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From- ₹ 20,500 Inquiry
Flights & Transport
6 Breakfast
6 Dinner
Visa & Taxes
Entry fees will be addtional for all Sightseeing
Cost for Optional Tours , Up- Gradation Charges , Sightseeing Entry fee and Guide charges & special Permits
Personal Expenses such as laundry, soft drinks, bottles of water, incidental, porter charges, tips etc.
Expenses incurred due to change in oil price, mishaps, landslides, strikes, political unrest etc, high season surcharge if levied any.
Rohtang will be at additional cost and only through union vehicle.
Any air/train fare.
*This tour has private transfer, So cost of the tour will change with number of passengers travelling together.
*All prices mentioned above are Per person
*CWB=Child With Bed
*CNB=Child No Bed
*Infant will not be given a seat in the flight or in the Vehicle, so do not count the infant in number of passengers
*Booking will be honored only after receiving the payment in the name of FLAMINGO TRANSWORLD PVT LTD as per the payment schedule.
Room 1
Above All Rates Are Subject To Availability.
Given cost is estimated, based on lowest hotel rates existing as of now. We Don't Hold Any Confirmation For Hotels. It's Subject To availability at the time of booking. Any difference in cost shall be borne by Passenger.
In Hill station places (like shimla , manali , nainital , kausani , Munnar , Thekkady ) the AC facility will not be there in the rooms.
At some places and at some hotels the higher category rooms are there with AC but that will be possible with the supplement cost.
The vehicle like tempo travelors are not of very good condition so rather opt for Innova .
Check-in time at Hotel is 1400 Hrs & Check-out time is 1100 Hrs.
Your tours and transfers are based on tour itinerary & not at disposal basis.
Your Itinerary will be strictly on timings.
Room Rates based on Standard Rooms. Supplement cost will be applicable for Valley Facing Or higher category rooms.
Breakfast will start from Day 2 of the itinerary.
Services will be given in exchange of Original vouchers/Itinerary only.
Portages and Driver Tips are extra
Optional sightseeing has to be booked in advance on your own by paying an additional cost.
There is No Refund for un utilized Service
All cost are per person based on twin sharing
Car cost is counted as per children & adults sharing a car
On hilly areas the CAR AC will not work.
During sightseeing the vehicle will go up to permissible point only, from that point any arrangement to be made all extra expenses shall have to be borne by the passengers.
Extra bed in the room means only extra mattress.( no cot )
Any govt. tax levied must be borne by the passengers only.
Pre ponement of journey is not allowed. It will be treated as cancellation & accordingly the cancellation charges will be applicable.
If accommodation is not available in the identified Or specific hotel for the particular package tour due to reason beyond our control, we shall make our best efforts to shift the clients to hotel maintaining Or having more or less the same standard. No complaint or claim shall be made by the client in this respect.
If any airline is delayed or cancelled, Flamingo Transworld Pvt. Ltd. is not responsible for any compensation for hotels, meals, sightseeing or any other claim.
Rates Not valid on Peak season & Festive Period
The Supplement will be applicable for the Peak Season & Festival Period.
Cancellation Policy
All services such as Hotel accommodation / ground transportation are pre-blocked well in advance. We are liable to pay penalties to all our suppliers / vendors if these services are released within the below mentioned time frame.
If circumstances make you cancel the tour, the cancellation must be intimated to us in writing. Such cancellation will attract the following cancellation.
45 days or more prior to the departure Rs.10000
45-30 days prior to the departure 25% of the tour cost
30-15 days prior to the departure 50% of the tour cost
15-07 days prior to the departure Or a "No Show" on the tour 100% of the tour cost
Payment Policy
Initial deposit - Rs.25, 000/- per person to confirm you're booking with us.
100% payment to be made at least 30 days before departure.
Copyright © 2018 Flamingo Transworld Pvt. Ltd. All Rights Reserved.


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Bonez Da Major (Feat. Emperor Chi) - I'ma Ryde [Unsigned Hype]
R reports "Introducing Bonez Da Major to the world, listen to Bonez describe how a 9-5 will never be enough in his life off of Drakes "Its Okay" beat. Shout outto Spring Brook and the whole Rockland County.
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Anyone who has struggled with the job of vaccinating cattle will quickly appreciate the value of Pat Shewen's current research. The Canadian veterinarian at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, is working with colleagues there to develop an easier way to get vaccines into cattle, namely through alfalfa.
These researchers are among growing numbers who are trying to deliver vaccines — for both humans and animals — through plants. Their creations, called edible vaccines, are the latest high-tech pharmaceuticals. They're the result of genetically introducing specific proteins, called antigens, into plants such as corn, alfalfa and tobacco. Once high enough levels of the antigen are expressed in the plant, it may be fed to livestock, in some form, to build immunity. This no-fuss vaccination method would not only eliminate handling stress on the animal (and the vaccinators), it would reduce producer labor costs.
It's all in the antigen
Shewen, along with microbiologist Reggie Lo and plant geneticist Judy Strommer, have isolated the antigens necessary for prevention of shipping fever in cattle. "Alfalfa seemed like the logical plant to start with," Shewen explains. "By taking advantage of the fact that cows already eat alfalfa and that it is only gradually broken down during rumination, we are getting good exposure to the antigens."
The research team has successfully introduced one of the proteins into alfalfa and gotten significant expression in the plant. Shewen says early feeding trials also have been encouraging thus far, showing that unvaccinated calves exhibit response to the antigen. "That's just one antigen, though, and we are working toward developing a blended vaccine that would contain four to six antigens to make it more effective," she says. "We're just over three years into this project, and to get to that point will likely take a few more years."
The trio recently signed a collaboration agreement with Dow Agro-Sciences, ensuring their work will continue for at least four more years.
This type of vaccine potentially could be developed for any infectious disease of ruminants, Shewen says. "It wouldn't matter if it was bacterial or viral. You just need to determine which antigens will protect against it," she says.
Regulatory unknowns
If the right antigen package were combined in alfalfa, the edible shipping fever vaccine would still face stringent and somewhat unknown regulatory hurdles. "This is a new concept for vaccine delivery and it will likely require a somewhat unique approval process, as far as production of the crop is concerned," Shewen says. "From a vaccine standpoint, we would need to show that the alfalfa had measurable and consistent levels of the antigens and provide the same types of animal data that are required now for injectable vaccines."
The process of defining how and where these crops will be grown has yet to be determined. But in the meantime, several U.S. companies are collaborating with other university researchers to develop edible vaccines for other species, including corn containing antigens to fight transmissible gastroenteritis virus, which can cause severe diarrhea and death in young pigs, and alfalfa containing antigens that prevent Infectious Bursal Disease in poultry.


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MONTPELIER — The Search and Rescue Strategic Plan Development Committee has completed its work, approving recommendations and proposed statutory changes to be presented to the upcoming Legislative session. Rep. Willem Jewett, D-Ripton, and former state police search and rescue team leader Jocelyn Stohl abstained from the vote taken at the Committee's fourth and final meeting in Montpelier Oct. 24.
VERGENNES — Residents of the five Addison Northwest Supervisory Union towns on Tuesday will decide whether to support a $6.5 million bond that will fund repairs and major upgrades to Vergennes Union High School.
The biggest ticket items are improvements to the school's auditorium, installation of a track and an artificial turf playing field, upgrades to the kitchen and cafeteria, and roof repairs to several areas of the building.
MIDDLEBURY — Former Ripton resident and Middlebury College graduate Randy Brock has worked to influence state policy as the Vermont Auditor of Accounts and as a state senator.
Now he wants to become Vermont's chief executive. To that end, the Swanton Republican is taking on incumbent Gov. Peter Shumlin, D-Putney, on Nov. 6.
ADDISON COUNTY — The Nov. 6 ballot will feature three contested Vermont House races, a three-way runoff for the county's two seats in the state Senate and a bevy of statewide and federal races that is, of course, headlined by the showdown for the presidency of the United States.
BRISTOL — After eight years of debate, discussion and discord, the Bristol Town Plan will be on the ballot and back in the voters' hands on Election Day, Nov. 6. The Bristol Planning Commission and the Bristol selectboard, which added 42 changes to the draft given to them by the planning commission based on input from public hearings, unanimously approved the latest version.
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MIDDLEBURY — Making noise late at night in Middlebury can earn you a visit from the local constabulary.
FERRISBURGH — Members of the Ferrisburgh selectboard said at its Oct. 2 meeting that they plan to shut down and seal up the town-owned Union Meeting Hall for the winter. At some point, officials might survey residents asking what the town should do with the prominent building across Route 7 from the former town office building.
MIDDLEBURY — A group of Addison County Democrats is logging some substantial travel miles to make New Hampshire a little bluer in advance of the Nov. 6 general election, hoping to deliver what some see as a toss-up state into the column of President Barack Obama over Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
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I'm Canadian, so I care about the U.S. election only in so far as which candidate is less likely to invade us for our rich, tasty maple syrup reserves, and more likely to keep sending us movies, TV shows, and video games, all now the property of Disney Corp. Yet I understand a lot of you are U.S. citizens and care very much about the next 4 years of leadership in your country. So -- GET OUT AND VOTE.
Then, once you're done, come on back to iMore and we'll return to arguing about things from which there's never respite -- Apple vs. Google. iPhone vs. iPad. Marvel vs. DC. Coke vs. Pepsi. Star Wars vs. Star Trek. The Beatles vs. Elvis. Tastes great vs. less filling. Jackie Chan vs. Bruce Lee. Boxers vs. briefs. Cases vs. naked. Patents vs. no patents. Sparrow vs. Mailplane. 5 Guys vs. In-and-Out. East coast vs. West siyeeeeeeed. And shaved vs. unshaved (hey, it's MOvember!)
Because remember folks, we're all in this together. We all have to make this work.


