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"We have snakes," Mary Brock said. "Long, thick snakes. Kingsnakes, rattlesnakes."
Brock was walking Pee Wee, a small, high-strung West Highland terrier who darted into the brush at the slightest provocation — a sudden breeze, shifting gravel, a tour bus rumbling down Caffin Avenue several blocks east. But Pee Wee had reason to be anxious. Brock was anxious. Most residents of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans are anxious. "A lot of people in my little area died after Katrina," Brock said. "Because of too much stress." The most immediate sources of stress that October morning were the stray Rottweilers. Brock had seen packs of them in the wildly overgrown lots, prowling for food. Pee Wee, it seemed, had seen them, too. "I know they used to be pets because they are beautiful animals." Brock corrected herself: "They were beautiful animals. When I first saw them, they were nice and clean — inside-the-house animals. But now they just look sad."
The Lower Ninth has become a dumping ground for unwanted dogs and cats. People from all over the city take the Claiborne Avenue Bridge over the Industrial Canal, bounce along the fractured streets until they reach a suitably empty area and then toss the animals out of the car. But it's not just pets. The neighborhood has become a dumping ground for many kinds of unwanted things. Contractors, rather than drive to the city dump in New Orleans East, sweep trailers full of construction debris onto the street. Auto shops, rather than pay the tire-disposal fee ($2 a tire), dump tires by the dozen. The tire problem has become so desperate that the city is debating changes to the law. (One humble suggestion: a $2 reward per tire.) You also see burned piles of household garbage, cotton-candy-pink tufts of insulation foam, turquoise PVC pipes, sodden couches tumescing like sea sponges and abandoned cars. Sometimes the cars contain bodies. In August, the police discovered an incinerated corpse in a white Dodge Charger that was left in the middle of an abandoned lot near the intersection of Choctaw and Law, two blocks from where Mary Brock was walking Pee Wee. Nobody knew how long the car had been there; it was concealed from the closest house, half a block away, by 12-foot-high grass. That entire stretch of Choctaw Street, for that matter, was no longer visible. It had been devoured by forest. Every housing plot on both sides of the street for two blocks, between Rocheblave and Law, was abandoned. Through the weeds, you could just make out a cross marking the spot where Brock's neighbor had drowned.
It is misleading to talk about abandoned lots in the context of the Lower Ninth Ward. Vast sections of the neighborhood have been abandoned, so it's often unclear where one property ends and the next begins. (An exception is the sliver of land on the neighborhood's innermost edge, where Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation has built 76 solar-paneled, pastel-hued homes — though this seems less a part of the neighborhood than a Special Economic Zone.) To visualize how the Lower Ninth looked in September — before the city's most recent campaign to reclaim the neighborhood — you have to understand that it no longer resembled an urban, or even suburban environment. Where once there stood orderly rows of single-family homes with driveways and front yards, there was jungle. The vegetation had all sprouted since Katrina. Trees that did not exist before the storm are now 30 feet high.
The cartoonish pace of vegetation growth resembles something out of a Chia Pet commercial, but it is hardly surprising to New Orleanians long accustomed to roads warped by tree roots and yards invaded by weeds. The soil in the Lower Ninth is extraordinarily fertile, thanks to centuries of alluvial deposits from the Mississippi River, which forms the neighborhood's southern boundary. From the river, the neighborhood descends, like a long ramp, down to an open-water, brackish marsh called Bayou Bienvenue. This back part of the neighborhood, which, at its lowest point, is four feet below sea level, was the most devastated by the storm and remains the least inhabited. Its population has decreased by 85 percent since 2000.
Many of the ruined buildings have been cleared away, and most of the old foundations are obscured. The inhabited lots, about one per city block, are the exception. With their dutifully trimmed lawns, upright fences and new construction, they stand out like teeth in a jack-o-lantern. But wilderness encroaches from all sides. "My neighbor just saw a little family of coons parading across the street," said Don Porter, who lives south of Claiborne Avenue, in one of the more occupied areas of the neighborhood. There are four houses on his block, and only two are vacant. "And you see rabbit," he said. "You see egrets. Pelicans."
"A raccoon climbs on top of our roof," said Terry Jacko, 23, who stood with his brother Terrence, 19, in the front yard of their Reynes Street house. "It's huge. The first time I heard it, I thought it was a dude."
"I saw a possum in the backyard the other day," Terrence said. "Its teeth were about this big. I killed it with a stick. It was coming toward me, so I hit him. He just flipped over. I stayed inside after that."
There have been sightings of armadillos, coyotes, owls, hawks, falcons and even a four-foot alligator, drinking from a leaky fire hydrant. Rats have been less of a problem lately because of the stray cats and the birds of prey. But it's not just animals that emerge from the weeds. "Sometimes I see people coming out of there," Terrence said, pointing at the ruins of two houses, shrouded in weeds, across the street. "They're trying to get in my home."
Johnny Windsor, who lives with his wife in a rebuilt house nearby that is surrounded on every side by forest, has seen even more disturbing things. "They drag bodies in there," he said, pointing to a thicket across the street. Bad things have been happening in the abandoned lots. While walking home from school one evening, a 16-year-old girl was dragged into a blighted house and raped. Now Windsor and his wife take turns sitting outside, keeping watch. "You never know," he said, "if someone's lying in the grass, ready to shoot."
For six and a half years, the neighborhood has undergone a reverse colonization — nature reclaiming civilization. Residents have fought with hatchets and weed trimmers to rebuff the colonizers: Southern cut grass, giant ragweed, Chinese tallow trees. But the effort has been largely futile. The lots require constant vigilance. A lot left untended for three months will be thick with knee-high weeds; after five months, saplings begin to rise. By last August, the sixth anniversary of Katrina, it was clear that nature had triumphed.
In September, the mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu, announced what amounted to a troop surge in the battle for the Lower Ninth. He called it the Nuisance Lot Maintenance Pilot Program. It was the city's third attempt to clear the overgrown lots in the Lower Ninth. The first contractor chosen for the job was revealed to be a convicted felon; the second contractor, hired a year ago, was asked to clear each lot only once, which was not particularly helpful, because the vegetation grew back within months. This time, the city decided to handle the job itself, using municipal agencies to hire workers and oversee the project. The pilot program consists of a single crew of 12 men — all residents of the Lower Ninth or ex-offenders. They have waged a block-by-block campaign to reclaim the land. The program concludes at the end of this month. At that point the cycle will begin again.
To understand why New Orleans ceded an entire neighborhood to nature for six years, it's necessary to revisit a chapter from the post-Katrina era so painful that few in the city have the stomach to discuss it. The Tulane geographer Richard Campanella has called it "the Great Footprint Debate." With most of New Orleans in ruins, the city had to decide how to rebuild: which areas should receive priority and which should be redeveloped?
The problem, as some saw it, was mathematical. In 1960, the population of New Orleans peaked at 627,525. To accommodate the boom, the city expanded into low-lying marshland that was previously considered unfit for human habitation. These newer, lower-lying neighborhoods were hit hardest by the storm. (The Lower Ninth is higher, on average, than New Orleans East, Gentilly, Broadmoor and Lakeview, but it suffered the most damage because of the two breaches of the Industrial Canal levee, which serves as the neighborhood's western boundary.) A year after Katrina, the city's population plunged to about 200,000; meanwhile, the street grid, since 1970, had increased by more than 10 percent. Could a city built for 627,000 maintain a population less than a third of its size? Could taxpayers afford to maintain services like garbage removal, policing, sewer pipes and miles of perpetually eroding streets? And if not, what should be done with the lowest-lying areas and their exiled inhabitants?
A panel commissioned in 2005 by Mayor Ray Nagin, Landrieu's predecessor, recommended converting large sections of the hardest-hit neighborhoods into "green space." This activated the survival instinct of local community groups, who saw it as a covert attempt to eradicate the city's poorest (and blackest) neighborhoods. These suspicions were not allayed by statements like the one made by Joseph Canizaro, a wealthy white property developer who led Nagin's panel: "As a practical matter, these poor folks don't have the resources to go back to our city just like they didn't have the resources to get out of our city. So we won't get all those folks back."
Nagin rejected his commission's recommendations and adopted in its place an approach that most generously might be described as laissez-faire. Residents were allowed to return to the Lower Ninth — which, at 2.25 square miles, is more than four times the size of the French Quarter — as they desired, and the city's footprint would be preserved. According to the recent census, 5,560 people now live in the area, nearly three-quarters fewer than in 2000. There is currently no police or fire station, supermarket or hospital. Most residents haven't returned — some because they cannot afford to, others by choice. Between its light population density and lack of basic services, much of the Lower Ninth has fallen into the very condition that New Orleanians after the storm were desperate to avoid: it has become green space.
Landrieu, elected in 2010, has directed considerable amounts of federal and local financing to construction projects in the Lower Ninth. These include $60 million for street repairs, $50 million for rebuilding schools and $14.5 million for a new community center. But clearing the lots is the logical first step. How can you repair a street if you can't see it?
"The debate about the footprint is history now," Campanella says. "You can't reintroduce that question six years later, given that the city, the state and the nation as a whole has already committed recovery dollars to rebuilding houses and fixing utilities. To go back and reopen the wound — it's too late. The baby's already born. Maybe next time we could revisit this. I hope there isn't a next time. But of course there will be."
When Landrieu took office, New Orleans had the highest percentage of blighted properties of any American city — higher than Cleveland, Flint, Mich., and even Detroit, which, during the last 60 years, has lost 1.1 million people, roughly the population of Dallas. But unlike those of the Rust Belt cities, the population of New Orleans is growing — it is now 356,000 — and its blighted properties have been decreasing. In 2008, one of every three New Orleans properties was uninhabited; today, the number is less than one in four.
