societal questions addressed whether everyone should be responsible for themselves and their own success or failure, what characteristics respondents used to identify themselves, whether it was easy to obtain assistance with securing food, water, schooling, and medical services, and by what methods respondents did so. Background variables include age, language spoken most at home, education, current employment status, employment status over the last 12 months, employment history, family financial situation over the last 12 months, monetary support system, whether a close friend or relative had died from AIDS, language used in interview, sex, ethnicity, religious affiliation, religious participation, type of physical disability (if any), type of housing, and respondent's attitude during the interview.
Export Citation:
United States Agency for International Development. Regional Center for Southern Africa (690-G-00-02-00254-00)
Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage
To ensure confidentiality, a restricted-use version of this collection is available. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete an Agreement for the Use of Confidential Data, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research. Apply for access to these data through the ICPSR Restricted Data Contract Portal, which can be accessed via the study home page.
Time Period(s)
2002-09-13 -- 2002-10-13
Date of Collection
2002-09-13 -- 2002-10-13
Data Collection Notes
(1) This survey was administered in all provinces of South Africa in proportion to the relative size of each province and racial group in the national population. (2) To preserve respondent confidentiality, the variable DISTRICT has been recoded to "BLANKED". (3) The dates in the data file for variable DATEINTR are not consistent with the dates listed in the codebook for this variable. (4) In producing the full product-suite of files, variables DATEINTR, STRTIME, and ENDTIME have been changed from date to string variables. As a result, they have moved from their original positions in the data file to the end of the variable list. (5) Additional information about the Afrobarometer Survey can be found at the Afrobarometer Web site.
Original Release Date
Version Date
Version History
2008-03-13 The data and documentation have been resupplied by the data producer. The SAS, SPSS, and Stata setup files, Stata system file, and ICPSR codebook have been updated. Also, the SPSS portable file has been replaced with an SPSS system file, the SAS transport (XPORT) file has been replaced with a SAS transport (CPORT) file, and a tab-delimited ASCII data file has been added.
2005-12-06 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Created online analysis version with question text.
Data in this collection are available only to users at ICPSR member institutions.
This study is provided by ICPSR. ICPSR provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for a diverse and expanding social science research community.


text:
Syria: Religious Police Patrol Aleppo's Countryside
Al-Akhbar Management
By: Basel Dayoub
Published Wednesday, December 19, 2012
The Syrian opposition groups that have taken control of Aleppo's countryside are deploying a religious police force to enforce new laws, such as barring women from driving and making prayer compulsory.
Aleppo – The battle for Aleppo does not get the kind of media attention it did during the early days of the opposition's offensive to take the city. Neither the regime nor the opposition has been able to make much headway in the past several months.
Residents of the embattled city, whose main concerns revolve around security and survival, were shocked to hear that opposition groups who control the Aleppan countryside are deploying a vice-and-virtue police to enforce a deeply conservative interpretation of Islamic law.
The opposition insists that the new force is the revolution's version of a civilian police squad, whose primary purpose is to fight crime, particularly those committed by undisciplined members of the armed factions. In fact, there are those who support its creation for this very reason.
One local resident, for example, argued that "there were a number of transgressions committed by some Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters, and this police force will punish those involved – their door is open to whoever wants to lodge a complaint. We shouldn't judge them before we've tried them."
Then, rumors began to circulate that such a formation was patrolling the streets of the town of al-Bab in Aleppo's countryside and herding people into mosques during prayer time and preventing women from driving cars. The opposition quickly denied the news.
They insisted that the picture of a religious police office circulating on the Internet was taken in Saudi Arabia and attributed to the opposition to tarnish its reputation. Regime loyalists responded by taking several pictures of the office from different angles to establish its location.
The following day, the so-called Revolutionary Military Council in Aleppo issued a statement banning women from driving. The group also released several video clips showing men of various Arab nationalities patrolling the streets and forcing people to pray.
Another video posted on YouTube by opposition activists shows a prominent member of the Saudi virtue police, Abdallah al-Hattel, in a pickup truck in the suburbs of Aleppo calling on people to attend to their prayers.
These developments sparked the anger of many of Aleppo's women. "This revolution for freedom is driving us further into the arms of the Syrian army and the regime's approach to social and individual freedoms," Mais al-Omar declared.