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Finishing my 1999 "Michigan History" article:
The construction of the canoe required cutting down a large elm tree---a formidable task with the hatchets the party were carrying. It was also challenging to strip the bark from the tree in one piece without breaking it or cracking it to the point where it would be unusable. The tree would have been either a slippery elm or an American elm. LaSalle, who called the tree by its Iroquois name of arondugalte recorded, "The bark of which can be stripped off at all times though with more difficulty at this season, when it must be continually moistened with boiling water".
To make a canoe from a large cylinder of elm bark, the ends are squeezed together and sewn with strips of bark or roots; gunwhales of saplings, split or whole, are attached in the same manner. Then stick thwarts are inserted at intervals to spread the bark, and ribs of some flexible wood are inserted on the inside. Finally the insides of the ends are caulked with the bark of dead slippery elm, which swells when wet.
Why not build a birchbark canoe? The Huron lies below the southern limit of where the paper birch grew. Although a birchbark canoe is far superior in most respects to a canoe of elm or hickory bark, its construction takes a lot of time, skill and experience---which neither LaSalle nor his men possessed.
With the canoe completed and the sick men and all gear on board, the journey down the Huron began. All did not work out as hoped. As LaSalle described the trip, "For as the river was everywhere encumbered by heaps of wood, which the swollen waters carry down or cast into its bed, we got weary of carrying our baggage every moment when the masses of wood prevented the canoe from passing; moreover the river made wide bends, and we observed after five days of rowing we had made less progress than we normally made in one day's march." So they gave up on floating down to Lake Erie and, according to LaSalle, "...our sick men being better, we resumed our march and reached the strait by which Lake Huron falls into Lake Erie which is a league broad at this place".
The "strait" is the Detroit River and LaSalle and his men reached it downstream of Grosse Isle and upstream of the extensive swamps and marshes where the Huron empties into Lake Erie. Here the Detroit River is more than three miles wide, which is reasonably consistent with LaSalle's estimate.
A little arithmetic can provide a clue as to where the men abandoned their canoe and resumed walking. LaSalle equated five days on the Huron to one day's march, and one can assume a day's march to be about thirty miles. This about the distance from Dexter to the area near Belleville where the Huron makes a big bend to the south (French Landing). I think this is where the party gave up poling, paddling and portaging. They would have followed the left bank of the river on foot down to about present-day Rockwood. By heading straight east from there they would have avoided the drowned lands at the mouth of the Huron and reached the Detroit River south of Grosse Isle.
There two men were tasked to build a canoe and head north to Michilimackinac, while LaSalle and the remaining three rafted across the river. They continued cross country to the shore of Lake Erie, probably just beyond Pte. Pelee, where another canoe was built. Then the Frenchmen and Saget, the Indian, paddled along the shore to Niagara. They arrived there on Easter Sunday, April 22, 1680.
As Professor Prator concluded more than half a century ago, "We shall probably never be able to retrace the great Frenchman's steps with absolute accuracy". There is no archaeological evidence and only LaSalle's one letter documenting the trip. However, given the availability of modern topographic, presettlement vegetation and soil survey maps, we have far better technical resources at our disposal than did earlier writers. Further, if one conducts serious on-the-ground reconnaissance, visualizes things as they were three hundred years ago and carefully matches LaSalle's descriptions to the existing terrain, it is possible to retrace his steps with reasonable accuracy. Finally, we do know one other thing----LaSalle and his companions crossed the Lower Peninsula the hard way.
This is the end of my 1999 article. I will follow up with some remarks on his route pertinent to the Relay idea and a chronology of LaSalle and Michigan's history.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
LaSalle's Walk on the Wild Side IX
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I'm not a skate historian, but I'm pretty sure that Lance Cyril Mountain was the first child of a pro skateboarder to be in the limelight because of his father. I was a kid who started skating in the late 1980s and I feel like I have known Lance Cyril his whole life. When I started skating I saw the second and third Bones Brigade videos and Lance Mountain was instantly my favorite. He was a ripping pro who was silly and didn't take anything too serious. And soon after I discovered him, I saw in the magazines and videos that he had a son. Baby Lance was in the interviews next to his dad and in Powell Peralta ads and videos. Little Lance even drew one of his dad's most popular Powell graphics when he was 4 years old (It's one of my personal favorite graphics, I have an original on my wall). As a kid I was surprised to learn Lance had a son, since he seemed like he was only a teenager—doing the math, he was around 20 when he had Lance Cyril.
Through the years, Lance Cyril skated and would get a photo ripping here and there, but the last few years he's gotten into a broad range of creative outlets; he's making 'zines, doing graphic design, screen printing, shooting black and white photos, collecting and DJing old records from jazz to reggae, punk and blues, and he even has his own T-shirt and accessories project called Mountain Manor. And he's still painting and drawing like he has been since a child. So it was only a matter of time until he had his first solo art show. "Multiple Personalities" opened just before his 29th birthday at The Seeing Things Gallery in San Jose, California this past weekend. He had over 80 pieces on display, ranging from small framed paintings with vivid colors and shapes, to very large more abstract color field paintings, as well as some photography, collage stuff, and a black and white 'zine of his photos. Lots of great stuff on display and great people in attendance. The show is up through April 12, 2014 so come check it out in person or go to seeingthingsgallery.
Words and photos by Erik Olsen


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I was shocked at how fast my coconut truffles got very popular around the web and food blogging world.
It all started with a post on Pinterest and "boom" did that take off.
Those coconut truffles alone got over 1 million hits!
I love that I have a lot of coconut fans.
I've always wanted to try and do a coconut cream like truffle.
But I wanted a thick cream not a liquid filled truffle--I don't like many liquid filled truffles UNLESS
it's Champagne or rum.
You know how some liquid truffles are just either too sweet or taste like Nyquil?
Yeah, I hate that.
What is the best truffle you had?
My favorite truffles are the kind that have the highest levels of cocoa in there so that when you bite into your chocolate craving is satisfied for a month. (Oh, and a little bit of texture is good too--always have to have texture in a truffle).
Or top with crushed almonds!
Speaking of truffle fillings---why not try adding a touch of rum to the filling?
coconut cream truffles
I was shocked at how fast my coconut truffles got very popular around the web and food blogging world.
15 comments:
YUM. These look super addictive. :)ReplyDelete
They look insanely good! Pinning!ReplyDelete
And yes too sweet or tasting like Nyquil. That is a perfect way to put it with most truffles!
And isn't it crazy how some of our older posts are the ones that bring in tons of hits! I have a post for cookie dough balls from 2009 that's my #1 post, ever. It actually ties and flip flops with...a smoothie. Always interesting what people click on, isn't it.
I can't make these...I will eat them all ;) I am making your PB bars tonight!! <3 yaReplyDelete
A million hits???Good gracious!!! These looks one million hits good!ReplyDelete
I love truffles and prefer the inside to be creamy too. Recently I made some dark chocolate nutelle cherry truffles that were pretty awesome :) These coconut cream truffles sound incredible and my mouth is watering just thinking about it!ReplyDelete
Oh, yes - please!! Cream-filled truffles are The best. How were you able to snap photos? I'd eat several each time something had to be adjusted - they'd be gone in a matter of minutes. :DReplyDelete
yipes---I need these in my life right now. Pinning as we speak, let's see if you can get another million hits!ReplyDelete
My heart just skipped a few beats. Do you even KNOW how into chocolate and coconut i am right now?!ReplyDelete
oh wow, i do love my coconut. these might even beat your last version!!ReplyDelete
I'm with you - even smoked almonds would be KILLER good in these.ReplyDelete
Sounds really weird, but the flavour contrast is such a pop in your mouth.
It's just perfect!
Good Lord woman. You have me drooling ONCE AGAIN. Coconut is my weakness and you have no idea how badly I want a dozen of these beauties.ReplyDelete
i can't get enough coconut, and it just so happens to be at its best with chocolate and almonds!ReplyDelete
i totally am making these, stat. delish. did you know they sell coconut almonds??! coconut overload there :)ReplyDelete
I made these and they were a hit! I thought they were a bit too sweet, but everyone loved them (I probably just ate too many while baking them). I only had 1/4 bag of coconut, so I used 1/2 roasted salted almonds which I crushed, added 1/4 tsp or so of almond extract and it turned out great. Would definitely recommend semi-sweet or dark chocolate to cut the sweetness a bit. Thanks so much for sharing this!ReplyDeleteReplies
the almond extract mixed with the white chocolate I bet made it so sweet.Delete
next time try it without the almond extract and see what happens