Landrieu has emphasized blight reduction and generally spent the government's money according to his constituents' wishes. For this he has earned their appreciation; a poll conducted in November gave him an 88 percent favorability rating. "The people of New Orleans, through their elected officials and their advocacy, have decided to rebuild every part of New Orleans," Landrieu told me. That decision "necessarily put us on a longer course and created a challenge that is hard to achieve, especially with a limited amount of money. But I think that you can, with a lot of good strategy and thought, rebuild neighborhoods. We're in an exercise now that's attempting to prove that point." It remains to be seen what point will be proved by this approach, but Landrieu is not wasting any time. He has promised to complete more than 100 "recovery projects" within four years, or just in time for the next mayoral campaign.
Campanella operates on a different time frame. As a geographer, he has the luxury — or Cassandra's curse — to contemplate the city's future three decades, even three centuries from now. The walls of his Tulane office are decorated with giant photographs of New Orleans, the Mississippi River and the United States taken from outerspace.
Few cities have been more acutely influenced by their geographical location than New Orleans, which the geographer Peirce Lewis once called the "inevitable city on an impossible site." Here, location is destiny; or, more precisely, elevation is destiny. The oldest, wealthiest, whiter, "historic" neighborhoods, where most transplants reside, are on high ground. Most of the newer and poorer neighborhoods, where the greatest concentration of native New Orleanians live, are at, or below, sea level — and sinking. The difference between the French Quarter, which survived Katrina relatively unscathed, and the back section of the Lower Ninth, is nine feet.
Campanella's geographical history of New Orleans, "Bienville's Dilemma," is essential reading for those new to town. Readers often ask him where in the city it is safe to live. "I tell them that the higher the elevation, the closer to the river and the closer to the historic urban core, the less vulnerable you will be," says Campanella, who is himself a transplant. This is not immediately apparent because the port accents of Brooklyn and New Orleans share the same progenitors. "The population we have now is roughly the population we had a hundred years ago, in the 1910s," he said. "I would love to see our current population living on higher ground, in neighborhoods teeming with life — people on the streets, walking and taking the streetcar to work, living within proximity of most of their needs. I realize that we cannot go back in history. There are 100-year-old cultural transformations that you can't just ignore. But that is what I would hope for, to the extent that it's possible."
The ruination of the Lower Ninth has attracted geographers and ecologists from around the world, especially those in the burgeoning field of catastrophe studies — a field with a busy future. "It's a fascinating natural laboratory," Michael Blum, an ecologist at Tulane, says. "New Orleans in general is an outstanding arena in which to understand basic ecological principles related to disturbance. The Lower Ninth lies at the heart of that."
The closest analogy to what happened in the Lower Ninth, Blum says, is a volcanic eruption on the order of Mount St. Helens. The next closest is the tsunami that hit Japan's northeast coast a year ago. This is what distinguishes the Lower Ninth from the most derelict neighborhoods in cities like Detroit and Cleveland. Katrina was not merely destructive; it brought about a "catastrophic reimagining of the landscape." As in Japan, a surge of water destroyed most human structures. In much of the neighborhood, nothing remained — neither man, plants nor animals. The ecological term for this is simplification. "In 2007, before rebuilding started, when you went down there, it was like going to an agricultural field," Blum says. "Literally it was wiped clean."
What happened over the intervening years has made the Lower Ninth one of the richest ecological case studies in the world. Ecologists hypothesize that, after a catastrophic event, human communities and ecological communities return at the same rate. But this theory has not been tested in real time. Blum is among a coalition of scientists — ecologists, ornithologists, botanists, geographers and sociologists — that is studying the Lower Ninth's recovery to learn how man, and the environment, will cope with future catastrophes.
In the race between nature and man, nature has jumped out to an early lead. But the pattern of growth has been bizarre. The Lower Ninth has been besieged by a flora feeding frenzy. A chaotic mix of plant species, many of which have never existed on that land, are battling for dominance. Before the area was cleared for plantations in the mid-1700s, the Lower Ninth was divided into three ecosystems, depending on elevation. The riverfront was lined with reeds and brambles; behind that was a dense hardwood forest; and farthest back, where Mary Brock and Pee Wee live, lay a cypress swamp populated by stands of palmettos. Today there are very few species native to the land, other than several kinds of sedge and aquatic grass. Only a handful of palm, live oak, pine and bald cypress trees survived the storm.
A variety of species, some exotic, have moved in, among them crepe myrtle, black willow and golden rain trees laced with vines. The undergrowth is a chaotic mix of weeds as high as basketball hoops and flowering shrubs like lantana, oleander and oxalis. Invasive species have infiltrated the neighborhood from the major avenues, the seeds transported by the flatbed trucks that drive to the city. The plant and animal life varies quixotically from plot to plot, as the new species entrench themselves, mustering strength, before fighting for additional territory.
The ecological composition of the neighborhood may be diverse, but it is also extremely unstable. "It's a very odd mix, one that you wouldn't otherwise see in nature," Blum says. "It's a Frankenstein community." Ecologically speaking, Katrina has created a monster.
The 12 men hired to tame this monster meet in the Lower Ninth every morning at 7:30. They wear sunglasses, jeans, boots and bright green city-issued T-shirts. On the back of each shirt is a fleur-de-lis; the front bears the slogan "Fight the Blight." The Nuisance Lot Maintenance pilot program clears 20 properties a day. When the crew first arrives at a lot, several men tramp through the bramble, dragging to the curb any large pieces of garbage or tires they find. Then comes the tractor, a two-wheel-drive Mahindra 4025, which a crew member drives through the property like a battering ram.
"I haven't seen any bodies or skeletons," Enri Jacques, one of the older members of the work crew, said. "Just wild rabbits, coons and garter snakes." After Jacques lost his home in the storm, he slept on the Claiborne Bridge for four nights. He learned about the pilot-program job from his probation officer. "It beats being incarcerated," he said. "It was very hard for me to find work. This job is a blessing of Christ. My house is still not totally livable right now, but now that I'm working, I'm able to put a little money aside."
After the tractor finishes its circuit, two men stroll through the lot waving weed trimmers, the gasoline-powered machines used for residential lawn cutting. They resemble a fencing foil, only the tip culminates in a small mechanical spool that spins roughly a hundred times per second. Weed trimmers are powerful enough to cut most plants and shrubs, but not trees. When Adrian Tillman, a lanky, 28-year-old member of the crew, uses a trimmer, he wraps a black shirt around his head so that the flying debris won't cut his face.
Tillman did construction work at Jackson Barracks, the military base in the Lower Ninth that is still being repaired. After being laid off, he struggled to find a job until his mother told him that the city was looking for people from the Lower Ninth to cut grass. Since Tillman must constantly cut the grass around his own house, he was prepared for the work. "It's a laid-back job," he said, especially because the crew was told to stay clear of any trees or ruined structures. His neighbors thanked him for his work. "When they see us coming," Tillman said, "they clap their hands."
A property is crossed off the list once the grasses and weeds are cut and the sidewalk swept clean of debris. To be clear, a "cut" lot does not resemble in the slightest a mowed lawn. The field is often reduced to a pockmarked stubble, bald patches alternating with tussocks of jaggedly shaved 6-inch weeds. In other lots the quantity of vegetation is so great that, when the crew's work is done, the ground is covered by a heavy carpet of mowed grass. But it doesn't last long. Plots cleared this December are already sprouting wildflowers a foot high.
Not everyone in the neighborhood has been satisfied with the work of the Nuisance Lot Maintenance pilot program. A Mr. Harris, who declined to give his first name, stood on a viewing platform built on the flood wall at the edge of Bayou Bienvenue. He ate sunflower seeds while three friends, lifelong residents of the Lower Ninth, baited lines for drum and redfish. Harris gestured at a cleared lot near Florida Avenue, at the edge of which stood a pile of construction debris left behind by the crew.
"If we're going to pay you money to do that, I want professional work," he said. "Hire some real professionals. I don't want it to look like that there."
Harris spit out his sunflower shells in disgust. A luxury motor coach, filled with tourists behind tinted windows, trundled down Florida Street toward the Make It Right houses. Seventeen expletives have been edited out of the following paragraph:
"Every day 20 tour buses come down this street to look at this neighborhood and take pictures," Harris said. "Don't tell me they're just touring the city. If you're trying to tour the city, then you're in the wrong neighborhood. They just ride around in the part that's been devastated. Lower Ninth Ward ain't receiving a single penny for that. Why can't I get something? Why does the man driving the bus get all the money? I ain't a guinea pig. I don't want to be put under a microscope. We're the ones that suffered down here, who lost everything. There are still dead people that they haven't accounted for. It's frustrating. It took almost seven years for the Ninth Ward to look like what it looks like now, and it still don't look like [anything]."
The going rate for a Hurricane Katrina tour of the Lower Ninth Ward is $40. Motor coaches are operated by Big Easy Tours, Historic New Orleans Tours and Gray Line, which offers customers an "eyewitness account of the events surrounding the most devastating natural — and man-made — disaster on American soil!" plus the chance to "drive past an actual levee that 'breached.' "
Tauck, the upscale guided-tour operator, spends one morning in the Lower Ninth as part of its eight-day New Orleans package (from $2,750). The day begins at the Greater Little Zion Baptist Church, which was founded in 1900 and rebuilt a year after the storm. The 42 members of the tour, almost all of whom are white and appear older than 60, sit patiently in the pews, cameras in laps, while a video showing the destruction is projected on the sanctuary. An introductory talk about the horrors of Katrina — the unmarked graves, the toxic mold, the cruel bureaucratic inanities of FEMA — is presented by Laura Paul, a 41-year-old Canadian who came as a volunteer aid worker after Katrina and never left. In her previous life, Paul was a client coordinator for global express aircraft at Bombardier Aerospace outside Montreal. Now she runs lowernine.org, a nonprofit organization whose volunteers rebuild homes, operate an urban farm and collected the data on abandoned lots that was used to develop the Nuisance Lot Maintenance pilot program. Tauck donates $25 per tour participant to lowernine.org.
