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Solid Law Practice
Daniel J. Fernandez and Martin J. Hernandez are consistently rated among the top auto accident and personal injury lawyers by our peers, major independent legal authorities, and others in the community.
Experience Counts
We are known to "go to the mats" for our clients. That carries extraordinary weight and respect with insurance companies and other lawyers. Both Daniel J. Fernandez and Martin J. Hernandez have more than 500 trials between them.
Award Winners
The law firm was nominated as one of the best small businesses to work for in Hillsborough County by the Tampa Chamber of Commerce. Clearly, we strive to be the best lawyers and get the best results possible for our clients.


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First Published: 2006-03-09That thought ran through the minds of a lot of Web surfers last week, at least the ones who regularly check the Technorati Web site (www.technorati.com), the Internet equivalent of TV's Nielsen ratings. According to the site, the top three subjects the blogosphere was buzzing about were "Tammy," "Tammy Download" and "Nyp Tammy." According to The Star (Malaysia), "Tammy" was a 17-year-old Singapore student who filmed herself having sex with her boyfriend on her videophone. The phone was lost ― then found ― by people who released the video onto the Internet. "I have done nothing wrong," "Tammy" told The Straits Times, a Malaysian newspaper. "I don't know why people are making such a big fuss about it. Everyone does it [films video clips of themselves], even my friends.""It was just for fun ... we don't intend to be porn stars," she added. Cases like "Tammy's" may be extreme. Clearly, she never intended for that video to ever make it to the Internet. But the second part of her statement should make people take notice: more young people are snapping pictures and video of themselves on their camera phones... and not always in the best situations. Those that post their camera phone snapshots online may not intend to become "porn stars," but as law enforcement and the media have time and time again pointed out, that may be what they unwittingly become to online predators. This raises the question: are camera phones and the Internet a perfect match… or a perfect storm? Moblogs on the move As their quality has improved and their cost has fallen, camera phones have become increasingly popular, now making up about 40 percent of the wireless phone market, according to a report by communications research firm In-Stat/MDR. In 2005, International Data Corp. estimated that 7.5 billion camera phone pictures were taken, up from 4 billion the year before. Accordingly, the number of services available to post cell phone photos and videos on the Web has also increased dramatically. "Moblogs," or photo blogging sites such as TextAmerica (www.textamerica.com), Yafro (www.yafro.com) and Buzznet (www.Buzznet.com) all allow users to upload pictures online directly from their camera phones. Rabble (www.Rabble.com), a service launched last year on Verizon mobile phones and expanded recently to Cingular customers, is a social network that lets users view pictures and profiles posted by people in their area and allows them to post their own content. Text America is one of the oldest, and largest moblogs, with more than half a million users. Buzznet counts more than 200,000. The Rabble site currently shows 24,093 current users. While not yet as popular as text blogs, moblog sites have seen their registered members and page views skyrocket in the past year. What makes these moblog sites so unique and appealing is the spontaneous quality of the often-grainy images, says Sarah Lane, host of G4TV's "Attack of the Show," who started up a moblog on TextAmerica in 2003. Since then, it's become the most viewed moblog on the site. "When I first got the phone, I found it was perfect for capturing weird things I came across," she says. "It's a way for people to look through your eyes." Are moblogs safe? "There's no such thing as a safe Internet site," says Chris Hoar, TextAmerica's founder. "We encourage people to be careful, but we don't want to limit freedom." TextAmerica user Cliff DeMartino and others founded the "TA Mafia," which "polices the streets of TextAmerica to make sure things stay clean." One of the things they do is "tag," or mark, when a user is underage. "We call them Ille-GALS," DeMartino says. "That warns people not to say or do anything that's going to get them in trouble." DeMartino admits he's regretted posting certain photos, but refuses to take them down. "I've sent a few pics that may or may not be alcohol induced. That's part of the fun though."Looking through moblogs reveals ― in addition to typical shots of family, friends and pets ― fender-benders, passed out lushes, street performers, funny signs, celebrity sightings, and yes, those infamous late night drunken party pictures. Some of the top viewed Moblogs feature scantily clad women ― although the three most popular Moblog sites listed above don't show anything beyond what could be found in Maxim magazine. Hoar says his moblogging site takes inappropriate pictures seriously. "We do not allow people to post pornography, if you want porn it's all over the Web as it is." This is not the case for another large moblogging site, which you'll have to find on your own, if you're into that sort of thing. Marc Brown, co-founder of Buzznet, says that while they have staff who look out for inappropriate material, "our community moderates itself."
Even so, Lane says she has learned to be careful about the pictures she posts. "I try not to take pics of myself or personal situations," she says. "You don't really think about it, but people draw lots of details from what you put online. "DeMartino agrees. "Sexual predators can hide behind a computer," he says. "Right now you have no idea if I am 30 or 60, black or white, male or female. Anyone can post pics and say they are the person in the pics. It's not hard to 'fake' a moblog. It happens all the time."Camera phone crazinessWhether or not camera phone users put their pictures on the Web, they can still get in trouble. "Tammy's" case isn't the only one where a cell phone image has caused embarrassment. Even celebrities are not immune. When socialite Paris Hilton's T-Mobile Sidekick II was famously hacked last year, her phone pictures were posted on the Web ― pictures that included her posing topless (and lip-locked) with MTV Latin America VJ Eglantina Zingg. And early last month, World Wrestling Entertainment owner Vince McMahon made the news after he allegedly tried to kiss and grope a 22-year-old tanning salon worker after showing her nude photos of himself on his camera phone. Much has been said about the spy-like nature of camera phones. Many schools, businesses, restaurants and clubs expressly prohibit them. "In my gym they have a sign, 'No Camera Phones Allowed,'" Lane says. "It's a weird modern sign that didn't exist 5 years ago."In England, teens were arrested for "happy slapping," beating random people and capturing it on their cells. Even down under, Australian police reported a rash of incidents where packs of motorists, in souped-up vehicles, video-phoned one another racing dangerously at high speeds, a practice Aussies call "hooning." A minor controversy in Japan centers around a new trend in which mourners use their camera phones to take pictures of the deceased. While the picture takers say they want to have a keepsake of their loved ones, others have accused it of being disrespectful ― and just plain weird. Citizen journalism Of course, there are myriad examples of the benefits of camera phones. News organizations have begun relying on amateur footage shot by "citizen journalists" who happened upon the scene of a major news story. After the July 2005 London terrorist bombings, witnesses' camera phone pictures lent a gripping, first-person perspective to the news coverage. Last year, a Queens, N.Y., schoolgirl used her camera phone to snap a shot of a man who flashed her on the subway. Police were able to identify the suspect and arrest him. A popular blog, Hollaback NYC (www.hollabacknyc.blogspot.com), specializes in posting women's camera phone pictures of men who acted in an overtly disgusting or derogatory way toward them on the street. "Camera phones allow you to easily document events in real time," says Anthony Batt, Buzznet's other co-founder. Wave of the future? Sony announced last week it would begin selling phones under its Cybershot brand name and with blogging and search tools from Google. It's the first phone Sony has created with 3.2 megapixel picture quality ― similar to a digital camera. As technology improves, some see the cell phone becoming a more multipurpose device. "You don't carry your laptop with you everywhere," says Shawn Conahan, the creator of Rabble. "The one device everything should converge on is the mobile device."The ability to broadcast live video from camera phones will make things even more interesting ― and harder to police, says Hoar. "At the end of the day though, parents need to be responsible.""Tammy" may have learned the negative side to having a video phone handy, but for many people, the camera phone, together with mobile blogging, provides a fun and useful way to capture and share those unexpected "Kodak" moments. DeMartino sums up the moblogging trend this way. "When it's time to have fun we go wild. Mobloggers need to have fun bottom line."

subset: commoncrawl


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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Femmes fatales and brutish men form a complex web in "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For," as old and new faces from Frank Miller's noir graphic novels are brought to life in film.
"A Dame to Kill For," out in U.S. theaters on Friday, is both a prequel and a sequel to 2005's "Sin City," adapted by from Miller's gritty series of the same name.
The film, distributed by Weinstein Co, sees the return of characters such as the warrior Marv (Mickey Rourke), private investigator Dwight McCarthy (Josh Brolin) and exotic dancer Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba), as they battle both their mental and physical demons in the corrupt, hedonistic Sin City.
Brolin plays a prequel version Dwight before the character undergoes major facial reconstruction, as seen in Clive Owen's portrayal in the first film.
"I like that (Dwight) is so multi-faceted," Brolin said. "The minute you make the decision that he is brutish and hypercool and exaggerated like a simian man, suddenly you see all the cracks and the weaknesses."
Dwight's weakness comes in the form of the seductive Ava Lord, played by Eva Green, who embodies all the characteristics of Miller's ultimate femme fatale - a green-eyed ruthless manipulator who uses her sexuality to get what she wants.
"We've all dreamt of being Ava Lord at some point; to have so much power and to just let it all out and use men and be nasty," said Green. "She's a fantasy."
"Sin City" came at the forefront of a new wave of comic book adaptations on the big screen, as DC and Marvel properties such as X-Men, Spider-Man, and Batman reboots dominated the box office in recent years.
Director Robert Rodriguez worked closely with Miller to adapt "A Dame to Kill For," using 3D techniques and animation to lend the graphic novel feel to the film, which Miller said helped the film stay close to the books.
Miller criticized recent superhero films for straying from original source material, pointing to "Iron Man," "Captain America" and "Avengers," based on Jack Kirby's 1960s comics. "There's a big difference between going from a singular vision and taking the title of something into a boardroom full of people and ripping it to pieces," he said.
Miller also wrote two new stories specifically for the film, including "The Long, Bad Night," starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a young poker player trying his luck in Sin City, and "Nancy's Last Dance," to give fans of his books something new.
Alba reprised the role of Nancy, who is paralyzed by grief and succumbs to alcohol after losing the love of her life, John Hartigan (Bruce Willis), in the first film.
"She was broken and sad and tormented and she comes out in the end as this pretty badass warrior," Alba said.
"I have a fearlessness, a self-confidence and a sense of self-worth now that I didn't quite have before, so it was nice to tackle this world with that confidence."
(This story has been refiled to correct first paragraph to add dropped 's' in 'femmes fatales')
Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Mary Milliken and Lisa Shumaker