"What we lacked were political freedoms," she continued, "but instead they decided to take away our social and individual freedoms. All the masks have now fallen and we can see their true nature and the extremist ideas they advocate."
Secular opposition activists were shocked by the news, with some suggesting that the whole affair was fabricated by the regime.
One activist told Al-Akhbar that if the reports are true, then "it is a crime against the Syrian woman who has been flying planes for many years now and has entered many fields that were once exclusively male, like joining the army and becoming judges."
Others in the opposition camp belittled the importance of such a development, saying that the decision to form the police force "was taken by an unelected group that does not represent the Syrian revolution, which is seeking to take advantage of the chaos caused by the stubborn regime."
Another regime opponent, Safa Maarawi, condemned the religious police, but nevertheless blamed the regime for "repressing the secularists and building thousands of mosques. Its first response to the revolution was to throw secularists in jail, thus opening the way for the Islamists, which it then exploited to scare people."
There were, however, opposition voices who openly supported the virtue-and-vice squad, arguing that "it is part-and-parcel of the freedom revolution, which means that the conservative Muslim majority has the right to impose its views on society, as long as it is the majority."
The university student, who said he was forced to take up arms to defend peaceful protesters, conceded that "Syrian society will find it difficult at first, as was the case with our Saudi brothers a century ago, but they will eventually discover that their purpose is to apply Islam and justice."
FSA supporter Salem, for his part, maintained that "the regime's media is blowing the matter out of proportion, for it is a secondary and minor development compared to the much larger civil and peaceful revolutionary movement," pointing out that no one should be disturbed by members of this police force, for "they suffered terribly at the hands of the regime and are known for their high religious values."
Samer Othman also defended the creation of such a force, noting that their primary role is "to pursue criminals, thieves, and those who drink alcohol – the focus on preventing women from driving is merely to cover up all these positive aspects."
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
- Section: Mideast & North Africa
- Category: Articles
- Tags: Syrian government, rumors, Religious police, FSA, Aleppo
I don´t support wahabi terrorists! Instead of fighting for Palestine these idiots are terrorizing an arab country that was great!
Iran, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria = Will win over the Zionist Terror Entity
I don't think you can lump Iran into that dastardly group..no one has been killed in Iran for being Sunni and no one runs around like barbarians calling anyone that doesn't support
Obviously, you don't have a clue what you're talking about, keep watching PressTV to stay informed.
The same thing happened in Iraq. Both Syria & Iraq were both ruled by the Baathist Party. Although the party is greatly supported by the Sunni Muslims in the country. But there is a great Shia Population that the US & the West ares supporting in this war against Bashir Assad.
The result of these nations going "Shia" in both the Iraq and now the Syria nations will lead to a "Shia Coalition of Iran, Iraq and Syria". Basically we are going to create a Greater Persia and Iran isn't even lifting a finger to do so.
Look forward to nations such as Bahrain being next.
What are you talking about? Assad is an Alawite. Sunnis, specifically Muslim Brotherhood, want to create an Islamic State. Turkey's AKParty and Arabia have been aiding these monster terrorists from the start, in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and Syria. Shias have few followers. Sunnis are taking over, again.
Thruth is indeed crawling out of shut drawers, what will ooze out will make time stop, then go backward and stop on the 8th century when this part of the planet was shrouded in a veil of ignorance, fear, darkness.
FSA = Foreign Salafi Army.
In the USA I am bombarded with the declaration that diversity is our strength.
Yet, the brainwashed mob spewing that meaningless jargon will recoil in horror at the events supposedly occurring inside Syria.
Well, that IS diverse behavior so why the repulsion from the "diversity is our strength" mob?
I suppose diversity is fine only when the diversity agrees with the mind-set of that mob of brainwashed buffoons bleating about the wonders of diversity.
In a way, the USA politically correct diversity-loving cohort is akin to the Taliban in a way.
The Salafitards have nothing to offer Syria but death and desolation....the Black Flag brings only misery, not freedom.
There goes more of your freedom.
Back in time for women instead of forwards.
No driving for women.
These despicable guys, control freaks, here comes a second Saudi Arabia.
More hell to come for the poor Syrians.
Yes, it shows it again, Religion atits best, hate and control.
Yes, the masks are falling. And we are seeing the true face of the Syrian counterrevolution planned and supported by the US and its appendages
Welcome to Syrudia Arabia.
