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Show All Answers
Please go through your Youth Sports Commissioner.
19 ball fields and acres of soccer/lacrosse fields.
Complete the Field Request Form.
There are fields located in each quadrant of Canton. Please view our Park Map (PDF) for the locations of each.
In advance it is best to call 734/483-5600. Several Parks have first come first serve openings listed on the website.
Community residents have primary access to fields, however, you do not need to be a resident to reserve a field. Please complete the Field Request Form to get your reservation started.
Fields that are not permitted or prepared for later games, are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Canton residents are welcome to use the fields when they are open.
The soccer nets are provided by the Canton Soccer Club and gives them first priority in use. Additionally, other field equipment may be used at the discretion of Canton Sports Center staff.
All athletic fields are open 6 am - 10 pm per Canton Township Ordinance. Field priority goes to those that are scheduled by Canton Township classes, leagues and tournaments, and those that are reserved via the Field Permit Process.
Yes, reserved fields have a fee assessed by the Canton Sports Center staff. For drop-in (first-come, first-serve) use there is no fee.
Alcohol is not permitted in any Canton Park, except at Victory Park. Alcohol at Victory Park must be provided by Kickers Bar and Grill; outside alcohol is not allowed.
Park pavilions can be reserved both online and in-person through the Canton Township Parks department. Please visit our Pavilion Rental page for more information.


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I have two tables:
I need to delete all highscores that are registered from a certain country. My problem is that the language are set per player, rather than by highscore. I can gather the information with JOIN
like this:
SELECT scorePoints, playerAlias, playerEmail, playerCountry
FROM tbl_highscores JOIN tbl_players ON tbl_highscores.playerId = tbl_players.playerId
WHERE playerCountry = 'lt'
But how do I delete all highscores that are saved by a user from a certain language?

subset: commoncrawl


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Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have discovered that maize crops emit chemical signals which attract growth-promoting microbes to live amongst their roots. This is the first chemical signal that has been shown to attract beneficial bacteria to the maize root environment.
The study was led by Dr Andy Neal of Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire and Dr Jurriaan Ton of the University of Sheffield's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences. By deepening our understanding of how cereals interact with microorganisms in the soil their research aims to contribute to ongoing efforts to increase cereal yields sustainably to feed a growing world population.
This research could be particularly useful in the fight against soil-borne pests and diseases. By breeding plants that are better at recruiting disease suppressing and growth promoting bacteria scientists hope to reduce agricultural reliance on fertilisers and pesticides.
The research is published today (24 April 2012) in the open-access journal PLoS One.
Dr Andrew Neal, who co-led the research, said "We have known for a while that certain plants exude chemicals from their roots that attract other organisms to the area. In fact, the environment around a plant's roots teems with microorganisms and populations of bacterial cells can be up to 100 times denser around roots than elsewhere. Simple compounds such as sugars and organic acids are attractive to these microorganisms as they are a good source of energy; however other more complex chemicals were not known to serve as attractants because they were typically thought of as toxic.
"Now we have evidence that certain bacteria – we studied a common soil bacterium called Pseudomonas putida – use these chemical toxins to locate a plant's roots. The plant benefits from the presence of these bacteria because they make important nutrients like iron and phosphorous more available and help by competing against harmful bacteria around the root system."
The soil around a plant is awash with chemicals exuded by its roots. This makes it rich in nutrients but also potentially more toxic for microorganisms. The roots of young maize plants exude large quantities of chemicals called benzoxazinoids or 'BXs' which are known to play a role in helping the plant defend itself against pests above the ground in its stem and leaves. Dr Neal and Dr Ton found that a number of bacterial genes that are associated with movement responded to one of these BX chemicals, encouraging Psudomonas putida to migrate towards the plant. They also found that the presence of Psudomonas putida accelerated the breakdown of BX molecules suggesting that the bacteria have evolved the ability to detoxify the root environment, perhaps even using BX molecules as an energy source.
Dr Jurriaan Ton from the University of Sheffield co-led the research. He added "Our study has opened up exciting new opportunities for follow-up research. One interesting lead came from our analysis of the bacterial genes that were switched on in the presence of root –produced BX chemicals. This analysis suggested that the BX chemicals not only recruit the bacteria to the root surface, but they also activate processes in these bacteria that can help to suppress soil-borne diseases. This is really exciting as it would mean that the plant is not only recruiting beneficial microbes but also regulating how they behave."
He added "The next important step is to obtain a molecular blueprint of the microbial communities that are shaped by these root chemicals, and to investigate what beneficial impacts these microbes have on plant growth, plant health and soil quality."
Professor Douglas Kell, BBSRC Chief Executive, said "Sustainability must be at the heart of our efforts to help provide the world with enough nutritious food. Only by broadening our focus beyond individual plants and animals, and striving to understand the complex relationships between species, can we ensure that our food supply will be able to weather the challenges of pests and environmental change in the long term. By using advances in computing to study entire biological and ecological systems we can help develop robust solutions to ensure food security."
PLoS ONE


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If you want to do casting at home, you'll need a way to melt metal. [Jake]'s DIY foundry furnace gets hot enough to melt aluminium, and is built out a mix of scrap parts.
The chamber of the furnace is built out of a water heater tank which has been lined with a special cement that refracts heat. The furnace is heated by a Babington burner. This type of burner works by atomizing the fuel and injecting it into the furnace. They are good for burning waste oil to achieve high heats.
A scrap Volkswagen oil pump and a cordless drill are used to feed oil into the burner. Once it's fired up, the furnace takes about 10 minutes to melt the 11 pounds of metal that it can hold. [Jake] melted about 40 pounds of aluminium alloy from scrap alloy wheels in 2 hours, which should be more than enough for a home casting project.
After the break, check out the overview of the device and a demo of melting aluminium.


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Buying bulk doesn't just mean you're reducing the environmental cost of excess packaging; packaging itself contributes an average of 8 percent to the retail cost of food, according to the USDA (and much more for herbs and spices where packaging is worth more than the product). Translation: Bulk also offers big savings for you, especially if you're looking to purchase organic. And if all those bins and scales are intimidating, start small with these six organic items that weigh in at a most delicious price.
Bulk spice Potential savings, $ /ounce
Bay leaf 41.66
Oregano 9.87
Sweet domestic Basil 7.15
Thyme leaf 5.28
Bulk food Potential savings, $/pound
Raw almonds 7.35
Dried cranberries 6.99
Rolled oats 2.08
Brown flaxseeds 2.01


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Get yours today for only $18.00
Picking the right name is key. Make it memorable. Keep it simple and easy to spell so people can find you.
Details for .exposed:
No restrictions on registration.
Available for sale | Available for transfer | Maximum registration period | Privacy | Eligible for rgp |
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Head in the Clouds examines the question of predestination versus free will. But that's not very sexy, so writer-director John Duigan (Sirens) throws in a threesome between stars Penélope Cruz, Stuart Townsend, and Townsend's real-life girlfriend Charlize Theron (in her first post-Oscar appearance). Set against the backdrop of Europe in the '30s and '40s, Duigan's film puts stock characters in familiar situations; despite flashes of wit which sustain a moderate interest, Head in the Clouds amounts to a dully predictable melodrama in dire need of star power.
Theron gives it the old college try as Gilda, a libertine who sparks to Townsend's honorable Cambridge student Guy when the rain drives her into his dorm room. Quickly, Duigan establishes their characters, which never deepen much. Stolid Guy: "I'm British, but I don't believe in countries much." Coy Gilda: "Beauty, bravery, and brains. What a catch." Gilda can't be tied down, much as Guy would like to do so; even when she finally relents, Gilda wastes little time in spicing things up with her Bohemian Spanish refugee roommate Mia (Cruz). Guy remarks to Gilda, "You're very modern, aren't you?", which, of course, is code for "Damn, this is hot."
Alas, nothing (and certainly not hot la vie Boheme threesomes) is forever. Guy and Mia follow their mutual consciences into the Spanish Civil War (he as a soldier and she as a nurse), despite Gilda's protestations that life is too short not to enjoy every minute. Tragedy ensues, Nazis enter stage right to further complicate matters, and plausibility generally takes a nose dive as the characters experience their respective traumatic life changes by enacting "surprising" reversals. Flimsy narration and flaccid acting (particularly from Townsend in a central role) do nothing to bolster this well-intentioned but forgettable film.