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The Spirit of St. Louis
Friday March, 1 2019 at 03:30 PM
Films in BOLD will Air on TCM * | VIEW TCMDb ENTRY
Based on Charles Lindbergh's 1953 Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name, The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) covers his groundbreaking 33-hour-and-20-minute solo flight from New York to Paris in May of 1927. In order to make it across Lindbergh must struggle to overcome his own fatigue and the elements--ranging from ice on the wings to fog; his only companion in the cockpit is a fly. Along the journey, Lindbergh recalls his past as an airmail pilot and a barnstormer.
Originally the lead role of Lindbergh was offered to John Kerr, who had earned acclaim for his performance in the Broadway production of Tea and Sympathy and as a psychiatric patient in Vincente Minnelli's The Cobweb (1955); Kerr turned the part down due to Lindbergh's notorious sympathies with the Nazi party. Not only did Lindbergh visit Germany during the late thirties, Hermann Goering decorated him with the Service Cross of the German Eagle and he even toyed with the idea of moving to Wannsee. Later in life, Lindbergh said, "I always regarded the fuss about it as a sort of teapot tempest." James Stewart, who had long admired Lindbergh's aviation achievement and had served in the Air Force himself, was eager to play the role but had a difficult time convincing studio head Jack Warner to accept the forty-seven-year-old actor in the part of a twenty-five-year-old man. "...I need a star but not one that's pushing fifty," Warner said. Warner then recommended that producer Leland Hayward tell James Stewart that was he too fat for the part. Stewart recalls, "I couldn't believe what I was hearing, but I wanted the part so badly I dieted. I'd never dieted before in my life. I started off at 170 lbs. and in the end I was so thin I didn't even look like myself. In fact I looked terribly ill. My face was gaunt and I had black rings under my eyes." Eventually Hayward convinced Warner to let Stewart have the part.
Co-screenwriter Charles Lederer got his start writing additional dialogue for the first screen adaptation of Hecht and MacArthur's hit Broadway play The Front Page (1931), which Billy Wilder remade in 1974. Lederer had since earned a reputation for writing some of Hollywood's sharpest dialogue, including His Girl Friday (1940) - another version of The Front Page - and the brutal film noir Kiss of Death (1947). When Lederer suddenly resigned, complaining that Wilder had insulted him once too often, Wilder hired newcomer Wendell Mayes in his place. Mayes' only previous experience was as a writer for Kraft Television Theater. At Wilder's recommendation, Mayes was subsequently hired by Otto Preminger to write the screenplay for Anatomy of a Murder ( 1959), for which he received an Academy Award nomination; other Preminger/Mayes collaborations include Advise and Consent (1962) and In Harm's Way (1965). Mayes soon became one of the highest-paid screenwriters in the industry.
The Spirit of St. Louis was plagued with cost overruns. The original plane, The Sprit of St. Louis, cost $13,000 to build in the 1920s; the full-scale replicas painstakingly reconstructed for the film from the original blueprints cost over $100,000. Although much of the film took place inside a cockpit, there was extensive (and expensive) location and aerial shooting in New York, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Ireland and Paris. Wilder later said of the shoot: "We had unbelievable mechanical problems. We could not communicate with a plane once it was up there, so when we had to do another take, it had to land, get the instructions, and take off again. We had other planes in the air to film the plane when we were shooting. The weather would change from one minute to the next. God, it was horrendous." The film's budget topped $6,000,000, but it grossed only $2,600,000 in its initial run. Jack Warner characterized it as "the most disastrous failure we ever had." While it is perhaps neither Stewart's nor Wilder's strongest work, it nonetheless remains a worthy effort.
A reviewer in Time said of Stewart's performance: "....Stewart, for all his professional, 48-year-old boyishness, succeeds almost continuously in suggesting what the world sensed at the time: that Lindbergh's flight was not the mere physical adventure of a rash young 'flying fool,' but rather a journey of the spirit." In spite of the obvious age difference between Stewart and the young Lindbergh, it is nonetheless difficult to imagine anyone else who could carry the film single-handedly the way he does for its 135-minute running time. Stewart also succeeded in accurately recreating the technical aspects of flying throughout the film; Lindbergh himself was particularly impressed by the moment when Stewart taps the oil gauge while starting the engine, the sort of passing detail only an experienced pilot like Stewart would know. Variety also praised the film's meticulous production values and Robert Burks' widescreen cinematography. Look for future television mogul Aaron Spelling, producer of series such as Charlie's Angels and Dynasty, in the role Mr. Pearless.
Producer: Leland Hayward
Director: Billy Wilder
Screenplay: Wendell Mayes, Charles Lederer and Billy Wilder, based on the book by Charles A. Lindbergh
Cinematography: Robert Burks, J. Peverell Marley
Editor: Arthur P. Schmidt
Art Director: Art Loel
Music: Franz Waxman
Technical Advisors: Major-General Victor Bertrandias, U.S.A.F., Harlan A. Gurney
Cast: James Stewart (Charles Lindbergh), Murray Hamilton (Bud Gurney), Patricia Smith (Mirror Girl), Bartlett Robinson (B. F. Mahoney), Marc Connelly (Father Hussman), Arthur Space (Donald Hall), Charles Watts (O. W. Schultz).
C-136m. Letterboxed
by James Steffen


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|The mess begins here!
YGGG #2 just returned from her vacation in the Wyoming mountains. She was there without cell phone reception and obviously no Internet. Locked out from the real world, I hope she got caught up on her genealogy reading. While I was wrestling luggage in and out of hotels and going through the packing and unpacking routine, she was peacefully watching the sun go down over the mountains and then counting stars in the sky.
To make the best of today, my granddaughter will be here this afternoon after an early-out at school. She will be helping with chores around the house, like those little things I have not done all summer. Also on the list is my computer/genealogy room. It has been organizationally neglected all summer. Books are askew on the shelves, the closet is piled with carrying bags and supplies. It's like open door and throw something in. I am behind on reading genealogy periodicals. Eventually I may get caught up, but in the meantime I need some order. They seem to be here, there and beyond, such as in the living room, dining room and kitchen. Some were packed in my luggage and never made it back to the genealogy/computer room.
This brings up the question as to how to keep track of my genealogy periodicals. I cannot part with them because I continually browse through them looking for ideas and references. Perhaps I should start by determining the spaces available in this room. There aren't any. I have filled up almost every corner and cranny. Isn't that the life of a genealogist? We are hoarders. Not only do we collect ancestors (not just names, dates and places), but we collect everything that goes with collecting ancestors. I can't resist books, I can't eliminate any of the my genealogy subscriptions and periodicals, and I can't find room for any more. Because I know there are organizational aids, such as storage boxes, bins and containers, maybe I should start by visiting my local office supply store. I definitely need a plan.
The last two days have been spent non-stop writing on my latest book. That means there are books and documents and papers piled all around the desk, on the floor and elsewhere. I think I am about two-thirds done and then I change something and I am back to half done. I need to stay home and finish it before the snow flies. Of course, I'm still thinking about genealogy-day-trips when the weather cools. I need to explore cemeteries, go to libraries and courthouses and collect more "stuff" for my genealogy/computer room. Maybe I shouldn't put the luggage back in the closet.
Today is the day I am going to make organizational plans for my genealogy/computer room. It's the day I will not think of traveling and packing luggage. It is the day I'll will put my genealogy life in order ... I hope. While I'm doing this, YGGG #2 is putting things away, doing mounds of laundry and avoiding genealogy, the computer and Internet. She knows what awaits her ... hundreds of e-mails. The genealogy world can change in one week. Maybe that is why I am so unorganized. At least I can blame it on a changing genealogy world!
You Go Genealogy Girl #1 Ruby


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Here's the second case in Dogen's book of koans, Shinji Shobogenzo:
Master Obaku Ki-un on Mt. Obaku in the Ko district ask Master Hyakujo Ekao, "When I want to share with others the teachings which you have given us, how should I preach them?"
Master Hyakujo just remained sitting on his cushion without saying anything.
Obaku Ki-un said, "How can I teach sons and grandsons of disciples in the future?"
Master Hyakujo said, "What you have said shows that you are a real person."
This is one of the questions I get so often I'm thinking of putting it into my F.A.Q., which I haven't updated since the Bronze Age, by the way. People always want to know, "How can I teach Buddhism to others?"
The short answer is, don't.
Of course I don't mean totally "don't." But in most cases you don't really need to teach anybody anything. Leave it alone, give it a rest, as Brian's mom says in Life of Brian. If your friends and family want to know about Buddhism they'll ask. Otherwise the Buddhist policy is: (If they) Don't ask, don't tell.
This was brought home to me recently when a certain Buddhist Master started to try and kindly bestow his teachings upon me. Jesus God Almighty if there is anything more annoying than that I really don't want to know what it is. I finally figured out how to set my Spam filter to direct his e-mails right into my trash, so at least I don't have to read that shit anymore.
But I imagine anyone who reads my stuff shares my disdain for teachers who try and push their teachings on you. Gawd, I hope no one out there is trying to push the stuff I say on anyone. Still, maybe you have some feeling that this or that friend of yours could benefit from the practice and you'd like to give them the chance. That's nice. But, unfortunately, there's not a whole lot you can do.
Trying to teach Buddhism to someone you know is like trying to get someone you know to sleep with you. You can't push the issue or you'll just scare them off. Or worse, they'll feel like you've raped them with your religion. It just doesn't do any good at all.
Even in my position these days I don't really tell people I meet about Zen unless they ask. Even then I usually throw out facetious jokey answers the first few times in order to see if they seriously want to know. If someone isn't really very sincerely desirous of the teachings there is no point at all in trying to bestow them upon them. They're not going to listen with the necessary intention anyhow, so you're just wasting your breath and making yourself look silly.
Anyway, that's my little sermon for the day. Have a good one.


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As expected, Verizon has announced that it will be releasing LG's tablet/smartphone hybrid the Optimus Vu this week, but under the new name of the LG Intuition.
The Optimus Vu has been around since the beginning of the year, but only in LG's home country of Korea, making its international release a subject for discussion. Last week, in an interview with CNet UK, an LG spokesperson said the phone wouldn't be released in the UK in 2012, which went against previous statements indicating it would make an appearance.
Verizon though, has managed to snare LG's big-screen handset, and better still, it comes with a few tweaks to bring it more up-to-date.
Primarily, this concerns the operating system, as the Korean Vu went on sale with Android 2.3 Gingerbread onboard, but that wouldn't do today, so sensibly the Intuition will come with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich installed. No, it's not Jelly Bean, but it's more preferable than Gingerbread.
The LG Intuition will also connect to Verizon's 4G LTE network, which is excellent news, but this does mean that rumors of a quad-core processor upgrade aren't true of this variant, as it has a 1.5Ghz, dual-core Snapdragon processor.
LG went in a different direction to its competitors with the Intuition's screen, choosing an unusual 4:3 aspect ratio for the 5-inch, 1024 x 768 pixel resolution LCD panel. It also has an impressive 294 pixels-per-inch density, making it suitably sharp.
Other features include an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.3-megapixel forward-facing video-call lens, plus 32GB of internal memory, 1GB of RAM, NFC, Bluetooth 3.0, DLNA and just like its closest rival, the Galaxy Note 2, a stylus for writing notes on the screen.
LG Intuition, or the Galaxy Note 2?
We say "closest rival," but it's difficult to see who would choose the Intuition over the Galaxy Note 2, at least judging by the on-paper specs. Samsung's new phablet, revealed during the IFA 2012 show, has Android 4.1, a quad-core chip and a 16:9, high definition, 5.5-inch Super AMOLED screen.
Verizon's Intuition wins through in two areas though, as it's ready to go on sale on September 6 for a competitive $199, and the Galaxy Note 2 is still coming soon, with no price attached. If the Note 2 is to gain 4G LTE connectivity on release, that quad-core chip will most likely become a dual-core Snapdragon too, just like the Galaxy S3.
According to the press release, online orders will begin on September 6, and the Intuition will hit Verizon stores on September 10. If you're planning to buy the Intuition, then try to grab it online, as it'll come with a free LG Tone Stereo Bluetooth headset. In the meantime, you can read our hands-on with the Optimus Vu here.


