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Occupy Charlottesville folk at the feet of old trooper, R.E. Lee, in late October. This not a bivouac; rather, a convenient place to camp.
"We, the people are of all colors, classes, and beliefs. We realize we're the ones with the power to check institutionalized greed. We saw the Arab Spring. We saw Occupy Wall Street. We stood up. Every day, we're creating change globally and face to face. We're demonstrating for socioeconomic justice and feeding whoever comes by hungry. We have no leader. We are developing solutions together. We are the 99%."–Occupy Charlottesville
Commentator Bill Emory puts up a new photo nearly every day at billemory.com/blog.Read more on: occupy wall street
45 comments
When I was a boy in the 60's we used to go to Lee park and see the live nativity scene but that's no more. This year kids can go see the live occupy movement.
Bill, this photo, very cool.
Stirs up hopefulness and resolution, just like the continuous presence of protest and discontent used to.
Remember the Viet Nam vets, getting in the way of business as usual? Getting IN YOUR FACE.
It needed doing and things started HAPPENING.
Charlottesville is desperately supportive of the Occupy movement, but we appear mostly stand-off-ish and preoccupied, like there's nothing happening here. Like nothing's EVER happened here.
Well that's BS.
This movement is a perfectly adequate start to push the enemies of democracy, the individuals and institutions, out of YOUR way.
Fall and Winter here is a great time for hitting the streets, obstructing business as usual, and letting out some of our stuck-up anger onto some deserving hometown targets.
I especially like how they are mean to homeless people and don't want them around.
Because those terrible homeless people are in nooooooo way part of the 99%, amirite?
I think they should turn off their cell phones and laptops to protest the big corporations that they detest so much...that will show em...
These people are spoiled brats who never had an empty belly in their lives....
They should be mad at Congress and the Democrats over student loans..
It is no different than the sub prime mortgates..
UVA lobbied for student loan money then jacked up tuition (even faster than healthcare) and now UVA has the money, these folks have the debt and Congress and UVA are blaming it on the banks...
I notice that the reason they don't want the homeless there is because the homeless feel "entitled" to share the food and such.
Welcome to the real world.
Poor Shawn. Do the absence of homeless people among the protestors give your negative stereotypes of them less validity? Aww (sticks out bottom lip and makes "pouty" face)...
Awww, poor Chuck Bartowski... thinks people are all lovey-dovey in the park. Here are some recent comments among actual Occupy Charlottesvillians (on their FB page):
"as the permit holder of the park for a said time, do we have the right ask anyone to leave the rented park (city opted to waive fees) a public park or do we, the renters, have to co-exist with the public.... lets rephrase that, Say the crafts fair rents the park for the weekend, the drunks don't have the ok to camp as well. the point is we allowed this to happen. Neighbors or not, they have funded resources in which to get warm clothes, and sleeping bags. People are donating to Occupy Charlottesville, to the people actively involeved, not to drunks, not to homeless shelters."
"Rope off a main area n let the public kno to drop off donations at this spot n if the person trying to accept ur donation smells of alcohol, chances r u just gave ur stuff to a drunk not an Occupier."
"then i saw a call for blankets, well if blankets weren't given out to our "neighbors" we might have had enough warm items for people activley involved. point being, the driunks have shelters, funded resources, food banks and kitchens. it is not our reponseablity to feed, cloth, and shelter people who are not actively involved and jusr show up for a 'safe' place to drink."
Aww... look at that wonderful compassion on display. These people should be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Poor people want a blanket for the night? Forget them! They ain't us! They ain't the 99%! Just like good ol' Ebenezer:
"Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir."
"Are there no prisons?" ..."And the Union workhouses?" demanded Scrooge. "Are they still in operation?"... "I help to support the establishments I have mentioned -- they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there."
"Many can't go there; and many would rather die."
"If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."
I expect they are using locally-made tents and locally-grown food and locally-made electronic devices.
Shawn, you are correct that the homeless are part of the 99%, in fact the are the very clearest example of people who have been abandoned by a society that places profits over people. But in taking those quotes from the facebook page you are mistaking open discourse for policy.
Yes, there are some people concerned about the homeless in the park, particularly about the homeless who are belligerently drunk and threatening. Among them are young women who are courageously camping out even though they have previously been victims of abuse or assault. The have reason to be concerned about what drunk and violence-prone people might do.
Nevertheless the actual response to the homeless presence has been far different than what you suggest. The actual response by the people camping out, myself included, has been to welcome them to the park, invite their participation in meetings, feed them, give them donated supplies and try to defuse conflict between them.
The Elders among the homeless joined us from the beginning. They are practiced at keeping the peace among a community of people ignored by the rest of us, and they have recognized that the Occupy movement is providing not just a place to sleep without getting kicked out by the police, but also the best change they have ever seen of making real change that might affect their lives.
3 nights ago I stood in support of one of the Elders who was trying to calm a belligerent drunk who was threatening to start a fight, and through force of personality got him to leave the park. That same guy who was kicked out showed up again the next day and was calmer but still loud. Last night he showed up again, apparently sober, and helped with security for the night.
Last night during our General Assembly we had a homeless man take exception to what he took as an insult, and start to become loud and disruptive, interfering with the meeting. I helped convince him to talk to me further away from the meeting, talked him down, and got it worked out. I brought him back to the park, got him food, a jacket and blanket from our supplies, and learned a lot about his life in the process. He's now camping out peacefully with the rest of us.
So, Shawn, you have accused us of hypocrisy and lack of compassion, implying in the process that you are compassionate toward homeless drunks. If that's so, prove it. Show up at Lee Park with a donation of food, warm clothing, or a tent. If you are concerned about it going to support a protest you disagree with, then just ask anyone to point out some of the homeless to you and give it directly to them.
And in the meantime, I'd appreciate it if you were a little more accurate in your portrayal of what we are doing.
Ed, thank you for your response and invitation. If only everyone involved were more like yourself in dealing with outreach, things might not have the reputation they have now. Although, I wouldn't say I "disagree" with the (main thrust of the) protest. I just have come across some fairly nasty elements that would prevent me from self-identifying as an "Occupier."
Perhaps Lee is better described as an "old trouper" than "old trooper".
I do not think that you folks lack compassion I think you lack personal accountability. You want others to forgive YOUR student loans. You hate Wall Street (except of course Apple and your wireless carrier) and you think that the reason you don't have job offers is because of some conspiracy of capitalists. The fact of the matter is that people are afraid to take risks because people with attitudes like OWS who want high pay, great benefits, job security and 6 weeks vaction while offering nothing but a whiney attiude and marginal skills are not worth betting on.
You should all get together and open your own OWS store and compete with wall street. Show them how easy it is to run a business and pay everyone well and comply with all the laws and regulations. You can hire the drunks to bring your deposits to the bank for you on their way to the liquor store.
@tim taylor: What a huge load of crap...Your Mama would be ashamed of you.
Again, if this is the 99%, then why are there only 12 of them?
and again......check the backgrounds and current staus of those who have allowed their names to be published or shown- it is a very diverse group- yea, sure it is...........
Have you considered the possibility that some of those posting here are indeed homeless and unwelcome in the park?
Could the "fairly nasty elements that would prevent me from self-identifying as an "Occupier."" be C'Villes' finest?
Just sayin'
Ed Zavada said: "Shawn, you are correct that the homeless are part of the 99%, in fact the are the very clearest example of people who have been abandoned by a society that places profits over people."
But you can't assume that the root of all homelessness is "profits over people." There's a lot of different reasons people wind up homeless, including choice, for those who are purposely shunning mainstream society. Some are mentally unstable and should be in a home of some sort with supervision and medication. Others are flat out lazy and laxadaisal, and lack the drive and go-getter attitude that others have to do whatever it takes to make things happen. The political correct brigade likes to create victims and walk on eggshells with how we word things but let's face it.......there's a good chunk of homeless people who are homeless for a very good reason. They're slow, laxadaisal, lazy, they often times have alcohol and drug problems, they have unpresentable appearances, their personalities are "rough around the edges" and totally unhirable, and in general they don't care. They don't fight for their own destiny. I can say this as someone who was tossed out there to fend for myself before even graduating highschool without a dime to my name. I fought. The idea of becoming homeless and being some lazy, laxadaisal loaf who lets life toss me about like a big ol' victim of circumstance wasn't even a possiblity for me. I fought with everything I had, and I made it. No excuses. Also I've gotten on the Hook comments section before talking about the various immigrant success stories I've been privvy to in life, namely the Asians and what they manage to accomplish. You have English speaking natives who loaf about pointing fingers at everybody but themselves, meanwhile, a family of immigrant Asians lands in America and kicks everybody's ass. Soon the homeless English speaking natives are hanging around panhandling and feigning victimhood in front of the shops that these Asian immigrants have set up for themselves. And we're supposed to feel sorry for them? Something is wrong here, but it isn't capitalism. It's lack of personal responsibility.
If people are upset over the big businesses that places profits over people, then what the people need to do is to make sure *not to patronize any businesses or companies that engage in that.* Patrionize ONLY Mom 'n Pop companies for EVERYTHING you need. Period. THAT'S what needs to be done. Not throwing the entire capitalism baby out with the bathwater.
This next part isn't directed at Ed, it's just my thoughts in general. But the anti-capitalism rhetoric of the whole Occupy movement is puzzling to me. Capitalism at its core is the ability for anybody in this country to start their own business, be their own boss, determine their own profits and to carve out their own niche in the world. It's the ability for anybody here to make something of themselves. That's what this country was founded on. So you have these anti-capitalism Occupiers at Wall Street, situated smack in the middle of a city that's one of the absolute greatest examples of the positive aspects of Capitalism. Think of all the immigrants who landed on New York City soil, then hit the ground running, learning the language, working their way up, until often times finding themselves owning their own shops and businesses all around the city, and retiring successfully in old age while passing the business along to their kids. They were responsible for the creation of their business, for providing a quality product or service, for networking and forming a loyal customer base, and ensuring the success of their own company. It's such an integral part of what this country is that I even remember my dad explaining capitalism to me when I was little, like maybe 6 or 7. It obviously made an impression on me. We have that ability here to make something of ourselves, and to be **responsible for ourselves and our own fortunes.** That last part can't be emphasized enough.
There may be negative aspects to capitalism, but that doesn't mean you throw the baby out with the bathwater and advocate communism, or socialism, or whatever it is these people are suggesting instead. I'm not saying there aren't legitimate problems in this country, but this anti-capitalism rhetoric is the one point that has me very, very puzzled.
End of rant, getting down off the soap box now......