"The issue with the neighborhood is not the tours themselves," Paul said, "but the fact that people are making bank on them and not giving anything back to the community. And they can be disrespectful: people get out of the buses, trample private property and take pictures. I really do think that Tauck is doing the right thing. I like the company, I like the tour guides, I like the people they bring to the neighborhood. You're talking about upper-class, predominantly white people. They have a lot of money." A woman from a Tauck tour once sent Paul a check for $5,000.
"Getting money after a storm is like shooting fish in a barrel," Paul added. "But long-term recovery? People just don't want to know how long it takes. The truth is discouraging. It could easily take another 10 years. We'll work until we run out of money. The problem is that someday — and this might already be starting — people will be like: 'Seriously? Enough with the Katrina stuff. Please, just stop.' "
The only person on the Tauck bus who seemed truly uncomfortable about the tour was Renee Whitecloud, the tour guide. Whitecloud, who grew up in New Orleans, carries in her wallet a photograph of her flooded street in the Broadmoor neighborhood. By the time she returned home after the floodwaters receded, mold had crept all the way up to the second floor. The mold was "psychedelic," she said. "Green, orange, yellow, all different colors." She developed asthma and allergies and suffered frequent migraines. "I love the city," Whitecloud said, "but this is a hard day for me." She stood outside the bus while her tourists walked through a house on Caffin Avenue that lowernine.org rebuilt. "It's in your face," she said. "Every time I do this tour, I have to revisit the trauma." When the Katrina video plays in the church, she stands outside.
Because the motor coach is too large to negotiate the broken residential streets, it drives in a rectangle around the most devastated section of the Lower Ninth, sticking to the major thoroughfares. During a tour in October, it drove alongside the Industrial Canal, pausing so that the passengers could see the area where the levee breached. As it slowly passed through the Make It Right houses, a teenage boy ran to the curb, and the driver — whose own house is still gutted from Katrina — pulled over. The door opened and the boy stepped on. The bus filled with the kind of silence that follows a popped balloon. The boy held a carton of homemade pralines.
"Three for $10," he said. "Buy one for a good cause."
The 42 members of the tour group sat stiffly in their seats, staring forward in silence.
"Like to donate a dollar? Anyone?"
Nobody moved.
"Going once, going twice . . . Sold! To the guy in the black jacket!"
The man in the black jacket flinched violently.
"No? O.K., then. Going once, going twice . . . Sold! To this woman here in the front row!"
No one offered the boy any money. After another excruciatingly long pause, he stepped out onto the street. The motor coach scuttled back to the French Quarter.
The Nuisance Lot Maintenance pilot program has now cleared more than 1,200 lots. The transformation of the neighborhood is stark. Ruined houses still tilt like old prizefighters on nearly every street; the roads are chassis-rattling slalom courses; and there are few people, other than tourists, in sight. But no longer are there full blocks of uninterrupted jungle. The worst parts of the neighborhood are desolate but neat. It is uncertain what exactly will happen next to the cleared lots. As Jeff Hebert, the executive director of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, said, "Cutting grass once isn't really a good option." In the Lower Ninth, a property remains cleared for only three to six months. A Chinese tallow tree, for instance, will grow from seed to two-foot-high sapling in a summer and six feet within a year.
When I asked Landrieu what might be done next with the lots, he had no specific answers but emphasized the need for private development. "We don't know what the end looks like," he said. "We think we know what the process looks like. We want to get those lots back in the hands of private-property owners so that they can take responsibility for them. Anything we can do to make them attractive to private investors, we want to do." He acknowledged that, while the city has made significant progress in fighting blight in other poor neighborhoods, the Lower Ninth "has become a symbol of New Orleans's rebirth, whether that's justified or not." Nor is it simply a question of restoring the conditions that existed before the storm. "I keep telling people that we're not putting things back like it was," he said. "We're building the city we want to become."
Hebert wasn't any more specific. "All properties will receive a level of maintenance until such time as there is interest in the property for new housing or alternative uses like parks, community gardens, etc.," he wrote in an e-mail. "It is not the goal of the city to maintain in perpetuity."
I recently accompanied Peter Yaukey, an ornithologist at the University of New Orleans who has been surveying bird life in the Lower Ninth for six years. On his first visit, a month after the storm, he was not allowed north of Claiborne Avenue because the authorities were still searching for bodies. The first thing he noticed was the silence. When a sound editor from the HBO show "Treme" asked him what type of birds were heard in New Orleans after the storm, Yaukey said there was a nearly complete absence of bird song. The city had no ambient sound. You could hear a boombox from three blocks away.
Many of the birds that used to be common in the Lower Ninth — like mourning doves and house sparrows — had almost entirely disappeared and only now are beginning to return in small numbers. But over the course of several years, as the lots grew thick with weeds and the rodent populations increased, Yaukey observed that something strange was happening. Large predators, which feed on rats and mice, began to appear in high numbers. So high, in fact, that there was soon a much greater concentration of hawks, falcons and shrikes in the Lower Ninth than would be found in a rural environment. He suspected that barn owls were building nests in the blighted buildings. The word Yaukey used to describe the concentration of raptors was "supernatural." Both senses of the word seemed to apply.
Yaukey, who bears a strong resemblance to the actor Thomas Haden Church and has the same raspy voice, began spotting birds through the windshield as soon as we turned off Claiborne. He wore a pair of binoculars around his neck, but he didn't need them to identify the birds that glided hundreds of feet overhead: a white ibis, a red-tailed hawk, a turkey vulture and an osprey, clenching in its talons a fish plucked from the Industrial Canal. There were plenty of species at street level as well: blue jays, cardinals, American crows, Eastern phoebes, killdeer, loggerhead shrike, kestrel falcons, bronzed cowbirds and, rarest of all, an open-ground woodpecker. A great egret, regal and stiff, promenaded down the middle of Choctaw, stalking lizards. A flock of roughly 300 European starlings pecked at insects and weed seeds on the Caffin median. An exceedingly plump red-shouldered hawk perched on the bending branch of a mulberry tree. To Yaukey's amazement, the hawk did not budge even when we came within 10 feet. "It looks pretty tame," he said. "Almost to the point of being goofy."
Yaukey was surprised by how substantially the lot-maintenance crew had altered the landscape. He pointed out that the overgrown lots that did remain were rapidly changing. The tall weeds were being crowded out by saplings and trees, especially the aggressive and omnipresent Chinese tallow, whose leaves had begun to turn yellow, crimson and purple. If left alone for another five years, the Chinese tallow might conquer every inch of land in the Lower Ninth, creating a suffocating monoculture, but for the time being, a wide variety of plants thrived in the understory. He was especially eager to find a dense lot that he could explore with the hope of finding birds, like sparrows, that favored brush. He found a suitable spot — three contiguous abandoned lots — at the corner of Jourdan and Law. We were just a few blocks behind Brad Pitt's houses and across the street from the Industrial Canal levee. It was at this spot, more than six years ago, that four of the concrete slabs cracked, the soil gave way and the inundation of the Lower Ninth began.
Before the car came to a complete stop, Yaukey was out the door, tramping into the weeds. Birds started hopping and darting about. He made birdcalls: pish-pish-spish-spish-SPISH. Wee! Weeweewee! And another that is difficult to transcribe but sounded like a rotating lawn sprinkler.
By the time I locked the car, he was 20 feet away, obscured to his neck by the high weeds. The birds were calling back to him. "Field sparrow," he marveled, cocking his head. "Swamp sparrow."
"I've gone whole winters without seeing a field sparrow in the New Orleans vicinity. Field sparrows, swamp sparrows, simply do not winter in residential New Orleans. So this habitat . . .," he trailed off. "I can come here and see them." The excitement was high in his voice.
It was difficult to keep up — he had the bounding energy of a child let out to recess. The brush was so dense that it was impossible to find secure footing. Every step cracked a branch. Thorns tugged on pants. Cordlike vines noosed around ankles like booby traps. I kicked a concrete slab, concealed beneath a mound of dirt — the foundation of the house that once stood there.
"Rattlebox!" Yaukey said, pointing to an invasive South American tree he spotted in the middle of a thicket. Clusters of dark brown pods dangled like earrings from its stalks. Only a sandy tuft of Yaukey's hair was visible now. His voice was hard to make out, and I had to ask him to repeat himself.
"Orange-crowned warbler!" he shouted back at me. "Ruby-crowned kinglet!"
Finally I gave up. Yaukey was too deep in the woods. It was no longer possible to distinguish which calls were his and which the birds'. He walked around a stand of 15-foot Chinese tallow trees, the green and crimson leaves waving mournfully in the wind. And then he was gone. The wilderness just swallowed him up.


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Roger and Jan Capps are devoted to Portland State. Roger has been an active member of the Alumni Advocates Group, and has made many trips to Salem and Washington, D.C., advocating for PSU. He also served on the Alumni Board for six years. He and Jan still voice their passion for the Vikings at sporting events. And, over time, they increased their giving to PSU.
"If it wasn't for Portland State, I probably wouldn't have gone to college," says Roger. He and his brothers lived at home and worked their way through—becoming the first in their family to graduate. "By having a part-time job, we could pay for college. It's not like that now."
Roger graduated from Portland State in 1960 with a degree in elementary education and taught at several inner-city Portland schools before becoming a principal in the North Clackamas School District. Jan also attended Portland State, then completed her nursing credentials at Portland Community College and served as a maternity nurse at Good Samaritan. Together, they raised two children and now are proud grandparents of five.
The couple's commitment to family and education runs deep. They travel to Guatemala annually to paint schools, build bookcases and set up libraries. They have given annually to a Graduate School of Education scholarship they established, the Capps Family Scholarship, and created a charitable remainder trust to partially benefit this scholarship. These gifts make financial and emotional sense for the Capps. The trust, for example, provides them with income while supporting causes they care about.
"We've been in touch with Portland State all these years," says Roger. "This is my pay back for being allowed to go here. PSU is a place people know they can go and they can make it."
Recently, they made a planned gift to endow the Capps Family Scholarship for students who are preparing for a career in elementary education. "I admire these students going into education," says Jan. "We need a lot of good teachers. We want to give them any little help we can give them."