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Archdiocese of Chicago
Sister Mary Paul McCaughey, OP, is a former superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Catholic Schools Week means grandparents' day, open houses, special prayers, and projects filled with gratitude spilling out of the Catholic Schools of Cook and Lake Counties. When the National Catholic Educational Association marketed the theme "dividends for life," it was uncannily close to our Archdiocesan "Lessons that Last a Lifetime" annual report focus. If you call up the report, you can read the data and experience the generous spirit that always makes me smile.
But I think maybe you'd have fun looking at local school life as well to experience faith and excellence and shared expectations in action. Peek at the daily news report at St. John Brebeuf (Niles); look at the YouTube "Nets" campaign for Africa at Holy Family (Inverness) or the "Hearts for Haiti" project at St. Barnabas (Chicago); marvel at the Trib band video for Marian Catholic or the WGN special on renewable energy for Haiti at Mother McAuley or other great front-page stories; celebrate Blue Ribbons at St. Joseph (Libertyville) and St. Raymond (Mt. Prospect). Or how about the new websites at St. Stanislaus (Chicago) and St. Thomas the Apostle (Chicago).
Go ahead - use the schools website to link to some of your favorites. See the faith, focus, and achievement of our Catholic Schools on-line - or, better yet, in person - and let me know what jewels you find. There are always challenges, but this is the time to celebrate who we are and WHY we are. Enjoy your glimpse of grace in 255 places that work and love.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010 10:37 PM
Thanks, Carol and Frank...for viewing the stories and appreciating those who made them possible: teachers (along with our parents!)
— Sr. Mary Paul McCaughey, OP
Wednesday, February 03, 2010 11:15 AM
Hi Sister Mary Paul! To celebrate Catholic Schools Week 2010 in our Archdiocese of Chicago, I personally would like to thank each and every teacher responsible for educating our young people. I would like to see these courageous women and men featured in The Catholic New World. We owe them more than a pat on back. Next to a mommy and a daddy, the role of a teacher is a "pearl of great price." Let us never forget this... God Bless all the good teachers everywhere, and God bless you, too, Sister Mary Paul!! You're doing a great job!
— Carol B.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010 4:05 PM
I enjoyed exploring the Catholic Schools by clicking on the links Sr. Mary Paul provided.
— Frank K.
Monday, July 11, 2016
World Youth Day in Chicago
By Juan Pablo Padilla
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Seeking and Living Justice as Neighbors
By Christopher Cox
Monday, June 20, 2016
Theology of the Body Retreat
By Dawn Fitzpatrick
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Calvin offers one of the most extensive foreign language programs among Christian colleges, with world-class opportunities to develop your language and cultural engagement skills. Depending on your proficiency, there are several ways to make the most of our world language offerings, whether you just want to get the requirement "out of the way," or if you want to add a major or minor to complement career plans in business or engineering.
Q. I've taken some language in high school; was it enough?
A. Students who have taken at least four years of one foreign language (with a grade of C or better for each term) are exempt from Calvin's language requirement. If you speak a second language fluently you may also be exempt.
If you've taken less than four years in high school, you should take a language placement test to determine how many semesters of college-level foreign language will be required. If you've already taken French, Spanish or German, complete the World Language Assessment online at www.calvin.edu/go/languages before you come to PASSPORT orientation. If you've taken another language, you may take a placement test during PASSPORT.
Q. Help! I'm not good at languages and want to complete my language requirement as quickly as possible.
A. Talk with your adviser about the language options that might work best for you. There are several ways to fulfill the requirement, from fast-tracking to a more leisurely pace. When you start classes, sign up for a language tutor (free!) and you'll get through it!
Q. I want to learn a language that will boost my résumé and career options.
A. Good thinking! Consider these options, and talk with your adviser during registration:
- Taking German gives engineering majors an option to do a summer internship in Germany.
- Consider Chinese or Japanese if you're looking at a business major.
- Spanish and French are often good choices for careers in diplomacy or international development.
- Undecided? Take a language that interests you!
Q. With the major I've chosen, I'm not sure I'll have time to take a language.
A. There are five programs—engineering, accounting, nursing, fine arts and recreation—that have a modified language requirement. If you've taken at least two years of high school foreign language (with a grade of C or better), you will be exempt from the language requirement in these five programs.


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An easy-to-use design program transforms photos into table-ready books commemorating weddings and other events with a quick turnaround
What You'll Get
Seeing a partner's baby photos is a rite of passage in a relationship, second only to visiting the bowling alley they grew up in. Polish up your memories with this Groupon.
$29 for $100 Worth of Custom Photo Books
Customers use their own images to personalize photo books available in softcover ($40+), Imagewrap ($65+), debossed ($70+), and Pro Series styles ($300+). Readybook templates provide photo collectors with free, pre-designed layouts in themes for all occasions, and the photo-book designer helps to place photos.
Photobook America
Customers can transform digital photographs into elegant coffee-table books with the help of Photobook America's intuitive photo-book-designer program. Each book is handmade with superior-quality materials, such as linen, silk, leather, and newt skin, all available in a variety of striking colors. Accessories, such as slipcases and presentation boxes, can add a dash of pizzazz to each order, and acid-free paper ensures long-lasting photo quality. Orders are typically completed within five to seven business days, ensuring that customers will be able to promptly obtain their own memorable keepsake book and avoid carving sentimental images into a wall-mounted etch-a-sketch.
The Fine Print
Promotional value expires 270 days after purchase. Amount paid never expires. Limit 2 per person, may buy 2 additional as gifts. Limit 1 Groupon per Photobook order. Online redemption required. Only one book and any additional copies of that book may be ordered per transaction. Must use promotional value in 1 transaction. Shipping only available in US. Extra fee for shipping. Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.


