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Sunday, June 27, 2010
DALE DRINNON: Modifications to the Aquatic Cryptids classifications as proposed by Heuvelmans
This is a general outline of my modifications to Heuvelmans, basically what I was distilling down at the opening of my article in the 2010 CFZ yearbook. The other work on the categories follows from this, and the range maps go with this.
Heuvelmans lists three opening categories:
1X) Vague or indeterminate reports, Mistaken observations and False reports or Hoaxes.
While I change the percentages of all the categories I allow those to stand, but I also add to the invalid reports the majority of the following categories:
2X) Super Otter 13 definite and 15 possible sightings. It has the overall shape like an otter, a serpentine body which undulates vertically, and a short or medium-length neck. The Super Otter may be about 65-100 feet long, sometimes reported up to several hundred or over a thousand (!) feet long. The creature seen by Hans Egede was probably a Super Otter, and it is perhaps a primitive archaeocete with four legs. As of 1965, the last definite Super Otter was in 1848, so it might be extinct by now.
The Report credited to Hans Egede (actually made by his son Povel) was most likely a misunderstood view of a whale now thought to be extinct in the area, and the Sundsland Fisherman report a more normal view of another creature (whale) of the same type. The majority of the rest of the reports are mistaking waves in the water for living animals. As to the statement that the last one was seen in 1846, reports of the same type continue to the present day and it is permissible that NONE of these reports accurately describes any living creature. NONE of them would therefore be "definite" reports of a "Super-otter" or anything else.
3X) Many Humped 33 definite and 26 possible sightings. As the name suggests, this has several humps on it's back. It has a small head, short or medium-length neck, and (sometimes)a fin on its back as well as a pair of flippers. It seems to be about 60-100 feet long, and may be threatened or endangered, as there are very few recent sightings. It is probably an archaeocete.
The Super-Otter and Many-humped categories are hard to distinguish from one another. Most of the reports in this category are also mistaken impressions of waves in the water, even if a Plesiosaur-shaped creature is making the wave. The distinctively black-backed, white-bellied reports with a back fin come from mistaken views of killer whales.
4X) Many Finned 20 definite and 6 possible sightings. This has a round head with whiskers, short neck, and many fins along the sides. It is probably about 60-70 feet long. The many finned seems to have some kind of armored protection, and seems to be another kind of primitive archaeocete.
Many-finned reports are most often mistaken views of several small cetaceans in a line. Some of the reports included are even Plesiosaur-shaped creatures or large whales. The Along Bay Dragons and Tompandrano do NOT conform to Heuvelmans' description.
Longneck Identikit, average of most clear sightings world-wide conform to this pattern: Sightings at sea tend to be 50% again larger, presumably over-estimated to that degree.
Longneck Evidences Map, General
Probable Plesiosaurs, extracted from the last map. Red=range of Leatherback turtles, sightings of Plesiosaur-like creatures are almost always found within the same general range.
1) Longneck 48 definite and 34 possible reports. The Longneck has a long neck, a humped back, and little or no tail. Some Longnecks have two horns, and the creature has a fast speed. The Longneck has flippers (similar to those of a seal) and is probably about 15-60 feet long. The Longneck is probably a kind of pinniped (seals, sea lions, etc) and the first known sighting was in 1846 (Although Heuvelmans states it was known to the ancients as "Physeter" and the first Sea-serpent listed on his table in the back is possibly a ?LN)
1A, Male of 1) Merhorse 37 definite and 34 probable sightings. The Merhorse has a head similar to a horse, a long neck, and a mane. It has big eyes and a snake-like tail. Sightings suggest that ther Merhorse ranges in size from 30-100 feet. The Merhorse's big eyes suggest that it may normally live in the deeper parts of the ocean.
Most other reporters regard Longnecked and Merhorse to be male and female of the same species. The sizes indicated are a clue to this, with the males much larger in size. The largest size estimates should probably be cut in half, AFTER the "Many-Humped" sightings are already dropped out.
It turns out the Merhorse's eyes are not proportionately larger, they are marked with circles around them in contrasting clour to the rest of the head and back, and this has been plainly stated since Pontoppidian the 1700s. Included separately in each category are separate series of reports of large pinnepeds: a kind of sea lion in the first instance and a large seal-elephant seal-in the second series. including these reports in with the others has corrupted the composites created for both of them. The standard Longneck also has a snakelike tail and is otherwise identical in shape to the Merhorse. The Merhorse in turn is also brighter-coloured as well as having a mane, ordinarily a reddish or mohagany brown but sometimes with a greenish colour variation instead. reports of distinctively reflective, silvery or greyish bodies, and distinctively long reddish manes, are due to mistaken observations of Oarfish.
Smithsonian Plesiosaur Model for Comparison
Consequently the total numbers of reports in each category comes down somewhat owing to the mistaken reports being culled out. Both categories are still by far the majority of "Unidentified" Sea-serpent sightings, counted either together or separately.
5) Super Eel 12 definite and 11 possible sightings, equally well 12 larger and 11 smaller category sightings. The Super Eel may actually include different species. Most of them look like eels (the only sea serpents that actually are serpentine) though the description of their heads and coloration differ. Super Eels have large eyes and are said to be 20-100 feet long, in two bunches, one averaging about 30 feet and the other nearly 100 feet. Super eels are sometimes dying when at the surface, and are probably fish.
Sea serpent depictions corresponding to titanoconger(left) and megaconger (right)
Picture - reconstructions of megaconger and titanoconger
The larger and smaller size categories I name Titanoconger and Megaconger, and they differ in ways other than size. The Titanoconger is a really big deepsea, free-swimming fish marked with a distinctively darker back and lighter belly. I doubt if it is actually abyssal. The Megaconger is a smaller fish, although at an average of 20-30 feet long it is still larger than any known eel. It has a more even colouration and seems to favor shallower waters near to the coast and on continental shelves. Two subcategories in the Mediterranean and around Fiji might be more like large moray eels instead, without pectoral fins and otherwise similar to larger editions of the more common local morays.
Heuvelmans also includes a category of reports he calls ?LN?SE because he considers them difficult to categorize as either Longnecks or Super-eels. It would seem to me that about two-thirds of these are Longnecks and possibly a third (or less) are Super-eels: some of them are also reports of whales or other mistaken observations.
Map - 'Megaconger' sightings
6. Marine Saurian When Heuvelmans designed his classifications, the Marine Saurian was known from only 4 definite, 5 possible sightings. It is described as looking like a gigantic crocodile (50-60 feet), and may be some kind of ancient marine reptile.I have subsequently broken this down into a larger-sized category including 6 of the original 9, The actual Marine Saurian although it grows much larger than Heuvelmans states, and a small-sized category including 2 of the 9 and which are similar to the African carcass known as Gambo. One of the reports is different, it is more definitely a crocodile like C. porosis but larger. I have subsequently added more reports to the Marine Saurians, and more recently especially to the largest-sized category. Curiously enough, some of the sightings now added to it were formerly called "Merhorse" and "Longnecked" reports.The Marine Saurians in Heuvelmans' collection reported to the furthest North of their range were always the largest, up to 100 feet long, and with the largest heads, reported as 10-15 feet long and with a neck commonly estimated at 6 feet thick. The dimensions match the creature said to have been killed by the Monogahela. The larger ones seem to prey on large sharks and small whales, and the reports seem to indicate that it follows whale migrations and breeds in warmer waters. A large one and a small one were seen together off South Carolina, and that is also the location of the smallest length otherwise reported (35 feet) It would seem that the larger adults are able to tolerate cold waters (down to freezing) the best. Total lengths for many of the most famous reports are not even estimated.
7x) Father-of- all-Turtles also known from only 4 possible sightings, is is described as a giant marine turtle. It may have some relation to the ancient giant turtle, Archelon. Heuvelmans considered the existence of the Father-of-all- Turtles to doubtful and the reports to be probably misidentifications.
There are independant reports of an outsized leatherback turtle of Archelon-size as printed by Ulrich Magin an an article to PURSUIT. This may or may not be the outsized giants of the known Leatherback species but in any event has nothing to do with Heuvelmans' category otherwise. Some may still wish to place the Soay beast here.
8) Yellow Belly Known from only 3 definite, 3 possible sightings (as of 1965), this has a yellow color and is tadpole shaped. Its size is estimated at around 60-100 feet. Heuvelmans suggested that it might a shark or other fish, or even an amphibian[this last was the suggestion of the witness. I count it as a shark, much like a whale shark but with a longer tail and the markings run together to form stripes].Mackal subsequently tried to write off this category as sightings of marine invertebrates, but his arguments were flawed and he contradicted his own theory with other information elsewhere. In specific, he admitted that Salp chains were not known to come in that characteristic colouration.
Since I consider the basic creature described to be a kind of elongated shark, I also classify it loosely with the elongated basking sharks and even Eel-shaped sharks derived from reports of Seamonster corpses cast ashore periodically, which Heuvelmans insited on including as a possibility.
Posted by Jon Downes at 2:56 AM
2 comments:
Dale Drinnon said...
This represents a simplified tabulation of my results from running all of those dissections of the reports I did back in the 1970s and it is basically the only extensive publication OF those results to have seen print since then. I have referred to the evaluation of the sightings of In The Wake of the Sea-Serpents before, but this is the only time that they have been put up all in one place at the same time.
I do have a couple of very minor adjustments to make-the last map shows "Yellow-Belly" sightings with Heuvelmans' cases in yellow and other possible additions in orange squares. Many are questionable because they would have been tail-only and usually 40 feet long for just the tail. If some of the other reports are the same thing, then its couration has also been described as banded in brown-and-green or light-and-dark brown. Some people feel the Le Serrac phot represents this creature and that is about what Dinsdale says in Monster Hunt (The Leviathans in UK)
Apart from that omission, the Sacramento SS up top was not intended to go with the void categories, another old print was meant to show a "Super-otter" in its place. The Sacramento SS is the "Clasic" Marine-Saurian. Since both Jon and I were experiencing email problems and both of our accounts falsely called bouncing at the time we were arranging for this blog entry, I do not blame Jon for these problems at all but I simply say we had transmission problems.
And thanks to Jon for putting it up. This blog should be considered in conjunction to the comments on Bruce Champagne's Sea-serpent categories.
Dale Drinnon said...
After I had made the map of Yellow-belly sightings, I also thought of another: the 1890 Annie Harper (ship) sighting off the end of Long Island with a 40-foot black-and-lighter-brown tail showing, NOT a head and neck "Periscope". if that were the head and neck it would have to have been swimming backwards. Indeed it seems the most common sightings of the type are the tail part, which might be seen more readily if it is closer to the surface. And I guess if the 40 feet often specified is actually right, the total length would be 80-90 feet.
There was another map without a caption earlier on, the second Longnecks map which has the red area. The red area is the approximate range of the Leatherback tutle and the items marked with lines and boxes were places where witnesses' drawings or photos indicated specific Plesiosaurian anatomy such as the Euryapsid skull or the flipper structure.The neck is of course the defining feature of the type and it is also specifically Plesiosaurian.


