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Triple option for Packers run game
GREEN BAY, Wis. — No one is suggesting that the Green Bay Packers suddenly have Walter Payton, Earl Campbell and Jim Brown in their backfield. In reality, they have an inconsistent second-year guy coming off a torn anterior cruciate ligament that ended his rookie season, a 30-year-old veteran whom the team made no effort to re-sign in the spring and who was on his couch a week ago, and a little-known, little-sized former practice-squadder who'd carried the ball nine times in real NFL games before Sunday.
But in a seven-play span during Sunday night's 27-20 victory over the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field, Alex Green, Ryan Grant and DuJuan Harris gave the Packers hope that they may have unearthed an actual running game, which just might finally force opposing defenses to stop feeding the Packers offense a steady diet of two-high safety looks.
And that, in turn, could bring back the aerial attack of Aaron Rodgers & Co, in a season when coach Mike McCarthy has been more committed to running the football than ever before but hasn't gotten the production he'd hoped.
"If you're able to run the ball well, teams don't like to get run on. So they do things to try to stop the run," offensive coordinator Tom Clements explained Monday afternoon. "And usually one of things they do is bring a safety down. You look at some teams with great running backs like Adrian Peterson, that's all they see is one-high (safety looks). If we continue to run the ball well, maybe that will happen. If they want to stay two-high and let us run the ball, we'll do that as well."
So far this season, opposing defenses have been given little reason to respect the Packers' ground game. A year removed from scoring the second-most points in NFL history, with Rodgers, the reigning NFL MVP, at the controls, the priority for opposing defenses has been preventing huge plays in the passing game.
Entering Sunday's game at Chicago, the Packers have 23 pass plays of 25 yards or more – ranking them a middling 16th in the NFL, according to STATS. Last season, they had an NFL-best 46.
During the offseason, McCarthy had more than an inkling that teams were doing their due diligence on his offense, so he knew it wouldn't be easy to replicate what his quarterback and bevy of talented perimeter players have accomplished. He didn't lower expectations, but he did realize the challenges that lay ahead. Perhaps that's why the Packers have 350 rushing attempts (including Rodgers scrambles and kneel-downs) on the season and 482 quarterback dropbacks (pass attempts and sacks) for a run percentage of 42.1 percent.
"I wouldn't say we changed the philosophy. Trust me, we would love to be scoring as many points, especially with the abilities of Aaron Rodgers and our perimeter people," McCarthy said. "The dynamics of our football team changed. The way our season ended, it changes way you think. Whether you want to admit it or not. The most important part of our offseason study was, how we going to be better, well-rounded team? We would like to be playing more wide-open. But right now, it's probably not in best interest of our team."
That's partially because the Packers have an offensive line configuration – with their 2010 and 2011 first-round draft picks, tackles Bryan Bulaga and Derek Sherrod, out for the year, guard/tackle T.J. Lang sidelined temporarily with an ankle injury and undrafted rookie free agent Don Barclay starting at right tackle – that doesn't excel in pass protection, allowing Rodgers to be sacked an NFL-leading 42 times.
That means spreading it out with five receivers and an empty backfield – something the Packers did do on occasion Sunday night – isn't a safe way to go about business right now. So there's no time like the present to start running effectively.
It appeared Cedric Benson was finally starting to get his legs underneath him when he suffered what would wind up being a season-ending foot injury Oct. 7. It looked as though oft-injured James Starks was recapturing the form he'd had during the 2010 Super Bowl XLV title run when he suffered a knee injury last week against Minnesota – in a game in which he'd carried 15 times for 66 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown. Starks will miss "multiple weeks" with his injury, McCarthy has said.
So now, McCarthy is set to go with a three-man committee of Green, Grant and Harris – after trying to avoid the spread-the-wealth approach to start the season – in hopes that the threat of a successful ground game alters opposing defensive approaches. Helping that is the fact that the three are decidedly different runners: The 6-foot, 225-pound Green is at his best taking handoffs from the shotgun as he did in Hawaii's spread offense in college; the 6-foot-1, 222-pound Grant, the franchise's fifth all-time leading rusher, can do the power game and pound between the tackles; and the 5-foot-8, 203-pound Harris can squeeze through tiny openings while showing unexpected power, as he did on the 11-yard run he had to open the game.
"I think it's a great benefit just to have a combination of three different running styles," McCarthy said. "It's something we already started on today (in game-planning meetings) – how we can better utilize their talents."