Please do not bring homelessness into this silliness. Has nothing to do with it. In the '60s, they were called "bums" and lived on skid row (in my hometown of Philly, that was at the foot of the Ben Franklin Bridge). Then liberal do-gooders made it even worse by electing to "mainstream" addicts and the mentally ill; "we can put them into institutions." Bingo, they're on the street. So, today we have homeless--as previously said--who are addicted, or mentally ill, or lazy, or a combination thereof.
The losers in Lee Park are hypocrites. Just like another group we saw in Philly who "detested the man"...the MOVE organization. Anti technology but used battery-operated bullhorns to spew rubbish.
Now we have the Occupy crowd. Same old silly hippy rhetoric, with a select group of pols ready to support them.
When will the "Free Mumia" posters show up? Shall we expect Boner, Sting, Matthews and Gabriel to show up? We know how much they all despise big business and "the man," don't we.
Reminds me of the time Dave Matthews got caught pooping big time on a bunch of tourists in the Chicago River. Found out one of his many tour buses emptied doodie over the bridge. Also found out that this big "sustainability" advocate had a separate bus for each of the five band members, rather than cutting the carbon footprint a bit and have the four other guys shares two buses. You know, kind of like asking Al Gore to cut his mansion from 17,000 sq. ft. to, say, only 10,000 sq. ft. Or asking John Kerry to...well, you get the idea.
Why didn't the scuzzies set up their tents under Capshaw's Eyesore near the lovely $1 million chalkboard? Shelter from rain, high visibility, and near the Cville Transportation Center so they could hop on CAT and go job hunting.
Saw on one of their cardboard signs: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."
The full quote is as follows: "In a higher phase of communist society, after the enslaving subordination of the individual to the division of labor, and therewith also the antithesis between mental and physical labor, has vanished; after labor has become not only a means of life but life's prime want; after the productive forces have also increased with the all-around development of the individual, and all the springs of co-operative wealth flow more abundantly—only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be crossed in its entirety and society inscribe on its banners: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!"--Karl Marx, Critique of the Gotha Program (1875).
It does not matter what anyone thinks of the Occupiers, the revolution has begun and there is no turning back.
I remember a time when it was a really hard decision to ask for help or a handout even in a time of real need. Now we have protests demanding a free ride from people who should be able to take care of themselves.
Shame on you and shame on your parents for telling you that you are special.
"It does not matter what anyone thinks of the Occupiers, the revolution has begun and there is no turning back"
until mom and dad stop paying the cell phone bill and recharging their debit card....
what is sitting on your ass in Lee Park really going to accomplish?
I wonder if there's an Occupy Paris movement, cause like, that's been done. Couple times.
First, thanks Shawn for your response. I'm sorry that you've had negative experiences with the occupation. I've seen things I don't agree with too, but I draw a distinction between the actions of the individuals and the group as a whole. We certainly don't have any monopoly on compassion, nor do we individually do the right thing all the time. But we do try to be respectful to one another and listen to everyone's ideas with an open mind (though I've seen that fail too).
Boo, likewise thanks for your response. I agree that the root causes of homelessness are complex, and after sharing the park with them for a week I've found they are all sorts of people, with all sorts of problems and reasons of being on the street. Regardless of the problems they face or the root causes, I stand by my statement that society has abandoned them. If you asked me a week ago I would have felt uncomfortable saying that we our society put profits over people, but now I have no doubt. The 40,000 people who live in Charlottesville could easily help the 300 or so homeless people here, help them dry out and get back on their feet, or in at least one case make someone's last few months a little more comfortable. And I think most people here would readily agree to do so, if they actually saw the problem.
And while there are people here and there in the Occupiers who want to end Capitalism, the vast majority of us have no particular problem with Capitalism. It's generally a good system for efficiently exchanging goods and services. What we have a problem with is what is sometimes referred to as "crony capitalism", where a small number of people are cheating, committing acts of fraud and malfeasance, only to get at worst some slaps on the wrist.
There is broad support among the Occupy movement for the idea of buying local and supporting small local businesses.
So no, we don't want to throw out the baby, we are just concerned with the turds floating in the bathwater and want to clean it up.
To Liberalace, you misunderstand what we are after. We don't have anything against the rich per se. We just want them to play by the same rules everyone else is. Given that, why should we begrudge Al Gore (or anyone else) their house? We just want to see that people who commit fraud or malfeasance (whether in private corporations or in public office) are held accountable rather than given bailouts, bonuses and cushy new jobs.
To "The Skinny", disagree with you completely on that point. The Occupation is based on consensus, and everyone's opinions matter. Everyone is welcome, regardless of viewpoint. Everyone is entitled to respect, regardless of viewpoint. We will not reach consensus on a "revolution" that ignores honest people's needs and concerns. The sort of "revolution" that pushes aside one group of people so another can have their way is just the kind of revolution we DON'T need.
@Tim Taylor,
"I do not think that you folks lack compassion I think you lack personal accountability. You want others to forgive YOUR student loans. "
I don't care if my student loans are forgiven. I've paid them for the past 15 years and will continue to do so. But students today face a very different situation than I did when I went to college. Tuition has gone through the roof while pay rates have remained largely unchanged. And there are fewer grants and smaller grants available, so you have to borrow more money to go to school. I can't imagine how I can possibly afford to send my son to college if things keep up like this.
"You hate Wall Street (except of course Apple and your wireless carrier) and you think that the reason you don't have job offers is because of some conspiracy of capitalists."
Well, I have had several job offers despite already having a great job. I turn them down because I love what I do, the people I work with, and living in Charlottesville. I also understand that reason there has been a jobless recovery has nothing to do with a conspiracy and everything to do with business people holding onto capital because they are not confident in what the future holds, and at the same time there is a glut of available workers because of corporate and government layoffs.
"The fact of the matter is that people are afraid to take risks because people with attitudes like OWS who want high pay, great benefits, job security and 6 weeks vaction while offering nothing but a whiney attiude and marginal skills are not worth betting on."
So you are saying that we should all just be happy with low pay, no benefits, no job security, no vacation and just barely managing cover the mortgage on the house that is now worth less than what we owe on it? Should we be grateful for that?
What about those of us with no job at all, who worked hard, paid into unemployment for years but got laid off and now their unemployment has ended? Should they be grateful?
"You should all get together and open your own OWS store and compete with wall street. Show them how easy it is to run a business and pay everyone well and comply with all the laws and regulations. You can hire the drunks to bring your deposits to the bank for you on their way to the liquor store.
Thanks, but I think I'll stick with the business I already own.
@Ed Zavada - I think you were making a fairly reasonable argument until your comments on unemployment. Employees do not pay into Unemployment. The employers pay a percentage which has jumped from 2% to 8% in some cases.
Okay, let me figger this out...
I am in Lee Park, and I believe in buying local. But I can buy a pound of strawberries at Food Lion for $1.49, but the same pound at some locally-owned, smaller store, is $2.49. Same for shampoo (not that anyone in Lee Park uses it)...Wal-Mart is $1.49, local market is $2.79. But I have no job, nor am I inclined to work. But I bitch about money and wealth injustice. If I am in such financial straits, how can I afford to buy the more costly strawberries?
Ed Zavada, WHY do you think tuition is through the roof.?
I think it is because student loans became too easy and Universities raised the rates because people would pay it. There is no excuse for it. Where the hell is all the money going? Why are these people not pouring over UVAs budget and demanding they cut costs?
And the fact of the matter is that they SHOULD accept lower wages if that is all that is out there. That is more respectable than taking money from others who worked all day while they stayed home. If they are valuable to the company than they can ask for a raise once they have proven themselves. If the boss lets them quit because someone else will do it for less than that is all it should pay. If your job goes overseas to a ten year old you didn't have a real skill anyway. Get one.
99 weeks of unemployment is unheard of. 13 weeks was the norm, If you can't find a job in two years then after the first year get together with others and form a company. If you are so smart you will find investors. The rich are always looking for a way to make a buck on their money.
Most of these people are not like you. They want something for nothing.
Any homeless person in Charlottesville can go stay at the PACEM night shelter but they can't drink at the shelter. All of the homeless people in Lee Park have a warm place to sleep indoors but they choose to stay in Lee Park instead. Presumably so they don't have to follow the PACEM rules around drinking and misbehavior.
My husband and I both work very hard, and make good money for where we live and what we do. We're both college grads and we've paid off our student loans. We lead a modest lifestyle and are thankful for what we have. Between mortgage payments, bills, insurance costs and so on, we sometimes have a hard time making ends meet. Isn't the American dream all about being able to provide for yourself and your family? We make good money and are barely making it. So, what are people that don't supposed to do?
I want to raise a family in a healthy, successful community. Therefore, I want to keep my money here whenever possible, instead of shipping it off to Walmart or Bank of America. The success of my family is largely based on the people we interact with daily, so this "every man for himself" thinking will never work. I want to pay taxes so that my community is well educated. That will ensure that our doctor knows what he's he's doing, that the fire department comes when I need them, that the local cafeteria knows how to serve good food that's healthy for my family. Does that make me whiney or lazy?
Stevsie- no, just whiney.............
the American dream is "regulated" by not living beyond your means, regardless of what you feel the Country or others "owe" you....
if I were you, I would set up camp outside the White House where it belongs
That's ridiculous, HarryD. My whole point is that no one owes me, it's that I owe my community. Did you read what I said? I'll take "whiney" over "greedy" any day. . .
Also, if everyone that shares your view had money or lived within their means, you might have a point. Oh, well.
Stevsie- you asked the question. You are not lazy. Guess I missed your point.......what is it again?
@ Stevsie
"The success of my family is largely based on the people we interact with daily, so this "every man for himself" thinking will never work."
Count me in as somebody else who's also confused as to what exactly it is you're getting at. What exactly is it that you're looking for with the Occupy movement? What sorts of changes are you looking for in society, and how do you believe the Occupy movement can bring about those changes?
@Cviller... you are correct, I mistakenly thought that some FICA went toward that, but of course that's all federal and unemployment is a state thing. My apologies for spreading misinformation. My understanding is the cost of unemployment insurance goes up for companies that lay people off, as a disincentive to layoffs.
@Bill, first, at some point wages are low enough that it's simply not worth taking a job. For example, let's suppose you are a skilled carpenter, who is paid $20/hour. Forgetting about maintenance, insurance, etc..., It costs you $30 in gas to drive your truck full of tools (which you bought) to the job site. It cost you $120/week to put your kid in the cheapest daycare center you can find. You work an 8 hour day, and net $58 for that day's work. That's only about $1200 net per month, barely enough to pay cheap rent and food. Still, it's arguably worth doing.
You drop that to $10/hour. Now you are netting $26/day or around $550/month. That's just not enough to live on, much less support a child, especially not that they are spending all their time in daycare and you hardly see them.