The Capps have delighted in meeting their scholarship recipients. "It is inspiring to meet these students. Each one of them tells us how important this scholarship is in helping them pay for their college expenses," says Roger.
Like the Capps, you too can make a huge difference in the lives of students aspiring to become educators. To give to scholarships in the Graduate School of Education, please contact Jaymee Jacoby at (503) 725-4789 or firstname.lastname@example.com

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Bill would ban enforcement of US gun laws in NM
New Mexico is among states where Republican legislators want to ban enforcement of federal gun laws.
Legislation introduced by Republican Rep. Nora Espinoza of Roswell would make it a felony for a government official or firearms dealer to enforce federal gun laws in New Mexico.
Other states where Republican legislators have introduced similar legislation include Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.
The laws are a backlash to gun-control measures either being proposed or approved by President Barack Obama and others in the wake of the December school shooting in Connecticut.
Espinoza's bill in New Mexico also would call on the state attorney general to defend New Mexico residents accused of violating federal fun laws.
Ten other representatives are co-sponsoring Espinoza's bill.


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As the debris cleared and Simon Pagenaud surveyed both the wreckage and the drivers still in contention in Sunday's IZOD IndyCar Series race at the Grand Prix of Baltimore, a simple thought came to the 29-year-old Frenchman.
"I knew I was on fresher tires than the guys around me, I knew I had a faster car, but we needed to get going," Pagenaud said.
Aware that many of the circuit's biggest names had either left the 2.04 mile track for good or were well back in the pack — from pole sitter Scott Dixon to defending champion Ryan Hunter-Reay to three-time Indianapolis 500 champ Dario Franchitti to points leader Helio Castroneves to 2011 race winner Will Power — Pagenaud said he "ended up pushing as hard as I could."
Passing reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Tony Kanaan after the next-to-last yellow flag was lifted, and doing the same to Marco Andretti after the final restart, Pagenaud's No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorports Honda pushed to the front and held off young American Josef Newgarden and fellow Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais to win the crash-filled 75-lap race by a little more than four seconds.
The victory was the second this season for Pagenaud and helped him leap from fifth to third in the points standing behind Castroneves (who finished ninth) and Dixon (whose race ended when he was cut off by archrival Power on the 53nd lap and ran into the wall). Andretti, who held the lead from Lap 57 until the final restart on Lap 69, faded to 10th.
Summing up the race's many collisions and restarts after his best IndyCar Series finish, the 22-year-old Newgarden said, "It was like six races worth of incidents."
Bourdais, whose No. 7 Dragon Racing Chevrolet led from Laps 32 to 57 despite being spun out in one of several crashes on Turn 1, called it "the usual Baltimore chaos, and it was just one restart after another and it was just survival."
Pagenaud said the late yellow flags actually turned out to be a blessing, because they helped him "rest and recover from a long running of the green" and gave his worn-out brakes a chance to cool off as well.
After the final restart, Pagenaud said he thought, "OK, this is my second chance. You never get a second chance in racing, so you've got to grab this one."
But even the last few laps were not without incident, with Pagenaud knocking Bourdais from second after their cars touched twice on one turn.
Asked about whether he thought Pagenaud cut him off toward the end, Bourdais said, "I will let people judge it. I have my own opinion. We're friends, but there are no friends on the track. I learned that the hard way."
Said Pagenaud: "We touched as he was braking. I got sucked into him and the second touch put him out of line. It's not great. I don't want to say that it's racing, that's the way it is.
"It's not great, but in the meantime I'm not going to open the door. I'm going for a race win. I need this for the [overall] championship. I had a good car, and I knew if I could get going I could pull away."
The confrontation between the Frenchmen was only a small part of what Newgarden half-jokingly called "bumper cars."
Just like last week's pit road collision at the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma between Dixon's car and one of Power's crew members — which led to a change in the rules for Baltimore — Sunday's blowup between two of the circuit's top drivers seemed to overshadow Pagenaud's win.
Bourdais, who was leading at the time, said he saw Dixon's car go into the wall "on the one mirror I had left," but he didn't know what was going on behind him. Power, who admitted that his victory last week was "handed" to him after a drive-through penalty was assessed to Dixon, was given the same penalty for his role in Sunday's incident. He would finish 18th, one spot ahead of Dixon.
"I thought I had a really good run on Bourdais and I was going to the inside to get around him and I thought I hit a bump or just lost it on cold tires," Power said. "I really had no idea that Dixon was there. I actually didn't know until I got back to the pits and they told me. I feel terrible for him and his team. All I can do is tell them how sorry I am and move on to Houston [for the next race]."
Dixon said later that "he ran me straight into the wall."
All Bourdais and Newgarden were concerned with was how to catch Pagenaud. While Bourdais' chance might have ended when their cars bumped on Lap 69, Newgarden thought he had an opportunity before his own brakes "at the end went completely away."
The Tennessean finished second, as he did two years ago in the Indy Lights race here.
"I had to back up and slow my pace down by a couple of seconds to recover the brakes, and at that point it was just about keeping Sebastien behind me," Newgarden said. "I knew I couldn't do anything with Simon anymore and it was about salvaging second, which is a shame. I really wanted to race Simon. I don't know what would have happened, but it would have been fun to at least challenge him and go for the win."
Like a tennis player whose side of the draw in a tournament eases as his top rivals are upset, Pagenaud knew that his road to victory was going to be easier as he drove the final few laps. The big names were gone.
"You analyze who your opponent [is]," Pagenaud said. "If it's Marco, I'm going to behave differently than if it's Dario or Helio. You know their attitude and what they're going to do. It's important to analyze that. But today was my chance. I had to go for it. It was a big opportunity today to grab and muscle a little bit."


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Sick: New Horror Movie Is Having Girls Lips Sitched To Another Female's Anus! (Short Clip From The Movie)
The human centipede (2009) - official movie clips Produced by Six Entertainment Starring Dieter Laser, Ashley C. Williams, Ashlynn Yennie, Akihiro Kitamura Written and directed by Tom Six
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Honda Fit EV
The all-new Fit EV Concept electric vehicle made its world debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show and strongly suggests the direction and styling of an upcoming production Fit EV all-electric vehicle, which will be introduced to the U.S. and Japan in 2012. The Fit EV is designed to meet the daily driving needs of the average metropolitan commuter. When the Fit EV is introduced, it will feature:
- Same 5-passenger packaging found in the popular Fit hatchback.
- The Fit EV will achieve an estimated 100-mile driving range per charge using the US EPA LA4 city cycle (70 miles when applying EPA's adjustment factor).
- Lithium-ion battery.
- High-density coaxial electric motor derived from the FCX Clarity.
- 3-mode E-Drive system with Econ, Normal and Sport modes to maximize efficiency or improve acceleration.
- Battery fully recharged in less than 12 hours with 120-volt outlet and fully recharged in less than 6 hours with 240-volt outlet.
- Standard connectivity system provides driver connectivity to the Fit EV from smartphone and personal computer or the Honda-exclusive interactive remote.
- Connectivity system allows the driver to: check state of charge, initiate charging and remotely activate the air conditioning.
- Mobile application and website offer additional features: set charging schedule to optimize utility rates, send charging alerts and notifications, locate nearest charging station, and provide 24-hour roadside assistance connectivity.
- Standard Honda Satellite Linked Navigation System™ with charging station locator capability.
Plug-In Hybrid
The Honda plug-in hybrid platform was unveiled for the first time at the Los Angeles Auto Show. A plug-in hybrid sedan will be introduced to the U.S. and Japan in 2012. The plug-in hybrid is designed to be compatible with daily driving habits, allowing for short, frequent trips in all-electric mode while providing long-distance, fuel-efficient driving capability when needed.
The platform features:
- Next-generation two-motor Honda hybrid system.
- Three different driving modes to maximize efficiency: all-electric, gasoline-electric and engine direct drive.
- For all-electric driving, the vehicle uses a 6kWh lithium-ion battery and a 120 kW motor.
- All-electric range of 10-15 miles with top speed of 62 mph.
- Battery fully recharged in 2- 2.5 hours using 120-volt outlet, 1-1.5 hours using 240-volt outlet.
Honda Advanced Technology Demonstration Program
Honda will launch an Advanced Technology Demonstration Program this year to provide real-world testing of its new vehicles. Participants include: Stanford University, City of Torrance, Calif. and Google, Inc.
In addition to real-world testing, the three participants will focus on the following issues:
- Stanford University: behavioral and usability research surrounding the adoption of electric vehicles. Additional research will be conducted on transportation systems and battery electric sustainability. Honda will be working with the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford (CARS).
- City of Torrance: charging infrastructure development, public education and awareness about electric vehicles as well as promoting sustainable community initiatives. Honda will be working with several city departments, including the Community Development department and Public Works office, along with the Economic Development office.
- Google, Inc: collaboration through Google's RechargeIT initiative to evaluate the benefits of plug-in vehicles and accelerate their adoption. The vehicle will be tested through the Gfleet, Google's employee car-sharing service. The partnership will involve analysis of vehicle usage including CO2 reduction, energy consumption on a miles/kWh basis and overall energy cost.
Honda Electric Mobility Network and Energy Management
Together with the FCX Clarity fuel cell electric vehicle, the Fit EV and the future plug-in hybrid vehicle will be a part of the company's new comprehensive approach to reducing CO2 emissions. Honda's approach includes the following initiatives:
- Honda Electric Mobility Network: Introducing products equipped with the latest in advanced environmental technologies that meet the daily driving needs of customers.
- Energy production: Manufacturing thin-film solar panels and developing innovative ways to produce and distribute energy using sustainable methods.
- Energy management: Development of home energy management systems that utilize micro-cogeneration technology and solar cell modules.