Against the Lions, the threesome rushed 21 times for 113 yards as the Packers finished with 140 yards on the ground. Led by Green and Starks' combined 124 yards on 27 carries, the Packers put up 152 rushing yards the previous week against the Vikings.
But it was during the go-ahead touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that it became evident what the Packers might have now. On a seven-play, 59-yard touchdown drive, Green ran it on the first four plays for 24 yards, Grant then got his only carry of the game and followed left tackle Marshall Newhouse for a 13-yard gain, and then Harris took over, picking up 5 yards after slipping in the backfield and getting back to his feet lickety-split, then breaking through for a 14-yard touchdown.
According to Clements, all seven runs were called by McCarthy. Not one was an audible by Rodgers.
"I don't remember the last time we did something like that," confessed Grant, who joined the Packers in 2007. "I'm excited from that standpoint and it's something you can build on."
That's certainly the hope, even if it means looking a lot different than the offense that led the team to 560 points and gained 4,796 net yards passing last season.
"We had some different challenges that you don't expect, like every team does, with the injuries and who has them. You have to play to your strengths, and your strengths in Week 1 sometimes, unfortunately, may not be your strengths in Week 14," McCarthy said.
"Let's be honest, the quality of play sometimes favors the one that has the field titled his way. Maybe not knowing about DuJuan Harris, exactly what he could do. That's why it was important to get him out there. He goes roaring around the corner on the first play of the game, it's different. We haven't had a runner like that in my time here. So how do you keep utilizing (him)?
"We're not going to trick anybody, especially down the stretch here. If you keep trying to tilt the field a little bit your way schematically or in games … that's what trying to accomplish. At the end of the day, the players have to execute."
Listen to Jason Wilde every weekday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on "Green & Gold Today" on 540 ESPN, and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jasonjwilde.


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In an unusually emotional speech, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) bid farewell to his colleagues Wednesday by rejecting criticisms of a "broken Senate," forcefully defending the chamber and all its unique rules as an institution that is meant to forge great compromise among competing personalities.
The next secretary of state — once considered aloof and always searching for a promotion out of the Senate — tearfully sketched out a 50-minute rebuttal to the growing cacophony that deems the Senate's customs and procedures outdated in today's political environment. He declared the current version of the chamber "a lasting memorial to the miracle of the American experiment."
He specifically rejected the calls for reforming the Senate rules to lessen, or even eliminate, filibusters, warning junior Democrats who have pushed for such changes that they would regret doing so. "It's not the rules that confound us, per se," Kerry said. "It's the choices people make about those rules."
The speech began with Kerry greeting a fellow Vietnam War hero, former senator Max Cleland (D-Ga.), in an embrace as he entered the chamber to deliver the speech, and ended with a bipartisan standing ovation amid hugs and handshakes from about 20 colleagues on hand. While few Republicans attended, those on hand included a pair of freshmen who are generationally and ideologically a world apart from Kerry, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), anti-spending conservatives who sat through the entire speech listening intently. Cruz was one of just three Republicans who opposed Kerry's confirmation in Tuesday's 94 to 3 vote.
Without singling out Republicans for derision, Kerry chastised the GOP for its inflexibility and abuse of the chamber's rules, leading to the gridlock that helps eat away at the public support for Congress. "The problems that we live through today come from individual choices of senators themselves, not the rules," he said. "When an individual senator or a colluding caucus determine that the comity essential to an institution like the Senate is a barrier to individual ambition or party ambition, the country loses."
Kerry acknowledged how his own ambition and his failures helped shape him into a much better senator. His party's 2004 presidential nominee — as well as a runner-up to be the vice-presidential nominee in 2000 and secretary of state in 2009 — Kerry became the sort of senator who won acclaim from both sides of the aisle only after he gave up on loftier goals. He dug into the chamber and fashioned a résuméof bipartisan work that included passage of a nuclear arms treaty with Russia and close work with another Vietnam War hero, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), on "Arab Spring" issues.
"Eight years ago, I admit that I had a very different plan [to leave the Senate], but 61 million Americans voted that they wanted me to stay here with you," Kerry joked about his close loss to George W. Bush in 2004. "And so staying here, I learned about humility and I learned that sometimes the greatest lesson in life comes not from victory but from dusting yourself off after a defeat and starting over when you get knocked down."
Turning the farewell into a professorial lecture, he reminded senators that "relationships matter" and recounted how he and McCain, who became senators within two years of each other, came from vastly different backgrounds: Kerry won election after his post-Vietnam service was dedicated to ending the war; McCain's life was dedicated to the military even after 51 / 2 years imprisoned in the "Hanoi Hilton." They never spoke about Vietnam until a 1991 trip to Kuwait, a sleepless night in which they finally broke their silence about the war and forged a long, complicated relationship that rose and fell depending on their own presidential ambitions.