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What kind of presence will the X-Men series have at Comic-Con this week? 20th Century Fox is playing coy about the studio's panel on Saturday, so far announcing only Q&As for X spinoff The Wolverine and the Apes sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, in addition to a "major" surprise. Expect that mysterious sneak to be a look at the currently filming X-Men: Days of Future Past — Vulture has heard that the Bryan Singer–helmed film will be sending over a dozen cast members to San Diego to tease the ambitious sequel, which employs a time-travel story line to merge the original X-Men cast with the young actors from recent prequel X-Men: First Class and is currently set for release in May 2014. What's more, we've learned many of the formerly secret details Fox plans to tout there; if you want to keep your Comic-Con surprises unspoiled, stop reading now.
One of those reveals won't come as a shock to anyone who's been following paparazzi pictures from the Montreal set: Though Singer hasn't yet announced the identity of the villain that Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage will be playing, expect official confirmation on Saturday that Dinklage's baddie is Bolivar Trask, known to comic-book readers as the creator of the mutant-hunting Sentinel robots. However, what's been unknown till now is that Days of Future Past features another famous X-Men villain, who'll be played by the recently cast Australian actor Josh Helman. When the Wrap broke the news that Helman had joined the production in a major part, fans speculated that he might be playing a young Cyclops, since the actor shares some enviable bone structure with original X actor James Marsden. Not quite: Helman will be playing a young Bill Stryker, the primary antagonist role that was filled by Brian Cox in X2: X-Men United.
Singer may also tease details of the film's plot, which is based on a 1981 comic-book story line authored by Chris Claremont. That version presented a dystopian future ruled by Sentinels, a setting so grim for our heroes that fan-favorite mutant Kitty Pryde sends her consciousness back in time to warn the X-Men, who then try to stop the assassination of a senator that would set in motion the mutant-threatening events to come. In Singer's take, Ellen Page returns as Kitty from the Brett Ratner–directed X-Men: The Last Stand, but this time she uses her powers to send Hugh Jackman's Wolverine back into the past, where he encounters the younger mutants played by James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, and Michael Fassbender. However, something bad happens to Kitty during the time-travel trance, and while Wolverine is still under her spell, the other X-Men must race to find a mutant who can siphon Kitty's powers and bring their friend back to the future. Could that be the plot development that brings Anna Paquin's power-copying Rogue into the fold once again?
Expect more details as soon as Comic-Con begins in full this Thursday.


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(Are you new to my Frugal Fashionista series? Find out how I dress for less with designer outfits for mere pennies on the dollar. Yes, all outfits from head to toe are less than $15.)
When I was in NYC with some blogging girlfriends, we were told about this new craze on You Tube called a "Fashion Haul." Typically, I tune out the "what's in" stage, but this was pretty interesting with my Fashionista tendencies.
It's basically where girls, women, and shopaholics, from all walks of life, come home from a spending spree and then video tape their finds to show their viewers. Most of them are sharing crazy amounts of clothing for an even crazier amount of cash.
Well, I had a Fashion Haul of my own at one of my favorite "hot spots," – the mother queen of all fashion yard sales. Three women with amazing taste in clothes cleared out their designer closets, just so that I can show you all the possibilities that are out there to become your own Frugal Fashionista. This is now the second year I have been fortunate enough to hit this jackpot, and you can can bet that I will prioritize it every year.
So at 10:30pm this evening, I decided to show you my own Fashion Haul – Frugalista style. I hope you enjoy it.
(If you're receiving this by email or reader, you'll need to click over to my site to watch the video.)
Obviously, the more clothes I bring in, the more I need to clean out. This has been my biggest struggle with my Frugal Fashionista status. I find amazing clothes for next to nothing cash wise, but stuff is stuff and stuff takes up room. I used to buy clothes that were just a bit too small with the hopes that I would fit into them within "xyz" months. I've learned the hard way that those items just accumulate in my closet causing more STUFF. I am doing a better job of passing on the things that I'm not wearing knowing that there are more great deals right around the corner.
As you watch this video and see the large amount of clothing I got for only $15, wrap your brain around the fact that this was a drop in the bucket in comparison to the clothes that were still there, at which I didn't even look. On my way to speak at a conference, I literally had minutes to "shop." My sister in love went after I did and picked up around thirty items for herself and my nieces – all as cute as what I found.
I know, I know….I wish you had been there as well. 🙂


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TIM McGRAW TIPS HIS HAT TO MUCH-ANTICIPATED JANUARY 24 RELEASE OF "EMOTIONAL TRAFFIC" – TERMING IT "MY BEST ALBUM EVER"…
(Nashville, Tennessee) -- January 2, 2012 – With 2012 freshly out-of-the-box, Curb Records offers an adrenaline rush to country music's new year with the January 24 release of Tim McGraw's latest album, Emotional Traffic—a studio project the iconic performer named 'Artist of the Decade' by Nielsen BDS proclaims as a 'best ever' creative effort in his more than three decades of hit music.
Creatively collaborating on the production with Bryon Gallimore his longtime producer whose fingerprints are consistently found throughout the remarkable McGraw dynasty of 32 #1 singles and 44 million units of music sold, Emotional Traffic leaves little doubt of the foundation material McGraw's now legendary career has been built-in. It's the artistic brick and mortar of great songs and a great talent.
The new 12 track set fast lanes with McGraw's latest #1 single, Felt Good On My Lips, certified digital gold. His current single, Better Than I Used To Be, is now climbing the charts and is also included here. Of the sessions that produced the new music, McGraw noted in an interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer on August 9: "…one of the best song I've ever recorded and certainly one of the best records we've ever made."
A surprise guest artist collaboration from R&B pop wizard Ne-Yo on one of the tracks (Only Human) brings producer Darran Smith into the mix and adds further creditability to McGraw's visionary artistic reach. Additional stand-out tracks include the catchy and inspiring Touchdown Jesus (written by Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson and Ben Hayslip), and I Will Not Fall Down (penned by McGraw, Martina McBride and The Warren Brothers—Brett & Brad).
Curb Records is set immediately to further announce the availability of two digital single releases from the new package which will be exclusive to iTunes and available prior to Emotional Traffic reaching its official in store street date of Tuesday, January 24.
The track listing for Emotional Traffic is as follows:
1. Halo
2. Right Back Actha Babe
3. One Part, Two Part
4. I Will Not Fall Down
5. The One
6. Better Than I Used To Be
7. Touchdown Jesus
8. The One That Got Away
9. Felt Good On My Lips
10. Hey Now
11. Only Human
12. Die By My Own Hand
The release of Emotional Traffic is a fresh reminder of the unparalleled superstar presence Tim McGraw has carved in the music industry since the 1994 impact of his first #1 single Don't Take The Girl skyrocketed him to national visibility and instant stardom. His most recent hit single, Felt Good On My Lips continues the now three decade history of #1's on Billboard charts. With 7.8 spins logged at radio, McGraw was deemed the "Artist of The Decade (2000-2010) by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. He was won multiple Grammy® Awards, 14 Academy of Country Music Awards, 11 CMA Awards, 10 American Music Awards, a trio of People's Choice Awards and numerous other industry awards and accolades to varied to mention. His creativity has branched from music to acting—having starring roles in such films as the Oscar nominated blockbuster, The Blind Side (2009) and a breakthrough to major film in the 2004 release of the critically acclaimed Friday Night Lights.
In summer 2012, Tim McGraw will join Kenny Chesney on the "Brothers of the Sun Tour," already anticipated to become one of the highest grossing tours of the year across all genres.


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While The Neighbors didn't attract a large audience in its first season, ABC decided to renew it and move the show to Friday nights. Will viewers make the move as well. Will the ratings be good enough to ensure a third season or will the series be cancelled instead? We shall see.
A family sitcom, The Neighbors follows the Weaver clan as they try to live in a beautiful gated community that's filled with alien visitors from the planet Zabvron. The ensemble castmembers are Jami Gertz, Lenny Venito, Simon Templeman, Toks Olagundoye, Tim Jo, Clara Mamet, Ian Patrick, Isabella Cramp, and Max Charles.
The ratings are typically the best indication of a show's likelihood of staying on the air. The higher the ratings (particularly the 18-49 demo), the better the chances for survival. This chart will be updated as new ratings data becomes available — typically around 11:30am EST/8:30am PST. Refresh to see the latest.
How are your shows doing? Check the season rankings: ABC | CBS | CW | FOX | NBC
5/9 update: ABC has cancelled The Neighbors after two seasons.
Final season averages: 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 4.09 million total viewers.
Note: If you're not seeing the updated charts, please try reloading the page. You can also see them here.
Last year comparison: The first season of The Neighbors averaged a 1.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 6.19 million total viewers.
Note: These are the final national numbers (unless noted with an "*"). These are different from the fast affiliate numbers which are just estimates of the actual ratings. The final nationals are typically released within 24 hours of the programming or, in the case of weekends and holidays, a couple days later.
What do you think? Do you still like The Neighbors TV series? Do you think it should be cancelled or renewed for a third season?