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Article I came across this morning at Washington Post turns out to be much more than one article. It is an article collection in a series on the clean up efforts and lifestyles of the Chesapeake Bay reported by the Washington Post. I read with interest, recognizing that I could well be reading the future of Willapa Bay were it to become more densely populated; were it to become less ecologically sound due to carelessness of it's stewardship. Were it to lose it's oyster population as it already once historically did when the native oysters were harvested into extinction.
We moved here about 10 years ago from an upscale urban center in Seattle area, with an eye to the pristine beauty of the Willapa region, the historical context, and to downshift gears to a calmer, quieter way of life. While we are indeed 'transplants', we settled in with intention of integrating into a lifestyle that somehow seems to have maintained keeping the Willapa region not too much undisturbed by carelessness of human contaminations. We are, for the most part, still considered 'newcomers' to the area and we recognize that some families are generational families, having lived here over many generations. Of course, we are newcomers to that kind of generational family history. Yet we have felt welcomed, embraced, and if there has been any joking sense of us as newcomers, it has been in good humor. We have not felt at any time unwelcome.
I recognize that is in large part due to the sparse population and towns of Pacific County and a rather untouched land. One of the things I find myself thinking as we go from place to place within the county is that this must closely resemble how this land looked one hundred, two hundred years ago. This land must look a lot like it did to the early settlers. This must be something close to what Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery saw when they arrived here. This land must still look much like what it was like for the Native Americans who dwelt here, primarily the Chinook people.
We habitat as guests in this region comparative to the history of the region, and we recognize that we are guest dwellers on this land. Our lifestyle is not that of living off the land, in fishing, in timber/lumber, in farming (unless our small kitchen vegetable garden counts). By osmosis we become somewhat acquainted with the reality of the issues that beset the mix of people choosing to live in this region. Some of our neighbors are oyster farmers, and we learn a bit about what is important to them in their livelihoods as oyster farmers. At least one of our neighbors owns and operates a modestly sizeable dairy farm, and we learn a bit about issues important to their livelihood. Some neighbors are agricultural farmers, and we learn a bit about issues important to their livelihoods. And many of our neighbors are part of the timber/lumber industry, consequently we learn about issues important to their livelihoods, for example, the environmentalists efforts to save the spotted owl, which people in the timber/lumber industry will tell you about killed off their entire livelihood in that industry.
Gradually, over time, we come to know a little bit about a bit of what are important issues to the people who live in this county, who reside along the Willapa Bay, who live in the Willapa Hills .. all our neighbors in the Willapa region. What is highly important to the livelihood of some does encroach on the livelihood of others and it seems to me a harmonious disharmony has developed over the generations.
Where we reside now, homeowners buying one of the older properties still standing in this community, we have a strong regard for the history of not only our immediate community, but the region where we have chosen to live. We did not buy 'weekend getaway property' and we do have a fair share of new residents who are weekenders, along with a fair share of new residents from out of the area who choose to settle here, buy existing property or build new homes and live here year round. We have lived here only ten years, but we can 'feel' the shifting tides as the older sense of not only this immediate community but the older sense of the community gives way to the new sense of community in this region.
For property developers, driven by the property bubble, they began to look upon this region as one of the last vestiges of property development, having developed everything else along the Interstate 5 corridor regions. As they began to look, signs of what I consider encroachment began to appear; the very things we wanted to get away from – housing developments, condos, and with that the people who buy them and want the accompanying convenience of close by stores and malls and I began to fear the beautiful landscape would give way to …. well, what development looks like, pretty much cookie cutter one to the next.
But Willapa is an estuary, and as such has environmental protections, making too much development too quickly unlikely. And, as my own concerns began to take root, the property bubble burst — the mortgage crisis we are in now. With it the start up developments in our region seemed to quickly wither. I can't say I'm sorry to see that happened. But I also realize it is momentary, contingent on recovery, the marketability and at some point will once again be back on the developers map as an area to develop.
Which brings me back to the Washington Post series on the Chesapeake Bay and the seemingly unsuccessful efforts to revive that bay. Several components are cited as contributing factors to the demise of the vibrancy of the Chesapeake Bay, and they are the very components that affect Willapa Bay. Why, one might ask, is one bay (Willapa Bay) still considered pristine, vibrant and productive where the Chesapeake Bay is considered contaminated and nearly beyond repair? The Washington Post series or articles attempts to answer the question of what went wrong, what is trying to be fixed and what is or is not working about the Chesapeake Bay, so there is little need for me to repeat or condense it here. But it has caused me to look protectively at our own Willapa Bay in a new light, perhaps in recognition that the fact of the wilderness aspect of the region which has a still manageable human population could easily go the way of the Chesapeake Bay in over development, over population, and carelessness of human contaminations.
The thing weighing a bit on my mind is that this region is under study as part of the Columbia – Pacific National Heritage Area (link to House bill and Senate bill) , spring boarding from the historical Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery. Regions designated National Heritage sites promote tourism, tourist $$ and enterprise and perhaps expand the regional economy, but at what cost over the short run? I have been asking myself this question since I learned of the Columbia-Pacific National Heritage Study Act last summer. With that question, also comes the issue of Federal recognition of the Chinook people as a recognized tribe – Chinook Nation. It can hardly be on one hand acknowledged that the concept of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery could be used to advance this region into a National Heritage site without simultaneously acknowledging that the Chinook people, as a recognized tribe, who gave considerable aid to the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery, and are the backbone of what makes this region historically noteworthy.
I watch with interest the events ahead, with the efforts to make this region a National Heritage site, the progress for the Chinook people in being officially recognized at Federal level, the land and property development market, the responsive reaction from the various industries in the region; tourism, commercial fishing, timber industry, agricultural community, and the newcomers who are less responsive to the history and more anxious to make the area into a region not unlike the area from which they came — overly developed with more cookie cutter type housing developments, malls, stores and Starbucks on every other corner. Should that happen, the unique richness of this region will be forever lost. Should that happen, the arguments are made and some might consider it a good thing for an ailing local economy, livlihoods unlikely to sustain in the coming years, and necessity to make way for change, lest……..
And I ask lest what? Lest the region remain pretty much the same as it is, and if so, what is terribly wrong with that?


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Vancouver, Dublin, Abu Dhabi – February 21, 2012
FINCAD, the market leader for innovative derivatives solutions announced today that MARISK Consultants, an independent derivatives advisor, has selected F3 as its derivatives valuation and risk management solution. F3 provides MARISK with the flexibility and full transparency it needs to best advise clients.
Looking for a fully independent third party valuation solution, MARISK chose F3 because it has the flexibility to value exotic instruments from any asset class, including Islamic and hybrid derivatives. The fact that F3 is fully transparent also means MARISK can better help its clients make informed hedging, investment and savings decisions. F3's cutting-edge risk capabilities will enable MARISK to conduct efficient portfolio risk calculations resulting in transparency, better understanding of risks, improved pricing and transaction terms.
"Compared to other third party solutions in the market, F3 provides the best combination of flexibility, transparency, customer service, and value," says Dany Masri, Founder and Managing Director of MARISK Consultants. "Negotiating equitable hedge pricing for our clients is key to MARISK. F3 is providing us with proven industry standard analytics that are transparent, reliable, accurate, and robust."
Bob Park, CEO and President, FINCAD explains that, in designing F3, FINCAD's aim was to provide clients with a truly generic, flexible product that gives users complete freedom to value any type of instrument they require. "MARISK is a testament of our customer focused approach to product development – as we envisioned, organizations like MARISK are using F3 to accurately price customized, exotic derivatives."
About MARISK
MARISK is an independent derivative advisor that represents clients across MENA to navigate the complex process of entering, negotiating and unwinding derivative transactions to ensure the best outcome for the end-user. The process of executing a derivative transaction is a complex one, and very opaque for end-users. Based in Abu Dhabi, MARISK levels the playing field, creates transparency and reduces or eliminates banks' undisclosed fees. MARISK provides clients with the ability to effectively negotiate their interest rate, FX, commodity hedges and structured products transactions with their counterparties. MARISK brings greater transparency and deal experience to the process to help companies improve transactions' efficiency and pricing. MARISK's transaction fee is fully transparent, success based and consistent across clients. For details: www.mariskco.com
About FINCAD
Founded in 1990, FINCAD provides advanced modeling solutions built on award-winning, patent pending technology. With more than 4,000 clients in over 80 countries around the world, FINCAD is the leading provider of financial risk analytics technology, enabling global market participants to make informed hedging and investment decisions. FINCAD provides software and services supporting the valuation, reporting and risk management of derivatives and fixed income portfolios to banks, corporate treasuries, hedge funds, asset management firms, audit firms, and governments. FINCAD Analytics can be accessed through Excel, MATLAB, as a Software-as-a-Service or embedded into an existing system through software development kits. Now, over 70 FINCAD Alliance Partners embed FINCAD Analytics within their solutions. FINCAD provides sales and client services from Dublin, Ireland, and Vancouver, Canada. www.fincad.com
Media Contact:
Sarah Quon
Direct: +1.604.831.9599
Email: email@example.com


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Interview Questions and Answers for Any Job Candidate
Sample Interview Questions
It is always difficult to quickly pull together interview questions that get at the heart of how you may want to measure candidates. Also, what are some possible answers to expect?
This whitepaper is a rich collection of questions to ask during interviews. Not all questions will be applicable to every situation; choose questions that fit the position. When interviewing multiple candidates for a position, it is important to use the same criteria for evaluating each candidate so as to avoid legal problems.
The key is to be consistent and fair with all candidates (i.e., show no favoritism or discrimination). Use an interviewing guideline of core criteria/qualifications that is applicable to all candidates for the position.
Most of these questions do not have a "right" or "wrong" answer under all circumstances! After you have selected the questions that are appropriate to use, give some thought to the answer(s) that make sense given your organization, culture and the priorities of the position. The applicant's reasoning abilities and the thought process that leads to the answer is often as important as the answer itself.