Considered stoic and out of touch during his presidential bid, Kerry wept as he tapped his desk, a historic oak fixture whose previous occupants included then-Sen. John F. Kennedy and his brother, the late Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who served as Kerry's mentor.
"From every member of the Senate, there are characteristics, passions, quirks and beliefs that bring this place alive and unite it, to make it the most extraordinary legislative body on earth," he said, having rattled off personal traits of eight current and former colleagues without naming them. "That's what I love about the Senate."
The final ironic twist to his Senate career came after the November elections, as some inside President Obama's camp pushed for Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to take over the State Department. Led by McCain, Republicans protested over her role in defending the U.S. response to the Sept. 11 attack on a Libyan consulate. Publicly, Republicans voiced support for Kerry instead, and privately, Democrats told the White House they preferred Kerry as well.
Some questioned whether Republicans just wanted a chance at winning Kerry's seat in a special election, but most senators admitted that Kerry — after finally settling into his role as a defender of the Senate, an elder statesman chairing the Foreign Relations Committee — deserved a promotion out of the chamber.
Forty-two years after he appeared before that same committee as a veteran opposed to the war, he won approval from that panel Tuesday and confirmation from the full Senate a few hours later. Kerry, the son of a Foreign Service officer, will be sworn in as secretary of state on Friday.
"It completed a circle which I never could have imagined drawing, but one our Founders surely did," he said.


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Ex-Cubs skipper Sveum joins KC coaching staff
Major League contracts of Cadahia and Rodriguez are not renewed for 2014
KANSAS CITY -- Dale Sveum, dismissed as Chicago Cubs manager on Monday, didn't have to wait long to get another job.
Sveum was added to the Royals' coaching staff on Thursday, taking over infield instruction, with his in-game responsibilities to be determined.
The Royals also announced that the contracts of bench coach Chino Cadahia and third-base/infield coach Eddie Rodriguez were not renewed. Cadahia was offered a chance to be reassigned within the organization.
Sveum coached on Royals manager Ned Yost's staff for three years when Yost was the Milwaukee Brewers' manager.
"He's going to coach the infielders, and then we're going to determine if he's going to be the third-base coach or the bench coach," Yost said. "He's performed both of those for me before in Milwaukee and did a heck of a job in both spots."
Yost said the other four coaches -- pitching coach Dave Eiland, hitting coach Pedro Grifol, first-base and outfield coach Rusty Kuntz, and bullpen coach Doug Henry -- would return.
That leaves two positions open. The coaching staff can number seven, but after the departure of interim hitting coach George Brett in late July, there were only six on the full-time staff.
What duties the other two coaches might have was undetermined.
"We'll see," Yost said. "We're working on different scenarios."
Sveum, 49, was the Cubs' manager for the last two years after six years on the Brewers' coaching staff. It was Sveum who became the Brewers' interim manager on Sept. 15, 2008, when Yost was dismissed before the team won the National League Wild Card berth.
Sveum also was a third-base coach for the Boston Red Sox for two years, including their World Series championship season of 2004. He was a Major League infielder for 12 years with the Brewers, Phillies, White Sox, A's, Mariners, Pirates and Yankees, spanning 1986-1998.
"He's a great guy and a great teacher," Yost said. "When I hired him, Robin Yount came with him and Robin told me -- and I didn't know Dale -- that he'd be the best coach you ever had, and he was right. He was phenomenal, he was on top of everything, paid attention to the detail, was a tremendous teacher and helped develop all those young infielders over there. Did a great job in everything I asked him to do."
Rodriguez, 54, was on the Royals' coaching staff for five years. Cadahia, 55, was the bench coach for the last two years but missed the last month of this season because of a family matter.
The Royals began the season with Jack Maloof as hitting coach and Andre David as his assistant, but they were dismissed on May 30 when Brett and Grifol took their spots. This was the first year that the Royals had two hitting coaches on the staff.


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A Regional Strategy for Technology Training
by Fred D. BaldwinPhoto Gallery
Stephen Tate, a 26-year-old ex-Marine, takes courses in computer networking at the Kingsport, Tennessee, Regional Center for Applied Technology (RCAT), a branch of Northeast State Technical Community College. He completes a substantial part of his course assignments online, working from home rather than a classroom.
