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Records show that key players in the proposal by Republican Mayor Erin Stewart to allow the Tilcon company to strip-mine New Britain drinking watershed land are tied together, behind the scenes, in a network of business and other relationships.
Tilcon, the company that is seeking a long-term deal, in which it would be permitted to commercially mine rock from New Britain's presently protected drinking watershed land, is a part of a large, multi-national corporate business. Tilcon's website says that "Tilcon Connecticut is a subsidiary of Oldcastle, Inc. (www.Oldcastle.com). Oldcastle Inc., is the North American arm of CRH, plc (www.crh.com), a publicly owned corporation based in Dublin, Ireland. Oldcastle operations include more than 2,000 locations in 50 states and 6 Canadian provinces."
Tilcon's watershed mining plans, supported by Erin Stewart, would involve removing a large section of a hill at an upstream part the watershed of New Britain's primary drinking water reservoir, the Shuttle Meadow Reservoir. The proposal was earlier pressed for by Stewart's father, Timothy Stewart, when he was mayor. Despite the elder Stewart's strong support for the plans, the proposal was defeated.
But, on February 13, 2016, Erin Stewart began a public move to resurrect the plans of the elder Stewart to allow Tilcon to strip mine city drinking watershed land. According to Protect Our Watersheds CT, the younger Stewart had "…letters delivered into the mailboxes of residents near the Tilcon quarry about a 'great new reservoir plan'…". Erin Stewart has consistently defended the mining plan with the claim it would leave behind a new reservoir for the city, a claim that critics have called dubious.
Less than a month later, on March 7, 2016, the city was registered as having hired the lobbying firm of Gaffney, Bennett & Associates, with Jay F. Malcynsky, Gaffney Bennett's Co-Founder/Managing Partner, listed as lobbyist for the city.
But records at the Office of State Ethics show that Gaffney Bennett had also already been employed by Tilcon, with Malcynsky serving as Tilcon's lobbyist. The records show that Tilcon paid Gaffney Bennet $220,886.74 during the 2014-2016 lobbyist reporting period, the latest period for which such information appears available.
The funds paid by Tilcon to Gaffney Bennett were listed as being for legislative lobbying, meaning lobbying of the Connecticut state legislature. The proposal, sought by Tilcon to dig a large mine on land that is currently on lawfully protected watershed land, would require a new law to be approved by the state legislature to allow an exception in this case.
Gaffney Bennett is not the only firm it has been observed are serving the interest of both Tilcon and the city of New Britain. The city has hired Lenard Engineering, Inc. (LEI) to provide what it purports to be an independent evaluation of the water quality and environmental impact of the mining plans.
But, as local attorney and advocate, Paul E. Zagorsky, wrote in a letter to the editor published in the New Britain Herald,
The lead study consultant for LEI who has done work for the city since the 1990s, in communications with Tilcon's president stated he's looking forward to "working with you on this project," and to "getting this fast-paced project underway." That the kickoff meeting to "discuss the quarry project" (LEI's words) was hosted by Tilcon's president and four senior Tilcon personnel, with the study sub-contractors, Mayor Erin Stewart, Gil Bligh of the Water Department, and Tilcon lobbyists and public relations people in attendance is a concern.
Meanwhile, Gaffney Bennett, and Malcynsky, in particular, while working simultaneously as paid representatives of both Tilcon and the city of New Britain, under Erin Stewart, also have a relationship with Timothy Stewart.
Timothy Stewart resumed great stature in the affairs of the city when his daughter was elected to his former position as mayor. With that new influence behind him, the elder Stewart, shortly after his daughter's election as mayor, was selected, himself, as the President of the Greater New Britain Chamber of Commerce.
Between his own position in the Chamber of Commerce and his daughter's as mayor, Timothy Stewart is reputed to exercise great influence in the affairs of the community. On the Chamber's website, Stewart touts that, "We have a strong working relationship with the Mayor's Office." The Chamber website expands upon that, saying that, "In conjunction with a strong working relationship with the Mayor's office, the Greater New Britain Chamber of Commerce is able to accomplish various goals regarding the business community and our current and future Chamber members."
One of those Chamber members is Gaffney Bennett, whose offices are in New Britain. Malcynsky, himself, sits as a member of the Board of Directors of the Chamber. Another company on the Chamber of Commerce's website list that appears to refer to the Chamber's members is Tilcon Connecticut, Inc.
But even this array of powerful interests behind the mining proposal has not, as of yet, prevailed.
Since she proposed it, Stewart's plans to allow the Tilcon to strip-mine New Britain drinking watershed lands have become the focus of heated public debate. The plans are also a complex deal that touch upon three communities, New Britain, Plainville and Southington, that all are neighbors of the Tilcon quarry and its proposed expansion. While many New Britain residents live the immediate vicinity of the mine, it is actually located in Plainville.
Also, the proximity of the proposed strip mining to Southington and Crescent Lake in Southington have made gaining the Town of Southington's support for the plan a significant part of the lobbying campaign in favor of it.
Not long after Erin Stewart brought back the proposed Tilcon watershed mining plan, she also proposed that New Britain sell its Patton Brook Well to the Town of Southington. Stewart and the Republican dominated City Council approved that sale, for what has been observed to be a considerably lower price than its true value. While pressing for the sale, Stewart failed to disclose to the people of the city the fact, known to city officials, that New Britain was suffering from a significant water shortage.
However, after having heavily advocated for the sale, Stewart and Council Republicans withdrew the plan in the face of significant public opposition.
But while Stewart retreated on the Patton Brook Well sale, her drinking watershed strip-mining proposal seems very much alive. This has lead many to speculate that, should Erin Stewart be re-elected this fall, she and the web of business and other interests pressing for the deal will bring their campaign for its approval into high gear once again.
Editor's note: In addition to Malcynsky's presence on the Board of Directors showing that Gaffney Bennett is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, it is also listed on the in the Chamber's website listing of "businesses". Since the Chamber's website also refers to its "New Members" as "Newest Businesses", it appears the Chamber website uses the word "businesses" to refer to Chamber members.


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Senate finance committee passes reform bill
The Senate Finance Committee voted 14-9 to approve health care reform legislation yesterday, October 13th, extending coverage to 91% of U.S. residents, according to AHA.
"Today, the Senate Finance Committee reached an important milestone on the road to health reform," said Rich Umbdenstock, AHA's president and CEO. "Like Chairman Baucus and other members of the committee, we remain concerned about the need to further expand the level of coverage in the bill. As efforts begin to merge the two Senate bills, we will work to ensure that even more of the uninsured have health care coverage."
Career, Nurse News and Opinion
The Scrubs Staff would love to hear your ideas for stories! Please submit your articles or story ideas to us here.
By Scrubs

subset: commoncrawl


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Welcome to the first CPLE newsletter for 2017. As the Centre begins its second year of operation, there is certainly a lot going on. Our academic members continue to produce high quality scholarship into legal education, and we will shortly circulate a report setting out the many journal articles, monographs and conference papers produced by CPLE members in 2016. Kate Galloway and I have started planning a legal education 'mega-project' – made up of multiple sub-projects – looking at the impact of digital disruption upon the way the traditional core of the law curriculum (contract law, tort law, criminal law, etc) is being, can be and should be taught, and we will soon be calling for expressions of interest in joining that enormous project. Our PLT team lead by Hugh Zillmann has welcomed our latest cohort of enthusiastic students to the PLT program, and a major review of the program is now underway.