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Work is where you spend your time conforming to other peoples' whims. And then leisure is where you do what thou wilt. Except when you don't. The strangest thing about modern games is how they make play into work.
Take Rock Band 2, a game I adore. From the moment I pulled the shrink wrap off the case, all I wanted to do is croon Lindsay Buckingham's torrid farewell to Stevie Nicks at top volume. I had done my research and I knew it was on that very disc in my hand. But Rock Band says: not so fast, Pliskin; you have to earn the privilege of pouring out your heart to Stevie Nicks. Emotional closure with Stevie Nicks is something you have to work for. Why don't you spend a few hours playing through a bunch of other songs, possibly multiple times, and then once you've put your time in you'll get a shot at Go Your Own Way.
When games demand this kind of behavior from their players all I can think is that something has gone seriously wrong with our leisure. It's gotten so bad that Stephen Totilo compared gaming to gymgoing, an activity that most people view with a tinge of dread: "Playing lots of games can be pretty unpleasant, not unlike going to the gym a lot. You like what you get out of it, but you've got to put in a lot of work, much of it tedious." And just earlier this week Mitch Krpata made the same point: "Ultimately, playing games is work. They ask a lot of you. It's a matter of how much effort you're willing to put in to get out what's there."
And they're both right. It's not just that games require a high level of engagement relative to other forms of entertainment. Games have always demanded that the player surrender their will to a set of arbitrary rules (a set of controls and a system of game mechanics), and this is precisely what makes them fun. (Or so I argue) It's the kind of conformity that modern games ask of the player: repetition of menial tasks; accumulation; joyless travel. When the fundamental gameplay becomes routine, a superstucture of systematized rewards-- orbs, achievements, cutscenes, and XP-- is there to keep the player's eye on that next promotion and her nose to the grindstone.
Totilo has a fascinating explanation for this in his piece: he says this phenomenon is a symptom of video games' growing pains as they've developed from the three-minute quarter devourers of the arcade era to the twenty-hour-plus epics of the modern era. Even great gameplay mechanics like shooting and jumping are difficult to keep fresh and engaging over such a long span; and the narrative payoff of lengthy engagement still isn't enough to fend off the distinct sensation that we're laboring in our free time-- spending our time doing things we'd prefer not to for the sake of the game, rather than for the sake of our own pleasure: "That's what you get when you, the gamer, indulge in a creative form that was created to convey satisfying-but-repeatable, controllable bits of action for a quarter per minute. This is the creative form that has somehow evolved into a medium of 25-hour, $60 collections of satisfying-but-repeatable, controllable bits of action without inventing many successful strategies for telling stories, figuring out how to develop characters, or turning into a more interesting way to spend an hour than listening to Beethoven or watching The Wire."
This is an intriguing proposal, but I could not let it pass without mentioning RPGs. Unlike the games that flourished in the arcade era, role-playing games don't rely on having the player do fun things with their hands. They offer a different species of pleasure, the sense of satisfaction that comes along with the feeling of progression. Progress is a way of forging the player's connection to their characters, because the time and effort dedicated towards earning levels and items invests the player in their avatars. Though I've praised the use of light RPG elements in other genres in the past, these mechanics can be a crutch when they're transposed into boring and stale forms of gameplay. Given our documented willingness to wander around a world map and mindlessly press A at regular intervals for hours on end, us gamers have a shown a marked disposition to pursue progress for its own sake. Progress is an easy hook, and getting caught in its clutches is what transforms our play into labor.
There's a brilliant piece of social analysis to be written about this phenomenon. Luckily Stephen Poole has written that piece, replete with the (to my mind, necessary) nods to Adorno, Horkheimer and Twain. But I think Poole draws the wrong lesson from his trenchant analysis. The solution to game labor isn't open-world game mechanics and user-created content. If we wanted our leisure to offer unfettered choice even the openest of open-world games are a poor option; games always drastically constrain the range of options available to us.
No, the solution to game labor is the same as the solution to real labor: even work is joy when you're doing something that truly exercises your faculties. We wouldn't hate work if we got to do something new and challenging every day, or if we were offered a truly great complex and difficult task to perform. It's the mindless repetition of menial tasks that makes work intolerable. And so the cure for game labor is good game design. When a game continually challenges you to think and react and adapt as you move through it, it never feels like work. But it's incredibly difficult to create gameplay that meets this standard, and that is why Valve only releases one game a year.


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AEV J8 Milspec - Milspec MonstersPosted in Project Vehicles on August 1, 2009
The buzz started several years ago when our fighting boys and girls began sending photos of these cool-looking long-wheelbase TJ Jeeps the Egyptian military was driving around in the deserts of the Middle East. What were these stripped-down, beefed-up, diesel-powered dream Jeeps and why couldn't we buy one over here? Well, you'll have to thank Uncle Sam's bureaucrats for that one, but at least somebody has finally found a way to get a military-spec, seven-slat vehicle to the US public.
American Expedition Vehicles out of Missoula, Montana, has announced that in addition to its line of high-end Jeep products including the Brute TJ pickup conversion, Highline hood and fender kits, TJ and JK heat reduction hoods, JK Hemi conversion kits, DOT-compliant beadlocks, and a laundry list of other cool TJ and JK products, it will offer what it's calling the AEV J8 Milspec. It's not a Jeep, so don't call it one--it's an AEV.
OK, first the downer: since the vehicle doesn't meet NHTSA safety requirements, it must be sold as a component vehicle only and therefore is delivered without an engine or transmission. Hey, it's the only way the company could make the vehicle happen in this country. And while AEV will sell the J8 Milspec without a VIN number, engine, or transmission, you'll otherwise be getting a complete vehicle that will accept your choice of a 5.7L V-8 Hemi or a 2.8L VM Motori diesel engine, both backed by a 545RFE five-speed automatic transmission. AEV will not provide the engine and transmission assemblies, but the buyer will be able to purchase and/or have the drivetrain installed through a number of independent AEV dealers. Your personal preference or local and state laws will determine which drivetrain you go with, but whether gas or diesel the AEV J8 Milspec will arrive complete and ready for the engine to be dropped in, from its heavy-duty axles, military tow hooks, beefed-up frame, radiator, and even a mil-spec air filter rated for five hours of running in zero-visibility dust storms.
Despite the trepidation potential customers may have about shelling out more than $40,000 for component chassis, in reality it's been done for years in the supercar industry. Take for example the Noble, which had been sold, assembled, and licensed in this country in the same manner as the AEV J8 Milspec will be. The supercar guys have already gone through all the legwork of ironing out the registration, licensing, and title hassles and AEV will be able to assist its customers with information on getting their J8 Milspec vehicle on the road legally in their state. When all is said and done, AEV expects its customers to have an investment of approximately $50,000 for a running, driving, licensed J8 Milspec. Sure, it's not dirt-cheap, but we give AEV a lot of credit for listening to the public clamor and doing all it can to make a modern military vehicle such as this a viable option for US enthusiasts.
Our Thoughts
While AEV didn't bring along any Hemi-powered examples, they did let us climb behind the wheel of both a five- and three-door J8 Milspec powered by the VM 2.8L diesel rated at 174hp and 339lb-ft. Despite the massive GVW and 2,500lb payload the ride isn't overly harsh. You do know you've got leaf springs in the rear, but you certainly don't get beaten up while off-road. On-road, the four-cylinder turbodiesel takes a second to light up, then rockets forward once the boost builds. We bet mileage will be great. While the five-door is very militarized and Spartan inside, you still feel a bit as though you're driving a stripped production JK. We really prefer the unique looks and vibe of the three-door. And whether five- or three-door, any J8 Milspec customer has the option of running the vehicle through AEV's conversion facility to add items like a radio, rollbar padding, lift, lockers, or whatever you may dream up. We'll be placing our order as soon as that lottery ticket pans out for us.
One other thing we really want to stress is that the J8 isn't just a stripped and slightly beefed JK. The more time you spend in a J8, the more you realize how different it is from a standard JK. The chassis and other components must undergo durability testing that is three times more rigorous than what a regular JK undergoes. The frame is heavier and reinforced, the tailgate and tire carrier are different and very beefy, and there are gussets and reinforcements all over the place in the body. The rear floor is double-thick to support more than a ton of cargo and the tow hooks are strong enough to serve as helicopter lift points. It's truly the beefiest vehicle to ever wear a seven-slat grille.
AEV J8 Milspec Facts
Make: AEV J8 Milspec
Engine: N/A - chassis set up for customer's choice of 5.7L Hemi V-8 or VM 2.8L VM Motori diesel four-cylinder
Transmission: N/A - accepts 545RFE five-speed automatic
T-case: NP231 Command-Trac, 2.72:1 Low
Electrical System: 12-Volt
Body Styles: Five-door, five-passenger or three- door, two-six passenger
Optional Equipment: Desert Sand or Military Green paint color
Axles: J8 HD Dana 44 front, 4.10:1 ratio; J8 Dana 60 rear, 4.10, Trac-Loc limited slip
Suspension: Four-link coil front with Panhard bar; HD leaf spring rear
Length: 184.4 inches
Width: 73.9 inches
Height (with hardtop): 74.4 inches
Wheelbase: 116 inches
Turning Radius: 20.3 feet
Curb Weight: 4,451 lbs
GVW: 7,403 lbs
Payload: 2,557 lbs
11PhotosView Slideshow