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- What is rainwater harvesting?
- Why is there a Need for Rainwater Harvesting?
- Is it Illegal to Collect Rainwater?
- Rainwater Storage Containers – Rain Barrels and Cisterns
- Finding Rain Barrels for Sale, Cheap Rain Barrels or Decorative Rain Barrels
- How much rainwater will I collect?
- Rain Barrel Stands
- How to Make a Rain Barrel
- Rainwater Inlet
- Rainwater Outlet/Drain
- Rain Barrel Overflow
- Maintaining Your Rain Barrel System
- Algae in Your Rain Barrel
- Keeping Mosquitoes out of your Rain Barrels
- It is Time for you to start Harvesting Rainwater with Rain Barrels?
What is rainwater harvesting?
Rainwater harvesting gathers rainwater and keeps it on site for later use. Rainwater capture can be used to provide water for landscaping and gardens, in-home use, wildlife, livestock, fire protection, stormwater management and rain gardens. We'll share how to harvest rainwater including collection, storage and use, along with tips on maintaining your rainwater collection system and troubleshooting common problems. You can make a rain barrel in an afternoon and save water all season long.
Why is there a Need for Rainwater Harvesting?
Unlike many well water and municipal water supplies, rain water is naturally soft. Normal, clean rain has a pH of between 5.0 and 5.5. If you're willing to invest in a rainwater harvesting system that meets your household needs, you can enjoy cleaner clothes and people, longer appliance life and no hard water buildup on fixtures and pipes.
In your garden, rainwater is the best option for your plants, because it's free of salts and other minerals that can build up in the soil and harm your plants. Where groundwater is poor quality or unavailable, rainwater recovery may be your most affordable option for clean, safe water for you, your garden and livestock.
In urban and suburban areas, much of the surface area is made up of impenetrable surfaces (roofs, sidewalks, driveways, streets, etc.). Rainwater falls and is swept into storm sewers instead of slowly percolating into the soil. With rainwater capture and landscaping options such as rain gardens, we can keep the water on site longer and slowly release it into the soil. The more rainwater reclamation we have on site, the better we are able to manage stormwater, too. Municipal water also tends to be expensive, and many municipal water supplies are under stress, so if you can replace some of your water use with rainwater, it can save you money while you conserve water.
Is it Illegal to Collect Rainwater?
Some states do have specific laws on the books limiting rainwater harvesting or use, so it's best to check with your local regulations before making a big investment. States with rainwater regulations include Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and the U. S. Virgin islands. You can learn more at State Rainwater Harvesting Laws and Regulations.
Rainwater Storage Containers – Rain Barrels and Cisterns
A key component of your rainwater collection system is storage. Some options for rainwater storage containers include:
- Water barrels
- Stone cisterns
- Concrete or Ferro-Cement Cisterns
- IBC Tanks
- Metal Storage Tanks
- Polypropylene Storage Tanks
- Fiberglass Storage Tanks
In the book "Rainwater Collection for the Mechanically Challenged", the authors recommend water barrels for small systems and fiberglass storage tanks for larger systems. The love the look of old stone cisterns, but they can be difficult to maintain and cost prohibitive to build new. Fiberglass cisterns are durable, UV resistant (which inhibits algae growth), budget friendly, and can be painted with household latex paint to create a decorative rainwater cistern.
Water barrels are a great way to start with rainwater harvesting on a small scale. They are budget friendly (you may be able to find the barrels cheap or free) so you only have to pay for the system components. For the rest of this article, we'll focus primarily on rainwater harvesting systems with water barrels, but many of the concepts also apply to larger rainwater harvesting systems.
Finding Rain Barrels for Sale, Cheap Rain Barrels or Decorative Rain Barrels
Many home improvement stores now offer plain and decorative rain barrels and rain barrel kits, or they can be purchased through catalogs or online. There are decorative rain barrel options now, such as:
Where space is limited, there are rain barrels that are flat on one side to sit flush against a building.
For larger rainwater storage such as polypropylene or fiberglass tanks, check with farm supply or industrial supply stores. There are also some local programs that supply rain barrels at a reduced cost to encourage rainwater collection.
For free and cheap water barrels, inquire at local food processors. Often they receive ingredients in 55 gallon drums. For instance, we were able to get the barrels we used for our rain collection system for free from a nearby meat shop. Make sure you use FOOD GRADE BARRELS, not barrels that may have contained toxic substances.
Be Careful Water is Heavy
Recently I've seen a photo making the rounds of a rainwater collection system featuring three 55 gallon plastic drums, stacked on their side, one above the other, in a wooden frame with PVC connections. I don't recommend that rain barrel system. Those bad boys are heavy, and they are hard piped. Once installed, it would be a bear to get in there and clean your barrels. If you have full barrels, you're looking at over 1200 pounds of water. That's an accident waiting to happen.
Some folks use garbage cans to make a rain barrel. I don't recommend that, because garbage cans are not built to stand around full of water and chemicals may leach out of the plastic. Sooner rather than later, that garbage can rain barrel will end up as garbage itself.
How much rainwater will I collect?
If you cover one square foot with water an inch deep, it would equal 0.6233 gallons, which would mean that you could harvest 623.3 gallons from a 1000 square foot roof. Due to splashing and other losses, the book "Rainwater Collection for the Mechanically Challenged" estimates that a more realistic number is 550 gallons of rainwater harvested per inch of rain per 1000 square feet of collection surface. As you can see, a good rain can fill a water barrel pretty quickly, so make sure to include an overflow for your rainwater collection system.
Rain Barrel Stands
What do you do with rain barrels once you've collected the rainwater? You need to get access that water so you can use it in your yard and garden. As mentioned earlier, it's great if you can position your barrel on high ground and gravity feed the water. Even without high ground, we want to get our rain barrels high enough that we can get a bucket under the spigot. This means we need a rain barrel stand.
Keep in mind that water weighs about eight pounds per gallon, so whatever you use for a rain barrel stand; make sure that it's sturdy. A 55 gallon drum full of water will weigh over 450 pounds. You don't want that tipping over on someone. You also want your stand to be level, to reduce the risk of tipping.
In our two rain barrel system, we paired up six concrete deck footings with a small reinforced treated wood deck. You could also use concrete blocks, or a combination of concrete blocks and pavers, as shown in the video below.
How to Make a Rain Barrel
Next up, we'll go through the steps of making a rain barrel from a 55 gallon water drum. There are dozens of different ways to build a rain barrel system, as a quick online search will show you. Exactly how they collect rainwater varies, but there are three key elements in every system.
To make a rain barrel, you need:
- a way for the water to get in, with a screen to keep debris out
- a spigot to use your collected rainwater
- an overflow, in case your rain barrel gets too full
For a rain barrel system like ours, you need:
- 3/4" spade drill bit
- Jigsaw
- Drill
- Utility knife
- Marker
- 55 gallon plastic barrel
- ¾ inch faucet, brass preferred
- Fiberglass window screen
- Second ¾ inch faucet or PVC pipe for overflow
Optional supplies
- Bulkhead fitting extension, to attach the faucet to the barrel
- Roll of Teflon tape and Caulk or plumbing sealant, if you encounter leaks, or to provide a more snug fit
Rainwater Inlet
For our rain barrel, we cut around the inside of the top ring, and inserted a sheet of fiberglass window screen to keep out debris. This is the simplest rainwater harvesting filter design you can use. I've also seen small holes cut in the top to fit a skimmer basket covered in fiberglass screen. Make sure your opening is big enough to capture the entire flow of rainwater form your downspout. You don't want to have an open rain barrel, because this is an invitation to mosquitoes and other bugs. You will also want to be able to clean your filter or screen.
Do not skip the screen! I've seen "build a rain barrel" guides that don't use a screen because they route the water directly into the barrel through a tight opening. Don't do that! We have a high roof, with no trees around, and yet we still get bits of branches, leaves, tree seeds and other debris in our screen. I don't know if the birds drop them or the wind blows them, but there is debris that would build up in your rain barrel or other rainwater harvesting container. You need at least a basic filter on your system.
Ideally, you would include a roof washing system that diverts the first round of rain from your roof around your barrels so you store cleaner rainwater. The book "Rainwater Collection for the Mechanically Challenged" has a great tutorial on building your own roof washer, or there are roof washer kits available online. If you want to collect rainwater for potable use, a roof washer is essential.
If you don't want to reroute your downspout to the rain barrel, there are downspout diverter kits that insert into the side of a downspout, as shown in the video above.
Rainwater Outlet/Drain
Mark a spot at least two inches from the bottom of the water barrel. Why two inches above the bottom, instead of closer? That spacing will give you room to mount your faucet, plus it'll help you avoid any sediment that builds up in the bottom of your rain barrel. Even with a screen, some sediment will build up – not a ton, but some. Our rain barrels are about 10 years old, and I scrub them out each year. They do get dirty.
If you get a good quality brass faucet, you should be able to screw it directly into the wall of your barrel wall once you've drilled your hole to match the faucet, as demonstrated in the video below. If you find that you need a tighter fit, or want to extend the faucet farther out, you can use PVC fittings and Teflon tape.
Rain Barrel Overflow
We have a two barrel system, with the first barrel connected to the second barrel via PVC fittings. The friend who built our rain barrel system fitted the overflow to the top of the second rain barrel because it was quick an easy, but it would work better located on the side, slightly above the PVC connection between the two rain barrels.
Whatever you decide to rig up for an overflow, whether it's a hose or PVC fittings, make sure to route it away from your building, just as you would a downspout. You may even decide that you'd like to add a rain garden off of the overflow.
Maintaining Your Rain Barrel System
Because we have high winds, we added strapping to hold the barrels down when they're not filled. For winter, we drain the rain barrels and bring them into the greenhouse. Water expands about 11% when it freezes, so a frozen rain barrel is likely to have damaged fittings. If you don't have a spot to move your rain barrels inside for winter, simply drain them and cover them so they can't gather water or snow, and divert your downspout to its normal course. (We screw on a downspout extension for winter, and take it off again in the spring when the water barrels go out.)
In spring, before putting the rain barrels back into action, give the barrels a good cleaning. You want to scrub them out at the beginning of the season to make sure you're not starting off with contaminated water. Chunks and scum will clog up your faucets, and make your water foul.
For cleaning your rain barrels, you'll need a long handled scrub brush, or you'll have to crawl in to your barrel. I improvised by duck taping a piece of firewood to a brush with a shorter handle. Make sure to clean your screens, too, and double check that your faucet and overflow are clear of obstructions. (Sometimes spiders or other bugs move in during the winter.)
Algae in Your Rain Barrel
If you use a translucent barrel, you're more likely to algae growth due to sun exposure. Try covering your rain barrels with a tarp, painting your water barrels or using a wooden surround to block the light. If you're not opposed to goldfish in your rain water, they will eat the algae, as well as mosquito larva (see below). Just make sure that your rain barrels don't run dry!
Keeping Mosquitoes out of your Rain Barrels
Use a screen to keep mosquitoes from having easy access to your rain barrels. If you find that they still somehow manage to get in, a couple drops of vegetable oil on the water surface will prevent them from laying eggs. (Note, this will make your rain barrels messier so you need to clean them more frequently. You'll also need to add more oil from time to time.)
Another option is to add a couple of goldfish to your rain barrel. They'll eat the larva and add some fish poop fertilizer to your water. (Not recommended if you think you may need to drink the water.)
Mosquito dunks are another commonly recommended option, but not my top choice. The active ingredient in mosquito dunks is "Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis" (Bt), which attacks the larval stage of mosquitoes. This is a naturally occurring soil bacterium. There are concerns that Bt will be losing its effectiveness due to it being genetically engineered into corn and other crops.
It is Time for you to start Harvesting Rainwater with Rain Barrels?
Rain barrels are a great way to control run off and conserve water. Rainwater lacks chlorine and fluoride that is found in many municipal water supplies. Natural rain water is softer and easier on your garden plants.
My grandmother always washed her hair every Saturday night with water from her rain barrel. If you happen to have a good water filter such as a Berkey, you can use rain barrel water for drinking water in case of emergencies.
If you want to learn more about how to design your rainwater harvesting system, plans for roof washing systems, and just about any other questions you may have on rainwater collection for household use, I recommend the book "Rainwater Collection for the Mechanically Challenged".
Do you have rain barrels or another rainwater harvesting system? How do you have yours set up, and how do you use your rainwater? I'd especially love to learn more from those who use rainwater for household and livestock use.
You may also find useful:
The Bio-Integrated Farm – Water Gardening Like You Never Imagined
Too Much Rain in the Garden – Managing Wet Dirt and Waterlogged Plants
3 Emergency Water Filtration Options to Get the Funky Chunks Out
Originally published in 2011, updated 2016, 2018.


