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The air-spade has quickly become an important device in the Arnold Arboretum's toolbox for plant health. Using compressed air to excavate the soil, the air-spade loosens and exposes the delicate root systems of our trees and shrubs without causing significant damage. It's called into action in a number of scenarios, like investigating potential root issues suggested by above-ground symptoms, breaking-up compacted soil to enhance the movement of water and air, and transplanting mature specimens from one location of our landscape to another.
Typically you may see our horticulturists using the air-spade in the early spring or fall, when root disturbance proves less stressful to plants. During these times of the year, transpiration (loss of water through leaves) is reduced due to lower temperatures and (in the case of deciduous species) the absence of foliage altogether. Roots are also more active in terms of new growth in spring and fall and can quickly recover during these seasons. In addition, soil moisture is typically higher, reducing the likelihood that roots will dry out or need supplemental watering.
The air-spade operates in tandem with a large tow-behind air compressor, donated by the Arnold Arboretum Committee in 2012. This acquisition has allowed horticulture staff to exercise greater flexibility and efficiency in using the air-spade as a part of our standard operations. You can see a video of the air-spade at work in this video, operated by none other than Director Ned Friedman.


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An NBA Player Gave His Teammates "Disney Fairies" Valentines
The type you passed out in elementary school to everyone. Bravo, Andray Blatche.
If I asked you which player on the Brooklyn Nets you thought was most likely to distribute "Disney Fairies" valentines, complete with little inspirational messages, to his fellow teammates, you would probably guess goofy backup center Andray Blatche — and you would be correct.
We hope "Dray Bear" also had cards for Deron Williams and the rest of the boys, because the first rule of elementary school valentines is that IF YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH FOR EVERYBODY, THEN NOBODY GETS ONE.

subset: commoncrawl


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Ok guys, Around The World ends tomorrow, so I thought I would share my last few faves from this awesome event! Be sure to check it out, it's an awesome build as well as some really great clothing, skin, hair, etc.
Look 1:
Skin: Marie in Vivante – Essences @ Around The World
Hair: Viveienne (Type A) in Black Diamond – D!va
Dress & Belt: Native Dress in Mapitu – Le Form @ Around The World
Boots: Snare Ankle Boots in Clay – Celoe (New!)
Bag: The Roman 2.0 – Color.Me.H.O.F.
Earrings: Mescal Earrings – LaGyo
Ring: Sante Fe Ring in Bronze for TDR
Look 2:
Skin: Maria in Fraise Makeup 01 – Essences @ Around The World
Hair: Beyond The Waves in Black Gold – Exile (New!)
Dress: Yudja Mini Dress in Beige – Le Form @ Around The World
Shoes: Aelia Wedges in Desert – Celoe
Bangle: Pearl Rain Banglein Dark Gold – Mandala
Watch & Bracelets: Hue Mkay Set – [7891.]


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Dear All,
Greetings and best wishes for a restful weekend! St. Louis has been rainy for the past few days its magnificent trees bursting into a beautiful summery green. I am in awe of the trees around me after 25 years of living here (exactly as long as I lived in my hometown Shiraz in south west of Iran). Did I say Shiraz? Okay, let me give a few visual samples. Let's start with seasonal change. In Shiraz, you can see the arrival of the spring in a matter of days:
While we are on short tour of Shiraz, you should definitely see another 19th century building, Nasir al-Molk school and mosque:


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Coroner-elect Craig Nelson won't take bureau until Jan. 1, though he might already be in for a $15,000-a-year raise.
"We should have had (our) profession do a leg work on this before we talked about it final time," Allen County Council President Larry Brown pronounced in response to Deputy Coroner Mike Burris' ask that Council recur a Oct statute that as a dentist Nelson does not validate as a medicine underneath state law and as a outcome should acquire $30,500 instead of a $45,800 warranted by benefaction coroner John Brandenberger, M.D.
Brown remarkable that dual opinions created by a Indiana Attorney General's
Article source: http://www.news-sentinel.com/article/2012121209911


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Monday, July 23, 2007
The Difference Between Winners and Champions
I'm not a "golf guy." I can't tell you which club a guy just used or which one he should have used instead but I understand the difference between winners and champions. Or, to put it a different way, the difference between Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia, who just bungled away a chance to win the British Open.
Like I said, I am not going to tell you the technical details of why Garcia didn't win. I am going to go deeper and broader than that, because I know Tiger Woods. Not personally; in fact, I've never met him. But I know him. To be specific, I know his kind and I don't mean that in the way that certain people might have said those words when Woods first showed up in his lily-white (and I don't mean the golf balls) sport. Woods used to have a commercial in which various people said, "I am Tiger Woods." He could have had a commercial in which he said, "I am Michael Jordan." Or, "I am Garry Kasparov." Or, "I am Roger Federer." Those guys are all the same person, on the inside.
Yeah, I put a chess player in the mix, a guy who held the world champion title for two decades. Laugh if you must, but all of those champions have the same thing on the inside. It is a powerful mixture of intense concentration and focus on the task at hand, a fierce--and to the average person unnatural and almost incomprehensible--will to win and an equally fierce--and perhaps even more incomprehensible to the average person--hatred of losing. John McEnroe alluded to this after this year's Wimbledon tournament when he spoke to Jimmy Roberts about his famous 1980 finals match with Bjorn Borg. When McEnroe won the classic fourth set tiebreaker he thought that he had broken Borg's spirit. Young McEnroe, not yet a champion, figured that Borg had already won four Wimbledon titles, so after losing such a disheartening tiebreaker Borg might figure that it's just not his year. Instead, Borg dug deep within and played an almost flawless fifth set to win his record fifth straight Wimbledon crown. Even more than great champions love winning they hate losing, so they fight and scrap and claw. As Walter Payton put it, "Never die easy." There is a great line in a Prince song and--knowing Prince--he's probably referring to something else but it can be applied in this context: "I'll die but I won't go away." The great athlete knows that he is not immortal; he can be wounded, he can bleed, he is vulnerable but he won't go away, his spirit will not be bowed: if you want to beat him, you basically have to kill him (in a competitive sense).
Champions project a message to their opponents that induces fear and resignation. Opponents of former world chess champion Bobby Fischer used to call it "Fischer Fear." They used to say that they could feel his manic energy, his fierce will to win, across the chessboard. Michael Jordan's opponents used to feel a similar thing, as did Kasparov's and as do Woods' and Federer's. I believe that it was once said of Jack Nicklaus, another champion, "He knows that he's better than you, you know that he's better than you and he knows that you know that he's better than you." That is as good a way as any to sum it up. I've seen world class chess players in action and even played against a few and in the course of covering the NBA I've had an up close view of some of the greatest players of all-time and spoken to more than a few of them. They all have an edge, a presence, that distinguishes them even from the other great players, guys who are also marvelously gifted.
Let's get back to Garcia and Woods. Woods struggled with his game and was not a factor in this year's British Open. The funny thing is that even in a bad tournament he still tied for 12th. He had won the previous two British Opens and had tied for second in his last two major championships after winning the two major championships prior to that. Basically, Woods is almost always in contention in major championships and if his game is anywhere close to being right he has a great chance to win. I hear golf analysts make much of the fact that on the one hand Woods rarely gives up a lead on Sunday but on the other hand he has never come from behind on Sunday to win a major. I think that the former is much more significant than the latter. When Woods has his "A" game, as he would put it, he wins, point blank--he gets a lead, he keeps it and they put his name on the trophy. When he has his "B" or "C" game, he still may be in contention just because he is so good but someone else who is having the tournament of his life may end up winning.
Garcia had a three stroke lead coming into Sunday and a six stroke lead over Padraig Harrington, who eventually defeated Garcia in a playoff. Garcia had his "A" game for much of the tournament but he did not win. That never happens to Woods. If Woods is playing his "A" game then, like Nicklaus, he knows that he is better than everyone else, everyone else knows it and he knows that everyone else knows it. When Jordan's Chicago Bulls reached the point that they were the NBA's best team, they always won the title. Since Federer hit his stride a few years ago he has put together an amazing run of Grand Slam wins. Fischer once won 20 straight games against world class grandmasters without conceding a draw. I'm not sure how to translate that into terms that a conventional sports fan might understand but it would be something like the Miami Dolphins' 17-0 season--if the Dolphins had played a schedule stocked only with the Steelers, Raiders, Cowboys and other elite teams of the era.
It's not for me to say whether or not Garcia "choked" but it is obvious that the difference between he and Woods consists of more than just their ability levels. Champions dominate, champions break their opponents' wills and champions almost always find a way to win on the occasions when they have their "A" game. They are human beings, so they cannot have their "A" game every single time out, particularly in a game like golf--but they have their "A" game often and they win when they do. Champions may die but they won't go away. Garcia went away on Sunday and that is what makes him different from Tiger Woods.
4 comments:
- Unknown said...
Awesome article for us to read! I am always happy to be a local champ. I always enjoy watch great champs even more. I watch Tiger, but I can't play golf. I love to watch ches live on the internet, I can play chess. I am always inspired to play by Alekhine, Tal, Capablanca,Kramnik, and Lasker. Nobody epitomizes you difference more than Lasker! John Miller (Cincy Park and Club Champ )
- Monday, September 03, 2007 7:03:00 PM
- David Friedman said...
It's good to hear from you and I'm glad that you enjoyed the article. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback about this piece, particularly since Riley Driver posted a link to it at the Dayton Chess Club's website.
- Monday, September 03, 2007 9:44:00 PM
I love this article. I was trying to find information on the difference between a winner and a champion. Intuitively, I was clear but you expressed it perfectly in words. Thanks!
Barbara Grant (Champion of Life)
- Saturday, February 12, 2011 7:19:00 PM
- David Friedman said...
You're welcome. Thank you for your kind words.
- Sunday, February 13, 2011 5:46:00 AM


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Tyreke Evans (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans is getting a second opinion on his sore left knee.
Evans did not travel with the Kings on Monday to Detroit, where they begin a four-game road trip Tuesday. Instead, Evans is scheduled to visit with Dr. Steve Lombardo in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Evans has missed 12 games this season because of his nagging knee. He averaged 15.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the 18 games he has played.
The 2009-10 NBA Rookie of the Year will be a restricted free agent after the season.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.