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Montana knows all about buying elections. In 1899, just ten years after it became a state, William Andrews Clark, known as the Copper King, spent an estimated $400,000—the equivalent of $11 million today—to buy the votes of state legislators to send him to the United States Senate. After a lengthy investigation, Clark resigned before the Senate could boot him out. The scandal turned from shocking to farcical when Clark, who bragged that he "never bought a man who wasn't for sale," returned to Montana and the lieutenant governor reappointed him to the position from which he'd just been removed. The governor later revoked the appointment, but Clark's third attempt at higher office proved the charm: After spending enough on political campaigns to ensure a state legislature amenable to his re-re-election, he prevailed and sat in the Senate until 1907. Mark Twain said of the affair that Clark had "so sweetened corruption that in Montana it no longer has an offensive smell."
In the early 1900s, another Montana copper baron, Fritz Heinze, purchased the support of two state judges. The first issued a decision favoring Heinze's company, which employed the judge's mistress at the time. The second judge delivered a decision compelling Heinze's chief rival, Amalgamated Copper, to stop operations in the state, throwing 15,000 Montanans—80 percent of the state's labor force—out of work.
By 1912, Montanans were so fed up that they passed a ballot initiative, the Corrupt Practices Act, which banned corporate spending in the state's elections and made Montana a model for the 23 other states that eventually placed restrictions on corporate spending.
A century later, those corporate interests are back, bigger than ever. Montana's lone member of Congress, Republican Denny Rehberg, is challenging first-term Democratic Senator Jon Tester. The race is shaping up as a test case for the influence of unlimited corporate spending in the post–Citizens United era. Outside groups are bombarding both candidates with ads, though the spending has been disproportionately large on the Republican side. The first ad attacking Tester aired in June 2011—17 months before Election Day. Seventeen negative ad buys followed, totaling nearly $3 million by the end of April. None came from a candidate or a party committee. Instead, they were purchased by Karl Rove's Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies (GPS), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Citizens for Strength and Security, the 60 Plus Association, and other organizations allowed unrestricted spending by two 2010 rulings: the Supreme Court's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and the D.C. Court of Appeals' Speechnow.org v. Federal Election Commission, which together spawned super PACs and allowed undisclosed donations to flow through 501(c)(4) nonprofits. (Super PACs must identify their donors.)
Much of the attention this year will be focused on the influence of outside spending on the presidential election. As of April 28, presidential super PACs had funneled more than $91 million into the 2012 presidential race—more than $42 million coming just from the pro–Mitt Romney super PAC Restore Our Future, which played a key role in securing the Republican nomination for him. But the impact that outside spending will have on congressional races will be the most significant campaign-finance story of the 2012 election. A few extra million dollars isn't going to swing a presidential election in which both candidates are likely to have $1 billion behind them. A $1 million dump in a single congressional district or a small state like Montana, however? "Oh, it's huge," says Thomas Mann, a campaign-finance expert at the Brookings Institution. "I mean, you can really imagine a million, two million bucks dropped late in the campaign could really change the outcome of elections."
Super PACs and other unrestricted third-party spenders helped Republicans win back the House in 2010. (They also helped tip many statehouses to the GOP.) The biggest super PAC and nonprofit of 2010 were American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, two Rove creations that together raised more than $70 million in 2010. In this election cycle, they've already bettered their 2010 record. From January 2011 through March 2012, the Crossroads groups raised nearly $100 million. Rove's target for both groups this year is $240 million, a sizable portion of which will go to congressional races.
There's an obvious reason groups favoring the Republicans are pouring so much money into these contests. They want to retain the GOP's majority in the House and take back the Senate, where the electoral landscape favors Republicans. The GOP is defending just ten Senate seats in 2012; Democrats are defending 23, because the party had a banner year in 2006. If Republicans take four seats away from Democrats, they will capture a majority in the Senate. The contests in Virginia, where former Governors Tim Kaine and George Allen are fighting for the open seat, and Massachusetts, where Elizabeth Warren, former oversight chair of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, is taking on incumbent Republican Scott Brown, are receiving the most national attention. Close races in Nevada, New Mexico, and Wisconsin are also attracting major outside money. But no race will be more defined by super PACs and nonprofits than Montana's, because the state's population is so small—just under one million people. The cost to purchase ten days' worth of ads for the entire state is only $150,000, offering an enormous bang for the buck. The $2 million already spent by outside groups has merely provided a preview of what the race will look like this fall.
Crossroads' attacks on Tester depict him as a Washington insider who has betrayed Montanan values. "There is no sitting politician in America more sideways with his constituency than liberal Jon Tester representing Montana," says Jonathan Collegio, Crossroads GPS's spokesperson. "Crossroads intends to hold Tester accountable for his liberal votes on Obamacare, the stimulus bailout, and other votes that have driven up debt and regulations and not done a thing to help the economy."
By almost any measure, Tester is a moderate. According to the National Journal's 2011 vote ratings, Tester was one of the least liberal Democrats in the Senate, ranking 41st out of 53. His response to the attacks, though, has been to emphasize something else entirely: that outsiders are trying to meddle in the state's business. Tester aired his first ad on March 26 (also extremely early by Montana standards). The spot depicts him as Montanan through and through. Dressed in well-worn jeans, standing next to a bright-red combine harvesting grain under a clear blue sky, Tester says: "Sitting out here makes the partisanship back there look pretty ridiculous."
Tester has always trumpeted his farmerness—in his campaign and Senate press releases, he is repeatedly identified as a "Montana farmer"—but in this election it's going to be his defining strategy. Tapping into his state's history of resistance to political corruption, Tester wants to make 2012 an "us versus them" election. The "them" isn't Rehberg, or even Republicans, but those wealthy hucksters back East who are buying all the ads. "Montanans can't be bought," says Chris Saeger, spokesperson for the Montana Democratic Party. "They're going to believe someone more if they're knocking on their door instead of through a shadowy television attack ad."
Or so the Democrats hope.
There's a hitch in this campaign strategy, though—and not just because Tester raises most of his money from outside the state. Shadowy attack ads are not the sole province of the right: Democrat-leaning 501(c)(4)s have already spent $700,000 on ads against Rehberg.
Still, it's likely that pro-Tester groups will be far outspent by Republican groups—mirroring the national picture. In 2010, five of the top seven super PACs supported Democrats. But American Crossroads outspent all of them combined. Thomas Mann says Democrats like Tester can run against super PACs because the unfiltered streams of money have a decidedly partisan tilt, one not in their favor. "If we didn't have outside players in this race, Tester would be in better shape," he says. "I think you'll see that situation repeated around the country. Crossroads and other super PACs will try to tip the balance of resources in some of these races where Democrats would otherwise have a clear financial advantage."
Facing an onslaught of corporate spending, Montana is once again challenging the ascent of wealth over democracy—this time through the courts. In Western Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Attorney General, the state's Supreme Court ruled in December that the Citizens United decision does not apply to the Corrupt Practices Act of 1912—the law born in the aftermath of copper-king corruption—because the century-old law is designed to meet a compelling state interest. The plaintiff, a conservative nonprofit, appealed, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Montana ruling; instead, the Court has stayed the lower court's ruling until it decides whether to take another look at Citizens United. A re-examination of Citizens, however, likely won't occur until 2013 at the earliest, if it occurs at all. Meanwhile, the stay allowed the money to keep streaming into Montana.
In February, Tester offered Rehberg a super-PAC pact: The candidates would agree to pay a penalty equal to the ad buy of any political advertisements from outside groups supporting their campaign. (In Massachusetts, Warren and Brown struck a similar agreement, which resulted in Brown donating to two different charities after outside groups ran ads attacking Warren.) Rehberg rejected Tester's proposal but responded with one of his own: that the candidates reject all donations from outside Montana, including those from political action committees and lobbyists. Tester, who receives 70 percent of his funding from outside the state, turned down Rehberg's proposal. Three-quarters of Rehberg's campaign stash comes from outside, too, but Rehberg was confident that Montana's business interests, which favor him, could outspend Tester's in-state supporters.
"Before this election is through, people will feel as if they are absolutely showered with advertising daily," says Pat Williams, a Democrat who represented Montana in Congress for 18 years. Political scientist and electoral forecaster Alan Abramowitz, author of The Disappearing Center, agrees. "Especially in a small state like Montana, I can't imagine what it's going to be like. It's just going to be ridiculous."
The audience this unprecedented flood of money seeks to reach is not just small; it's minuscule. Both Tester and Rehberg are already well known to Montanans. A recent Billings Gazette poll had Tester up 46 percent to Rehberg's 45 percent, with 9 percent undecided. In the 2008 presidential election, about half a million Montanans turned out to vote. If the same number casts ballots this year, the spending would be aimed at convincing about 45,000 undecided voters. By the end of April, super PACs and other outside funders had already spent about $58 per undecided Montanan, with six months until the election and untold millions to come. That's a figure fit for a copper king.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article erroneously stated that the U.S. Senate unseated William Andrews Clark after he won his first election through corrupt means. Clark actually resigned before the Senate could take action, and was reappointed to the position by the lieutenant governor.


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From the Associated Press:
The Illinois House overwhelmingly approved a plan Thursday that would regulate oil and gas drilling in the state.
This is done in an effort to kick-start an industry that proponents say could bring thousands of jobs to economically struggling southern Illinois by filling the gap created by the area's declining coal industry.
The measure passed 108-9 and headed to the Senate, where it was expected to pass.
Illinois' regulatory bill, drafted with the help of industry and some environmental groups, has been touted as one of the toughest in the nation. But while supporters say hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," would generate tens of thousands of jobs, opponents � fearful that it could cause pollution and deplete water resources � have been pushing for a two-year moratorium to allow more time to study health and environmental issues.
Fracking uses high-pressure mixtures of water, sand or gravel and chemicals are used to crack rock formations deep underground and release oil and natural gas.
Among the provisions in the proposed regulation are requirements that drillers publicly disclose the chemicals they use and that they test water before and after fracking. They also would be liable for any water pollution.
"This bill is not about a choice about fracking in Illinois or no fracking in Illinois," said a bill sponsor, Democratic Rep. Ann Williams of Chicago. "It is about fracking with no regulation or fracking with the strictest laws in the country."
Energy companies are eyeing the New Albany shale formation in southern Illinois, where they believe there are significant oil reserves at depths of 5,000 feet or more.
"It has the potential for creating a long-term stable revenue source for the state through the extraction fee," said Rep. Rep. John Bradley, the Marion Democrat who headed the bill's negotiations. "And it has the potential to filling a gap downstate, which has been there ever since the coal mines, the coal industry waning back in the 60s and 70s."
Although the measure was supported by more than 50 House members who signed off as sponsors of the bill, its road to a full vote in the House was not easy. A set of rules requiring energy companies to hire a state-licensed water well driller delayed the vote for more than a month.
Two bills proposing a moratorium were offered, but none has gained traction despite the endorsement of the state's powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat.
Opponents also say the proposed regulatory legislation would leave Illinois communities with no control over the practice. Activists against the bill had coordinated intense lobbying efforts.
After the vote, Sandra Steingraber, an Illinois native and founder of New Yorkers Against Fracking, yelled: "This bill is a betrayal to democracy ... this bill is a betrayal to the children of Illinois."
She was removed from the chamber by two guards.
Gov. Pat Quinn has praised the measure as a jobs bill and was swift praise lawmaker's vote.
"This legislation will unlock the potential for thousands of jobs in southern Illinois, while ensuring that our state has the nation's strongest environmental protections in place for this industry," he said in a statement.
Ann Alexander, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council who helped craft the regulations, said she is glad the House "recognized the overwhelming need" for regulations if the state is moving forward with fracking.
"While we said all along that it would have made sense to pause and take breather... at very least we're glad Illinois is moving forward with the kind of public protections that are desperately needed."


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Export 4 results:
Filters: Author is Nicholas J. Higham [Clear All Filters]
Adaptive Precision in Block‐Jacobi Preconditioning for Iterative Sparse Linear System Solvers," Concurrency Computation: Practice and Experience, March 2018. DOI: 10.1002/cpe.4460"
Batched BLAS (Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms) 2018 Specification , July 2018. (483.05 KB)
Harnessing GPU Tensor Cores for Fast FP16 Arithmetic to Speed up Mixed-Precision Iterative Refinement Solvers," The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis (SC18), Dallas, TX, IEEE, November 2018."
High-Performance Computing," The Princeton Companion to Applied Mathematics, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, pp. 839-842, 2015."


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Geri and Dan Tucker
This Eva Zeisel designed "Big Ear" pink Basketweave cookie jar and cover are trimmed in gold and are in excellent condition! These were made in the 1950's and later. Superior condition! It is signed on the bottom with the Halls Superior Quality Kitchenware mark in gold. No chips, no scratches, and no damage of any kind.


