text:
Indonesia's Coral Reefs on the Line
Indonesia's Coral Reefs On the Line
Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia Here on the eastern shore of Bali, as I look past the thin, white line of surf breaking over an offshore reef to the sparkling seas of the Lombok Strait, I'm not just looking toward another Indonesian island, I'm also looking past an invisible line to the edge of another world.
That invisible line running between the islands of Bali and Lombok-Wallace's Line-divides the living worlds of Asia and Australia, with elephants, pheasants, and towering Dipterocarp trees found on one side and marsupials, cockatoos, and Eucalyptus on the other. Named for the 19th century explorer-naturalist Alfred Wallace, Wallace's Line is at the heart of the sprawling Indonesian archipelago, one of the world's richest storehouses of biological diversity-both on land and under water.
Turning away from Wallace's Line, I see another dividing line. On the beach above me are the swimming pools, manicured grounds, and pampered guests of the Sheraton Nusa Indah, walled off from the real Indonesia of rice fields, crowded streets, and, well, Indonesians.
This exclusive and isolated resort (incredibly, it's more than half a mile's drive from the hotel's front door to the outside gate) is the setting for the Ninth International Coral Reef Symposium, the largest gathering ever of coral reef scientists. Some of the 1,500 experts gathered here grasp the irony of discussing community-based conservation at a conference far too expensive for anyone from an Indonesian coastal community to attend. Some apparently don't grasp it. But for better or worse, Nusa Dua is one of the only places in Indonesia where it is possible to hold such an enormous meeting.
If you're going to talk about coral, Indonesia is the place to be. With the world's richest and most extensive coral reefs, Indonesia probably harbors more underwater species than any other nation. This archipelago of 17,000 islands is also where the stakes are highest for ocean conservation: more people live closer to reefs here, in the fourth-most populous nation on Earth, than anywhere else. So the discussions at Nusa Dua-on the latest updates on reefs worldwide, the devastating implications of El Niño and climate change for corals, and ways to stop reef-killing fishing practices and the spread of coral disease-are tremendously important for this nation of coastal dwellers and fish eaters.
Yet, just a day into the conference, still jet-lagged, I'm already itching to cross the line to the other Indonesia: the Indonesia where putt-putting wooden fishing boats and outrigger canoes, not jet skis and "ocean adventure rafts," dot the waters. Where gravity-defying geckos, not hotel landscapers on a chemical quest for a pest-free paradise, hunt for insects. Where comfort comes from ocean breezes or wobbly fans, and discomfort means serious sweating in the equatorial heat.
But here at Nusa Dua, my discomfort-even my difficulty typing-comes from turbo-charged air-conditioners apparently set on "stun" (or perhaps "permafrost"), running so hard they rattle the furniture. The hotel tries so hard to be Western that it's almost colder than the U.S. Northwest in winter.
Every day while I sit here in the Bali Freezerdome taking notes and doing interviews, I know that bombs are going off in the real Indonesia. Not in the war zones like Timor or Aceh, but in some of the quietest, most idyllic settings imaginable. From palm tree-dotted islands across the archipelago, millions of Indonesians head out each day in their wooden boats of all shapes and sizes. Most of them wield simple hand-made nets or hand-held lines to bring home food or to earn a few thousand rupiahs to support their families. But a fraction of these seafarers, mostly young men and teen-aged boys, carry explosives. Once out of earshot of the nearest village, each bomber looks into crystal-clear waters for the flash of a school of fish above the coral forest of branches, tables, domes, and fans. When he sees a good-sized school, he takes one of the day's stash of homemade bombs-a beer or water bottle filled with a mix of fertilizer and kerosene and a cheap underwater fuse-and hurls it into the water. A few seconds later, a white plume erupts 15 feet into the air and disappears just as quickly. Above the surface, the bomb has left no trace, but underwater, each bomb has killed or stunned hundreds of fish, easily scooped up by divers. It has also left perhaps a car-sized crater of coral rubble (see small photo, back cover) and, farther away, snapped and cracked coral branches and domes, the ruined products of decades or centuries of achingly slow growth.
This ragtag fleet of bombers collectively poses the greatest
threat to the world's richest underwater habitats. Nationwide, blast fishing
does about $500,000 a day in damage, if you believe the economists who try to
quantify such things; in some spots,
20 to 30 explosions can be heard daily. Bombs have at least moderately affected three-fourths of Indonesia's reefs. Much of the shallow Indonesian seafloor is now occupied by flattened dead zones, spreading as far as the snorkeler's eye can see. Damage from bombs and other disruptions, like sedimentation, cyanide fishing, and coral mining, has severely degraded 70 percent of the nation's reefs and left only six percent in excellent condition. Though corals and fish can recover from many of these stresses, coral almost never recovers from bombing. Young corals, which need a solid substrate to grow upon, cannot mature on fields of rubble that shift with the passing of every wave.
Incredibly, toward the end of the week-long conference, reports come in about a rash of new bombings in Komodo National Park, my next destination-partly because of the conference. Reef bombers in the park know that many of the environmental watchdogs, who often help authorities track down fish bombers and wildlife poachers, are out of town all week at this meeting. It's open season on coral reefs, even in one of the few places in Indonesia where the laws against reef bombing are actually enforced.
Marine ecologists, who study the interrelationships among living things in the sea, have recently proposed the existence of an underwater Wallace's Line, oddly enough, perpendicular to the original north-south line. Most sea creatures begin their lives as free-floating larvae, often carried great distances before they develop an adult's ability to propel themselves against a current. Researchers were surprised to discover that shrimp, and very likely other wide-ranging reef organisms, apparently don't cross this underwater line. Because they do not interbreed with other members of their species on the wrong side of the tracks, so to speak, the species are more vulnerable to local extinction than previously thought.
While it's possible to think of tropical ocean habitats in linear terms, it is perhaps more useful to picture them globally as a series of concentric circles. Each circle has more species-of fish, corals, sponges, mollusks, crustaceans-than those outside it. And the bull's eye of all these circles-the heart of the world's aquatic biodiversity-sits in the middle of Indonesia, in the biological wonderland known as Wallacea.
Spreading east from Wallace's Line, Wallacea is a sort of no-man's land between Asian and Australian realms, the exclusive home of many strange creatures like the dragons of Komodo, the dwarf buffalos of Sulawesi, and the megapode birds of the Moluccas. But underwater is where Wallacea really shines. Indonesia's best reefs are here, far from the silt-laden rivers of the big western islands like Java and Sumatra. With its strong currents, stable year-round water temperatures, absence of typhoons, and unmatched variety of reef habitats, eastern Indonesia has supported an unmatched variety of underwater life forms, including 400 species of reef-building corals and close to one out of four of the world's fish species.
Alfred Wallace himself, when exploring these far-flung islands, saw pristine reefs in water as clear as anywhere in the world and, like many others after him, was amazed. One day in 1869, he spent hours peering over the side of a small boat in Ambon Bay, in the Moluccas. Afterwards, he marveled:
The clearness of the water afforded me one of the most astonishing and beautiful sights I have ever beheld. The bottom was absolutely hidden by a continuous series of corals, sponges, actiniae, and other marine productions, of magnificent dimensions, varied forms, and brilliant colors.... The bottom was very uneven, rocks and chasms, and little hills and valleys, offering a variety of stations for the growth of these animal forests. In and out among them moved numbers of blue and red and yellow fishes, spotted and banded and striped in the most striking manner, while great orange or rosy transparent medusae floated along near the surface. It was a sight to gaze at for hours, and no description can do justice to its surpassing beauty and interest. For once, reality exceeded the most glowing accounts I had ever read of the wonders of a coral sea. There is perhaps no spot in the world richer in marine productions, corals, shells and fishes, than the harbour of Amboyna.
When I got to Komodo, I went diving with a dozen American marine biologists, some of whom have a thousand dives under their belts, but most of whom had never seen a coral reef outside the United States or the Caribbean. After our first dive, everyone surfaced smiling from ear to ear. This first reef was somewhat degraded, yet it remained unlike anything most of us had ever seen: Komodo National Park has more fish species than the entire Caribbean Sea, which is a thousand times its size. "Every time I bring people from the Caribbean here, I see their mouths drop open," recalled trip leader Mark Erdmann, a reef biologist who works as an advisor to Bunaken National Park in North Sulawesi. "This is the center of marine biodiversity-it's absolutely stunning to dive on an Indonesian reef, even a partially degraded one, and see how many forms are out there, how many species of practically any group you can think of. And if you're lucky enough to see an Indonesian reef that has not been degraded, it's just an awe-inspiring sight."
I had snorkeled and dived on a number of reefs in Indonesia, yet I, too, was mesmerized by the otherworldly, even psychedelic, wonders of Komodo. I saw things I'd only dreamed of seeing, like 15-foot-wide manta rays circling each other in slow banked turns: silent, living airplanes. Bumphead parrotfish-bigger than I-taking enormous, noisy chomps out of the reef and pooping out crunched-up coral (you call it sand). Bright orange soft corals waving gently in the current, their long-stemmed polyps slowly opening and closing like a baby's chubby-handed "bye-bye." I also saw many beautiful things I never knew existed: technicolor "sea apples" jamming their broccoli-like tentacles into and out of their red mouths; a red, white, and blue "fire urchin" scuttling across the seafloor with transparent, neon blue-spotted shrimp hitchhiking between its poisonous spines; a fuzzy, hot pink- and purple-striped "squat lobster" (a species not discovered until 1994, though it is common in Komodo). And the fish!-bannerfish, batfish, boxfish, butterflyfish, clownfish, lionfish, Picassofish, pufferfish, surgeonfish, triggerfish, trumpetfish, unicornfish.... Basically, put any noun before the word "fish," and Komodo probably has it.
While visiting snorkelers and scuba divers love to look at reef fish, Indonesians love to eat them: coral reefs provide 60 percent of the animal protein in the Indonesian diet. If it's not attached to the seafloor, odds are somebody eats it. Unlike Western attitudes toward seafood, the Indonesian view is that all this varied and bizarre sea life is just so much protein. Sea cucumbers, often seen drying in the sun on fishing boat decks and sidewalks, resemble nothing more than a cross between a water balloon and a human turd, and you couldn't pay me to eat one.
In eastern Indonesia's coastal communities, among the nation's poorest, fishing is both a way of life and a fallback when crops or other sources of food or cash fall short. Most of those who fish do so on a small scale, using simple, relatively harmless methods, but they have watched their incomes and food supplies diminish as the reefs they depend on get bombed and poisoned. Many of these people oppose the use of bombs and cyanide, which they understand are robbing them of their livelihood. But they have little ability or authority to stop the destruction, especially when government officials or powerful business interests are involved.
As I stand on the crowded concrete dock, looking in disbelief at the two fresh corpses laid out on bloody stretchers beneath traditional, oddly beautiful ikat blankets, the thought hits me: I am definitely not in Bali anymore. I am the only foreigner, and the only journalist, in the hushed crowd of a hundred people standing in the hot mid-morning sun. Here in the port town of Labuanbajo, on the island of Flores, just east of Komodo National Park, I am on the far side of both Wallace's Line and the line between happy tourist Indonesia and the decidedly more difficult nation most Indonesians inhabit.
I came down to the docks to meet a staffer from the Nature Conservancy's local office and head out in their speedboat to Komodo village, where I planned to interview some of the local people. But with the commotion on the waterfront, all plans are off. The word among the onlookers is that the two victims were deer poachers killed in a pre-dawn bomb and gun fight with authorities in the waters of the national park. I decide to play police-beat reporter to get the facts, just as I did a week earlier when authorities brought ashore two boatloads of reef bombers arrested in the park. Arrests under Indonesia's environmental laws are almost unheard of, but I happen to have landed in town just in time for two of the park's biggest busts on record. A new "floating ranger station" patrol boat, purchased and operated with funds provided by the Nature Conservancy, a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization (NGO), and by local scuba dive tour operators, has quickly gotten results.
I try to interview various uniformed officials on the dock, but they all refuse to answer my questions. I try to take photos but am ordered not to by a soldier in an East Timor T-shirt. I decide it's a good idea not to make him angry.
Eleven other suspects, three of them wounded, are brought ashore, as well as their 24 hunting dogs and a number of dead deer, the main prey of the Komodo dragon. The uninjured suspects are stripped to the waist to mark them as prisoners. Police pose them for official photos around a severed deer carcass and make them crawl on their bellies or squat-walk, in front of the crowd, to the interrogation room. Last week's reef bombers had to walk around, hands behind their heads, while repeating, "saya melakukan bom"-"I use bombs." I get the impression that the credo of the local justice system is "humiliated until proven guilty." I wonder if this is what conservation is supposed to look like.
I slip unannounced into the interrogation room and observe unobtrusively-watching the suspects get slapped and threatened-until I am physically yanked out of the building. I spend the next two days trying to get someone from any of the agencies-the park, police, army, water police, forestry police-that operate the "floating ranger station" patrol boat to confirm the rumors I have been hearing about the case. (Indonesia is a nation of rumors, the result of half a century's suppression of real news.) Whether they are hiding something or just being paranoid that a journalist might try to make them look bad in a sensitive case, I can't decide.
The next day, I finally get the police chief, and even the visiting Indonesian Minister of Forestry, to fill in the blanks and confirm that one of the victims, Musasini, was the reputed ringleader of a gang of both illegal hunters and coral reef bombers, long sought by police. In an account corroborated by a Nature Conservancy crewmember on board the patrol boat, officers chased the poachers for hours and only opened fire after the fleeing poachers threw homemade bombs at them. The Minister of Forestry, Nurmahmudi Ismail, who has authority over all national parks, defends the patrol's actions: "Because the hunters ignored warnings and even attacked the police, yesterday's actions had to be taken. If you want to call that a human rights violation, go ahead."
Though I remain troubled by the police practices I witnessed on the dock, in the end, I agree with the Minister's assessment.
But in Labuanbajo, though many local people support the park, gossip and innuendo fly about after these big arrests. Some fishermen claim that police fabricated the story of the bomb fight. A legislator from Sape, home of the reef bombers, threatens violence if their confiscated air compressors are not returned. A mob, reportedly instigated by a local cyanide fishing kingpin, prepares to attack the office of the Nature Conservancy for its role in helping authorities shut down illegal fishing.
For all its rough edges and community relations problems, Komodo National Park at least enforces environmental laws, a rarity in a nation with very limited budgets and seemingly unlimited corruption. Just months before the Komodo busts, reef patrols in North Sulawesi's Bunaken National Park, funded by a voluntary tax of $5 per scuba diver, made the nation's first big busts for bomb fishing. "Now people in villages all throughout North Sulawesi are demanding better enforcement," according to Mark Erdmann. Komodo's boat patrols, paid for by the Nature Conservancy's Indonesia Program, have reduced fish bombing in the park by roughly 80 percent.
Villagers in the Komodo area, like most rural Indonesians, are very poor. Malaria and diarrhea are rampant. Most children do not finish elementary school. Though many tourists pay great sums to visit the park and to stay on deluxe live-aboard dive boats, little of their money trickles down to the village level. Most of what did trickle down has dried up: tourism in Komodo has fallen by more than half in the wake of political unrest in other Indonesian provinces _since 1997.
Given the economic chasm between their world and that of a wealthy American NGO, it's hardly surprising that locals might resent the Nature Conservancy with its high-powered speedboat that blows by everything else in the water and its array of almost impossibly high-tech equipment-like satellite-linked electronic tags for studying manta rays. And the group has a long record of doing science and reserve management with greater ease than working with local communities.
Yet its work helping protect the park's reefs is absolutely vital for the region's economic future. A healthy reef provides ten times as much fish as a degraded one; experience around the world has shown that protecting part of a reef from fishing (not to mention bombing) is the surest way to let fish populations, and fishing economies, bounce back. Absent the bomb-stopping patrols, fishing communities around Komodo face a bleak future. Throughout eastern Indonesia, many fisheries have already collapsed. Reef bombers and other fishers often travel hundreds of miles, even to Australian waters, on month-long trips, in search of healthy fishing grounds.
But for the time being, the wages in destructive fishing, and the incentives to break little-enforced laws, remain tremendous. "Destructive fishers here make a lot of money," Mark Erdmann explains. "They are not poor fishermen who've been forced into doing bombing and cyaniding because they have no alternatives. They're typically younger men, 15 to 25, going out and doing something which is inherently dangerous-you can easily kill yourself with homemade bombs, or squirting cyanide, or doing a lot of deep diving." It makes providing economic alternatives next to impossible, according to Erdmann. "What are you going to give a sixteen-year-old kid who makes four times as much as a high-ranking government official?"
For now, coral reef conservation in eastern Indonesia is mostly focused on protecting reefs inside the region's few marine protected areas. Thanks largely to the intensive and top-down park management funded by outsiders, Komodo National Park is an oasis of life in what is rapidly becoming an underwater wasteland of rubble fields and reefs emptied of the once-ubiquitous clouds of fish hovering above them. Indonesia would benefit greatly from additional marine parks, yet reef conservation has to move beyond national parks to be effective. Without attention to the reefs and people outside parks, the pressure for fishers from all around to abandon their emptied fishing grounds and pounce on protected reefs may be inescapable, according to Imran Amin, a marine specialist with TELAPAK, an Indonesian NGO. "Our concern is that coral reef conservation is not a local problem but a regional problem. It's not limited by any national park boundary, but by the region wherever people who interact with the reef live," he says.
The threats confronting Indonesia's coral reefs-bombs, poisons, overfishing, and climate change, to name a few-are as great as ever. But the climate for conservation may be better than ever, too. Even as late as the mid-1990s, few outside conservationists or funders paid any attention to the archipelago's underwater wealth; they focused instead on its rapidly disappearing rain forests. But by decade's end, many governments and NGOs had recognized that what the Amazon is to land habitats, Southeast Asia is to the sea, and had started to work toward protecting this global treasure.
The greatest opportunity may be the birth of the world's third-largest democracy and the new Indonesian government's commitment to decentralization. A new regional autonomy law, which went into effect in January of this year, has begun to transfer much of the authority of the Jakarta government to the 27 provinces and the 340 sub-provincial regencies. The push to decentralize provides hope that local people, who are in the best position to manage their local waters, may gain a greater say in the management of the reefs they depend on. Along these lines, Blongko, a fishing village in North Sulawesi, created the nation's first community-run marine reserve in late 1998, with technical assistance from the Indonesian and U.S. governments. Two other North Sulawesi villages followed suit in 2000, and many others in the province want to do the same. "We started the sanctuary to bring the fishing back to how it was in the past," explains Blongko's new village head, Dolvi Janis. "Now, for the first time in years, we can even cast a line from the beach near the sanctuary and catch a pelagic [open-ocean] fish."
There is no guarantee that decentralization will benefit Indonesians or their ecosystems. One concern is that provincial and local governments generally have less coastal management capacity than does the national government. Some observers fear Reformasi will do nothing to break abusive powerholders' grips on local economies. According to Celia Lowe, a University of Washington anthropologist who works with fishing communities in Sulawesi's Togean Islands, "we've gone from Soeharto to 27 different provincial Soehartos. I don't see any major changes in the thinking behind the Indonesian government's activities."
But it's clear that empowerment of local people must be part of the answer. There's no going back to the discredited top-down approach of the Soeharto era, effective at one thing only: enriching a few hundred officials and tycoons at the expense of current and future generations of Indonesians. Or as biologist Anugerah Nontji of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences puts it, "in a country like Indonesia it is not practical, cost effective, or appropriate to have a top-down approach in which the government provides and implements all the management."
Throughout Wallacea, there is no shortage of local people with the desire, and much of the expertise, necessary to manage and conserve coral reefs. I've been fortunate to meet a number of them over the years. One is Pak Ely of Saparua Island in the Moluccas, a tribal leader whose family has been administering his village's sasi system-regulating fisheries, protecting sacred streams, keeping destructive fishers away from local reefs-for seven generations. Another is Pak Ahmat, a fisherman from the Togean Islands, who patrols local reefs against bombers and shows off his catch and his choice of gear for me: small hooks with bits of colored string attached: so simple. "We don't use bombs, just these hooks, and we don't hurt the coral," he explains with pride. And, of course, there are the rangers of Komodo National Park, their boats riddled with bullet holes.
Mark Erdmann recalls his recent experience setting up no-fishing zones in Bunaken National Park: "The last six months of working with villagers in Bunaken has made me an optimist. Indonesians are very close to the land, close to the sea. They understand that a small young fish doesn't produce many eggs, and they're willing to give it two or three years to see results. They're much more patient than Americans."
Activist Nina Dwisasanti of WWF-Wallacea is also optimistic, though she acknowledges Reformasi cuts both ways. "We in the NGO community have to race with the many investors who see decentralization as an opportunity to exploit the country's natural resources faster than ever. But there are so many recent examples of local communities, often with NGO help, organizing to protect their reefs from outside threats. With the brand-new flowering of NGOs operating now under our new more democratic system, I am optimistic for the future of our coral reefs."
Environmental journalist and former Worldwatch Institute researcher John C. Ryan is the author of several books, including Seven Wonders: Everyday Things for a Healthier Planet. He lives in Seattle.