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Each quarter, I dress like a grown-up and head down to Chicago's Loop to have lunch with two managing partners from my former firm. We always eat at the same place. Per its website, our dining establishment…
…is attracting a new generation of business and community leaders who value the relationships, inspiration and personal satisfaction that this institution makes possible. Entrepreneurs, agents of change, corporate decision-makers, cultural advocates and business visionaries gather at the Club to build a lifetime of relationships and to experience a sense of belonging that exists nowhere else.
While this "new generation" may indeed be attracted to these fine attributes, I'm mostly attracted to the unsupervised dessert table.
During each lunch, we embrace a time-honored tradition that inspires us to experience a sense of belonging that exists nowhere else. Harkening back to a simpler time, the three of us draw on generations of old-world attention to exquisite detail as we handcraft our individual prognostications for the upcoming quarter.
In other words, we each write down our wild-ass guesses for next quarter's prices of gold, oil, the S&P 500, the euro and the yield on the 10-year treasury. The decision-maker who comes the closest is not only the recipient of a big steaming pile of personal satisfaction, but is also heralded for the remainder of the quarter as a "visionary agent of change."
I have yet to be so-heralded. Most quarters, I come in third place. As such, my colleagues reward me with a big steaming pile of verbal abuse. I've written many times here that I'm not a market timer and our time-honored tradition gives me a chance to remind myself of that. That's a good thing. This wouldn't be a very successful website if I started trying to time the markets.
Still, these guys are willing to put up with my eating habits because they are interested in my current market views. I'm not skilled at dining, having barely progressed beyond my Mom making airplane sounds as she glides a spoonful of applesauce into my mouth. Generally, I'm more comfortable eating at, say, a rib joint because then many of the other adults are wearing bibs, too. In a place like that, my Tommy Tippy cup goes virtually unnoticed. Yet, setting me loose with my own utensils in a room full of cultural advocates is a risk my colleagues are willing to take in order to discuss my current thoughts on investing.
These thoughts, however, are not based on market timing. Rather, I have views on the long-term economic trends I see unfolding. Based on these views, and current market valuations, I try to arrive at an asset allocation that has the highest probability of long-term success. This has been working well for me for many years.
In that vein, each month, I sign-off at the end of the PPP Asset Allocation page with the saying:
We can't control the direction of the wind, but we can adjust our sails.
Over the last few editorials, we've been discussing the prevailing economic winds that that I see building. This month, we're going to begin considering…
WARNING: This editorial will print out longer than usual, but it has plenty of graphs. Be grateful that I got it out at all. During the writing process, Apple unveiled the iPad. I managed to hold off buying it until after completing this editorial. Normally, I must immediately own anything Apple introduces and begin saving time by wasting hours playing with it. Mary Kay will tell you, I would be the first in line to buy iToilet Paper. It would be more intuitive with a user-friendly interface that would magically revolutionize my morning bathroom experience.
We're on an economic ship manned by drunken sailors. They sail that way. They spend that way. And, they deal with the consequences that way. Like drunken sailors, they favor the…
Hair of the Dog Solution
"Taking some of the hair of the dog that bit you" is a phrase used to describe the practice of taking a morning drink to find some temporary relief from a hangover. In most circles, this does not generally qualify as "social drinking." In fact, to any objective observer, the inadvisability of habitually resorting to this "solution" may be self-evident. But, in applying this same treatment to the global economic crisis, our leaders seem to view it as reasonable.
That's exactly what we are witnessing.
The disease coursing through the entire financial system is too much debt. The hair-of-the-dog treatments being thrown at this disease (and its symptoms) all have a common theme–more debt. While the U.S. may be the most celebrated economy in the emergency room, it's by no means the only nation afflicted with this malady. In fact, we're currently getting to watch a real time episode of ER over in the EU.
In my recent article recommendation, The Ring of Fire, Pimco's Bill Gross analyzes which countries are facing the worst debt problems. It's enlightening to look at the countries within The Ring of Fire. We can divide them into four segments:
1. The Euro countries of Greece, Ireland, Spain, Italy, France (I would add Portugal to this list)
2. The U.K.
3. The U.S.
4. Japan
The Euro countries, especially Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain (known affectionately in financial circles as the Eurozone P.I.G.S.), are the canaries in the coal mine dominating the financial headlines right now. The P.I.G.S. are being forced to confront the excesses to which they resorted as they attempted to ease the pain of the financial crisis.
Greece is on the front burner today. On the one hand, we have Greek leaders, going petasuses-in-hand to the EU, requesting support. They need a payday loan just to tide them over while they slash their pesky budget deficit by over 75%, returning it to compliance with EU rules. On the other hand, we have public turmoil in Greece (ranging from protests to strikes to blockades), bringing the country to a virtual standstill. The public is declaring war over the proposed austerity measures (including salary freezes and raising the retirement age from 61 to 63) being proposed to reduce the deficit. Adding salt to the wound, it was announced today that Greece's unemployment rate jumped to 10.6%. Even though economically Greece comprises only 2-3% of the Eurozone, the fear that this could just be the tip of the iceberg has hit the euro hard. If prodigal G. gets its Big Fat Greek Bailout, how eager will its acronymial amigos, P., I. and S., be to make the tough cuts necessary to bring their respective budgets under control? This is why the Euro has dropped 10% against the dollar just since December. The P.I.G.S. are facing the music first because they don't have the option of printing their own money. Would any politician be anxious to tackle such a dilemma if they could put it off by printing money? [Side Note: For readers who prefer their financial crises a little closer to home, see, for example, New Jersey and California where Governors Christie and Schwarzenegger are being stymied by the constraint of not being able to print their own currencies.]
The U.K. is next in line. In The Ring of Fire, they're actually in worse shape than the P.I.G.S. However, in the U.K., they've been able to slightly delay their day of reckoning because they DO print their own currency. The U.S. should be able to postpone the pain a little longer still because we not only print our own currency, but that currency is the world's reserve currency. Finally, Japan's financial harakiri is a whole other brand of economic suicide. While Japan has the highest total debt as a percent of GDP among the group, it is populated by savers. As such, their issues are different than the other Ring of Fire dwellers.
The Euro nations and the U.K. will give us a preview of what happens when a nation borrows its way into The Ring of Fire. As we watch the situation unfold in these countries, we will once again be able to see where our hair-of-the-dog policies are going to lead us.
We Are Family
As a nation, we have simply been living beyond our means. We're like a family that has been maintaining its lifestyle by running up its credit cards, issuing IOU's, taking the equity out of its home and selling its assets. Many families have been doing this and they are a microcosm of what our whole country has been doing at every level in both the private and public sector.
With respect to our profligate family, what if the financial head of the family made the decision to take out more credit cards to maintain the family's lifestyle and postpone the day of reckoning? What if he just planned to pass these debts on to his children?
Is this any different than the morning drinker who postpones having to suffer through a hangover by going back to the bottle?
More importantly, is this any different from a nation taking on more debt to deal with the problem of having too much debt? This is exactly how I think this financial crisis is being handled. It should be obvious that, for the breakfast drinker, for the profligate family and for the indebted nation, postponing is not solving. The end result is still a disaster. Usually, the postponement has only succeeded in making things worse.
We, as individual investors, are sailing into a perfect storm. In this editorial, I'm going to begin explaining how I see this storm playing out and how we can adjust our sails to navigate through it.
In the Eye of the Worry Man
The consensus wisdom of mainstream economists (Is that anything like "the consensus humility of the Kardashian sisters?") is that the recession is over and we won't be facing a double dip. Timothy Geithner, Henry Paulson and Alan Greenspan, all appeared on this Sunday's talk shows with the same message:
Economy is Recovering, Geithner, Paulson, Greenspan Agree
This squares with the forecast of the International Monetary Fund's ("IMF") for U.S. GDP growth of 1.5% in 2010 and 2.8% in 2011. In fact, according to the IMF, only 11% of 182 countries are going to have negative GDP growth in 2010. Apparently, places like the Baltic countries and Equatorial Guinea will not quite be hitting on all cylinders until 2011. But good news! In 2011, the IMF forecasts that not a single country in the world will experience negative GDP growth.
It will stun you to learn that I beg to differ. I plead to differ. I'm a supplicant on my hands and knees beseeching to differ!
In the eye of this Worry Man, we are in the eye of the hurricane and we're sailing right for the eyewall. The relative calm we have been experiencing of late is completely artificial and temporary. It has been created by massive stimulus and money printing that has just postponed the problems and wasted much of the ammunition we will desperately need in order to deal with them. The Federal Housing Tax Credit is a perfect example.
Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholden
The political optics of helping homeowners buy a home are beautiful. Buyers and sellers will both feel beholden to their representatives for this generous program. I've spoken with a number of people who cite the Federal Housing Tax Credit as a motivating reason for buying their first house or moving up. Realtors were, not surprisingly, enthusiastic about the tax credit, as indicated in this February 2009 CNNMoney.com article:
(T)he $8,000 credit will bring an additional 300,000 new homebuyers into the market, according to estimates by Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.
The credit could also create a domino effect, he said, because each first-time homebuyer sale will lead to two more trade-up transactions down the line. "I think there are many homeowners who would be trading-up but they have had no buyers for their own homes," Yun said.
So, outside the Washington D.C. Beltway, how did things actually turn out in that wacky world called reality?
This graph shows the median U.S. home price from 1987 right up to the time Washington decided to 'help" first-time homebuyers:
Zooming in on the two years leading up to the Federal Housing Tax Credit shows that prices were dropping in a straight line with no sign of a bottom:
The Federal Housing Tax Credit gave homebuyers $8,000 to help them buy their first home. But, the regression equation shows that prices were already dropping at $3,393 per month. If the first-time homebuyer wanted to save $8,000, all he had to do was wait 72 days.
Well, he could have saved that money until Congress decided to come to his aid.
Unfortunately for our hopeful first-time buyer, prices started turning around as soon as the tax credit was introduced. In just 9 months, the median price rose to $176,000, instead of the $144,000 the price would have been if it had just continued to fall along the linear trend line. Crazy as it sounds, it appears that by giving the buyer an $8,000 tax credit, politicians made it possible for him to spend an extra $24,000 (over and above the $8,000 credit) to buy the median house.
The tax credit's November 2009 deadline (subsequently extended to June 2010 and expanded to include all buyers) created some urgency among first-time homebuyers. The result was a temporary increase in demand for homes, which drove up prices. Like the Cash for Clunkers fiasco, however, I can't see how this program did anything more than spend tax dollars to steal sales from the future. The graph below shows annualized home sales:
Just as it did with prices, a straight-line decline in home sales immediately began to turn up with the introduction of the tax credit. The initial tax credit's tight deadline encouraged buyers to move quickly. However, this urgency may have already begun to fade; the preliminary December results show a decline in the numbers.
The Road to Congress is Paved with Good Intentions
In my more charitable moments, I can convince myself that politicians were actually trying to help. Home prices stopped plummeting, home sales rebounded and politicians got to give lots of taxpayer money to voters. The Federal Housing Tax Credit is something they will probably tout as they hit the 2010 campaign trail. But, who should really feel beholden?
We've already seen that, due to the price increases caused by the tax credit, even after receiving $8,000, homebuyers paid much more for houses than they would have without it. So it actually hurt homebuyers. Still, what hurts homebuyers must help home sellers…right? And, home sellers vote, too. Clearly home sellers got more for their homes; however, most home sellers are also homebuyers. Since they are both sellers and also buyers, the tax credit is kind of a wash for sellers who aren't leaving the ranks of homeowners.
Some sellers, however, DO leave the ranks of homeowners. They are selling without intending to buy another house. That is usually a small minority, but this minority definitely benefited by receiving more for their house than they would have without the tax credit.
The Flotsam of Unintended Consequences
I used the phrase "USUALLY a small minority" because we're living in unusual times. You see, over one-third of all home sales during this period were what's called "distressed sales." These sales are "distressed" because they represent properties where the borrower can no longer pay his mortgage. Distressed sales are usually foreclosures or short sales. In such sales, all of the sales proceeds go to the lenders.
Hmmm. Let's review.
One third of all sales were distressed sales. Most other sales were made by people who were also subsequently buyers. Most of the benefits of the tax credit accrued to people who were NOT subsequently buyers. Therefore, most of the benefits went to the sellers in distressed sales.
But wait!