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BFI head Amanda Nevill talks through the thinking behind the BFI's new five-year plan.
You've undertaken to ensure every child in the UK aged 5-19 has film as part of their education. Will film become part of the National Curriculum?
Nevill: Our job is to advocate that but it's not to deliver. That's for The Department Of Education. What the plan looks at is the virtuous circle - how you get a really vibrant film culture and prosperous industry. If you want a really, prosperous, successful industry, you need people watching films. People are only going to watch films if we're making great ones. That's why we've got these three focus points - audience & education, filmmaking and heritage. We want to do with public money what the market cannot do. Part of that is long-term. The real primary motivation behind wanting to make a very significant investment in education is to engender a love of film and to embed the cinemagoing habit. We will continue to advocate for film being on the curriculum but where we really want to focus is growing the audiences of tomorrow…assuming that the consultation applauds this, we will say we are looking for someone who will deliver this for us - an organisation that will come back and deliver this for us. And we would expect them to bring some matching moneys in.
Coproduction is mentioned only in passing. is there any chance that the idea of re-joining Eurimages will be revived?
We haven't said we will or we won't (rejoin Eurimages). What we have said is that there is nowhere near enough evidence to to make a sensible decision. It's a very expensive move to rejoin Eurimages. It would probably cost us about £3 million. Plus we would have to have a bespoke, standalone coproduction fund. That's a big slug of money…we would need to be really, really certain (it was worthwhile.) Basically, you take this money and you give the cash to somebody else. That is three less films we could invest in, for example, plus the coporudction fund would only be available for coproductions. You'd be locking up a lot of money. It could be that it's worth doing that but what we've said in our forward plan is that we don't know and we're certainly not going to do it without a real evidence base.
What size will the P&A Fund be?
The proposal is £4 million (per year.) We increased it this year (to £4 million) as a one-off and what we are proposing to do, subject to the consultation is to keep it at that amount.
The Fund does three things really. It supports films we think have great break-out potential. We hope to try and recoup on those films. It also puts P&A into films so that audiences, no matter where they live, will have a chance to see them. It increases choice. And it invests in new distribution models, particularly in the digital arena.
Will you need to to expand the BFI to deliver on the Future Plan?
There will be parts of business development that Creative England will probably deliver for us. We will fund the Film Hubs directly but we've got monitoring teams here already. The Film Fund has already got people in it. The festival (fund) is not a big piece of administration. I am very confident that we are easily set out to do this. We are committing to an 8% cost of delivery, which is low.
How big will the fund for festivals be?
There are two new funds. One is what we are calling the "Programming" fund (£2.5 million a year). That fund is there to support the hubs so they can support more diversity of choice. It will include the proposal we have for rural and community cinema. It will also support local festivals. There is the separate international UK film festival fund (£1 million a year), It's specifically to support those festivals of international importance which have a really important industry role as well as an audience development role. Typically, we'd be looking at Sheffield Doc/Fest, Edinburgh, possibly Encounters and obviously London.
As far as rewarding successful producers, how are you going to do that?
There is already the 37.5% corridor that goes into a locked box for producers. That is already operating. The additional things we are looking at very warmly and probably will do, subject to the devil being in the detail and state aid (requirements) is for the producer to keep the tax break as producer equity, also into the locked box. We are also looking at recycling the development monies. The last thing is the "joint venture." The "joint venture" isn't an additional fund. It is a different way of structuring the investment we make in a film. There is a task force at the moment, made up of lots of producers and chaired by Matthew Justice, looking at how it might work.
How will the plans to bring together BBC Worldwide, The British Council, The British Film Commission, Film Export UK and BAFTA in a joint international strategy work in practice?
There is £1.2 million set aside for this in addition to the grant in aid, which is a different pot we are not consulting on. The BFI's role in this is as a catalyst for collaboration. We all got together. There were about 28 of us around the table. We said here are some critical things. Inward investment and export are absolutely vital. If we look at what we all do, we all do bits of things very well but in a sort of scattergun approach. Surely we could get more than the sum of our parts if we were to work together in some targeted areas. From a targeted area perspective, North America is vitally important so we are going to start collaborating. What we've also done is a piece of research to identify what are the most important three or four territories beyond North America for inward investment and export. We don't want to just assume it's China, Russia, India or the BRIC countries because we also want to look at things like propensity for piracy, censorship, where we would meet most fertile ground culturally. What we're all committed to is when we've got those three or four territories, we will collaborate in trying to make a real impact there. It's cultural advocacy as a big way to open the door.
What about Film Export UK? Will you continue to support sales initiatives?
As you know, we responded very quickly and put in place the interim export fund which indeed is supporting some of the British films trying to find additionalsales in Cannes. The money we've put aside will strengthen the British Film Commission's position and provide funding to do these tactical collaborations together.
What's the thinking behind the Regional Hubs?
Outside the M25, only 7% of screens regularly show non-mainstream films. If you step outside the M25, the choice of film plummets. We're talking about a new deal for audiences out there.
Everyone said the Digital Screen Network would offer a new deal for audiences. Has it not done so?
We need not to look backwards all the time but look forwards. By January of next year, nearly every screen in Britain will be digital. Yes, there are issues with the VPF (Virtual Print Fee) and there are blank spots, which is why we've brought in this idea to ensure there are 1000 community venues equipped for showing films. The real thing is that you can put in all the technology you like but actually you need to intervene on the programming and audience development level. It seems to me a natural next step that we would say the technical bit has been done now. Actually, what we want to do is intervene to make certain that we can use that to deliver the choice for audiences. If you look at the box-office over the last 10 years, the average market share for British films has been 6%. Last year, it was 13%. In the last quarter of last year, it was 23%. There is an audience hunger out there for more British films.
Is there anything about diversity and inclusion in the Future Plan?
The whole plan is based on the fact that we want a UK-wide reach. Whether it's the schools or the hubs or the focal point for talent, we don't want to centralize this….there is a really commitment to working UK-wide and ensuring there is a much more easy trajectory/open runway for all the talent across the UK to get together and access the Film Fund. We haven't used the word "diversity" but we've used the word "choice" and UK-wide" throughout.
How easy is the BFI finding it to adjust from being a cultural organisation to one that also deals with industry?
Film is both a fantastic creative tool and a really important business. It is also something that captures the hearts and minds of Britain. All those ingredients work best when they're cooked together. It's almost a relief in a way not to ghettoise different bits but to look at it in the round.
See news story about five-year plan here.


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I've tried this site. It analyzes your writing for overused words in your writing like adverb ly words, than/then, could, -ing words etc, redundancy, cliches and it gives you a mini report and highlights the overused words. It also gives you sentence pacing. You can use this site free for a limited capacity as mentioned above. They also offer an extended version with a paid membership.
A warning: You will only be able to submit about 500 words for analyzing (I copied in a whole chapter and it automatically cut my submission down-but did give me a 700 word analysis). And, you can only use the free service 3 times in a given 24hour period of time.


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So is there any place on the Lehman College campus where I can smoke?
Can I smoke in the parking lot?
Smoking in the parking lot is not permitted, as it is technically part of the campus.
What about the High School of American Studies?
No, the high school is part of the Lehman campus.
So where can I smoke?
Will ashtrays be provided?
No, so please be considerate.
Can I smoke on campus when no one else is around?
What about other, um, non-tobacco cigarettes?
No dice.
What about chewing tobacco?
That's a no-go, too.
I am trying to quit smoking, and I use an e-cigarette. Is that okay to smoke on campus?
No, e-cigarettes are not permitted.
I am not a student, nor do I work at Lehman College, but I do visit the campus, specifically the Performing Arts Center. Will there be a smoking area during intermissions?
No. Visitors to Lehman's Performing Arts Center will have to leave the campus to take a smoking break.
My son often has swim meets at the APEX. Can I smoke on the plaza outside the APEX?
No, you must walk off campus.
I work at Lehman, and I want to quit smoking. Are any anti-smoking programs being offered?
Yes, please see Smoking Cessation Resources.
I don't smoke, and I don't like second-hand smoke. If I see someone violating the university's tobacco policy, what should I do?
Politely say something. Remember: there's no reason to be confrontational.
When does this new tobacco policy go into effect?
At the stroke of midnight on July 1, 2012.


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OK, so it's basically impossible to pick just one best photo from the entire year! Some of you might recognize this picture from our Christmas letter. It was taken on Thanksgiving Day on the grounds in front of The Biltmore Estate. It's one of my favorite family photos from this year. It reminds me of this past Saturday morning when all four kids plus the giant, white fluffy dog decided to join us in bed. We then proceeded to sing, "There were six in the bed and the little one said, 'Roll Over...... Roll Over.'" And we all rolled off, one at a time until nobody was left, but Ella.
These are the best of times.