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Early last month, the automotive gods blessed me by allowing me to take a BMW 118i around a track in the Eifel region of Germany.
This track, is known as the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
My lap was done in a BMW 118i with normal street tires (probably all seasons) during a touristenfahrten session. I wasn't trying to clip apexes, get a lap time of under 10 minutes, or chase down every car that passed me. I took it very calm because I did not want to die. It was only my second day with that car, I didn't know the full limits of it or its tires, and I did not want to be the star of another horrible Nürburgring crash video.
I did end up pushing the tires quite hard, if you listen closely you can hear them squealing. I also passed a few cars, one of which was a E92 M3, which I guess doesn't really count, since one of its tire was almost fully off its rim.
With that being said, it was one of the best things I've done in my life, and almost definitely the best thing I did during my time spent in Germany.


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Bad AT&T Ideas Are Contagious: UK's Vodafone Wants To Try 'Sponsored Data' Idea
from the ridin'-them-pipes-for-free deptAT&T poured napalm on the network neutrality debate here in the States back in 2005, when then CEO Ed Whitacre proudly proclaimed in an interview he "wasn't going to let Google ride his pipes for free." Ed and most telco executives quite honestly believe that historically-pampered phone companies are entitled to an additional "troll toll" by content companies simply for the honor of touching the ISP network. Never mind that consumers and content companies already pay for bandwidth and (like Google) invest in infrastructure of their own, telco logic dictates that content companies get a "free ride" and must pay more. You know, because.
AT&T's attempts to double dip aren't just domestically dumb, predatory and dangerous, they seemingly have an infectious quality for overseas telcos looking for ways to make additional money for doing nothing, but who aren't gifted with AT&T's knack for truly obnoxious ideas. We've seen it in the way European telcos mimic AT&T's rhetoric in claiming content companies ride their pipes for free, and therefore really ought to pay an additional tax to the phone companies (again, you know, just because). Despite being such a bizarre, fundamentally flawed assumption, the concept carries a lot of traction in telecom circles, thanks largely to hired think tanks and PR flacks who go to great, great lengths to frame it as entirely reasonable.
Yet oddly, the "hey, give me more money for doing nothing" approach hasn't worked well, resulting in AT&T recently introducing their "sponsored data" idea. As we recently discussed, sponsored data involves certain large companies paying AT&T an extra fee to have their content not count against wireless consumer caps. While framed by AT&T as "free shipping" or a "1-800 number for data," it's simply more of the same idea, and potentially devastating for smaller companies and startups that can't afford to pay AT&T to get preferred listing in AT&T's promotional materials. AT&T's effectively imposing entirely arbitrary caps (based in no way on real-world economics or network congestion), then charging multiple times for the same bandwidth.
Not too surprisingly, AT&T's latest brain child has again had an infectious impact on overseas telcos. UK's Vodafone now says the company is interested in trying the sponsored data idea as well:
Vodafone is looking at offering sponsored data to its customers. The move would see customers agreeing to receive sponsored data on their devices in return for lower data bills. CEO Vittorio Colao revealed Vodafone's interest in sponsored dat this week. The CEO said he is closely watching US operator AT&T's recent move to allow sponsored data.What Colao is watching for specifically is the regulator response to AT&T's sponsored data. If FCC boss and former wireless and cable lobbyist Tom Wheeler signs off on sponsored data as a form of "pricing innovation," that opens the door to the possibility that overseas regulators can be conned into thinking this is actually an innovative idea as well. It's worth noting that AT&T wanted to acquire Vodafone's wireless assets, but it's largely believed that AT&T's incredibly cozy relationship with the NSA has soured European regulators on the idea -- for now. After the European Parliament elections in May, it's very likely AT&T and Vodafone will merge to become one company, which can further help spread AT&T's bizarre and predatory logic worldwide.
Filed Under: data, sponsored data, uk, wireless
Companies: at&t, vodafone


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A totally free Coffee Wiki with articles, based on coffee enthusiasts posts from various forums around the world and the wealth of questions, problems and ideas written every day. There are many coffee sites on the web, some have: very good information, very technical information, information written by what can only be described as "people who are fanatical about coffee". Using our Wiki is easy just type the word or phrase you are interested in into the search box e.g. home roasting, " or use the Contents page. The Wiki can (and does), hold video, audio and picture content, obviously the larger files are better linked to services such as youtube, flickr etc..you should also try Tag Browsing, it's a very powerful way to find the information in this Wiki. You may even want to have a try at creating a page yourself!
RSS Feeds are fully supported, so you can be automatically informed of changes, but the best thing is to visit the Wiki often and check out the latest articles. We no longer have premium articles, Bella Barista have asked for all articles to be freely available click here to visit Bella Barista who sponsor this Wiki When you visit their site, check out their newsletter and Coffee Club, especially if you are a home roaster.
I think many people reading this Wiki may not always have a lot of experience, so we try to keep things simple where possible, this means simple explanations, simple diagrams, simple techniques. If you want to consistently make good coffee, and be able to offer your friends a beverage that is superior to anything they are likely to get on the high street… I hope we can help.
IE8 does not display images correctly on all pages of the wiki, if you see a red box with an X in it, click the x and the image will display, hit back to return to the page you were on and after that the Wiki seems to run normally (apart from 3d stereo images) for the rest of the session. After many years as an Internet Explorer user I switched to Firefox as my browser and find it much better.
For viewing this site I recommend Firefox , or Googles Chrome, both work well with the Coffeetime Wiki


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To celebrate National Puppy Day, the Cozy Chicks are honoring rescue dogs. In my Flower Shop Mystery series, Abby's dog Seedy was rescued from a shelter before she could be euthanized. Abby hadn't planned on having a dog in her life. It just happened. And don't so many things in our lives go that way? (See last Monday's post, "In An Instant.") Seedy's image is in the poster, except the artist goofed. Seedy has just 3 legs. Oops!
I have a friend who rescues Yorkies and finds forever homes for them. She has three herself. Another friend has rescued several big dogs. I've rescued half a dozen cats, and my son, bless his heart, rescued a mother cat and her eight kittens. These stories are all so heart-warming, aren't they?
I'm not the only one of the Chicks who has a rescue dog in her mystery series. My friend Duffy Brown had this to say about her doggie character: "I have a rescue pup in my Consignment Shop series...Bruce Willis. Reagan found him hiding under her porch and shared her chicken McNuggets with him. They bonded." You can see his "photo" here.
And Chick Mary Jane Maffini said, "Peachtree (aka Walter the Pug) was put up for 'adoption' online after the family had a baby. It wasn't a complete rescue, but a timely adoption. She's Victoria's dog and we all love her. Maybe not close enough to a 'real' rescue." Close enough for me, MJ. A dog's life was saved. You can see Walter in the poster above. He's such a cutie pug-tootie, isn't he?
And then there's my good buddy Maggie Sefton, who has real life rescues in her family. She told me, "Kate, here are two photos---Max at the vet's office sitting on the most vulnerable part of this anatomy and my "granddog" Oscar, Serena & Jeff's Dachsund. Oscar was found in a Houston shelter, shivering at the back of the big caged area. Now, he gets to be Big Brother to Mastiff puppy Boss."
Here are Maggie's photos.
Have you rescued a dog? Or any animal? Everyone who does should stand up and take a bow. You are an angel on earth.
Have a waggingly wonderful week.