Welcome to Iran and Iraq and Saudi arabia. In fact they did not have surpassed Iraq yet. They don`t have killed Teenagers because of their emo haircut.
Yeah, I don't think you can lump Iran into that dastardly group..no one has been killed in Iran for being Sunni and no one runs around like barbarians calling anyone that doesn't support their twisted version of Islam a kafir, get off your soap box and look at the facts.
Actually the Iranians have been killing Sunnis, Ba'hais, Jewish, and Kurds because of their religion.
Just who is telling you that Iran is killing their minority? They are unfortunately id10ts. The minorities of Iran are a protected slice of their population. Jews & Christians even have a set aside for the Iranian Parliament. Even Pakistan protects their Christian population, if you look at their flag....The "white" strip is for the Christians of the nation.
Good grief!! I take it you have not seen the pictures and video of public hangings
of gays and women in the beautiful Islamic Republic of Iran?
Wise up you bloody fool.


text:
North Maple and Kansas Avenue will be temporarily closed for construction purposes.
North Maple and Kansas Avenue will be temporarily closed for construction purposes.
Commissioners approved a project on Monday that would close North Maple on Monday, near the railroad tracks, and close one lane of Kansas Avenue next to Peoples Bank as of today.
Both roads will be closed for three to four days, weather permitting.
North Maple will be closed for the demolition of grain silos at Mid Kansas Cooperative Association's facility at 321 N. Maple.
Kansas Avenue will have a closed lane to allow for a crane to setup roof work on Peoples Bank. The McPherson Street Department will assist with traffic control.
In other business:
• Mayor Tom Brown presented an award of recognition to St. Joseph's sixth grade for their work on Hydropolis, a Future City project competition in which the students earned first place in new entries.
The students also sat through the city commission meeting to see the inner workings of city management in person.
• Commissioners approved a budget of $8,365 for a contract with Service Master for the cleaning and locking of five sets of public restrooms. The contract goes into effect April 15, and ends Oct. 31.
• Commissioners approved a budget of $1,300 for the purchase of scorecards for the McPherson Golf Course.


text:
Telmach wrote:I'm so glad they're finally adding "creepy" parts. The over all cuteness of was becoming hard to ignore.
Ascus wrote:
simsmac wrote:Mmmm, I see the price was conveniently left out of that article (It's $20). I'm probably going to buy it, but it should cost as much as the original Creature Creator, which costs $10. In fact, it should be a free update for garsh sake! It's just a bunch of parts!
I would expect that a parts pack would cost something, but IMHO $20 is too high $10 would not have been.
I will show my support for the lower price by not buying it.
simsmac wrote:Mmmm, I see the price was conveniently left out of that article (It's $20). I'm probably going to buy it, but it should cost as much as the original Creature Creator, which costs $10. In fact, it should be a free update for garsh sake! It's just a bunch of parts!
RocketGirl wrote:
Telmach wrote:I'm so glad they're finally adding "creepy" parts. The over all cuteness of was becoming hard to ignore.
Yes, well, I would have preferred a "Realism" pack, frankly. While I will not be buying anything new until and unless Science Spore is released, a realism pack that tried to more accurately portray biology instead of being cartoonish would be a step in the right direction and might make me consider changing my mind...
MoaBurns wrote:$20 for a fluff parts pack 2 months after "full" game ? nah
maybe for $4.95 might consider it, I would imagine EA will find consumers a bit more savvy in how they spend disposable income in today's economy, also I think the parents of the kiddies asking them to shell out another 20 bucks for a game they just paid 50 - 80 bucks for just 2 months ago will be much much more hesitant to do so ..
Creators for this game are accessible and amazing, but the horribly shallow gameplay and a buggy patch (for many) that still has not been fixed in over a month leads me to believe others will spend their money elsewhere and get more value in return. just my 2 cents
greasy85 wrote:not sure if this has been said yet but in a video i saw before spore came out a demonstration vid by the way showed then beaming down there spore creature onto a planet and interacting with the locals. so in other words I believe that EA is deliberately withholding content from us for the purpose of cashing in money but don't they always.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 10/14/2008 02:24:30
ZeekSlider wrote:You know, I was going to save up and then wait for the opinions on the forums and reviews to surface, as well as screen shots and what other people can do with the new parts once it release...