"That's valuable to me," Tate says, "because of my work schedule. I can get an education and at the same time hold a full-time job."
Tate expects to learn enough at RCAT to acquire certifications of expertise from Microsoft, Cisco, and other suppliers of computer software and networking devices. This could mean the difference between a starting rate of $25 per hour and one of $10 per hour. Tate and his wife, Rachel, who's working toward an M.B.A., want very much to stay in the Kingsport area, where other family members live. Someday Tate expects to launch his own technology-related business.
That's exactly the kind of career track the civic and educational leaders who created RCAT hope to encourage. RCAT is the lynchpin of a long-term strategy to keep talented young people in the Kingsport area (Sullivan and Hawkins Counties, near the eastern tip of Tennessee). Improving the overall educational level of the area's labor force and expanding opportunities for job-specific training, especially in technical fields, is expected to make the area more attractive to information-based businesses. Attracting such firms will, in turn, provide job opportunities for graduates of the area's schools.
"It's more than just economic development," says Jeanette Blazier, Kingsport's mayor since 1999 and former director of the region's strategic planning process. "It's demonstrating the care that our community has for our young people. All the statistics point to continuing loss in the manufacturing sector, so we'll have to find other sectors. To do that, we have to have something to offer."
RCAT, which opened to students in 2002, is within walking distance of downtown Kingsport, about 16 miles from the Northeast State Technical Community College main campus. Located in a former warehouse, the center looks cheerfully collegiate behind a new red brick façade. Inside, vinyl tile hallways shine, their brightness softened by pastel walls. Approximately 12,000 square feet of space is divided into four classrooms, three computer labs, offices, and common areas.
RCAT offers courses in three broad areas: computer science and information technology (including programming, networking, and troubleshooting); office administration technology (applications from productivity software suites like Microsoft Office); and business management. One classroom is equipped for distance learning. This allows students at the main Northeast campus and branch campuses in Kingsport and Elizabethton to interact with an instructor and with each other via a large-screen TV.
Part of a Larger Package
While RCAT is an impressive educational resource in its own right, the program can best be understood as part of a package. Several years ago, community leaders decided to face the implications of an unpleasant fact: the area's historically strong manufacturing base was in a steep decline that seemed likely to continue for the foreseeable future, perhaps indefinitely. Kingsport's public school system, widely recognized as one of the best in the state, was placing many of its graduates in first-tier colleges; however, few of these bright young people were returning. These problems and ideas for addressing them were the focus of an "economic summit" convened by Blazier in 1999. The summit brought together over 50 Kingsport-area leaders from local government, business firms, and various educational and service organizations. "We had a consultant come in who said, 'Your demographics look like a Rust Belt city's'," recalls Jeff Fleming, assistant city manager for development. "That's not something a mayor wants to hear, but she and the community were courageous enough to have it said out loud. People had been saying it anyway."
Determined that downward trends would not be accepted as destiny, key decision makers began to think about how to pool their resources.
The city of Kingsport decided to increase its financial support, channeled through the local chamber of commerce, for encouraging outside businesses to consider the advantages of locating in the area. Everyone realized, however, that effective marketing would depend on having something exciting to market.Northeast State Technical Community College could offer education and training expertise, and its president, William Locke, was committed to establishing a campus in Kingsport. Locke knew what many in the area had not yet recognized: that a high school diploma was no longer sufficient for getting a good job in industry. "The message we're trying to get across to people, by the 11th grade or earlier," Locke says, "is to get in the front door [of industrial firms] you've got to step it up and take courses more difficult than those you're taking now. That won't guarantee they'll hire you, but you can't get in the front door if you don't have training beyond high school."
In support of that message, the city of Kingsport agreed to launch "Educate and Grow," a remarkable program embodying the message to individual young people and to the community as a whole. Under this program, Kingsport, soon joined by Sullivan County, decided to offer a scholarship at Northeast to any local high school graduate who met the college's entrance requirements. The program was developed by Kingsport in early 2001, and the first scholarships were awarded in the fall of that year. The Sullivan County commissioners then approved a resolution appropriating $200,000 for county-wide support during the 2001–2002 school year (a level of support continued for the 2002–2003 and 2003–2004 school years.) The exact amount of the scholarships varies each year, depending on the number of qualified applicants. The scholarships currently pay about 70 percent of full tuition.