These sellers were the lenders who made the crazy loans that got us into this mess in the first place. So, it turns out that this program, which looks so beautiful on the surface, is actually just another way to bail out the folks who were big contributors to the problems in the first place. Maybe we shouldn't feel so beholden to the politicians who figured out another way to transfer our tax dollars (along with a lot of extra money from first-time homebuyers) to the irresponsible parties that played a big part in causing the financial crisis.
Don't take my word for it. Let's hear again from Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, now that he's had a chance to watch the tax credit in action. From a November 2009 CNNMoney.com article:
"It did not have the chain reaction impact it was supposed to," he said. "Instead, many first-timers turned to vacant, foreclosed or other distressed properties the sellers of which were unlikely to be move-up buyers."
But, exhibiting that dogged, irrepressible optimism reserved only for dogs, NAR chief economists, lotto players and my Mom when she would serve us kids "something new," Yun goes on to assure us that all will be well if we just keep spending our tax dollars on tax credits that benefit the industry for which he works:
"Preventing further price decline or even nudging prices up a bit stabilizes housing wealth, which makes homeowners more comfortable in their spending," said Yun. "They're more likely to go out to the stores or buy a new car. That provides a boost to the overall economy."
That sounds like quite another "chain reaction" to me. In contrast to Mr. Yun's irrepressible optimism, if you're scoring at home, you can mark down my optimism as decidedly repressible.
Navigating the Jetsam of the Housing Tax Credit
It is a cheap generosity which promises the future in compensation for the present. —J.A. Spender
I've gone into this level of detail for a number of reasons. First, I think this tax credit is characteristic of our general handling of the crisis:
- It costs a lot of money;
- The money seems to mostly find its way into the pockets of the people who caused the crisis;
- It's a short-term band-aid rather than a long-term solution;
- Any near-term relief it provides is outweighed by the degree to which it exacerbates the long-term problem;
- It interferes with the free market's natural tendency to correct these problems on its own;
- And, superficially, it has an appealing political ring to it.
Second, I think for many of my readers, their homes' value is the most important asset in their portfolio. And, finally, I think the housing market may be the gust of wind that blows us out of the eye of the hurricane and into the eyewall.
So, how do we navigate through it?
Before Congress came to our aid, we were well on our way to reaching a bottom in housing prices and home sales. It's my belief that the tax credit just motivated potential buyers to accelerate their purchase. It didn't change long-term demand for housing; it just took some demand from the future and moved it up to the present. Now, as the program winds down, that demand has been satisfied. As such, I anticipate that the future sales rate will be lower than it would have been without the tax credit. I have depicted this situation graphically below:
Just as the accelerated demand caused prices to rise higher than they would have without the program, I've adjusted my forecast to reflect the fact that reduced future demand will cause prices to drop further than they would have without the tax credit:
Ultimately, as this plays out, I think it will throw us back into recession. Much to Lawrence Yun's chagrin, we will see his virtuous circle go in reverse. Not only will prices be dropping farther and faster than they would have, but also sales volume will fall precipitously causing a decline in all the associated spending that typically would have rippled through the economy. Additionally, consumers, seeing their primary asset's value start a second leg down again, will rein in spending.
Given the likely short-term hit of letting the tax credit expire, I would not be surprised if it is extended once again to get past the 2010 elections. However, after already being extended once, I don't think a second extension will do much to even temporarily boost demand. Any further extension will be purely couverture pour le derrière politique that gives more of our tax dollars to the banks that are sitting on foreclosed houses…and drags out the pain.
And, As the Sun Sets on ANOTHER Lost Decade in The Land of the Rising Sun
This is the kind of governmental ingenuity that has enabled Japan to enjoy two decades (so far) of economic stagnation. Japan's stock market bubble peaked in 1989 and their real estate bubble burst two years later. This should've lead to a deep, but cleansing, recession that would set the foundation for healthy economic growth. Instead, as Bill Bonner explains in his recent Daily Reckoning editorial, Everybody Off the Beach!:
Prices fall in Japan. The yen rises. And the government uses every trick in the book – and some as yet unpublished – to knock it down. (B)y trying to suppress a correction in the private sector, Japan's central bankers have stretched out a slump over two decades and set up the nation for a bigger crisis in the public sector. And there is nothing they can do about it. Their fiscal stimulus no longer stimulates. Their monetary inflation no longer inflates. And every quack cure they offer brings the patient closer to the grave. You might think they'd give up. Instead, they increase the dosage.
Three of the primary tricks the Japanese have used to prolong their problems have been:
- Public works projects (in the U.S., please see the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009):
- Propping up financial institutions (in the U.S., please see the Troubled Asset Relief Program).
- Failing to recognize the diminished fair market value of assets (in the U.S., please see Lend and Pretend).
Sailing the Seven C's
Red sky at night, sailor's delight,
Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.
Unfortunately, the fallout from the tax credit is not the only adverse housing breeze buffeting our boat as we try to adjust our sails for the tempest of falling home prices. In addition to the eventual expiration of the Federal Housing Tax Credit, we have to navigate through these seven C's:
1) Concealed Supply: For a number of reasons, many homes with distressed mortgages are being kept off the market. Banks are trying to work out loan modifications to keep people in homes and lenders are sitting on foreclosed properties not wanting to flood the market. In addition, simple bureaucratic and legal delays are keeping foreclosed houses from adding to supply. This is referred to as "shadow inventory" and represents a huge overhang that will bring a continual stream of cheap housing to the market.
2) Coming Mortgage Resets: T2 Partners LLC has done an excellent job covering the bursting of the real estate bubble. Their latest thoughts are documented in this slide presentation:
An Overview of the Housing and Economic Crisis–and Why There Is More Pain to Come.
This graph from their slide presentation is glaringly illuminating:
Mortgage resets for $2.4 trillion of Option ARMs and Alt-A mortgages are still looming on the horizon. The majority of mortgage resets from the ludicrous subprime loans have already occurred. peaking in 2007-2008 and they caused massive damage. However, most Option ARMS and Alt-A mortgages issued during the bubble peak have not yet seen their teaser rates reset. The size of this reset problem rivals the subprime problem. These mortgages are just starting to reset now, peaking in 2011-2012. They will cause another wave of foreclosures to crest over into the already overflowing sea of homes for sale.
3) Currently Underwater: Roughly one fifth of the homes in the U.S. are currently "underwater." This means the mortgage on the home exceeds the fair market value of the house. As these mortgage holders face continuing financial distress in a market that shows no signs of improving, more and more of them are deciding to just move out and mail the keys back to the lender. In the industry, this is merrily referred to as "jingle mail."
4) Continuing Unemployment: Despite all the money that's been spent, the nation is still suffering from 10% headline unemployment. Even if this unemployment rate miraculously avoids getting worse, it is a continuing drag on house prices. Remember, these 10% are not the same people each month. People who were unemployed last month may have found a job, but found it too late to stay in their homes. With a brand new job, they won't be rushing immediately back into the real estate market. On the unemployment rolls, however, they have been replaced by newly unemployed workers who will find it equally difficult to stay in their homes. So, even if unemployment stays at 10%, it continues to bring more forced home sales to, and remove more potential buyers from, the market.
5) Constrained Consumers: While 90% of people DO have jobs, many of them are underemployed (in part-time work or lower-paying jobs than they've had previously). These people are surely not looking to increase their exposure to the real estate market. Even fully employed people will be less eager to trade-up in the face of increasing economic insecurity and falling home prices.
6) Cautious Lenders: Post-bubble lending standards continue to be extremely tight. As shown in this graph, the loosening of lending standards that occurred during the housing bubble caused the U.S. homeownership rate to peak at 69.2%.
This was 8.3 standard deviations above the 64.4% trend line that had been steady for more than 30 years. A random deviation of this magnitude should be rare, occurring about once every 77.65 trillion years (equal to the frequency of me ordering fish). However, I don't think this just happened at random. I think lower lending standards were the primary factor causing this jump in homewownership.
Since the bubble burst, the home ownership rate has only dropped to 67.2% (less than half the drop that would be needed to return it to its well-established pre-1997 average). As shown in the graph below, both the increase caused by loosening lending standards and the decrease caused (so far) by tightening lending standards have been very linear:
The linear symmetry of these trends suggests that the home ownership rate may not get back down to its long-term average for 5-6 years. A drop from the current homeownership level to the long-term average would represent about 3.3 million homeowners leaving the market. [Side note: If the tax credit had actually created new demand for houses, we would have seen some interruption in the steady decline in the home ownership rate. The fact that the home ownership rate continued its steady decline, even with the tax credit, is further evidence that all the tax credit did was rob demand from the future.]
7) Climbing Mortgage Rates: This graph, from the St. Louis Fed database, shows that 30-year mortgage rates are bouncing along a 40-year low of 5%:
Rates are only this low because, a year ago, the Fed started buying mortgage-backed securities ("MBS") and agency debt (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac). Since January 2009, the Fed has purchased over $1.1 trillion in MBS and agency debt. As shown below, this has more than doubled the size of the Fed's balance sheet:
This purchase program is supposed to end in March 2010 at a maximum of $1.25 trillion. Let's do the math. The Fed spends $1 trillion per year buying mortgages. Home sales are running at about 5 million houses per year. That means for every house sold, the Fed buys $200,000 worth of MBS, or approximately all the mortgages issued last year. Since the Fed just prints this money, it effectively sets the mortgage interest rate. This limitless supply of mortgage funding caused the spread between mortgage rates and Treasury rates to collapse:
If the Fed actually stops buying MBS and agency debt, then mortgage rates will go up to the market rate. I don't know how high that market interest rate will be, but it certainly won't be an all-time low of below 5%. Higher future mortgage rates will be another negative for home prices.
With the waning effectiveness of the tax credit, the wind velocity of these squalls will only increase as home prices begin fall. As such, they will be self-reinforcing. Those who are standing on a soapbox screaming that home prices have stabilized are doing so from the intersection of Biased Blvd. & Insane Ave.
Setting Our Sails For Lower Housing Sales
I'm convinced that home prices have further to fall. This is not a major factor for people selling one house to buy another. Most of what you lose on one transaction should be made up on the other transaction. Just make certain that you sell your current house before buying your new one. For some people, it could even make sense to rent for a while before buying the next house.
For first time homebuyers, people looking to trade-up significantly, or people interested in a second home, I would exercise caution. Don't let the expiring tax credit rush you into buying. You will probably save more money by waiting for the price drop that will occur after the tax credit expires.
For those looking to sell, I would not delay. You may be tempted to hold out in the hope of recouping recent losses. However, if my analysis is anywhere close to correct, once the home price drop resumes, it will be at least five (and more likely ten) years before we see nominal prices as high as they are today.
For the small percentage of readers who happen to be married to me, this analysis means that it will be at least a few more years before my fantasy about buying a Paris apartment reaches the danger zone.
I would encourage everyone to view their homes as places to live and not to count on them to be a great investment. Years of appreciating home prices have conditioned us to favor buying over renting. However, in many locations right now, renting could be a more attractive option.
Finally, for new readers who might be wondering why I didn't warn you sooner, before you email me something to the effect of "NOW you tell us!" please refer to my March 2005 editorial Bubble, Bubble…Is My House In Trouble?.
We'll Make It Through The Eyewall
It won't always be this way. The Fed will keep printing Federal Reserve Notes until it changes. I must admit, I never thought I'd see the day the Fed was printing money to buy mortgages. This really opens up the possibilities. Hell, as long as the dessert table is unsupervised, let's just gorge ourselves. Let's stop collecting taxes and borrowing all together. We can just print money to pay all government expenditures. That would certainly quell any concerns about the U.S. slipping into a pesky Japanese-style deflation.
Rest assured, once the printing press goes fast enough, the price of houses will go up (along with everything else, except wages). We won't have to wait long, my friends. I think that 2-4 years from now, I'll be eager to convert my paper dollars into real estate. Right now, however, we need to be cautious. We want to make sure we still have some buying power left when those bargain prices arrive.
The sailing ahead is perilous. While I think the housing market is the most immediate danger confronting us, it is by no means the only one. I'm also worried about the dollar (and many other currencies), rising interest rates, inflation, commercial real estate and a serious global double-dip recession. Most importantly, I'm very worried about our willingness to go deeper and deeper in debt in order to avoid actually dealing with our problems. These are all topics I'll be addressing in the months ahead.
It won't be smooth sailing, but we can take comfort in the fact that while we can't control the direction of the wind, we are actively adjusting our sails.