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In the course of reviewing the four episodes of Telltale Games' adaptation of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead released so far, we hope that we've impressed upon you all just how much we've enjoyed this game. Episode 1 was surprisingly excellent, Episode 2 was even better, Episode 3 soundly trumped its predecessors, and Episode 4 raised the bar even further, throwing twists and turns at players so rapidly that Twitter is still bursting with short missives from fans playfully decrying Telltale for generating so much genuine emotion via the game's razor-sharp storytelling.
That said, there's only so many ways we can describe how well the company has captured the dark, oppressive tone that has made Kirkman's ongoing series such a favorite among fans of both horror, and well written, complex characters. Thus, immediately prior to the release of Episode 4, we decided to send off a list of questions to Gary Whitta, a writer who had served as something of a story supervisor on earlier episodes before scripting this latest episode himself.
Though we were stonewalled on a few of our queries — Whitta spent years as the Editor In Chief of PC Gamer magazine, so he knows a thing or two about how to diplomatically field a journalist's questions without actually revealing any pertinent information — Whitta was surprisingly candid in his responses. Not only do we find out what goes into crafting an emotionally affecting story like that seen in The Walking Dead, we also discuss why protagonist and objectively attractive guy Lee Everett doesn't jump into bed with every pretty lady he meets, and we get firm confirmation that Telltale plans to create a sequel to its biggest hit to date.
Fair warning: Those of you who have yet to play The Walking Dead may want to skip over this interview. It contains spoilers for the series, and while they're relatively minor, we urge everyone to discover this game's plot for themselves. It's just that good. After you've played through the four episodes currently available, you can come back and read the rest of this article. We promise that it's not going anywhere.
Over the past three episodes it feels as if the tone of the game has been growing increasingly dark. That seems apt given the increasingly dark tone of the comic series it's based on, but how far are you going to take this? How terrible are things going to get for Lee and Clem? It's probably too late to hope for a happy ending here, huh?
If you're familiar with The Walking Dead comics you probably already know that happy endings aren't really part of Robert Kirkman's tonal palette. It's a bleak, bleak world. Having said that, I don't think the way to stay true to Robert's vision is to be relentlessly grim all the time. That's one-note storytelling and I think it would become old quite quickly. Even the darkest stories have occasional moments of humor, and certainly in Episode 4 I tried to do some things that would give the audience the opportunity to exhale a little bit and actually have some fun. It's probably the biggest episode so far in terms of action and old-fashioned crowd-pleasing moments. But even then we're always conscious of staying inside the overall tonal parameters that Robert has defined and in that sense, yes, anyone hoping for a traditional Hollywood-style happy ending should probably adjust their expectations. That's just not how The Walking Dead does things, in any medium.
Episode 3, despite being darker than its predecessors, seemed to feature more blatantly humorous moments than we'd seen previously. Was that an attempt to alleviate the emotional impact this "darker" episode might have on players?
As I said, you can't tell a story within just one single tone. The best stories can make you both laugh and cry, often close together, and we do try to pull off that kind of thing with The Walking Dead.
For that matter, are there any moments where either you or your colleagues at Telltale worry that you've crossed over into territory that is too dark?
No, quite the opposite. In our early story-breaking sessions — and ever since then — we've always embraced the darker ideas. Any time we might initially worry if a certain idea or moment might be going too far because it made us uncomfortable, we quickly realized that that meant we had to do it!
Having said that, again it's not just about trying to come up with the darkest, most punishing stuff possible — that would quickly become boring and cynical. We're looking for the most interesting ideas within the tone of the series. We're always asking ourselves, "What Would Kirkman Do?", and in that regard, based on Robert's own feedback, I think we've been pretty faithful to his vision.
You're racking up a pretty impressive body count during the course of this series, but have you regretted any of the deaths you've written because you'd grown so fond of a certain character?
There's an old saying in writing — you have to kill your babies. In The Walking Dead we long ago made peace with the notion that we can't have any sacred cows; characters that we would never consider killing just because the audience or we ourselves might be very fond of them. One of the great things about working with an original cast of characters rather than the same ones from the comics is that we have complete freedom to kill anyone, whenever we think it's appropriate for the story, and that keeps the audience on its toes!
Is Clem ever going to see her parents again?
Episodes 4 and 5 of The Walking Dead will be available on PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, Steam, Amazon, Gamespot, Gamefly and the App Store at a very reasonable price!
It's refreshing to see a game where a male lead interacts with multiple lead female characters without the whole situation immediately devolving into some kind of forced romance minigame. Was that intentional, or are you just waiting for Episode 5 to reveal who Lee falls for?
I've never really thought of The Walking Dead as the kind of world where romance blooms easily. These people are too busy trying to survive to worry about falling in love. So romance hasn't been a strong element of Season One so far — although certainly we've hinted at it — but who knows what the future might hold?
We've seen characters from the comics in the game already, but it's been a while since any familiar faces have popped up. Will the remaining two episodes feature any characters from the comic (or the TV show)?
We've had discussions among ourselves and with Robert Kirkman about what the opportunities for involving other characters from the comics might be. We have some interesting ideas but nothing is set in stone yet.
I've always been impressed at how well you avoid clinging to stereotypes with the game's characters. It would be easy to simply assign the expected character traits to each person, but the story is improved massively by the realistic complexity of each individual in the game. What would you say is the key to writing human beings in an outlandish situation that still seem like real people you might encounter in your daily life?
I think it's just remembering that they remain real, everyday people, just put in an impossible situation. The key to writing The Walking Dead is knowing that you're writing a human drama first and a zombie apocalypse story second. It's not about the zombies; they're just there to amplify the human drama.
Is there anything you've written for the game that, given the chance to do it again, you'd write differently?
Maybe here and there, but that's always the case. I'm never completely satisfied with anything I've written.
How does the game's ability to tailor its experience to a player's choices change your job as a writer?
It makes it much more complex and challenging, but much more satisfying too. Writing a fluid narrative that the audience can redirect can be a terribly difficult and sometimes migraine-inducing balancing act, but it's great when it really works well and you see players comparing notes on an episode they just played, and even though they technically played the same episode they've actually had very different experiences based on the choices they made.
How much input does Robert Kirkman have on what you write for the game? For that matter, has he played the game? As far as I know the man is a fan of video games, so it would seem likely that he'd want to have some involvement in the project.
Robert has been a guiding influence from the beginning and approved the overall creative direction but he's been very hands-off beyond that because he trusts us. He's been playing the games and has been incredibly complimentary of the work we've been doing; I think he's genuinely proud of this iteration of his universe, as much as the comics or the TV series.
How do you feel this game's episodic nature has affected its success? Would being a full, retail boxed release have changed how the game has been received?
I think the episodic model has really worked for us. The Walking Dead has always been episodic. The comics are episodic, the TV series is episodic, and now the game is too. It's the best way to do this kind of long-form, ongoing storytelling. And it's great to be able to end an episode on a cliffhanger and have the audience discuss where the story might go from here while they wait for the next episode. Having said that it's also fun to "marathon" a TV series, and I think people will definitely enjoy playing the whole season of the Walking Dead game back-to-back once the boxed version is released.
In total, how many separate paths are there through The Walking Dead?
I have no idea; it gives me a headache just thinking about it.
How long is the full script for a single episode of The Walking Dead?
Episode 4 was about 250 pages, so about the equivalent of two feature-length films.
Assuming The Walking Dead is as much of a finacial success as it has been with critics, what are the odds that we might see a Walking Dead Season 2 from you guys at some point in the future?
Season Two is definitely happening; it's a matter of when, not if.
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What to Read Next
We remember this week Ray Anderson, one of the earliest and biggest voices for the role that business must play in sustainability efforts. Anderson, who founded the carpet company Interface, died on Monday.
According to an obituary at environmentalleader.com, "Anderson set a seemingly radical goal for the firm: 'Mission Zero,' a commitment to eliminate any environmental impacts by the year 2020. Shortly before his death, he estimated that the company was more than halfway towards this vision."
Anderson was active in public/private partnerships. He co-chaired President Obama's Presidential Climate Action Plan in 2008 and President Clinton's President's Council on Sustainable Development. In 2007, Time named him one of its Heroes of the Environment. Details about his life and links to many of his interviews are listed on a "Get to Know Ray" page at the Interface website. Tellingly, the website give sustainability major play, with just five main tabs: Company, Products, Investor Relations, Newsroom and Sustainability.
In 2009, MIT SMR provided a timeline of Anderson and Interface's complicated embrace of sustainability, in Bruce Posner's story "One CEO's Trip From Dismissive to Convinced." Take, for instance, Anderson's comments on the company's 1995 decision to focus on waste elimination:
"You realize there are huge technical challenges. The waste elimination effort — that's pretty straightforward — the sort of thing we ought to be doing anyway." But tackling other areas like emissions and energy consumption was a different story. "We had no idea what was coming into our factory, but what comes in will go out, either in the product or in waste or emission or effluents. And that's a huge spectrum of stuff that needs to be understood and dealt with."
The company's Toxic Chemical Elimination Team sets ambitious goal of eliminating the need for filters by redesigning products and processes. "Filters only concentrate the pollution," says Anderson, "and then what do you do? Throw the filters away? There is no 'away.'" At the time, Anderson notes, no one knew how to recycle nylon or PVC. "No one was doing this anywhere in the world."
Anderson participated in an executive roundtable with MIT SMR in 2009, on "Capturing the Green Advantage." "The whole thing started with our customers asking what are you going to do for the environment, and we had no answers," he said. "When we heard what the customers were saying, it quickly became clear, hey, this is smart, too. Our customers care; we have to care." He added that "Greenwashing is the kiss of death. If you think that anyone might use that word to describe what you're doing, you've got a real problem."
A new blog, Inspired by Ray Anderson, was launched this week by Interface. It's a place for people to post remembrances of Anderson and comment on his work.


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Create an Account - Increase your productivity, customize your experience, and engage in information you care about.
December 25, 2018, 8:00 AM
December 25, 2018, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM @ Webster Recreation Center
Gates to Recovery Webster/Penfield will feature a drop in center to facilitate quick access to treatment, and also provide support services for families. Services are provided through Recovery Now NY: www.recoverynowny.com.
The program will be held at the Webster Community Center on the 4th Tuesday of each month, from 5-8 pm. Additionally, ongoing Narcan training will be available for community members. The Webster Community Center is located at 1350 Chiyoda Drive.


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CStatic-Derived Flat Button Class
Posted by Kwon Jin-ho
CStaticButton is a class derived from MFC CStatic class. With this class your applications can have standard buttons or new and modern buttons with "flat" style!
CStaticButton features:
- Standard CStatic properties
- Only Bitmap Button - But, Adding Icon so esay
- Not Depend on Format, 2 color - true color support
- Standard or new "flat" button style
- Change runtime from Enable-Disable Image
- Change runtime from ToolTips and CRgn(Default-rect region)
- Can be used via DDX_ calls
- Can be dinamically created
- Each button can have its own mouse pointer
- Full source code included!
- It's free!
SummaryI don't speak English very well. However, I think that the code is simple and easy enough to follow. Just don't forget to change the button image's Notify property
DownloadsDownload demo project - 64 Kb
Download source - 3 Kb


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Tolkien's Middle-earth:
Lesson Plans for Secondary School Educators
Unit Five: "The Tides of Fate Are Flowing"
Content Focus: The Lord of the Rings, Book Two
Thematic Focus: Free Will and Fellowship
In Book Two of The Lord of the Rings, one of Tolkien's major concerns, the tension between personal freedom and providential design, emerges full blown. The Unit Five resources are intended to help students wrestle with the ancient problem of free will, both as a literary theme and as the sine qua non of their choices in life.
Learning Goals
By the end of Unit Five, the student should be able to:
Discuss why "free will" is a crucial idea in the history of Western thought.
Indicate how the ideal of fellowship not only suffuses Tolkien's epic but also figured in his personal life.
Recapitulate the four proposed solutions to the Ring crisis considered by the Council of Elrond, and explain why only one proved acceptable.
Compare and contrast two pivotal moments in Book Two: the test of Galadriel and the fall of Boromir.
Paraphrase Galadriel's warning concerning prophecy.
Unit Five Content
Comments for Teachers
Preliminary Quiz
Key Terms
Discussion Topics
Suggested Activities
Printer-Friendly Version
These lesson plans were written by James Morrow and Kathryn Morrow in consultation with Amy Allison, Gregory Miller, Sarah Rito, and Jason Zanitsch.
Lesson Plans Homepage


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Office Image Extraction Wizard
Office Image Extraction Wizard is an app that allows you to easily extract images from many "office type" documents and ebook formats, and save these as normal picture files on your hard drive. More than 45 common file formats are supported!
Images are extracted in their original format, with no image processing or re-compression being performed, so no quality is lost during the extraction. It does not require MS Office to work.
Office Wiz is free, open source software.
Supported file formats