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Nokia (NYSE:NOK) currently sits between a rock and hard place. Its feature phone business is feeling the effects of the smartphone revolution, and its smartphone business isn't necessarily knocking it out of the park. Between the two, it's safe to say that Nokia is lagging behind the competition, forcing it to make up for lost time. To compensate, Nokia has taken a rather aggressive approach in the way that it prices its smartphones relative to the competition. Focusing primarily in the emerging-market segment as its bread-and-butter opportunity, Nokia seems determined to give the competition a run for its money within markets that have lower smartphone saturation. However, it doesn't necessarily guarantee the company's success, especially for a company that's in Nokia's difficult position.
More pain ahead
Between its feature phone business and its smartphone business, Nokia is currently fighting a war on two fronts. Unfortunately, Nokia's feature phone business has one foot in the grave. IDC is forecasting that 2013 will be the year that smartphone shipments will surpass feature phone shipments for the first time. In other words, we're right on the cusp of the beginning of the end for feature phone shipments. Considering Nokia's feature phone business made up over 50% of the company's device revenue last quarter and it commanded a higher gross profit margin than its smartphone business, Nokia faces structural headwinds in the years ahead as the industry transitions away from feature phones.
Having largely missed the boat on the smartphone revolution, Nokia was practically forced into partnership with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), which happens to share the same lack of success in smartphones. Together, this underdog couple hopes it can wage war in the smartphone market against the smartphone juggernauts, Apple and Google. On the surface, this partnership gives me the sense that it's a mutually beneficial arrangement. Nokia benefits from the support of a player with deep pockets like Microsoft, and Microsoft benefits from having an experienced OEM in its corner. However, once you dig deeper into the nature of this partnership, you quickly realize that Nokia is getting the short end of the stick.
Back-stabbing partner
In a recent filing with the SEC, Nokia admitted what many investors have already feared. Should Microsoft at any point decide that Nokia is not living up to its expectations, it could begin releasing smartphones on its own, which could be "detrimental" to Nokia's business model. This is not necessarily new news, but it marks the first time Nokia has publicly admitted it's at the mercy of Microsoft. The worst-case scenario for Nokia would be that Microsoft learns all it can from Nokia and then dumps it. What next, Android? Something tells me that wouldn't go over well with investors.
The nail in the coffin
Not only does Nokia have to deal with the threat of the feature phone dying and Mr. Softy dumping it, Samsung is about to release a $100 unsubsidized smartphone for the Indian market. Folks, the race to the bottom is officially here, and although Nokia's current smartphone portfolio is priced aggressively, increased competition from bigger players poses a serious threat to Nokia's future profit margins. This game of chicken will put all OEMs fighting for the lowest common smartphone denominator at risk of razor-thin profit margins. In an all-out price war, Android has the advantage against Windows Phone 8 since it gives away its license for free. Overall, Nokia seems to have the most to lose since it really needs to find an effective way to compensate for the decline of its feature phone business.
When the music stops
As investors, it's always a valuable exercise to consider the major risks that a company faces while pursuing its growth strategy. In the context of Nokia, there are many threats that remain largely unaddressed, which should cause concern for investors even at this depressed level. I'm left with the feeling that Nokia is currently under attack from all angles. For the sake of its future, I seriously hope the company truly understands the magnitude of what it's up against.


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Chaos Orb is an action - adventure game, where you are placed in a mystical world as a pilot of a plane and most take out all different types of objectives and complete various types of missions alongside those features we would like to allow the user easy control of the game by piloting by simply tilting their device..., Now, there are a lot of boring games that are just plane simulators but we are trying to stand out and make something completely new and unique. There are going to be multiple modes, and missions where you have to destroy as many buildings as possible in a certain amout of time, or defend yourself from the ville demon forces, or siege the vast human armies. We are looking to have around 20 levels for the story mode and a few levels for the survival mode.
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.
Here are some sketches done for the main character, so it can be modeled more easly.


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These three men were stranded on an island: a Nefoundlander, a Cape Bretoner and a Quebecian. The three searched the island to try to find a way off when the Nefoundlander came upon a lamp with a genie. The genie poped up and said, I will grant three wishes, so that's one for each of you. So the Newfoundlander goes, Well I wish I was back in Newfoundland. So puff, he was sent to Newfoundland.
Then the Quebecian jumps up and says me next me next, I know exactly want I want. TheQuebecian says, I would like to build a wall. I want this wall to be 1000 feet high and I want it to surround Quebec, so that nothing can get in and nothing can get out, and I want to be in Quebec. So the genie says okay and builds the wall, and now Quebec is officially separate from the rest of Canada and the Quebecian is back there.
So now the Cape Bretoner gets up and says, Tell me more about this wall. So the genie tells him, This wall is 1000 feet high and surrounds Quebec and noting can pass in or out of Quebec.
So the Cape Bretoner says, Okay. Fill it with water.


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2012 Men's Soccer Players of the Week - No. 1
By Chad Waller, Director of Communications and Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Will Monsour of Belhaven (Miss.) has been named the NAIA National Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week and Henry Moody of Texas at Brownsville has been tabbed National Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week, the national office announced Tuesday. Monsour and Moody are the first honorees of the 2012 season and were selected based on their performances from Aug. 27 - Sept. 2 and were chosen out of a pool of conference/independent/unaffiliated groupings.
Monsour, a 6-foot, junior forward from Shreveport, La., posted a pair of two-goal matches in two wins last week for the Blazers. In the 2-1 win over SCAD Savannah (Ga.) on Aug. 31, Monsour netted the game-winner in the 89th minute on a break-away. One day later, he finished with four points (two goals, two assists) in the 5-0 victory over Tennessee Wesleyan.
In national statistical rankings, Monsour is first in goals (9), points (21) and game-winning goals (3).
Moody, a 6-foot-3, sophomore defender from Toronto, Canada, was part of a spectacular defensive effort at No. 2 Baker (Kan.) on Sept. 2. In the 2-0 win over the Wildcats, the Texas at Brownsville defense held Baker to four shots on goal. In the 1-1 draw at Oklahoma City on Aug. 31, the defense was impressive limiting the Star offense to five shots on goal.
For a complete listing of all the national statistical leaders, click here.
For the complete player of the week calendar, click here.
Offensive Nominees: Eddie Morales, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.); Ryan Herriage, Northwest Christian (Ore.); Jonathan Watson, Union (Ky.); Jerome Joof, Sterling (Kan.); Jose Luis Rodriguez, Talladega (Ala.); Leonardo Medeiros, Texas at Brownsville; Gustav Carlsson, Campbellsville (Ky.); Jason Walcutt, Saint Francis (Ind.); Matthew Howard, Hope International (Calif.); Diego De la Fuenta, Warner (Fla.); Will Johnson, Indiana Tech; Carlos Trombini, Park (Mo.); Jason Wong, Midland (Neb.); Andy Sandoval, Great Falls (Mont.); Trent Popp, Asbury (Ky.); Mat Plawecki, Calumet (Ind.); Juan Madrigal, Martin Methodist (Tenn.); Svetislav Milic, Southwestern Christian (Okla.); Raphael Bonelle, Mid-America Christian (Okla.); Andrew Cota, Menlo (Calif.).
Defensive Nominees: Matt McKenna, Columbia (Mo.); Adam Lewis, Mid-Continent (Ky.); Taylor Parrott, McPherson (Kan.); Bradley Abrahamsen, Houston-Victoria (Texas); Madison Justice, Union (Ky.); Damir Sabanovic, Westminster (Utah); Sean Doran, Concordia (Neb.); Yuta Nomura, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.); Paulo Gonzalez, Talladega (Ala.); Jon Pederson, Concordia (Mich.); Taylor Vinnage, Benedictine (Kan.); Vignir Johannesson, Auburn Montgomery (Ala.); Matthew Brust, Webber International (Fla.); Griffin Appel, Asbury (Ky.); Milco Risteski, Robert Morris (Ill.); Zach Hammon, Indiana Wesleyan; Chris Muter, Southwestern Christian (Okla.); Steven Mason, Corban (Ore.); Tyler Mcintosh, Mid-America Christian (Okla.); Alex Palomarez, Menlo (Calif.).
2012 Men's Soccer Players of the Week (Offensive; Defensive)
Week 1 (Sept. 4): Will Monsour, Belhaven (Miss.); Henry Moody, Texas at Brownsville


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I installed Ubuntu 12.04 to a USB drive, booted it from the USB drive, and played with it. Ever since that one time, it freezes during startup, and not always in the same place. I purchased "Ubuntu Unleashed," thinking it might boot from the DVD, and it still freezes. I reset the BIOS settings, and it still freezes.
I purchased a Mac, and like OS X, to the point where I can't stand Windows, anymore. The Ubuntu Desktop is similar to OS X, so I thought I would install it on my HP ProBook 4720s, but ever since that first time, it freezes.