text: For many developers, long gone are the days of supporting Netscape 4.x browsers. If you're among this group, you want to be sure that Dreamweaver no longer adds the Netscape Resize Fix to your pages automatically. Select Edit > Preferences (Dreamweaver > Preferences), and then choose the Layers category on the left. Uncheck the Netscape 4 Compatibility box, and then click OK. If you happen to want the fix, you can add it to your documents on a case-by-case basis using Commands > Add/Remove Netscape Resize Fix.


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"Ubisoft officially announces Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Sony placing the Vita's fate within the hands of the PlayStation 4, and Crytek turns heads with statement regarding the dissolve of single-player experiences."
I just want to see Sony actually pull it off, that'd be very impressive if they could achieve this technology with every PlayStation 4 release!
i know that ubisoft is cooking something for the vita.
as far as i remember they announced ac3l for vita last e3 so we can expect the same for this coming e3
ubisoft bring 6 vita games last year
tecmo bring 3 games and will become 4 this month cuz of doa5
konami bring 3 games to vita as well last year
so tell me are developers/publishers from the west arent supporting the vita?
besides xseed will bring ys and valhalla knights 3 this year
aksyss is bringing muramasa and guilty gear also this year
yeah no support right?
Doesn't look good for the vita right now. I don't see people purchasing both ps4 + vita, and then memory cards too. Sony has to either drop the price in the US or include vita in a ps4 package. Either way it's gonna be a tough sell.
No. The Vita's fate lies solely in the hands of its library.
If Sony wants to help it in the long-term, focus on bringing over some Japanese titles; encourage AAA development AND indy development. Encourage developers to add PSP games to the PSN store--Final Fantasies, Star Oceans, etc.
If Sony wants to help it in the short term, how about timed-exclusive PS1 classics? Suikoden II would be nice.


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Megan Magee is a Registered Dietetic Tech (DTR) and has been studying and practicing nutrition for almost a decade, with emphasis on diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and weight loss. She received her Bachelor's Degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in Kinesiology and Sociology, with emphasis on public health and health and medicine. She continued her education with a specialty in Dietetics. Additionally, Megan is certified in Adult Weight Management through the American Dietetic Association and Commission on Dietetic Registration.
As a DTR, Megan is passionate about educating clients and the community about eating for a lifetime of health and wellness. In addition to seeing clients in the office, Megan lectures regularly for corporate wellness programs, schools, and other organizations. While living in California from 2007-2010, Megan founded and developed her own practice, Nourish Nutrition Consulting, with offices in West Hollywood and West Los Angeles. To learn more about Megan, check out www.nourishnutritiononline.com.


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Sale Price: $394.00 $254.96
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Product ID : 1101
Manufacturer: P.W. Minor
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PW Minor Men's Boss Boots - Black : Description
P.W. Minor Men's Boss Boots - Black
Diabetic Boots are able to offer comfort, support and protection in a complete package. The P.W. Minor Men's Boss Boots in Black are made in the USA and utilize over 145 years of shoe making experience. The upper is made using high quality, full grain leather and features a welted construction for durability, flex and multiple resolings. An 8" shaft height offers plenty of support and protection with its padded tongue and collar. Other features include a smooth fabric lining that is ultra soft while an anti-microbial and anti-fungal treatment create a healthy foot environment. These diabetic boots are equipped with a full length, single density EVA inlay with a sueded cover for cushioning and support. The inlay can also be removed to accommodate custom orthotics. Additional shock absorption comes from the EVA midsole and the durable rubber outsole while support and motion control are provided by an embedded steel shank and a torsion control bar.
*NOTE - The Narrow (A) and Narrow (B) widths are only available in sizes 9-14.
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P.W. Minor has made significant strides in the development and quality of their product line. P.W. Minor boots will include most or all of these standard features that are so essential to proper foot health. Features include a firm, asymmetrical heel counter that is longer on the medial side. Asymmetrical collar heights accommodate the ankle bone by positioning the medial collar slightly higher and further forward than the lateral collar. Pedorthically designed outsoles allow for easy modification, a padded tongue and collar surround the ankle in comfort and a seamless lining construction creates a smooth interior. Full length, removable inlays provide cushioned support and an additional 1/8" inlay allows for adjustability and a customized fit. All styles are able to accommodate orthotics and are made from soft, full grain leathers and/or synthetic materials for a more comfortable and durable boot.
P.W. Minor Men's Boss Boots Features:
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- Full grain leather upper
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- Ultra soft, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial fabric lining
- Full length, removable, single density EVA inlay with sueded cover
- EVA midsole with rubber outsole and rubber torsion control bar
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- Built on the Men's Summit Super Depth® last
- Accommodates prescribed orthotics
- 8" boot shaft height
- 1" heel height
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some of the most memorable films from the 1930s, 40s and 50s on DVD
14 Classics Arrive on DVD to Start the New Year
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is releasing their latest selection of classic films on DVD from their popular Fox Cinema Archives collection beginning today through February 25. Launched in 2012, Fox Cinema Archives already includes more than 200 classic films drawing from the studio's deep vault of movies. The collection dives into the studio's rich catalog to resurrect some of the most memorable films from the 1930s, 40s and 50s.
In the coming weeks, 14 essential titles will be added to Fox Cinema Archives, including classic war dramas, comedies and musicals, giving film buffs the opportunity to enhance their collection by purchasing a variety of iconic films at major top-tier retailers. The release schedule for this wave of titles can be seen below.
Providing the best home entertainment experience possible, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is committed to bringing classic films from the studio's vault into the homes of film aficionados and collectors with its Fox Cinema Archives collection. We aim to provide the best home entertainment experience possible for titles released under the Fox Cinema Archives banner, but are often limited to the film's available source material.
Available Now
In Love and War (1958)
Three Marines take shore leave in San Francisco in Phillip Dunne's World War II drama starring Golden Globe® winner Dana Wynter alongside Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter and Bradford Dillman. Between a dysfunctional family, pregnant fiancée and wild girlfriend, each marine must choose whether to make the best of their situation or escape.
Island in the Sky (1938)
Academy Award®-nominated actress Gloria Stuart plays Julie Hayes, a woman convinced the man her fiancé, Michael Fraser, Asst. D.A. (Michael Whalen) helped convict of murder is innocent of the crime. Julie postpones their wedding, and then seeks a former gangster to help save the life of the innocent man.
The Glory Brigade (1953)
Victor Mature, Alexander Scourby and Richard Egan star in Robert D. Webb's Golden Globe –winning film. During the Korean War, a Greek-American Lieutenant wrongly blames the Greek troops he has volunteered to lead for the death of his own men.
January 28
Danger: Love at Work (1937)
In Otto Preminger's screwball comedy, an ineffectual attorney must convince an eccentric family to close an important land deal and ends up marrying the only sane member of the bunch. The film stars Academy Award®-nominated actress Ann Sothern with Jack Haley and Edward Everett Horton.
Home in Indiana (1944)
Lon McCallister plays a teenager with a penchant for trouble sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Indiana, where he discovers a love for horses. Based on George Agnew's story The Phantom Filly, this Academy Award®-nominated film also stars Walter Brennan, Jeanne Crain, June Haver and Charlotte Greenwood.
City of Bad Men (1953)
In Harmon Jones' Western film, gangs of outlaws converge on 1897 Carson City, planning to rob the box office of a high profile prizefight. The noteworthy cast includes Dale Robertson, Jeanne Crain and Richard Boone.
February 4
Pride of St. Louis (1952)
A biopic based on the life of Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitching ace 'Dizzy' Dean, following his bumpy rise from minor leaguer to World Series great, to beloved broadcaster. This Academy Award®-nominated film stars Dan Dailey as Dizzy Dean.
Follow the Sun (1951)
Glenn Ford plays Ben Hogan in the inspiring biographical film of the golf legend. The film also stars Anne Baxter and many sports figures of the day, including Jimmy Demaret, Carry Middlecoff, Grantland Rice and Sam Snead.
February 11
Five Fingers (1952)
The valet to the British ambassador in Turkey during WWII decides to improve his lot by selling his employer's top-secret documents to the Nazis in this classic spy film starring James Mason. Based on the true story of Elyesa Bazna, one of the most famous spies of World War II, the film was nominated for two Academy Awards®.
The Great Profile (1940)
John Barrymore stars in this semi-autobiographical film about the dysfunctional life of a self-destructive actor. Directed by Academy Award®-nominated director8 Walter Lang, the film stars John Barrymore and John Payne.
February 18
Margin for Error (1943)
When a Nazi consul who was embezzling funds from the German consulate turns up dead, a Jewish policeman exonerates his wife and partner of the crime. Otto Preminger, Joan Bennett and Milton Berle star in this adaptation of the 1939 play of the same title by Claire Boothe Luce.
Mother Wore Tights (1947)
Dan Dailey and Betty Grable star as a young man and woman, whom team up as performers during the age of vaudeville and soon fall in love. The story of their rise to fame, and the subsequent professional and personal setbacks, is told in flashback and set against a rousing musical score.
February 25
Wild on the Beach (1965)
Its Spring Break 60s style as two unfamiliar groups of college kids, one male and the other female, arrive at the same beach house on the same weekend. Featuring memorable musical acts, Wild on the Beach is also the film debut of Sonny & Cher.
Sing, Baby, Sing (1936)
At the insistence of her manager, a nightclub singer tricks a drunken movie star into thinking they've had a relationship. The musical features Alice Faye, Adolphe Menjou and Gregory Ratoff.
Disclosure: Informational post only