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Have you ever had a day that you wanted to just start over or hurry up and be over? Yesterday was that day!
The day started out fine, we were running a bit late but nothing rushed or would give us a pre-cursor to what was going to happen. Bear dropped me off at work and went to pick up Migual (a guy that he works with). About 25 minutes after dropping me off I got a phone call from Bear. Now you have to remember, yesterday was April Fool's day and he hardly ever calls until after he reaches work so I am thinking that this could be an attempt at an April Fool's joke.
Well, it wasn't – far from it. Bear had been in an accident (my worst nightmare is to get a call of this nature and not be there to take care of it!)!!! I asked him if he was okay and then what happened (I'm running through different scenarios) and he said that a guy going South (he was going North) turned left right in front of him and he t-boned them. I told him that I would find a way to get to him as quickly as I could. A colleague happened to get to work early and he said he would take me to James. I called and told him I was headed his way.
When we arrived, Brian, my colleague, stayed while I went to check on Bear. He was sore and a little disoriented which is to be expected. He was apologizing for the Mustang(my baby) and I told him that Sally did everything I would have wanted her to do and that was protect him. He is sore today but no major injuries to both parties. The poor guy he hit not only received a totaled vehicle but also a ticket for failure to yield. He was an older man and just said he did not see James until it was too late and he accepted full responsibility. We had reviewed our insurance and last year had made the decision to move it to liability since it was paid for – Thank goodness this gentleman had insurance.
Brian transported Bear and I to the hospital to get James checked out and they gave him a prescription and set-up an appointment to see our primary care Doctor on Thursday. While on the way to the hospital I called our insurance (PROGRESSIVE – THEY ARE AWESOME) and advised what had happened. They opened the claim and within 45 minutes the rep assigned to our claim called. I gave him the insurance information that I had collected from the police officer and even though we only had liablity he asked if I would like for him to make the phone call to the other parties insurance and get things started. WOW! What a relief that was for them to take that off my to do list so that I can attend to my Bear!
While James was in the ER, I took the time to call and set-up with ENTERPRISE RENTAL a car. They were awesome and once Bear was released from the ER, Enterprise came to the hospital and took us back to their rental location.
Bear wanted to see our horses last night and when we were leaving the geese started to charge the car (they have become territorial) and usually they stop but one did not and we couldn't see him and we ran over the goose! Bless Bear's heart – he felt so bad!
Today, we have been advised that the other gentleman's insurance has accepted full responsibility (well duh!) and that they would need to get me a rental car. I told them that I had already picked up a rental car and that I had gone through Enterprise and they were actually waiting for the information from Hartford to move me over to a insurance rental.
Looks like we will be in the rental for a few days – which is fine but now we are having to go through the expense of having to find another vehicle, James missing two days of work (not a big deal finacially – remember our Emergency Fund) but just being inconvenienced in having to take off to take care of paperwork and such.
Bear and I have been discussing and saving some money back for another vehicle – it's just that we wanted another one in addition to the mustang and it looks like the money saved back for that one will now have to be our primary!
Also, I've been doing my due dilligence in finding out what dealer, private value, and trade-in value is for our mustang and what they will be offering us in a settlement. This is where it gets messy because they aren't going to give me enough to go back out and get another car that can replace Sally and here is where my negotiation skills will have to be up to par. I don't think it is worth bringing a lawyer into the deal but I believe that James does deserve something for what he has gone through and is still going through. So, hopefully with a little negotiation we will be able to come to a settlement that both sides are happy with – hey, I can always wish right?
Soooo, Have you ever had a day?