Under Educate and Grow, students can complete a two-year associate's degree or earn some credits for transfer to a four-year college. In effect, the two local governments have expanded a conventional K–12 public school program to a K–14 program, with the final two post-secondary years being optional. This approach may be unique in the nation. Kingsport Times-News publisher Keith Wilson, one of the economic summit organizers, says that the idea for Educate and Grow won remarkably prompt acceptance.
"We wouldn't blink an eye about paying somebody that amount to locate an industry here," Wilson says. "But you can't get a high-tech, or even a low-tech, plant without people who have the necessary skill sets. You have to have both. So we made the connection. Let's invest in the people and see if that will help bring the industry in."
Finally, Kingsport could offer a potential site for the Northeast branch campus. A few years earlier, the Tennessee Department of Transportation had indicated that funds were available to build a bus terminal to help Kingsport develop a public transit system. The city's Board of Mayor and Aldermen, rather than applying immediately for a grant, established a few trial routes to test public demand for the service. When demand materialized as expected, the city decided to accept a private owner's offer to sell a warehouse complex adjacent to the proposed terminal site. The purchase price for the old building would be about half the cost of building a new terminal. However, renovation costs would be substantial, and state funds for terminal construction had dried up. Nevertheless, the building combined a good location with 16,000 square feet of floor space, three times the amount needed to shelter the city's buses.
A Sound Investment
Clear evidence that so many key local players were acting in concert helped persuade federal agencies that RCAT would be a sound investment. The city, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), the Economic Development Administration, and the U.S. Department of Transportation together contributed over $1.1 million for renovating the building (with approximately one-third of its space to be used for a bus terminal and the remainder for RCAT). The ARC funds were used mainly to equip RCAT with computing and telecommunications technology.
RCAT opened in September 2002, with just over 300 students. A year later enrollment had nearly doubled. Robin Dice, RCAT's director, says that about half of these students are recent high school graduates and half are non-traditional students returning for more education. Some are coming back to school after years of working at manufacturing jobs that no longer exist locally; others are simply trying to upgrade their employability.
Currently, well over 100 students are receiving Educate and Grow scholarships. That number might be larger, but Northeast first determines whether applicants are eligible for other sources of help, such as Pell Grants. Publicity about the program has yielded an unanticipated bonus for a number of Kingsport households with family members employed at modest salaries. Locke explains that parents in these households often assume, incorrectly, that they earn too much to qualify for financial aid. Because Educate and Grow has no income eligibility requirements, students from these families apply and often learn that they qualify for other assistance—sometimes receiving help during the full four years of college.
RCAT continues to experiment with applications of technology for self-directed learning. Faculty member Mike Spradlin proudly introduces TOM (training online manager) and SAM (student assessment manager), software that enables students to practice course modules and monitor their progress—from anywhere, including home. "For routine instruction," Spradlin says, "the computer probably does better than I do. It's more patient. And it frees the teacher to really teach."
In addition to coursework toward degree requirements, RCAT provides on-demand training for industry, a part of the program that is expected to grow. Dice says that RCAT offers "three T's: training, technology, and transportation" (convenient bus service at bargain prices). She could add a fourth "T," for "toddlers." A day-care center located around the corner from RCAT offers a needs-based sliding-fee scale for RCAT students with young children.
Looking ahead, Ray Griffin, Kingsport's city manager, mentions plans to position Kingsport in the minds of industry as a "center of performance excellence," built on expertise and experience in meeting international quality management standards. He also describes cultural initiatives to make the area highly attractive, part of a strategy to build "civic capital." These ideas mesh with plans that Northeast president Locke sketches out for what sounds like an expanded version of RCAT, which may include cooperative efforts between Northeast and a four-year college.
No one suggests that any of this will be easy. Kingsport's young people are being told in no uncertain terms that the levels of education that once served as entry tickets to well-paying manufacturing jobs now won't even get them interviews for those jobs. RCAT students like Stephen Tate also know that merely accumulating post-high school credit hours won't be enough to earn technical certifications from firms like Microsoft and Cisco, which administer their own difficult exams. Finally, Kingsport leaders know that a long history of losing talented young people won't be reversed overnight.
Nevertheless, everyone sounds confident. "I know what it takes to succeed," Tate says. That sums up Kingsport's attitude as it plans for a rust-free future.
Fred D. Baldwin is a freelance writer based in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.


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Major road projects planned in Rockford
ROCKFORD – If you like sequels, you'll love next year's construction season.
Crews will continue widening the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway to three lanes in each direction through Rockford. Traffic won't be restricted during peak hours next year, it'll just shift to the shoulders and slow down. The project will finish in 2009.