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Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Memo to Ben Bernanke: Listen to a Conference Call Once in a While
The September employment report "is simply a signal, a strong, strong signal for Fed QE2," Gross said….
—'Gross Says Employment Report Signals More Fed Easing,' Bloomberg, October 8, 2010
"The business traveler is back. We're excited to see demand so strong in so many places with prices moving up. But we know what you want to know, essentially where do we go from here? According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the recession officially ended in June 2009. Notwithstanding that, many seemed to wonder whether the economic recovery has any strength and about the risk of a double dip.
"Let's be clear. There is nothing in our business which indicates that sort of weakness. Both business transient and leisure travel remain strong."
—Arne Sorenson, President & COO, Marriott International, Earnings Call, October 7, 2010
There's something about Washington DC that saps people's brains of all reason, sense and intellectual honesty.
How else to explain the process by which Congress and the Administration undertook to restructure the entire healthcare system of the United States without asking a single insurance company for advice on how to improve the system?
Before you spit out your coffee and scream, in the manner of our President and any random Congressperson running for reelection, "hey, the insurance companies are the bad guys of healthcare," sit back and think what insurance companies really are: they're the canaries in the healthcare coal mine.
They gather cost data, put a mark-up on it, and negotiate with their customers the delivery of their services—i.e. the parsing and paying of healthcare claims. As a result, no part of the healthcare chain knows more about the actual costs of trial lawyer abuse, hospital waste, insurance fraud, drug company price hikes, and the staggering inefficiency of a Balkanized, paper-based delivery system than the insurers.
And if anybody had bothered to ask where to find and how to prevent inefficiencies, fraud, abuse, and inflation exist, the so-called healthcare "reform" act might have managed to do a thing or two to reform our healthcare delivery system.
But, of course, Congresspersons don't like to be confused by the facts.
Neither, apparently, does the White House. Bloomberg recently reported that IBM offered to analyze the healthcare system, free of charge. You might think the offer would have been snapped up—but, then, you would be a rational human being:
IBM said it would analyze health-care spending, at no cost to the government, to hunt out fraud, Sam Palmisano, the company's CEO, said at a conference in New York on Sept. 14. The White House wouldn't sign on to the plan.
"We offered to do it for free to prove a point, and they turned us down," Palmisano said. "Our recommendations weren't aligned with the priorities of the administration. Their priority was not to reduce fraud and improve productivity. It was to increase coverage."
— 'Obama May Try to Woo Business as P&G, Blackstone Blister Moves,' Bloomberg, October 8, 2010
Sure, nobody likes the cost increases insurance companies pass on, and nobody likes the impersonal, bureaucratic decisions they make when it comes to healthcare coverage, or when they make mistakes. Indeed, some people find it offensive that many insurance companies are for-profit enterprises.
But taking out anger at the lousy healthcare delivery system in the US on the insurance companies the way Congress and the Administration did was more like shooting the mailman who delivers the eviction notice than dealing with the actual problem that caused the eviction notice to be sent by the bank.
Consider for ten seconds the mark-up on an insurance company's services versus that of one of the drug companies on whose behalf the insurers collect much of our hard-earned premiums: United Healthcare's gross markup (i.e. before administrative and selling costs as well as taxes) on its services is 23%; its net after-tax margin is 4%.
Pfizer's gross markup on its products is 85%; its net margin 17%.
How, exactly, are the insurance companies the bad guys here?
Of course, people in Washington DC consider nothing for ten seconds unless it involves the prospect of getting reelected, or getting reappointed.
Look at Ben Bernanke and the panic-stricken reaction of the Federal Reserve to the recent employment data. So freaked out is the Fed by the lackluster hiring that it is preparing something called "QE2"—Quantitative Easing, Round 2—by which the Fed will buy government debt (at record, all-time high prices…hardly the time to buy anything) in order to keep the economy from stalling.
The Fed's reaction to unemployment data, unfortunately, ignores a simple fact: nobody hires new employees because interest rates go down.
They hire when they are confident of their future.
Thus, the weak employment data are not telling the Fed that business stinks—in fact, business is actually fairly healthy. Indeed, if Bernanke listened to an actual company talk about business, he'd hear some interesting stuff.
Take the above-quoted commentary from Marriott International, and think about what it means that both business and leisure travel are "strong."
It means companies see deals that can be done, so they're sending people on the road. And if hotels are filling up, it means that airplanes are flying full, rental cars are being rented, restaurants are being booked and cabs are being hailed.
It also means that city hotel room taxes and airport gate fees and sales taxes are being paid, and waiters and waitresses and cabbies and bellmen are being tipped.
Travel is one very important canary in the economic coal mine, and it's telling us that business really is getting better.
So we have a suggestion for Ben Bernanke, and, for that matter, Bill Gross, ace bond king of PIMCO who seems to manage PIMCO from within a CNBC studio, so frequently do his musings on the state of the economy appear on that TV channel, and a cheerleader of the Fed's impending QE2 campaign: listen to a few conference calls some time.
If they listened, they'd know that companies aren't holding back on hiring because business stinks: they're holding back because they see tax hikes and healthcare cost increases coming, and they're not sure adding a new FTE is a smart thing to do.
And no amount of "QE2" or QE3, 4, 5 or 6 will change that.
Ah, but who in Washington needs facts to make up their minds?
Jeff Matthews
I Am Not Making This Up
© 2010 NotMakingThisUp, LLC
The content contained in this blog represents only the opinions of Mr. Matthews, who also acts as an advisor: clients advised by Mr. Matthews may hold either long or short positions in securities of various companies discussed in the blog based upon Mr. Matthews' recommendations. This commentary in no way constitutes investment advice, and should never be relied on in making an investment decision, ever. Also, this blog is not a solicitation of business: all inquiries will be ignored. The content herein is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author.
15 comments:
- Anonymous said...
your "markup" analysis of pfizer vs. united healthcare is not exactly a fair comparison because pfizer spends on R&D that is expensed in operating expenses, not cogs.
- Sean said...
Your markup comparison is sort of bizarre. It doesn't make sense to compare gross markups from two different industries. Wouldn't it make more sense to compare the gross markup of Medicare to that of the average insurance company?
Of course if you did that you'd have an entirely different thesis...
- Anonymous said...
How about a Christie/Matthews ticket in 2012?
- But What do I Know? said...
Wow, the pharma guys are up early this morning! If I can elucidate what I think your point was, it's that PFE and MRK et al. pay enormous salaries and spend enormous amounts of money on marketing which are simply unnecessary costs that they can pass on. The difference between gross and net margins is hardly, or even nearly, all R&D.
I agree with you that QE2 is stupid--but what I don't understand is why the Fed thinks it will work. I mean, you could make the argument that QE raises bond yields--have you looked at the 30-year lately, and at what happened to it after the last QE announcement? As for stock prices, a continuation of the strong Mar09-Apr 10 rally was not unexpected (and we haven't even reached new highs yet on the S&P 500 or Russell 2000). All the Fed seems to have done is cause commodity prices to go parabolic--or hasten the dollar's slide, whichever way you want to look at it.
- Jeff Matthews said...
Sean asks why we didn't compare private insurer markups with Medicare. Medicare, of course, pays what it covers, at taxpayer expense, without a profit markup even as low as the 4% United Healthcare earns.
That public sector function is a business model that does not promote efficiency, as anyone who uses the Post Office recognizes.
We'll bet $1,000 to Sean's favorite charity that United Healthcare delivers services more efficiently than Medicare.
As for the Anonymous suggestion of a "Christie/Matthews" ticket in 2012, it brings to mind the Jack Nicholson line from 'Terms of Endearment': "I'd rather stick needles in my eyes."
- Gho said...
Would the Medicare patient base be more efficiently serviced by UNH? This that what you're asking Jeff.
Because comparing UNH and Medicare efficiency to their respective patient bases is apples to hand grenades.
BTW, when hedge fund managers gush about Wellpoint or UNH they don't gush about their profit margin but their FREE CASH FLOW generation. It seems like both do a lot of padding of capex/R&D to lower their profit margin to a more acceptable level. Does anyone really think that 15% profit margins for UNH would be looked upon kindly by Congress?
- Anonymous said...
I always love reading your reality- and evidence-based analysis for a breath of fresh air. In this case, though, I've seen business survey data that indicates the problem really is lack of demand and not fear of taxes or regulations. This post by Krugman was fairly convincing to me. I curious what your thoughts are:
- brenda said...
I would like to hear President's Obama's response to your accusation that the administration didn't care to take IBM up on its offer of a free analysis. I find so often that on CSPAN I listen to Obama and he knows exactly what he is doing- he has reasons for things that are sound, intelligent, and fair. I trust him and I don't like accusations like these that don't offer his response. I trust that if I had a chance to put this to him he's have an appropriate and meaningful response.
- Anonymous said...
Interesting way of finger pointing. And what would the party not in the White House say if the QE2 was thrown out as a bad idea? Looking at history, something about the majority not caring for the "little" people. Damned if you do...
- Anonymous said...
Dude, need to check your facts. Health insurance industry was very involved in drafting health reform legislation (which Obama was criticized for, btw) - and the White House meets w/ industry frequently. In fact, President met with CEOs in July for an extended meeting. Don't know about IBM complaint, but sounds fishy. Government hires many contractors to root out Medicare fraud.
- Jeff Matthews said...
Anonymous 1, accusing us of "finger-pointing," is Exhibit A for why thin-skinned non-financial people shouldn't read financial blogs: the White House has nothing to do with QE2.
QE2 is a Federal Reserve plan, which the title of this piece ('Memo to Ben Bernanke...'") makes rather clear, since Ben Bernanke is Chairman of the Fed.
The reason we dragged the White House and Congress into the discussion is that neither proved themselves capable of letting the facts get in the way when they set out to "reform" healthcare...and Bernanke seems to be incapable of letting the facts get in the way of Fed policy. So there must be something in the water in that town.
As for Anonymous 2, this demonstrates that any comment starting out "Dude..." is not going to add much value to the discussion.
Indeed, no facts are presented here to discuss, except the rather sad notion that the Government hires contractors to root out Medicare/Medicaid fraud...which demonstrates that only that those programs fail utterly to do what they are supposed to do.
- Sean said...
This is getting good! No time to respond now, but I'll have something to say before the end of the weekend. I promise to keep it shorter than your original post, Jeff.
- bobble said...
anon 7:50 ". . . the problem really is lack of demand and not fear of taxes or regulations"
jeff, i think your personal distaste for taxes and regulations is warping your thinking on this.
for example, did companies hire in 1960 when the top marginal tax rates were 90%? yep!
- Jeff Matthews said...
"Bobble" is a great handle for the last poster, conjuring up as it does the image of "Bobble-head" dolls.
While accusing us of letting personal prejudices get in the way of straight thinking, "Bobble" simply makes up a false tax rate to attempt to validate his or her argument.
The top corporate tax rate in 1960 was not 90% as Bobble states. "Bobble" must be confusing personal tax rates, the top bracket of which was indeed 90% back then, with corporate tax rates. The top corporate tax rate was 52% back then.
And personal tax rates have nothing to do with whether corporations hire or not.
- bobble said...
JM:""Bobble" simply makes up a false tax rate to attempt to validate his or her argument."
nope. that's a real rate. since small business does most of the job creation, i used the individual tax rate.
JM:"And personal tax rates have nothing to do with whether corporations hire or not."
my argument works just as well with corporate rates. the 52% corporate tax rate in 1960 was the highest corporate rate going back to 1901 (it was briefly exceeded at 52.8% in 1968-69) and has been going down since then.
the corporate rate is now 35%. why were corporations hiring in the 60's when the corporate tax rate was 52% and not hiring now when the rate is 35%?