text:
- News Releases
- Multimedia
- Fact Sheets
- Glossary
- Subscribe
- In the News
- Newsroom Contacts
Fluor Transurban Team Celebrates Early Opening of New I-495 Express Lanes in Northern Virginia
Governor and Dignitaries Conduct Ribbon-Cutting for New Express Lanes
Public Company Information:
IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) announced today that Capital Beltway Express LLC, a concession formed by Fluor and Transurban, has reached substantial completion for the new I-495 Express Lanes in Northern Virginia. Designed and built to relieve traffic congestion around the greater Washington, D.C. area, the four new high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes project was financed through an innovative public-private partnership between Fluor, Transurban and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).
The early opening was celebrated today with a ribbon cutting ceremony that was attended by numerous federal, state and local elected and appointed officials including Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez along with Fluor and Transurban representatives and members of the project team.
"The opening of the 495 Express Lanes means opportunity for Virginia," said Governor Bob McDonnell. "The project not only helped create jobs during construction, but will continue to make Northern Virginia a more attractive place to work and live. The Express Lanes will open the region for business by providing better access to key employer centers and delivering the infrastructure needed to grow businesses and create additional jobs."
"Fluor's innovative design-build solutions allowed the project to finish ahead of schedule, under budget and save several hundred homes that would have been impacted by the original plan," said Steve Dobbs, senior group president for Fluor's Industrial & Infrastructure Business Group. "We are especially gratified to be able to positively impact the local economy by opening the project early and supporting local businesses during one of their busiest shopping times of the year."
"Fluor is pleased to reach this important milestone and see the Express Lanes open a month ahead of schedule for local motorists," said Herb Morgan, senior vice president of Fluor's Infrastructure business. "Working with our colleagues at VDOT has been a pleasure and we look forward to building on those relationships as we commence the adjoining I-95 project."
"The public-private partnership method, used to bring the I-495 project to fruition, is an excellent example of how industry can successfully partner with government agencies to deliver needed improvements to state and local infrastructure," said Morgan.
The 495 Express Lanes project spans 14 miles of the Capital Beltway in northern Virginia just outside of the nation's capital. Completing the new lanes required the replacement of more than 57 bridges and upgrades to 12 key interchanges.
The project began in 2007 when Fluor-Transurban signed a Comprehensive Development Agreement with VDOT to design, construct, finance, and operate the new Express Lanes system. After a series of public meetings and environmental studies, the project was approved, funded, and construction began in the summer of 2008.
"We are proud of the hard work and dedication from our project team to make this project a success," said Mitch Lester, Fluor's I-495 project director. "The Capital Beltway is the second-highest traveled roadway in the nation, and the new Express Lanes will relieve a great deal of the current traffic congestion. We are appreciative of all the stakeholders in the region – local elected officials, businesses owners and the travelling public – who were patient and worked with us during this five-year project."
While completing the new Express Lanes, the Fluor-Lane design-build team reached a safety milestone in September 2012 by completing 5 million safe work hours without a lost time incident. The construction team achieved this success while working on an active highway on which more than 200,000 vehicles travel in and around the work zone each day.
For more information on the I-495 Express Lanes project and details on how to use the new lanes, please visit www.495expresslanes.com.
About Fluor Corporation
Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) designs, builds and maintains many of the world's most challenging and complex projects. Founded in 1912, the company was started by John Simon Fluor Sr. with a modest investment of $100. Since those humble beginnings, the company has grown into one of the largest engineering & construction companies in the world. Fluor is celebrating its 100th anniversary during 2012.
Today, through its global network of offices on six continents, the company provides comprehensive capabilities and world-class expertise in engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, operations, maintenance and project management. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Fluor is a FORTUNE 200 company and had revenue of $23.4 billion in 2011. For more information, visit www.fluor100.com and www.fluor.com.
Fluor Corporation
Media Relations
Keith Stephens, 469-398-7624
Brian Mershon, 469-398-7621
Investor Relations
Ken Lockwood, 469-398-7220
Jason Landkamer, 469-398-7222