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Oil Sludge Resulting In Engine Failure
2001 Dodge Stratus (Page 1 of 2)
This problem may be covered under warranty. Ask your Dodge dealer.
CarComplaints.com Notes: The Dodge Stratus, Intrepid & other Chrysler sedans are infamous for oil sludge problems with the 2.7L V6 engine. If someone offers to sell you a 2.7L V6 model, it's only worth the price of the scrap metal it's going to shortly turn into.
NOTE: Only the 2.7L V6 has the oil sludge problem. Our "Avoid like the Plague" designation is ONLY for models with the 2.7L V6 engine. All other available engines are very reliable with no major problems.
Even with regular maintenance, the oil sludge defect eventually destroys the 2.7L engine typically around 80,000-100,000 miles. The only true fix we know about is to put in the larger 3.2L engine, which has a great reputation. Also the 2.4L engine doesn't have the oil sludge problem.
This issue was never deemed a safety defect by the Feds, so there was no recall. In the end, Chrysler got away with FOUR YEARS worth of defective 2.7L V6 engines in their sedans.
really awful- Typical Repair Cost:
- $4,460
- Average Mileage:
- 85,100 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 39 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
- replace engine (20 reports)
- I want DCX to buy back my car and refund my money (12 reports)
- nothing, can't afford the repairs (4 reports)
- not sure (3 reports)
engine problem
Helpful websites
- No one has added a helpful site for this 2001 Stratus problem yet. Be the first!


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Using geo-audited locations and demographics, circulation counts, and visibility adjustments based on format, size and position, Geopath Ratings measure who actually sees an ad, and delivers highly dependable and granular audience ratings that let advertisers and their agencies evaluate OOH on equal footing with TV, radio, print, and online using the same basic metrics.
In over 200 DMA's across the US, Geopath Ratings make OOH easier to plan, buy, and measure. And with the focus on audience instead of location, OOH delivers the highly targeted, high-value audiences that advertisers want to reach.


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- This event has passed.
Event Series: Contemplative Prayer/ Meditation
Contemplative Prayer/ Meditation
- Date: Monday, February 25, 2019
- Time: 6:00pm–7:00pm
- Location: France Room
Explore and deepen your practice of silent, open awareness and meditation to discern a deeper connection with God. The group is facilitated by an experienced leader and offers a supportive environment for practitioners, whether new to the practice or new to the group. The contemplative prayer group meets on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month in the France Room, most easily accessed from the small parking lot on Frederick Road.


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Nine Wall Street Journal Op-ed Writers Who Weren't Disclosed As Romney Advisers
Written by Eric Hananoki
The Wall Street Journal has published op-eds from 12 writers without disclosing their roles as advisers to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. The op-eds attack President Obama and his administration or discuss Romney on a range of topics like the economy, health care, education and foreign policy.
According to a Media Matters review, the Journal published a total of 25 pieces from the following Romney advisers without disclosing their campaign ties: John Bolton; Max Boot; Lee A. Casey; Seth Cropsey; Paula Dobriansky; Mary Ann Glendon; Kevin Hassett; Glenn Hubbard; Michael Mukasey; Paul E. Peterson; David B. Rivkin Jr.; and Martin West. In several instances, the Journal failed to disclose an op-ed writer's connection despite its own news section reporting that the writer is advising Romney.
With respect to one writer, the Journal disclosed his ties to the campaign in an initial op-ed but failed to do so in subsequent op-eds. With regard to another, the paper failed to disclose the campaign ties in an initial op-ed but did do so in later pieces. The 10 remaining writers have not had their Romney connections disclosed in any of their op-eds following the publication of those ties, according to Media Matters' review.
Media Matters previously documented that the Journal for months regularly failed to disclose columnist Karl Rove's ties to the super PAC American Crossroads and its related organization Crossroads GPS, which are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to defeat President Obama and other Democratic candidates. After drawing criticism from some of America's top editorial page editors as well as Trevor Potter, who served as general counsel to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaigns, the Journal began disclosing Rove's Crossroads role in late September.
Fox News, which, like The Wall Street Journal, is owned by News Corp., has had similar problems. There have been numerous instances in which the network has hosted Romney advisers John Bolton, Elaine Chao, Jay Sekulow, and Walid Phares without disclosing their ties.
Journal editorial page editor Paul Gigot and spokespersons for the paper and for News Corp. did not respond to requests for comment.
This post will be updated as we discover new examples of the Journal failing to disclose Romney advisers writing in its pages.
John Bolton
Role with Romney campaign: Foreign policy adviser. [MittRomney.com, 3/27/12; The New York Times, 6/27/12]; Campaign surrogate. [MittRomney.com, 8/11/12; 8/23/12; Palm Beach Post, 9/9/12]
The WSJ reported in a July 22 article, headlined, "Romney's Top Foreign-Policy Advisers: Moderates, Neocons": "The neoconservative wing is represented but doesn't dominate the group. While former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton offers advice, he isn't one of the most prominent figures."
WSJ non-disclosure: Two op-eds.
In an April 29 op-ed about President Obama's policy with regard to Syria, the Journal disclosed that Bolton "advises Mitt Romney's presidential campaign." That note was not included in two later Bolton op-eds despite discussion of Obama in those pieces:
- A July 17 op-ed questioned President Obama's support of the Law of the Sea Treaty. Bolton also attacked the U.S. for a "lack of effective" oversight of the United Nations.
- A September 10 op-ed criticized President Obama over foreign policy and allegedly weakening the U.S. Navy.
In those two op-eds, the WSJ identified Bolton as: "Mr. Bolton, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, is the author of "Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations" (Simon & Schuster, 2007)."
Max Boot
Role with Romney campaign: Defense policy adviser. [MaxBoot.net, accessed 9/18/12; CNN, Fareed Zakaria GPS, 1/15/12 (pictured above); Washington Times, 1/20/12]
WSJ non-disclosure: Four op-eds.
Boot has written four Journal op-eds this year in which he's criticized the Obama administration's handling of foreign policy:
- A February 28 op-ed claimed that the security situation in Afghanistan "has been put in serious jeopardy by President Obama's decision to bring home 32,000 troops by September."
- An April 18 op-ed criticized the Obama administration for cutting troops in Afghanistan and for its funding level for the Afghan army and police forces.
- A June 24 op-ed criticized the Obama administration over its handling of the Scarborough Shoal dispute, and alleged that the Obama administration was weak in its handling of China.
- An August 28 op-ed criticized Obama for being "willing to order troops to fight but not to talk about why they fight or how their fight is going" and lacking a "coherent message to deliver" about Afghanistan.
The WSJ identified Boot as a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of an upcoming book.
The Journal disclosed that Boot was a Romney adviser in a September 28 book review. The Journal published two book reviews this year -- on May 31 and June 22 -- by Boot in which he was critical of the Obama administration but did not note his campaign ties. (Media Matters did not tally book review pieces in this op-ed study.)
Lee A. Casey and David B. Rivkin Jr.
Role with Romney campaign: Members of Romney's Justice Advisory Committee. [MittRomney.com, 8/2/11]
WSJ non-disclosure: Nine op-eds combined (seven by Casey and Rivkin, and two by Rivkin without Casey).
Rivkin and Casey have written seven Journal op-eds together attacking the Obama administration on a variety of legal issues:
- An August 18, 2011, op-ed argued that Obama's health care law is unconstitutional.
- A September 20, 2011, op-ed criticized the Obama administration's actions on a Palestinian statehood resolution. The op-ed began by agreeing with the Obama administration's decision to oppose a move by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to seek recognition of a Palestinian state from the United Nations. But the writers later criticized the Obama administration for having "failed to present the case against a Palestinian statehood resolution in legal rather than tactical terms, even though these arguments are obvious and would greatly reinforce the U.S. position, also providing a thoroughly neutral basis for many of our allies, particularly in Europe, to oppose Mr. Abbas's statehood bid."
- A November 15, 2011, op-ed argued that Obama's health care law is unconstitutional.
- A January 6 op-ed criticized Obama's recess appointments of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Richard Cordray and members of the National Labor Relations Board as "unconstitutional" and "an unprecedented power grab."
- A March 23 op-ed criticized Obama's health care law as unconstitutional and claimed that "upholding ObamaCare would destroy this dual-sovereignty system, the most distinctive feature of American constitutionalism."
- A June 29 op-ed criticized Obama's health care law in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision.
- A July 26 op-ed began with the falsehood that "Obama unilaterally gutted the Clinton administration's signature achievement--welfare reform." The op-ed went on to accuse Obama of taking "the hatchet to the immigration laws and to the Bush-era 'No Child Left Behind' statute." The writers wrote that Obama's actions show "that he won't respect these basic constitutional limits on his power." The op-ed added that Obama's actions should "outrage all of us--including and especially members of Congress on both sides of the party divide" and suggested that the president wasn't fit to take the oath of office.
Rivkin also co-wrote two Journal op-eds without Casey which attacked the Obama administration:
- A December 7, 2011, op-ed with Charles Stimson attacked the Obama administration over its handling of detainees in American custody.
- A February 15 op-ed with Edward Whelan attacked the Obama administration over health care reform's contraception mandate. The op-ed accused the Obama administration of violating the First Amendment and being "more interested in punishing religiously based opposition to contraception and abortion than in marginally increasing access to contraception services."
The WSJ has identified Casey and Rivkin as lawyers who served during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, and, at times, as representing states challenging the health care law. It has also identified Rivkin as a senior adviser to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Seth Cropsey
Role with Romney campaign: Foreign policy adviser [Media Matters, 10/19/12; Timmerman for Congress, 9/30/12].
WSJ non-disclosure: One op-ed.
An October 18 op-ed, which Cropsey co-authored with Douglas J. Feith, criticized Obama's response to the September attack on a U.S. Consulate in Libya, repeating the myth that the president did not immediately call it a terrorist attack.
In the op-ed, the WSJ identifies Cropsey as deputy undersecretary of the Navy in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and a Hudson Institute senior fellow.
Paula Dobriansky
Role with Romney campaign: Special adviser, Foreign Policy and National Security Advisory Team; Co-chair, international organizations working group. [MittRomney.com, 10/7/11]
WSJ non-disclosure: One op-ed.
Dobriansky co-wrote a July 8 op-ed which criticized President Obama's foreign policy. Dobriansky wrote that Obama's approach to Libya "simply will not work in dealing with current challenges and those that may emerge in the next three to five years." She also criticized Obama's handling of Europe's economic problems, writing that "Obama has called for greater trade with Europe, but his administration has pursued a free-trade agreement without a sense of urgency or clear leadership from the top."
The WSJ identified Dobriansky as: "Ms. Dobriansky, a former undersecretary of state for democracy and global affairs, is an adjunct senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs."
Mary Ann Glendon
Role with Romney campaign: Co-chair of Romney's Justice Advisory Committee. [MittRomney.com, 8/2/11]; National co-chair, Catholics for Romney. [7/31/12]; Narrator of January pro-Romney video [YouTube.com, 1/13/12].
An October 28, 2011, WSJ blog post noted that Glendon is co-chairing Romney's Justice Advisory Committee.
WSJ non-disclosure. One op-ed.
Glendon wrote a May 21 op-ed criticizing the Obama administration's contraception mandate. Glendon falsely claimed that the "main goal of the mandate is not, as HHS claimed, to protect women's health. It is rather a move to conscript religious organizations into a political agenda, forcing them to facilitate and fund services that violate their beliefs, within their own institutions."
The WSJ identified Glendon as: "Ms. Glendon is professor at Harvard Law School."
Kevin Hassett
Role with Romney campaign: Economic adviser [Media Matters, 10/25/12; NPR, 10/15/12; National Journal, 9/27/12].
On September 7, a WSJ article on President Obama's economic goals for a second term cited Hassett as "an adviser to the Romney campaign."
WSJ non-disclosure: One op-ed.
In an October 24 op-ed, Hassett and co-author Aparna Mathur downplayed income inequality as a campaign issue, arguing that Obama has used it as a central theme in his campaign speeches to "blast a caricature of his opponent's economic policies."
Hassett is identified as director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
Glenn Hubbard
Role with Romney campaign: One of the leaders of Romney's Economic Policy Team. [MittRomney.com, 9/6/11]
A September 7, 2011, WSJ article noted that Hubbard is advising Romney.
WSJ non-disclosure: One op-ed.
In a November 23, 2011, op-ed, Hubbard assailed President Obama on taxes, spending, and health care.
On taxes, Hubbard wrote that "President Obama's answer is higher taxes. But he can't be serious. Just accommodating his spending plans over the next decade requires across-the-board tax increases of 20%. Over the next 25 years, taxes would need to rise across the board by 60%." Hubbard additionally argued that lawmakers should repeal "ObamaCare and its expansion of spending" and criticized "President Obama's leadership failure" on fiscal matters.
The WSJ identified Hubbard as: "Mr. Hubbard, dean of Columbia Business School, was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush."
The WSJ disclosed that Hubbard is advising Romney in later op-eds (see: 3/14/12; 4/24/12; 6/6/12; 6/28/12; 8/1/12).
Michael Mukasey
Role with Romney campaign: Co-chair of Law Enforcement Advisory Group. [MittRomney.com, 10/28/11].
Last October, the WSJ reported that Mukasey endorsed Romney and was named to the campaign's law enforcement advisory committee.
WSJ non-disclosure: Three op-eds.
Mukasey has written three op-eds which were critical of the Obama administration:
- An April 30 op-ed criticized Obama for his "plans during the coming campaign to exploit the bragging rights" to the operation that killed Osama bin Laden, adding that it "invites scrutiny that is unlikely to benefit him."
- A June 20 op-ed criticized the Obama administration for the "imprudent release of secrets [which] has become a hallmark of the current administration."
- A September 24 op-ed pushed the bogus rumor that President Obama may release convicted terrorist Omar Abdel-Rahman, the so called "Blind Sheikh" who was behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Mukasey relied on "the impression several officials have given over the past three months" to make this claim, but offered no concrete evidence to support it. The Obama administration has denied that such a plan is being considered, with one White House spokesman calling the rumor "utter garbage."
The WSJ identified Mukasey as the U.S. attorney general from 2007 to 2009 and a U.S. district judge from 1988 to 2006.
Paul E. Peterson and Martin West
Role with Romney campaign: Members of Romney's Education Policy Advisory Group; West is K-12 Education co-chair. [MittRomney.com, 5/22/12]
WSJ non-disclosure: Two op-eds combined (one by Peterson and West, one by Peterson without West).
Peterson and West, along with William Howell, wrote a June 4 op-ed finding that "teachers unions already appear to be losing a larger political fight--in public opinion." The op-ed discussed Romney: "Political campaigns may already have noticed this shift. In a recent address on education, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney called teachers unions 'the clearest example of a group that has lost its way.'"
In an August 23 op-ed with Matthew Chingos, Peterson criticized Obama's position on vouchers.
The WSJ identified Peterson as a professor at Harvard and a senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. The WSJ identified West as: "Mr. West is a professor at Harvard's Graduate School of Education."
Note: Media Matters checked the Journal's identifications of the op-ed writers through its website and the Factiva database.
Additional reporting by Joe Strupp.