I agree with you on the reasons student loans went up. I would also point out that traditionally we've been told that education is the best investment we can make because it is investment in ourselves. But wages largely stagnant, we are seeing more and more people who either borrow way more than they can afford to, or decide they simply can't afford college. What are the long term impacts on our country and economy when fewer people start going to school, and the average student is burdened by massive debt? Is this a problem we should be concerned about? Is telling Universities what they are allowed to charge the right answer? Is socializing higher education the right answer? Or do we just let the free market for education shake out how it will? I don't know, but we need to at least consider the question and the pros and cons of various approaches with an open mind.
Bill, how long do you think some people were unemployed during the Great Depression? What will the long term unemployed do to "start a company", especially when banks aren't lending? You claim that smart people will find investors, but where? Venture capitalists typically don't hang out in the same social circles that the long term unemployed do, and they tend to invest money in people they believe in.
More importantly, what about the people who aren't so smart? Should people of average intellect be just be left suffer their fate in a job market that doesn't seem to need or want them? Do only exceptional people deserve a chance at the American Dream?
@Ed. All valid points but it supposes that life is fair. Everyone gets a chance at the dream, but the smarter, harder working usually get a bigger stab at it. And you will not find the dream at the end of the unemployment check. Someone wants the dream they might have to begin in the dishwashing area and prove their worth and industry. Work nights while the SO/parents watch the kids. Take the bus. Bust your hump and ask the chef to teach you a basic knife skill. Keep working. Watching. One night a prep cook might not show and tell the chef you will stay late to cover both. Watch what happens. Average intellect might have to work harder instead of smarter. I sure do.
I can tell you my hard luck story work history, walking home in the midwest at 2AM in February after a day of school and a shift working. It is what it is and sitting around expecting the world to solve your problems is pretty good way of feeling left behind in that dream.
As to school. Go to a state school and study with a chance at a job. Nursing. Teaching. Engineering. Studying psychology or marketing or fashion design or polysci might be fun, but the job market is tough and thinking its your way to a career is naive and expensive. You can do instate CC for cheap and then state school for 7K 3rd/4th years.. Work hard over summer and make 5K, borrow the other and then pay it off like a nut while taking the bus for the next couple years until you are debt free.
It can be done, but it is NOT easy. Any review of history will show that the little time bump in our corner of the planet has been one of the most forgiving and easy...
My Dad had a poster on his wall behind his office desk. "Lead, follow, or get out of the way." I see you talking about problems. What are your solutions that you know will work?
Me thinks "Obamanomics" is the root cause of it all.
It makes workers feel that they should not work hard and earn more because if they do they will pay more in taxes and lose out on all the giveaways that they are entitled to.
Work hard, earn more and you might have to pay your student loan back......waht a concept!
"Jimi Hendrix"- YES! Just what is it that they want- please tell us!
......or " I prefer that you just say thank you (for your so called entitlements) and go about your business"......
That's a great theory jimi but many employees did just what you are outlining only to reach middle age and have the damn rug pulled out from under them.
Your job was eliminated, cheaper for your company to hire overseas
Pensions gone, your 401 tanked. Irresponsible government spending and smart unregulated speculators took it all.
Health care will bankrupt you just when you start to need it but the government is still supporting the health care companies with huge subsidies funded by your taxes (medicare advantage) politicians want that old folks vote because THEY VOTE.
Social security wont be there after years of contributing.
Your home isnt worth squat even after its paid for.
You don't work in the defense industry so you are sick of watching the corporate shills (Democrats and Republicans) in washington spend trillions on foreign aid and fighting wars that will in the end only weaken us.
No, this doesn't suppose life is fair at all. Quite the opposite. Nor do I think everyone has equal potential to contribute to society. I know I've gotten a lot of breaks that other people haven't, so many that I was able to squander some of them. I know I have skills and abilities that are rare.
That in no way lessens my compassion for people who don't.
I don't have any wish to be dependent on others, and count myself lucky that I have family and friends who will help me if I ever fall on hard times, as I've helped some of them.
But not everyone has that. Some people are born into situations that deprive them of the opportunity to reach their full potential. Some people make bad choices that are hard to recover from.
What this supposes is that everyone deserves OPPORTUNITY. What they make of their opportunities is what defines their character. This doesn't mean that everyone has to have the same opportunities -- choices we make shape what opportunities we have -- but we all have the right to at least have the opportunity to find a job, the opportunity to a decent education, the opportunity to have a say in the decisions that affect our lives.
Can you honestly tell me that everyone in this country has those opportunities? More importantly, have those opportunities been increasing or decreasing?
I'm not saying it needs to be easy for everyone. It just needs to be POSSIBLE.
Has it ever come across the minds those many smart and well meaning people of Occupy that it is the drunks and users that they are allying themselves with are part of the problem? Nine out of 10 of those clowns that have been frequenting that park and being buddy-buddy with everybody is because they are out of their government hand-out checks within 5 days after they get them. Hmm, about the same time that they started showing up at the park and trouble started happening.
Charlottesville caters to the drunks here. During the day it's the Haven. These drunks are fed decent food and coffee for breakfast that they complain about, can use the phone instead of using all the time given to them on the Free Phones, do their laundry and take a warm shower and to shave, watch tv and nap on nice couches doing so, get on the internet; get referred to free health care, and on and on. Oh. This even allows them to go and panhandle for booze and rug money on the Mall and under the railroad bridge on The Corner. All this is done at the benevolence of Tom Shadyack and many volunteers. In return, what do the later get: they have to clean up vomit, people urinate on furniture, the police and EMTs are constantly there among others. So when the screws get put to these clowns to be held accountable for their actions, they look for someone or something to latch onto.
They claim that they have no where to eat. Besides the daily breakfast at the Haven, there are churches that feed them lunch and give them snacks Monday through Friday. This is on top of them being able to receive hot and decent meals every nights during the weekdays, and all weekends. Two of them are on Park Street on Wednesday and Friday and too far to walk to from the Haven. So they complain about not being fed. Another problem and that is a general rule. Can't go there under the influence of anything. So, they turn to latch onto someone or something else.
Then there is PACEM during the cold nights of the fall/winter. Various churches take these people into their buildings, feed them, cloth them, give them snacks and toiletries and some one to talk to. What do these people get in return? Alcohol snuck in, people sneaking out to smoke and drink, beligerence to the people hosting them, urination and defecation outside of the toilets. So, when they can't do all of that, there is one more place that they can go for a warm night.
The City pays x-amout of dollars per year to house 5 drunks in the back of thr Mohr Center on Market Street for the night rather than to spend the money to book them and transport them to the Complex for drunk in public related charges. The police transport them there and all that is required is that the Mohr staff take their vital signs and steer them back into the sleeping area. The only requirement is that they stay there for 4 hours. Since they don;t like the rule, they can then leave and find more people to latch on to. And now they have found it.
After the second week that Occupy was in Lee Park and by the time all the drunks had spent their disability or other check monies on booze and rugs, Occupy was there. Occupy has some money as evidenced by their nice tents, paying for porta-johns, permits to camp-have-fires-and discos. Hmm. seems like no rules. And the thing is, homeless drunks get trespassing summons for camping, having open fires and open containers in public parks and on streets.
And now, all the money that Occupy it bitching about people having too much of, is paying to guard them and their new-found homeless drunk friends, that are too lazy to go and get what is given to them without being able to bring a flask, can or bottle along.
Yes, we are keenly aware that the homeless suffer from addiction problems, and that some of them behave badly. After all, we are living side by side with them in the park. Clearly you are aware of those issues too.
However, we are also getting to know them as people: how they got there, what they hope to do to get off the street, and what their barriers to doing that are. Each situation is unique. Many of them don't collect disability or any other form of government assistance. Perhaps if you got involved with them one-on-one as people rather than collectively as a "clowns" and "drunks" you'd see things a little differently.
Yes, Occupy is there. We are dealing with them, doing what we can to help, and we are seeing progress. I helped a 60 year old man with terminal cancer and 2 months left to live find a donated blanket so he could be a little more comfortable on a frigging park bench! What are you doing? Why do you care if we help the homeless, are kind to drunks, or have campfires? And "Discos?"? Really? You think we are having discos?!?
I've got a resume from one of the homeless guys there who wants any kind of work he can find... have you got one for him?
Occupy is not "bitching about people having too much [money]". What we are is deeply troubled by the corruption of government by powerful corporate interests. We are upset that billions in taxpayer money was spent to bail out banks but they won't loan money to ordinary people unless they they have stellar credit ratings, even though they get nearly free loans from the Fed. We think that those same banks paying their top people billions in bonuses after a bailout is obscene.
And we feel that telling someone to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps is just cruel if they don't even have boots.
Well Said!!!!!
I am not angry with people who use welfare.
I am not angry at Wall street who use the rules to their advantage to make money.
I am angry at the Government that writes the rules allows exploitation by both the very rich and the very poor.
When Wall Strret breaks the law people get hurt and the Government needs to enforce the laws. When the cretins that abuse the entitlement system break the law they need to be thrown out too. The reason is that there are limited resources to help and the cretins consume more than their fair share.
We need to accept that we went ten steps forward and now have to take five steps back. It is no different than driving uphill in the snow. Americans are not starving. The people in the park are only addicted because they have access to what they want and crave. If they were on a desrerted island with no alcohol or meth they would get better. A person with lukeiema or cancer should be so lucky.
Most people who call themselves poor still live better than the average Charlottesville family of 1960.
If people can come here from mexico speaking no english and make it then so can an american who speaks the language and has an education.
Bill, I largely agree with your last post. In particular Occupy Charlottesville wants to see that the government enforces the laws and holds the people who lie, cheat and steal accountable. At the moment we are focused on the financial sector because their fraud and incompetence caused a major recession, after which they took huge government bailouts, paid themselves million dollar bonuses, and then proceeded to raise fees and commit fraudulent foreclosures.
By comparison, the welfare cheats are small potatoes. We can deal with them after we have taken care of the really big problems.
Ken Jamme- so what do you do? Sit on your butt and expect the world to come to a stop so you can get off?
The rug has been pulled out from under me 5 times in the last 10 years and I am not middle aged. All good positions which I worked toward for years. Never asked for a thing, bitched and moaned a little after being let go, but moved on and found the next position, then had everything pulled out again. Never took anything for granted.
Today, I am on my last "work for someone else" job and have crossed trained to make it on my own in 18 months. Work weekends now to perfect my skills. Gee, a 7 day work week!
You have to love it when these college graduates say there is no work. WTF? It is all for the youngin's, not the old coots like me.