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Direct approach best way to get product out there
With a little know-how, you could slash your marketing spend in 2013 with a few simple tweaks.
FINDING ways to achieve greater bang for your marketing buck is always high on the agenda for those in business.
If you're determined to make budget cuts, a brutal approach is the only way, says Kimberly Palmer, who wrote zerobudgetmarketing.com.
"Work out what you are spending time on that isn't getting any measurable result and kill it," she advises. "If you are getting all your leads from networking, put more time and effort into that, rather than booking ads for example. If you are spending an hour every day updating your social media, but are not getting any business results from it, it is time to question whether it is really right for your business.''
A tried and tested approach is to start by marketing to your own database, Palmer says. "These are people you already have a relationship with and don't have to spend any new funds to reach. Working out how to sell again or sell more to your existing customer base is the most cost-effective way to go. You want to be harnessing your database to help you spread the word, which is a cheap approach. No matter what your marketing budget, referral is still king, especially as social media becomes an even more dominant channel."
A mortgage broker, for example, doesn't sell something you buy every day, so could benefit greatly from sharing monthly updates on the state of the market, predictions for interest rate moves - the sort of things that are always of interest to their market, she says.
"I'm not talking about hitting them over the head with sales pitches, but sharing useful information, knowledge and content, with a touch of sale,'' Palmer says.
Partner marketing could also work well for some in business, she says.
"Putting together a cross promotion is often free or cheap for both businesses and works very well. Combining two small marketing budgets will be better than trying to spread the word on one small budget."
This could be as simple as including an offer in your newsletter for a fellow retail business. Alternatively, several retailers might put together a local shopping voucher booklet.
When putting together a marketing plan, focus on lead generation, not sales, Palmer adds. "Marketing rarely delivers sales, it delivers leads. If you change this mindset to lead generation, your marketing will start to be more successful and less costly," she says.
Cutting the costs of PR also could save on marketing costs. Website handleyourownpr.com.au gives business owners all the tips and tricks to run a PR campaign for free. Site founder Jules Brooke says the site helps business owners build a relationship with the media. Given that the average PR retainer is around $3000 a month, an SME could save about $36,000 a year.
Start by asking your PR firm to break down what they're doing for their retainer. Whatever your marketing approach was last year, a different approach may well be needed in 2013, says Sydney advertising executive Jon Holloway.
He says that as consumers seek out brands they connect with, the emphasis will be on telling the story of the people who put the business together. "This is the year to give consumers solutions to their problems, which may not even be recognised as marketing," he says.
Holloway says online marketing will stay a vital tool. "The power of online marketing is peaking now and many SMEs are not being smart about marketing dollars in this area.''


text:
This is the longest section in the instruction (206-217) on the Easter Vigil. I'm going to chop up the two paragraphs. I find this section rich, but pretty dense with the repeated phrase "renunciation of sin and profession of faith. The Church tries to lay out the connection of the two, such that they form one liturgical rite. The strong implication in this section is that a believer cannot compartmentalize her or his life. You can't profess faith without renouncing sin. You can't renounce sin, in the sense of deciding not to do wrong acts, without having an accompaniment of faith. Ultimately, the power resides outside of ourselves, or any decision we make, however good it might be.
211. In their renunciation of sin and profession of faith those to be baptized express their explicit faith in the paschal mystery that has already been recalled in the blessing of water and that will be connoted by the words of the sacrament soon to be spoken by the baptizing minister.
This is obvious, placing this ritual after the Scriptural references in the blessing of the water. It seems a bit of a liturgical break not to go directly from the blessing of the water directly to baptism. But the Church is wise to focus not on the materials of the rite, but on a natural progression in the expression of faith.
Adults are not saved unless they come forward of their own accord and with the will to accept God's gift through their own belief. The faith of those to be baptized is not simply the faith of the Church, but the personal faith of each one of them and each one of them is expected to keep it a living faith.
Adults cannot be saved when they lack a personal commitment: is this a valid corollary? Note that the will to be baptized is not a momentary impulse, but must be maintained through life. The strong implication is that the renunciation of sin and profession of faith is more than a liturgical act. It is an aspect of a continual conversion.
Why is this renunciation + profession linked to the dayof baptism and not separated out like other initiation rites? Because…
Therefore the renunciation of sin and the profession of faith are an apt prelude to baptism, the sacrament of that faith by which the elect hold fast to God and receive new birth from him. Because of the renunciation of sin and the profession of faith, which form the one rite, the elect will not be baptized merely passively, but will receive this great sacrament with the active resolve to renounce error and to hold fast to God. By their own personal act in renouncing sin and professing their faith, the elect, as was prefigured in the first covenant with the patriarchs, renounce sin and Satan in order to commit themselves for ever to the promise of the Savior and to the mystery of the Trinity. By professing their faith before the celebrant and the entire community, the elect express the intention, developed to maturity during the preceding periods of initiation, to enter a new covenant with Christ. Thus these adults embrace the faith that through divine help the Church has handed down, and are baptized in that faith.
It's really more than a last-minute, are-you-sure-you-want-to-do-this.