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You thought we'd be done after three devices? Not a chance. Following week one of Qualcomm and BGR's Snapdragon giveaway, we're back with three more awesome devices to send out to three lucky BGR readers absolutely free of charge. Last week's handsets fell into Qualcomm's new Snapdragon System 1 category, and this week's devices are powered by beefed up System 2 chipsets, which offer up to 1.4GHz of processing power, an Adreno 205 GPU, stereoscopic 3D support and plenty more. In store for week two winners is a brand new HTC EVO View 4G tablet (Sprint), one HTC Inspire 4G (AT&T) and one Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY (Verizon Wireless). Here's how to enter:
- Leave a comment below explaining why you want to win — be sure to use your real email address, Twitter account or Facebook account when commenting so we can contact you if you win
- Follow @BGR on Twitter and retweet this post
Readers may enter this portion of the giveaway up to twice, once by commenting beneath this post and once by following @BGR on Twitter and retweeting this post. Readers who enter week two of the giveaway are still eligible to enter week three. The second leg of our three-week giveaway will run from now through 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on August 16th, and then the last leg will begin on August 17th. The giveaway is open to legal residents of the United States only, and you must be at least 18-years-old to enter. No purchase is necessary, and all devices and shipping costs will be free to contest winners. Winners will be selected randomly, contacted directly by BGR staff, and devices will be paired with winners at random. Phone service is not included.
Good luck! And feel free to follow individual BGR staffers on Twitter, too (@boygenius, @zacharye and @robotodd).
UPDATE: The AT&T device available to win is the HTC Inspire 4G, not the Samsung Infuse 4G as originally stated.