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When Michael Keaton met Barack Obama shortly before Obama would become president, the then-senator had a question for the actor: "Why don't you make more movies?"
That quandary has long bedeviled moviegoers, too. Why did the roundly beloved Keaton — a manic comic actor, an intense live wire, a real-deal movie star — become such an infrequent presence on the big screen?
Even at the height of Keaton's stardom in the 1980s and '90s, he was famously picky, usually doing a movie a year and turning down about as many hits (Splash, JFK, among them) as he said yes to. But after a handful of flops in the late '90s and early 2000s, Keaton all but disappeared from movies.
"I did turn a lot of things down. But a lot of the things I turned down, you would have turned down," said Keaton recently. "It was because I was bored. I was bored with what I would do. Maybe it just didn't interest me for a while, I don't know."
But Keaton's revival, begun with a handful of supporting roles, reaches a blistering, wildly meta crescendo in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance," which opens Friday. Keaton stars as a washed-up, middle-aged actor, Riggan Thomson, trying to mount a serious play on Broadway based on a Raymond Carver story when all his fans want is for him to make a fourth "Birdman" film — a superhero identity that haunts him.
The reference to Keaton's Batman days is unmistakable, but Birdman — shot in long, flowing takes that capture the chaotic swirl of backstage life and a theater full of people striving for their own sense of self-importance — only plays a little with Keaton's own persona. It's a gonzo portrait of an actor's out-of-control psychoses that appears certain to land the 63-year-old's first Oscar nomination.
Keaton's comeback is the result, he says, of sharping his focus.
"I turned the dial up," says Keaton. "I don't know if I got re-interested or I settled a lot of other things in my life. I really don't know. I just thought: 'I'm going to dial the scope in a little more,' like on a rifle. … It's amazing when you focus on the things you want and keep your eye on the ball. You start to create it or something."
Keaton has in many ways spent his career avoiding the typecast fate of Riggan. The Pittsburgh-native, Catholic-raised, youngest of seven began as stand-up. After his breakthrough in 1982's Night Shift, he deliberately sought to avoid what he calls "glib young man" roles. When development on a third Batman film sought to lighten Tim Burton's universe, he bailed.
"He's a very self-assured guy. He doesn't need to be validated," says Inarritu (Amoros Perros, Babel). "In order to play a role like this and be naked — spiritually, intellectually, physically — you have to have a lot of self-assurance."
Keaton, who has a 31-year-old son from his marriage to Caroline McWilliams, spends much of his time on his ranch in Montana, fishing and hunting. Next, he'll star in Tom McCarthy's Catholic scandal drama Spotlight.
Will he keep up the pace?
"I honestly don't know," says Keaton. "I'm sure I'll do something that won't work, that will be stupid and people will point their fingers and say I'm a dope. And I'll go to the next one and maybe they won't."
Jake Coyle
Associated Press


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Escape the tower and land on Battleship Bay. Note that for this short duration, stealing will cause alerts. If you are sufficiently confident in guarding yourself from being ambushed, go ahead and kill the most heavily armed enemy first (you get to kill them in a surprise attack before they retaliate) and deal with the fallout. Afterward, you can loot everything with impunity.
|Voxophone 017
There's a red-and-white striped wagon near the beach arcade towards the back wall. Check under it for the recorder.
Find Elizabeth dancing on the boardwalk. Head for the First Lady airship on Soldier's Field. Booker will encounter the Letuces on the boardwalk and you may pick either the cage or the bird. It should be noted your decisions may not matter in the end.
AMUSEMENT CENTER Edit
Head inside the amusement facility's servants' entrance (employees). A storage room past some doors has items. The facility's servants' entrance has a storage room past some doors has a piece of random gear.
|Voxophone 018
Head inside the amusement facility's servants' entrance (employees). A storage room past some doors has a recorder in the laundry basket.
If you chose to strike Fink at the Raffle Square with the object, the couple will give Booker an extra piece of gear in the amusement center employee hallway. Three of the machines for Sightseer are available in the amusement center (if you missed them in earlier sections). Just to be safe, you can view them here.
|Voxophone 019
The amusement center has some restrooms that are kept very clean/white-washed. One of them has this recorder.
|SightSeer 013
"Solving the Irish Problem". A kinetoscope is at the end of the amusement center's hallway, past the very clean restrooms.
Outside the amusement center, you can steal some more money (you may want to). Draw your weapon or demand tickets from the ticketmaster -- it will be the same outcome. Booker needs to fight the agents pursuing him and Elizabeth. Take one of their shotguns if you have a chance. That weapon is devastating (usually one-shots) on enemies at close range.
|Voxophone 020
Before continuing down the hall past the ticket station, check the office opposite the direction of the objective. A voxophone will be in that office.
|Infusion 005
The ticket master's office can be accessed from the back; check the door in the hallway before stepping outside towards the Tesla coil and the trolley. There is a phial of infusion in the ticketing office.
|Voxophone 021
Adjacent to the ticket master's office is a set of white double doors leading to a basement storage area; the recorder is in there.
|SightSeer 014
At the end of the trolley ride where Elizabeth berates Booker, there is a telescope on the observation platform (map junction to Soldier's Field).
Wade through the enemies and plink 'em with your handgun or machinegun. Keep a shotgun around if you can (it's a great weapon for Hall of Heroes). Activate the trolley to the First Lady's aerodome in Soldier's Field.
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|Monument Tower
|Soldier's Field


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Wyre-Piddle, a chapelry in Fladbury parish, Worcester; on the river Avon, adjacent to Pershore r. station. It has a post-office under Pershore. Pop., 229. Houses, 54. The manor belongs to Lord Northwick. The living is annexed to Fladbury. The church was restored in 1845. There is a Wesleyan chapel.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
Wyre-Piddle – a hamlet and chapelry to the parish of Fladbury, hundred of Oswaldslow, middle division, 2 miles N.E. from Pershore, and 105 from London; containing 34 inhabited houses. Population, 1801, 144 – 1811, 140 – 1821, 178.
Source: Worcestershire Delineated: Being a Topographical Description of Each Parish, Chapelry, Hamlet, &c. In the County; with the distances and bearings from their respective market towns, &c. By C. and J. Greenwood. Printed by T. Bensley, Crane Court, Fleet Street, London, 1822.


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Alva and Fender
Originally uploaded by Leo Laporte.
Henry's new board!
Broadcaster, podcaster, tech pundit. Founder, TWiT Netcast Network. The Tech Guy on the Premiere radio network
Henry's new board!
Recaro Car Seats>Recaro Car Seats – Recaro car seats are now used in a variety of cars from Audis to the Aston Martin, Lamborghini's, Jaguars, and Porsches. Our reproduction Recaro car seats are handmade with the highest quality and craftsmanship in Italy. Get your Recaro Car Seats from http://www.classiccarseats.com/recaro-car-seat.php
So Leo when are you gonna get your kid a podcast?I think it would be a hoot to say the least.
Skateboarding and Guitar = FunBeing a current guitar player and former skateboarder I have to say both are a lot of fun.
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Colorado Health Resources for Women
Women's health resources in Boulder and beyond.
Women in Boulder and the surrounding area are fortunate to have a number of excellent health resources right at their doorstep. Whether you have a general health about your gynecological health or a specific concern, the following places are excellent resources. Dr. Lepine and all of us here at Boulder Gynecology and Minimally Invasive Surgery are also here to help you with all your gynecological needs.