text:
Kraken in the Deep (or monsters just out of sight)
There is a Kraken in the Deep. Monsters that dwell just out of sight, out of mind, and reaching out across nightmares with tendrils so pervasive that it seems almost as if they interlace the entirety of those dreaming worlds. They range the backdrop seeking, moving, while unnamed, unthanked actors fill your mind with dreary, drowning, dizzy thoughts, and you are paralyzed. These actors are the dead, recently disposed, none of which could move on before being trapped here between your thoughts and those horrid creatures, in the Deep. In the Dark.
Few set foot there, fewer still survive it when they do. Certain people thorughout the history of time have managed, but always they come back… twisted, not quite right. Not just in the head, either. Some come back with twisted bodies. One limb out of proportion, one limb rended too high or too low. The whole thing is beyond human comprehension, but perhaps that's why the Kraken seek us out. Their minds need ours. Need that tantalizing transcendent thought process that allows us to ignore the lacing of their tentacles wrapped around our lives. Perhaps they crave what we have, life, love, adoration, notice, notariety. If this is the case, then why do they not speak in tongues other than whispered threats veiled beneath the sweet candy seduction of the world?
Or perhaps they are simply feeding. Like a frenzy of sharks, tearing us mind from mind, limb from limb, perhaps that is why they gather at the edges of our periphery, of our notice. Like Alice flailing down a dark hole, perhaps we too, are children lost in a garden far too dangerous for our comprehension. These creatures in the dark, these beings that dwell in the Deep places of the world. Perhaps they like us. Perhaps they wish us peace. In death, in dreaming, in desire. But that may not be the case. Long have their appendages scoured our minds, reaching in and finding new places to poke and prod.
These places, they fill up with seabrine and deep anguish. These places they deposit their stories next to Poe's raven and Shakespeare's Midsummer's dream. Places impossible to reach with a normal hand. Places that one cannot possibly experience alone, ever, never. These places, they fill up with sorrow and world-ending-heartbreak, or perhaps hunger. These places, are where dreams are made, dreams that taunt, tantalize, torture. These are the Deep places, in our mind, and in the world, and in the bits just out of sight, we are broken across them like waves on rocks, algae clinging, seaweed choking us in these newer, deeper places. We drift, along these currents, and perhaps that is where creation comes from.
Perhaps, we are simply the Eve to a new Adam. Perhaps these creatures need us more than we know.
Or perhaps they just want a good show with their dinner.more


text:
Mary Louise Parker's latest headlines have her breaking her engagement to Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Their relationship, which lasted for two years and was very rocky with break-ups being followed by reunions just for the cycle to continue. From A Socialite's Life, "Mary-Louise Parker and her fiance Jeffrey Dean Morgan have their engagement after a two-year […]
Entries Tagged 'Claire Danes' ↓
Mary Louise Parker Should Be a Soap Star
April 9th, 2008 — Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Courtney Cox, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jennifer Aniston, Mary-Louise Parker, Timothy Hutton


text:
I just checked channel 948 on Comcast. The Mtn. does indeed have a "placeholder" on the program guide for its HD broadcasts. There was no channel 948 earlier in the week.
Obviously I won't be in front of my TV for the Colorado-Colorado State. To be on the safe side, I'm using non-HD station 411 to record the game.


text:
Cycle Show 2010: Mountain bikes and gear round-up
Troy Lee gear, Tufo tubular tyres, plus hardtails from Sunn and NS
Fisher Outdoor Leisure were showing off the latest full-face helmets from Troy Lee Designs at this month's Cycle Show 2010 in London, including this eye-catching Medusa paintjob – one for the extroverts out there.
TLD's D2 and D3 lids are unchanged for 2011 but are available in a load of new designs, including some much more subtle options plus Sam Hill and Steve Peat signature editions.
The top-end carbon fibre D3 helmet is also now available in a cheaper – but still wallet-emptying, at £399.99 (US$375/395) – composite version, and apparently the "weight difference isn't big". RRP for the carbon D3 is £499.99 ($450), while the composite D2 is £249.99-£299.99 ($265/295).
Troy Lee also have an updated range of race kits, along with some more cross-country/trail orientated clothing, like the £86.99 ($129) Ace shorts pictured here. They're made of a stretchy yet durable polyester/spandex mix, with plenty of ventilation, a removable liner and reflective detailing.
Tufo were displaying their range of tubular mountain bike tyres – ie. ones that you have to glue onto your rims – on UK distributors Sonic Cycles' stand. What's the advantage over tubeless/UST setups? Tubs can be run at much lower pressures, which means improved traction and comfort.
There are also weight saving benefits – because you can extract more grip than usual from a lighter, low-profile tread – and tubular aficionados sometimes talk of a more 'connected' trail feel. Tubs are already popular with some top-level World Cup cross-country racers, and we're expecting some of the bigger manufacturers to bring out their own versions soon.
For 2011, Tufo have a new XC4 tread design, pictured above, designed for hardpack and rocky terrain. Available in a 26×2.2in size only, claimed weight is 550g. It joins their existing XC1 (file-tread), XC2 ('arrowhead' knobs) and XC3 (wider spaced, higher blocks) tubular designs.
Jim Walker had some very nice looking new Sunn mountain bikes on their stand. In addition to a revised Radical downhill rig and new Charger enduro downhill bike, the French company have updated their hardcore hardtail, the Tzar.
With a 150mm-travel RockShox Sektor fork up front, and a frame made from double-butted 4130 chromoly, the Tzar is ready for anything you can throw at it. The top-end S1 model (£1,799.99) uses Truvativ's HammerSchmidt planetary gearing system and Formula RX brakes, while the S2 (£1,099.99) gets 24-speed SRAM X5 and Avid Elixir 3s.
Another bike that caught our eye was this rigid-forked S2 version of Sunn's Modular trail hardtail. For £899.99 you get a double-butted 4130 chromoly frame and fork, Avid Elixir 3 brakes and SRAM X5/X7 shifting kit.
The frame is designed around a 120mm-travel suspension fork, so you can always sub one in later – or upgrade to the £1,299.99 Modular S1 which comes with a RockShox Recon. The £699.99 Seasons S1 looks like another good buy for hardtail fans on a tight budget.
NS Bikes
Not strictly on show at Cycle Show 2010 – they were actually displayed at Hotlines' expo on the other side of London – but worthy of a mention are the latest frames from Polish company NS Bikes. NS are known for their hardtail jump bikes, as used by Martin Soderstrom.
However, they've developed a prototype signature full-suspension rig for the Swedish star to use at slopestyle competitions – the Soda – and this looks likely to go into production at some point, although pricing and availability have yet to be decided. Two versions are likely to be made: a slopestyle variant with 100mm of travel and an all-mountain iteration (pictured below) with 150-170mm.
Back on the hardtail side of things, the Majesty is Soderstrom's ride of choice, with a strong but light, heat-treated, 3D-butted and internally black oxidised (to protect against rust) 4130 chromoly frame. Features include removable cable routing, straight dropouts (slimmed down for 2011), a Spanish bottom bracket and press-fit headset. Frame RRP is £449.99.


text:
One of the many wonderful things about living on the Emerald Coast is the chance we locals have to avail ourselves of amenities visitors take for granted.
DESTIN � One of the many wonderful things about living on the Emerald Coast is the chance we locals have to avail ourselves of amenities visitors take for granted.
Harry T�s Lighthouse Restaurant at HarborWalk Village is an excellent example.
The Food
Harry T�s had just switched to a new menu the day we arrived for lunch, so a take-out version wasn�t available for me to grab for reference. It has, however, been updated on their website.
The only issue this created came when it was time for dessert, which we�ll get to in a minute.
We started our meal with the Nacho Grande appetizer. Other choices on the extensive �T�sers� menu include smoked tuna dip, oysters Rockefeller, chilled boiled shrimp, calamari and mussels.
The nachos were, indeed, grande, and we should have opted for a half-order. They were a multi-layered concoction of cheesy goodness.
My guest noted, �There�s good stuff all the way to the bottom, not just piled on top.�
I chose the combo basket for my entr�e: four jumbo shrimp and two strips of flounder fried a golden brown.
The shrimp were huge, each taking three or four bites to consume. They were delicious.
I particularly enjoyed the flounder, which was delicately breaded and cooked to flaky perfection.
The combo comes with two tasty jalapeno bits-laced hush puppies and a small cup of traditional cole slaw.
You also get to choose either cheese grits or fries. I went with the grits, which proved an excellent call because they were served in their own oval sidedish and made with smoky Gouda cheese. Yum!
My guest chose the smoky chicken sandwich, which was a new item. It came with fries.
He said the sandwich was good, and admitted he probably would have enjoyed it even more if he hadn�t polished off the Nachos Grande.
The seasoned fries had good flavor, but some were a bit overcooked and crunchy.
For dessert, my guest chose the Key lime pie and, at our server�s suggestion, I picked the strawberry shortcake without the addition of ice cream. Unfortunately, the shortcake had been cut from the new menu and was no longer available, so I went with Key lime, too.
I loved the unique presentation, and my guest spooned up every morsel. Be forewarned: This is definitely a tart version of the classic treat.
Harry T�s menu also offers burgers, soups (including its award-winning gumbo), salads, other sandwiches, specialties, other baskets, pastas and a menu just for children.
Every Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. brunch is offered with items such as a variety of omelets, pancakes, waffles, eggs Benedict and more.
Also during brunch, there�s �bottomless champagne� for a special price with food purchase. Tables on either side of us were taking advantage of that offer.
The atmosphere
Harry T�s is a fun, lively place even on an unseasonably blustery May morning when the heaters were on and the heavy plastic windows were zipped up to keep diners on the outside deck warm.
We were seated on the deck, where the gorgeous view of Destin Harbor is part of the experience.
There�s also some seating inside, and, as of Memorial weekend, our server said the full menu would be available upstairs in the bar and at the tables that sit right down on the dock.
In fact, we took a walk along the dock after our meal.
The service
Our server, Joni, couldn�t have been nicer or more eager to make our experience at Harry T�s enjoyable.
She took extra care to time our courses right and made sure we had everything we needed, from cocktail sauce and tartar sauce to refills of our tea.
She was every bit as attentive to her other tables, too.
When she found out we were local and, yet, this was our first visit to Harry T�s, she encouraged to us to come back, especially to enjoy the restaurant in warmer weather.
A final taste
Before we ever left Harry T�s that day, I already knew I wanted to go back.
Harry T's Lighthouse Restaurant
46 Harbor Blvd. HarborWalk Village Destin
Open at 11 a.m. daily; open 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday
Not accepted
Handicap accessibility
Children�s menu
Price range
Brunch items
Soups and salads
Burgers and sandwiches
Steamers, platters, baskets
Specialities and pasta
Credit cards accpeted


text:
The U.S. State Department says it has revoked the diplomatic visas for four Honduran officials working in its interim government.
The announcement comes as the United States has been pressing for Honduras to allow the return of exiled President Manuel Zelaya.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly did not specify Tuesday the names of the four officials, who he said are not in the United States. Kelly said that the department is reviewing the visas of all members of the interim government.
He said the revocations was in keeping with the U.S. policy of not recognizing the interim government.
Zelaya was ousted by the military after trying to hold a referendum that would allow him to remain in power. The referendum had been ruled unconstitutional by Honduras' high court.