Here are the interview question categories:
- Telephone Pre-Screen Interview Questions
- Behavioral Interview Questions
- Interpersonal Interview Questions
- Creative Thinking Interview Questions
- General Interview Questions
- Managerial Interview Questions
- Executive Interview Questions
Functional Interview Questions
- Accounting
- Customer Service
- Engineering
- Healthcare
- Human Resources
- Information Technology
- Hospitality
- Consultants
- Marketing
- Sales Interview Questions
- Example Questions and Possible Answers for Interviews
- Sample Diversity Interview Questions
- Productivity/Time Management Questions
- Quality Interview Questions
- Learning Interview Questions
- Teamwork Interview Questions
- Managing Change Interview Questions
- Problem/Analysis Solving Interview Questions
Additional Whitepapers
IT Help Desk Whitepapers
- How Does Your Help Desk Measure Up? - A Help Desk can cut costs and enhance productivity. Is yours meeting the mark?
- Considerations for Outsourcing: Service Desk - A guide to improving your Service Desk and Service Delivery performance through outsourcing
- Looking Beyond the Sticker Price - "What it really costs to operate a call tracking system" - Summary of Acquisition and Lifetime Costs
- How Does the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) Impact the Hospital and Healthcare Industry


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Alexandra Silk
Years Active: 1996 - 2012
Born: September 19th 1963 / Virgo
Birth Place: Long Island, NY, US United States
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Height: 5ft 4in
Breast Size: 34B
Typical Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Piercings: Labia
Submit/Correct Star Bio
Alexandra Silk Porn Star Biography
Alexandra Silk is a very famous and highly regarded porn starlet, whose career lasted 16 years from 1996 - 2012. She hails from Long Island and is a SUNY graduate. After school, she moved to Las Vegas and got her first taste of the business as an exotic dancer. Alexandra happened to cross paths with the iconic Jenna Jameson and Jenna helped advise Silk on how to get into the adult film industry. It was in Hollywood that she met the legendary Ron Jeremy, who helped introduce her to numerous directors and producers in the industry. Alexandra started out slightly later than most; she was 33 years old by the time she made it into the XXX world. Silk was famously known for her girl-next-door looks and her sensual but enthusiastic on-screen attitude and performances.
During her career, Silk was featured in over 400 adult titles and she garnered a reputation for her extreme versatility. Silk's versatility is proven by her numerous performances in various genres like lesbian, interracial, creampie, orgies, anal, double penetration, and squirting. Some of Silk's most notable performances can be seen with co-stars like Tweety Valentine in the film Lesbian Seductions 36, as well as with Mark Davis in the film Clock Strikes Bizarre On Butt Row. Silk also managed to find plenty of work outside of the adult industry like work in music videos, TV, mainstream movies and she was featured in Playboy, Vogue and Maxim. Alexandra also worked for PlayboyTV, Sirius Satellite Radio shows, and Sex Court.
Fun Facts
- Since retiring from the industry in 2012, Alexandra has been involved in many other endeavors and holds certifications and memberships in many various fields.
- Silk is an IPSA certified Sex Surrogate, where she works as a sexual therapist helping people overcome their sexual dysfunctions and issues. Silk is also a Certified Somatic Sexuality Specialist from The American College of Sexologists.
Alexandra is a member of the Free Speech Coalition, a member of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, a member for the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality and a supporting member of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT).
- Alexandra is married to fellow adult star, Luc Wylder.
- Silk's favorite color is Purple and her favorite type of flower is a Sunflower.
- 2008 AVN Hall of Fame
- 2013 XRCO Hall of Fame
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Girl On Girl On Girl
Date Added: 2020-06-25
Ever wished you could take all your favorite all-girl scenes from your collection. . .
Stars: AJ Applegate, Alexandra Silk, Amber Rayne, Avena Lee, Bree Olson, More...Studio: Adam & Eve
MILFy Way 18
Release Year: 2020
Sexy cheerleader Jessie Andrews needs to save her cheer scholarship so she goes down . . .
Over 50 & Still Fucking 3
Release Year: 2019
These mature ladies still love fucking, even after 50! Super horny mature ladies . . .
Stars: Alex Silk, Erica Lauren, Jamie Foster, Kelli Richards, Eric John, More...Studio: Sticky Studios
Girly Girls #3
Release Year: 2006
Their technique is impressive, their bodies flawless and their enthusiasm over the . . .
Stars: Agnes, Alexandra Silk, Alexxx Knight, Amanda Adams, Ann Marie Rios, More...Studio: Metro Interactive
Horny Grannies Love To Fuck 14
Release Year: 2018
Devil's Film presents the 14th volume of Horny Grannies Love To Fuck! Hot and horny . . .
Stars: Alexandra Silk, Claudia Fox, Joclyn Stone, Keli Richards, Brad Hart, More...Studio: Devil's Film
Put Your Black Dick In My Pussy
These horny sluts are aching to get their pussies pounded by a huge black cock! You . . .
Release Year: 1999
VCA presents "Misspelled," starring Kylie Ireland, Chloe, Alexandra Silk, Tina Tyler, . . .
Stars: Alexandra Silk, Chloe, Elizabeth X, Kylie Ireland, Tina Tyler, More...Studio: VCA
Moms Bang Teens
Release Year: 2012
It's the series premiere! Featuring 100% genuine experienced MILFS and 100% genuine . . .
Stars: Alexandra Silk, Ally Evans, Avril Hall, Brandi Love, Carmen Monet, More...Studio: Reality Kings
Indecent Exposures
Release Year: 1996
Corby is a high powered men's magazine photographer who shoots for Playtime Magazine. . . .
Shane's World 9: Sex Mex
Release Year: 1997
This is by far the hottest "Shane's World" ever! The troops packed up and we headed . . .
Stars: Alexandra Silk, Leanna Heart, Ruby, Shane (i), Yvonne, More...Studio: Shane's World Studios
Release Year: 2000
This is a convoluted story of a kind of lonely hearts murderer that wavers between . . .
Amateur Angels 1
Release Year: 2001
Veronica Velour, Ann Marie, Kimi Lixx, Noname Jane weren't always the big-time contract . . .
Stars: Alexandra Silk, Ann Marie, Jasmine Klein, Kimi Lixx, Noname Jane, More...Studio: Adam & Eve
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Witness the Wilds of the Great Land
Explore Alaska by land, sea and rail on a Princess Cruises® Denali Explorer Cruisetour.
A dramatic glacier calving with a thunderous crack. Humpback whales breaching ocean waters. Gold Rush frontier towns, acres of tundra and rich forested land. On a Cruisetour vacation, we'll match a seven-day cruise through glittering waters with a multiday exploration of Denali's breathtaking wilderness.
Awarded the "Best Cruise Line in Alaska" for 10 consecutive years, Princess Cruises® brings you up close to the Great Land's natural wonders from every perspective. Whether you're seeking a family vacation filled with breathless wonders or a transformative adventure just for two, let us reserve your Alaska Cruisetour from beginning to end.


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'Consumer Reports': Two-thirds of Fresh, Whole Broiler Chickens Contain Salmonella, Campylobacter
Two-thirds of fresh whole broiler chickens tested by Consumer Reports in 22 states contained salmonella and/or campylobacter bacteria, the magazine reports. Air-chilled organic birds (especially store-brand birds) fared best. Among name brands, Perdue's were cleanest while 80 percent of Tyson and Foster Farms chix registered for one or both pathogens. [via Civil Eats]
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Captain Gautam Gambhir struck a neat half-century as Kolkata Knight Riders scored an easy eight-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.
The left-handed opener's unbeaten 66 helped Kolkata exact revenge for the loss in a low-scoring game three days ago as it coasted to 127-2 in 16.3 overs in reply to Punjab's 124-7 in the return game at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.
Gambhir smashed one six and seven fours off 44 balls and finished the game in the company of South African allrounder Jacques Kallis, who was 30 not out off 23 deliveries.
The Kolkata batsmen completed a clinical show after Brett Lee and Sunil Narine had led a disciplined bowling performance.
Australian speedster Lee grabbed 2-26 and West Indian spinner Narine 2-24 as Punjab was restricted to a moderate total after captain Adam Gilchrist had elected to bat on a sporting pitch.
Gilchrist himself was the highest scorer for the home side with an unbeaten 40, playing his innings in two parts as he retired hurt on 28 after pulling a hamstring while running during the sixth over.
Gilchrist, who came back to bat when Dmitri Mascarenhas was dismissed in the 17th over, struck one six and three fours in his 30-ball knock.
His Australian compatriot, Shaun Marsh, was the second highest scorer in the team score with 33 off 30 balls with four fours.
"My injury took the direction out of our innings," Gilchrist said. "It is hard to say what was a good score on this wicket but we should have got some more runs."
It was the third win from six games for Kolkata. Punjab has two wins from five games. — Sapa-AP


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Design your own skateboard coloring page Ahhh, the wonderful days of summer. Playing at the park, skateboarding around the block. Now you can design your very own skateboard as well. Email us your design and we might even share it with our Facebook and Instagram followers! This design is available as a free downloadable printable.… [read more]
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Discussion and information forum for foreign Beşiktaş Supporters. Here you can find all detailed information about Beşiktaş & ÇARŞI
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Book review Who is responsible for security? Everybody is, not just the security officer and his/her team. But it's a technical issue, right? A matter of firewalls, applying patches, installing programs that detect and remove spyware and viruses... Wrong again!
Security is largely (despite the efforts of vendors who want to sell you more "stuff") largely a people and culture thing – a company is more at risk from dissatisfied and unhappy employees misusing the authority they have been given, for example, than from that meeja bogeyman, the external hacker.
A holistic view of security is what makes Robert Schifreen's book Defeating the Hacker, billed as "a non-technical guide to IT security", so useful. Much security good practice is counterintuitive, but everybody working in IT should have a good understanding of security as a whole, not simply of a few pieces of security technology.
However, Schifreen's book isn't technical in the way the Anti-Hacker Toolkit by Mike Shema, Chris Davis, Aaron Philipp, David Cowen (reviewed by Pan Pantziarka here) is.