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Monthly Archives: January 2012
Hot New List of Headlines For Your Blog
I just recently attended the Ultimate Membership Site Seminar with Alex Mandossian, Chris Farrell and Andrew Lock. While at this amazing course where I built my natural weight loss membership site in just 3 days, Andrew shared some incredibly powerful headlines that you can use for any of your online content – on your blog, with your membership sites, facebook posts, or anywhere else you want to grab your readers' attention.
This list of headlines will help you greatly increase your speed of producing content and the interaction you get with people. Just changing a decent headline to one of these powerful headlines can dramatically improve the feedback and response you get from your articles.
By the way, if you're wondering where these headlines came from, Andrew had one of his assistants write down all the headlines from over 100 national magazines. So these are headlines that the magazine companies have spent millions of dollars researching and testing and they're proven to work!
Hint: If you ever need marketing help or good copy, just look at what magazines are doing or look at the best-selling books on Amazon.com
Tried and Tested List of Headlines
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Here is yet another idiocy of the Left. Somehow the Left can equate all cultures as relative – and relatively benign (except, of course, the United States and the West due to their indescribable brutality, evil, bigotry and everything else that causes people like Michelle Obama never to be proud of us, but nevertheless to raise her children here).
(News Flash, Mrs. Obama: If you aren't proud of your country, if our "soul" is "sick" raise your children elsewhere – or don't have them. What better way to foment hate across the generations than to raise kids in a country of which you constantly tell them they cannot be proud?)
But as soon as those other cultures which are, by definition – surprise! – different than ours, do something which our "Liberals" (the same decrying "American Empire"), reject, then, bam!, we're supposed to castigate them, reject them, cut-off trade with them, basically to do everything we can to ensure that they – DON'T ACT DIFFERENTLY!
China treats it citizens differently than we treat ours? Boycott the Olympics!
China refuses to free Tibet? Boycott the Opening Ceremonies!
Am I missing something here?
These people ("Liberals" in countries that actually practice modern liberal traditions – only parts of the West) preach multiculturalism 24×7, but when faced with actual cultures that actually are – gasp! Different! – they whine and complain and want to boycott whatever – – until those other cultures behave like… umm… like, well, uh… like Westerners! Not only Westerners, but Americans! With all the rights, liberties, customs, traditions of the West – particularly of America – Women's rights, btw, are accepted in America and some countries of Europe and are not recognized even within the rest of the West!
So – the real two questions are:
1. How can one complain 24×7 about America, yet demand that all other countries and cultures behave exactly as we do, and,
2. How can one mind – a "Liberal" or "Progressive" mind at that (self-accepted as more intelligent, though no one can tell why) – hold diametrically opposed thoughts, to wit: Only Western patterns of behavior are acceptable, but we must do all we can to destroy Western patterns of behavior.
The answers, of course, are:
1. Scratch a Multiculturalist and an American Imperialist bleeds
2. That mind was taught by unionized teachers, and/or influenced by the media, the vast majority of which were taught by unionized teachers.


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Date: 26/07/2014
Competition: League
Venue: Athlone Town Stadium
Ryan Coulter; Kealon Dillon, Neil Harney, Derek Prendergast, Barry Clancy; Mark Hughes; John Mulroy (Ian Sweeney 63), Eric Foley (Thomas Mulroney 81), James O'Brien (Seán Brennan 37), Derek Doyle; Philip Gorman.
Brendan Clarke; Conor McCormack, Seán Hoare, Derek Foran, Ian Bermingham (Lorcan Fitzgerald 84); Greg Bolger (Lee Lynch 78); Conan Byrne, James Chambers, Chris Forrester, Mark Quigley; Christy Fagan (Daryl Kavanagh 72).
Anthony Buttimer
St Patrick's Athletic bounced back from their midweek European disappointment in the best possible fashion, recording a 2-0 away win over Athlone Town to go back within six points of the top of the Airtricity League Premier Division table.
Goals from Chris Forrester and Sean Hoare were enough to wrap up the victory for the visitors.
Athlone, however, showed enough in between the two concessions to suggest that they aren't out of the running to escape the drop back to the first division either, enjoying plenty of possession and testing Brendan Clarke on several occasions.
Clarke's counterpart Ryan Coulter was also in outstanding form at the other end of the field and produced fantastic stops to deny James Chambers and Conan Byrne in either half.
However, he could do nothing about Forrister's tap in goal in the seventh minute, or the close range header from Hoare that made the three points safe.
St Pat's played their best football in the opening quarter and their early strike was fair reward for the control that they exerted on the tie.
Greg Bolger opened up the Athlone defence with an excellent diagonal lob towards Christy Fagan and once the Pat's striker forced Ryan Coulter to advance from his line, he then played a lateral ball across to Forrister.
The precocious midfielder was left with the simplest of finishes to open the scoring.
It took the hosts 20 minutes to finally create a meaningful attack and when they did so, they failed to test Brendan Clarke in the Pats' goal.
Kealan Dillon's long ball was well headed down by Mark Hughes on the edge of the champions' penalty area but the ball fell a yard behind Philip Gorman, who did well to get a clean purchase on it as he reached around to strike but failed to direct it either side of Clarke.
However this effort was the signal for Athlone to begin to exert their influence on the tie and right up until Seán Hoare's headed goal with a little under 20 minutes to play, they were at least as good as their more celebrated opponents.
Seán Brennan's introduction in place of the injured James O'Brien was a big boost to the home side and he came close to scoring on several occasions. Their best chance, however, came when Eric Foley's close range free kick was tipped onto the crossbar by Clarke early in the second half.
Lady luck wasn't kind to the hosts either as St Pat's captain Ian Bermingham was extremely lucky not to be sent off shortly before half time.
He committed two heavy challenges in the space of two minutes shortly before half time and while he was booked for the first, referee Anthony Buttimer declined to brandish a second yellow card for the latter indiscretion against Gorman at the edge of the away penalty area, despite the screams for a sanction from the Athlone players and supporters.
Derek Foran was also slightly fortunate not to be penalised for pulling Gorman to the ground in the penalty area during that first half, though Buttimer appeared to get this call right as both players seemed equally eager to grapple with each other as the ball was sent in towards them from the right wing.
St Pat's had their share of chances too but they found Ryan Coulter in excellent form in the Athlone goal. Coulter, who has deputised fantastically well for the injured Paul Skinner, produced a fabulous save to block James Chambers in a one-on-one situation in the first half and was excellent when called upon in several other instances.
However he could do nothing about Seán Hoare's header that wrapped up the victory for the champions, the defender powering the ball home from five yards out after Conan Byrne's inswinging corner kick fell invitingly at the far post.
Athlone's challenge wilted from that point and they needed Coulter to prevent them falling further behind as he made a great reflex save to deny Byrne a goal of his own as injury time loomed.
However, they showed enough energy and creativity in this tie to suggest that they may yet avoid the drop
© rte.i


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Can our IIS domain users have personal Web pages?
We have IIS installed on a domain controller. We would like to let our domain users have personal Web pages on the same domain with the following address formats: http://our-domain.local/~user1, http://our-domain.local/~user2. Is this possible in IIS, and if so, could you please show us the way to implement it?
It sounds like you're used to a UNIX environment, where this usually happens automatically. It's definitely not as straightforward in a Windows environment, but it can be done. I'm sure there are free scripts available to do it on the Internet if you search around. Here is a commercial solution I found after a quick search: http://www.dashtech.com/products/userdir/.
This article will help you build your own set of scripts, if you have scripting skills: http://www.winnetmag.com/Articles/ArticleID/22048/pg/1/1.html.
Dig Deeper on Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS)
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text:
Security Flaw Found At E-Trade / Internet stock brokerage moves to correct problem
A freelance Internet security expert said he found a potential cybernightmare in online broker E-Trade Group's Internet operations -- a programming flaw that could have given hackers easy access to customer accounts.
Jeffrey Baker, a San Francisco computer programmer who hunts for Internet security problems in his spare time, claimed malicious computer jockeys could get a customer's user name and password simply by stealing a "cookie." Those are hidden files that Web sites place on visitors' computers that are used to track return visits.
In what Baker described as an elementary security mistake, customer data, including ultrasensitive passwords, were included in E-Trade cookies and protected only with the most-easily broken type of code.
MBA BY THE BAY: See how an MBA could change your life with SFGATE's interactive directory of Bay Area programs.
Unauthorized people could get their hands on the cookies using basic hacking techniques and gain full access to customers' accounts. That could have let hackers trade in customers' names and remove money.
"This was incredibly boneheaded," Baker said. "It was by far the worst security breach I've ever seen."
The Internet industry has experienced several cases of sensitive customer information leaking out because of poor security, most notably earlier this year when CDUniverse, a popular online music store, was penetrated by a hacker who seized 300,000 credit card numbers.
E-Trade has been the victim of attacks by hackers intent on disrupting its operations.
But stealing account information from a major Web brokerage would be unprecedented and would raise fundamental questions about the safety of managing finances online. Baker said he informed E-Trade security personnel of the problem more than a month ago.
The company didn't remove the account information from cookies until after Baker publicized his findings Friday and reports of the problem surfaced on several Internet sites.
After E-Trade's repairs yesterday, hackers can still get some account information, but can't steal passwords or carry out brokerage operations, Baker said. "It's been reduced from a security problem to a privacy problem," he noted.
E-Trade, the No. 3 online broker, confirmed it removed sensitive account information from its cookies during the weekend. "No customer information has been compromised," said spokeswoman Heather Fondo.
Fondo said she had no information about other security issues raised by Baker.
The Internet site securityfocus.com said it received an e-mail from E-Trade security director Clifford Reeser on Friday, describing the cookie vulnerability as "minor."
"We always maintain several checks and balances in our systems and procedures to ensure that new vulnerabilities . . . do not pose a significant risk," Reeser wrote, according to SecurityFocus.com.
At least one security buff who read Baker's notice posted a message on the SecurityFocus site saying it took him 30 minutes to figure out out how to obtain and read E- Trade cookies which, he wrote, were "trivially encoded."
"Anyone can easily steal that cookie," the security buff wrote.