...but seeing how much hate and negativity, as well as passionate argumenting and debating to balance out the blatent whining, and how this has driven my AWAY from the only source of help I can get when I encounter a problem in the game, I'm not sure waiting for the release and then looking at opinions is going to help me in my judgement.
It has become very clear to me that everyone here is one-sided. Those with strong opinions and a mature stance are able to debate and argue point after point, but in the end nothing changes. That's why I'm mentally preparing for McCain's presidental term.
In any event, I like the information in the press release. New parts? Cool. The ability to physically beam down and not have some Hologram? Nice. But what won me over, as I showed in the first page, is the fact that I can create missions to share online with anyone.
This means I can open up My Spore page and then see who has completed it and who has failed, which is always fun for me to read whenever I sign on. I love seeing who has extincted my creatures or who has formed alliances with them in space. The Mission creator in the press release is just one more of those little things that will make me happy with Spore.
And that's all that matters.
BTW, RocketGirl, I may have added you as a buddy because you were a member of the PBL project, but from what I see, you've done your fair share of creating a Science Spore already. Seriously, your set is right up there, so for you to stick to your guns about how Spore should be science based and all the things you and I have argued about seems rather moot. You're doing that already with the editors on your own, and that is probably the best thing you can hope for right now because, like it or not (and I know you won't) they aren't going to do a Science Spore like you want.
Maybe a Science Starter Kit where you get a really good microscope that they will sell in science stores, but at this point, the 2005 version of Spore is nothing more but a concept that has changed since its inception. And I say this as an artist who is currently working on artwork that has changed countless times in the last three months alone, so you can imagine how many changes were brought up in 7 years.
Ah, who am I fooling? You're opinion is so strong you won't listen. But, yes, you do have a nice set of creatures, and I look forward to interacting with them once the new patch is released.
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text:
The rupee notched up its biggest single-day gain in three weeks on Friday boosted by inflows delayed by a strike that curtailed trading over the last couple of sessions, but investors were jittery ahead of the crucial 2013/14 budget next week.
Investors are focusing on the budget, which will be keenly watched to see how Finance Minister P. Chidambaram balances the tightrope walk between fiscal discipline and populist spending ahead of elections in 2014.
However, global risk sentiment will also be important, as the dollar surged this week on doubts about just how long the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep its quantitative easing in place.
"If the numbers are right in the budget, and seen as realistic, then we will see rupee rally below 53.60," said Moses Harding, head of asset liability management at IndusInd Bank.
The partially convertible rupee closed at 54.175/185 per dollar versus its previous close of 54.47/48. It rose 0.1 percent in the week, snapping two weeks of losses.
Dealers cited foreign fund-related dollar inflows from banks, which were bunched up as trading was thin in the last two days due to a two-day national strike, which kept most dealers at state-run banks away.
Currency markets were also closed on Tuesday for a banking holiday.
Some inflows were also related to TPG Capital's $305 million stake sale in Indian commercial vehicle financier Shriram Transport Finance Co Ltd (SRTR.NS).
Investors are gearing up for a busy week ahead, especially with the government also set to unveil its October-December economic growth data.
In the offshore non-deliverable forwards, the one-month contract was at 54.51, while the three-month was at 55.16.
In the currency futures market, the most-traded near-month dollar/rupee contract on the National Stock Exchange, the MCX-SX and the United Stock Exchange all closed at around 54.29 with a total traded volume of $6.1 billion.


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Conversations from the Cullman Center: The Changing Face of Harlem: Camilo Vergara and Graciela Mochkofsky
Program Locations:
Camilo Vergara and the journalist Graciela Mochkofsky talk about Harlem in light of VergaraŌĆÖs latest book, Harlem: The Unmaking of a Ghetto, a photographic chronicle of transformations in AmericaŌĆÖs most famous African-American neighborhood.
Berger Forum
This event is co-presented with the Schomburg Center
Camilo VergaraŌĆÖs latest book of photography, Harlem: The Unmaking of a Ghetto, chronicles the vibrant life, culture, and transformations of the countryŌĆÖs most celebrated African-American neighborhood. For the past forty-three years Vergara, a writer, photographer, and sociologist, has been ┬Āphotographing specific streetscapes as they evolve, offering an original, rare, and valuable diary of urban change.