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AN important gap is being filled this time. So far, I've tried Shepherd Neame Bishops Finger Kentish Strong Ale, Shepherd Neame Spitfire Premium Kentish Ale and Shepherd Neame Whitstable Bay Organic Ale. All of which were high-quality and unmemorable. So will the missing piece of the jigsaw, Shepherd Neame Master Brew Kentish Ale keep the mould or break it?
It looks much like its cousins. Helpful if you want to catch 'em all. You also have to love the long thin neck. It is the Cynthia Nixon of beer bottles.
The neck label is much the same as the other Shepherd Neame ales. But it's still worth looking at because the one fact on it is so impressive.
If you were "Britain's Oldest Brewer" dating back to 1698, you would want to advertise the fact prominently too.
With no more facts to read on the neck label, the front label is the next place to look.
Well, it's a roundel. Not much to say about it. Master Brew is, apparently, a Kentish Ale and a "Local Hero". I don't know what that means, but it sounds good.
It's a contemporary take on the traditional roundel, but I can't help feeling that they've missed a few important things. Things like the alcoholic volume and what the beer is like. Hopefully the back label will have some actual information on it.
Out of portrait and into landscape for one of the widest beer labels out there. In one of the most terse "back-label stories", they tell of how well loved Master Brew is in Kent, and that they sponsor Kent County Cricket Club. Depending on which former colony my overseas readers are from, you will either be thinking "how quaint and English" or "what a waste of money because we always beat you at the game".
Under that are some truly useful tasting notes by someone called Andrew Jefford. He uses words such as "amber-russet", which I think is about the colour. To describe the character, he uses words such as "invigorating" and "mouthwatering", which he puts down to "pungent Kentish hops" and "crystal malts". I don't know about you, but I'm still confused.
It is nevertheless the "Local Hero" of Kent, and the Kentish people who know about beer. If you want to grow hops, Kent would be one of the best places in the country in which to do it.
Over on the smaller-print side are the vital statistics. This 500ml bottle (why not a proper pint?) has a 4% alcoholic volume which weighs in at exactly 2 UK units of alcohol. All rather ho-hum. The European Geographic Indications adds a little bureaucratic glamour to the mix. And if you want to read more, the website printed on the label in tiny lettering is www.shepherdneame.co.uk. To save you time, the homepage for Master Brew is at http://www.shepherdneame.co.uk/beers/index.php?master_brew.
Right at the bottom is a huge block of tiny, multilingual text. But don't bother squinting to read it. The only even slightly interesting detail is the postal address of Shepherd Neame in Faversham, Kent.
With that out of the way, we get to the fun bit. What does Shepherd Neame Master Brew Kentish Ale taste like? How good is it and should you buy it? Let's find out.
From the moment the top pops off, we're odd to a good start. You can start to smell the pungent Kentish hops, and it pours very satisfyingly indeed. The neck comes into play by making it very difficult to pour without glugging. Normally a bad thing, this time it's good, because it leaves your pint glass with a thick layer of froth. Shame it doesn't fill the whole glass though.
You also have to like the copper colour. Or "amber-russett" as they call it. Whatever it is, it looks the part of an English ale.
What does Shepherd Neame Master Brew Kentish Ale smell like? You can smell something from the moment you pop the cap. But figuring out what you're sniffing takes a little work. My nostrils detected the likes of malt, vanilla and something tangy. But you'd be advised not to trust my nose. If you can figure out what the odours are, leave a comment at the end of the post. Whatever the smell is, it's complex, not too strong and quite nice.
What does Shepherd Neame Master Brew Kentish Ale taste like? Straight away, the first sip tells you that this ale is all about hoppiness. A couple more sips reveals that there is very little flavour in the palate before the big hoppy aftertaste hits. It's not devoid of flavour. It's just very hard to notice the slight maltiness.
Shepherd Neame Master Brew Kentish Ale is a hoppy tasting. That means you'll find the interesting part in the aftertaste. Usually, the experience is like drinking a hedgerow. If they choose some unusual hops, like the Ruddles County I tried a few days ago, it'll be different again. Well, Master Brew tastes different again, this time thanks to those Kentish hops. It's still like drinking grass, leaves and twigs, but this time from a hedge in a well loved garden. There's some bitterness, but not that much. What lingers is the taste of arable fields, and boy, does it linger.
What do I like about Shepherd Neame Master Brew Kentish Ale? I like the taste. It's a slight variation on the old hoppy English ale, so it scores half a point for distinctiveness. Like its cousins, it is very well made. You can tell that natural, good quality, things went into it. All of which make it satisfying and drinkable.
There are however, one or two drawback to Shepherd Neame Master Brew Kentish Ale. For a start, it's not a complex and mysterious. There aren't hundreds of flavours and tastes to leave you deep in thought. They describe it as "invigorating" which I took to mean the same things as "refreshing". No, it isn't refreshing. Or light. And that makes it less than easy for the novice to drink. Even though it does the "hoppy ale" thing very well, it doesn't exactly push the envelope of originality. And that, like its cousins, might possibly make it less than memorable. Lastly, it is on the gassy side.
How can I sum up Shepherd Neame Master Brew Kentish Ale? Maybe I'm being harsh on it. It's probably supposed to be a straightforward, traditional, hoppy Kentish ale. And in that, it is excellent. I've enjoyed this almost-a-pint of Master Brew. It's a thoroughly satisfying, uncomplicated ale.
Rating: 3.9
Have you tried Shepherd Neame Master Brew Kentish Ale? Do you want to? If so, do please leave a comment. Share your opinions, corrections, expert advice, recommendations, requests and places to buy in the box below.


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News headlines Jan 12 - Jan 13
01.01.12 Competition News Archive 2012 For 2012 coarse, sea and game Competition News stories please search in the main news section HERE.
Contact: Angling Trust Eastwood House, 6 Rainbow Street, Leominster, Herefordshire HR6 8DQ
Tel: 0343 5077006 (For Membership enquiries select Option 1) |
Calls to our 0343 number are charged at the same rate as normal landline numbers.
Office hours are Mon - Thu 9.00-5.00 and Fri 4.30. Please leave a message if you call outside these hours or email us.
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Angling Trust Limited is a company limited by guarantee, company number 05320350


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The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day. -- Steven Pressfield, The War of Art
You don't have to be an artist, that's the thing. You can go to work, come home, fix a meal, drink a beer, rumble with the kids (if you have 'em) or the pets (if you have 'em) or your partner(s) (if you have 'em). But. You don't have to be an artist.
You don't even have to be an artist if you're a writer. You can write for money. Then you can go to the kitchen, fix a meal, drink a beer, rumble with the kids … I think you see where this is going.
I have to pause and admit I admire the bunch of you who have made the decision to either a) work or b) write for money. No, really, I know you want to think I'm being sarcastic. But I have a deep admiration for people who can find motivation for or satisfaction with things that actually MAKE MONEY. It fixes so many problems if you can like what you do to-make-money. And it makes sense. Why serve two masters? Do one thing, dedicate yourself to it, make money to raise your kids and pay for your beer. But, either way. You don't have to be an artist.
An artist does not necessarily do the thing they do for money. By which I mean: an artist may indeed MAKE money from the thing they do. But that's not why they do it. They may work in paint or paper or plastic or digitalia or words or – oh, words. They may be a writer. But what they do, they would still do even if they weren't making money. They may do it less frequently, they may do it for a foreshortened part of their day. (Because, after all, there's the thing they do for money, and then the going home, fixing the kids, rumbling with the beer, having a … whatsit.) But when they work with their medium – their paint or their words or their 'found items' or their glue, or what have you – they are fitting that INTO a day that may, already, have the work and the beer-kids and rumble-meals.
Some artists will not make money, of course, and they will keep making their art anyhow. I mean, that's up to them. I heard once that Cormac McCarthy was so broke he couldn't afford toothpaste. So when a free sample of toothpaste turned up in his letterbox, he figured he'd keep writing. Instead of making money. Do I admire that? You know, I actually think it points to a flaw in the personality. Seriously, you can't afford TOOTHPASTE? Get a freaking job, dude, what is your problem?
Anyhow, those artists have made their choices. They can make great books with or without toothpaste. I mean, you wouldn't want to hang out with them over beers (first of all, because you'd be the one paying – and also because, whoa, their breath would smell super-bad). But what unites all artists – canvas or paper or word or metal or wood or words, or words – is that motivation to keep doing it not for the money, not because it's easy, not for any other reason except one word: "because".
Because they feel the story in the words or the sculpture in the marble or the *thing* that comes up from inside. Because an artist "must". While a non-artist simply "can".
For me, wellbehaved books with neat plots and worked-out endings seem somewhat quaint in the face of the largely incoherant reality of modern life; and then again fiction, at least as I write it and think of it, is a kind of religious meditation in which language is the final enlightenment, and it is language, in its beauty, its ambiguity and its shifting textures, that drives my work. -- Don DeLillo