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Next Steps on a Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA)
Author: Simon Duffy
Since the Spending Review of 2010 The Centre for Welfare Reform has tried to understand the overall impact of the cuts, changes to the benefit system and other social policy impacts on disabled people and people in poverty. Given a basic understanding of Government finances it was obvious that these groups were under attack. This then led to the creation of the Campaign for a Fair Society and to my various efforts to estimate the likely impact of the cuts.
What has been most surprising has been the lack of interest in the issue from newspapers and TV and the decision by the Labour Party (so far) to avoid drawing attention to what is one the greatest social injustices of our generation. The policies being introduced today are far worse than anything developed by Mrs Thatcher and they put the UK on track for being one of the most unfair and unequal societies in the developed world. When I speak to international audiences and explain recent changes they are shocked and surprised by what they discover.
The Government's success in targeting these disadvantaged groups for cuts can partly be explained by their effectiveness in turning disabled people and people in poverty into scapegoats for wider financial problems that they clearly did not create. Nevertheless, in a country that prides itself on its sense of fairness, the acceptance of these policies marks a serious deterioration in moral integrity.
Many of the organisations that one would have expected to speak out about these issues, especially national charities, and QUANGOs, have also been very quiet. This may be because so many organisations have become very dependent upon funding by Government.
However, not just the Campaign for a Fair Society, but many other new voices have arisen to challenge this injustice:
- The Spartacus Network
- Disabled People Against the Cuts (DPAC)
- Black Triangle
- Pat's Petition
- WOW Petition
- Carers Watch
- And many more
These new-wave campaigning groups have all had some limited success in challenging the Government and the Opposition and Pat's Petition and the WOW Petition gained mass support (over 104,000 signatures) for the very reasonable suggestion that the Government might at least do its sums, and that it should calculate the 'cumulative impact' of its policy changes. This idea has become known as the Cumulative Impact Assessment or CIA.
Like these other groups, The Centre for Welfare Reform has had no funding to work on this; but we have so far published four estimates of the cumulative impact of the Government's cuts. In 2011 these calculations were set out on webpages within The Centre's library and in the following three years they were published as part of three distinct publications:
Manifesto for a Fair Society (2012)
As time moves on I have tried to improve both the methodology and the data that I have used, and in the last iteration of this research I decided to publish all the figures online via Google Spreadsheets.
Thanks to the WOW Petition there was a debate on this matter in the Commons on the 27th February. Much to my surprise my last report was cited in the debate and the Minister of State for Disabled People, Rt. Hon Mike Penning MP said that he would contact me and my team. [By the way, there is no team, just me, a computer and the internet.]
Then on 12th March I received the following by email:
Letter from ODI - 12th March
Dear Dr Duffy
During the recent Commons backbench debate on welfare reform on Thursday 27 February, Ian Mearns MP raised the issue of an assessment of the impact of the Government's welfare reforms on disabled people, which included references to your work at the Centre for Welfare Reform.
The Minister of State for Disabled People, Rt. Hon Mike Penning MP, is familiar with the work that you have done in this area, and has asked me to contact you.
We would welcome the opportunity to meet at a mutually convenient date and for you to present your analysis and findings to a group of poverty and disability analysts in DWP. If this is acceptable, then please contact Alex Barton [email] to make the necessary arrangements to take this forward.
Yours sincerely
Hugh Pullinger - Deputy Director, Office for Disability Issues
After discussions with our allies and in response to this letter I sent the following reply to the ODI:
Letter to ODI - 11th April 2014
Dear Mr Pullinger
I would be very pleased to meet with you or your officials to discuss my findings and analysis. However, would it be possible to clarify a few matters first:
1. Current methodology and data
As it stands, all the data, the workings and the analytical assumptions that we've made are in the public domain and published on the Google spreadsheet referenced within our last report. Given that your researchers can take their time to review this without my presence could I ask that, before we meet, you provide me with your critique, setting out:
- Any methodological mistakes you think I have made, with potential corrections
- Any data errors, with alternative sources of data
- Any different analytical assumptions you would like to propose
It would make our time much more productive if this could be produced in writing before the meeting.
2. Queries
The published spreadsheets also set out a range of issues where I have made reasonable simplifying assumptions, for lack of relevant data. Given the vast resources of Whitehall perhaps I could outline these assumptions and my uncertainties here and you could also ask your researchers to look into this and offer me better founded assumptions or data in the following area:
- Local government spending - I have not tried to fully integrate local government and Government spending and I have not found data for local government spending that allows for integration of data with PESA 2103. Do you have access to the relevant data (some of which will obviously need to be based on forward predictions based on reasonable assumptions)? It would be much better to develop an integrated account of Government spending to avoid double-counting or other errors.
- Social Care spending - As you are probably aware the number of people supported by social care has fallen by 25% in the past few years. This seems to be higher than the financial cut and implies that the marginal impact of cuts is disproportionate and is actually radically increasing the inefficiency of social care. Given that it is the level of service that is the key outcome we are interested in have you any alternative suggestion as to how best to measure the radical reduction in social care?
- Benefit spending - As you are probably aware, my last analysis used the figures set out by the DWP for benefit spending. This seemed to be much lower than the deep cuts announced by the Chancellor in previous Autumn Statements. Can you provide an up to date account of the savings you expect to make across all benefits; but especially with respect to DLA/PIP, ESA/IB and other disability related benefits?
- Social Care and poverty - Given the poverty forced on disabled people by the high level of means-testing in social care I assume that a disproportionate number of those entitled to social care are poor. However I could find no data on this and have had to make a reasonable assumption. Does this data exist and what assumption would the ODI make about poverty for social care recipients?
- ONS analysis - The ONS household income analysis - which sets out benefits, taxes and benefits in kind would be an ideal foundation for a Cumulative Impact Assessment given that we already possess data for the distribution of disabled people across the income deciles. If we could add in social care to this framework we would have a very strong foundation for further work. In addition, if we could estimate cuts in benefits against this framework then we would have effectively achieved the desired goal. Do you possess either (a) a breakdown of social care use against income deciles or (b) an analysis of the relative distribution of cuts in benefits against income deciles? If not what would it take for the DWP to provide this rather important data?
Again, I would be most grateful if you would provide information about these matters in writing before our meeting.
3 Who will be present?
As you know the challenge of a Cumulative Impact Assessment is to draw together information from various different Government departments, or other bodies, including:
- DWP for benefits cuts or changes
- Department of Health (and ADASS) for social care funding
- DCLG (and LGA) for information on local Government funding, including housing, social care and other welfare issue
- HMRC for changes to taxation, not least the impact of the regressive VAT increase
- ONS who have responsibility for overall statistical analysis
It would be most useful to know who would be present in advance of the meeting and clearly it will be important that appropriate officials from all the relevant departments are involved in the meeting.
Yours sincerely
Simon Duffy
Letter from ODI - 15th May 2014
Dear Dr Duffy
Many thanks for your response on 11th April 2014. I am sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Hugh Pullinger has recently moved to another post within DWP and I have only just taken over as head of the Office of Disability Issues.
As you are based in Sheffield, I wondered if it would be more convenient for you to meet with our officials in our Sheffield offices.
Please could you contact Alex Barton to make the necessary arrangements to take this forward.
Yours sincerely
Pat Russell, Deputy Director, Office of Disability Issues.
Letter to ODI - 7th July 2014
Dear Ms Russell
Thanks you for replying to my earlier letter. I am very happy to meet in Sheffield, rather than London, as you suggest. This would be much less costly for me.
However could you also address the issues I raised in my earlier letter, namely:
[Here I repeated the requests for information from my first letter]
I received an email in response to this on 11th July saying that Alex Barton would not be available until the end of the month.
Email from ODI - 18th August 2014
Thank you for your letter, as discussed me and my colleague Peter Matejic would be very happy to travel to Sheffield to meet with you, In terms of cementing a date how does Wednesday the 10th of September suit? If convenient then we would propose a meeting around 1pm at our offices at Rockingham House, 123 West Street, Sheffield S1 4ER, If not then are any dates w/c 8th of September more convenient? Or we can move further back into September if that's more practical
Email to ODI - 18th August 2014
Dear Alex
Thanks for your message. Can you confirm that you have seen my original letter and the questions set out within it?
Email from Alex Barton, 19th August 2014
Dear Simon,
I can confirm I have seen your original letter, we feel it is best to cover the content of your requests in sections 1 and 2 within this meeting,
In relation to section 3, invitees, as discussed attendance will consist of myself and my colleague Peter Matejic we regret we are unable to discuss matters beyond the methodological approach you have adopted. We hope this will still prove useful?
Kind regards, Alex Barton
Email to Alex Barton, 5th September 2014
Dear Alex
I am still happy to meet with you and your colleagues, even without colleagues from other departments, as long as you address the central issue that I set out in my original letter - that you should provide your own critique - in writing - in advance of our meeting.
As I made clear in my previous letters, The Centre for Welfare Reform has made its own analysis completely transparent - both in terms of data and methodology. I am also aware that, as with all statistical methodologies, there are many questions one could raise about any particular methodology used. [I also set out many of the ways in which I myself would like to improve the model.]
But, as it stands, The Centre for Welfare Reform and the ODI/DWP differ on a rather basic point:
Is it or is it not possible to make a reasonable estimate of the degree to which cuts in spending (and other financial and service impacts of Government policy) target disabled people?
The Centre for Welfare Reform is confident that a reasonable estimate can be made of the cumulative impact - and it has made such an estimate. The ODI/DWP seems to believe that such an estimate cannot be made. I find this position hard to believe for several reasons:
- The DWP has vast resources at its disposal in order to make such an estimate
- The DWP recruits some of the most able people in the country to understand the impacts of Government policy
- If the DWP cannot calculate the impact its own policies then how can it in all good faith carry out such policies, especially when it has a duty to protect the rights of disabled people
For all these reasons I find it hard to believe that you cannot make a reasonable estimate of the impact and relative impact of Government policy (and again this should be all of Government policy - not just DWP policy).
If you do not offer me your own critique in writing, and if you fail to answer any of the questions in my letter in writing, in advance of the meeting I am afraid that I would feel that there was a significant risk that the meeting was not being held in good faith. It seems unreasonable and unjust for me to make my own own case utterly transparent, while the DWP does not set out its own reasoning or demonstrate that my own methodology is deeply flawed.
Again, to repeat, I am happy to meet with you and much happier that this should be in Sheffield, rather than in London, but that meeting needs be set up on some kind of reasonable basis.
Best wishes, Simon Duffy
Email from Alex Barton, 9th September 2015
Dear Dr Duffy,
We are more than happy to discuss with you the key issues you have raised in your correspondence, however, whilst we are mindful of your request, in order for us to all move forward it would be best for us all to meet and have a discussion where you talk us through the analysis you have carried out at a mutually convenient date. Given the proximity to our proposed Wednesday slot, if you do still wish to meet, we will need to arrange another convenient date to enable us to book the most cost effective travel.
Government regularly produces analysis of the cumulative impact of all Coalition changes at fiscal events, not only to welfare and personal tax policy but also to public spending, on households across the income distribution, and we recognise (and promote) this type of analysis as a valuable tool in policy development and evaluation. However, we also believe it should be treated with some caution. In particular, the impacts of policy changes are compared with the continuation of the previous Government's policies, which were unaffordable, rather than with an alternative approach to fiscal consolidation.
Of course, DWP carefully considers the equality impact of the individual policy changes on those with protected characteristics including gender, race and disability – in line with both its legal obligations and its strong commitment to equality issues, but we must ensure methodological credibility in order to publish a robust cumulative impact separately for disabled people. This is a very complex issue involving a series of judgements about the robustness of any methodology or dataset, which we believe is more appropriate for discussion.
However, the main reasons why we do not believe that such analysis can be conducted accurately are that:
- our survey data is limited, particularly in terms of the capturing of the severity of disability;
- there are a number of overlapping reforms coming in at different points up to 2017/18 and that the order of reforms is important to capture;
- the caseloads are dynamic, so changes in one benefit will affect eligibility to others and this is necessary to capture in any analysis;
- and restrictive assumptions are needed around how income is shared within households.
I would just like to reiterate that the Government expects its reforms to taxes, welfare, and public service spending to have a long term positive impact, in particular helping to get more people into work by making work pay and providing greater support for those who cannot work by targeting resources more effectively. We can expect to see people moving into work and taking more hours.
Once again, I sincerely hope you will carefully consider and accept our request to meet with you very soon.
Kind regards, Alex Barton
Email to Alex Barton, 7th October 2015
Dear Alex
Thank you for your email. It is helpful that you set out your reasons for the Government refusing to carry out a cumulative impact assessment of the impact of its policies on disabled people. On one matter we can agree - the Government has certainly introduced a wide range of changes which will all impact on the lives of disabled people and their families (although I cannot agree to call them 'reforms').
These include:
- Cuts in disability benefits and housing benefits
- Damaging and punitive changes to the assessment processes used
- Increased use of sanctions and reduced access to due process
- Increased indirect taxes which impact the poorest hardest
- Regressive subsidies for the better off, particularly through the reduced interest rate
- Cuts to local government, which lead to cuts in social care and housing
- And a range of other regressive measures which often hit disabled people most severely
There are two critical issues where we do not agree; for:
- It is not too difficult to estimate the cumulative impact of these policy changes. As you are aware The Centre for Welfare Reform, Demos and recently the National Institute of Economic and Social Research have all carried out such research, and we have all concluded that disabled people are severely targeted by Government policy.
- It is irresponsible to bring in a whole range of policies that impact on the lives and rights of disabled people at the same time, without knowing their likely impact. In fact I do not understand how it is possible to justify the Government's policies in terms of their "long term positive impact" if you can't estimate that impact.
In fact the Government's position is self-contradictory. You claim that it is too difficult to estimate the impact of your policies, while claiming that they will be positive. I am afraid I therefore have to conclude that you are not being entirely honest with me.
What is more, you are seeking to meet me to discuss a methodology which I have made utterly transparent. Any problems you have identified can be stated publicly and in this way the methodology can be improved. The fact that you do not want to offer public or constructive criticisms of the methodology, or to offer better data, suggests that you are not acting in good faith. I am afraid all our correspondence to date suggests that the purpose of any meeting with me would be merely to satisfy the Department desire to have carried out, to the letter, a promise made by the Minister in Parliament, but only for the sake of form, and with no real interest in developing a cumulative impact assessment.
Until you can make a proposal that suggests that the Government is acting in good faith I will have to conclude that any meeting would be pointless.
Best wishes, Simon Duffy
Further steps
I do hope that there is progress on this issue. If I have been able to develop a reasonable methodology and carry out all the relevant research with no funding or support then I assume that the Government, the Labour Party or a major Foundation could do a much better job. If the Government does get back to me and provide some or all of the relevant data then I will at least be able to build on our current state of knowledge.
Currently I will continue to offer what support I can to any disability group campaigning against this gross injustice and, with the Campaign for a Fair Society and Learning Disability Alliance England, I will work to identify some suitable body who might hold and take forward this work.
Recent correspondence between Ian Jones of the WOW Campaign and David Phillips of the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) confirms the fact that the IFS also believes that a CIA is quite possible.
The publisher is The Centre for Welfare Reform.
Next Steps on a Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) © Simon Duffy 2015
All Rights Reserved. No part of this paper may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher except for the quotation of brief passages in reviews.