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Space Inventories
The California Community Colleges Space Inventory is mandatory pursuant to Education Code Sections 71028, 81800, and 81821(e); Section 71028 states, "The Board of Governors
shall review and approve academic master plans and master plans for facilities for each community college district." A more specific requirement is given in Section
81821(e) which requires, "An annual inventory of all facilities of the district using
standard definitions, forms and instructions adopted by the Board of Governors."
The space inventory as required by statute provides the essential database for examining utilization of facilities and, as a consequence, the planning for, allocation of, and addition to the statewide Five-Year Construction Plan prepared each year.
The space inventory format consists of a facilities inventory list, reports and summaries. The inventory list provides a room summary for each building plus identifying quantitative data. The reports are organized with various formats that provide detailed information on facility identification, room and standard classification data. In addition, the reports provide detail on the number of rooms, assignable square feet, number of stations and other facilities data. The summaries give college, district and statewide totals from report data.
The space inventory for each campus is maintained by the Facilities Planning, Maintenance and Operations department located at the campus.
Please click on the link below to view the Space Inventories for the last five years. Click on the link to the PDF file for the year you wish to view. Once you have opened a PDF, you may quickly navigate to a particular college by opening the Bookmarks tab (on the left side of the page) and then click on the college you wish to view.
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Doctors From Cherkasy Region Trained in New Trauma Protocols
It was a busy week at the Cherkasy Doctor's Training Center. During a five-day training course provided by Ukrainian and foreign instructors from Patriot Defence, local medics completed training to prepare them for massive casualties.
From Sept 19-25, 23 doctors from Cherkasy and its region – including trauma surgeons, orthopedists, surgeons, anesthesiologists – completed a number of seminars and skill stations. They learned modern approaches to trauma management at the prehospital and hospital stage. The purpose of the Ukrainian Trauma Life Support Course (UTLS) is to teach medics to how deal with emergency trauma under extreme conditions.
The last day of the course includes a final written and physical assessment exam. The practical exam was based on a real-life scenario – vehicle crashed into an office of a factory and resulted in 12 casualties among the passengers and local workers.
Loud screams and noises – that's the sound of incoming responders. Students divided into teams in order to assign responsibilities and set up communication system so they can maximize the effectiveness of provided care and prepare casualties for evacuation. During the hospital stage, there are already four teams that worked on stabilizing patients that arrived.
"We are talking about medical care during first hours of a patient's arrival in hospital. This course is a standard thing around the world while we started conducting it only one year ago", - said deputy ministry of health and one of the course instructors Dr. Oleksandr Linchevskyy. "This course is devoted to providing first aid during trauma in civilian life. Nearly five thousand people die in car crashes in Ukraine every year which is much higher number than the death rate in ATO. This is not acceptable."
Instructors of the course are foreign specialists from Great Britain and the USA along with Ukrainian colleagues that have a successfully practiced and have completed the UTLS course. Students constantly emphasize the time factor during first aid: medics must be able to quickly identify trauma and decisions are also have to be precise. Hence, people who work with trauma must be properly trained according to the best international standards.
Students say that this course significantly changes their view on trauma management because every doctor should treat a patient according to a strict algorithm, check every injured part of the body in strict order to be able to assess a patient as fast as possible and respond quickly.
At the end of the simulation exercise all patients survived and students passed the exam and the graduates receive a certificate from Patriot Defence.
Acting Health Minister, Patriot Defence founder Ulana Suprun together with students of Cherkasy medical college, that were acting as patients


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Cut QualityDiamonds cut to ideal proportions are made to reflect the most amount of light. High percentage of diamond weight is lost in the process of shaping and polishing the diamond. Such diamonds are perceived as most brilliant and fiery, thus making this the most desirable cut. Because in making ideally cut diamonds more diamond material is sacrificed for the sake of appearance, they are usually more expansive.
ColorH color grade diamonds are second best in a colorless category. Most H color diamonds have a very light yellow tint that may be more noticeable when the diamond is placed on a white surface. Such diamonds look beautiful in platinum and white gold and offer outstanding value.
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Another thing to watch out for when coming up with any Vintage Dining Room Decorating Ideas. The table should be lit properly to display food and dinner placings inside their best light, but it might not be extremely important to illuminate sideboards or walls, so consider utilising specially placed lamps that target the table. Materials will also be important. Dining furniture needs to look good, but it should also be longer lasting. Children can certainly damage your beautiful upholstery, and dark wine can stain fabrics irretrievably. So think about using materials like wood or composites to be sure durability. Little touches also can result in the web site bland space and a spectacular design. So think of curtains, flowers and ornaments, but don%u2019t go too much. Restraint is vital in choosing dining room decor also.
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Without the element of demise, we never learn to live."
My dad would've been 84 today. The arrival of this day used to evoke considerable grief and unrest within me. I felt wronged and cheated out of a father, and resented the lack of closure…that opportunity to say goodbye.
Somewhere over the years, I found my peace with his death. Perhaps, it was the uncanny string of gifts that seemed to arise immediately…gifts that would've been inconceivable in his life…. gifts that helped me evolve and emerge from my personal shadows. Or, the growing sense of his presence in my life with guidance to go this way and not that, the sense of connection to a divine power within and all around me…and, above all, the lessons I learned equally from his life as well as from his demise.
1. Laugh. Surround yourself with people who enjoy your good humor and sharing a laugh with you.
2. Be of service. Work for love. Love your work. Be visible. Do your admin work later.
3. Be a history buff. Keep learning, especially from history.
4. Prioritize savings over spending. Being in debt is more stressful than the luxury it can ever buy.
5. Don't internalize your stress or frustration. Find healthy ways to release toxins from your body and, especially, from your heart.
6. Have the courage to walk away from the people or places that no longer serve you.
7. Be a devoted sports fan. Get emotionally involved and root against the enemy (the Yankees, Lakers, and Jets).
8. Study the map. Before any trip or disembarkation, plot out the journey.
9. Get quiet and pray. Find space to be alone, such as on the golf course or in your office.
10. Be on time for the things you love… f#ck the rest.
The greatest homage we can pay the dearly departed is learning from their life as well as from their demise. There are always lessons in the darkness that teach us to live, shine, and love as we were meant to.


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I feel the need to start by introducing my current relationship situation, and myself or lack there of for that matter. I recently just turned 30, and am single. My bff, "Valerie" is also single and she took the initiative to get herself and me in tow, onto the site we call Tinder. Since this adventure is too good not to share, I thought you all deserve a moment of humor, at my expense. You're welcome!
- People who aren't single, and haven't been single in years, should get no say as to why I am still single. You just don't get it unless you are single. Period. End of story, move on, next topic, how about them Padres?
- Now, lets get a few things clear. One, I know that Tinder is mainly used to "hook-up" and no, I am not, nor have I ever been that kind of girl. There has to be at least one decent guy on this site right?
- There are a lot of "single" men out there. But dating a douche bag isn't particularly high on my list.
- Here are some pointers, because lets face it, you don't want to appear to be a douche (even if you are one), hide that shit until you at least get to date #2.
- No bathroom mirror selfies- you look like a 13 year old girl
- No bathroom mirror selfies, with your shirt off. "Oh, you have a 6-pack." I don't give a rat's ass, put a damn shirt on!
- If every picture you have on your profile is you with some girl (who isn't family), I'm left Swiping. I don't care how hot/ funny you seem.
- No man, (except David Beckham) looks good in a Speedo, unless you are in Spain, then it's free for all. Just don't post those pictures on your profile.
So far here is what the universe has to offer me…. They say pictures are worth a thousand words so here are a few thousand words.
Stay tuned, as this Tinder adventure has only just begun.


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This web site is funded by the Caerwent Community Council ©2000-2018 All rights reserved
Designed by breezegraphic.com Legal Notices
We have had to delay the migration of our site to a new server and we apologise for any inconvenience this causes.
Some of the website content will be affected for a short period but we hope this will be for a minimum length of time.
Full details of the move will be published shortly
We apologies for lack of updates on this site over the previous months, this was due to technical issues which we hope have now been resolved.
Agendas and Minutes of meeting have now been updated and we will be working on other areas over the coming months.
Thank you for your patience. …….. Caerwent Community Centre ……….
Lawrence Crescent, Caerwent.
Subscriptions 75p. Tuck available.
11-13 years.……………………………..5.30 – 7.00
14 years++……..…………………….…..6.30 – 8.00
Youth Leader………………………..….Mr Alex Harris.
We can offer:-
Indoor football, pool, table football, table tennis, air hockey, basketball, handicrafts, cookery, indoor hockey and tennis, and much more…..
Everyone Welcome.
There is a very interesting video of Caerwent Village that has been produced by FlyPix.
We have provided a link below so you can view the video for yourselves.
Check our calendar of Forthcoming Events
For information of activities, entertainment and meetings
Do you have an event or announcement you would like us to advertise.
Send the details to firstname.lastname@example.com and we will put it into our Forthcoming Events calendar or post it on our Community Announcements Page
War memorial
Serving the communities of Caerwent, Crick, Llanvair Discoed & St Brides Netherwent.
Serviens Populas Venta Silurum
This website is dedicated to the memory of Bryan Morgan the original webmaster of this site.
He was responsible for developing and maintaining the site on behalf of the Community Council until his death in 2003
The Community Council


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Head Over Wheels
For over 20 years Automotive Ideas has accessorized and customised autos with high quality products and service. We work on over eight,000 autos each year in our 32,000 sq. ft. facility, making us the biggest aftermarket installer of car customizations in the Midwest. The John Cooper Works substitutes a 208-horsepower model of the four-cylinder engine and a much stiffer, more efficiency-oriented suspension. The result's a hot little hatchback that is rewarding and enjoyable to drive exhausting, although that spirit comes at the cost of a little bit of day-to-day comfort. For those looking for every last edge, the MINI Coupe JCW is the fastest of the group, clocking 6.1-second 0-60 mph runs and a 149-mph top speed-with an energetic spoiler that rises about 50 mph and recedes beneath 37 mph.
Having the ability to anticipate any shortages and securing supply are the first issues for the producers, and this is consequently why technological options are being developed to restrict present dependence on earth metals. Equally, the geopolitical issues around raw materials are being integrated at EU level – and one of many different policies in discussion is towards recycling. 12 million vehicles are taken off the roads every year in the European Union, which amounts to hundreds of thousands of tonnes of what truly constitutes a valuable useful resource.2 The utilisation of this secondary useful resource, investing in recycling applied sciences and growing using recycled material has been found to offer a promising outlook.
The love of working on automobiles has impressed me to take a job as a mechanic. I was exposed to the field early on, as a farmer in my youth. We had to restore and preserve our farm gear as efficiently and rapidly as doable, and I loved the problem. It made me understand that working … Read More ...