text:
A 2010 NBA mock draft has Lazar Hayward, the senior Marquette forward, picked late in the first round.
I'm a big Lazar fan but I'm equally surprised to see him getting so much respect. The guy's got the physical tools — he was a 4-star recruit coming out of high school. But his tremendous heart, rebounding savvy and sweet stroke during the last three years was overshadowed by the spectacular play of the Three Amigos (Jerel McNeal, Dominic James and Wesley Matthews).
Those players have now graduated and are fighting for spots on various NBA teams. And now Lazar is pulling a Macaulay Culkin. He's alone and coming into his own, making USA Basketball's World University Games team. His challenge next season will be maintaining highly-productive numbers with a very inexperienced Marquette squad.
If Jerel McNeal, universally-lauded for his collegiate play, couldn't get a team to bite on a no-strings-attached 2nd round draft pick, I highly doubt Lazar can get himself selected in the first round.
The names and orders on NBA mock drafts are completely different before and after the NCAA basketball season. At least a dozen college ballers you've never heard of will play their way onto that list, meaning that some of those names will drop off.
For example: before UNC's Ed Davis physically dominated in the paint during the Final Four, do you think he was a consensus top 5 pick?
All that to say, I think it'll be tough for Lazar to keep his footing. I'll be rooting for him though.


text:
How to Use the Images Photos 1 & 2
Photos 1 & 2
Photo 4 shows a television image of the astronauts on the Moon that fills the whole front page of the newspaper. The largest television audience in history stayed up to see the landing, and views like this were published in newspapers and magazines worldwide.
Questions for Photo 4
1. Why do you suppose there is so little writing on the front page of this paper? Do you think this was an effective use of the front page? Why or why not?
2. Many people kept copies of the newspapers that reported the landing on the Moon. Why do you think they did that?
* The photo on this screen has a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a larger version of Photo 4, but be aware that the file will take as much as 50 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem.


text:
There will always be ghazal admirers, singers: Ghulam Ali
Ghulam Ali doesn't need an introduction. One of the most revered ghazal performers on the circuit and the voice behind gems such as Awargi and Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa, his popularity knows no borders. He talks about the future of the ghazal scene and his chemistry with good pal, the late Jagjit Singh.music Updated: Mar 30, 2013 14:29 IST
Ghulam Ali doesn't need an introduction. One of the most revered ghazal performers on the circuit and the voice behind gems such as 'Awargi' and 'Hungama hai kyon barpa', his popularity knows no borders. At the launch of his biography penned by Bhavesh Seth and Sadhana J recently, he talked about the future of the ghazal scene and his chemistry with good pal, the late Jagjit Singh.
How did you choose to become a ghazal singer?
It was my father's (Ustad Daulat Ali Jafferi) dream. He named me after the ghazal legend Bade Ghulam Ali saab, under whom I was fortunate enough to train. I have been practising since the age of nine.
How has the journey been so far?
Thaqawat mein toh raha hoon par safar bohot khushnuma raha hai (It has been tiring journey but pleasant nevertheless). I've received love wherever I've gone. Even at places I visit for the first time, I've got people's love and appreciation.
Have the traditions of ghazal singing changed? What do you feel about its future?
Ghazal isn't changing; people are forcing it to change. Words are accorded a special, deep meaning in this genre and I feel it's the responsibility of the singer to preserve their essence. Today, the direction of music has changed. Singers are in haste and want instant fame. But it's not just the singers who are to blame. Even listeners don't have the time and patience to understand the genre. But if you ask about the future, I think the art will live on. There will always be ghazal admirers and singers.
Do you find differences when it comes to audiences in India and Pakistan? Which are your favourite performance venues in both countries?
I don't see any difference as I receive love everywhere I go. I enjoy performing in Lahore as it has intelligent listeners, who understand the nuances of the art. I also enjoy performing in Kolkata. Even though people there don't understand the complex poetry, they have a good understanding of music.
As an artiste, have you
ever faced the brunt of the problems that prevail between India and Pakistan? Not really. I have always been loved and respected in both the countries. Though there have been some instances that were upsetting, it's been unfortunate for those people, not for me. I've been coming to India for the past 35 years and each visit has been memorable.
Which are your favourite compositions?
The closest ones for me are the ones that are admired by my listeners. To name a few: 'Gaye dino ka sur aag le kar', 'Dayam pada hua tere dar par'and 'Shaam kos ubh-e-chaman yaad aai'.
You shared a close bond with late Jagjit Singh.
He was my brother and will always be very close to me. I am still very shocked by his sudden departure. We have been like a family since 1976 and I really feel his absence. We had performed together at several international and charity concerts.
Tell us something about the biography.
It's written with a lot of love and dedication. My fans can get an insight into my career, the ups and downs of my life by reading this book.
When are you performing next in Mumbai?
Next month, most likely.
First Published: Mar 30, 2013 11:59 IST