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Time Saving Tips
"Man was made for something better then disturbing dirt"
—Oscar Wilde
Drop a Tab
Drop a Tab
Not the diet cola or 60's hallusingenic kind! Plop away poop n whiz with an Alka Seltzer Tablet. Let sit for 20 minutes or so while you shower, shave or blow out your hair. Finish with a swish and swash with a mani-friendly Clorox Toilet Wand w/disposable head!
Swipe, Wipe 'N Gripe
Swipe, Wipe 'N Gripe
Keep a container of disinfecting wipes within easy reach in your kitchen and bathroom for you to swipe, wipe and gripe on the phone simultaneously. Quick, healthy way to clean countertops, light switches, doorknobs, sinks, remotes or any hard surface within view
Suck It Up Slowly
Suck It Up Slowly
Go slowly not fast when vacuuming otherwise you'll be doing double since your trusy vacuum's suction needs to have time!
The Nose Knows
The Nose Knows
People aren't going to notice minor stains on items like your jeans which don't show much dirt but they will notice if your stuff stinks. Use long lasting scent boosters in your wash to keep clothes smelling fresher longer so don't have to wash as often.
Wash Only Dirty Clothes
Wash Only Dirty Clothes
DUH you say! This may sound like a no-brainer, but we often wash clothes that really aren't that dirty like jeans unless you're a construction worker, bath towels-u are suppose to be clean after a shower or bath.
Clean Cuisine
Clean Cuisine
Clean 'n steam salmon! Fill the dishwasher dispenser (NO dirty DISHES PLEASE!) with Country Time Powdered Lemonade Mix to get rid of streaks and other gunk. The citric acid is the key. At same time you run a full cycle poach filets of salmon so you don't have to cook din din later. –Yeah! Here's the recipe
- Season salmon with butter, splash of white wine, capers and salt 'n pepper to taste. Feel free to put a slice of lemon on top!
- Wrap tightly in aluminum foil or aluminum pan
- Run through full cycle as clean
- Viola! Clean Cuisine ☺
Swap N Shop
Swap N Shop
Alternate with your best bud on in-between shopping that can cut your extra trips to the grocery store at least by 25% and save you gas!
Morning Make-Up Call
Morning Make-Up Call
I don't know about you but a lot of my makeup cases look alike so I'm constantly opening, closing and rummaging through my make-up bag. No more! With or without my contacts in or first cup of coffee I can find what I need thanks to labeling them with my handy dandy Brother's PTouch Label Maker!