VergaraŌĆÖs previous books include┬ĀSilent Cities: The Evolution of the American Cemetery┬Ā(with Kenneth Jackson),┬ĀThe New American Ghetto,┬ĀAmerican Ruins┬ĀUnexpected Chicagoland┬Ā(with Timothy Samuelson), Twin Towers Remembered, Subway Memories, and┬ĀHow the Other Half Worships. Vergara has received numerous awards, among them a five-year fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T.MacArthur Foundation in 2002. He was a fellow at the Cullman Center in 2007-2008.
Graciela Mochkofsky, an Argentinian journalist, is the author of six books, including┬ĀT├Ło Boris,┬ĀUn h├®roe olvidado de la Guerra Civil Espa├▒ola -- a narrative essay on her great uncle who fought in the Spanish Civil War -- ┬Āand Pecado Original: Clar├Łn, los Kirchner y la lucha por el poder, an investigation of the Kirchner governmentŌĆÖs war against the media group Clar├Łn. Her book┬ĀLa Revelaci├│n┬Ātells the story of a Peruvian Catholic community that converted to ultra-Orthodox Judaism and emigrated to the Jewish settlements in the West Bank. She is currently a fellow at the Cullman Center, where she is working on a book about a wave of emerging Jewish communities in Latin America. In 2010, she and the journalist Gabriel Pasquini founded the online cultural and political magazine El Puercoespin.
Luc Sante, author of Low Life
"Camilo Jose Vergara has watchedŌĆöand photographedŌĆöHarlem as it fell apart and then rose back up as something else. He chronicles the passage from poverty to selective luxury, from segregation to selective integration, from street life to tourism. He asks the unanswerable question: Which is preferable?"
Ben Katchor, author of Hand-Drying in America
"Wandering the streets of Harlem for the┬Āpast forty years,┬ĀCamilo Vergara┬Āhas noticed and miraculously recorded those moments of great human invention that have been largely overlooked by the official chronicles of architecture and urban history. For this reason, his photographs are unique and indispensable."


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Dscoop "Operator Saturday": A Peer Group for Print Operators
Published on April 10, 2018
Chris Reine, Indigo operator/engineer at Franklin Press, talks about a Dscoop-organized peer group for HP Indigo operators called "Operator Saturday." The program brings together operators of HP Indigo presses for a long weekend of knowledge sharing, education, and networking.
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SEAMS: The Voice of the Sewn Products Industry
Published: May 24, 2018
At this week's TechTextil, Will Duncan, Executive Director of SEAMS, talks about SEAMS which, for 50 years, has been the "voice" of the U.S. sewn products industry. Members include brands and retailers, as well as the textile supply sector. "Made in America" is the association's main initiative.
Product and Technology Changes Afoot at Xeikon
Published: May 24, 2018
At the recent Xeikon Café, Filip Weymans, Vice President of Marketing for Xeikon, discusses some recent technology and product changes that customers can look forward to, from the addition of dry toner and UV inkjet to a complete digital technology upgrade.
Techtextil 2018: New Technologies—and Challenges—for Textile Printing
Published: May 23, 2018
Brian Francois, Executive Vice President of AATCC, discusses the analog-to-digital transformation in textile printing, and identifies such emerging challenges as wearable technology and developing and implementing color standards for LED lighting.
New 3D Hologram Solution for Label and Packaging Security
Published: May 23, 2018
Matt Hirsch Ph.D., Co-Founder and CTO of Lumii, talks to David Zwang about a new solution for label and packaging security that allows 2D printers and presses generate holographic 3D effects. Using proprietary algorithms and Terascale computing, the Lumii Light Field Engine calculates the exact patterns for a duplex print from a single image to create a visual 3D object from a 2D pattern.
From Concept to Creation—Dover Digital Printing's Microfactory Streamlines Digital Textile Production
Published: May 22, 2018
Sebastien Hanssens, Vice President of Marketing and Communication for Dover Digital Printing, talks about the "microfactory" concept of on-demand digital garment printing, which Dover Digital Printing was demonstrating at FESPA 2018. "The Sports Factory" showcased customized athletic jersey printing from online ordering to printing and sewing.