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kpasswd [principal]
The kpasswd command is used to change a Kerberos principal's password. Kpasswd prompts for the current Kerberos password, which is used to obtain a changepw ticket from the KDC for the user's Kerberos realm. If kpasswd successfully obtains the changepw ticket, the user is prompted twice for the new password, and the password is changed. If the principal is governed by a policy that specifies the length and/or number of character classes required in the new password, the new password must conform to the policy. (The five character classes are lower case, upper case, numbers, punctuation, and all other charac‐ ters.)
principal change the password for the Kerberos principal principal. Oth‐ erwise, kpasswd uses the principal name from an existing ccache if there is one; if not, the principal is derived from the iden‐ tity of the user invoking the kpasswd command.
kpasswd looks first for kpasswd_server = host:port in the [realms] sec‐ tion of the krb5.conf file under the current realm. If that is miss‐ ing, kpasswd looks for the admin_server entry, but substitutes 464 for the port.
kadmin(8), kadmind(8)
kpasswd may not work with multi-homed hosts running on the Solaris platform. KPASSWD(1)

subset: commoncrawl


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Tahoe OG Kush - Elite - Hybrid
Hold your finger over the image
Tahoe OG Kush - Elite - Hybrid
Select Elite elevates your cannabis enjoyment to a higher level with luxuriant terpene-infused distillate in our award winning cartridges. This top-shelf product packs a powerful punch of flavor and potency with our highest concentration of activated THC. Available in Indica, Hybrid, and Sativa options.


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Remember when Alaskan songbird Jewel was set to portray June Carter Cash in The June Carter Cash Story, a Lifetime original movie based on John Carter Cash's memoir Anchored in Love: An Intimate Portrait of June Carter Cash? Neither do I, WTF WORLD? But here's a screenshot from the movie. I've been searching but I can't really find any info about it published after last June? Lifetime's search reveals none of its secrets and I must know, this is sure to be/was the best thing since Liz and Dick. Why don't we all know everything about this all the time? I am disgusted with you, me, and the rest of humanity.
More from Jezebel
This screencap looks like a contestant meeting the new Bachelor.


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Behold the bizarre, picture-driven tale of the Russian lady who, after dropping her phone in her soon-to-be meal, decides to cook (and eat) the phone itself. But why? It doesn't make sense. No words. None.
Remember Microsoft's "Smoked by Windows Phone" promotion? It's a pretty arrogant "challenge" that pits any other phone against a Windows Phone in a race to pull-up information like the weather. Apparently it's just backfired, badly – a Galaxy Nexus just smoked a Windows Phone. Unfortunately Microsoft didn't take it like a man, instead throwing its toys out of the pram and rather screwing the pooch.
Bad news Galaxy Nexus fans, you're stuck with just the 16GB variant after Samsung has reportedly ditched attempts to roll out a planned larger 32GB-equipped version, meaning it'll never see the light of day at least in Europe.
After the popularity of his previous video showing just how well a Galaxy Nexus does as a PC replacement, Christian's back doing a bit of gaming and showing you precisely how to hook all that Android goodness up.
For a while Samsung couldn't decide whether to call its Galaxy Note tablet or a phone. Considering that its 5.3-inch screen splits the difference between an iPhone and a Galaxy Tab 7, that's not surprising.
Motorola's had a stab at trying to get people to use their phone as a surrogate computer with its Atrix 4G – it wasn't all that great as a netbook replacement. But things have drastically improved with the introduction of Ice Cream Sandwich, so why not just hook up your Galaxy Nexus to a monitor, keyboard and trackpad to give you an instant desktop computer?


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Our Galleries
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- Whistling Frog Cat on Fence with Moon Tile 4x4
Product Description
4 x 4 Cat on Fence with Moon Tile by Whistling Frog Tile Co.
Please see the glaze color chart for your selection. Please allow a 2-3 week lead time for production.
All tiles are handmade with a notch in the back for easy hanging. Tiles are glazed over the sides and can be installed for a beautiful kitchen backsplash or fireplace accent. The ceramic tiles are weatherproof, durable and fade proof to last a lifetime.