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[Stare decisis] is a maxim among ... lawyers, that whatever
has been done before may legally be done again: and therefore they
take special care to record all the decisions formerly made against
common justice and the general reason of mankind. — Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels. |
How stare decisis Subverts the Law
One of the most important doctrines in Western law is that of stare decisis, a Latin term of art which means "to stand by decided cases; to uphold precedents; to maintain former adjudications".[1] In modern jurisprudence, however, it has come to take on a life of its own, with all precedents being presumed to be well-founded, unbiased legal decisions, rather than political decisions, and presumed to have both the authority of the constitutional enactments on which they are based, plus that of the precedents on which they are based, so that later precedents are presumed to be more authoritative than earlier ones.
The doctrine also tends to give great weight to the opinion in the case, even to the point of treating the opinion as though it was law, even though only the order and findings have the actual force of law, and only in that case, and an explanation of how the decision was reached is only dictum, or commentary. This means that a poorly-worded opinion can define a set of legal positions that exceed the bounds of the underlying constitutional enactments, and become the basis for future precedents, as though they were constitutional enactments themselves. The problem is exacerbated by the failure of judges to clearly delineate the boundaries between edict and dictum.
The doctrine tends to disfavor legal argument that precedents were wrongly decided, especially if they are precedents established at a higher level in the appeals hierarchy, and to demand the litigants "distinguish" their cases from adverse precedents, arguing that those precedents do not apply to the present case because of elements that make it different from the cases on which the precedents were established. This can be very difficult to do if there are a great many recent cases on the same issues which cover most of the possibilities.
The situation can be made more difficult by the rules of most courts which limit the length of briefs the litigants may file. In working backward through a long line of wrongful precedents, a litigant can reach the length limit before the argument can make it back to the foundations where the chain of precedents began to drift away from its authority in the constitutional enactments.
The situation can be illustrated by the Venn diagram in Figure 1, in which the first set A represents the set of legal positions consistent with the Constitution, and the points outside the circle represent unconstitutional positions. It is noted that the boundary of the set is fuzzy, representing the ambiguity of interpretation at the boundary. The central point B' represents a court decision whose opinion defines a set of legal positions consistent with it, shown by the elliptical set with the letter B at the top, but a portion of that set extends beyond the bounds of A. The opinion in the next decision C' also falls within A and defines yet another region C of consistent positions, but which extends beyond both A and B. Decision D' falls within C, but not A or B, and further defines a consistency set that extends beyond A, B, and C. The Decision E' doesn't lie within any of the regions defined by the previous precedents, but its region of consistency overlaps D and barely C, the kind of situation that might result from a legal argument that reaches to get a political decision not based on precedent. Finally, the last decision F' is based on E defines consistency set F but lies entirely outside A, B, C, and D.
The problem for jurisprudence, especially constitutional jurisprudence, is how to get back within A when one's opponent's position is supported by F and one cannot distinguish precedents taking the argument back to A within the brief page limits. It may be almost impossible unless or until one can get the case to the Supreme Court, which can ignore and reverse its own precedents, but which can take only about 75 cases a year, and is reluctant to issue sweeping opinions that can cover a large number of cases that might otherwise deserve to be granted certiorari, but which will never make it because the litigants are discouraged from making fundamental arguments that might work with the Supreme Court but which would be disfavored by lower courts.
It is difficult to estimate how many unconstitutional legislative provisions are adopted each year by Congress, but a plausible number is more than 20,000, or about as many as the number of bills introduced each year. There is simply no way that the federal courts can handle all the cases that might arise under that many provisions. They are almost forced to rely on the presumption of constitutionality of statutes, but members of Congress are increasingly reluctant to restrain themselves from adopting legislation they know to be unconstitutional, but which is supported by some of their constituents, and passing the duty to the federal courts of striking legislation that should never have been passed in the first place.
The way stare decisis is supposed to be used is indicated by the definition of it in Bouvier's Law Dictionary of 1856, which is closer to original practice and intent:
Stare decisis. To abide or adhere to decided cases.
2. It is a general maxim that when a point has been settled by decision, it forms a precedent which is not afterwards to be departed from. The doctrine of stare decisis is not always to be relied upon, for the courts find it necessary to overrule cases which have been hastily decided, or contrary to principle. Many hundreds of such overruled cases may be found in the American and English books of reports. Mr. Greenleaf has made a collection of such cases, to which the reader is referred. Vide 1 Kent, Com. 477; Livingst. Syst. of Pen. Law, 104, 5.[2]
This indicates that the way stare decisis is supposed to be used is to define the boundaries of the constitutional enactments, as shown in Figure 2, where the decisions B' ... L' lie on the fuzzy boundaries of the region of legitimacy A and sharpen those boundaries. This is accomplished by opinions that do not define a set of consistent propositions that extend beyond A. That is, every judge is careful to anticipate all the ways the words of his opinion might be misconstrued to support decisions beyond what is authorized by the constitutional enactments, and in particular, the Constitution.
There would appear to be only two ways out of our present predicament: Either the people must start electing different members of Congress, and demand that they strictly comply with the Constitution, or else the courts, especially the Supreme Court, need to start issuing sweeping opinions which overturn past precedents and strike down entire blocks of legislation.
However, the drift away from constitutional legitimacy represented by Figure 1 is not just the result of incompetence or confusion. There is a faction which has tended to dominate the federal government, especially during most of the 20th century, which has deliberately sought to extend precedents beyond the bounds of original constitutional understanding. It has done this by carefully selecting cases against weak or inadequately represented defendants, appealing only those cases they are sure they will win, and framing the arguments so that the judges often don't have a choice that is constitutional, but must choose between two unconstitutional positions. Ordinarily this is supposed to be guarded against by constitutionally protective parties filing amicus curiae briefs to argue a strict constructionist position, but such briefs are not always filed in important cases, or are often ignored by the court.
The Supreme Court, beginning with the decision in United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995), and continuing in 2000 with several decisions like United States v. Morrison, Docket 99-5 and Jones v. United States, Docket 99-5739, which roll back the federal criminal legislation based on the Commerce Clause, is nevertheless still unwilling to issue sweeping opinions, but prefers to rely on narrowly constructed opinions that have the effect of introducing confusion and conflict into the system of precedents, perhaps in the hopes that lower courts will seize on them to create still more conflicts, which the Supreme Court will then only have to decide among, without drawing as much controversy to themselves as they would if they issued sweeping opinions.
By treating court opinions as though they are general law, and not just law for a particular case, we become accomplices in delegating legislative powers to judicial officials, which is forbidden by Art. I Sec. 1 of the U.S. Constitution and similar clauses of state constitutions, which delegate legislative powers exclusively to the legislative branch, and allow for no delegation of legislative power to other branches.
There is a fundamental logical problem with stare decisis as it is currently practiced, which is that it is a logically separate system of propositions that is independent of, and potentially inconsistent with, constitutional enactments.[3] [4] One who takes an oath to uphold the written constitution is bound to ignore precedents in conflict with it, and to rest decisions strictly on propositions that are logically derived from constitutional enactments, considering precedents only where they sharpen ambiguities in the language of the written enactments. To treat precedents as superior to constitutional enactments is to introduce contradictions into the law, and in any system of logical propositions, acceptance of a single contradiction accepts all contradictions, rendering every proposition logically undecidable. Contrary to the view of some judges, the law must be logical, or it is not law.
There are two variants on the doctrine of stare decisis. The problem we have discussed here is with the strong form, which treats precedents as binding. However, there is a weaker form, which treats precedents as merely persuasive. In this second variant, a dissenting opinion could be more persuasive than the prevailing opinion, if the person citing it agreed with it. In this variant, precedent becomes merely a convenient way to save time and words by citing the reasoning in another case, saying "My reasoning is similar to that", and nothing more. Historically, what came to be treated as binding started as persuasive. Returning to treatment of precedents as merely persuasive would solve the problem discussed here, but history shows us that judges are prone to drift back to treating them as binding unless some corrective mechanism is instituted to prevent it. Finding such a check would then be an essential component of any lasting reform.
As Judge Alex Kozinski opines in Hart v. Massanari,
Case precedent at common law thus resembled much more what we call persuasive authority than the binding authority which is the backbone of much of the federal judicial system today. The concept of binding precedent could only develop once two conditions were met: The development of a hierarchical system of appellate courts with clear lines of authority, and a case reporting system that enabled later courts to know precisely what was said in earlier opinions. See note 21 supra. As we have seen, these developments did not come about-either here or in England-until the nineteenth century, long after Article III of the Constitution was written.
Stare decisis is the way judges seek the safety of the herd. We need to demand they exhibit more courage, and return to fundamental principles, resorting to stare decisis only when the positions lie on the fuzzy boundary of the region of legitimacy.
1. Henry Campbell Black, A Law Dictionary, 2nd ed., New York: West Pub., 1910.
2. John Bouvier, A Law Dictionary, Revised Sixth Edition, 1856.
3. Gary Lawson, The Constitutional Case Against Precedent, 17 Harv. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 23, 24 (1994).
4. Gary Lawson, Mostly Unconstitutional: The Case Against Precedent Revisited, 5 Ave Maria L.R. 1 (2007).
5. Alex Kozinski, Hart v. Massanari.
See also:
Home » Roland Commentaries | ||
Original URL: http://constitution.org/col/jrcolndx.htm | Text Version Maintained: Jon Roland of the Constitution Society Original date: 2000/6/10 — |