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if i could post one picture to sum up jane and i's mini book tour this past weekend for ISLAND this would be it. ahhhh the joys of being overtired but also having awesome fun that makes it worth every minute. it also rocks to get to share such wonderful and special moments with one of your closest friends. jane - thanks for being the best partner in crime evah and one of my most fave people on the planet. i love ya to bits and bits! now on to the juicy stuff...
this is what happens when you get a group of knitters together at an event.....
it starts all friendly and professional and then bam! turns into this! muahaha! oh darn...we just don't look as gorgeous and effortless as you do caitlin french ;p
we had such a fabulous and wonderful time on our journey. the pics above and the collage below were taking by the lovely and talented photographer and designer herself sylvia mcfadden. you can find her on her blog here, ravelry here and on flickr as well. thanks for taking these pics sylvia! we had such a great evening with all of you at baaad anna's in vancouver. thank you anna for hosting us and making it such a special night. you did such a fabulous job and we luv your shop. we can't wait to visit again!
|the lovely amanda and fiona from knit social (and knit city) - we wished you ladies lived on the island! we want more time to hang with you!!! urban yarns hosted us on our first stop friday night and it was a fab evening with wine, sushi and more. we got to see some great friends and stayed up just a tad too late having lots of fun. thanks for having us urban yarns! we love stopping in to see you ladies!
we headed over to baaad anna's saturday night for a fun event that anna had set up. with island decor, candles and lovely refreshments and homemade goodies we were in heaven. we definitely had a great time and were sad the event had to end. so much fun!
i of course couldn't resist posting a shot of my instagram feed from the trip. i have to rely on free wifi on my ipad so there isn't a lot but they all have special little memories attached to them. overall we had a fabulous time, got spoiled, had a lot of laughs, tried to be as organized as possible (which is exhausting..lol), set up and took down our little "shop" 4 times (phew!), shopped (2 stores in 2 hours..we need help...lol), paid a HUGE price for parking (ouch! $16.75 for 2 hours!!! it still hurts), forgot to pay parking (hahaha, we really are Islanders now Jane, who charges for parking after 6pm right? LOL!), took 4 ferries (cheered really loudly when we made the last one home), ate delicious food, ate some not so good food, slept in a gorgeous home (thank you to jane's aunt!), enjoyed the quiet, stayed up way too late at night giggling, knit, drank coffee and overall had a special little journey filled with wonderful people who were all so kind to us both.
|image source - 88 stitches


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Irish Rugby
Another injury setback for Muldoon
ESPNscrum Staff
December 20, 2010
John Muldoon broke his arm just minutes into his Ireland debut against New Zealand this summer © Getty Images
Connacht have confirmed that captain John Muldoon broke his right arm in the closing stages of last Friday night's Amlin Challenge Cup defeat by Harlequins at the Sportsground.
The news comes as a massive blow for both the province and the player, as the 28-year-old forward fractured a bone in the same arm during Ireland's clash with New Zealand in New Plymouth in June and only made his return to competitive rugby in October.
Muldoon is now expected to miss Connacht's upcoming Magners League derbies against Munster, on Sunday, and Leinster, on New Year's Day, as well as the January 6 trip to Rodney Parade to take on the Newport Gwent Dragons.
Johnny O'Connor (back) and Michael Swift (head) also picked up injuries in the game against Quins in Galway, while it also emerged after the game that star trio Ian Keatley, Sean Cronin and Fionn Carr will all be leaving the province next summer, much to the disappointment of head coach Eric Elwood.
"In fairness, they came in to us during the week and informed us that they would be moving on at the end of the season and that they were talking to other clubs," the former Ireland international said.
"And given that it's a World Cup season we're coming into we were always going to be an easier target from clubs looking to fill gaps in their squads. We always knew these things could happen. If clubs are coming in looking for them then the players are doing well and we must be doing something right. So we always knew that would be the case.
"But, on the other hand, it's disappointing because we had hoped to hang on to them for another while."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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By Craig Munier
Throughout history, U.S. presidents have had significant impact on the shape, structure, and funding of the student aid programs. The most obvious legislative tool the president uses to influence student aid is the presidential veto. The threat of a presidential veto can significantly influence the progress and shape of student aid legislation. But the president's most important tool may be the power of ideas—that is, the ability to propose plans and influence decisions from the highest office. A presidential administration can set issues such as student aid and higher education as major platforms and develop those ideas into policy proposals. The administration can then tout the ideas publicly while working behind the scenes to involve the Department of Education and court allies in Congress.
As the country's leader, the president also has the public eye and the attention of the media, which has influenced public opinion throughout U.S. history. The president also has the ability to call a commission to study a specific area of interest, generating data that draw attention to issues of priority to the administration.
As we move toward the 2012 presidential elections, it is timely to reflect on the evolution of financial aid policy through the presidential perspective. A review of history offers a glimpse into the pivotal role of the president in shaping the future of financial aid.
Financial aid is no stranger to the ebb and flow of changing presidential administrations. Each presidential era has yielded contrasting results for students across the nation. President Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) was convinced that an "experiment" in democracy would only be successful if there were a well-educated electorate. Jefferson wrote that the state should "avail [to itself] of those talents which nature has sown as liberally among the poor as among the rich, which perish without use, if not sought for and cultivated."
It is fair to say that as president, Jefferson established the initial American ideal of education for all economic groups. Sixty years later, President Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) furthered Jefferson's vision by signing the Morrill Land-Grant Act 1862, which allowed the creation of land-grant colleges whose purpose was to promote education for those in the industrial class.
The presidencies of Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) and Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) tested the foundation for U.S. government-supported public education. The World War Adjustment Act of 1924 was proposed to create supplemental income for veterans for the purpose of educational grants, a cash bonus, or beginning a farm. The bill was vetoed by both presidents and ultimately overridden by Congress, only to remain unfunded for a number of years. Thousands of WWI veterans camped outside Washington, D.C., still armed with their service rifles, to advocate for their promised benefits. Ultimately, the U.S. Army was called to drive the veterans from Washington.
When faced with a similar challenge in re-assimilating thousands of World War II veterans, President Roosevelt (1933-1945), understood from the experiences of Coolidge/Hoover what could happen if he did nothing. He signed the Serviceman's Readjustment Act (the GI Bill) into law in 1944, creating educational benefits for returning veterans to aid them in the transition to civilian life. These benefits included tuition, books, supplies, equipment, and a stipend. The law made financial assistance more accessible to the military population, boosted the post-war economy, and provided broad access to higher education for the first time.
When President Harry Truman (1945-1953) appointed the President's Commission on Higher Education in 1946, he wrote that "Among the more specific questions with which I hope the Commission will concern itself are: the ways and means of expanding educational opportunities for all able young people." Recommendations that emerged included creating grants for undergraduates based on financial need; low- or no-tuition institutions (i.e., community colleges); and expanded financial assistance through student loans, grants, and sponsored employment. Unfortunately, Congress chose not to enact any of the recommendations at the time.
October 4, 1957, changed everything. On that date, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite to be placed in orbit around the Earth. Frightened at the prospect of losing the "race for space," Congress turned to the Truman Commission report for ideas of how to quickly catch up with the Soviet Union, especially in the areas of math and science. The National Defense Act of 1958, which created National Defense Student Loans (now known as Federal Perkins Loans), was the first of many of the earlier Truman Commission ideas to be implemented.
President John F Kennedy (1961-1963) later advocated for the Higher Education Facilities Act of 1963 to provide federal funds for academic facilities to institutions of higher education. That Act flowed into the presidency of Lyndon B Johnson (1963-1969), which saw great strides in advancing access to education and financial aid. Johnson's "Great Society" gave birth to two critical pieces of legislation: the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, which created the College Work-Study Program, and the Higher Education Act of 1965, which introduced educational opportunity grants and guaranteed student loan programs and is the foundation of many of the Title IV programs we work with today.
President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) signed the Middle Income Assistance Act into law, expanding for the Basic Education Opportunity Grant (now Federal Pell Grant) and providing interest subsidies on guaranteed student loans.
In more recent years, student financial assistance has been a rapidly changing policy issue. President George H.W. Bush (1989-1993) first suggested the concept of the Federal Direct Student Loan program, creating a pilot program beginning with 104 colleges and universities in the fall of 1994.
President Bill Clinton (1993-2001) supported an income sensitive student loan repayment option that would help make it possible for new college graduates to participate in his new public service program, AmeriCorps. It was also under the Clinton administration that Congress created the Hope & Lifetime Learning Tax Credits, thus implementing the last of the Truman Commission recommendations almost 50 years later.
President George W. Bush's administration (2002-2008) continued to promote educational access and affordability by introducing the Academic Competitiveness Grants, National SMART Grants, and the TEACH grant.
President Barack Obama (2009 to present) has made higher education and financial aid a priority in his presidency, increasing maximum Pell Grants in an attempt to fully fund college-bound students. He also supported full implementation of the Federal Direct Loan program, transferring billions of federal dollars from leveraging private capital to students in the form of additional Pell Grant funding, funding for community colleges, and deficit reduction. In addition, he has sought greater transparency in college pricing and created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
While presidential power is not limitless, it is clear presidential policies have driven some of the key changes in financial aid policies over the years. Both candidates have included higher education in their platforms, and will likely pursue their proposals should they be elected to office. NASFAA has posted on its website an insightful summary of the candidates' positions relating to student aid.
Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama agree on several financial aid issues. Perhaps most important of these is maintaining the 3.4 percent subsidized Stafford Loan interest rates and access to consumer information. Both of these initiatives attempt to aid students in reducing indebtedness upon graduation. Romney and Obama also support incentives to keep postsecondary tuition and fees as low as possible.
The candidates disagree on several key factors regarding educational access. The most critical of these is student aid funding. Romney has proposed returning federal student loans to private lenders which presumably would require greater subsidies from taxpayers, higher interest rates for students, or both. The higher cost to taxpayers could come at the expense of other Title IV programs. Obama continues to support using savings derived from loaning money from the U.S. Treasury in Direct Loans for other Title IV programs. The determination of where financial aid funds are derived will result in changes in funding amounts, as well as adjusting other portions of the budget.
In addition, Mitt Romney desires to remove regulations from for-profit institutions to expand affordable education. Barack Obama believes that these regulations are in place to protect students from aggressive marketing, indebtedness, and unscrupulous practices.
The DREAM Act is another area of disagreement between Obama and Romney. Obama supports the DREAM Act, which would allow qualifying undocumented youth, who may have been brought into the United States as infants, to attend college or serve in the military as a conditional step toward U.S. citizenship. Romney does not believe the DREAM Act should be considered independently of broader immigration reform.
Historically, the president has influenced higher education policy in many important ways. Given the priority that the American people give to higher education, it is clear that the next president will play a significant role in the future of financial aid policy.
Craig Munier is Director of Scholarships and Financial Aid for the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.
This clearly outlines the critical need for an educated population, without an educated workforce this Country will see a steady decline in our ranking in the World arena of Economics,Science and our ability to influence emerging nations of the benefits of a Democratic society.Maurice Brown
This should be a "must read" for every Student and FA professional! Great Article!
Thanks so much for your comments, Craig. Good to give perspective on the big picture!Eileen O'Leary
Enjoyed this piece, Craig. Good to reflect on the historical perspective for the Title IV programs as we approach the election. Well done! Marian Smithson
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This is not an offer for credit and should be used for estimation purposes only based on the information you provided. You should not base your decision on this estimate alone. Title, registration, tax and other fees, and personal circumstances such as employment status and personal credit history, were not considered in the calculations.
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12V 7-way end connector