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Item #6135
Tender perennial. Mexican tarragon is a type of marigold that produces leaves with a delicious tarragon-anise flavor. It can be used as a substitute for French tarragon and is easier to grow. The leaves have a stronger flavor so less is needed to flavor a dish. Popular in Mexican and Southwestern cuisine. Flowers are a colorful addition to salads. Excellent container herb that can be grown indoors during the winter. Also called Mexican Mint and Spanish, Texas or Winter tarragon. Grown as an annual, but perennial in USDA zones 8-11.
Seedling Image
Perennial (tender)
Full Sun
Days to Emerge:
Seed Depth:
Seed Spacing:
Row Spacing:
When to sow outside: 1 to 2 weeks after average last frost.
When to start inside: RECOMMENDED. 6 to 8 weeks before average last frost.
Artist: Carolyn Crawford
Item #6135
0.25 grams
What is Soil?
Soil is a diverse mix of substances, teeming with life and composed of minerals, decayed plant and animal matter, water, and air. It…More…
Drying Herbs
Many herbs are easily preserved by drying, and hold their flavor well when dry. Simply cut a handful of stems and rubber band them or…More…


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The Federal Reserve views the high rate of mortgage foreclosures as an urgent problem. Using its expertise and extensive network of national and regional relationships, the Fed is collaborating with other regulators, community groups, policy organizations, financial institutions, and public officials to identify solutions to prevent unnecessary foreclosures and their negative effects.
The goal of this toolkit is to provide resources to assist communities in addressing the current turmoil in the housing market and minimize the impact of foreclosures on neighborhoods. Web links and local resources are included. For more information, contact the Federal Reserve Bank Community Development Studies and Education Office in your region.
The resources in this toolkit are presented as a four-step process:
The first step in any community effort is assessing the foreclosure situation in your community. This will also enable you to target limited resources to foreclosure hotspots.
The New York Fed maintains a website with dynamic maps and data showing credit conditions by county across the U.S. These maps show delinquency rates for various types of credit including auto, bank cards and student loans in addition to mortgage loans. The maps may assist community groups in targeting financial counseling and other resources to at-risk homeowners. Policymakers can also use the maps and data to develop plans to lessen the direct and spillover impacts that delinquencies and foreclosures may have on local economies. Local governments may use the data and maps to prioritize the expenditure of their resources for these efforts.
Visit your Reserve Bank's website for research reports, data, and practical information, or contact your Bank's Community Development Studies and Education Office with specific requests.
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) provides quarterly reports on delinquency and foreclosure rates of loans at the national, regional, and state levels. The MBA's National Delinquency Survey , conducted since 1953, covers 80 to 85 percent of all first-lien residential mortgage loans outstanding in the United States. Delinquency and foreclosure measures are broken out into various loan types (prime, subprime, VA, and FHA) and fixed- and adjustable-rate products.
State laws require that notices of intent to foreclose real estate be posted for public view, although the exact posting process varies from state to state. These pre-foreclosure notices, along with actual foreclosure sales data, are compiled regularly by various companies who make the information available for sale. Some counties make maps and listings of property addresses available during the "publication" period prior to the foreclosure sale date. Contact a local title company in your community to get more information on the best local sources for pre-foreclosure and foreclosure sales reports.
Foreclosure laws and regulations are important to consider and can vary significantly across states. In some states with a judicial foreclosure process, the lender must take the borrower to court to seize the property. In other states, a nonjudicial foreclosure process requires no court action.
Surveys show many at-risk homeowners often fail to seek help. They may be embarrassed or don't know where to turn. Stress can make dealing with credit problems even harder. Community leaders serve a crucial role by helping consumers find quality housing counselors at the first sign of trouble.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) maintains a database of HUD-approved counseling agencies . Additional information, including financing options, can be obtained from the Federal Housing Administration .
Community leaders can also reach borrowers effectively using homeownership events, public service announcements, and brochures and websites.
One important way to strengthen foreclosure outreach is to build strong partnerships with existing state and local coalitions and task forces.
If there are no existing coalitions or task forces in your area, you can start one by reaching out to grassroots and faith-based groups, legal aid offices, housing counseling organizations, community development organizations, and city and state consumer protection departments. Good examples of state and regional coalitions include:
Homeowner workshops and/or default clinics have proven successful in helping borrowers avoid foreclosure. They are held in accessible community locations such as convention centers, schools and public libraries. Sponsors invite troubled borrowers, issue media releases and post notices on websites and in public places.
Three basic models exist for effectively run workshops. They range from large events at which loan servicers and housing counselors meet face-to-face with borrowers to smaller events that are primarily educational in purpose.
Community leaders are employing many direct approaches to reach troubled homeowners, making use of information and materials available from local and national organizations:
A number of national organizations and government agencies maintain rich informational websites to assist communities and consumers in dealing with foreclosure issues, including prevention, mitigation, counseling, loan modifications, neighborhood stabilization and foreclosure-rescue scams.
Enterprise Community Partners : Is a national nonprofit with more than 25 years of experience in the community development and affordable housing field.
Local Initiatives Support Corporation : Is a national nonprofit that helps local organizations access national resources and expertise.
NeighborWorks America : Was created by Congress to provide financial support, technical assistance and training for community-based revitalization efforts. It supports a wide range of programs:
The Homeownership Preservation Foundation : Provides information and videos that explain alternatives to foreclosure and operates a national hotline — 888-995-HOPE (4673) — available in both English and Spanish. Callers can be referred to local nonprofit counseling assistance.
HOPE NOW Alliance : Is a national alliance of more than 50 lenders, loan servicers and counseling organizations dedicated to preserving homeownership and minimizing foreclosures.
Making Home Affordable : The Obama administration has introduced a comprehensive Financial Stability Plan to address problems at the heart of the crisis and help make monthly mortgage payments more affordable for troubled homeowners.
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency : Provides consumer and community information and includes sample public service announcements for radio.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC): Provides consumers and community foreclosure assistance and links to foreclosure rescue and loan modification scam awareness resources.
The Federal Reserve Board of Governors : Provides foreclosure-help resources to both consumers and communities. It also connects with all 12 Federal Reserve Banks.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development : Provides links to consumer resources, government programs and government-approved, nonprofit counseling agencies.
Identifying and understanding the alternatives to foreclosure can help prevent problems before they occur or significantly reduce the pain. The government implemented a major program in 2009 to encourage loan modifications. Local housing counselors are good sources for helping consumers find options. Just understanding the different terms can guide consumers to the right course of action.
Glossary of Mortgage and Foreclosure Terms
Renters Rights Information from the National Loan Income Housing Coalition
National Industry Foreclosure Counseling Centers
Sadly, foreclosure is unavoidable for some borrowers, even when they have made contact with their lender/loan servicer early on in the process. Circumstances such as severe loss of income may prevent the mortgage from being modified to a payment that is affordable to the borrower.
Working collaboratively, housing counselors and other stakeholders from community-based organizations, financial institutions and local government agencies can encourage former homeowners to regain personal financial stability and contribute to the overall recovery of their community.
A Resource Guide for Foreclosure Recovery has been developed for use as a tool for community leaders to assist consumers in achieving stability following foreclosure. The table of contents below provides an overview of the topics covered in the Guide.
Contact the local field staff from the Community Affairs Office in your region for assistance with recommendations for implementing this guide.
Foreclosures are not only devastating to the homeowner, but can also be destructive to neighborhoods and communities, especially when they happen in large numbers and in a concentrated area.
Research suggests that foreclosures reduce surrounding property values, which in turn can lead to more foreclosures, vacant and abandoned properties, and other neighborhood blight. Foreclosures also tend to be a magnet for crime, including property damage, trespassing, squatting and vandalism.
While foreclosure prevention is a critical component of a community foreclosure strategy, equally important is mitigating decline from existing and future foreclosures by protecting foreclosed properties, neighborhoods and the community tax base. The Federal Reserve is sponsoring Recovery, Renewal, Rebuilding , a series of forums to generate discussion on the aftereffect of the foreclosure crisis and explore solutions for community recovery, rebuilding and preparing for the future.
One common problem faced by cities with vacant or abandoned properties is identifying the person responsible for the property. Often ownership or servicing of the mortgage will be transferred between parties several times over the life of the loan.
This campaign exists to provide individuals, advocates, government agencies, developers, nonprofits and others with information resources, tools and assistance to support their vacant property revitalization efforts. Vacant properties are defined as vacant residential, commercial and industrial buildings and lots that:
The goal of the campaign is to help communities prevent abandonment, reclaim vacant properties and once again become vital places to live. Four actions fulfill this campaign:
The Local Initiatives Support Corporation, LISC, is a co-founder of the National Vacant Properties Campaign as part of the LISC Vacant Properties Initiative . LISC provides practitioners and policymakers with models, research and technical assistance to turn vacant properties into vehicles for positive change.
The city of Minneapolis recently conducted an analysis of the cost of boarded and vacant properties. The analysis revealed that the true cost to the city was over $6,000 per property. Some communities have set up a building registry to record unfinished, abandoned, substandard and vacant properties left by homebuilders and other developers. New construction permits are not approved until the builder/developer has corrected existing problems.
A vacant property registration ordinance requiring owners of vacant or abandoned properties to register with the municipality may allow community officials to more easily monitor and inspect the properties and enforce code compliance. Safeguard Properties, a privately held field services company, works with loan servicers to preserve and maintain foreclosed properties. Safeguard provides a list of vacant property registration ordinances for numerous cities around the country.
One option for dealing with vacant and abandoned properties is to create a land bank through which a municipality may buy and hold property for future sale or development.
The Genesee County Land Bank in Flint, Mich., has been touted as a national model. In 1999, the Michigan Legislature changed the way foreclosed properties were handled by giving outright ownership of these properties to the local county treasurer after only two and a half years. This change in the law opened the door for communities to reclaim, reinvest in and rebuild their neighborhoods.
The Genesee County Land Bank Authority (GCLBA) uses the new law to acquire abandoned land through the foreclosure process and determine the best use of that land. The GCLBA assembles land for transfer to adjacent homeowners, develops long- and short-term green spaces, and assembles land for new housing and commercial development.The objective is to restore the integrity of the community by removing dilapidated structures and redeveloping abandoned properties.
The Land Bank has spurred re-use of more than 4,000 residential, commercial and industrial properties that it has acquired since 2002 through the tax foreclosure process. In addition, with revenue generated from tax delinquent property fees and interest, the Land Bank has developed an $8 million self-sustaining fund to support cleanup and reinvestment.
To curtail the decline of communities severely affected by foreclosures, Congress created the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) as part of the 2008 Housing and Economic Recovery Act.
NSP funds may be used for:
In 2008, Living Cities , a collaborative of corporate and philanthropic organizations, launched the Foreclosure Mitigation Initiative. This 10-city pilot supported new and existing programs to mitigate the impact of concentrated foreclosures by returning foreclosed properties to productive use.
The programs selected for this pilot demonstrated promising local initiatives in strong, moderate, and weak housing markets and used tools such as New Markets Tax Credits, land trusts and nonprofit real estate brokers.
A report on the results of the pilot along with a series of policy recommendations is now available.