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1972 Chevy Blazer - Krazy K5
Direty Dare Does It Again
A few issues back you may remember that we took a trip down to Miami to hang out with the Dirty Dade County Crew. These mega truck junkies kept telling us about a '72 Chevy Blazer that was under construction at Manny Vilaverde's shop in South Miami. They told us it was going to be one nasty K5 Blazer fully built for muddin'. After checking it out in person we would have to agree.
Once we got the call from Trevor Daniels that the Blazer was finished and ready to hit the woods, we packed our cameras and hauled ass to Miami before the rig got covered in mud. By the time we made it to Dade County the apple pie moonshine was flowing and the pulled pork sandwiches were prepped. These guys definitely know how to have a good time while building badass trucks. We are told Manny is the brains behind the operation, but it's the enthusiasts like Crazy Larry who keep the industry around here moving in the right direction.
Larry and some good friends crafted a plan to build this stunning rig using his old Blazer and a chassis off a mega truck that was wrecked at a previous event. A complete full-body restoration and an all-new suspension is the only way Manny said he would build it, and Crazy Larry had no problems that. So the Blazer was stripped down to bare bones, leaving the factory chassis and motor behind. The original body panels were sent to Chino's Ink in Miami for some minor bodywork before being shot with a cream-colored PPG paint.
With the body of the Blazer at the paint shop, it was the perfect time to bring in the Southern Kustoms–built chassis for inspection and maintenance. Since the truck was rolled before Larry bought the chassis, it was important for the boys to check for damage, cracks, and bent rails. They were extremely impressed when they found nothing wrong with the welds or the powdercoating. The King coilovers and 24-inch drop gearbox were like new. The Ouverson chromoly axleshafts were still straight as an arrow. Once they were confident in the structural integrity of the chassis, Manny bolted on the new 26x18 Plan B Fab wheels and 18.4x26 Firestone tires before focusing on the powerplant.
A 502ci Chevy V-8 big-block motor and a FTI two-speed Powerglide transmission were dropped into the engine bay for power. Wilwood pinion brakes were added to each axle so the rig will stop when they tell it to. Once the body was back and lifted onto its new frame, it was clear that they had a winning combination.
The last area the guys worked on was the interior design and the audio system. These Miami boys love their loud music, so Audiopipe Electronics in Miami installed a ton of high-end stereo equipment to fill the cab. The cool seats were sent directly from Recaro in Germany to the upholstery shop for the blue vinyl color matching, while JaunkyBuilt in Miami wired up the electronics.
With the rig complete the guys are hitting the biggest events and mud holes in Southern Florida. Crazy Larry and Manny would like to give a huge shout out to their loyal friends and followers for all the physical and mental support they provided. These projects always take longer than expected and cost much more than anticipated, but it's all worth it in the end. Larry's Blazer will be destroying the mud pits at Redneck Yacht Club, L-Cross, MudJam, and a ton of other South Florida parks so keep an eye out for this Krazy K5 and the crew from Dirty Dade County.


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Here are the links that used to be posted throughout a long thread. Ask a mod or admin to add a link if you have a video that would be helpful for students of SMFU.
Mantic's Videos
A hero of the shaving video world! He also has a blog.
Mantic's YouTube Channel and his Sclipo channel
His playlist of introductory topics
Barbershop Prep
Resources for Straight Razor Information
Wetshaving when travelling/Shaving Sticks
Adjustable Safety Razors
Cleaning an Old Razor
Building Traditional Lather
Cleaning a Shaving Brush
Tips & Tricks for Single Blade Shaving
Shaving Under the Nose
The Ten Minute Traditional Wetshave, also here, here, here, here and even here!
Introduction to Method Shaving Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Lynn Abrams
Founder of straightrazorplace.
Shaving with a Straight Razor
Straight Razor Honing
These are from HeavyDutySG135 on SRP:
Part 1: Introduction and Stone Selection
Part 2: Technique and Bevel/Edge Setting Theory
Part 3: Sharpness Tests (TPT, TNT, HHT)
Part 4: Setting the Bevel
Part 5: Polishing Theory and Stage 1 Polishing
Part 6: Stage 2 Polishing
Part 7: Double Bevel Theory
Part 8: Permanent Marker Test for Double Bevel, Rolling Hone Stroke for Smile
Part 9: Rolling Hone Stroke for Warped Razor and Q&A
Zach's YouTube Videos
Quick Lather With Boar
Boar and Badger and Water
Tale of 2 Brushes
Parker Horn Handle Safety Razor
D.Irving79's YouTube Videos
Using a Valet Auto Strop Razor with its Strop
How to modify a blade for a valet auto strop razorHow to strop single edge/double edge/cartridge blades
How to remove the spine from a single edge blade
How to load a 1912 gem razor
Loading a lather catcher GEM razor
How to use an automatic stropper
How to revive an autostrop blade
Richard aka "rustyblade"
Shaving with a Japanese Non-Folding Feather Razor
rasurpur.de (in German)
Straight Razor Basics
Straight Shaving
Straight Maintenance
Useful Videos
New to the world of wet-shaving? Grab a desk and be seated! Welcome to SMFU: A place to learn and compare notes about the ABC's of wet shaving. From brushes to creams, razors and more...We've got it all!
1 post • Page 1 of 1
Useful Videos
"Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse."
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
1 post • Page 1 of 1


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Step 2: Work The Channels
It's important for you to leave 'breadcrumbs' to your Website, from the places that your prospects and customers inhabit online. And for a contract manufacturer or job shop, that means locating the right 'outposts' that attract engineers, buyers and industrial sourcing professionals when they are engaged in research to find services like yours.
Think of outposts as your 'homes away from home.' That means to participate in the conversations, listen & observe, and ensure the profiles for your business are complete & accurate. After all, these are often the 'first impressions' that your business will make on prospects. Boosting traffic to your Website isn't the goal – sheer numbers won't translate into meaningful traffic, leads & sales. Take the time to review these channels, determine which are best for your business (asking your customers what they use & where they go online is a great start), and work those channels to drive meaningful traffic to your Website.
Work the Channels – Tactics
|Leads, Buyers & Prospects
|Tradeshows & Industry Events
|Online Manufacturing Marketplace
|Online Directories
|Paid Advertising
|Social Media
|Online Forums/Bulletin Boards


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by FALLON
Designer Dana Lorenz created Fallon following the success of her main line of jewelry and luxury accessories, Fenton. Fallon is a lower-priced diffusion collection of graphic and layerable pieces; a strong fashion statement that always flows with runway trend. Dana Lorenz has been recognized by Italian Vogue as one of their "New Talents" featured in the magazine and at Milan Fashion Week. In 2010, Lorenz was a nominee for CFDA Swarovski Accessory Designer of the Year and in 2011, Lorenz was a Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA)/Vogue Fashion Fund Finalist. Fallon Jewelry is an editor favorite and has been featured in top fashion publications around the world including Teen and Italian Vogue, Lucky, Elle, and W magazine.
$75.00 $63.75
Copyright © 2020 TWILL NYC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Created by Attob, Inc.


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On Reddit.com there's a new post from trymuchharder showing how to get a full environment - complete with Git, Composer, PHPUnit and an install of Laravel - up and running with Vagrant+PuPHPet. It's shared as a series of screencasts so you can follow along the whole process.
This took some time to get set up and i figure others can benefit from what i learned. [...] I've never done a screencast/tutorial and apparently the QuickTime/iMovie combo produces a super crappy video but hopefully you can distinguish which pixels are what. Please excuse my Texan accent and general ineptness when it comes to server stuff. [...] This all assumes you have the following installed to your local machine: Vagrant, VirtualBox, Composer, PHPUnit and Git.
It's a four part video series he's posted to YouTube (over on his account) and it shows the flow through the entire process including a small bit about using Laravel there at the end.


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downloadable content
Keeps it tight, lets it groove and smacks it up.
Passenger Records latest hero has put together a consummate selection of Beats, Breaks and Bass lines in this exclusive sample collection for Loopmasters Artist Series, for producers worldwide looking for a direct injection of Breaks party samples tuned for the dancefloor and with a pedigree you can rely on.
The Breaks Producer collection includes over 350 samples, with more than 40 Sub crunching and resonant Bass grooves, 75 Heavy Duty Breakbeat Drumloops, 45 Atmospheric and groove based Musical Loops, 20 processed vocal loops and samples, Searing SFX and more than 100 single Drum sounds suitable for programming your own heavyweight drum patterns and breaks. Also included in this pack are 15 multi-sampled instruments ready to load and play in your favorite soft sampler.
Available in multiple formats and with every sample guaranteed royalty free for you as with all Loopmasters titles, if you are making breaks, drum and bass, hip hop or other modern styles and you need some pre-tuned, Dance floor friendly sounds to kick off your next production, then check out this release from Nick Thayer, Passenger and Loopmasters today!
Tech Specs: 380Mb download including 371 Wav Samples, 170 Rex2 Loops, 30 Patches for Soft Samplers.
"Nick Thayer keeps it tight, lets it groove and smacks it up - one of only a few dj's who can program a set without playing badly produced tear out, speeded up big beat, cheese or prog nonsense. " Dominic B (Stanton Warriors)
"Nicks label, tracks and remixes have been going from strength to strength over the last few years propelling him to the forefront of the Breaks scene...and deservedly so.. When it comes to phat funky beats n breaks...Nicks your man!" Martin 'Move Ya ' (Streetwise Records)
Free Downloads :
download (11mb)
Featuring (WAV) :
Bass loops (41Mb)
Drum loops (59Mb)
Musical loops (55Mb)
Sounds&FX loops (49Mb)
Vocal&SFX loops (3Mb)
Rex (RX2) loops :
Bass loops (19Mb)
Drum loops (40Mb)
Musical loops (32Mb)
Vocal&SFX loops (2Mb)