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To delete a contact:
- Go to WhatsApp > Contacts.
- Tap on the name for the contact you want to remove and tap Edit in the top right corner.
- Scroll all the way to the bottom of the Contact Info screen.
- Tap Delete Contact.
The contacts that you see in WhatsApp come from your iPhone's Contacts app. Please note that when you delete a contact from WhatsApp, this will also delete the contact from your iPhone's Contacts app.
Deleting a contact from your Contacts app will not delete any chat history you have with that contact. Learn how to delete a chat from this FAQ: How do I delete messages or chats?
Learn how to delete a contact on: Android | Windows Phone | Nokia S40 | BlackBerry | Nokia S60 | BlackBerry 10
WhatsApp Support Team


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About josh_m
Absolutely. To me it seems like an issue for the FTC, in the realm of consumer fraud or deceptive practices. There are reasonable consumer expectations about the characteristics of products labeled "Pyrex," and those expectations have been dangerously violated.
It's certainly not an issue for TM law, but it does point to an interesting difference between the law and a layman's experience of the law.
All legally sound argument, but I think the point here is to show how TM's objective differs from modern real-world expectations.
TM protects indications of source and seeks to prevent confusion of source, affiliation, or sponsorship. But we also know that consumers don't even need to actually know the source of the good for it to be a valid trademark. Consumers may not know where "Ajax" comes from, but they expect a consistent product and quality whenever they buy that brand.
TM law assumes that a product under the same name from the same source will be the same product. The mark as an indication of source is a proxy for a given quality or a particular consumer expectation. When the quality changes, it's primarily the mark owner that is harmed, so the owner has the incentive to maintain that quality.
But when a TM is registered for a confusingly similar product that differs in a material way that consumers cannot determine at the point of sale, that's a "gotcha" point of confusion that TM simply doesn't prevent.
There's nothing in TM law itself to prevent Apple from selling a version of the "iPhone" that looks the same but requires a $1000 licensing fee to operate as a phone. But the average consumer would expect every "iPhone" to be materially the same, or at least to advertise its differences.
Seems to me one could make a good argument for not registering or enforcing the second mark under either Lanham 2(d) or 2(e) for being deceptively misdescriptive or a mark in prior use. Why the PTO let it pass I don't know. Consumers, or at least consumer watch groups, should have standing to go after this sort of misuse.
The Internet has largely replaced the "public square" forum for discourse. Sure, anonymity can be abused when the speech is defamatory, but this action is the very definition of over-inclusiveness. I'll let SCOTUS say it:
"Anonymous pamphlets, leaflets, brochures and even books have played an important role in the progress of mankind. Persecuted groups and sects from time to time throughout history have been able to criticize oppressive practices and laws either anonymously or not at all." Talley v. California, 362 U.S. 60, 64 (1960)
All good points, and I think the AIA is going to shrink what is patentable and make many of the patent troll claims harder to make.
I am not saying that a statute should define every nuance, but that we often need some understanding of the nuances to practice every day. We need litigation to define the scope of patentability under the existing scheme in order to counsel meritorious inventors. If I have a client walk into my office with a device that resembles an mp3 player but has a cool new feature, I couldn't issue a patentability opinion if all I knew was that a patent must be "novel." I need the decades of case law that defines that word, and I need to apply that law to the prior art.
What I am getting at is there will be holes in this statute, like any other, that will drastically affect legitimate business (ie not patent trolls) with the uncertainty that words bring. We need lawyers and lawsuits to figure out what those words mean, so a short-term uptick in the demand for patent lawyers should not be a surprise.
The answer is that no amount of language in a statute can possibly cover every question, outcome, or nuance of real life. I'm reminded of my state's Rules of Professional Conduct, in which a one sentence Rule is explained and examined with four or five pages of Comments.
The patent system is inherently difficult to legislate because it is intended to draw lines of what will or will not be patentable in the future, before those inventions could possibly be conceived. This isn't a murder statute in which we could clearly define what qualifies as an unlawful taking of life. How could a patent act originally enacted in the time of record players possibly be sufficient to draw the lines between mp3 players, without litigation to determine the scope of ideas of "novelty"?
The law always requires interpretation. Patent law is just more intricate because the subject matter necessarily has not been created at the time the legislation was written.
Well they can take the chance at $25,000 by your numbers, or sue for statutory damages for one act of willful infringement of up to $150,000.
The problem is the current law encourages suit and does not make the /chance/ of future sales look rosy. It's twisting the "furtherance of the arts" goal of copyright on its head.
Hate the game, not the player. Most orphan works are orphaned because they don't make money; suing on copyright is by default a more valuable use. The orphan work problem is a direct result of the excessive copyright term. If we don't want people taking this kind of action we shouldn't give them decades upon decades in which to sue.
"A functioning patent system is one where the rules are clear and fewer lawyers are needed. The fact that the clearest immediate impact of the change in the law is the opposite..."
The patent laws just changed in dramatic ways; of course there is going to be a short-term increase in demand for new patent lawyers to help clients and corporations transition, as well as years of new litigation to determine how the new statute plays out in practice.
Now, if we have a dramatic increase in patent lawyers as a percentage of the practicing bar over the next twenty years, blame the new scheme, but this is about two decades to early to judge.
With the words "Energy Armor" directly below the initials EA, I'd wonder what kind of consumers would think of Electronic Arts instead of, you know, Energy Armor.
Not exactly. Things are a bit different when police and the Fourth Amendment are involved. Basically, because you voluntarily gave your info to your ISP, you have no privacy rights as against the government.
"Every federal court to address this issue has held that subscriber information provided to an internet provider is not protected by the Fourth Amendment's privacy expectation." United States v. Bynum, 604 F.3d 161, 164 (4th Cir. 2010).


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|Matt Pawlowski threw for two
touchdowns and ran for another as Guilford beat Bridgewater for the
first time since 2006. That's also the last time Guilford won more
than two ODAC games.
Guilford athletics photo by Zachary Morgan
Matt Pawlowski's 10-yard touchdown pass to Nick Mearite with 7:13 left in regulation lifted Guilford College to a 23-20 Old Dominion Athletic Conference football win over Bridgewater College in a rare Thursday night contest.
The Quakers (3-3, 2-1 ODAC) erased deficits of 14-6 and 20-15 to score their first victory over the Eagles (4-2, 1-2 ODAC) since 2006 and the first home win for second-year coach Chris Rusiewicz. The contest also marked Guilford's first game on a Thursday since 1966.
Guilford's defense limited Bridgewater to a single fourth-quarter touchdown and held the Eagles to three-and-out on the possession after the go-ahead score. Both teams used up their remaining timeouts on the Quakers' next possession, which saw Guilford sustain the drive with a fourth-and-1 conversion near midfield.
With both teams lacking timeouts, Guilford punted the ball back to Bridgewater, but the Eagles mishandled the fair catch. The Quakers' Joseph Pearson recovered on the Eagles' 16-yard line with 2:11 to play. Guilford took a knee on three successive plays to run out the clock and move to 3-3 for the first time since 2008.
Pawlowski, a freshman, passed for 258 yards with no interceptions and had a hand in all three Guilford touchdowns, two passing and one rushing. His 1-yard keeper on third-and-goal gave the Quakers a 15-14 lead with six seconds left in the third quarter, their first of the game.
Bridgewater answered with a 2-yard touchdown run by Ryan Green Ellis with 10:39 left that restored a 20-15 Eagles' edge. Quarterback Willie Logan made three of his 14 pass completions on the drive, including two for first downs. Logan finished with 245 passing yards and also ran for 22 yards and two second-quarter touchdowns that opened a 14-6 Bridgewater advantage.
Bridgewater's Jacob Wright led all ground gainers with 88 rushing yards on 17 carries. Teammates Nick Wimer and Michael Colee both made three catches to lead the Eagles and Salem Nganga paced the defense with a team-high 14 tackles.
Guilford's Mearite made a game-high five catches and also caught a two-point conversion pass after his go-ahead fourth-quarter score. Rookie Adam Smith had four grabs for 59 yards, including a 22-yard, second-quarter touchdown catch. Reigning ODAC Defensive Player of the Week Robert Smith made a game-high 14 tackles, including a sack, for the sophomore's seventh straight game with 10 or more stops. Satiir Stevenson and JerMario Gooch ended Bridgewater threats with interceptions deep in Guilford territory.
The Quakers return to action Oct. 20 when they visit league rival Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va.