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Oscar-winning screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher want Bruce Willis as the leading man for his directorial debut, a film that's been described as "Thelma & Louise" meets "Superbad" with a helping of "Pulp Fiction."
"Violet and Daisy," which already has Carey Mulligan and Saoirse Ronan attached to star in the title roles, is in talks to get Willis on board as the male lead and Danny Trejo in a supporting role, according to 24 Frames.
It's a great cast, and that "Thelma & Louise" + "Superbad" + "Pulp Fiction" could certainly be entertaining. But will Fletcher be able to avoid the sophomore jinx as a writer? Is he ready to direct? We'll see. Meanwhile, we're more interested in the film he's making with Doug Liman about the Attica riots.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
Willis has been keeping busy, having already released "Cop Out" (ugh) and "The Expendables" (double ugh) this year, with "Red," an action-comedy about a team of ex-CIA assassins target by The Company for termination, generating a nice buzz ahead of its October release.
Ronan, who was nominated for her role in "Atonement," can next be seen in "Hanna," a film that sounds like a cross between "Bourne" and "The Professional."
Mulligan, who was nominated for her performance in "An Education," has two high-profile films coming out in the coming months, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" and "Never Let Me Go."
Meanwhile, Trejo is enjoying the spotlight with his first starring role in a feature film, the title role in "Machete," coming out Sept. 3.


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Storage Footstools
De-clutter your room with our range of fabulous fabric and luxurious leather storage footstools. Storage footstools are a brilliantly practical way of storing all those bits and pieces that constantly clutter up the living room.
So if you're tired of hunting for the remote control under a sea of throws, scatters and magazines, help is at hand. Be sure to check out the rest of our footstools too!
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Wilmington Leather Storage Stool
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Agatha Storage Stool
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Blenheim Storage Stool
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Burlington Storage Stool
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Austen Storage Stool
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Aspen Leather Storage Stool
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If traditional design is your taste, choose from leather buttoned options like the Regent button box, or alternatively traditional fabric models such as the classically lined Windsor in floral or stripe fabric. If you prefer something altogether more contemporary, how about the Aspen storage stool in distressed New England leather or the Hobbs in cosy wool?
All our storage stools are made right here in the UK and delivered from our factory to the room of your choice (just as long as it's on the UK Mainland!) As with all our sofas and chairs, our storage stools come with a 5 year frame guarantee and a 2 year all parts warranty as standard.


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I was at the checkout of the grocery store today when I received two emails back to back from Blogger regarding new comments on one of my posts. They were both from [Anonymous] and I figured they were spam as 99% of [Anonymous] comments are spam. But it appears that this time [Anonymous] was a disgruntled reader. He/she commented that she is disappointed that they purchased a license and I no longer post. He/she then posted to another commenter to save their money because I don't care to do anything else about this website. Welllllllll….. it's so easy to comment anonymously isn't it?
The truth is I do care but have moved on to other ventures. My Etsy shop has really taken off and any spare time I have is spent creating jewelry. People actually like my jewelry! I also have a full time job, working midnight shift as a police officer. I also have a husband and three children. I have a very busy life. I no longer have time to sit down at the computer for hours on end creating a digital file that thousands of people will download (for free) and a only a handful of people will appreciate. Honestly [Anonymous] I don't want your $20. Email me with your PayPal email address and blog/store name. I'll be happy to refund your $20 since you have obviously not been able to use any of my hundreds of downloads over the previous 4 years. A license purchase has never guaranteed or even implied that there will be future downloads available. EVERYTHING IS FREE TO DOWNLOAD. You only pay if you want to make money off MY FREE DESIGNS. I think that $20 is more than fair for the previous freebies I've offered. If you don't, then don't buy a license. It's. That. Simple. I haven't posted here in over a year. Not because I don't care. If you purchased a license recently thinking that I would suddenly start giving you more free stuff, well I am sorry but I'm not sure where you got that idea.
I know that there are many readers out there who do appreciate what I offered in the past. I still get a random comment on a post thanking me for the freebie. I want you to know that I really do appreciate those kind comments. I had some of the most loyal and kind readers and commenters and I miss the interaction with those sweet designers and readers who would take the time to comment and email me. If I let you down then I am truly sorry.
I have debated closing the blog. Many of the links have inexplicably gone bad, although I pay for hosting most of my files. I just don't have the time to keep up with fixing them. Not because I don't care, [Anonymous]. But I've decided to keep it up for a little longer to give people the opportunity to download what's available. However, I titled this post so that [Anonymous] would have no misgivings that they are entitled to more free files. This is the last post. Please do not purchase a license if you think I will post more freebies. I won't. I'm done.
Thanks to all the wonderful readers over the years, I do miss you and still visit your blogs to see what you are up to. I haven't scrapped a page for myself in 3 years but am looking forward to retirement and having the time to do so. I hope you are all still around when that time comes and we can pick up where we left off. Until then, take care and goodbye…


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UPDATE: "Carrie," the great Stephen King's first novel, spawned a classic horror film with two Oscar-nominated performances, one that is now in the midst of being remade, and the hunt for a new star is over.
Chloe Grace Moretz has been offered the lead in Kimberly Pierce-directed remake of "Carrie," reported Deadline, about a high school wallflower with remarkable powers that bubble to the surface when she's angry or distressed. The part was first played by Sissy Spacek, earning the actress the first of her six Oscar nominations.
When news broke of the remake last fall, King himself had in idea for the title role, one that was both inspired and doomed.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
"Lindsay Lohan as Carrie White… hmmm," the horror master said to EW.
And then there's the part of Carrie's whack-a-doo Bible-thumping mama, Margaret White, who was originally played with unchecked gusto by Piper Laurie. Pierce is supposedly courting Jodie Foster and Julianne Moore. We can see why Pierce would go for either, but they don't feel quite right, not domineering enough. Cate Blanchett, Melissa Leo, Tilda Swinton (!), Sigourney Weaver...


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We show how to buildup mathematical knowledge bases usingframes. We distinguish three differenttypes of knowledge: axioms, definitions(for introducing concepts like "set" or"group") and theorems (for relating theconcepts). The consistency of such know-ledge bases cannot be proved in gen-eral, but we can restrict the possibilit-ies where inconsistencies may be impor-ted to very few cases, namely to the oc-currence of axioms. Definitions and the-orems should not lead to any inconsisten-cies because definitions form conservativeextensions and theorems are proved to beconsequences.
To prove difficult theorems in a mathematical field requires substantial know-ledge of that field. In this paper a frame-based knowledge representation formalismis presented, which supports a conceptual representation and to a large extent guar-antees the consistency of the built-up knowledge bases. We define a semantics ofthe representation by giving a translation into the underlaying logic.


text: Getting sick is not much fun, but having friends who care is the best way to get better quick! If you have a friend or family member who is feeling under the whether, send them this funny get well card to help them get better soon. Laughter is the best medicine, so the "doctor" on this get well card will make them feel better faster!


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Editor's note: Embargoed for use on Labor Day.
We recognize Labor Day as a celebration of American workers and what their drive, commitment and energy mean to our country and our individual prosperity. It is also a day to reflect on the birth of the labor movement, when workers united to demand better pay, shorter days and safer workplaces.
Editor's note: Embargoed for use on Labor Day.
We recognize Labor Day as a celebration of American workers and what their drive, commitment and energy mean to our country and our individual prosperity. It is also a day to reflect on the birth of the labor movement, when workers united to demand better pay, shorter days and safer workplaces.
However, that is the past, and this Labor Day and those to follow belong to all workers, not only the unionized.
The fact is the unions' numbers have been in a free fall since their heyday of the 1950's, in large part because government has stepped in to ensure workers' rights that didn't exist when the United States was coming of economic age.
Unions were a by-product of ignorance, greed and cold-heartedness of the "captains of industry" during our country's economic and industrial revolution. Incidents such as the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire that killed 146 garment workers in a sweatshop, coupled with the lack of certain rights and protections for the average worker were the genesis for change.
Today, strict laws on the local, state and federal levels protect workers and Americans enjoy the highest standard of living and economic prosperity in history. In fact, federal data shows that these laws are so effective in protecting employees that a large majority of America's workers no longer feel compelled to join a union to ensure their rights and safety.
But some of those very same unions, who fought to bring justice to the average worker, have become what they once despised ñ a small group bent on protecting their financial interests by denying the majority of workers equal opportunity.
Construction labor unions, for example, have increasingly relied on political muscle to discriminate against 80 percent of Massachusetts construction workers, who chose not to join a union in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. At the behest of the powerful construction unions, which spend millions of dollars each year on political campaigns, some local and state office holders adopt Project Labor Agreements (PLA) to provide the unions with a monopoly on governmentñfunded construction projects.
A PLA is nice sounding phrase for union-only labor, which locks out non-union workers. Study after study proves the obvious: by locking out 80 percent of the construction workforce and handing the unions a monopoly, costs increase by at least 14 to 20 percent. While 14 to 20 percent may not sound like a lot of money, consider the "Big Dig", which was governed by a union-only PLA. With a cost of almost $15 billion and rising, a 14 percent increase, which is on the low end, is $2.1 billion. For what? What did that extra $2 billion to $3 billion buy taxpayers?
PLA proponents argue that the union-only agreements don't prohibit non-union workers from participating on a project ñ just as long as the non-union worker agrees to join a union. They also contend a PLA guarantees a quality project, finished on time and on budget. The checkered history of delays, price increases and shoddy construction on the Big Dig debunks this propaganda. These same individuals consistently refuse to acknowledge the fact that wages, benefits and training are all standardized by law for public construction projects, rendering PLAs meaningless on these issues.
By generously donating millions of dollars of their members' dues to political candidates, construction unions have ensured quid pro quos like PLAs and other gimmicks. Together, the unions and public officials engage in employment discrimination with these sweetheart deals. The irony is, these quid pro quos make the unions no different from the greedy, unscrupulous bosses and owners they once fought against when unions were first evolving in the U.S.
So, while it's important to acknowledge the commitment and work of the unions more than a century ago, it's equally important to recognize the majority of today's workers who have chosen not to belong to a union. This majority has decided to rise or fall on their own merits through hard work and determination. That is what we celebrate on Labor Day.
Ronald N. Cogliano is executive director of the non-profit Merit Construction Alliance in Kingston.