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On a weekly basis, I am exposed to many forms of project proposals that are simply damaging to the commercial artists' industry, specifically that of book illustrators and cover artists. There isn't much I, as an individual, can do to safeguard my industry. But if more artists took a stand, attitudes toward artists and the value of their work would improve, as well as our rates.
Over the last half-century, the accepted rates a commercial book cover artist or book illustrator could expect has dropped considerably, for many reasons. One is the advent of stock imagery and graphic designers taking on the role cover artists were traditionally hired to do. A designer can photo-manipulate stock images much faster, and at less cost, than a cover artist or illustrator can create an original artwork. This means a designer can afford to charge less than a cover artist. And given the opportunity, most authors and publishers would opt to pay a lower rate for their book cover than a higher price. It's just basic math.
Some prospective clients request free samples or mockups based on their particular project description. What they are doing is asking an artist to work for free, even if they don't realize it, more so if the client is asking several artists for free mockups, where only one artist will 'win' the job ... a form of crowdsourcing.
Many of those willing to pay an artist outright are only willing to offer ridiculously low payment for artwork, some even wanting to own the full rights to the image. When I say ridiculous, I mean at a fraction of accepted fair rates, not just for the commercial arts industry, but for ANY work.
Of course, at least the above is willing to pay something. Far too many authors and publishers think offering an artist nothing more than 'credit' or 'exposure' is an some honor; an 'honor' that manipulates many desperate artists and dupes them into doing free work.
Even if an artist does not portray themselves as desperate (or even think of themselves in that way), any artist willing to put hours of work and expensive art tools and supplies toward a project that they have not been, and may not be, paid for, is acting desperate. When they could devote their training and energies toward a paid commission, and participates in a contest or bidding war or other SPEC project, is either desperate, a hobbyist, a newbie, or has no respect for the craft or industry as a whole.
Most who facilitate such activities are unaware of the harm it does to my industry. How could they be unless they are the one being affected by the continually depreciating value of book cover art?
So ... How do I, as a freelance artist, help to protect my industry?
- I don't add to the growing depreciation of my industry by participating in project bidding, commercial contests, or crowdsourcing.
- I prove my obligation to protect my industry by not participating in activities designed to manipulate artists into working for free. It's degrading to my craft.
- Whenever possible, I explain to the project creator why I am withdrawing myself from the activity, explaining it's not meant to be a rejection of their book or project or them, but a personal stand against whatever depreciating practice the project is perpetuating.
What can one do instead of offering artistic services or free?
- If an artist's portfolio stands up well enough for any prospective client to be able to see what my capabilities as an artist are, it's more likely to eliminating the need for said client to desire a free sample before making a decision to hire.
- Don't be a desperate artist. Leave desperate acts to those that are, indeed, desperate.


text:
Although the "official" physical release is just getting underway, Run the Jewels 3 is the perfect bookend to one of the worst years ever.
Although the "official" physical release is just getting underway, Run the Jewels 3 is the perfect bookend to one of the worst years ever.
After a stunning, undefeated run to the national final, the Gee-Gees women's rugby team fell just short of their goal, returning to Ottawa with a silver medal and the pride of the entire school.
It's an artist's job to guide the voice of the people—something Common has always done in his career. With Black America Again, he strikes the right cord at the perfect time, and the result is one of the best albums of the year.
Three wins at Jack Donohue Tournament helps team gel before season starts.
The depleted and demoralized Garnet and Grey squad was unable to get any sort of momentum.
After ripping off nine consecutive wins to start the season, the Gee-Gees have not picked up a victory in their last five games.
The Gees absolutely obliterated last place Bishop's on-route to a 75-0 victory, closing the regular season 7-0.
From the opening kickoff, Western stole the momentum immediately and scored touchdowns on their first two drives.
If Bon Iver's last album was leaving the cabin, this project is the maturation and growing process. No longer trapped in the woods, Vernon's forgotten Emma and is finally working on himself—and as fans, we're reaping the rewards.
The ninth-ranked Gee-Gees football team rebounded and made light work of the York Lions in a 54–20 win.


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Poll Dorsets, and their predecessor, the Dorset Horn, have long been the terminal breed of choice for the Allen family at Bimbadeen, Forbes, New South Wales.
Running a substantial mixed farming enterprise with sheep and cropping, family patriarch Keith Allen said they had used "Dorsets" for longer than he could remember, at least 50 years or more.
"I consider Poll Dorsets to be the best prime lamb sires because of their tremendous growth, beautiful meat and good eye muscle," he said.
"We've used Poll Dorsets since the breed was first developed and they are far superior as a terminal lamb sire.
"In the past 10 years in particular there has been an increased focus on the commercial aspects of the breed and the lambs they produce."
Keith, who farms with son Grant, Grant's wife Stephanie, and grandson Isaac, said the family was able to sell lambs 10 months of the year.
He said the family's flock of first-cross ewes had an even split of autumn and spring lambing to ensure they had an adequate feed base for lambing ewes.
"We could never lamb all of the ewes at once as we couldn't feed them all," he said.
The split lambing ensured the Allens were also able to market lambs throughout much of the year, targeting weights of 22 kilograms carcaseweight for the sucker lamb market and 31 to 33kgcw for older lambs.
A lambing percentage of 130 to 140 per cent is regularly achieved despite some concerns on increasing predation of foxes.
"Much of the land around us is now used for cropping, there is much less sheep than there once was, so foxes are becoming an increasingly bigger problem," Keith said.
"We do bait with 1080 and run alpacas, but I'm not so sure on how effective most of the alpacas are, one does a good job."
The Allens aimed for ewes to drop lambs every two weeks during autumn and spring, this helped spread the workload during lambing and ensured a steady output of saleable lambs later in the year.
The Border Leicester-Merino ewes were scanned, with single and multiple bearing ewes separated to ensure different nutrient requirements were met. Ewes scanned dry were given three chances before being culled.
"We think we're better off to look after the ewes when we're joining, in case something went wrong in autumn," Keith said.
"The sheep are looked after like babies. Anyone who knocks a sheep around is gone, we all get cranky at times but you don't take it out on the stock.
"If you handle them quietly, the sheep are quieter, which makes them easier to handle."
All ewes are bought in from a mix of direct, on-property sales and NSW saleyards.
"We had some young ewes we bought in one year and I think we were the first people to have done anything with them, but after a few weeks here and being run through the yards a few times, they settled down and they're just as quiet as any others," Keith said.
Nearly all autumn-drop lambs were sold by the end of September as sucker lambs.
Keith's first sucker sale in July, held slightly later than usual with 195mm of rain falling on the property in less than six weeks during June and July, achieved good results with lambs – aged 18 weeks, they sold for $160 to $152.
The property's annual average rainfall is 558 millimetres.
"I was quite happy with those prices as they were straight off their mums," he said. "Roads are at a premium at the moment around here, so it was good to get them off and sell them."
Lambs are run on a mix of lucerne and clover pastures, and only containment fed if conditions are dry.
"We don't do it as a general rule," Keith said. "Suckers take a bit to grow at the moment, with all the rain and wet weather, but come August they'll grow like mushrooms."
Sire selection
Bimbadeen buys six to eight Poll Dorset rams a year, usually from the Gilmore family, Tattykeel Stud, Oberon, NSW.
"I look for a ram with good conformation, light-shouldered, with a clean head and a big rump. I hate to see the back of a ram with no rump," he said.
"If you buy a good line of rams, you'll get an even line of lambs to sell."
Keith said he stuck to his father Richard's long-time philosophy, 'it costs as much to feed a bad one as a good one'.
"That applies to any stock, stud or commercial," he said. "I look for a nice, beautiful shape, as you get a lot more of a return out of a good one, than a bad one.
"Get yourself some decent ewes and rams and it's as easy as that."
Keith said in recent years there has been an increased focus on the commercial aspects of the Poll Dorset breed by studs and the lambs produced.
"There's a very good selection of rams to choose from these days. As a result, the quality of the lambs in the saleyards has also got a lot better in the past 10 years."
Lamb sales
Over autumn and winter export weight lambs were sold over-the-hooks and through saleyards.
Keith said he kept an eye on them in the paddock then spoke to his livestock agent before deciding where to sell.
"We have sold a lot of lambs over-the-hook," he said. "However freight is quite expensive at the moment and the local stock market at Forbes is very good.
"You do have to factor in trimming over-the-hooks as unfortunately you can't see under the skin when lambs are in the yards. I've never lost a whole lamb ever, but it's easy to do simple things to ensure any trim is minimised, for instance vaccinate at the back of the ear and not in the body."
Keith said it was always important to present lambs as well as possible.
"We try and keep the lines of lambs even," he said. "We'll pocket crutch if we need to, to ensure lambs are presented cleanly."