Actually, the non-technical billing is a bit misleading. Schifreen talks about ISO 17799 (the widely adopted information security standard) and is happy to suggest that you don't broadcast your SSID, and that you do enable WPA rather than WEP encryption when setting up wireless networking. The book is technical enough to be useful, but it isn't just a catalogue of software and hardware products to buy and configure.
Most chapters have five practical "action points" in a checklist at the end, which will help you implement a good security regime in practice. The book starts by recommending basic risk assessment and a review of the laws relating to IT security (such as the UK Data Protection Act) in your place of business. A whole chapter is devoted to information security policies, the lack of which is a key indicator of poor security practice. After all, without an agreed policy, how will you configure all that security hardware you'll no doubt be persuaded to buy?
There are 42 chapters covering everything from server security, firewalls and wireless networking to social engineering, ecommerce fraud, securing your premises and even business continuity planning.
Schifreen has a story to tell (he was the original teenage hacker, back when curiosity was a legitimate excuse) and the whole book is written in an accessible conversational style which makes it readable as well as practical and informative.
For instance, Schifreen writes: "I've seen large multinational companies suffer horrendous virus infections across many thousands of PCs because a board-level director (in one case it was actually the IT director) didn't think that the rules about email attachments should apply to them" – which illustrates the point that senior management buy-in and understanding is vital to security.
This book covers a lot, so the detail it can go into is limited, but it does give readers a very thorough grounding in security as a whole – and doesn't neglect the risk management and people issues as some books do.
You can argue about details, as always, but the content is pretty even-handed (for example, while it recommends automatic patching of Windows systems, which scares me a bit, it does mention the small risk that a patch will cause problems in itself, and describes ways to mitigate this). There is a website for this book, if you want to read a sample chapter.
Defeating the Hacker
Verdict: This is a useful book although its billing as a "non-technical guide to IT security"; is a bit misleading. It is technical enough to be useful, but isn't bogged down in technical details and jargon. It would be better described as a practical business-oriented guide to IT security – but it is definitely worth reading.
Author: Robert Schifreen
Publisher: Wiley
Media: Book
Buy this book at Cash 'n' Carrion.


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"Landscape Pleasures," the Parrish Art Museum's annual two-day horticulture event and fund-raiser, will explore the use of color in the garden, fashion and the world around you. Scheduled for Saturday, June 13, and Sunday, June 14, the program will kick off with a morning symposium, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., featuring a conversation between renowned designers Isaac Mizrahi and Charlotte Moss, as well as talks by landscape historian and author Judith B. Tankard and garden designer Dan Pearson.
Self-guided tours of six private Southampton village gardens — those of Bruce and Maria Bockmann, Mr. and Mrs. Brownlee Currey, Juergen and Anke Friedrich, Parker and Gail Gilbert, David and Simone Levinson, and Betty and Virgil Sherrill—will round out the program on Sunday.
Judith Tankard will start off the symposium with a lecture on the color theories of influential female gardeners including Gertrude Jekyll, Beatrix Farrand and Ellen Biddle Shipman. Tankard received her M.A. in art history from New York University and has been teaching at the Landscape Institute, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University since 1987.
Dan Pearson will discuss the importance of color in his extensive garden designs, which include an Italian garden where white is the predominant color, and his own London garden. One of Britain's foremost garden experts, Pearson has created and starred in several popular British television series on gardening. He is on the editorial board of Gardens Illustrated magazine and is a weekly gardening columnist for The Observer.
Keynote Speaker Isaac Mizrahi will take the stage with celebrated interior designer Charlotte Moss for a lively conversation about color. A leader in the fashion business for almost twenty years, Isaac Mizrahi is Creative Director for the Liz Claiborne brand, has been awarded four CFDA awards, written the book "How to Have Style," created costumes for movies, theater, dance, and opera. A Parrish trustee since 2002 and co-chair of Landscape Pleasures, Charlotte Moss is founder of Charlotte Moss Interior Design, the author of six books, and the designer of houses throughout the United States and Canada. Her design work has been featured in numerous publications.
Sag Harbor
Candidates Lobby for Support
With elections for Sag Harbor Village mayor just around the corner, on Tuesday, June 16, this week candidates Michael Bromberg, Brian Gilbride and Jim Henry worked the campaign trail, visiting constituent groups, talking to residents, announcing endorsements and hosting a press conference in an effort to take the helm of Sag Harbor's Board of Trustees.
Bromberg, the current chairman of the zoning board of appeals, was a guest at Friday's Sag Harbor Citizens Advisory Committee meeting, talking to the group about some of the issues he sees the village coming in the next two years.
Bromberg sees himself as representative of both the old and new Sag Harbor, and said he would like to see a village government elected that is interested in reaching out to the myriad of people in Sag Harbor who can aid government in accomplishing their goals. He said he was also concerned that an affordable housing trust, created during the approval process for luxury condos at the former Bulova Watchcase Factory, had yet to get off the ground, something he would like to see changed. Bromberg has also suggested the village could consider building both additional parking and affordable housing over the current village lot behind Main Street.
On Saturday morning, with roughly half a dozen residents in attendance, Henry threw a press conference at Havens Beach, stating a need for a village government willing to address a storm water runoff issue at the bathing beach and calling for the creation of a dog park. Henry, an attorney and economist, said while village officials "may be proud of a tight budget" projects like the $500,000 Cashin plan, proposed years ago to create a bio-filtration system for the Havens Beach drainage ditch have gone unfunded.
Henry also announced the endorsement of Congressman Tim Bishop, who on Tuesday withdrew his endorsement.
"As a Southampton Village resident, I understand that village politics occupy a special place, free of outside interests," said Bishop in a statement. "As a rule, I do not insert myself into village politics. I recently made a snap decision and broke that longstanding rule. Upon reflection and with apologies, I withdraw any endorsements I have made in village races and I look forward to working with Sag Harbor's next mayor."
On Tuesday, Henry did pick up the endorsement of Southampton Village Mayor Mark Epley, who called Henry a "person who puts community first and exhibits sound decision making."
On Monday, Brian Gilbride said he had been sticking to a basic campaign strategy of knocking on doors and visiting with residents to share his goals for the village, which center around maintaining a fiscally conservative budget, he said. In addition to residents, Gilbride hoped to reach out to members of the business community as well as local not-for-profits.
Sag Harbor
Column Award
A column by Karl Grossman, published in the Sag Harbor Express last June, was chosen last week in the annual competition of the Press Club of Long Island as the best general interest column published in a weekly newspaper on Long Island in 2008.
The column — titled "Legally Corrupt" — concerned the selection of "official" county newspapers. It noted how each year the Suffolk County Legislature — and because of New York State law, governing bodies throughout the state — pick two "official" newspapers, one "representing the principles of the Democratic Party," the other "representing the principles of the Republican Party." These are then paid to publish legal advertising.
This "selection explicitly based on politics is a throwback to an era in American journalism when newspapers were avidly partisan, indeed many declared that in their names," the column noted. It pointed to such "newspapers (still) called the Tallahassee Democrat (in Florida), Democrat and Chronicle (in upstate Rochester), Star-Democrat (in Easton, Maryland), The Republican (in Springfield, Massachusetts)."
It continued: "Change came to journalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as many and then most newspapers sought to report the news objectively."
The column stated that this selection of "official" newspapers "based on their 'representing the principles' of the major parties is antiquated—and corrupting to journalism." It questioned whether a paper "would get such a designation if it offended" the politicians who do the choosing and declared: "Independent journalism is sacrificed by this system."
In an acceptance speech upon receiving the award Thursday in Woodbury, Grossman, professor of journalism at the State University of New York College at Old Westbury, said the system should be changed.
Road Repairs
After years of drainage issues, Sagg Dune Court is creeping into a disheveled state, said members of the Sagaponack Village Board of Trustees, and is in need of repair. Mayor Don Louchheim reported driving on the road last week and said it was in a "horrendous" condition. However, Louchheim added that the village wasn't looking to invest in a major road construction project, but did want to solve the underlying drainage issues at the site. Drew Bennett, a consulting engineer for the village, presented the board with three separate plans varying in cost and construction intensity. Bennett also noted that only 26 percent of the road was in fair condition, with the rest of it being in poor to very poor condition.
Trustee Lisa Duryea Thayer suggested the board explore going out for a bond for general road construction throughout the town not just at Sagg Dune Court.
"We could get some kind of statement from [village attorney] Anthony Tohill on if we can acquire performance bonds for not just here but for the whole village," said Louchheim.
East Hampton
Muskets, Militia and More
History lovers of all ages are invited to experience an historic reenactment with the 3rd New York Regiment or the Brigade of the American Revolution and revolutionary encampment at Mulford Farm on James Lane in East Hampton Village.
Visitors will have the chance to meet the "Colonial Kids" between 10 a.m. and Noon, try on 18th century costumes, take part in butter-churning and play colonial games.
Free, half-hour guided tours of the Mulford Farm House restoration will be given at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and will offer clues to the 350-year history of the house. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again between 3 and 5 p.m., costumed interpreters will demonstrate traditional methods of spinning yarn with a drop spindle, weaving on the historic barn beam loom and basket making using age-old techniques.
The farm will reopen for a candlelight tour of the Revolutionary encampment at 7:30 p.m., and contra dance and refreshments in the colonial barn. Music will be provided by "Dance All Night." The group features Larry Moser on hammered dulcimer, Mary Nagin and Jack Dillon on fiddle, and dance caller Chart Guthrie. All are members of the Long Island Traditional Music Association and have a wide repertoire of fun and easy dances for all ages.
For more information, please call 324-6850.