Published: May 22, 2018
Benoit Chatelard, CEO of Xeikon, talks to David Zwang at this year's Xeikon Café in Chicago about the evolution of the Café and its move into the U.S. market. He also talks about recent changes at Xeikon and its decision to focus—to a greater extent than before—on industry segments in which the company offers a unique value.
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Blind Guardian
A Night At The Opera
March 2002
Released: 2002, Century Media
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: CrashTest
After what seemed like an unbearably long wait to this Blind Guardian fan, I finally have the new album from one of the greatest power metal bands on the earth. A NIGHT AT THE OPERA had been originally announced for a late Spring 2001 release, but the guys took their time to make sure they got it right. While I wouldn't call this a great album, especially when compared to other albums in the band's catalogue, OPERA does not disappoint. The extra time spent in creating the album have resulted in some pretty grandiose music. A lot of orchestration and a lot of layering, both vocally and instrumentally, are to be expected and enjoyed. Sure, the album name and cover are really bad, but in the realm of metal, isn't it really about the music anyway? Image is nothing, music is everything ... Kiss and Manowar being the exceptions to the rule!
What Blind Guardian have done here is offer up a solid album rich in the tradition of classics like IMAGINATIONS FROM THE OTHER SIDE and SOMEWHERE FAR BEYOND, although some of the heaviness that made NIGHTFALL IN MIDDLE-EARTH so good can be found here as well. Hansi's voice is in top form and the playing is tight, which is to be expected. "And Then There Was Silence" is the epic track on the disc, clocking in at over fourteen minutes. The song continues to grow on me and I imagine it will have a place among the best Blind Guardian songs given time. There are some other very good tracks here as well. "Battlefield" is a classic Blind Guardian anthem. "Sadly Sings Destiny" and "Wait For An Answer" are worthy additions to the BG catalogue as well. Of interest to many will be the song "The Soulforged", which is a tribute to the wizard Raistlin from the Dragonlance series. A few months back the band held a vote on their website to choose a theme for one of the new songs, and after resolving problems with some dummy who kept casting multiple votes for the Don Quixote story, the Dragonlance theme prevailed. Which is a good thing, as the two trilogies in that series are classic reads.
OPERA has the potential to be groundbreaking for the heavy metal genre. No, not because it's a particularly great album, but because of the amount of hype it has generated across the globe among the mainstream. I have high hopes that this album will especially make some headway in this part of the world, along with the appearance the guys will be making at the ProgPower USA festival in December. It's high time heavy metal made a comeback in North America. Bands like Blind Guardian can make it happen.
Official website: http://www.blind-guardian.com
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Next review: » Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera
Previous review: » Blind Alley - DESTINATION DESTINY


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Orange residents, City Council express concern over Confederate flag
Many Orange residents attended the City Council meeting Tuesday, Feb. 12, at the Orange Public Library to speak out regarding the potential construction of a Confederate flag at MLK Drive and Interstate 10 in Orange.
According to Orange City Manager Shawn Oubre, a private property owner has proposed erecting the flag on a tract of land at 4120 Interstate 10 near MLK Drive. The proposal is in preliminary stages of planning at this time.
According to a Jan. 22, 2012 blog posting on the website "The South's Defender," Granvel Block purchased the tract of land in the name of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, an organization boasting 30,000 members, for which he is a division commander. The passage goes on to state Block and his group plan to erect more 26 Confederate flags on the site.
The first citizen to approach the podium at the meeting was Orange resident Edwin Hawthorne. Hawthorne addressed the council, speaking in opposition of the construction of the Confederate flag.
"Since I've been here, I've wondered, why isn't Orange growing," Hawthorne began. "Why isn't Orange progressing? We want to see Orange grow. … We need change. … This Confederate thing isn't good for the city."
Suzy Murray of Orange stepped up to the podium next to ask the council to halt the construction of the flag.
"I've been in Orange all my life," Murray said. "When I was told of the incident of putting a Confederate flag on MLK, I was disturbed."
Murray said she never dreamed of a day when white and black congregations would worship together in church, but said that times have changed. She said she is a member of United Methodist on Sixth Street in Orange and is thankful that her viewpoint has changed since then. She said she does not want to see the flag, which is a symbol of divisiveness in her eyes.
Betty White of Orange also addressed the council to protest erecting the flag, echoing the sentiments of Hawthorne and Murray.