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FBI finds 'priceless' Polish art in Bay Area storage facility
Polish artist Hanna "Kali" Weynerowska - she took the nickname, as a World War II resistance fighter, from a fierce Hindu goddess - spent her last 45 years in San Francisco, where she created paintings displayed around the world. Before her death in 1998, she bequeathed 78 artworks to a Polish government museum in Switzerland.
Then the paintings disappeared - until this month, when the FBI, contacted by the Polish government, tracked down a relative who led agents to a storage facility in Santa Rosa that held 75 Weynerowska originals. On Thursday, they arrived at the museum in Rapperswil, Switzerland, where Polish and U.S officials will attend a Ceremony of Restitution on June 16.
The paintings, in the artist's distinctive pointillist style, have such titles as "Boy on Donkey," "The Cobbler" and "Walking a Bird." Their financial value is modest, perhaps $12,000 each, but "they are priceless emotionally ... very important to the legacy of Polish excellence," Caria Tomczykowska, an envoy of the Polish Consulate in Los Angeles, said Friday at a San Francisco news conference called by the FBI.
"The FBI is proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our Polish counterparts in ensuring safe passage of these lost national treasures," said David Johnson, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Francisco office.
Emotionally attached
He said the male relative, whom he didn't identify, had handed the paintings over voluntarily and isn't in legal trouble. Despite the artist's bequest, Johnson said one or more of her local relatives had apparently held on to the works since 1998 because of the costs of shipping them, and "perhaps a bit of emotional attachment."
It was only three years ago, Tomczykowska said, that the Polish Ministry of Culture established a fund to retrieve the paintings. She said the Rapperswil museum was established to display and preserve Polish art before the fall of the Soviet Union and continues to serve that function, despite financial difficulties.
The FBI has a unit that tracks down art looted by the Nazis or Soviets during World War II. Weynerowska's recovered lost paintings had a more peaceful history, in contrast to her life.
Born in Warsaw in 1918, she was a young art school graduate at the outbreak of the war, when she joined a Polish resistance squad assigned to blow up bridges, tunnels and highways, she said in a 1983 interview.
She was wounded in the August 1944 Warsaw uprising against the Germans, in which tens of thousands of Poles were killed, and was captured and sent to a concentration camp. She managed to escape - she never explained how, said Angeline Friedman, a friend who attended Friday's news conference - and reached Brussels with the help of U.S. forces. There she resumed painting and met her husband, a fellow Polish refugee and resistance fighter.
Lived on Mount Davidson
They emigrated to Canada, and in 1953 to San Francisco, where they lived on Mount Davidson.
"She was a perfectionist" and "a charming, delightful, wonderful friend," said Friedman, who recalled meeting Weynerowska around 1969 when she and her husband bought one of the artist's paintings at an auction. By then, Friedman said, her paintings had fallen somewhat out of fashion - "her classical style didn't go over, and she didn't have a promoter" - but she stayed at work.
Tomczykowska, who also heads the Polish Arts and Culture Foundation, said Poland is still looking for 80,000 artworks that were lost or stolen during World War II.
Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: email@example.com Twitter: @egelko


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The Flat-Abs Diet Plan
A hot beach body begins with a menu that melts fat, shrinks your waist, and tastes delicious. This powerhouse plan does all that and more. Simply choose from the delicious meals and snacks on these pages for a total of 1,500 calories a day. You'll lose five pounds in a month — and be swimsuit-ready by summer.
Why It Works
- Healthy monounsaturated fats (aka MUFAs), found in nuts, olive oil, and avocados, have been proven to stop ab flab.
- Foods rich in fiber fill you up so that you eat less and lose more.
- Plenty of fruits and veggies help curb your appetite, thanks to their high water content.
A Sample Day on Our Plan
(Find the recipes for these meals and more on the following pages.)
BREAKFAST: Pancakes with Banana (300 calories)
SNACK: Celery spread with 1 1/2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter (150 calories)
LUNCH: Spinach Salad (400 calories)
DINNER: Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa (500 calories)
SNACK: 1 cup strawberries drizzled with 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup (150 calories)
Your Breakfast Choices
Each of these healthy breakfast recipes is about 300 calories.
Pancakes with Banana
2 whole wheat pancakes
1 medium banana, sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons light maple syrup
1 6-ounce glass skim milk (optional)
Top pancakes with banana slices and syrup. Serve with milk, if desired.
Waffle Bacon-Cheese Melt
2 whole-grain frozen waffles
4 slices cooked turkey bacon
1/4 cup light shredded light cheddar cheese
Toast waffles. Top with bacon and cheese and place in a toaster oven for 2-3 minutes until cheese melts.
Vanilla Yogurt with Fruit & Almonds
8 ounces light vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon honey
Splash of lemon juice
2 tablespoons slivered almonds
1 cup mixed cantaloupe and pineapple chunks
Mix yogurt with honey, lemon juice, and almonds. Fold in melon and pineapple chunks.
Strawberry Cereal with a Hard-Boiled Egg
3/4 cup Multi-Bran Chex
1/2 cup strawberries, sliced
4 ounces skim milk
1 hard-boiled egg
Top cereal with berries and add milk. Serve with egg on the side.
Orange Smoothie & Peanut Butter Bread
4 ounces skim milk
4 ounces light vanilla yogurt
4 ounces orange juice
1 slice whole-grain bread
1/2 tablespoon peanut butter
Blend milk, yogurt, and orange juice until smooth. Spread peanut butter on bread.
Scrambled Eggs with Veggies, Cheese & Salsa
1 whole egg
1 egg white
1 tablespoon skim milk
1 tablespoon chopped green pepper
1 tablespoon salsa
1/4 cup shredded light cheddar cheese
Whole wheat English muffin, toasted
Whisk together egg, egg white, milk, green pepper, and salsa. Scramble in a nonstick pan. Add cheese and cook until melted. Serve eggs with English muffin.
Melon, Muffin & Cottage Cheese
1/2 cantaloupe
1/4 cup low-fat (1%) cottage cheese
1 small low-fat bran muffin
Scoop cottage cheese into melon half. Serve with muffin.
Your Lunch Choices
Each of these healthy lunch recipes is about 400 calories.
Spinach Salad
3 cups baby spinach
1/2 mango, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons spicy cashews
1 cup cooked baby shrimp
2 tablespoons light vinaigrette
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 small whole-grain roll
Toss spinach with mango, cashews, and shrimp. Squeeze lemon or orange into vinaigrette and stir. Pour dressing over salad and toss. Serve with roll.
Tomato, Basil & Mozzarella Sandwich
2 ounces fresh mozzarella
1 tomato, sliced
4 basil leaves
1 small ciabatta roll, toasted
Balsamic vinegar
1 medium apple
Place cheese, tomato, and basil on roll; drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar. Serve with apple on the side.
Nachos Supreme
4 ounces ground turkey
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
12 baked tortilla chips
1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup shredded light cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons salsa
1/2 cup shredded lettuce
In a skillet, cook ground turkey with taco seasoning. Place tortilla chips on a plate; top with cooked turkey mixture, black beans, and cheese. Microwave for approximately 1 minute until cheese melts; top with salsa and lettuce.
Tuna Nicoise
3-ounce can or packet of water-packed tuna
1 teaspoon capers
6 sliced green olives
2 tablespoons light vinaigrette
3 cups mixed greens
1/2 cup cooked brown rice, cooled
Mix tuna with capers, olives, and vinaigrette; place on greens. Top with brown rice.
Smoked Turkey Sandwich
2 slices whole wheat bread
1 tablespoon mustard
2 slices smoked turkey breast
1 small tomato, sliced
1 cup watermelon chunks
Spread bread with mustard. Top with smoked turkey, tomato, and lettuce. Serve with watermelon on the side.
Tabouli, Beans & Feta
1/2 cup prepared tabouli
1/2 cup canned white beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 small cucumber, chopped
Fresh mint leaves, optional
Combine tabouli with beans, feta, tomato, and cucumber. Top with mint, if desired.
Turkey Burger with Corn & Bean Relish
1 4-ounce frozen turkey burger (made with 95% lean ground meat)
1 whole-grain bun
Red pepper slices
Green pepper slices
2 tablespoons salsa
3 tablespoons canned corn, drained
1/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
Prepare turkey burger according to package directions. Place on bun and top with pepper slices. Combine salsa, corn, and black beans and serve with burger.
Your Takeout Choices
Panera Bread: Half Smoked Turkey Breast Sandwich on Country bread with small fruit cup (380 calories)
Subway: 6-inch Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki (370 calories)
6-inch Double Meat Turkey Breast (330 calories)
McDonald's: Hamburger and a Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait without granola (380 calories)
Premium Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken and low-fat balsamic dressing and a reduced-fat vanilla ice cream cone (410 calories)
Your Dinner Choices
Each of these healthy dinner recipes is about 500 calories.
Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa
1 medium potato
1 teaspoon olive oil
Italian seasoning or dried basil or oregano
1 8-ounce piece of tilapia
1 tablespoon seasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon blackened seasoning
1/4 cup tomato salsa
1/4 cup chopped pineapple
1 cup steamed sugar snap peas
Cut potato into quarters, brush lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with Italian seasoning, basil, or oregano; bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Sprinkle fish with breadcrumbs and blackened seasoning and broil for 10 minutes. Mix salsa with pineapple and spoon over fish. Serve with potato wedges and sugar snap peas on the side.
Steak & Roasted Vegetables
4 ounces flank steak
Light vinaigrette
1 cup sliced potatoes
1 cup sliced zucchini
1/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup sliced mushrooms
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Marinate steak in vinaigrette for several hours (or all day). Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Place potato, zucchini, onion, and mushrooms in one layer on a cookie sheet; drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes. Grill steak to desired doneness.
Chicken & Veggie Stir-Fry
4 ounces chicken breast, skin removed, cut into strips
Teriyaki sauce
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
3 cups of frozen Oriental vegetables
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
Marinate chicken in teriyaki sauce for several hours (or all day). Pour 1 teaspoon of the olive oil into a skillet and add chicken; stir fry until done, about 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate. Pour remaining olive oil in skillet; add ginger and garlic and saute. Add vegetables and stir fry until heated through. Put chicken back in skillet to reheat. Serve stir-fry over rice.
Asparagus Frittata
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1 cup asparagus, cut into small pieces
3 eggs
1 tablespoon water
Salt and pepper to taste
Sprinkle of Italian seasoning or basil and oregano
1 small potato, baked
Pour olive oil into a skillet. Add onion, mushrooms, and asparagus and saute until tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Whisk together eggs, water, salt, pepper, and seasoning or herbs and pour into pan. Cook until egg mixture is set. Turn frittata onto a plate and serve with potato.
Peanut Noodles with Chicken
1 cup cooked whole wheat noodles, cooled
1 tablespoon chopped scallions
4 ounces cooked chopped chicken breast, skin removed
1 tablespoon chunky peanut butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 cup of snow peas
Mix noodles with scallions, chicken, peanut butter, soy sauce, and snow peas.
Shrimp & Vegetable Risotto
1 tablespoon chopped onion
1/4 cup Arborio rice
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup frozen cooked baby shrimp, thawed
2 cups mixed frozen vegetables, thawed
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup grape tomatoes
1/2 small cucumber, sliced
1 tablespoon light vinaigrette
Saute onion until translucent. Stir in Arborio rice and vegetable broth and stir until broth is absorbed. Add shrimp, vegetables, and cheese and stir until warm. Mix cucumbers and tomatoes with vinaigrette and serve with risotto.
Rosemary Grilled Chicken
2 chicken thighs, skin removed
1 teaspoon olive oil
Squeeze of lemon
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 cup sliced zucchini
1 sliced red pepper
1/4 cup onion wedges
1 cup chopped broccoli
2 tablespoons light vinaigrette
1/2 cup cooked pasta
1/4 cup tomato sauce
Brush chicken with olive oil and add a squeeze of lemon and rosemary sprigs. Wrap chicken in a foil package and grill for 30 minutes. Toss the zucchini, red pepper, onion, and broccoli with vinaigrette, wrap in a foil package, and grill for 10 minutes. Serve with pasta and tomato sauce on the side.
Your Takeout Choices
Panera Bread: Asian Sesame Chicken Salad (410 calories)
Half Asiago Roast Beef Sandwich and half Classic Cafe Salad (450 calories)
Domino's Pizza: 2 slices of 14-inch large grilled chicken and veggie pizza (430 calories)
Olive Garden: Pasta e Fagioli and Venetian Apricot Chicken (510 calories)
P.F. Chang's: Lemon Pepper Shrimp, small Spicy Green Beans and 1/2 cup steamed brown rice (432 calories)
Your Snack Choices
Eat two of these tasty treats a day (about 150 calories each):
1 cup strawberries drizzled with 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
Celery spread with 1 1/2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter
1 strawberry Special K bar and a small apple
1 chocolate rice cake spread with 1 tablespoon Nutella
1 cup Luigi's Real Lemon/Strawberry Italian Ice
1 Skinny Cow Chocolate with Fudge ice cream cone
2 Minute Maid Soft Frozen Lemonade treats
6-ounce Yoplait Light Strawberry yogurt with 1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 tablespoon chunky peanut butter on 1/2 cinnamon-raisin English muffin
1 cup carrots, celery, and radishes with a dip made from 6 ounces plain, non-fat yogurt mixed with 1 tablespoon onion soup mix
100-calorie bag of popcorn mixed with 1 tablespoon peanuts
Frozen fruit drink: In a blender mix 1 cup frozen peaches and raspberries, 2 tablespoons low-fat whipped topping, and 8 ounces of zero-calorie fruit punch
1 piece light string cheese and a plum
10 baked tortilla chips with 1/4 cup black bean dip