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Below I present a number of additional goals and CSFs that we might like to adopt. The motivation for these comes from our agent community; we expect automatic agents to be offering web services and using web services. However, I believe that these goals and CSFs are universal enough to be considered in this forum. We have tried to extend the goals and CSFs found in the requirements document rather than reinvent new ones. Incidentally, by agent community I mean two things: FIPA (Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents) (http://www.fipa.org) and WebAgent -- a loose grouping of companies including IBM, Fujitsu, Sun, HP, Mitre, Intel, SAP, who are looking at agent technology in the web services area. Goal: Support Peer to Peer interaction using Web Services Why: Many business processes are not easily modeled as straightforward client/server interactions; while the customer/supplier relationship is still dominant, this does not imply that all (or even most) interactions between them can be accurately captured using client/server architecture. CSF P2P.1: Web services and clients must support asynchronous event notification; i.e., the supplier must be able to signal the customer of a relevant event. CSF P2P.2: Web services must be locally discoverable: it must be possible to publish a web service's description in constrained ways and to search in localizable ways CSF P2P.3 Web services should be able to support N party interactions, as in various kinds of auctions, escrow services, proxy services etc. CSF P2P.4 Web services must be able to support extended conversations between peer web services CSF P2P.5 Must support volunteering of information as well as requesting action Goal: Service Composition Why: Web services are subject to the same re-use requirements as any other software paradigm. This means that it is important that we can compose new web services out of old ones. CSF Comp.1 Must be able to express the composition of services and interaction patterns through XML artifacts CSF Comp.2 Must be able to compose services dynamically, on the fly CSF Comp.3 Composition model must permit the expression of and evolution of composed relationships CSF Comp.4 Must be able to represent N party service composition (Vacation = Flight+Hotel+Car Rental) CSF Comp.5 Must be possible for third party to certify compliance CSF Comp.6 Must be able to quote a conversational message inside a conversational message CSF Comp.6.1 This may be arbitrarily deep CSF Comp 6.2 Must not require changing the actual quoted message Goal: Service Choreography Why: When web services are composed of the use of more than one service, the order, etc of the uses of the components must be expressed CSF Chor.1 Permit the description of multiple steps using XML artifacts CSF Chor.2 Must support synchronous and asynchronous messaging CSF Chor.3 Must support nested and delegated choreographies CSF Chor.4 Must account for implicit transitions (e.g., abandoned conversations) CSF Chor.5 Must support N player orchestration CSF Chor.6 Must support third party verification CSF Chor.7 Must support volunteering of information as well as requesting action Goal: Semantics Why: It is important to be able to sufficiently describe a web service so that agents can automatically decide if they want to use it. (And if you have used it, whether a breach of contract has occurred) CSF Sem.1 Aligned with the Semantic Web (may require changes on both sides of relationship) CSF Sem.2 publicly observable semantics (meaning of actions does not rely on private agreements or on unobservable characteristics of agents) CSF Sem.3 Must be possible to give a semantics description of all elements within a choreography or service CSF Sem.4 Must be possible to have an extensible description of elements of a choreography or service Goal: Tooling support Why: In order to promote the effective spread of web services it is important to support tool vendors in their support of applications programmers developing web services CSF Tool.1 Permit tool vendors to support the efficient creation of web services, orchestrations, semantic descriptions, compositions (and evolution of same CSF Tool.1.1 Discourage or prohibit the use of ANY type in descriptions of choreographies and services CSF Tool.2 Permit automatic validation of web services CSF Tool.2.1 Allow for automatic testing of web services and choreographies, test coverage generators, document verification CSF Tool.3 Permit UML modeling of services, orchestrations, compositions, etc. May require extensions to UML While this list may not be exhaustive it does address many of the `sore points' that we have observed within the community.Received on Tuesday, 18 June 2002 18:59:09 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Friday, 17 January 2020 23:05:34 UTC


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Statement from the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean
17 November 2012
The World Health Organization (WHO) is deeply concerned about the escalating situation in the Gaza Strip and Israel and its impact on the health and lives of civilian populations in the area.
As of noon Saturday 17 November, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that 38 people had been killed: 27 adults, of whom two are women, and 11 children under the age of 18. Three people were also reported killed in Israel. 382 people in Gaza were injured: 245 adults, of whom 76 are women, and 137 children. Many of those injured have been admitted to hospitals with severe burns, injuries from collapsing buildings and head injuries. Health authorities in Gaza have formed an operations room for the health sector and declared an emergency situation in all hospitals to cope with patients.
Before the hostilities began, health facilities were severely over stretched mainly as a result of the siege of Gaza. There has been a lack of investment in training, equipment and infrastructure, poor maintenance of medical equipment and frequent interruptions of power supplies. The Ministry of Health in Gaza was also facing critical shortages of drugs and disposables, with 192 drugs (40% of the essential medicine list), and 586 medical disposables (65% of the essential list) at zero stock. Many of the drugs at zero stock are lifesaving.
Consequently, Gaza hospitals are now having to deal with the growing number of casualties with severely depleted medical supplies. The Ministry of Health has postponed all elective surgeries due to the emergency and shortages in anesthesia drugs. Non-urgent cases have been transferred to NGO hospitals and health personnel have been asked to report to the nearest health facility for extended shifts.
WHO is working with the Ministry of Health, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and health partners in trying to ensure that essential medicines and medical consumables are delivered to health facilities where they are needed most. UNRWA operates 21 primary health care centers for 1.2 million refugees in Gaza and is preparing emergency assistance to the refugees. WHO will continue to monitor the overall health situation with the aim of supporting the functionality of the health system in this time of critical need.
WHO appeals to the international and regional community for urgent financial support to provide essential medicines to cover pre-existing shortages, as well as emergency supplies for treating casualties and the chronically ill. WHO requires US$ 10m to cover all medicines and medical supplies for three months and will collaborate with donors to ensure that any donations are consistent with the needs in Gaza and conform to the drug donation guidelines endorsed by WHO and a number of international partners.
For further information, please contact:
Altaf Musani
Emergency and Humanitarian Action
World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Tony Laurance
Head of Office, World Health Organization
Gaza and West Bank
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Tree Surgeon in Derby Derbyshire
Joe Rice Tree Services are Professional Tree Surgeons who are based on the outskirts of Derby serving Derby and all the surrounding areas. All of our Tree Surgeons are professionally trained and qualified, if you're looking for trustworthy competitively priced Tree Surgeons or Tree Cutter (as we are sometimes searched as) in the Derby or surrounding areas please contact us on 01332 897 517.
Our Arborists in Derby pride themselves on the work which we do and are confident you will be happy with any work we carry out for you. Joe Rice Tree Surgeons have reviews on google, facebook, Yellow Pages, bookfresh and other sites all readily accessible from our site. We will always seek your feedback on any work we undertake for you and we are more than happy to provide contact details of our customers who have agreed they are happy to be approached to provide a recommendation if required.
We carry out a variety of services, a list of these can be found on our home page but common jobs are the requests for Tree Removal in Derby, Tree reduction in Derby, Tree Pruning and Tree Felling in Derby and of course in the surrounding Towns and villages. We also regularly carry out Hedge Trimming in Derby and Hedge Reduction and can assist with any tree work which requires the addressing of Tree Preservation Orders (TPO).
We also have an Emergency callout service for fallen trees in Derby.
Tree cutting, Tree Felling and Tree reduction should not be taken likely, it is dangerous and that is why we have been trained and qualified to assess the risks and undertake any job for you safely, protecting the trees and hedges and your and other surrounding properties.
We are Fully Insured Tree Surgeons and all the work we undertake for you will be to BS3998 Standards. It is worth mentioning that we have never had to make a claim on our insurance services despite having been in business for several years.
We carry out small and large residential Jobs (see our blog for recent jobs). We also carry out Commercial Tree Surgeon work and are happy to provide a copy of our Health and Safety Policies, Risk Assessment Processes and Method Statements were required if you would like to invite us to bid for large jobs or commercial Tree Surgeon contracts.
Please feel free to contacts us to arrange a no obligation competitive quote using our online booking system or via phone, mail or contact form. Clicking this text will take you to our contact details page
Unless your Tree Surgeon has been referred to you please always seek more than one quote, we never cease to be amazed at some of the high pressure sales tactics employed by some firms and the astronomical prices they have charged the public only to then call us to come and ask us to finish the job safely to the required high standard and leave the site safe, clean and tidy as we always do.
Joe Rice
Professional Tree Surgeon – Derby