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|Search Results (11 videos found)
|What is innovation?
Genre: Educational
Keywords: innovation; libraries; new product development;
Duration: 00:15:45
Popularity (downloads): 16
|Taming the Tiger
Genre: Educational
Keywords: learning; innovation; malcolm brown; creativity; understanding; knowledge;
Duration: 01:27:41
Popularity (downloads): 49
|Dan Gillmor: We the Media, Grassroots Journalism for the People, by the People
Genre: Educational
Keywords: Dan Gillmor; journalism; blogging; blogs; media; social networks; innovation; communications;
Duration: 00:56:07
Popularity (downloads): 17
|i-LAND: An interactive Landscape for Creativity and Innovation
Video Figure from CHI 1999 Paper. Author(s): Norbert A. Streitz, Jrg Gei§ler, Torsten Holmer, Shin'ichi Konomi, Christian Mller-Tomfelde, Wolfgang Reischl, Petra Rexroth, Peter Seitz & Ralf Steinmetz...
Genre: Educational
Keywords: CHI; integrated design; interactive landscape; architectural space;virtual information space; augmented reality; ubiquitous computing
Duration: 00:02:52
Popularity (downloads): 706
|NASADestinationTomorrow - DT12 - Aircraft Revolution
NASA Destination Tomorrow Segment exploring the transition of aircraft design through the years. The segment describes what aircraft may look like in the future.
Genre: Educational
Keywords: NASA Destination Tomorrow; Aircraft Revolution; Jet Engine; Propeller; Innovation; Efficient; Vehicle Systems Program; Subsonic Transports; Supersonic Aircraft; Personal Air Vehicles; Blended Wing Body; BWB; Emissions; Noise Reduction; Environmentally Friendly; Air Pressure Waves; Sound Barrier; Shock Wave; Sonic Boom;
Duration: 00:07:30
Popularity (downloads): 2850
|ACM CHI 1995 - A Three-Step Filtering Mechanism
Computer systems should help users find useful software services and integrate such services into their tasks. The three step filtering mechanism selects services that trustworthy colleagues have recommended. It...
Genre: Educational
Keywords: CHI; innovation-decision process; collaborative filtering; context sensitivity; trialability; intelligent interface; reflective learning
Duration: 00:07:14
Popularity (downloads): 468
|NASADestinationTomorrow - Episode 12
NASA Destination Tomorrow Video containing four segments as described below. NASA Destination Tomorrow Segment exploring the transition of aircraft design through the years. The segment describes what aircraft may...
Genre: Educational
Keywords: NASA Destination Tomorrow; Aircraft Revolution; Jet Engine; Propeller; Innovation; Efficient; Vehicle Systems Program; Subsonic Transports; Supersonic Aircraft; Personal Air Vehicles; Blended Wing Body; BWB; Emissions; Noise Reduction; Environmentally Friendly; Air Pressure Waves; Sound Barrier; Shock Wave; Sonic Boom; First Flight; Wright Brothers; Controlled Flight; Aircraft Design; Aeronautical Annual; Bicycle; Glider Flight; Scientists; Engineers; Engine; Flight Pioneers; Flying Machine; Aviation; Aerodynamic Principles; Bird Flight; Feathers; Flapping Wings; Heavier Than Air Machine; Hot Air Balloon; Lift; Drag; Whirling Arm; Wing Designs; NASA; NACA; Aeronautical Development; Aviation Organization; President Woodrow Wilson; Pioneer Flight Achievments; Lab; Variable Density Tunnel; High Altitude Flying; Air Pressure; Wind Tunnel; Aerodynamics; Jet Powered Aircraft;
Duration: 00:28:31
Popularity (downloads): 2381
|Wrestling with Uncertainty, segment 12 of 16
The National Resource Assessment has been expanded to cover unconventional accumulations in field growth
Genre: Documentary
Keywords: Oil and Gas;
Duration: 00:02:29
Popularity (downloads): 427
|NASASciFiles - The Case of the Wright Invention
NASA Sci Files video containing the following thirteen segments. NASA Sci Files segment explaining how brainstorming works to help students think creatively and come up with solutions to solve problems....
Genre: Educational
Keywords: NASA Sci Files; Solutions; Inventions; Inventors; Brainstorming; Creative Thinking; Ideas; Record; Problem; Evaluate; Aeronautics; Data; Helios; Solar Powered; Testing; Flying Wing Aircraft; Remote; Prediction; Models; Aerodynamics; Design; Controlled Flight; History of Flight; Wright Brothers; Jet Engine; Speed of Sound; Rockets; John Glenn; Orbit; Neil Armstrong; Moon; International Space Station; Shuttle; Birds; Invention Concepts; Fundamentals; Research; Data; Observations; Museum; Scale Model; Wind Tunnel; Design; Blended Wing Body; Mold; Computer Aided Design; Engineers; Profile; Drawings; Night Visibility; Experiment; Student Activity; AIAA; Reflective Surfaces; Patents; Trademarks; Words; Names; Symbols; Sounds; Smells; Colors; Copyright; Intellectual Property; Property Right; Reflective Materials; Curing; Ions; Chemistry; Polymer Solution; Energy; Signals; Antenna; Wright Brothers; Testing; Conditions; Glider; Lift; Calculations; Birds; Wings; Wind Tunnel; Scale Models; Micro Aerial Vehicle; Biologists; Iterate; Data Collection; Analyze; Invention Process; Scientific Method; Identify Problem; Kitty Hawk; Flight Control; Airplane; Hanger;
Duration: 00:58:47
Popularity (downloads): 1165
|NASA Connect - Personal Satellite Assistant - The Astronaut's Helper
NASA Connect Video containing six segments as described below. NASA Connect Segment exploring the aspects of microgravity and how it affects objects in space. Explores object motion and friction...
Genre: Educational
Keywords: NASA Connect; Gravity; Personal Satellite Assistant; Friction; Newton; International Space Station; Gravity; Force; Motion; Mass; International Space Station; Mechanical Systems; Research; Technology; Robotics;
Duration: 00:28:42
Popularity (downloads): 1229


text:
Nation & World
Son of ex-Pakistani Prime Minister Gilani kidnapped in bid to disrupt elections
Suspected militant extremists kidnapped the youngest son of Pakistan's former prime minister Thursday in the central city of Multan, the latest in a series of attacks aimed at disrupting the campaign for the country's general election Saturday.
Eyewitnesses said that as many as 16 men with the long, untended beards typical of religious extremists, riding in two cars and two motorcycles, attacked a rally where Ali Haider Gilani, the son of former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, was speaking. The younger Gilani is a candidate for a seat in the Punjab provincial legislature.
Police sealed the city to prevent the kidnappers from smuggling Gilani out of Multan, which is in a region that's known as a center of militant extremist groups allied with the Pakistani Taliban and is about 100 miles from the notorious tribal areas that border Afghanistan.
The kidnappers shot dead Gilani's secretary, Mohammed Mohiuddin, and wounded eight others before dragging Gilani into a black Honda sedan and fleeing. Eyewitnesses said Gilani's clothes were splattered with blood, so he may have been wounded.
The elder Gilani was Pakistan's prime minister from 2008 until last year, when the Supreme Court sacked him for refusing to initiate corruption proceedings against President Asif Ali Zardari.
The court also banned the elder Gilani from running in Saturday's election, but all three of his sons are candidates for the Pakistan Peoples Party, which led a ruling coalition of liberal parties until power was transferred to a neutral caretaker administration in March.
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, as the Pakistani Taliban call themselves, have been targeting PPP candidates in attacks that have claimed more than 100 lives.
The elder Gilani has been among the PPP officials who are leading the party's election campaign. Ordinarily, that role would have been assumed by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 25-year-old head of the party and the son of Zardari and the late former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. But the young Zardari was flown out of Pakistan last weekend because of threats on his life. He'll spend election day at a family home in the United Arab Emirates, where he won't be able to vote because no polling arrangements have been made for Pakistanis living outside the country.