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Not totally sure on this one, but this may be where the "donut" challenge took place. (if not, then it should have).Gdansk is where the longest residential building (in Europe) is found, known as the "falowiec" (wavy block). Nearly a half mile long. How could BVM pass up such a devious search challenge. Try to find an address here! Just throwing this out there, FWIW. falowiec article
I'm just wondering who u-turned them.
From the pics, I think the Afghanimals were u-turned. (1) The 1st u-turn slot was already taken when they got there, (2) Jamal said, "We have to u-turn someone," (3) Jamal was wearing the dance outfit from the dance detour, (4) Leo said, "We might be in last place right now," (5) and if I'm not mistaken, there was a spoiler pic showing that they were performing the statue detour.I'm just wondering who u-turned them. And also, pic 21 is not long beards, I think it might be Oklahoma, I'm just not sure though. My theory: Someone u-turned Afghanimals, then Afghanimals u-turned Oklahoma (maybe because Afghanimals were sure Oklahoma were behind)
I actually think Afghanimals get U-Turned by any of the teams except Ice Crew to be honest. Almost all the teams hate them And there was a spoiler or a live sighting of them doing the statue and talking about a U-Turn. I guess they did the Statue task first, then got U-Turned.
Chateau has suggested that the reason we have HOLES in the board is that an iPad could be popped in there? Funny to have a hole for a picture alone, lol.
My theory: Someone u-turned Afghanimals, then Afghanimals u-turned Oklahoma (maybe because Afghanimals were sure Oklahoma were behind)
I've narrowed down to everyone except Ally & Ashley
and yes, It absolutely was not The Ice Queens.
Quote from: georgiapeach on October 23, 2013, 10:26:09 AMChateau has suggested that the reason we have HOLES in the board is that an iPad could be popped in there? Funny to have a hole for a picture alone, lol.then why there was a box with team pictures in it attached to the board? and there was a smaller box attached to that box?if an ipad was to be popped in there, there has to be something behind or near the board for power supply and maintenance and stuffs i think they switch it back to using pictures because it would be more clear when the camera is taking a fast shot on the board, especially since the board was in open area. If they were using ipad, there should be a little refraction from the camera to the ipad screen possibly because of the sunlight, which will make the the records unfocused. The camera crew will have to take a moment to actually focus the camera and take a shot on the board, which will slow the team for a bit and why HOLES were on the board, maybe so that the teams just attach the picture on that hole and get a move on. The previous version has teams to remove the sticker from the picture first and and then attach it to the board. this way it was a little bit longer and not efficient, I think.
You know, no one looks sad in their confessionals. Tim and Danny do look very dejected at the Polka. So...Could we have a TBC for ep 4 AND a NEL for Ep 5? We are overdue a NEL....
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[The View From Washington]
In 1870 Congress ratified the 15th Amendment to the Constitution which declared, "The right of citizen's of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude..."
In response to this Amendment a number of former Confederate states employed devises such as the poll tax, literacy tests, the grandfather clause, and white primaries to ensure that African American's were denied their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote. When these devices failed, tactics such as night rides, bombings, lynching, and other terrorist tactics were used to intimidate prospective African American voters.
After years of struggle in the courts, legislatures, and the streets, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibiting "covered jurisdictions" from imposing any "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure ... to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color." Some of the jurisdictions covered by the Act are in Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Before he signed the 1965 Act Johnson explained, "This act flows from a clear and simple wrong. Its only purpose is to right that wrong. Millions of Americans are denied the right to vote because of their color. This law will ensure them the right to vote."
Today this ugly part of America's past has once again become its present. As a result of Republican's taking control of statehouses after the 2010 mid-term elections, a number of states such as Alabama, South Carolina, Texas, Mississippi (sound familiar) and others have enacted laws imposing new restrictions for voter ID, voter registration, and early voting.
According to the report Voting Law Changes in 2012 from the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law, these new restrictions will have a disproportionate impact on younger voters, people of color, low-income voters, and those with disabilities. It's no coincidence that these demographics also tend to vote for Democrats. According to The NY Times, "It has been a record year for new legislation designed to make it harder for Democrats to vote — 19 laws and two executive actions in 14 states dominated by Republicans…"
President Johnson said in 1965, "This right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. It gives people, people as individuals, control over their own destinies." For some reason the very people who claim they want to "take their country back"; want to "restore America to its original ideals"; and "protect liberty for all Americans" are working insidiously to deny the franchise to a significant number of American citizens, particularly younger and poorer citizens of color. Studies show that as many as 11 percent of eligible voters do not have government-issued photo ID.
The report makes it clear that the impact on the outcome of the 2012 election could be significant. Even if President Obama is reelected its impact on the House, Senate, and statehouse races could be dramatic. "This wave of changes may sharply tilt the political terrain for the 2012 election. Based on the Brennan Center's analysis of the 19 laws and two executive actions that passed in 14 states, it is clear that:
[] These new laws could make it significantly harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012.
[] The states that have already cut back on voting rights will provide 171 electoral votes in 2012 – 63 percent of the 270 needed to win the presidency."
Republicans are using the pretext of "voter fraud" as the rational for their unconstitutional attack on democracy and specifically voters who are more inclined to vote for a Democrat. The actual fraud is not being perpetrated by the voter; it's being perpetrated by the Republican elected officials who continue to tell this lie. According to the editorial, The Myth of Voter Fraud, "None of these explanations are true. There is almost no voting fraud in America. And none of the lawmakers who claim there is have ever been able to document any but the most isolated cases."
To his credit, Attorney General Eric Holder has laid out a plan for the Justice Department to take an aggressive stance in reviewing those new laws and he is acting on it. Just this month the Justice Department under AG Holder's direction blocked Texas from enforcing a new disproportionately restrictive voter ID law. This mirror's the action taken in South Carolina in December of 2011. President Obama and others concerned about equality and democracy in America should be more outspoken on this issue. This is a deliberate and direct attack on American democracy.
President Johnson was correct in 1965 when he said, "Presidents and Congresses, laws and lawsuits can open the doors to the polling places and open the doors to the wondrous rewards which await the wise use of the ballot. But only the individual Negro, and all others who have been denied the right to vote, can really walk through those doors, and can use that right, and can transform the vote into an instrument of justice and fulfillment. So, let me now say to every Negro in this country: You must register. You must vote. You must learn, so your choice advances your interest and the interest of our beloved Nation. Your future, and your children's future, depend upon it, and I don't believe that you are going to let them down."
It's not the "Negro" who is letting "our beloved Nation" down. It's Republican's in states such as Alabama, South Carolina, Texas, and Mississippi who are trying to turn back the clock in America by closing the doors to democracy that were opened with the 15th Amendment and the 1965 Act. Suppressing the vote in America in 2012, past is prologue.
Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer/ Host of the nationally broadcast call-in talk radio program "Inside the Issues with WilmerLeon," and a Teaching Associate in the Department of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Go to firstname.lastname@example.com, www.wilmerleon.com , email: email@example.com. orwww.twitter.com/drwleon
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Black Star News has been producing stellar investigative journalism since 1997, including focusing on police brutality and other abuses targeting marginalized communities. We have broken several major stories. We welcome news tips to email@example.com and firstname.lastname@example.com
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In-home 'underground' baking that whets the appetite, sweetens the tongue
and delights the soul.
Soooo this holiday season I had the fabulous idea of taking holiday baked goods orders to make a little extra $$ for Christmas. Basically I created a 'baked goods' menu and emailed it out to all my friends and if they liked what they saw they placed an order. My hubby was going to give me a full day in the kitchen to bake, while he took the kids for the day and I completed all the orders.
And let the baking begin...somehow things never quite go according to schedule or plan in my kitchen (or my life for that matter), on baking day I woke up with an unplanned cold, my 6 year old came down with an unplanned ear infection and the nurse called us to come and get him from school, then we had to organize an unplanned visit to the doctor and meanwhile I was trying to now continue to bake with all 3 kids at home...somehow I managed to get a few orders filled that day but the grand idea of finishing it all in one day was definitely an oversight (I filled the last order on Christmas Eve morning!).
I must say other than the sickness part of things I really did enjoy it and stumbled across a few fabulous new recipes, created some tricks of my own and got to jam out to my joyous Christmas songs along the way. My favorite new discovery was making caramel pecan cinnamon buns...DELISH and not nearly as hard as I thought. I was also reminded of how delicious caramelizing onions can make things taste...this is a must-do from now on with all tarts and quiches!
On the whole my new 'underground' bakery managed to crank out:
16 dozen cookies, 3 vanilla bean pound cakes, 2 pumpkin spice cakes, 3 pumpkin pies, 1 pumpkin cheesecake, 3 kale, caramelized onion and sausage quiches, and 1 batch of pecan-caramel cinnamon rolls.
And all of this baking is what gave me the idea of transitioning 'tablenosh underground dining' into 'tablenosh underground baking' and maybe I will occasionally still be able to pull off a dinner or two. I probably still need to think this new concept through a little bit, but as for now I am now officially taking more orders...so if you need some home-made baked goods let me know and I will see what I can do!