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Toe Injury
Is this your child's symptom?
- Injuries to toes
If NOT, try one of these:
When to Call
Select the First Symptom that Applies
Go to ER Now
- Bleeding won't stop after 10 minutes of direct pressure
- Looks like a broken bone or dislocated joint
Call Doctor Now or Go to ER
- Skin is split open or gaping and may need stitches
- Large swelling is present
- Blood under a nail is causing more than mild pain
- Nail is torn
- Base of nail has popped out from under the skin fold
- Dirt in the wound is not gone after 15 minutes of scrubbing
- Toe injury that causes bad limp
- Severe pain and not improved 2 hours after taking pain medicine
- Age less than 1 year old
- Age less than 2 years and toe tourniquet suspected. (Hair wrapped around toe, groove, swollen red or bluish toe)
- You think your child has a serious injury
- You think your child needs to be seen, and the problem is urgent
Call Doctor Within 24 Hours
- You think your child needs to be seen, but the problem is not urgent
Call Doctor During Office Hours
- Dirty cut and no tetanus shot in over 5 years
- Clean cut and no tetanus shot in over 10 years
- Pain not better after 3 days
- Not using the toe normally after 2 weeks
- You have other questions or concerns
Self Care at Home
- Minor toe injury
Care Advice for Minor Toe Injuries
- What You Should Know About Toe Injuries:
- There are many ways that children can hurt their toes.
- There are also many types of toe injuries.
- You can treat minor toe injuries at home.
- Here is some care advice that should help.
- Pain Medicine:
- To help with the pain, give an acetaminophen product (such as Tylenol).
- Another choice is an ibuprofen product (such as Advil).
- Use as needed.
- Bruised/Swollen Toe:
- Soak in cold water for 20 minutes.
- Repeat as needed.
- Small Cuts or Scratches:
- For any bleeding, put direct pressure on the wound. Use a gauze pad or clean cloth. Press for 10 minutes.
- Wash the wound with soap and water for 5 minutes.
- For any dirt in the wound, scrub gently.
- For any cuts, use an antibiotic ointment (such as Polysporin). No prescription is needed.
- Cover it with a bandage (such as Band-Aid). Change daily.
- Jammed Toe:
- Caution: Be certain range of motion is normal. Your child should be able to bend and straighten each toe. If movement is limited, your doctor must check for a broken bone.
- Soak the foot in cold water for 20 minutes.
- If the pain is more than mild, "buddy-tape" it to the next toe.
- Smashed or Crushed Toe:
- Wash the toe with soap and water for 5 minutes.
- Trim any small pieces of torn skin with a fine scissors. Clean them first with rubbing alcohol.
- For any cuts, use an antibiotic ointment (such as Polysporin). No prescription is needed.
- Cover it with a bandage (such as Band-Aid). Change daily.
- Torn Nail (from catching it on something):
- For a cracked nail without rough edges, leave it alone.
- For a large flap of nail that's almost torn through, cut it off. Use a pair of scissors that have been cleaned. Cut along the line of the tear. Reason: Pieces of nail taped in place will catch on objects.
- Soak the toe for 20 minutes in cold water for pain relief.
- Use an antibiotic ointment (such as Polysporin). No prescription is needed. Then cover with a bandage (such as Band-Aid). Change daily.
- After about 7 days, the nailbed should be covered by new skin. It should no longer hurt. A new nail will grow in over 6 to 8 weeks.
- Shoes:
- If normal shoes cause too much pain, wear open-toe sandals.
- Use sandals with a firm sole until the injury heals.
- Call Your Doctor If:
- Pain becomes severe
- Pain not better after 3 days
- Toe not normal after 2 weeks
- You think your child needs to be seen
- Your child becomes worse
Causes and Background Information
Types of Toe Injuries
- Cuts, Scrapes and Bruises. These are the most common injuries.
- Jammed Toe. The end of a straightened toe receives a blow. This is usually from stubbing the toe on an object. The energy is absorbed by the joint surface and the injury occurs there. This is called traumatic arthritis.
- Crushed or Smashed Toe. This is usually from something heavy falling on the toe. Sometimes, the nail can be damaged. Fractures are unusual, but are at risk for a bone infection (osteomyelitis).
- Toenail Injury. If the nailbed is cut, it may need sutures to prevent a permanently deformed nail. This is less important for toenails.
- Subungual Hematoma (Blood Clot under the Nail). Most often caused by a crush injury. It can be from a heavy object falling on the nailbed. Many are only mildly painful. Some are severely painful and throbbing. These need the pressure under the nail released. This can relieve the pain and prevent loss of the nail.
- Dislocations. The toe has been pushed out of its joint.
- Fractures. Toe has a broken bone.
Pain Scale
- Mild: Your child feels pain and tells you about it. But, the pain does not keep your child from any normal activities. School, play and sleep are not changed.
- Moderate: The pain keeps your child from doing some normal activities. It may wake him or her up from sleep.
- Severe: The pain is very bad. It keeps your child from doing all normal activities.
Copyright 1994-2015 Barton D. Schmitt, MD. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer: This information is not intended be a substitute for professional medical advice. It is provided for educational purposes only. You assume full responsibility for how you choose to use this information.


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Dedicated to protecting the environment, enhancing human, animal and plant ecologies, promoting the efficient use of natural resources and increasing African American participation in the environmental movement.
Monday, December 27, 2010
More on EPA Versus Texas on Climate Change Reg Fight
AAEA supports EPA's regulation of greenhouse gases. We believe the rules can lead to increased job creation via innovative methods and technologies. These standards will help American companies attract private investment to the clean energy upgrades that make our companies more competitive and create good jobs here at home.
Texas critics believe the rules are unnecessarily burdensome mandates on the state's energy sector and threatens hundreds of thousands of Texas jobs. Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Republicans and some Democrats in Congress are pushing to halt the EPA's authority over greenhouse gases.
The EPA's rules are set to start 13 months after the agency declared carbon-dioxide emissions a danger to public health and welfare. The EPA's "endangerment finding" followed a Supreme Court ruling in 2007 that the agency has the authority to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act.
According to EPA, most states are prepared to grant the permits starting Jan. 2. Seven have agreed to have the agency issue permits while they revise their programs to accommodate the new rules.
The EPA remains in talks with Texas and views federal control of greenhouse-gas permits in the state as a temporary arrangement.
The EPA will propose new standards for utilities by July and for oil refineries by December. Those rules will be made final for power plants by May 2012 and for refineries by November 2012, she said.
The EPA officials said today it's too early to know what the new rules, known as "new source performance standards" for pollutants under the Clean Air Act, will entail. (Bloomberg Business Week, 12/27/2010)
Posted by Norris McDonald at 4:37 PM
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You may have heard of, and even tried a handful of home remedies for the cough and flu; but, when you or a child suffers from an earache, the use of olive oil to alleviate the pain is one that may prove beneficial. An earache is a common condition, most people have suffered from. And, although it may be an underlying issue, or simply a symptom of other illnesses or conditions, it is a major discomfort for certain individuals, and the pain can be quite intense for certain people.
The good news is that a few drops of olive oil can help in treating an earache. Many experts agree a few drops of warm olive oil in to the ear can help provide relief to the individuals suffering from the pain. You can also dip a cotton ball in to the oil, and place it over the ear. Anti inflammatory powers of olive oil, can help reduce inflammation, redness ,and pain which are common with earaches. Adding minced garlic to a small amount of olive oil is also a viable treatment solution for the pain. Allowing the garlic to immerse itself in to the oil, can provide an additional pain relief method that traditional medication is not going to provide.
For middle ear infections, olive oil will soothe the inflamed and infected area once the warm oil reaches the eardrum. For an outer earache or infection, the oil should simply be placed on the portion which is red or inflamed, in order to help provide the relief that you seek from such pain. Itching, swelling, and redness, are all commonly associated with this type of earache; a small dab of warm (or room temperature) olive oil, can go a long way in providing the healing benefits you seek, when suffering from such pain.
Different earaches and pain you suffer from, may require medication in order to treat the pain. But, if it is an outer or middle ear infection or earache, more often than not, olive oil will help reduce the pain, swelling, redness, and tightening of the stretched tissue, which is commonly associated with this type of earache. In just a short period of time, the anti inflammatory capabilities of the oil, along with the warmer temperature, is going to help with the pain and can help reduce the stretched ear canal and eardrum, which is most likely to blame for the pain you are suffering from.