text:
A retired B.C. teacher who was previously disciplined for professional misconduct has pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting two young people more than a decade ago and administering a stupefying drug to one of them.
Russell Lance Read, whose last teaching assignment was at Citadel middle school in Port Coquitlam, entered guilty pleas last month in B.C. Provincial Court and is expected to be back in court March 18 for a pre-sentence report.
Neil MacKenzie of the Attorney General's criminal justice branch said one charge related to offences between July 1998 and February 2000 while the other two were between January 2001 and June 2003. Read was charged with sexual exploitation because he was in a position of trust or authority with the victims, MacKenzie said in an interview, but he wouldn't say whether they were his students.
Contacted by The Vancouver Sun, Read declined to comment.
The B.C. College of Teachers, previously the profession's self-regulatory body, cancelled Read's teaching license in 2006 for nonpayment of fees and began investigating him for professional misconduct based on confidential information submitted by a school official.
A discipline hearing was held in 2008 and Read admitted to professional misconduct while he was employed as a middle school teacher, including sending an email to a Grade 12 student that referred to her and others as "grade 12 babes," giving a Grade 12 girl information about the Wicca religion and telling inappropriate sexual jokes to Grade 8 students.
The hearing also concluded that he had given a recreational drug to a young female between January 1979 and December 1983 while working as a teacher at a band school. It also determined that he had a sexual encounter with the girl, who was not a student of his but whom he knew to be a minor.
All combined, his behaviour required "a very serious response," the college stated while barring him from teaching for at least 10 years.
Read more education news at http://vancouversun.com/reportcard


text:
Robin Gibb: Bee Gees, Night Fevers, Disco Apocalypse & Gone
It started with those swinging paint cans… the jaunty walk… the crease so sharp you could shave with it in the double knit pants… and a world I had no idea about. It all crested on foamy waves of glistening three part harmony, the top so high only dogs could truly appreciate it.
"You can tell… by the way… I use my walk… I'm a ladies man… no time to talk…"
"Jive Talking… telling me lies…"
"Blamin' it all… on… the nights… on Broadway…"
"Night fever… night feverrrrrr…"
"More than a woman… to…. meeeeeeeee…"
And the near-threat of the sinister enjoinder, "You should be… (swoop swoop) daaaa-annnncin'…."
It was everywhere. If the earlier singles had been treacly and challenging of my young patience – I also hated Barry Manilow and that damn dog Mandy with an unholy fervor – this was inescapable. It was in TIME magazine. Parents were trying to learn to "do tha hustle…," wearing gold medallions dangling overt their scandalously open rayon shirts.
This was not the pink and green suburbs, this was bridge and tunnel.crowd Kids aspiring to another world, or possibly even eschewing it in the name of their own euphoric, tantric golden-footed high. Because like music, dancing releases endorphins in a mighty way.
"Night fever… night fee-vurrrrrr…."
They wore white satin, tight pants, had perfectly coiffed hair. They were like Cyclops or unicorns, mythical beasts – unlike the Daddies where I grew up. My friends were crazy for them. Especially crazy for Barry, who'd once again don the white satin for his big duet with Barbra Streisand on the even foamier "Guilty," not to mention the glaringly pop fondant of Kenny'n'Dolly romping through a Gibbs-penned "Islands in the Stream."
Sheesh, they were disco. In a way even Donna Summer, who passed last week at the far too young age of 63, wasn't. Somehow, they managed to exude nightclub fabulosity without any suggestion of the seamy demi-monde that seemed so intriguing about too much of disco's glory.
They were squeaky clean, not Warholian. The parents loved them. Heck, the ethnic kids all around Cleveland, Ohio could be seen everywhere in the sans-a-belt slacks and the rayon shirts, gloriously unbuttoned to reveal virgin skin.
None of them were testosteronic enough to actually have chest hair, something the BeeGess seemed to have in glorious abundance, all blown dry and back-combed. They were Ken Dolls, sexually non-threatening, yet somehow manly and desirable.
It was easy to write them off. Until you had a friend who knew something about music listen with you. They'd point out the swooping harmonies… They'd talk about the percussive dynamics, the grooves that would scoop you up… The way the melodies were almost aerodynamically constructed.
"So, you're telling me…," the argument would begin, "that these guys are musically sound?"
"Fraid so," would come the reply. "Unfortunately, there's a whole lot more Beachboys in here than you want to believe… And just because it's not so clean and perky, don't think that the musicality is any the less."
I said a bad word. It started with "F."
I had to reconsider everything. Everything.
Whirling like a disco ball with colored lights pointed every which way, the music just kept churning, turning asunder and rushing towards those hooks that glide up, higher, higher, higher. Lyle Lovett may've written about "An Acceptable Level of Ecstasy," but this was the aural equivalent of an amyl nitrate capsule busted beneath your nose.
Not that I did whippets or whipping cream canisters. But I knew the sketchy kids, and they loved the stuff. Talking in that same falsetto squeal, sucking on helium and acting like outlaws.
Maybe the technical achievement warranted extra consideration. I just couldn't tell anyone… I mean, really?
And, truth be told, it was thrilling to see John Travolta burn down the dance floor, all liquid and serpentine, snap movements and quick spins. Nine years of modern dance, a lifetime of "dancing school" to properly ballrioom and an odd addiction to the jitterbug with my friend John Griener who could flip, roll and slide me any number of gravity-defying ways.
Flesh covered poetry, melted like caramel maybe. Better than figure skating… and somehow libido-inducing, even for a kid whose hormones hadn't kicked in yet.
It was a time: those thick harmonies of "How Deep Is Your Love." Pillowy or downy. Like jumping into silky clouds or whipped cream mountains that you'd never hit the bottom of. Narcotic in a super-sweet way.
Play that stuff late enough at the Ground Floor's subterranean lounge, and the quiana dresses would swirl as the gropping and steam began to rise. You could only hope melt into another, the forensics suggested to a kid with dinner plate-sized eyes, sitting in a banquette taking it all in. And take it in I did.
So, this was the suburban jungle – and the Bee Gees, if not the guide, were certainly the game caller. Effective. Technically excellent. A veritable trampoline of hormones and want to, blown dry to perfectly feathered hair, an Italian horn or coke spoon dangling down where the buttons found the holes and the heels always flashing, the soles and hips moving snap snap snap.
To not know is frustrating, but somehow sweet.
Sitting here, thinking Robin Gibb had been the miracle we all needed to believe in, I wish I didn't understand. I wish – with all the death that's been tumbling since Steve Popovich checked out last spring – that this pinwheel of untimely deaths could… just… STOP.
62, 63 is young. Too young. And these are not deaths by misadventure. Too many good times coming home to roost; the eternal Russian roulette of high living, fast cars and the disco inferno of random coupling in a bathroom or balcony beyond the falling starlight of a refracted mirror ball.
No, this is cancer. The thing we've been trying to cure fo decades– but that is taking more, not fewer lives as chemo barns and dialysis centers become profit centers. It's what no one wants to say…
And like my innocence, it lays slaughtered if undiscussed before me.
But we're getting to the point where whistling by the graveyard isn't working any more. It's too hard to pretend all these hands aren't getting folded, one after another, every week it seems. Heck, every day if you're really paying attention.
Earl Scruggs so profound a passing, no one mourned Doug Dillard, who dieded last week. Or Robert Nix, the drummer from Atlanta Rhythm Section, who found his way to the next realm at 4 a.m. on Sunday; I only know from Georgia Satellite Dan Baird's Facebook page, where a sucker-punched gap-toothed rocker posted from the precipice of his own disblief...
Dillard, obviously, because of both his stamp on Southern California country rock from the Eagles to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, as well as being one of "Those Darlings" on "The Beverly Hillbillies" has a certain amount of roots traction, but what about a guy whose band's greatest claim to fame may be turning the turntable from 33 1/3 RPMs to 45 RPMs when playing the single "Imaginary Lover" yielded a performance that was oddly similar to Stevie Nicks during Fleetwood Mac's witchiest success?
They are falling like dominos. It's getting to where every day you expect to hear about the next one. You won't know why, or how… Just that we're hemorrhaging these artists, these forces of music back when music really, really meant something.
Even the stuff you didn't really like: it stamped you in ways that defined you.
Each one who passes, like rhinestones on a Nudie Suit or sequins on a disco tube top: enough go and you feel moth-eaten, shabby, bare. More like a welfare motel than a place like the Chelsea once was. Not squalid chic, just broke down like a hooker who's turned too many tricks and can't remember the Johns names any more.
"Baby, right/" you say, too numb to even engage, too disoriented for anything more than getting through it.
Worst part is, I never got jaded. Some hit me harder than others, but they all gut me in different ways. These deaths all tell me things about the passing of time, bony fingers tugging at my wrist, papery whispers echoing in my ear about inevitability.
Wasn't it all supposed to be gay and fey and shining? A miracle of tempos, white people finding the beat, tossing their Well Balsom'ed manes as the blocks of dance floor light up beneath their feet.
Isn't that how I remembered it? Isn't that how it was? So how does it all end like this?
Ronnie Dunn won the CMA Song of the Year for a rafter-clearing gospel ballad called "Believe," It contains the lines: "I can't quote the book, the chapter or the verse/
But you can't tell me it all ends… with a slow ride in a hearse…"
It's hard to believe these days. What to think, heck what to know.
Everything you ever thought is shifting. Even as the rhythms rise up, wave after wave of harmonies breaking all around you, the memories flooding back.
It's the end of another day, another star has twinkled that last time, surged bright than black. There's a void where the light once shone, and my eyes sting from the tears and the squinting.
This is more than vulnerable, teetering here on the abyss of gone, gone and more gone. What was once an object of parental torture, watching adults do things incredibly embarrassing, while telling you "hey, I'm hip…" That was agonizing and laughable. Ironically, now that I've attained the age of reason and knowing, it's just agonizing – and I'm not, as Todd Rundgren sang, sure what to feel.
I can put on my disco slippers, slide into the night, turn a couple New York Hustle steps, raise a glass of champagne and think about "Auntie Mame." She the lose-it-all-and-laugh broad who declared, "Life is a banquet, and most of you sonspfbitches are starving."
Yeah, maybe that's the post-disco-decadence-apocalypse battle cry.
Live now. Live deep. Live real. Live out loud.
Take it all in. Taste and savor. Touch and exult in the texture of skin, salt, loss, velvet, satin, burlap, canvas, but especially love.
I find myself – a person chronically closing phone calls with "I love you" anyway – making sure people really know. Because we don't know. Anything more than right now, anything more than here we are. Maybe that's enough, maybe that's all there is.
Maybe we should just throw our hands in the air, and enjoy the ride. After all, there's no money back and it is what we – like Robin Gibb – make it.