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Our bailout culture and the beauty of bankruptcy
By Selwyn Duke
The story of the Prodigal Son teaches a beautiful lesson about repentance and forgiveness. As you may know, it involves a lazy, irresponsible young man who insists upon taking his share of the family inheritance immediately and striking out on his own. He then proceeds to squander it on a dissolute lifestyle and ends up destitute, living like an animal. Duly chastened and humbled and purged of his spirit of entitlement, he approaches his father in contrition and asks for aid, saying that he would be satisfied to just be treated as a servant. The father, overwhelmed with joy, forgives his son, proclaims him "found" and holds a celebration commemorating his return. Of course, the idea is that he was "found" spiritually; he had developed wisdom, the capacity to not just manage money, but life.
Now, after 2000 years, we have gone from Prodigal Son to prodigal sin, and I imagine that today the story might unfold quite differently. The son's problem would probably be related via cell phone, be chalked up to a matter of money, and remedied not with character formation but cash flow.
We have all seen this new story, these parents who will bail their children out of trouble – financial and otherwise – time and again, never allowing them to learn through suffering the consequences of bad decisions. I can think of one case in particular wherein a couple I know of spent a lot of money to ensure that their teenage son wouldn't temporarily lose his driving privileges after a traffic infraction. When I mentioned to the mother that her bailout didn't teach responsibility, she sheepishly said something to the effect of how she couldn't help herself.
Yet the truth is that many of us, with children and without – and most notably right now those of us in government – can't help ourselves. We seem to have forgotten that not allowing people to suffer consequences has consequences. The reason for this was perhaps expressed best by English philosopher Herbert Spencer, who said, "The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools."
Given what figures most prominently in media and minds right now, it's not hard to know what I'm referring to. Main Street wants to bail on Wall Street and Detroit, not bail them out, and more sympathetic I could not be. We may very well be throwing good money after bad, and, regardless, the people doing the throwing aren't throwing away their own cash. But they sure pitch like Roger Clemens; it's stimulus this, 700 billion that, here a bailout, there a bailout, everywhere a bailout-bailout. Old McDonald had a country . . . and we're having a cow.
Really, though, if we want to know the reason for these government bailouts, most of us need look no further than the mirror. Sure, people may say they oppose bailouts, but it's not usually true.
Most Americans have no problem with them at all, as long as they're the ones getting bailed out.
This isn't really surprising, as people tend to refuse money like politicians refuse votes, which is why votes are so often bought with money. Yet the problem goes far deeper than the financial; it stems from the philosophical. As I indicated earlier, we have become a bailout culture. Parents bail out children lest the little snowflakes have their feelings hurt. Schools then follow suit, bailing out students through social promotion and an overall lack of accountability. Emily Friedman wrote about some examples of this, such as a policy known as "Zeros Aren't Permitted" (except when embodied in school administrators) at one Boston area middle school, which gives lazy students the opportunity to do unfinished homework in school, which I guess makes it schoolwork. The title of Friedman's piece asks, "Are Children Coddled?" but such a question is anachronistic. We long ago passed the coddling stage and transitioned into the "exaltation of stupidity and shiftlessness" stage.
Without a doubt, we continually bail out those devoid of brains, ambition and/or industriousness, whether they be rich or poor, domestic or foreign. For instance, there are people – and many of them are Daddy Warbucks – who insist on building homes in areas prone to floods, hurricanes and earthquakes and who do not or cannot get insurance to cover their dangerous living. Yet they don't have to fear an act of God because they can count on an act of government, meaning, they will get money that often comes from people of far more modest means.
A bailout is really a handout, and the aforementioned variety is branded "disaster relief," but it takes many forms and masquerades under many titles. We bail out illegal aliens when they cross our border for medical care, and many Americans want to offer them another bailout known as amnesty. We bail out the lazy as well as the needy with welfare, food stamps and other programs. Then consider that some politicians want to bail out the intellectually lazy (and corrupt) as well. Yes, believe it or not, they want to give our money to the ailing newspaper industry.
Now, don't misunderstand me, because I firmly believe in charity. When a private entity bails out someone who through no fault of his own is in dire financial straits, it's a beautiful example of man's humanity to man. Moreover, even a correct understanding of our Constitution – which is as rare as accountability today – allows state and local governments to establish a social safety net. (In keeping with the principle of subsidiarity, however, the private sector should be the first line of defense here.)
But our bailout culture is a perversion of charity – and one that touches everything. Putting our heads together, we could probably fill 10,000 more lines with something to the effect of, "We bail out so-and-so when we _____," but the point has been made. Far more often than not nowadays, we don't teach people how to fish; we give fish to those who could cast a line but would rather fish for others' funds. We tend to not practice healthy charity but facilitate irresponsibility.
In light of this, why would we be surprised that irresponsible politicians elected by irresponsible people want to lavish money on irresponsible businesses? Our problem isn't isolated to finances; it is part of a deep cultural malaise permeating every national pore. To think otherwise is like looking at the Prodigal Son and thinking the problem was just one of finances. In both cases, it reflects a moral defect, an irresponsibility that is only corrected through exposure to consequences.
Of all our bailout babies, perhaps the best example of a bad example is the Prodigal State, California. It now may be out of cash in February, and some have floated the idea that it should receive a federal bailout along with everyone else who isn't you or me. But I say let Ca and every other profligate entity collapse under its own weight. There is beauty in bankruptcy.
People are people, be they in the Bible, business, government or grammar school; they all operate by the same principles. Politicians may dress smartly and know how to tie a fine Windsor knot, but money burns a hole in their pockets just as it does with a toy-craving ten-year-old. And this is the problem in Ca; its government has descended into the immorality of über-statism, as it vainly tries to play the paternal role with a juvenile sense of responsibility. A bailout would only perpetuate the foolishness and postpone the day of reckoning.
Bankruptcy, on the other hand, is one of the best ways to bring big government to heel. For just as a compulsive gambler will continue playing the casinos until his well runs dry – and giving him money just delays the inevitable – statist politicians will keep spending until there is nothing left to spend. So let state and local governments shut down and suspend services. Let them twist in their own ill wind. Let them languish in a self-created debtors' prison. In the same way the bankruptcy of a corporation can lead to a sale of assets that will allow more prudent heads to take the helm, government collapse can lead to necessary restructuring. Failure can shrink the big government of profligate statists just as it does the big heads of profligate young men.
Today we have many prodigal sons but precious little repentance. They don't need to be bailed out but bawled out – by life – because irresponsible people rarely change their ways unless forced to do so. And if allowing them to be disciplined by circumstances they created themselves is beyond us, then we are simply a Prodigal Nation, and such a place cannot long exist. After all, in just the way that failure to remove a gangrenous limb results in the death of the body, the body of a nation suffers the same fate when it doesn't allowed defective parts to be reformed or replaced.
Remember, to gravitate toward a system that seeks to bail everyone out is to move toward the standard of ". . . to each according to his needs." This didn't work very well in the Soviet Union, and I don't know how much better we will look once our wall – that ever-growing one between responsibility and state – finally falls.


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Yolo CountyHome Sitemap Contact
Climate Action Plan
The Yolo County Climate Action Plan represents a significant milestone for Yolo County, which has a long history of being in the forefront of the green movement with land use policies that emphasize growth management, open space preservation and agricultural protection. In 1982, Yolo County adopted an Energy Plan, which was one of the first of its kind. In 1985, the county landfill completed a gas-to-energy facility, which generates 20,000 kilowatt hours per year and captures 90% of methane emissions.
In 2007, Yolo County became one of 12 charter members from throughout the country to sponsor the Cool Counties Initiative, which pledges each county collectively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. That same year, the county organized local cities, special districts and UC Davis to form the Yolo County Climate Change Compact, providing an ongoing forum for exchanging information on how best to analyze and address greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2009, Yolo County adopted its 2030 General Plan, which contains more than 350 policies that deal with climate change, including the requirement to develop a Climate Action Plan. In addition to implementing General Plan policy, the Climate Action Plan also fulfills the requirements of state legislation, including Assembly Bill 32, Senate Bills 97 and 375, and Executive Order S-3-05.
The Climate Action Plan estimates that in 2008, the unincorporated area (excluding UC Davis, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and special districts) produced 651,470 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, or greenhouse gasses. Approximately 48% of those emissions are created by agriculture. Transportation and energy account for an additional 47%, with the remainder made up by such sectors as the landfill, wastewater treatment, construction, mining and stationary sources.
A target is established in the Climate Action Plan to reduce the 2008 emissions back to the levels estimated for 1990, or 613,651 metric tons. To achieve this target, 15 programs are proposed, including such measures as increasing renewable energy production, enhancing energy and water conservation, expanding alternative transportation, planting trees and reducing fertilizer application. In order to meet the reductions envisioned in the Cool Counties Initiative and state legislation, the Climate Action Plan also includes voluntary goals to reduce greenhouse emissions to 447,965 metric tons by 2030, and 122,730 metric tons by 2050.