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — What amazing times these are. Soon you may be able to watch your friends push around some virtual jelly beans stored in the cloud by using a pair of glasses that looks like you strapped a toaster to your head.
Oh, and you can pay for it with a cryptocurrency. It sounds so … disruptive.
Silicon Valley has always peddled more than its fair share of snake oil. But who can recall a time when investors in technology were sold such an expensive pile of fads, diversions and time wasters parading as innovation? Social networking. Game playing. Virtual reality. Now it's all coming together they tell us. And when Apple Inc. AAPL, +0.94% puts a bigger screen on the iPhone, we'll know we're in a new age of enlightenment. A true giant leap for mankind.
Enough already. We're not talking about meaningful advances for society here. What we're really being sold in the most recent wave of technology stock offerings and eye-popping acquisitions is souped-up delivery systems for advertising. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but let's call it what it is.
Make fun of the late-1990s, early 2000s "dot-com" boom all you want, but at least the companies debuting in that era sold things and had the decency not to ransack your hard drive for personal information.
OK, forget for a moment the societal value of today's "innovation." Are these good, long-term investments? Let's take a look.
Box Inc. This is a cloud storage company that filed on March 24 for an initial public offering. Not only is Box in an already crowded space dominated by DropBox Inc. and Google Inc. GOOG, +0.27%, its financial condition is alarming. Box has spent more than its revenue on marketing and sales in eight of the last eight quarters. In other words, Box is spending more than it makes. It's losing money. Even the Box people say this won't change anytime soon. "We have a history of cumulative losses," Box's S-1 states, "and we do not expect to be profitable for the foreseeable future."
Oculus. Mark Zuckerberg's latest deal is smaller, but feels just as forced as his last one. Facebook Inc. FB, +0.03% investors should be concerned about the company's compulsion to spend enormous sums on unproven technology. Oculus is just 20 months old. Its virtual-reality glasses suffer from the same issues (motion sickness) that plague other makers. Its product isn't even available to consumers. It's now two years, $21 billion and two deals after Zuckerberg said "We don't plan on doing many more of these, if any at all." Should Facebook's advertising fortunes turn and these products fail to catch on, Zuckerberg may be seen as myopic.
'Candy Crush Saga.' The name of the company is really King Digital Entertainment PLC US:KING, but fewer people know that than the name of the addictive game for which everyone is ignoring their family and blowing off work. Unlike some of these other profit-free tech companies, 'Crush' has 97 million users and netted King Digital $567.6 million profit last year. King Digital's IPO debut Wednesday was rough, it sank 12% from its debut by Friday. Why? Investors may have amnesia, but they remember what Zynga Inc.'s ZNGA, +0.00% collapse — it went from $14.69 a share to $2.71 in six months — did to their portfolio, even if they don't remember Farmville.
Circle Internet Financial. This is a product not ready yet for public consumption, but the buzz around this bitcoin company is loud in the tech community. Circle just raised $17 million in a new round of financing from venture-capital funds. Ultimately, Circle wants to cure the digital currency's biggest problem: that is, you can't use it. So, Circle says it will provide "stored value" cards, work with regulators and have a banking relationship so people can use bitcoins to pay for stuff.
As I understand it, you'd take your dollars, exchange it for bitcoin and pay Circle to change it to dollars or another currency. All of this is to say, Circle wants to be a bitcoin middleman. Maybe I'm missing something here, but isn't the point of bitcoin to eliminate middlemen?
But what do I know? I use cash, don't play games on my mobile device, my glasses don't need a battery and I prefer to invest in companies that, in general, make more money than they spend, especially if they're not doing anything terribly new or different. It's an old-fashioned and, perhaps, out-of-touch way to live. Some might argue it's not living.
I do have a toaster. Maybe I could put an ad on it. Is that disruptive enough?
More from MarketWatch:
Why Facebook was smart to buy Oculus
Another reason to delay retirement


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NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. - The UMass Boston men's lacrosse team has been picked to finish seventh in the Little East Conference in 2014 following the release of the annual preseason coaches' poll. The Beacons collected a total of 18 points overall.
Reigning LEC Tournament champs Eastern Connecticut State University was chosen to repeat in 2014 having earned 62 total points and six of the eight first place votes. Keene State College was picked to finish second having earned two first place votes and 57 points.
UMass Dartmouth and Plymouth State University finished tied for third with 40 points, while Western Connecticut State University earned 37 points to earn a fifth place ranking. Salem State University grabbed sixth with 20 points, and the University of Southern Maine closed out this year's preseason poll in eighth with 13 points.
This season head coach Tyler Low will look to build off of a successful 2013 campaign and will welcome back a solid core of veteran players. Led by junior midfielder Donny Delpha (Walpole, Mass.) the Beacons welcome back their six top scorers from last season. Delpha led UMass Boston with 29 goals, 23 assists, and 52 points. He also had two game-winners, 11 man-up goals and finished third on the team with 38 ground balls.
Behind him was senior Ryan McGoff (Charlestown, Mass.) who finished third in goals scored with 22 and assists with 13 for a combined 34 points overall. Another dangerous attackman, McGoff fired off a pair of game winning goals and had five man-up scores in 17 games played.
Lacrosse will begin its new season on March 1 when they travel to Johnson and Wales University for a 1 p.m. non-conference game. The Beacons first Little East Conference game will be against Salem State University on March 29 at Salem State.
2014 Little East Conference Preseaon Coaches' Poll
|Eastern Connecticut State University
|62 pts. (6)
|Keene State College
|57 pts. (2)
|UMass Dartmouth
|40 pts.
|Plymouth State University
|40 pts.
|Western Connecticut State University
|37 pts.
|Salem State University
|20 pts.
|UMass Boston
|18 pts.
|University of Southern Maine
|13 pts.
( )-First Place Votes


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November 2008
On October 7, 2008, President Bush signed a one-year extension of the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act (ECASLA-Pub. L. No. 110-350). As lenders are currently committing loan volume to schools now for the coming academic year, the Department of Education is taking immediate action under the extended ECASLA authority to ensure students and families have uninterrupted access to Federal student loans for the 2009-2010 school year and beyond. U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced the following goals for implementing the extension of authority:
- Ensure availability of Federal student loans for the 2009-10 school year;
- Maintain the public/private partnership in the Federal student loan program;
- Protect taxpayer interests by adding no net costs to the Federal Government; and
- Provide the liquidity and support needed to stabilize the student loan marketplace.
Building on Experience and Success
In May 2008, Secretary Spellings and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson announced a four-part plan with the authority provided under ECASLA to improve the functioning of the student loan marketplace and provide liquidity and stability in the near term to ensure that all qualified students had access to Federally guaranteed loans for the 2008-2009 school year.
The programs have been tremendously successful in addressing the challenges of the current school year. Loan originations for the 2008-09 academic year are exceeding last year's pace. In the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), there have been $41.8 billion in originations to date compared to $39 billion at this time last year. In the Federal Direct Loan (DL) program, there have been $17.9 billion in loans originated as compared to $12 billion at this time last year.
Lenders are heavily utilizing the Department of Education's new participation interest and loan purchase programs. Nineteen lenders have been approved for the Purchase of Participation Interests program (PPI), in which the Department purchases a 100 percent interest in pools of loans held by a custodian, providing near-term liquidity to student lenders. Twelve of those lenders have made use of the program and have, to date, received $8.7 billion in Department payments, which represents nearly 50 percent of current disbursements. Under the separate loan purchase program, nearly 800 lenders have signed documents indicating that they want the right, but not the obligation, to sell loans originated for the 2008-09 school year. To date, two lenders have sold $62 million in loans to the Department. It is anticipated that four lenders will sell loans to the Department in November 2008 for a total of approximately $350 million and that the number of loans sold will grow dramatically after January 2009 when lenders make their final disbursements on many student loans.
Taking Action Now to Ensure Future Loan Access
With the current economic and liquidity uncertainty, some lenders are dropping out of the student loan market altogether. With more than $65 billion in 2008-09 loans and approximately $130 billion in eligible 2003-07 student loans on bank balance sheets and auction rate securitizations, the capital markets are currently unable to generate adequate funds at prices that will ensure 2009-10 loans can be made.
As the current programs serve to reimburse lenders for making loans to students, they must obtain initial financing from private sources. However the continued tightening of the credit markets has created conditions making it difficult for lenders to secure the needed private capital. These factors have generated concern among lenders, schools, and students about the availability of funds for second disbursements in the 2008-09 academic year, as well as the availability of federally guaranteed loans for the 2009-10 academic year.
The Administration is committed to ensuring continued and timely access to Federal student loans for all eligible student and parent borrowers, which is why the Department of Education is taking additional action to immediately implement the extended ECASLA.
The Department of Education will replicate the PPI and loan purchase programs for academic year 2009-10 loans. The 2008-09 PPI and loan purchase programs will conclude as designed, and new programs will be launched to facilitate origination of 2009-2010 student loans. Terms and conditions of the 2009-2010 programs are anticipated to be largely consistent with the prior year's programs, though the Administration may need to refine the pricing and terms of these programs to ensure that these replicated programs result in no net cost to the federal government. For the loan purchase program, lenders will have the option to finalize the sale of a loan or loans to the Department as late as September 30, 2010. Thus a lender that completes the disbursement of a loan for the 2009-10 academic year can hold and service that loan until September 30, 2010. For the PPI, the Department will purchase participation interests in pools of loans made by lenders for the 2009-10 academic year. The Department will hold these participation interests up to September 30, 2010. All loans are originated and serviced as FFELP loans. Upon expiration, a trust may refinance the loans in the private financial market and pay off the Department's participation interest or sell the loans to the Department as described above.
The Administration intends to provide liquidity support to one or more conforming Asset-Backed Commercial Paper (ABCP) conduits. These conduits will purchase FFELP loans, providing longer-term stability to the guaranteed student loan marketplace. The Department intends to make all fully disbursed, non-consolidation FFELP loans awarded between October 1, 2003 and July 1, 2009 eligible for this program. An eligible lender trustee creates a pool called a conduit, to which other lenders transfer ownership of their student loans. This conduit issues commercial paper to sell, backed by the loans in the pool (Asset-Backed Commercial Paper). After private investors purchase the commercial paper (CP), student lenders would be paid out of the amounts received from these investors. The Department of Education will provide liquidity to the facility by entering into forward purchase commitments with these eligible lender trustees, whereby the Department promises to purchase, at a date in the future, eligible student loans at a prearranged price if the commercial paper that has been issued by the conduit cannot be re-issued or "rolled" at maturity and the conduit does not have sufficient cash to repay commercial paper investors.
Further, these programs will be cost neutral and in the best interest of the taxpayer, as required by law. To assure cost neutrality, different parameters may be placed on the terms for these programs. The Federal Register notice will include the final prices, terms, and conditions, as well as the Department's methodology for determining cost neutrality.
The Department has also taken the steps necessary to ensure the Lender-of-Last-Resort program is ready should it be needed. In addition, in recent months, the Department has expanded the capacity of the Direct Loan program.