text:
'pretty clouds'
courtesy of 'ekelly80′
Darpino: Big music weekend in DC coming up! On Saturday, I'll be at the 9:30 Club watching Public Enemy perform their masterpiece "Fear of a Black Planet." On Sunday, it's over to the Rock & Roll Hotel to catch Canadian electro-pop heroes, Dragonette. In other news, the wrecking crew and I will be headed out to catch an afternoon showing of
Stallone's mucho macho latest, "The Expendables."
John: It's a countrified weekend. Friday Night i'm stuck playing a cover show but if I weren't I'd be enjoying some nice local beer at Vintage 50 out in the wilds of Leesburg. Saturday will be spent playing around in the WeLoveDC DirtLab near Oatlands and followed by a picnic dinner evening and Twilight Polo at Great Meadows south of Middleburg. Sunday we'll grab brunch/lunch and wrap up the countrification at Market Salamander in Middleburg.
Rachel: It's another busy weekend, but what else is new? Friday night, the Nats start a series against the Diamondbacks. It's my night off, so I'll be treating a friend who's in from out of town to the newest Navy Yard eatery, Justin's Cafe — which is the perfect spot for some pre-game spirits and delicious eats. Then, it's off to the park to watch my friends bask in the glory that is Miller Lite pitcher and cup giveaway night for fans 21 and up. Saturday night makes my debut as a stage peformer at Black Fox Lounge in Dupont Circle. Black Fox is notorious for its chill atmophphere, live music, and well-crafted cocktails, so it should be pretty relaxing. Sunday afternoon, it's back to the ballpark for the final game in the Nats-Diamondbacks series before the team leaves town for a six game road trip to Atlanta and Philadelphia.
courtesy of 'ekelly80′
Rebecca: Friday post-work cocktails sound good to me and there's no better place to do that and get some outside time than Surfside. Pitchers of margharitas, buckets of coronas, beach side decor/vibe and fresh guacamole and chips make this the perfect relaxing venue. Saturdays in August make you feel like you have entire city to yourself. So I'll hit up The Mall and sneak into "The Body Inside and Out: Anatomical Literature and Art Theory Selections from the National Gallery of Art Library" I've always been super interested in the physiology of the human body, so this is right up my alley. Did I mention that the exhibition is also FREE?!! For some reason I have a particular hankering for pancakes, so Sunday I'm hitting up the Clarendon Silver Diner to maow on some fluffy goodness dapped in sugary fairy syrup, and let's throw in a black and white milkshake.
Carl: Friday I will be spending some time with a good friend up in Maryland, which is difficult, since I live in Arlington and have to cross water, but totally worth it. Saturday I will try to visit my friend Bruce, from whose yard I seem to spend a lot of time clearing weeds nowadays. That evening will find me at a special event at the Alexandria Scottish Rite and then will try to make it to Rachel's concert at the Black Fox Lounge in Dupont at 9 p.m. She is awesome – join me for a mint julep if you love great music. If we are lucky we can get Rachel to cover our drink tab. Sunday will be spent volunteering for the Polygonia art project for Burning Man. No, I am not a burner yet, but may still get swept up into it for next year.
Paulo: If I go to see one thing this weekend, it will be this: FLOODED! MCDONALD'S! Brought to you by Danish art team Superflex, Flooded McDonald's is a 21-minute film showing a McDonald's restaurant slowly filling up with water till all is submerged; showing at the Hirshhorn's Black Box till November. Preview here. And while we're at the Hirshhorn it'll be a good time to check out "With the Void, Full Powers," an Yves Klein retrospective.
courtesy of 'Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie'
Kirkles: On Friday I'm going out with a friend to celebrate his birthday at Georgia Brown's, after which we'll head to the Marine Barracks for their evening parade. On Saturday, I'm going to enjoy the relatively cool temps by eating Market Brunch outside and then finding some sort of outdoor activity to occupy me till evening. I haven't had a mint julep in a while, so on Saturday evening I might swing by the Gibson to grab one (I think theirs are the best in the city.)
Jenn: You know if there's bellydance on display I am going to flog it! Saffron Dance has a weekend of offerings starting with the Egyptian Nights gala Friday night featuring Mohamed el Hosseny, Mohamed Shahin, the amazing Saffron soloists, student companies and many guest artists from the Mid-Atlantic region all converging on Rosslyn Spectrum. Saturday night they throw a more intimate solists show at Casablanca in Clarendon. And there are even workshops on Egyptian style by the masters all weekend at the studio. I highly recommend it!


text: If you're depressed, the headlines might tempt you to reach out for a chocolate bar. But don't believe the hype. from www.shutterstock.com August 16, 2019 No, eating chocolate won't cure depression Ben Desbrow, Griffith University Depression is a serious, common and sometimes debilitating condition. And no, chocolate won't help, whatever the headlines tell you.


text:
The changing agricultural geography of Southland, 1878-1940.
Kellaway, Roger George
Permanent Linkhttp://hdl.handle.net/10092/14416
Thesis DisciplineGeography
Degree GrantorUniversity of Canterbury
Degree LevelMasters
Degree NameMaster of Arts
The evolution of the agricultural system of Southland was a long-term process. It has roots that stretch back to Britain before the agricultural revolution and it has not yet ended. Indeed, it probably will never end because agricultural systems are dynamic entities. The aim of this work bas been to consider the manner in which the agricultural geography of Southland has reacted to the changes that have taken place in the profitability ot various forms ot agricultural production, the introduction of new types of agricultural technology, and the impact of new modes of transport.


text: inspire+® Battery Pencil Sharpener1781 inspire+® Battery Pencil Sharpener1781 The X-ACTO inspire+™ is a stylish battery sharpener designed to be used by a student at home or by a professional at a home office. The top-loading, vertical design is a great way to save space on the desk. inspire+™ Heavy-Duty Battery Powered Pencil Sharpener Stylish, fashion-forward vertical design Helical cutter delivers increased sharpener longevity Battery-powered allows for flexibility of home or mobile uses Translucent receptacle alerts user when to empty pencil shavings Safety shut off switch when receptacle is removed Non-skid feet holds the sharpener in place during use Requires 4AA batteries (not included) 2 Year Warranty


text:
Wedding suppliers and wedding venues in Dorset and Hampshire
As time goes on I'll be updating this section of the website to give you information on trusted wedding vendors together with helpful pages about key wedding venues not only in Bournemouth but across Dorset and Hampshire.
There's also a great feature that I introduced last year – "Meet the Wedding Expert". As a Dorset wedding photographer I know the difficulties that couples can face when choosing their wedding suppliers – photography, venue, flowers, wedding dress, hair and make-up, planning, styling and transport. Type in "Dorset wedding photographer" or "wedding florist in Dorset" or any combination of wedding service and you'll get dozens if not hundreds of results. The results at the top of the rankings may not necessarily be the best in terms of service, so how do you make your selection and find the right wedding supplier for you? I've decided to try and help you out a little by recommending some Dorset wedding experts.
Meet the Wedding Expert – what's it all about?
This feature's intended to showcase just some of the suppliers that I know and trust. Having photographed weddings in the Bournemouth area and across Dorset over many years I've come to know quite a few wedding specialists and seen their work. I've worked with them many times and know that they consistently deliver excellent service. I'm often asked by wedding suppliers to add them to my trusted wedding vendors page in return for a reciprocal link back to my website. However, unless I've worked with them several times I won't do this. Why? Because I want to make sure that anyone I recommend is going to give my client an outstanding service – I'm not interested in building links in an attempt to increase my own Google rankings. I'll never recommend anyone who I've not worked with – after all, my reputation's on the line as well, isn't it? Hand on heart, I can recommend anyone who's featured in this series.
In "Meet the Wedding Expert" over the forthcoming weeks we're going to be talking with some of my favourite wedding suppliers in Dorset and Hampshire. These aren't in-depth interviews …. think of them as more of a chat over a coffee and a piece of cake. Hmnn, cake! 🙂 Just "getting to know them" a little better. After that it's up to you – you have to make the all-important decisions about who you're going to trust with your wedding day but hopefully this little series of mine will help you along the way.
Of course, if you've not booked your wedding photographer yet then please get in touch – I'm delighted to be a recommended photographer at a number of leading Dorset wedding venues and I'll be delighted to have a chat with you about what you're looking for with regard to the wedding photography.
Meet the Expert: Arcade Flowers Meet the Expert: Bellissimo Weddings Meet the Expert: Dorset DubHire
English Oak Vineyard Weddings, Lytchett Matravers
Bliss Bridal Boutique in Christchurch
Exquisite Bridal Couture in Lymington
Hair and Make-Up
Katie Francesca – wedding and function singer
Naomi Mulroy – wedding and function singer
3 D Entertainments – mobile disco
PhotoBooth Bournemouth – lots of fun for the evening!
Stationery and Styling
Dorset Dub Hire – beautiful VW campers for your wedding transport
RR Elite – wedding cars and private hire
Superwed Cars – a great selection of vehicles, including a Routemaster Bus!
VW Splitty Weddings – VW Splitscreen Camper
Wedding Planner
Other Resources for Brides


text: Last year, the New York Times ran a spectacularly obnoxious Styles piece about being "downgraded" by economic necessity from big-name designers to "minor talents." One fashionista writes, "Last summer I had to buy a dress for an engagement party, and I actually bought a Milly - a Milly. Four years ago, I would have sawed off my left pinky toe before considering such a purchase." Ever since, I've felt protective of Michelle Smith's line, and its pretty, 60s-inspired clothes. Yeah, maybe she's not setting the world on fire with Spring 09; maybe early-60s tailoring is done to a turn and boho chic's been pretty much beaten into the ground by Tory Burch, but the clothes on the Milly runway, if not exactly barrier-breaking, are frequently pretty, good for lots of bodies, and things I'd be happy to wear - if I could "upgrade" to them, that is. What say you?(Click on any image to begin gallery)