text:
Fred Phelps, Apostle of Hate And Bigotry, Meets His Maker
Fred Phelps
Fred Phelps, best known as the Pastor of Westboro Baptist Church, one of the most vehemently anti-gay religious leaders of modern history, died March 19. He spent decades blaming nearly every catastrophe on the accommodation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people by the U.S. government and churches like the United Church of Christ.
Phelps and the members of his church --mostly his family members-- protested LGBT events and gatherings, the funerals of soldiers and various private citizens bearing signs of hate and judgment.
Except for the exercise of free speech rights, nothing about his message or actions represented the values of good citizenship, much less the values of faith. Phelps was a lightning rod, a caricature of rudeness and disrespect, and as such, he made it easy for many to disregard and dismiss him as merely a crazy extremist fanatic. He has not been the only religious leader to spread the false doctrine of hate.
Evangelicals such as Scott Lively, Lou Engle and Larry Jenkins, continue to work throughout the world to enshrine their bigotry in anti-gay legislation, notably in Uganda, Nigeria, and Russia. Having essentially lost the battle against equal rights for LGBT in the United States, these evangelicals are counting on complacency from progressives as they take their anti-gay movement abroad.
The actions of Phelps and others have caused harm to many and have too frequently been met by silence from other religious leaders who failed to give witness to the values of love, compassion and peace. These are the values which are at the core of every major religion in the world, including Christianity. And, among the guiding principles that undergird Christian ethics are do no harm and honor the God-given worth and dignity of every person worth and dignity that human judgment cannot set aside.
Religious leadership has a vital role to play in stopping the rhetoric of hate and ending the use of the Bible and other religious texts as a weapon to demean and devalue people. An essential task is for religious leadership to create safe spaces for dialogue about sexuality, sexual orientation and gender identity.
The purpose of such conversations need not be to change the moral convictions of those in the room, but to work together to build understanding, identify the things that make the community safe for everyone, and commit to holding each other accountable to respect the dignity and worth of every child of God.
Fred Phelps has gone to meet his maker, who is and will be the ultimate judge. Thus, I pray God have mercy and offer my condolences to Fred's family. In spite of the harmful witness and actions of Phelps, my prayer is that God is still speaking and present to him and that in his home-going he may yet be transformed by the very power of God's all-inclusive love.
But, this is now between Fred and God, and our work continues — to heal the breach and further the work of love, justice, and equality on earth.
Michael Schuenemeyer is Executive for Health and Wholeness Advocacy for the United Church of Christ.
Latest comments
- Ann GarrisonFebruary 22,2018 @ 08:03 PM
I think you have "Filtered HTML" turned on here. If you switch to "Full HTML," it will probably...
googletag.pubads().definePassback('6785150/BENN/BlackStarNews', [[300,250]]).setTargeting('fold',['BTF']).display();


text:
Yanni Voice: PBS Special
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Remember My Post reviewing the Yanni Voices CD and DVD I received? Well, it's time for the PBS Specials! Are you ready?!
The specials started airing on PBS in the past couple of days, and I am here to share with you when you can watch it:
Here in Maryland, you can click HERE for the showtimes on MPT. For those of you who live elsewhere, you can click HERE to locate your locate your local PBS station, and even search for showtimes like I did above.
If you have never listened to Yanni's music before, now is the time. I never had listened to him before, but after this, I think I will. This is a great CD and DVD and the PBS Special is not to be missed!
Here's some links for you to check out for more information:
Yanni Voices PBS Event: http://tr.im/gN1C
PBS Special Air Dates: http://tr.im/gN1F
PBS Special Teaser Video: http://tr.im/gUJD
Special thanks to One 2 One Network for providing me with some new music!


text:
The claims were made by Jesus Vicente "El Vicentillo" Zambada-Niebla, who was arrested by the Mexican military in 2009 and extradited to the U.S. for trial on federal drug-trafficking charges. Prosecutors accused him of serving as the "logistical coordinator" for the Sinaloa cartel. He responded earlier this year by invoking a "public authority" defense — essentially arguing that since he was working for the U.S. government under an agreement, he cannot be prosecuted.
The cartel's arrangement with American officials apparently began through Mexican attorney and Sinaloa-Cartel figure Humberto Loya-Castro sometime before 2004. After being indicted in 1995, Loya eventually agreed to provide information on rival criminal organizations to U.S. authorities.
"In return, the United States government agreed to dismiss the prosecution of the pending case against Loya, not to interfere with his drug trafficking activities and those of the Sinaloa Cartel, to not actively prosecute him ... and the leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel, and to not apprehend them," the motion filed by Zambada-Niebla's attorney explains.
On top of that, Loya was allowed to sit in on Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) meetings — even when they had to do with the Sinaloa Cartel. American officials also promised not to share information they had on the organization with the Mexican government.
"In addition, the defense has evidence that from time to time, the leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel was informed by agents of the DEA through Loya that United States government agents and/or Mexican authorities were conducting investigations near the home territories of cartel leaders so that the cartel leaders could take appropriate actions to evade investigators," the document claims.
Eventually, Zambada-Niebla met directly with U.S. officials in Mexico City "for the purpose of his continuing to provide information to the DEA and the United States government personally, rather than through Loya," the document says.
Apparently the drug boss was told he would not be arrested and that the agents, who already knew about his cooperation, simply wanted to keep getting information. "Mr. Zambada-Niebla was also told that the arrangements with him had been approved at the highest levels of the United States government," according to the filing.
Zambada-Niebla supposedly accepted the deal and offered information after being promised that a pending indictment against him would be dismissed and "he would have immunity from arrest, prosecution, and any further charges."
Shortly after the meeting with American agents, however, Zambada-Niebla was arrested by Mexican authorities. Now he wants the U.S. government documents to prove his story in court, but the feds are apparently not cooperating in full.
Among the evidence sought by the defense are documents pertaining to the now-infamous Operation "Fast and Furious." Under that program, the U.S. federal government — with approval from the highest levels of the administration — deliberately put high-powered American weaponry in the hands of Mexican cartels, often at taxpayer expense. The plan has resulted in thousands of deaths so far, including the slayings of more than a few U.S. and Mexican law-enforcement officers.
"It is clear that some of the weapons were deliberately allowed by the FBI and other government representatives to end up in the hands of the Sinaloa Cartel," the motion states, arguing that the relevant documents will prove that the U.S. government gave the cartel weapons pursuant to the agreement between Zambada-Niebla's organization and American officials.
Another important argument made by the defense is that Zambada-Niebla and his alleged associates are hardly the first criminals to receive protection and aid from American authorities. "The United States government and its various agencies have a long history of providing benefits, permission, and immunity to criminals and their organizations to commit crimes, including murder," notes the motion, citing multiple examples.
Similarly, under the U.S. agreement with the Sinaloa Cartel, the organization's leaders "were given carte blanche to continue to smuggle tons of illicit drugs into Chicago and the rest of the United States and were also protected by the United States government from arrest and prosecution," the motion claims. "Indeed, United States government agents aided the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel."
Apparently there were many other benefits, too. "United States government agents did not share any of the information they received relating to the Sinaloa Cartel with the Mexican government and the leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel was kept informed of both Mexican and United States government operations in areas near their location," the document says.
Among the many examples of American agents allowing and protecting wanton criminality by criminals working for them is an extraordinarily heinous crime that Zambada-Niebla's defense is also seeking information about — the 2003 "House of Death" murders in Juarez. In that case, U.S. government informants slaughtered over a hundred people, even though American officials knew it was going to happen and could have prevented it.
"As confirmed in the Joint Assessment Report prepared by government authorities investigating those murders, agents of the United States government had prior knowledge that murders were going to be committed by their informants but did not take any measures to either inform the Mexican government or the intended victims," the court filing notes. "The government determined that the killings of over a hundred Mexican citizens was an acceptable price to pay for enabling them to continue their narcotics investigations."
When news of the "public authority" defense first broke with a court filing earlier this year, it received almost no coverage in the American press despite causing a media firestorm in Latin America. That has changed in recent days, however, with several newspapers and wire services covering the case.
Of course, the U.S. government has been caught smuggling drugs numerous times in recent decades. And the bombshell revelations surrounding Operation Fast and Furious have only added fuel to the fire.
Former FBI and DEA officials cited by Narco News said there is a very real possibility that Zambada-Niebla was indeed working for the U.S. government. As more information comes out, a clearer picture of what was really going on is expected to emerge.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys refused to comment about the case when reached by The New American earlier this year. But in a response filed in late July — right before the most recent motion submitted by the defense — U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald denied that Zambada-Niebla was operating under "public authority." He did not, however, deny that Zambada-Niebla was a U.S. government asset, or that there was some type of agreement.
The prosecution has until early-to-mid September to enter a response to the July 29 motion filed by the defense. For now, Zambada-Niebla is being held in solitary confinement in Chicago waiting for trial early next year.
Artist's drawing of Vicente Zambada Niebla: AP Images
Related articles:


text:
Majesco shares dive
Zumba Fitness publisher sees share value dip 34 percent after earnings report; confirms closure of Boston office, layoffs at QA facility.
Zumba Fitness publisher sees share value dip 34 percent after earnings report; confirms closure of Boston office, layoffs at QA facility.
Zumba Fitness publisher said to have enacted substantial round of layoffs at Brockhampton, United Kingdom office.
EA Sports' football title spends all of January in the number one position on the UK chart, holding off new entry Resident Evil: Revelations.
FIFA 12 is still the only title to have topped the charts in 2012, while Star Wars: The Old Republic clings on at 37.
Majesco's sequel to dance exercise game crosses 1 million sold milestone, helping push publisher's bottom line into positive territory for full year.
DICE's shooter retains the top spot, while Uncharted 3 debuts at number two, Sonic Generations in the top 10.
Fourth biggest launch of the year sees Batman: Arkham City top the UK Charts, Football Manager 2012 debuts in third; Dance Central 2 debuts at 40.
FIFA 12 booted from top spot after most successful Xbox 360 racing game launch in UK history; Just Dance 3 debuts in third.
Movement of EA pigskin sim into September reporting period has software sales down 37 percent; Deus Ex takes top spot on chart dominated by casual and licensed titles.
Zumba Fitness sales top 2 million worldwide as publisher plans BloodRayne: Betrayal launch by end of July.
Sega takes its long-running tennis franchise into the motion-controlled arena for the first time.
It's crunch time for Crytek as the developer prepares to release its first console first-person shooter after a history of power-hungry PC games.
[UPDATE] Microsoft's console sets record as latest COD proves most popular software in US history with 13.7 million units sold; domestic sales up 3% overall.
Wedbush's Michael Pachter breaks down NPD data, with Microsoft's console coming out on top; Donkey Kong Country Returns sales come in at about 166,500.
Sinking hardware, software sales send overall stateside revenues sliding; Just Dance 2, Dead Space 2, Little Big Planet 2, Zumba Fitness make top 10.
Microsoft says its motion-sensing system is on track to hit 5 million units sold by year's end.
Nintendo revives one franchise and celebrates another with this week's releases.
Xbox director of incubation tells NPR nobody will get in trouble for writing code that supports motion-sensing camera on non-Xbox 360 devices.
MIT student links Microsoft's motion-sensing camera to iRobot, uses it for 3D mapping, gesture command.
New release slate led by Ubisoft's stealth action game, EA's racer reboot, NBA Jam; other notable launches include Harry Potter 7: Part 1, EA Sports Active 2.0, Apache: Air Assault.
UBM Tech Insights opens up Microsoft's new motion-control technology and prices out each of the components within.
[UPDATE] Software giant says engineer's linking of camera-based system to Windows 7 PC does not constitute hacking.
Motion-sensing system to have 12 titles on day one and five more by end of month; Fighters Uncaged, Harry Potter added to debut lineup.
Dance those pounds away in our first look at the latest fitness game.
Use your keyboard!
Log in to comment


text:
Civil War Pop Music: Divided & United
On a new CD, contemporary artists revive the era's songs
With its lilting melodic hook and melancholy story line, "Listen to the Mockingbird," an 1855 lament sung by a grieving widower for his lost love, sounded "as sincere as the laughter of a little girl at play," said Abraham Lincoln.
Abe knew a hit when he heard one. One of the best-selling songs of his era—its sheet music would eventually sell more than 20 million copies—"Listen to the Mockingbird" served as a salve to listeners during the Civil War, its sorrowful image of a songbird singing over a loved one's grave resonated in a divided and grieving nation.
Best remembered as a children's lullaby today—and once abused by Barney—the song receives an unadorned, mournful reading by Stuart Duncan and Dolly Parton in "Divided & United: The Songs of the Civil War" (due Nov. 5 from Ato Records ).
A 32-song double CD collection of rootsy and acoustic, stripped-down and emotion-packed renderings of tunes of the day, the album features a stellar lineup of old-guard Nashville stalwarts like Ms. Parton and Loretta Lynn ("Take Your Gun and Go, John") and clangorous newcomers.
The album mixes new takes on old tunes like "Dixie" (by Karen Elson and the Secret Sisters) and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (Angel Snow) with a raucous partisan Yankee stomp like Shovels & Rope's "The Fall of Charleston" and the rebel reel "Secesh" (The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band)—songs that have been in mothballs since Appomattox.
Some tunes sound like after-action reports telegraphed from the front. Among them are T Bone Burnett's dirge, "The Battle of Antietam," and Ricky Skaggs ' "Two Soldiers," about Union soldiers caught in the deadly fire from the heights at Fredericksburg in 1862.
"I was hoping not to dust off antiques, but to capture the complex vitality of the era in song," says the album's producer, Randall Poster, a Hollywood music supervisor ("Moonrise Kingdom;" "Boardwalk Empire") and sometime record producer ("Rave On Buddy Holly"), who spent two years compiling original sheet music and old recordings, and enlisting musicians. "There is such a wealth of musical material from that time. And it all springs from such a tumultuous variety of emotions. You have families torn apart, mothers losing their children, brother versus brother conflicts, people rallying behind one side or the other. All that is expressed in the music.
"And for people who took such pride in the birth of America less than 100 years before, to see it ripping apart before their eyes must have been unbearable torture."
So painfully split, Mr. Poster adds, the nation found solace—and a "sense of shared humanity"—in song. "That's what I had in mind with the title," he says. "In spite of our seemingly unbridgeable differences, we are united through music."
"Every cut on the album sounds so raw and real," says Lee Ann Womack, who contributes just such a track—"The Legend of the Rebel Soldier," about a Confederate private dying in a Yankee prison cell. "When you hear that music and listen to those lyrics, it is almost as if you can actually begin to feel what it must have been like to live then, to be a soldier during the Civil War; if you've ever felt any kind of pain—that is what translates."
When the invitation came from Mr. Poster to pick a song to contribute to "Divided & United," Texas-reared troubadour Steve Earle chose a pair—the portentous Yankee ballad "Just Before the Battle, Mother" by George F. Root, and its Rebel parody, "Farewell, Mother." Mr. Earle and collaborator Dirk Powell combined the two to create what historian Sean Wilentz, who wrote liner notes for the album, calls "an antiwar song that is less a song protesting war than it is a song protesting songs that glorify war."
Himself a self-described "real-life musicologist," Mr. Earle says that "Just Before the Battle, Mother," about a Union soldier who can see enemy banners waving across the field where, he well knows, he may soon be "numbered with the slain," was as popular as any iTunes download is today. "A lot of sheet music of that song was sold—and that was what the music business was in those days. Singers would busk new songs on street corners and sell the sheet music for a commission from the publishers."
Within months of the original song's publication, Mr. Earle says, the parody version—in which Root's Union soldier high-tails it to the rear at the moment the Rebels begin their charge—was being sung in saloons and on street corners in the South and by soldiers in the Confederate ranks.
"So many people died, man," says Mr. Earle, who is well versed in the history of the war that took more than half a million lives and bitterly laments the plight of soldiers on both sides who were caught in it. "We were learning more and more efficient ways to kill people."
Among the non-Nashville artists who appear on the album are John Doe, the L.A. punk avatar (X) who performs "Tenting on the Old Campground," and former Jefferson Airplane guitarist and Hot Tuna founder Jorma Kaukonen, who Mr. Poster says, "is a long-standing music idol of mine. He was one of the first people I asked to record for this album. His version of `The Mermaid Song' transports me. When I asked him how he liked [the finished version], he said the recording reminded him of why he started playing guitar in the first place."
Ms. Elson's heartbeat-slow version of "Dixie" highlights the Confederate anthem's ambiguous origins: According to additional liner notes written by New Lost City Ramblers founding member John Cohen, the song was written for the blackface minstrel stage of the day, by a Yankee with abolitionist leanings. Yet it would become, to composer Daniel Decatur Emmett 's dismay, a defiant rallying cry for the Confederacy.
Chris Hillman performs "Hard Times," Stephen Foster 's pre-Civil-War lament for the poor. "I used to think it was a song from the early 1960s, not the 1860s," says the country-rock founding father (the Byrds ; Flying Burrito Brothers ).
His track is produced by Joe Henry, who also sings a minstrel song called "Aura Lee," from 1861 about a "maid of golden hair."
"That melody you might have heard before," Mr. Hillman says. "It's `Love Me Tender.' "
Copyright ©2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8


text:
Product Description
When fishing big water, the amount you can cover often makes the difference between catching fish and getting skunked. A two-handed rod with a shooting type head can make this job much less taxing than banging out double hauls all day. As the day progresses, you decide to move to smaller water or stalk cruising fish in the shallows; this is where all that double haul practice and a great one-hander pay off.
Temple Fork Outfitters introduces a most unique concept… Imagine a two-handed rod and a 4-piece 9-foot rod that will fit in the same length case. TFO now has two lower rod sections designed to replace the single-handed grip section on existing 7- and 8-weight 9′ 4-piece TiCrX fly rods. With a total of 6 rod sections of equal length you can now have both, a great 9′ 4-piece traditional fly rod, and a 5-piece 11'3″ two-hander for easy overhead distance casting. Convertible rods.
Offered separately from the 9′ 4 piece rod, the TiCrX two-handed conversion sections include a full two-handed grip with Flor grade cork and heavy-duty knurled reel seat, large Titanium Oxide stripping guides and handsome rod sock. One basic rod—two easily convertible applications enable you to cover the water like you never before thought possible.