"In 2013, we should not be faced with these types of things," White stated. "The Confederate flag, when I was growing up, was a sign of division. We didn't celebrate that flag. We celebrated the United States flag. … As a community, there should be something to come of this to remove the flag."
In response to the comments regarding the Confederate flag proposal, Oubre interjected in order to remind those concerned that the structure would be built on private property, leaving the city with limited control over the situation.
"This is not the city; this is a property owner," Oubre said. "Whether we agree or not with … what is put out there is another matter. … I want to let Mr. Smith (city attorney Jack Smith) comment on First Amendment rights."
"I'm in total agreement with what's been said," Smith said regarding the citizens' comments opposing the Confederate flag placement. "I think it's totally repugnant. … It's not being done by someone from here. It's not a local citizen. …We've got to figure out a way to … prevent this use (of property). … I've got to tread very carefully here."
Smith said preventing the property owner from constructing the flagpole and flying the flag could be a violation of the man's right to freedom of expression. However, Smith indicated he would be looking for ways the city could halt the project.
District 3 Councilwoman Essie Bellfield said she understands the legal issues involved with blocking the construction of the flag, but she intends to do her best to see the flag is never erected.
"We're gonna fight like hell," Bellfield said passionately to those gathered at the meeting.
In an interview, Oubre said the owner of the property is going through the process right now. He still has to finalize construction plans and obtain a building permit from the city. He said the city will be monitoring the situation and will keep the public posted on any new developments.


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I'm a worrier.
I worry about everything. Ridiculous things. Last week, my son went on a school field trip, and though I carried on my day as usual, I didn't really relax until I knew he was home safe. (After all, that bus was traveling on the interstate, with who-knows-what kind of crazy high-speed drivers.)
I worried a little less when the same son went on a Cub Scout camping trip over the weekend, primarily because my husband went with him. I didn't worry about anything really awful happening, but I did fret about whether they would remember to wear sunscreen and drink enough water and what-happens-if-one-comes-across-a-plant-he's-allergic-to.
A friend commented that the symptom checker on the pop medical website WebMD is "the place where the common cold turns into a life-threatening illness." Tell me about it.
I also worry about more frivolous things: whether I inconvenienced someone by asking them to babysit, whether I somehow traumatized my children by leaving them with a babysitter, whether I spent too much money on that blouse. And about things I have absolutely no control over, like the rough patches children of my friends are going through and the assorted struggles of friends or family members.
My mother would probably take credit for some of this trait in me. The older I get, the more I am becoming like that wonderful lady, which is generally a good thing. But she is a classic worrier. When we were children, our doctor would often walk into the exam room for our appointments and before taking a look at us, would ask her what disease had been featured in that month's Reader's Digest. She also goes out of her way to avoid inconveniencing people and apologizes for things that are not her fault, like getting sick.
Yeah, I do that, too.
Now I'm sure my mom is reading this column and is about to text me an apology.
In fact, I'm worrying that I've made her feel worried. Meanwhile, my husband is reading this, shaking his head and laughing at the silliness of us both. Which is OK – actually, people thinking I'm silly doesn't worry me at all.
• • • • •
Congratulations to all of our area graduates – those graduating from high school, from college, from technical or GED programs.
Graduations are often hard for reporters to cover, because they are so important to the people experiencing them, but are so similar that it is a struggle to make the last graduation story different from the first.
Whenever I covered graduations – and I've covered a lot – I enjoyed looking beyond the star graduates. It's an easy no-brainer to interview the valedictorian or the graduate with all the awards, and that person is a worthy interview – they worked hard and have been rewarded. But sometimes hard work doesn't win accolades. I discovered it was even more fun to interview the student who almost didn't make it to graduation – the high school student who nearly dropped out, but stuck with it, struggled and maybe barely passed – but did pass. Or the college student with a full-time job and a family at home who spent seven or eight years fighting for that degree a couple of classes at a time.
So while I congratulate all of our local graduates, to those of you for whom this did not come easy, who know what it is to struggle and almost give up, a special tip of my hat to you. Congratulations.
Enjoy your MidWeek.


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It may be basic biology but the majority of British people cannot name the largest organ in the body, according to a survey.
A total of 75 per cent of people said they did not know it was the skin, while almost half (47 per cent) of people admitted to wrongly self-diagnosing an illness.