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Today is a rushed day for me, so I thought I'd just jumble into one post the various things that piqued my interest this morning:
Through an excellent tip at American Thinker, I got to read Lawrence Henry's article giving an interesting perspective on why six generals are essentially in revolt — and it's not a pretty reflection on the generals.
If you want comprehensive coverage of the Patrick Kennedy debacle, and how it fits in with other Democratic scandals, check out Flopping Aces. My comment is that the Democrats are no more corrupt than Republicans (there's always corruption around power), but that Democratics, sheltered by Press and prosecutors alike, are showing amazing hubris right now — and we should all be grateful. If you want an analysis of potential political ramifications, read this Thomas Lifson article.
Jacob Laskin writes about a vile anti-Semite who is being paid by California taxpayers to disseminate his garbage philosophy. (You know he's bad if even the Southern Poverty Law Center, no friend of the Jews, attacks him for his anti-Semitism.)
Joe Kaufman encourages us to vote with our feet at the gas pumps and buy gasoline only from companies that limit, as much as possible, their dealings with terrorist nations that are also oil producers. I'd love to comply but, in my market, the only gas stations are owned by companies that blithely do business with terrorist nations. If you live in a freer mark, you may want to check this article out.
Debbie Schlussel's sharp pen (computer keyboard?) highlights the differences in how the black community has approached the alleged Duke rape and the alleged Mike Tyson rape scandal 15 years before. It's not a pretty reflection on a the spokesmen for the black community. However, mentioning this article does give me another opportunity to urge you to read John McWhorter's most recent book, Winning the Race : Beyond the Crisis in Black America.
I noted with regard to Patrick Kennedy that wacko Democrat Congressmen (and women) are demonstrating a hubris that, I think, will harm them in the end. That same hubris appeared in the backlash to the "We Hate Gringos" day some illegal aliens celebrated on our soil on Monday. Rather than rousing public support, it alienated people. Well, the Captain sees the same thing in Denmark, where the Dane's in the face of repeated Islamic threats over the cartoons, are developing something that looks remarkably like backbone. Perhaps in the short term our best friend in our fight against Islamic sponsored terrorism will be the Islamists themselves, who seem as adept at alienating friends as they are at slaughtering foes.
There's shock and disgust about the fact that Italian Communists plotted with Iran to kill Italian soldiers. I'm also shocked and disgusted, but not really surprised. Communists fight to win, and that doesn't mean fighting fair. They hope for anarchy, because they believe a pure, classless society will emerge. In any event, can anyone help me track down a vague memory that recent historical research shows that, during the Spanish Civil War hardcore Communists in Spain took it upon themselves to purge American soldiers who had signed up to defeat fascism, but who weren't fully on board with the Communist agenda?
Just what a county needs — a high concentration of high risk sex offenders allowed to roam free. What in the world was the State of California thinking when it decided to bring all of California's high risk paroled sex offenders to Marin, house them in officers' quarters on the grounds of San Quentin, and give them the freedom to come and go as they please? Do they want them to be able to pool information about the best way to troll for victims in Marin, and to go on gang bangs together? This is utter insanity.
Charles Krauthammer writes movingly about the promise that is Israel and the risk inherent in that promise. I can't summarize it in a line, and I'll destroy it's impact in a paragraph. Just read his article; you'll be glad you did.


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Five faculty members: Mrs Yesmin Akter, Md. Shaddam Hossain Bagmar, Nabil Awan, Mrs. Ajmery Jaman and Md. Tuhin Skeikh have gone aboard to pursue their higher studies. ISRT organized a small farewell program on August 08, 2017.
Nabil Awan have left Dhaka for Pittsburgh, USA on August 11, 2017. He will start his graduate studies at Department of Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh from Fall, 2017. Md. Tuhin Sheikh have also left Dhaka for Connecticut, USA on August 12, 2017. He will pursue his graduate studies at Department of Statistics, University Connecticut from Fall, 2017. Md. Shaddam Hossain Bagmar and Mrs Ajmery Jaman left Dhaka for Calgery, Canada on 25th August, 2017. They will start their graduate studies at Department of Mathematics and Statistics from University of Calgery from Fall, 2017. Mrs. Yesmin Akter left Dhaka for Germany on 30th August, 2017. She will start her Ph. D at Faculty of Law, Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz from Fall, 2017.
ISRT wishes them good luck for their new journey.


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RRRrrraaoooowwrr Power!!
So seeing as CB and I just finished off that tub of ice cream I blogged about what, yesterday??? I thought it would be a good time to share with you our progress in our strength training endeavours.
To communicate the data to you, I have chosen BAR GRAPH FORMAT! Because graphs are off the charts!
Hahahahaha! Okay look at this..
As shown here in this graph, my general strength is on the rise. Where will my red line end?? How are will it go?? Who knows. Perhaps my strength is limitless. As you can see, my overhead press is pretty wimpy but I can deadlift my own bodyweight and do 25 squatrs with very nearly a hundred pounds on my back. That makes me feel pretty nifty. With this new found power I have been given the gift of slightly less jello-y arm bits and the all consuming compulsion to scream "DO YOU EVEN LIFT???" at anyone who contradicts anything I say, no matter how minor. Its a good thing.
My Goals for the next month:
– Get my overhead press above 60lbs
– Deadlift 200 pounds
– Focus on my form, especially on deadlifts
– Get to the gym twice a week minimum
– Eat clean. I have noticed that when I eat garbage I have no strength in me at all, and I'm really addicted to being stronger every time I do a work out so I have to get only the good stuff in me.
– Stop crying and pooping my pants after every deadlift…
Ultimate Goal
– To be the worlds strongest pastry chef. WAHAHAHA! Just kidding, its to be a street fighter.
CB's Graphitude!
I chose Wolverine as CB's graph icon because he is lean and strong, hates everybody, likes hanging out in the woods by himself, has a thing for red heads and they have the same haircut. Also CB is also punching up pandas.
So his graph is way better than mine. Because.. he goes to the gym twice as much. Argh! He can deadlift almost 300 pounds which is amazing, especially to watch. His face does all kinds of crazy things!
Goals for the next month:
– To have better form, so I dont hurt myself
– Deadlift more than my bodyweight
Ultimate Goal
– To reach a level of muscle mass where the amount of muscle on my body regulates the amount of fat on my body.


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Hippie Patchwork Checked Lace Floral Tunic Frock Top Multi-Colored
Product Description
Photos (Click Photos to Enlarge)
Color : Multi-colored
Product Features* A lovely tunic frock top made with different fabrics - checker print, lace, and floral prints. A row of hooks and loops as details. Unbalanced bottom hem.
* A perfect layering item. Groovy and hippy.
* Cotton blend material is soft and comfy.
QualityWe guarantee the product to be in good quality and every product will go through strict quality control procedures to make sure the item to be in good condition before mailing out.
Important : We respect copyright and truly hate to sell any copy brand or fake products.
|Armpit to Armpit (one side)
|approx. 14" (lying flat) to 15" (stretched comfortably)
|Waist (around)
|approx. 26" (around)
|Length from Shoulder
|approx. 31"
* NOTE : The above measurements are to be compared with measurements of your own clothing (pick one from your wardrobe that you think fits you the best) rather than your own body measurements.
CM Style Fashion New Releases
|Our Customer Says ...
|* Lovely shirt, fit exactly per listing measurements. Thank you!
|-Fairburn, GA, USA
|* EXCLNT seller,Highly recommended great item and super easy transaction. A++++
|-New South Wales, Australia
|* Great seller, beautiful as described, fast shipping, thanks! :-)
|-Orem, UT, USA
|* Very good, exactly what i purchased and I'm a very happy customer a++!! Thank-u
|-Victoria, Australia
|* Beautiful . Exactly as described. Fast international shipping.
|-Greater Manchester, UK
|* Great seller, well packaged products, reasonable prices and excellent service.
|-Arad, Israel
|* Received in good order ... thank you very much ... A+
|-Victoria, Australia
|* Awesome bolero~beautiful~looks better in person!! Thanks :)
|-Poland, OH, USA
|* Very Happy With Purchase!!!!
|-Valencia, CA, USA


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It's MLS Cup Day. What a difference a year makes.
Even if Seattle wins, it seems their first MLS Cup will be overshadowed by the Timbers having done it first. It's not just me that thinks so!
Portland's 2015 MLS Cup triumph has spurred Seattle's run to the final
Read it: EspnFC.com
Cascadian pride or Seattle/Toronto hate? It's a tough decision for both of the Cascadian sides sitting this Cup out. The TA gets the headline photo in this article.
The enemy of my enemy: How other MLS fanbases are rooting in MLS Cup
Read it: MLSsoccer.com
I had not planned on posting about this, but it sort of naturally fits here. Leslie Jones is a divisive figure in comedy. People either love her or hate her. I had been warming to her recently, but last week's appearance wearing a Sounders jersey during the closing credits of SNL has me reversing course. On second thought, she is a comedian, so maybe this was supposed to be funny.
The enemy of my enemy: How other MLS fanbases are rooting in MLS Cup
Read it: MLSsoccer.com
I have suspected Alexi Lalas of having an anti-Timbers bias, but it's possible he just doesn't like Cascadia. Alexi's third reason on why Toronto should win today is something I think we all can agree on.
Alexi Lalas gives 3 reasons why Toronto FC will beat the Seattle Sounders FC in tomorrow's Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup.
Watch it: FS1 on Facebook
Speaking of insufferable…
One Win From Championship, Sounders Fans Ready To Seize The Crown Of Insufferability From Chastened Timbers Fans.
Read it: The Nutmeg News
Forget the mainstream Soccer media. The Nutmeg news offers all the concise game day analysis you could ever want.
Battle Of The Phallus: Seattle And Toronto Battle It Out To Determine Exactly Which Side Is The Cock-Of-The-Walk.
Read it: The Nutmeg News