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XML Support
Obsolete content - XML support planning
XML support in an SQL database system can mean many different things, but most often it means one of these three:
- XML data type and support functions
- XML export format
- Mapping XML documents to SQL databases
Most of the interfaces for the first two items are codified by ISO/IEC 9075-14 ("XML-Related Specifications" - SQL/XML). As of 2006-06-12, we have ISO/IEC 9075-14:2006 available. (This is probably not really "SQL:2006", as it is the only part of SQL to be released at that time.) These interfaces are already implemented by IBM DB/2, Microsoft SQL Server, OpenLink Virtuoso, Oracle, and perhaps others, so there is some justification to follow that path. More information on this standard, albeit outdated, can be found on http://www.sqlx.org/.
Note that the 2006 standard is a fairly large enhancement of the 2003 version (the first release of SQL/XML), so to preserve our sanity it might be wise to aim for the 2003 version first.
XML Data Type and Support Functions
An XML data type is probably the most interesting piece of "XML support". Here are some details of how it should work and a report on the status.
XML Data Type
The XML data type in action would unsurprisingly look like this:
CREATE TABLE test ( ..., data xml, ... );
As with any data type, it features input checking and support functions to make it useful.
Strictly speaking, the xml type does not accept string literals as input. The way to convert text strings to XML data and back are:
XMLPARSE ( DOCUMENT|CONTENT value ) --> xml XMLSERIALIZE ( DOCUMENT|CONTENT xmlvalue AS varchar ) --> varchar
These would serve as PostgreSQL input/output functions, with some syntax wrappers around it to support the standard syntax.
An xml datum can contain one of two sorts of values: a document or a fragment. A document contains a header, a root element, and all the other things that make a well-formed XML document. A fragment just looks like XML syntax but isn't (necessarily) a complete document. That's why some syntax pieces make reference to DOCUMENT and CONTENT (same as fragment, inconsistently named).
XML Support Functions
SQL specifies the following function-like expressions for the xml data type:
In truth, these are glorified string-concatenation functions, but they do all the right escaping and nesting and add some convenience features for processing SQL data into XML data. Here are some examples:
XMLROOT ( XMLELEMENT ( NAME gazonk, XMLATTRIBUTES ( 'val' AS name, 1 + 1 AS num ), XMLELEMENT ( NAME qux, 'foo' ) ), VERSION '1.0', STANDALONE YES )
This produces the following XML document:
<?xml version='1.0' standalone='yes' ?> <gazonk name='val' num='2'> <qux>foo</qux> </gazonk>
This shows how the SQL expressions nest like the XML elements.
Here is an example of an XML "forest":
SELECT xmlforest ( "FirstName" as "FName", "LastName" as "LName", 'string' as "str", "Title", "Region" ) FROM "Demo"."demo"."Employees";
With some data in the employees table, this might result in:
<FName>Nancy</FName> <LName>Davolio</LName> <str>string</str> <Title>Sales Representative</Title> <Region>WA</Region> ... <FName>Anne</FName> <LName>Dodsworth</LName> <str>string</str> <Title>Sales Representative</Title>
Each of these employee records is one SQL datum.
Since the result of XMLFOREST is an xml datum, you can nest this together with XMLELEMENT and the other expressions to further decorate the result.
Here is an example with the aggregate function XMLAGG:
SELECT xmlelement ('Emp', xmlattributes ('Sales Representative' as "Title"), xmlagg (xmlelement ('Name', "FirstName", ' ', "LastName"))) FROM "Demo"."demo"."Employees" WHERE "Title" = 'Sales Representative';
This might result in:
<Emp Title="Sales Representative"> <Name>Nancy Davolio</Name> <Name>Janet Leverling</Name> <Name>Margaret Peacock</Name> <Name>Michael Suyama</Name> <Name>Robert King</Name> <Name>Anne Dodsworth</Name> </Emp>
Here, the result is one SQL datum.
SQL/XML 2006 adds a bunch more:
- There is a more specific XML data type allowing not just document vs. fragment, but document validation:
- XML(DOCUMENT(XMLSCHEMA 'http://...'))
- Some more support functions/expressions are added:
- More XML-related options are added all over unsuspecting syntax elements. That will not be pretty.
- XQuery support is added.
A patch to support much of the SQL/XML 2003 functions by Pavel Stehule has been available for some time. This patch does not include an XML data type; it operates on XML data stored in text fields.
A 2006 Google Summer of Code project by Nikolay Samokhvalov, mentored by Peter Eisentraut, works on complete SQL/XML 2003 support. This work integrates and improves Pavel Stehule's patch. The Summer of Code is over and a fairly complete implementation has been produced. We are looking to put this up for integration into 8.3 as early as feasible.
Implementation Issues
The implementation as proposed uses the well-known libxml, which is licensed under the LGPL, so it does not cause a problem for PostgreSQL. Some implementation issues that have been encountered at one point or another (some might be resolved by now) are:
- The encoding handling is weird. XML documents carry their own encoding information. If, say, you have a document that identifies itself as UTF-8-encoded and ship that over a PostgreSQL client/server connection that converts the client-side UTF-8 to something else on the server, the XML parser in the server will complain. And there are similar cases in other combinations. The resolution of this is unknown.
- The memory management in libxml needs to be carefully worked out. libxml provides hooks to replace malloc() and free(), which is nice, but it seems to call the free hook whenever it wants, which is not nice if the PostgreSQL memory manager has already deallocated the memory in some other way. This is a problem especially during error recovery. This can surely be resolved, but it needs to be verified.
- To what degree should this feature be mandatory or optional? Some build-time option is not a problem, but the special syntax support cannot be ifdef'ed out easily. We need some robust recovery for those cases.
Future Projects
Once the xml type is available, the functionality in contrib/xml/ should be adapted to these new features.
A lot of people submitted Summer of Code applications for the implementation of CTree indexes. There isn't a lot of information available on that, but if you look on Google Scholar, you will find out that it's some new index type for XML data (no kidding). It was probably premature to propose working on that before there actually is an XML type, but once that is done, CTree support might be an interesting project.
SQL/XML 2006 calls for full integration of XQuery. Sleepycat has an XQuery library that we could use. (Last time I looked, it was cumbersome to build, and it's not widely deployed. But the Sleepycat folks were certainly interested in PostgreSQL's interest. That was before they were bought up, though.) It would, however, seem to make more sense to reuse PostgreSQL's existing query planning and execution facilities and consider XQuery a parallel alternative to SQL. This is how some other vendors handle this. It would be a big dare-I-say-paradigm change for PostgreSQL, though.
XML Export Format
Everyone can create their own XML export format for relational data, and many people have proposed their own inventions on the PostgreSQL mailing lists in the past. In order to settle on one format, the SQL standard contains a specification for it.
In particular, there are specifications for:
- Mapping an SQL schema to an XML Schema
- Mapping database contents to an XML document (which adheres to the XML Schema document above)
An XML export format might be useful for:
- Postprocessing using XSLT
- Convert SQL data to XHTML or DocBook easily and automatically.
- pg_dump
- As a universal backup format?
- psql
- To replace or augment the existing HTML support?
Where the SQL-specified XML export format beats the ad-hoc defined ones is the fully worked-out escaping mechanism, which looks like this:
SQL <identifier> | fully-escaped XML name | partially-escaped XML name |
employee | EMPLOYEE | EMPLOYEE |
"employee" | employee | employee |
"hire date" | hire_x0020_date | hire_x0020_date |
"comp_plan" | comp_x005F_plan | comp_x005F_plan |
"dept:id" | dept_x003A_id | dept:id |
xmlcol | _xFFFF_xmlcol | xmlcol |
The two different escaping forms are used depending on the situation.
Schema Mapping
As an example, here is how the following table definition would look as XML Schema.
CREATE TABLE test (a int PRIMARY KEY, b varchar(200));
<xsd:complexType name="RowType.catalog.schema.test"> <xsd:sequence> <xsd:element name="a" type="INTEGER"></xsd:element> <xsd:element name="b" type="VARCHAR_200_200" minOccurs="0"></xsd:element> </xsd:sequence> </xsd:complexType> <xsd:complexType name="TableType.catalog.schema.test"> <xsd:sequence> <xsd:element name="row" type="RowType.catalog.schema.test" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded" /> </xsd:sequence> </xsd:complexType>
Data Mapping
Here is how a generic database with one table would be exported:
<catalogname> <schemaname> <tablename> <row> <colname1>value</colname1> <colname2 xsi:nil='true'/> ... </row> ... </tablename> ... </schemaname> ... </catalogname>
The element names would actually be replaced by the actual names of the objects in question (hence the need for escaping). The only element name that is a literal in the above example is row, because rows don't have names.
There are options for null handling. The above example handles it with a special attribute. The other choice is to omit the element.
Peter Eisentraut has a prototype available for the XML export and import. The export is pretty much just dilligence work that extracts the catalog information and prints it out. The import is actually a table function in this prototype. In general, it would be good to have the XML data type first before pursuing this further, so the interfaces don't have to be changed later on.
One question is where to put it.
- pg_dump?
- This would fit the "export" theme, but it might be restricting the flexibility of the feature.
- psql?
- Many previous proposals placed the work into psql, but that doesn't seem right.
- user-defined functions?
- This sounds right and would integrate nicely with the XML data type support. But we might need a "streaming" variant for exporting large tables.
Mapping XML Documents to SQL Databases
Mapping XML documents to SQL databases would involve resolving the hierarchical structure of the XML document and creating the appropriate interlinked SQL tables with the respective data. SQL does not specify this, but database theorists have surely figured this out.
But actually, this is not a PostgreSQL-specific problem, so it is not really our job to solve it. The Perl module DBIx-XML-DataLoader, for example, implements such functionality.
- Initial documentation on XML support in the PostgreSQL manual
- Peter Eisentraut's talk on XML Support at the PostgreSQL Anniversary Summit (The information on this wiki page is pretty much the same.)
- Peter Eisentraut's prototype for XML export (really old!)
- Code resulting from the Summer of Code project