D.C. Meeting
Southampton Town Supervisor Linda Kabot and leaders of the Shinnecock Indian Nation met in Washington, D.C., on June 3 with representatives from the Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA) to participate in the process to secure recognition from the federal government for the tribe. The session was an integral part of the time line agreed to in a court-ordered settlement arising from litigation the tribe launched against the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The forum was hosted by the Department of the Interior in order to provide an opportunity for the Shinnecocks and other interested parties to present additional background on the documents submitted in response to OFA's March 16 letter to the Shinnecocks. The letter, which was circulated to interested parties, identified records known to OFA that were not part of the information submitted with the Shinnecock petition. The petition seeking federal acknowledgment comprises over 500 pages, with 40,000 pages of additional documentation.
The settlement reached between the Shinnecocks and the federal government provides for expeditious review of the tribe's original petition and its more recent submissions, as well as that provided by the interested parties. OFA sought materials from Southampton Town and New York State that were used in the earlier lawsuit over the Westwoods property, a 79-acre parcel in Hampton Bays which the tribe had began clearing for a casino. Additional records sought included expert reports from New York State's genealogical researchers and a trove of historical documents from town clerk Sundy Schermeyer containing Indian lands, deeds and statistics.
Since first applying for recognition in 1978 and more formally in 1998, the Shinnecocks have litigated over what the tribe has called the Bureau of Indian Affairs "unreasonable delay." With the agreement reached May 26 that led to the June 3 gathering, the Department of Interior must issue a preliminary decision on recognition by December 15.
"As town supervisor, I attended in order to represent the town board and show our support for the settlement with the Department of Interior, and to obtain a better understanding of the rigorous standards the Shinnecocks must meet to become federally acknowledged," said Kabot, who was accompanied by the town's legal adviser, Michael Cohen.
The meeting was moderated by OFA Specialist George Roth and attended by representatives of the U.S. Solicitor and U.S. Attorney General. Several representatives of the Shinnecock Indian Nation were also present, including Tribal Trustees Randall King, Gordell Wright and Frederick Bess, as well as their attorneys and research team.
Another purpose of the meeting was for federal researchers to explain the process, methodology, and general status of evaluating a petition. The OFA research team is comprised of historian Francis Flavin, anthropologist Holly Reckord and genealogist Alycon Pierce. There are seven mandatory criteria that must be met under federal regulations to establish that an American Indian group exists as a tribe. Questions posed to the Shinnecocks focused on membership lists, their functioning as a single autonomous political entity, while explaining how evidence is reviewed to determine parentage and descent to establish family histories.
"The Town of Southampton appreciates that the OFA will be completing a thorough, objective review of current and historic documents," said Kabot. "We have fully cooperated with the requests of OFA for town documents. The Town of Southampton did not engage any researchers as part of this federal acknowledgment process sought by the Shinnecocks, nor do we intend to do so, and therefore we did not pose any questions on the submissions made by the Shinnecocks. Our relationship with the Shinnecocks is not an adversarial one. We are friends and neighbors."
According to Kabot, Shinnecock Tribal Chairman Randall King requested an opportunity to convey remarks and "spoke eloquently about the need for the federal government to humanize the process, rather than making repeated requests for more documentation." She also described the meeting as "exciting and interesting, but highly technical," as it focused on federal criteria mandating extensive research, a peer review process and lengthy comment periods to raise inquiries and objections.
"At the end of the day, the Shinnecocks have long-awaited a decision on federal recognition," concluded Kabot. "This meeting brings them one step closer to realizing their vision of sustaining their culture and enhancing the prosperity of their people."


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We have no trouble getting our share of sweets during the month of December. It's the healthy foods we have to be sure to make room for! Here's a fun hands-on lunch or dinner activity to make with your kiddos – gingerbread boy and girl pizzas. Cute and delicious, and perfect for our Holiday ABC series and our Letter G for Gingerbread.
Ingredients for Gingerbread Pizzas:
- pizza base – we used Naan bread, but pita, homemade or store-bought pizza crust, or even toast would work
- pizza sauce
- mozzarella cheese
- toppings, diced and sliced into various shapes
Cut your crust into boy and girl shapes, or use a large cookie cutter if you have one. I just winged it, and my girls certainly didn't mind my imperfect shapes!
Set out your sauce, cheese and assorted toppings and let the kids go to town. I cut the veggies into a variety of shapes – strips, rounds, half-moons, small dice, and grated.
Topping ideas:
- mushrooms
- olives
- pineapple
- corn
- zucchini
- red bell pepper
- carrot
- whatever other veggies/toppings your kids enjoy!
There may have been some squeals of delight when my kids saw this set-up on the kitchen table!
After brushing on sauce and sprinkling on cheese, they spent a long time decorating their gingerbread boys and girls with just the right details, including hair, glasses, shoes, and belts.
Once your creations are complete, transfer the pizzas carefully to a baking sheet and bake at 350° for about 5 minutes, just until cheese is melty and a little bubbly.
Admire your gingerbread boys and girls, then dig in! Maybe read one of our favorite winter books, Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett, while enjoying your meal, too.
My girls have already requested adding this to our December activities every year. And, they both ate red bell pepper for the first time ever, and loved it. Nothing like a fun food activity to sneak in some extra veggies!
Hope your December is off to a great start, and that you'll make some time to play with your food!


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Marking a gradual but dramatic shift in policy, the US appears prepared to release a major figure it accuses of masterminding the killing of five American soldiers in one of the most carefully planned insurgent attacks of this war, according to Iraqi and US officials.
Sheikh Laith al-Khazali, a senior member of a Shiite extremist group that the Iraqi government is trying to bring into the political process, was released from US custody over the weekend in what the Iraqi government called a wider reconciliation effort with extremist groups.
The release of his brother Qais al-Khazali, who heads the Iranian-backed militant group Asa'ib al-Haq and is directly linked to a lethal attack in Karbala in 2007, is expected to follow as talks progress, according to US and Iraqi officials. The officials asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Freeing the two men, along with a Lebanese Hezbollah operative arrested by US forces at the same time in Basra two years ago, is also linked to the release of British hostages who have been held by Shiite extremists for the past two years.
"This isn't about freeing the hostages, it's about getting Asa'ib al-Haq to stop its attacks," says one senior American official, regarding the US motivation in releasing the Khazali brothers.
As US forces pull out of Iraqi cities and eventually out of the country, reconciling active insurgent factions is seen as crucial to keeping security gains from unraveling.
The US military has said the group, whose name translates as League of the Righteous, is directed by the Quds force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. They have accused Qais al-Khazali of orchestrating a dozen other attacks, most of them on British targets in the south of Iraq.
In the raid on the Karbala provincial joint coordination center in January 2007, Iraqi gunmen posing as US soldiers killed an American soldier in a grenade attack and abducted four others whom they later shot.
Iraq won't punish militants for attacks on Americans
The issue highlights the stark gap between Iraq and the US regarding the consequences of attacks on American targets.
"Qais al-Khazali has a problem with the Americans. He doesn't have a problem with us," says Mohammad al-Sa'ady, an advisor to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Mr. Sa'ady, who heads the Prime Ministry Implementation and Follow Up Committee for National Reconciliation, says unless Qais al-Khazali were wanted for crimes against Iraqis, they would have no reason to keep him in detention.
"In principle we are ready to forgive anyone who lays down their arms," he says.
The release of the three has been a central demand of Shiite extremists who kidnapped five British hostages from the Iraqi Finance Ministry two years ago.
The British government has been working intently on the release of their citizens – a computer trainer and four employees of a Montreal-based security firm who were abducted by gunmen wearing Iraqi police uniforms.
Four of the hostages are thought to be still alive. The hostage-taking was believed to be in retaliation for the arrest two months earlier of the Asa'ib al-Haq leaders.
British officials are quick to say that Laith al-Khazali's release from US custody was not part of a hostage deal, but believe it could pave the way for the Britons to be freed.
"It's a good first step for our hostages," says British Embassy spokesman Jawwad Syed, adding that if the group agreed to enter the political process, it would free any hostages it was holding.
While Iraqi officials say privately they believe that one of the British captives could be freed soon, neither Qais al-Khazali's release nor the freeing of remaining hostages is expected to be imminent.
"This is a very sensitive issue ... I want to stress that it is a process, and not a single step," says Muwafaq al-Ruba'ie, who until last month headed Iraq's National Security Council.
A sign of lower US expectations
For the US, like much in this war, the expected release of an Iranian-backed insurgent linked to US deaths marks the scaled-down expectations and increasing recognition of a much more complex reality on the ground than the United States had bargained for here.
"This is what will have to happen," says a US State Department official. "We did the same thing with Moqtada Sadr and the same thing with the SOIs [Sons of Iraq]."
Before becoming a political player, Mr. Sadr, a Shiite cleric, declared war on US troops here, launching the biggest challenge to American forces since the invasion. US officials went from declaring they were intent on "capturing or killing" him to welcoming him into the political process after a cease-fire.
With the formation of the Sons of Iraq, the US funded almost 100,000 neighborhood fighters, many of them former insurgents, to fight Al Qaeda in Iraq. The deals struck by US military commanders included amnesty even for those who had killed US soldiers as long as they renounced violence.
Under the security agreement signed with Iraq last year, by the time it leaves in 2011, the US will hand over or release all of the 11,000 prisoners still in its custody.
Qais al-Khazali would be the highest-profile figure in US custody known to have been let go. In announcing his arrest two years ago, the US military stated that he led one of the Iranian-backed militant groups that it had declared the biggest threat to US forces, and that he had personally authorized the Karbala operation.
Qais al-Khazali had been a close aide of Sadr, but formed a breakaway faction after Sadr agreed to a cease-fire with US forces.
The third member of the group, whose release has been demanded in return for freeing the British hostages, is also still in US custody. US officials say Ali Mussa al-Daqdaq, a Lebanese Hezbollah operative, commanded a special operations group and had been sent to Iran to train Iraqi extremists.
The issue of the release is so sensitive that US military leaders seemed incapable of deciding whether to confirm they had released Laith al-Khazali.
The military indicated that a spokesman's initial confirmation of the release, which stated that the release was part of the reconciliation process, was not supposed to have been issued.
[Editor's Note: In the original version the headline overstated the case.]