text:
RV Forum flags - click HERE
A lot depends on where you live and what else you do with the truck... We also travel through the upper Midwest in the winter to visit family. It is awfully nice to have 4WD when traveling across Wyoming, Nebraska, Minnesota, etc. in the winter! In other words, we would get 4WD on our vehicles no matter whether we are using them with a truck camper or a travel trailer (what we pull with our truck) or not towing/carrying anything at all.
Was actually considering 1 ton dually and a lance 1172 or 1200 eagle cap or the large artic fox. I figure , with my better half opinion, that we only stay in " civilized " parks.
Page created in 0.319 seconds with 22 queries.


text:
HTC Desire C
Read help info
Follow these instructions to find and read picture messages in your inbox.
1. Open inbox
2. Read picture message
3. Choose option
Choose one of the following options:
Reply to picture message, go to 3a.
Forward picture message, go to 3b.
Delete picture message, go to 3c.
4. 3a - Reply to picture message
Write the picture message.
5. 3b - Forward picture message
Key in the first letters of the required contact.
Matching contacts are displayed.
6. 3c - Delete picture message
7. Exit
Email this article to your friend
Required information *


text:
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
Contact us for information about using this image.
Invoking "poetic prose" common in the Victorian era of George Fuller's life, the novelist William Dean Howells wrote, in 1886, a tribute to the life and works of the artist. George Fuller (1822-1884) attained a national reputation as a painter, but as a young man he had worked in a shoe store, a grocery store, and on his father's farm. Pursuing life as an artist, he studied in Albany and maintained studios in Boston and New York in the 1840s and 50s. Following his father's death in 1859 he returned to Deerfield to assume full responsibility for the family farm. Continuing to paint as he ran the farm he exhibited his work in Boston in 1876. George Fuller died at age 62 at the height of his career.
top of page
Send an e-Postcard of this object
See Also...
Letter to Agnes Higginson Fuller from George Fuller
George Fuller (1822-1884)
"The Bars- Back of our Barn"
Home | Online Collection | Things
To Do | Turns
Exhibit | Classroom | Chronologies | My
About This Site | Site Index | Site Search | Feedback


text:
Follow RFF News on your cell phone. Text follow rff to 40404 you will receive txt messages with RFF News
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Elissa...Like I said.....if she was smart and she is not. SPEAK UP WOMAN TO McCREA!
Cut Andy the check for 500k and Spencer 50k. Done and DONE.
There is not one person left I want to win. They have such crap coming out of their mouths. I'm done this season
No lie im gonna have a rough week updating!!
Page created in 0.071 seconds with 34 queries.


text:
How The Entertainment Industry Is Killing Copyright
from the this-isn't-copyright deptLaw professor Jason Mazzone very kindly sent me a copy of his new book, Copyfraud and Other Abuses of Intellectual Property Law. It's sitting on my desk and is the next book I'm planning to read. However, he's also written up a fantastic post over at TorrentFreak, that describes how copyright has been privatized by the entertainment industry. He has two key examples of this:
- Diminished copyright exceptions via contract: Thanks to the digital era, the entertainment industry likes to claim that you no longer purchase content, you merely "license" it. Thus, they're able to establish their own rules to govern what you do with the content, rather than relying on the boundaries of copyright law. As such, for the most part, many have tried to (a) claim copyright/control over more than they have a right to (b) deny you any fair use exceptions and (c) deny you your first sale rights to resell the products you "bought." In other words, by claiming that the sale is a "license" rather than a "sale," companies are effectively able to wipe out the important limitations on copyright.
- Regulatory capture: The article highlights how copyright policy these days appears to be almost entirely driven by the entertainment industry, who is merely one beneficiary of the law -- but not the intended beneficiary (that would be the public). He uses the examples of the recent "voluntary" (at the strong urging of the White House) agreement between ISPs and the entertainment industry, as well as SOPA, which he notes just takes those "private" powers to extend copyright law even further:
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the companion bill to the Senate's PROTECT IP Act, would further privatize adjudication and punishment. Title I of that law (dubbed the E-PARASITE Act) creates a "market-based system to protect U.S. customers and prevent U.S. funding of sites dedicated to theft of U.S. property." It achieves this by empowering copyright owners who have a "good faith belief" that they are being "harmed by the activities" of a website to send a notice to the site's payment providers (e.g. PayPal) and Internet advertisers to end business with the allegedly offending site.
The payment providers and advertisers that receive the notice must stop transactions with the site. No judicial review is required for the notice to be sent and for the payments and advertising curtailed—only the good faith representation of the copyright owner. Damages are also not available to the site owner unless a claimant "knowingly materially" misrepresented that the law covers the targeted site, a difficult legal test to meet. The owner of the site can issue a counter-notice to restore payment processing and advertising but services need not comply with the counter-notice.
There is also a catch: a site owner who issues a counter-notice automatically consents to being sued in U.S. courts (a strong disincentive for sites based abroad). With few checks at all, SOPA gives copyright owners a sharp tool to disrupt and shut down websites. Based on their past conduct, there is no reason to think that copyright owners will use this tool with any measure of restraint.
Think about it: the beneficiaries of copyright law are supposed to be the public. The mechanism is through limited-time, government-granted monopolies. But all that matters in copyright law is if the public is benefiting. Things like fair use and the first sale doctrine were added to copyright law to make sure that copyright law benefited the public. But when you look at the two situations described by Mazzone, you realize that everything the industry is doing is to make sure that copyright law no longer benefits the public at all, but rather all of the benefits accrue solely to a few gatekeepers. They're not strengthening copyright law at all, they're killing it. They're making it something entirely different than what it's intended to do... and in the process they're harming the public.
Filed Under: contracts, copyfraud, copyright, entertainment industry, fair use, first sale, privatization


text:
We believe that everyone deserves essential care delivered in an exceptional manner regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, economic status or ability to pay.
Every day across central Pennsylvania, the people of WellSpan Health work together to support this non-profit mission of service—one patient, one community, one unique health care need at a time. We also collaborate with community leaders, area residents and other health care providers to make sure that inpatient, outpatient, home health and physician services are located where they can do the most good for our neighbors.
Focusing on the health of the community has inspired us to transform the way we work. We make it as simple as possible for individuals to develop a relationship with our health system and to become healthy and stay that way. Each patient's information is available to providers at any WellSpan location through our sophisticated electronic health record, and their care is coordinated by teams of physicians, health coaches, social workers and other professionals. This is, we believe, the best way to improve health across our growing, diverse region.
We believe that everyone deserves essential care delivered in an exceptional manner regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, economic status or ability to pay.
We believe fulfilling our promise to those who entrust their lives and the lives of their loved ones to our care is our highest priority. We consider the patient first in all that we do and work in partnership with the patient and family members they choose to involve in their care. We collaborate with patients and families to improve the delivery of care and service.
We work as one across professional, organizational boundaries and with patients and communities. We do this by collaborating, coordinating, and sharing expertise, information and resources to meet the needs of those we serve. While our people are highly valued for their individual talents and contributions, we recognize that working together will allow us to improve health more effectively than any one of us working alone.
We honor the dignity and diversity of our patients and communities by treating everyone we serve and work with the way we would want to be treated—with courtesy, compassion and respect.
We earn the trust and confidence of the individuals and communities that we serve by doing what's right; acting transparently and honestly; protecting patient confidentiality; and meeting the letter and the spirit of all applicable laws, regulations and professional standards.
As a learning organization, we innovate, seek out and share best practices and adopt new ways of transforming the delivery of health care to make a difference in the lives of our patients. As individuals and teams, we are committed to continuously improving and applying our skills and knowledge.
We take seriously our responsibility to be good stewards of the resources entrusted to our care. Our constant focus on being an operationally excellent, financially strong and strategically focused organization enables us to control costs, to provide exceptional care, to be the employer of choice, to provide charitable community services and to be a strong health care organization for future generations.
This search will provide you with WellSpan Medical Group and Northern Lancaster County (Ephrata) Medical Group primary care physicians and specialists. If we don't have a WellSpan Medical Group physician to meet your criteria, the search will expand to include community physicians who partner with WellSpan Medical Group physicians through the WellSpan Provider Network or provide care to patients on the Medical Staffs of WellSpan's Hospitals.×
Use your MyWellSpan patient portal any time to view available appointments, and pick the date and time that best suits your schedule.
If you don't have a WellSpan primary care provider and would like to schedule a new patient appointment with a provider who is accepting patients, just log into your MyWellSpan account, and go to the Appointment Center section. As you progress through the scheduling process, you will be able to see the offices that are accepting new patients in relation to your zip code. If you are not enrolled in MyWellSpan, go to https://my.wellspan.org, call 1-866-638-1842 or speak with a member of the staff at a participating facility to sign up. New patient scheduling not available at all practices/programs.
If you already have a relationship with a WellSpan practice, simply log into your account, and go to the Appointment Center section. As you progress through the scheduling process, you will be able to schedule an appointment with any provider or practice that already counts you as a patient. Online scheduling varies by practice/program.×


text:
About RedSky
RedSky is the leading provider of on-premise and cloud-based E911 solutions with more customers, more technology, and more experience than any other provider.
More than a million workers, students, guests and visitors rely on RedSky for E911 protection. RedSky leverages legacy standards as well as the new National Emergency Number Association (NENA) i3 standards for Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) to help organizations provide effective 9-1-1 emergency response, comply with state E911 regulations and meet business requirements for safety, risk management and efficiency.
Our laser focus on E911 has produced a long list of technology innovations since 1995. Consider these firsts:
- Issued US patent for a method to automatically retrieve location information from a PBX (2002)
- Integrated IP-PBX support for Network Regions/IP Ranges (2004)
- Layer 2/Network discovery integrated with call servers (2005)
- On-site 911 call notification integrated with call servers (2005)
- First company to develop a client to track the location of softphones (2006)
- Location tracking and cloud 9-1-1 call routing to any PSAP in the USA (2006)
- Issued US patent for Location Information Server for SIP and Unified Communications clients in next-generation networks (2008)
- First enterprise E911 solution to integrate with leading WiFi networks (2010)
- First E911 solution to offer full location tracking and real-time location updates for Avaya SIP phones running on the Aura Session Manager platform (2011)
- Issued US patent for method and system for determining the location of both mobile and non-mobile devices in emergency situations (2011)