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A college student launched a lawsuit on Monday against the state community college he is attending over the school's restrictions on his ability to hand out pro-life flyers, claiming that the restrictions violate his First Amendment right to free speech.
Spencer Anderson started a pro-life group at Columbus State Community College in Ohio and sought to distribute flyers to other students about the group at the end of June.
After checking with the college's administration, Anderson learned that he could only hand out the fliers to students in one of two "free speech zones" assigned to him by the administration. The school's "solicitation policy" requires 48 hours notice as well, and the student can only use the free speech zone if another student or group has not reserved it.
"Through the permitting process, the college retains unfettered discretion to determine whether students may speak at all," the complaint says. "These college policies and practices chill protected student speech and disable the ability of students to speak on campus about recent and unfolding events."
Anderson wanted to hand out his flyers in more heavily trafficked areas of campus, such as the dormitories, but the school would not let him.
The school maintains the "solicitation policy" because "when a student hands out a flyer on campus, the college no longer considers him a student but considers him an 'activist,'" a school administrator told Anderson, according to the complaint.
"It's an extremely oppressive policy that prevents students from engaging in free speech in the quintessential marketplace of ideas," said Anderson's lawyer David Hacker, who works for the Alliance Defending Freedom.
Anderson has also seen other groups, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), passing out information outside of the free speech zones, Hacker said, leading him to conclude that the administration is not uniformly enforcing the policy.
Columbus State refused to comment on the lawsuit.
"Columbus State's policies and practices support the free exchange of ideas and opinions of our students, employees, and visitors to our campuses," Columbus State said in a statement. "We are currently reviewing the legal action and have no further comment on the allegations at this time."
Anderson's lawsuit was filed in the same court that struck down a similar free speech zone at the University of Cincinnati, Hacker noted.
"The problem with free speech zones is that first, in the most extreme form, they are wildly unconstitutional," said Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). FIRE coordinated the lawsuit against the University of Cincinnati, among other suits.
Beyond constitutional issues, free speech zones pose problems for the health of society, Lukianoff argued.
"They teach students the wrong lessons about what it means to live in a free society. That's something that I can't say enough," he said. "That's training an entire generation to be very deferential to authority."
Such a zone also teaches individuals to "think like censors," he argued. Instead of learning to interact with ideas they do not like, free speech zones teach students that they should try to avoid opposing ideas.
While the origin of free speech zones is murky, they likely began as areas similar to "Speaker's Corner" in London, where free speech was always permitted, Lukianoff said.
At some point these zones shifted from a place where free speech was always permitted to the only place where free speech is ever permitted, he noted.
Students and groups have launched dozens of lawsuits against free speech zones, but college administrators keep implementing them, Lukianoff said.
"They just keep popping up over and over again," he said.


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Looks Like the Models Were Right After All
In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, the devastating floods that caused much of the damage — and are generally not covered by standard insurance — has led many in the New York metropolitan area to re-evaluate their personal risk of losing everything to water.
Many expressed shock at the force and reach of water that came ashore via storm surge. Previous storms hadn't done nearly as much damage, lulling coastal residents into a false sense of security.
But a map by WNYC, New York's NPR affiliate, shows that what happened was actually what should've been expected from a storm of Sandy's magnitude. Simply toggle between actual flooding and the expected impact of a Category 1 storm, and you'll see how close they match.
And there were alarm bells: Analysis firm CoreLogic said this summer that Hurricane Irene showed "startling insight into the damage that even a weak storm can cause in the New York City metro area," according to a Reuters report.
The story added:
The risk is there, particularly from flooding. While most people associate hurricane damage with wind, the storm surge from rising waters caused by cyclones has just as much impact, if not more.
Later, CoreLogic's Tom Jeffery told Insurance & Technology that Sandy represents the "worst possible" Category 1-level surge that could hit New York.
The thought of an even worse storm — even marginally so — is one of the reasons governments, insurers, and citizens are considering the wisdom of rebuilding in the area. As the map shows, the disruption from an even marginally larger storm would eclipse even the massive headaches tri-state area residents have faced this month. Certainly for me, knowing that projections are accurate, and how hard it is to recover from something like this, it's hard to look out at the Narrows, only a block from my door.
Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio


text:
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Permits are required for additions, decks, porches, finishing basements, replacing doors and windows of different sizes, interior renovations or repair that include structural modifications, demolition work, accessory structures, swimming pools, and residing.
All HVAC systems require permits, including all gas appliances and equipment, and wood stoves. A building permit and/or a zoning permit may be required when a building use is changed.
Separate plumbing and electrical systems permits are required for the installation, alteration, relocation, replacement, or addition to any wiring, piping, or equipment, or appliances associated with those systems.
You do not need a permit to paint a house (interior or exterior), hang wallpaper, replace cabinets and do similar finish work, build an accessory building having a floor area of 120 square feet or less, install concrete sidewalks and patios entirely on your property or insulate an existing building where no structural changes are made.
If you have questions about whether you need a permit for the project you have in mind or to see if it meets zoning requirements, contact the West Fargo Building Department at (701) 515-5390 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday – Friday.
The City of West Fargo's building code requires building permits to be obtained before doing certain types of construction for all existing structures, all new residential and commercial construction, and remodeling. Building permits allow the City to review all construction projects and ensure they meet the minimum requirements of the City of West Fargo's Building Code and Zoning requirements. A building permit also establishes a record of the construction and remodeling history of your property. Once the permits have been issued the building department will conduct onsite inspections to help ensure compliance to the building code.
With your permit, we will provide information about when and who to call for inspection(s). Our inspectors will inspect your work several times during the course of construction for items such as footings, framing, insulation, rough-in, mechanical work, and the building's final inspection. You will need to contact our office to schedule an inspection. No work shall proceed or be covered until the requested inspection has been signed off.
An inspection card may be attached to your permits. You or your contractor should post the card on the site until the completion of the final inspection. This card contains important information about the job and is used to record inspections performed.
Call the West Fargo Building Department at (701) 515-5390 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday to arrange for the inspection.
The City of West Fargo's Building Department is located in West Fargo City Hall (800 Fourth Ave. E., West Fargo, ND. You may also access building permit information on the website.
Information requirements can vary depending upon your specific project. Handouts and checklists are available which describe the information required to apply for a permit.
Homeowners may prepare their own plans. However, the building department may require professional designs or engineered plans to ensure building code compliance.
Please allow adequate time for you or your representative to prepare the plans.
Some permits, such as mechanical, residing, and reroofing, can be issued at the time you apply if time allows. Most other building permit applications may take up to two business days to process but it may take longer if the applications and building plans are not complete and accurate.
Applications for permits should be submitted well in advance of your scheduled starting date so that the building department staff can help you through the process and issue your permit before you are ready to start work. This is especially true during the summer construction season.
Electrical permits are issued and inspections are performed by the North Dakota State Electrical Board (701) 499-1549. (Josh Wilson)
Plumbing permits are issued and inspections are performed by the North Dakota State Plumbing Board (701) 799-1555. (Dean Staska)
Yes, there is a charge for permits. Building permit fees are based upon the value of the project (material and labor). Mechanical permits are based upon the type, size, and number of appliances installed.
The City of West Fargo Buildings Department provides various handouts on permit application procedures and requirements. This information is available on the City of West Fargo's website or at the West Fargo Building Department office located at West Fargo City Hall (800 Fourth Ave. E., West Fargo) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The office number is (701) 515-5390. The Building Department can mail or email any handouts you will need.
The handouts include:


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The Duke of Cambridge filled in for The Queen today in what is his second ever investiture.
Her Majesty was said to be experiencing some ankle pain and therefore was unable to hold today's ceremony.
William dressed in his RAF uniform; steadily placed his sword on Blackadder actor Tony Robinson's shoulder, and granted him his knighthood.
The former 'Baldrick' offered William a cameo role if Blackadder makes a comeback.
"He said that he was a big fan of Blackadder and was there going to be another series? I said we have always talked about it,' Sir Tony commented according to The Daily Mail.
Sir Tony inquired if William would want to be in the series. "Would you be prepared to be in it?" According to Sir Tony, he "said yes like a shot."
Former Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell was awarded a Companion of Honour by the Duke during today's ceremony.
According to Buckingham Palace, Her Majesty had not been taken ill but due to the past weekend's engagements which included Saturday's Festival of Remembrance and Sunday's Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph, she was dealing with a spell of ankle pain.
"The Queen is experiencing some mild discomfort with her ankle, following a busy weekend," stated a spokesman.
Her Majesty will resume her engagements tomorrow and will still being visiting Manchester on Thursday.
When asked who William could play, Sir Tony commented: 'I think he would have to play himself, don't you?'
This was William's second investiture. Last month he bestowed two knighthoods, presented an OBE to tennis star and Gold Medal Olympian, Andy Murray, an OBE to television producer Jon Plowman, a MBE to conservationist Helen Butler and an MBE to presenter Aled Jones.
photo credit: 4 Cdn Div/4 Div CA – JTFC/FOIC via photopin cc