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Today was indeed a long long day for me . Reason , being a part of the crowd looking to book their seat in the hostel . Majority of the students reached the management block as early as 4 in the morning as no one was ready to take a chance . There are only 104 rooms available in the E block and students were more , causing a rush for the hostel allotment .
I , being a part of the crowd was sitting at the stairs for a long part of the morning . The whole environment was filled with the sound of chit – chats , buzz and occasional verbal outbursts from few desperate ones . But at 7'o clock , when the doors were being opened and the much enthusiastic students entered the block , there was a new sound to be heard . CRAASSHHHHH …….. The glass partition in the middle of the hall was unable to bear the pressure applied and thus , came down with a loud thud on the floor .
I have not seen such a rush in my life , not even during the counselling .The college management failed in handling the whole situation .It was panic everywhere . It was clear that its not worth being a part of the pulls and pushes and we would be better off coming back after some time .
Now comes the interesting part of the story . There is a room on the first floor ( E-231 ) where a student committed suicide a few years back . This room has not seen an inhabitant for many years . Last year , a guy dared to go for this room but eventually , he backed off after 2 months declaring that the room was haunted and the spirit in the room was not allowing him to live there peacefully . Now after that incident no one was ready to book that room .
12'o clock . After a lot of efforts , being thrown out a multiple number of times , being scolded by the Dean and warden a couple of times , initiating a number of quarrels among the students , finally we were able to enter the room where the allotment was under process . Slowly but surely the queue was moving . A number of dudes were entering the queue from the sidelines , decreasing the probability of the people behind them of being allotted a room . I kept watching .
1'o clock . Only 3 students between me and the window and after waiting for so long , I knew now it was just a matter of time .
10 minutes later , a declaration came from the warden , " Room in the E block are full . Rest of the students are advised to go back now ."
After waiting for so long , a news like that was heart breaking for me . I was late and now it was not worth staying here . I mumbled in my mind ," I should go back now and rethink on what to do now ." I just reached the doorsteps when a thought flashed into my mind ," Have someone gone for E-231 ." I rushed back to check . It was still vacant .
Me : Sir , E-231 is still vacant . Please give me that room .
Warden looked at the cashier and both of them smiled .
Warden : Are you sure ? Do you know that ……….
Me : Sir , I know everything and I am not afraid of living there .
Warden : Ok then . Lets do it . Btw , whats your percentage ?
Me : its 79.2% aggregate right now . (thinking , what percentage got to do with that)
Warden : Excellent buddy . (Shaking hands)
Me : Sir , why did you ask me that ? Does the spirit give a consideration to the studious ones ?
Many student approached me with "Are you mad ? " ……."You must be joking right" …… " Do you even know the history of that room ?" ……."Just get the pooja done before entering the room and it will be ok " ……. "Don't worry , these are all rumours" ……. "Once again you got a double seater and now your room partner is a spirit." …….. " I will nominate your name for the bravey awards this time . " …….
I made my way back to the hostel . The scorching heat of the sun was ineffective . The campus which was full of students appeared empty . All those things which were troubling me (internal viva , project submission , the LAN bug in my laptop ) were out of my mind . My clothes were soaked with sweat . My body was tired , both physically and mentally . My eyelids were shutting down due to the lack of sleep .There was one and only one thing I was thinking about .
"Me and My Haunted Room"


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When would you consider incorporating another language into your project? Some domains are inherently multi-language ( Database interaction, interactive web client side development), but others could be done with 1 language and the idea of introducing another language could hinder understanding more than help it.
Currently I have high performance code in C++ that also needs to do a fair amount of routine file and i\o manipulation which would be easier and faster to write correctly in a higher order language like Python. To be honest I don't know C++ extremely well when it comes to 3rd party libraries including Boost.


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What is a Gateway?
The term Gateway is used in networking to describe the "Gate" to the Internet. The Gateway controls traffic that travels from the inside network to the Internet and provides security from traffic that wants to enter the inside network from the Internet. The Gateway is often the router that home owners or businesses use to connect to the Internet. Because some networks may have a number of connections to several other internal networks the term "Default Gateway" is used to signify the route for traffic which is the first choice.
The default gateway is the machine IP number that you need to access to get to the rest of the network or the Internet. Gateways connect two different kinds of networks, like your work network and the Internet. You will need to know the specific address of your gateway to connect to the Internet.
In the image above the Gateway IP Address would be 192.168.5.222, using the example addresses from above. This gateway could be a router that would have two network connections, one to the internal network and one to the Internet. The IP Address of the workstations and web server would need to be addresses on the 192.168.5.0 network to connect to the gateway. Notice that the workstations and server all connect to a hub/switch before they connect to the gateway since the gateway will probably have only one connection.
When you add a computer to your home network that needs access to the Internet, one of the required settings is the Gateway. Your computer needs to know how to get to the Internet, thus the Gateway. You then need to supply the IP Address of your Gateway so that computer has access.


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Effective immediately, the extended BSD license that applied to the renderer has been removed and replaced by the LGPLv3.
There are multiple reasons for this change:
- use a commonly accepted license for this code
- eliminate any risk that my non-legalese additions to the old license may cause problems for anyone using this code
- use a license with very clear and explicit requirements about source code distribution.
So what does this mean?
For GZDoom itself it does not mean much. The LGPL explicitly allows integration into programs that are not compatible with the GPL.
Where it has some implications is forks that try to provide a GPL compatible subset of the code. With today's license change these forks MUST use the GPLv3 because the GPLv2 is not compatible with the LGPLv3. Read the license carefully what this may mean for you. The most important change is how to distribute the source code for any modified version. Again, carefully read the license text to see what the terms and conditions are. One thing that is not allowed is to provide the source only when requested - it must be directly obtainable by any end user
GZDoom changes the license for its OpenGL renderer to LGPLv3
News about GZDoom.
Moderator: Graf Zahl
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- Graf Zahl
- GZDoom Developer
- Posts: 7148
- Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2005 9:48
- Location: Germany
- Contact:
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What will Timeline format mean for businesses using Facebook?
March 5, 2012 1 Comment
Facebook announced last week that it would be switching Pages – its online offering for businesses, organizations – to the same Timeline format it began rolling out for its personal users months ago. No longer will visitors to a business' Facebook page be greeted by a landing tab to entice consumers to "Like" them. Now the previous conversations on the business' timeline – which are more easily accessible under the new format – will have to attract new subscribers.
The idea makes some sense. Since Social Media emphasizes two-way conversation (as opposed to the one-way shouting of an advertisement), wouldn't you want your conversations to be the focus of your Facebook page? But what will this impact mean in reality for for businesses and organizations using Facebook?
What new opportunities does this change provide? What challenges does it provide?
We discussed this topic – at least in a healthcare context – last night on the weekly Health Communication and Social Media Tweetchat that I participate in most Sunday nights on Twitter. One participant noted that the Timeline format, and the ease it provides in accessing older content, allows businesses to engage their audience using older content. Another participant noted that the new format allows page viewers to send a private message to the administrator of that Facebook page, even if said viewers don't "like" that page.
I'm a little skeptical of the latter point. A private message on Facebook is essentially the same as an e-mail (or a direct message on Twitter), so I have a hard time considering that "engagement" in the Social Media sense. But making it easier for current and potential future customers to contact you via Facebook could build more trust. You need to make sure, however, that the administrators can truly speak on behalf of your company. Ideally, they will be actual employees of your business. But since that may not be economically feasible in this day and age, a really good agency with outstanding knowledge of Social Media, consumer engagement and your brand could do this too.
What do you think of this change? Do you see Facebook going to the Timeline format as a positive for businesses and organizations? A negative?


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A Utah County woman bought more than $500 worth of shirts she felt were inappropriate because she wanted to get them off display.
OREM, UTAH - A woman bought more than $500 worth of shirts because she said they were inappropriate and she wanted to get them off display. Judy Cox said she was concerned with the messages and images printed on T-shirts on display in the local PacSun store window Saturday. Cox said they included scantily-dressed models in provocative poses, and she thought they should be taken down. Cox said she talked to the store manager about it, and other people apparently had complained as well. But the store manager claimed corporate wouldn't allow the display to come down until the promotion ended on Wednesday, according to the Daily Herald. So, Cox bought all the T-shirts - $567 worth - to get rid of them, she confirmed. She said she plans to return them on day 59 of the 60-day return policy and let corporate figure it out. Cox planned to meet with the city's attorney to discuss if the display was in accordance with the city's code. PacSun's corporate offices had not responded to a reporter's request for comment as of Tuesday morning.%3Cimg%20src%3D%22http%3A//beacon.deseretconnect.com/beacon.gif%3Fcid%3D146533%26pid%3D46%22%20/%3E