Perhaps in a sign of the times, findings also revealed more than half (58 per cent) of people prefer to check the internet about symptoms before consulting a doctor.
The survey of 2000 people, commissioned to coincide with the release of the eighth series of medical drama House on DVD, showed just under half of people believed their lungs were the largest organ in their bodies.
Demonstrating further confusion, 64 per cent and 43 per cent were unable able to correctly place their spleen and liver.
The research also revealed nearly one in 10 turned to television shows such as Embarrassing Bodies, Casualty, Doctors and House to self-diagnose medical conditions.
One in 20 have overheard someone talking about an illness and used this information to self-diagnose, while one in 50 have heard of a celebrity's illness, such as Lady Gaga's lupus or Jade Goody's cervical cancer, and applied the symptoms to themselves.
Jane Druker, editor of Healthy magazine, said: "Increasingly, TV shows such as House are making people more aware of looking after their own health. However, it's really worrying that so many Brits are self-medicating an illness rather than consulting with a GP.
"With nearly half of people wrongly self-diagnosing an illness, this can lead to a great deal of unnecessary additional stress that could be avoided by simply asking a professional."
Debate on this article is now closed.


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When the Ford Focus goes on sale later this year, drivers should notice the next level in transmission shift quality.
The 2012 Focus will have what Ford calls Torque Hole Filling technology, a concept the automaker first patented a quarter century ago. While Ford has had a patent on the concept since the '80s, it had to wait for computer technology to catch up.
Ford introduced the dual-clutch automated manual transmission on the 2011 Fiesta. Even without the THF, the transmission, which Ford calls PowerShift, was remarkably smooth. Still, traditional torque-converter automatic transmissions have an edge in smoothness compared to automated manuals.
But automated manual transmissions promise better fuel efficiency because they use computer-controlled automated clutches rather than inefficient torque converters.
So what is the torque hole? Typical transmissions have a break in power delivery between shifts. So every time the transmission shifts, no tractable power is going to the wheels, so there's a hole in the acceleration.
THF adds a little engine torque to the driveline to smooth shifts.


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At Bridgetown Barbados Mahela Jayewardena and Kumar Sangakkara blasted the West Indian bowling attack to help Sri Lanka record the highest score of the tournament so far, 195 for 3 wickets in their allotted 20overs. The stadium was set ablaze when Jayewardena with his immaculate stroke play made an unbeaten 98 in 56 balls with 9 well timed boundaries and 4 massive sixes. Mahela Jayewardena has proved to the cricketing world that twenty twenty version of the game has room for classy stroke play, precise timing and traditional orthodox cricketing shots.
So far his lowest total in three games is 81. This goes to prove the dominance of Jayewardena, who is currently rated as one of the best batsmen in world cricket. My memories go back to the statement former Sri Lankan superstar Aravinda made at a press conference " Jayewardena is one of the classiest batsmen I have seen."
Kumar Sangakkara who was given a life by Chris Gayle at first slip off the bowling of Roach when he was on 1 run, made the Caribbean's pay for their woeful catching abilities when he matched his former captain shot for shot by scoring 68 runs in 49 balls with 5 well timed boundaries and 3 big sixes. The right hand, left hand combination put on 166 runs for the 2nd wicket which is also a tournament record.
The West Indian bowling attack looked mediocre to the eyes of the two Sri Lankan Batsmen who started scoring runs at will, proving their depth and talent in their batting ability.
West Indies will be disappointed with their fielding effort. They dropped as many as 5 catches and a stumping opportunity. Roach started proceedings by bowling two good overs with the new ball, but the rest of the bowling was much to be desired. The Caribbean's must learn that bowling short and giving width to Asian batsmen is very dangerous.
Chasing a target of 196 the hosts were never in the hunt. They were strangled after the dismissal of Chandrapaul and Chris Gayle inside the power play overs, while the rest of the batsmen looked very uncomfortable against the quality bowling dished out by Kulasekera, Mathews, Muralitheran, Mendis and Malinga. Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga took 3 wickets each to restrict the home team to 138 for 8 wickets, thus giving Sri Lanka an emphatic 57 run win.
Sri Lanka will now play the mighty Aussies on Sunday at the same venue. The focus level in all three departments of the game has been good for Sri Lanka so far in the Super 8 League. They will need to be consistent to advance further in this tournament.