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The Tanach, Jewish Publication Society tr. [1917], at sacred-texts.com
1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Beth-el; and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to offer. 2 And he cried against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said: `O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD: Behold, a son shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he sacrifice the priests of the high places that offer upon thee, and men's bones shall they burn upon thee.' 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying: `This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken: Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.' 4 And it came to pass, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Beth-el, that Jeroboam put forth his hand from the altar, saying: `Lay hold on him.' And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to him. 5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God: `Entreat now the favour of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me.' And the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him, and became as it was before. 7 And the king said unto the man of God: 'Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.' 8 And the man of God said unto the king: `If thou wilt give me half thy house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place. 9 For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying: Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water, neither return by the way that thou earnest.' 10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Beth-el.
11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in
[paragraph continues] Beth-el, and the words which he had spoken unto the king, and they told them unto their father. 12 And their father said unto them: `What way went he?' For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, that came from Judah. 13 And he said unto his sons: `Saddle me the ass.' So they saddled him the ass; and he rode thereon. 14 And he went after the man of God, and found him sitting under a terebinth; and he said unto him: `Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah?' And he said: `I am.' 15 Then he said unto him: `Come home with me, and eat bread.' 16 And he said: `I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee; neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place. 17 For it was said to me by the word of the LORD: Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn back to go by the way that thou earnest.' 18 And he said unto him: `I also am a prophet as thou art; and an angel spoke unto me by the word of the LORD, saying: Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water.'—He lied unto him.—19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back. 21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying: `Thus saith the LORD: Forasmuch as thou hast rebelled against the word of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, 22 but earnest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which He said to thee: Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.' 23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, namely, for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him; and his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it; the lion also stood by the carcass. 25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcass cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcass; and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said: `It is the man of God, who rebelled against the word of the LORD; therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke unto him.' 27 And he spoke to his sons, saying: `Saddle me the ass.' And they saddled it. 28 And he went and found his carcass cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass; the lion had not eaten the carcass, nor torn the ass. 29 And the prophet took up the carcass of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back; and he came to the city of the old prophet, to lament, and to bury him. 30 And he laid his carcass in his own grave; and they made lamentation for him: `Alas, my brother!' 31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying: `When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32 For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Beth-el, and against all
the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.'
33 After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again from among all the people priests of the high places; whosoever would, he consecrated him, that he might be one of the priests of the high places. 34 And by this thing there was sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.


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The sequence of disasters that hit Japan starting on March 11 — the record-setting earthquake and associated tsunami, a series of aftershocks, and the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant — are likely to affect the supply chains of many U.S. companies for some time to come.
Particularly hard hit has been the manufacturing sector, with two industries, automotive and electronics, feeling the most pain. "With Japan producing 40% of the global component supplies, electronics have been especially worrisome. Bringing in new sources of supply is not easy, since many of the electronic components manufactured in Japan are highly specialized, and it will take time to find new sources," according to a report by Dun & Bradstreet on the business impact of the catastrophe.
In the auto industry, the effect on car makers has ranged from the outright curtailment of manufacturing — both within Japan and at other locations, including the United States — to a diminished choice of options. Honda Motor, for instance, began cutting production levels at its U.S. and Canadian auto plants at the end of March because it lacked critical parts supplied by Japanese manufacturers, and predicted that production adjustments would continue for an undetermined time. Less affected was Ford, which reported that the only impact was a slowdown in producing vehicles in certain paint colors stemming from the fact that it had sourced an essential pigment from a plant in an affected area of Japan.
At the risk of seeming insensitive to an event that claimed such a heavy human toll, it can be said that the Japanese earthquake and its aftermath appear to have provided some useful supply-chain lessons for U.S. companies. For many, one lesson has been how little they actually know about who their suppliers' suppliers are, and how prone those partners are to disruptions. Also instructional has been how vulnerable the most extreme forms of lean, just-in-time production can be to inventories when a crisis hits.
On the plus side, the global nature of supply lines that have evolved in recent years has enabled many U.S. companies to find alternative sources quickly.
The effects have indeed been disparate, for companies both large and small. Contrasting the experience of two vastly different companies with operations in the United States — both of which depend heavily on suppliers in Japan — brings home that disparity. On one hand, there's Toyota Motor, one of the hardest-hit companies. Citing parts-supply difficulties, Toyota suspended production in April at its North American plants on Mondays and Fridays and assigned the plants to produce at 50% of their normal rate on Tuesdays through Thursdays. The company stated in a filing that it expects that huge disruption to "normalize in stages, starting in August, with full normalization expected to take place between November and December 2011."
Compare that with the smooth sailing that Joto Sake has encountered. A New York–based importer of 10 artisanal brands of the rice wine from generations-old family brewers, Joto might have been expected to suffer severe disruptions of shipments of its delicate product. Although sake breweries are scattered in a number of other nations, Japan is the sole source of supply of the brands that the company's owner, Henry Sidel, imports. Add to that the fact that sake is a dated product with a defined shelf life — meaning that on-time shipping is an urgent matter — and you have a supply chain that would seem to be hugely vulnerable to disruption.
Yet Toyota, with its capacity to access alternative suppliers around the world, fared much worse than Joto Sake, which has five employees. What was the difference?
Man-Made Disasters
Perhaps the most important distinction stems from a simple truth: the effects of a disaster on a company's supply chain largely depend on the state of the company itself and the conditions it faces when disaster strikes.
At the time of the earthquake, Toyota was just starting to emerge from a man-made disaster: a series of devastating recalls that undermined its long-standing reputation for bulletproof quality. In addition to alleged deaths and injuries attributed to accelerators that became entrapped under floor mats, the defects led to class-action suits and government investigations. There were more than 14 million Toyota vehicles worldwide subject to recalls and other safety adjustments in fiscal 2010, the majority of which occurred in the third and fourth quarters of that year.
At the same time, Toyota, like other automakers, was struggling to recover from the global recession. Besides its economic and safety problems, the company is also synonymous with the just-in-time method of managing supply chains — a method that has come in for considerable criticism in the wake of the disaster. To many observers, the disaster has called attention to the weakness of systems so lean that they're especially vulnerable to supply shocks.
Toyota and companies that have followed similar strategies are learning that they have "instituted part of what they need to be successful. They've built world-class relationships with world-class processes that run very smoothly when things are going well," says Jim Lawton, president of supply-management solutions at Dun & Bradstreet. Now, he adds, they have to assess the suppliers of their suppliers, and beyond, to be able to manage disruptions should things not go well.
As a result of the production strategy championed by Toyota, companies have increasingly outsourced their manufacturing operations in order to cut costs. That has meant that CFOs have less control over supply chains, even as the chains have come to include more and more links in more and more countries, according to Lawton.
Seeking cost reductions by cutting down on inventory and the number of suppliers they deal with, manufacturers in the auto, consumer electronics, and high-tech fields have found themselves short on safety stocks and lead time. "I'm not sitting with a month of inventory any more. I'm sitting with days or hours of inventory. Now, suddenly, there's this direct connection between a disruption on the supply side and a disruption of customer shipments and financial commitments," says Lawton, who expects many companies will reevaluate lean inventory techniques in the wake of the disasters.
Unlike Toyota, Joto Sake's business prospects were at their peak when the earthquake hit. Over the past 10 years, the beverage has become a trendy accompaniment to Japanese food in the United States, and business has boomed. This year, Sidel expects the company's annual revenues to rise from $1.8 million to $2.7 million, building on a rise of 30% the year before.
A Little Luck
That demand prompted Sidel to make changes that unwittingly prepared the company to avoid an inventory crisis. One week after catastrophe struck Japan, a 40-foot container housing 2,000 cases of sake arrived via ocean freight. "Usually I do 20-foot containers, but our business has been doing well, and it's been growing, so I ordered big," he says. Even so, that shipment was barely big enough to supply the stores and restaurants Joto serves, which were in the midst of panic buying because of the situation in Japan.
The cases the firm imports now also carry twice the number of bottles. Faced with margins tightened by stiff dollar-yen exchange rates, Sidel decided to switch from 6-packs to 12-packs. That's because much of Joto's shipping and warehousing expense is charged to it on a per-case basis, regardless of the number of bottles per case.
By boosting inventory even as it cuts costs, Joto appears to have addressed two horns of a dilemma. On one hand, as a small business with high foreign-exchange costs, Joto doesn't have enough free cash-flow to boost its safety stock substantially. On the other hand, Sidel feels he must try to increase his stock because of what he sees as ongoing uncertainty about supply-chain risks in Japan.
Although Joto has thus far experienced only two-to-three-day shipment delays, such occurrences could stretch out. As a result, "I'm erring on the side of being more aggressive in terms of increasing our inventory," he says.
Will Toyota and other much-lauded embracers of just-in-time practices follow suit?
David M. Katz is senior editor for accounting and New York bureau chief at CFO.