text:
From The Files Of March 2, 1989 '89 A cooperative law enforcement effort culminated Monday evening, February 27, in the arrest of two men for operating a clandestine
drug laboratory from a Dublin Township, Huntingdon County, farmhouse. Members of the PA State Police Drug Strike Force conducted the raid at a farmhouse about 1.3 miles off Pa. Route 641 or about three miles north-northeast of Burnt Cabins in Huntingdon County. Two men were arrested on two counts each of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, manufacturing a controlled substance. About 15 law enforcement officials moved in on the farmhouse at the same time that the state police helicopter illuminated the house and surrounding area. Police took the men into custody about 20 feet behind the house as they attempted to crawl from the scene. Inside officials found fully functioning drug laboratory with nine cooking reaction vessels being utilized for the manufacture of P2P, a controlled ingredient for the processing of methamphetamine. Officials also found 20 pounds of raw meth in the building.
Nearly 700 people attended the recent open house at McConnellsburg Motor and Implement. Operator Lyle Mellott reports that they served 1,000 hot cakes, 70 pounds of sausage and 20 pounds of puddin.
Two new businesses, The Lumber Yard and Tri-State Trusses, are opening in the former Warfordsburg Building Supply complex along Route 522 just south of Warfordsburg.
Specials at the IGA: sirloin steak, $2.99 lb.; Brawny towels, 59 cents; grapes, 77 cents lb.; apples, 99 cents, 3- lb. bag.
Births at the Medical Center: a son to Mr. and Mrs. John Hunt Jr. of Orbisonia on February 16; a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Weicht of Everett on February 19; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Vanorsdale of Warfordsburg on February 19; a son to Mr. and Mrs. John Swindell Jr. of Breezewood on February 20; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Barry Horton of McConnellsburg on February 21; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Darhl Trail Jr. of Flintstone, Md., on February 21; a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Scott of Chambersburg on February 22.
Deaths: George Paul, McConnellsburg; Harold Mellott, Needmore; Edward Bonneman Sr., Shade Gap; Beulah Sullivan, Little Orleans, Md.; Dale Black, Huntingdon; Chester Roawn, Bedford; Clifford Speer Sr., Hagerstown; Hershall Woy, Everett.
Marriage licenses: Michael Bard, Needmore, and Christina McCusker, Hancock; Dennis Douglas, Hancock, and Angela Litton, Needmore.
30 Years Ago
From The Files Of March 1, 1979 '79 Unlike much of the surrounding area, no major flooding was reported in the county as a result of the heavy rains which followed last
Monday's big snow. At times some of the roads were under water, but none had to be closed.
More than 500 registered voters in Fulton County may lose their voting eligibility, if they do not promptly return their Request for Reinstatement of Registration. A total of 547 persons stand to be purged from the county voter registration records.
Republicans listened to guest speaker Harry Bittle, 89th District Representative at the annual Lincoln Day dinner held at McConnellsburg Firehall last week. Senators Moore, Clarence Dietz and Rep. Terry Punt also spoke.
Debra Kay Kesselring of Hustontown and David Gerald Mitchell of Three Springs were united in marriage at Hustontown Church of God on January 6. Debra is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Kesselring and David is the son of Kazuko Mitchell of Three Springs.
Specials at the IGA: Filberts margarine, 2 lbs., $1; Campbell's tomato soup, 6 cans for $1; sliced bacon, 89 cents lb.; bananas, 5 lbs., $1; Downy fabric softener, $3.59 gal.
Births at the Medical Center: a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Hall of Schellsburg on February 20; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Donald Harman of Greencastle on February 20; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Rodney Truax of Harrisonville on February 21; a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rotz of McConnellsburg on February 21; a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Philip Hughes of East Waterford on February 22; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Gary Mitchell of Three Springs on February 22.
Deaths: Alden G. Neville, Robertsdale; Frank M. Jackson, Wikieup, Ariz.; Gail A. Reeder, Chambersburg; Mrs. Beulah Schetrompf Williams, Buck Valley; Mrs. Jennie Metcalfe, Mercersburg; Earl Spade, Burkittsville, Md.; Lester L. Hicks, Washington, D.C.; George Albert, McConnellsburg; G. Luke Ritchey, Wells Tannery; John Hendershot, McConnellsburg; Frank O. Gunnells, Chambersburg.
40 Years Ago
From The Files Of March 13, 1969 '69 Capt. James McKibben Post 561 of the American Legion will mark the golden anniversary of the founding of the American Legion
as a worldwide organization by holding an anniversary banquet this Saturday, March 16, at the post home in McConnellsburg.
Local people who attended the builders' show in Harrisburg on Friday included Mr. and Mrs. Albert Foster, Dr. and Mrs. G.T. Lorentz, Mrs. R.E. Riggs, Mrs. D.M. Grissinger, Mrs. John Greathead and Mr. and Mrs. Max Stenger.
The Jake Lynch Store at Big Cove Tannery was purchased recently by Galen Winegardner of Needmore and Baker's Diner at the Y on Route 522 by Nelson Brown of Fort Littleton.
Forbes Road School closed early on Tuesday and the school buses were used to take students to watch their star basketball team play against Laurel Valley High School in Johnstown.
Application for a marriage license was made at the local courthouse last week by Charles Wm. Mellott of Mercersburg and Dorothy Mae Mellott of McConnellsburg.
Mr. and Mrs. D. Kenneth Morton Jr., Big Cove Tannery, were honored Sunday afternoon, March 2, with an open house on the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary, held at the McConnellsburg Firehall.
Deborah Kay Ward and Robert Lynn Gordon were married in a February 15 ceremony at Needmore Methodist Church. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Ward of Needmore and the groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Gordon of Big Cove Tannery.
Engagement: Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. Stumbaugh of Chambersburg announce the engagement of their daughter, Victoria Elizabeth, to Darl Melvin Rohm, son of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin C. Rohm of McConnellsburg.
Births at the Medical Center: a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Strait of Hustontown on February 26; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Dale Winegardner of Fort Littleton on February 27; a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Gary Horton of McConnellsburg on March 2.
Miss Cindy Barton, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Barton of McConnellsburg, completed her studies at the Maryland Medical Secretarial School in Hagerstown on March 8. She received her diploma in the 18-month medical secretarial course.
Men in Service: Army Specialist Four James E. Mellott, 21, son of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond C. Mellott of Needmore, was assigned on February 3 to the 19th Artillery, First Armored Division, Fort Hood, Texas, as a mechanic.
Deaths: infant son of Lester R. and Glenda A. Didawick Garland, Warfordsburg; Isabell C. Shaffer, Indian Head; Josephine Fix, Chambersburg; Wilson Mellott, Greencastle.
50 Years Ago
From The Files Of March 12, 1959 '59 Death: Dr. William Yeager of Phoenixville, Pa. Dr. Yeager was formerly dean of education at the University of Pittsburgh.
Miss Emma Sloan left Friday for Harrisburg where she will stay in the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Walker and visit her sister, Mrs. Scott Walker, who is a patient in the Peck Nursing Home at that place.
Dick Ott, Ross Ott, Harry Ott and Mrs. Elsie Lamberson left on Wednesday for Greene, Iowa, to attend the funeral of Paul Ott.
Harry Comerer of Emsworth, Pa., spent Monday here. Mr. Comerer, a native of Fulton County, plans to return to McConnellsburg upon his retirement from the railroad. He and Mrs. Comerer will occupy one of the newly remodelled apartments in The Fulton County National Bank building.
Another longtime subscriber reported to the News this week. Blaine Bergstresser of Waterfall says he has been reading and enjoying the News since the time of B.W. Peck, over 50 years ago.
Donald Daniels of Harrisonville was rushed to the Medical Center last Wednesday, suffering from a badly crushed chest, the result of a state truck running over him. The accident happened when Daniels lost his balance and fell from the truck. He also received a punctured lung and broken ribs, as well as bruises about the shoulders and arms. On Thursday, his wife, the former Audrey Glee, was brought to the hospital where she gave birth to a baby girl. All three members of the family are now progressing nicely.
The Franklin-Fulton County Band Festival will be held in the McConnellsburg auditorium next Tuesday. The 135 student musicians will play under the direction of Albertus L. Meyers, director of the famous Allentown Band and Muhlenberg College Band.
The Fulton Chamber of Commerce, which has been rather dormant for some time now, was fully re-activated at a meeting on Tuesday night. Albert Foster was elected chairman, with Willard Shore as secretary. Three of the projects the chamber will work for are free home mail delivery, number on the houses in town now that the Town Council has put up street signs and a public parking lot.
Forty-six new parking meters have been purchased by the Town Council to be installed as soon as all pavements are improved, which most property owners plan to do this spring.
The nation's new 49-star flag will get its official inauguration at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, where the "Star Spangled Banner" was born. President Eisenhower has requested that the new Stars and Stripes, with Alaska's star on it, be hoisted over the fort at 12:01 a.m. on July 4. Francis Scott Key wrote the words of the national anthem while being held on a British man-of-war, which took part in the September 12, 1814, bombardment of Fort McHenry.
Clyde Deshong of Harrisonville has taken over the management of Albert's Atlantic Station on Lincoln Way East. George Albert, the former manager, will continue to operate the station temporarily.
Born: a son on Sunday to Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Ray of Amaranth.
Sgt. First Class Marion E. Foster, 24, son of Mr. and Mrs. C.C. Foster of Wells Tannery, participated recently with the 40th Armored Division in Exercises Free Play, a large scale Seventh Army field training exercise in Germany.
Marine Pfc. Gary R. Tritle, son of Mr. and Mrs. James E. Tritle of McConnellsburg, took part recently in the 18th anniversary celebration of the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, N.C. The division was formed in San Diego, Calif., on February 1, 1941, and has been based at Camp Lejeune since 1946.
Born: a son, David Lee, on March 2 to Mr. and Mrs. Willard Northcraft of Tucson, Ariz.
Wayne, little son of Albert Clark of Needmore, was taken to Chambersburg Hospital last Friday night, suffering from pneumonia.
Births at the Medical Center: a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Donald Daniels of Harrisonville on March 5; a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. John Deck of Fort Loudon on March 2; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Washabaugh of McConnellsburg on March 3; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Chester Seiders of McConnellsburg on March 3; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Souders of Warfordsburg on March 7; a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Howard Gordon of Big Cove Tannery on March 8; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Armand Parent of Harrisonville on March 8.
Obie Snyder, a 32-year-old Bedford County farmer, has been named Pennsylvania's Outstanding Young Farmer for 1959. Snyder operates a 651-acre farm at Imler.
60 Years Ago
From The Files Of March 17, 1949 '49 Russell Souders of McConnellsburg, lost the sight of his right eye last Tuesday. He was removing trash from a barrel when a wire
snapped, the end piercing his eyeball.
Two new foresters, Ralph Schmidt and Wilson Wheeler, have been assigned to Fulton County.
Deaths: Mrs. William S. Mellott of Sipes Mill; Mrs. Rebecca Fraker of Fort Littleton.
Mr. and Mrs. John W. Ott of near McConnellsburg celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on March 6.
Paul Wible returned on Wednesday to his work with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.
Walter Black expects to return to his work at Fairchild next week, after being ill since October.
70 Years Ago
From The Files Of March 16, 1939 '39 Local firemen are busily engaged these days renovating the community building recently purchased by the Town Council. Large
double doors have been installed, a siren erected, a driveway laid and the fire engine is now housed in the building. On the recreation side, a counter has been installed, magazines contributed, a radio has been donated by Mr. Snyder of Mercersburg and 75 to 100 theatre seats have been contributed by W.M. Lodge. Throughout the building, renovations are under way. The firemen donated their time and labor for the project.
Deaths: Beatrice LaRue Sheffield of Back Run; Amos Shaw of near Hustontown.
E.V. Lynch of McConnellsburg has been appointed a notary public by Gov. Arthur H. James.
Miss Mary K. Hoke, who has been in the surgical foundation garment business in Chambersburg for 16 years, will retire on April 1 and will make her home in Mc- Connellsburg with her sister, Mrs. B.F. Henry.
Harry M. Elvey was re-elected president of the local fire company at a meeting on March 7. Other officers elected were Donald Helman, vice president; John McLucas, secretary; Ralph Johnston, assistant secretary; Wilmer G. Hays, treasurer; Dr. E.H. MacKinlay, surgeon; Mack Helman, hose captain; John McLucas, hose lieutenant; Frank Cutchall, hook and ladder captain; Roy Gordon, hook and ladder lieutenat; Aulden Cutchall, first assistant chief; and Ralph Johnston, second assistant chief.
Friday evening has been set by the fire company to make one of its trial runs, this time to Needmore. The purpose of these trial runs is to locate satisfactory water sources in the various communities. The goal for the run on Friday will be the consolidate school building in Needmore.
The new officers of Green Hill Civic Club are Miss Ruth L. Woodal, president; Mrs. William J. Hine, vice resident; Mrs. Claude Mellott, treasurer; and Mrs. Thomas Ensley, secretary.
Application for a marriage license was made last week in Mercersburg by Hayward V. McLaughlin, 24, of Fort Loudon, and Madeline B. Ott, 24, of Mc- Connellsburg. They were married on March 11.
Harry L. Baumgardner has resigned as county chairman of the Republicn Party to assume the superintendency of the local highway department. A new county chairman will be named at a Republican meeting on March 20.
Fred A. Shelly and Mary Secrist were wed Thursday. Oran Cook and Oletha Brown were married March 11.
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph F. Earley announce the birth of a son on Friday at Chambersburg Maternity Home.
80 Years Ago
From The Files Of March 14, 1929 '29 Deaths: Phillip Ott of Lakemont; James H. Chamberlain of
Wells Tannery; Caleb Mellott of near Hustontown; Sylvester H. Kelso and Geraldine Kelso, his grandmother, both of whom died at the home of the latter's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Kelso of near Burnt Cabins on March 1, only 10 hours apart; Job H. Mann of Warfordsburg; Hon. Horace W. Cromer of Pittsburgh.
Dr. H.C. McClain expects to build a double house soon on a lot on East Lincoln Way which he purchased from Benj. H. McLucas.
William Miller of Webster Mills received a broken right wrist recently while cranking a car.
Mrs. David Woodall of Todd Township went to Philadelphia on Friday to undergo an operation at the University Hospital.
The high wind on Thursday night blew the top off Conrad's tenant house in Ayr Township. The house is occupied by the Bill Cutchall family. The same wind blew the top off Mr. Cutchall's car.
Death: Henry Martin of Mercersburg.
Mrs. John Coulter of Clear Ridge is critically ill at this time with pneumonia.
Editor Fred Unger of the Mercersburg Journal, whose Reo Flying Cloud was stolen a week ago, has received word that it has been found in Wash- ington, D.C.
Juniata College has announced that a local girl, Ruth Kirk, ranks fourth in the senior class there with an average of over 91.
Mrs. Gathwaite Mellott of Cito celebrated her 34th birthday on March 6.
Lois Winegardner of Fort Littleton celebrated her eighth birthday on February 28.