Further south on Interstate 39, the northbound bridge over the Kishwaukee River will be replaced, replicating the project that replaced the southbound bridge this year. In this case, traffic will be cut to one lane in each direction.
The third big project planned is the two-year reconstruction of the Cherry Valley interchange on the tollway. The tollbooth will be removed and the curve we be replaced with a less severe one.
The current curve is designed for traffic coming out of a toll plaza, not traffic slowing from highway speed, said tollway spokeswoman Joelle McGinnis. This will allow vehicles to move faster and more safely through the former plaza, she said.
Besides those projects, next year will include another spate of bridge repairs through the Illinois Department of Transportation, mainly along the U.S. 20 bypass.
IDOT will also continue to widen Kishwaukee Street in Rockford and widen the intersection of Illinois 173 and Belvidere Road.
By next spring, transportation officials will have more smaller projects scheduled for the region, including their paving plans.
And wait for 2009, when the Cherry Valley interchange will be closed and traffic will be detoured off the tollway. At the same time, the tollway widening will enter its third year.
Would that make it a trilogy?
Springfield clinic open to saving Lincoln-era home
SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield Clinic is facing increasing pressure not to demolish the Lincoln-era Maisenbacher Antiques building and is in discussions with Michael Dunbar to preserve it.
"They (Springfield Clinic administrators) want to come up with some kind of solution as much as we do. We're exploring a whole bunch of different options," Dunbar said last week. "They've given us an extension on the deadline for demolition as long as we're working in good faith.
"We're waiting for people to get back to us with different bits of information that
will go into parts of the solution."
Dunbar, an artist and sculptor who was the first president of the fundraising group that ultimately moved and restored the Iles House, Springfield's oldest home, said he is working with that foundation on the project.
"I am working as a historic preservationist who's had success in the past," Dunbar
Mark Kuhn, chief administrative officer for the clinic, would only say that the clinic has postponed demolition plans while talking to interested parties about moving the house.
The clinic bought the house, whose construction was funded by Abraham Lincoln, and applied for a demolition permit in late October. It has not said what it intends to do with the property, although widespread speculation is that it wants to turn it into a parking lot.
Durbin says parents should check before they buy
SPRINGFIELD – Before parents start checking off items on their children's holiday wish lists, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin recommends a visit to the Consumer Product Safety Commission Web site.
The site at www.cpsc.gov provides a list of hundreds of hazardous toys being pulled from store shelves.
But the list is in no way complete, Durbin says. Investigations by newspapers and private groups continue to find more products with dangers, such as lead paint and loose magnets, that haven't made the official recall lists.
A large part of the problem is inadequate staffing at the commission, where one employee is responsible for testing every toy imported in America with testing devices that are "few" and "primitive," Durbin said.
"At the federal level, we need a much more aggressive effort to protect consumers," the Senate's No. 2 Democrat told reporters during a Sunday news conference at his Springfield home.
The answer could lie in legislation that would increase the CPSC's funding and improve its regulatory practices, which Durbin hopes will pass when Congress reconvenes after the Thanksgiving recess.
"It's going to create new opportunities for the Consumer Product Safety Commission to be larger, fully staffed and be able to respond to the needs for American consumers, not just when it comes to toys but all kinds of products," Durbin said.
Winter Wonderland all lit up for visitors
EAST PEORIA – East Peoria's Festival of Lights' Winter Wonderland opened for the 23rd year on Sunday, giving Peoria area residents a chance to stare at intricately lighted displays from the warmth of their car.
The two-mile drive through the electrified park showcases huge lighted animals, houses, cars, holiday images and pop culture icons.
Winter Wonderland is open every night through New Year's Eve except on Christmas Day. Gates are open from 5 to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 5 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Admission is $10 per
car and more for other vehicles.
This year the festival is staffed by volunteers from community organizations and businesses during the entire festival, said Jill Peterson, public relations coordinator for the city of East Peoria. In past years, most nights were staffed by volunteering city employees.
She said that, originally, the festival was going to be a one-time-only event but was turned into an annual tradition because of public enthusiasm.
For the fourth time, the festival was named one of the top 100 events in North America by the American Business Association.
Two armed, masked men rob market in South Peoria
PEORIA – Police continue to search for suspects in an armed robbery that occurred at a South Peoria market on Saturday night.
Two men – one wearing a white mask, the other a black mask – entered South Metro Market, 2421 W. Starr St., shortly before 9 p.m., announced they were conducting a hold-up and ordered everyone on the ground.
Owner Bader A. Qattum told police about five customers were in the store at the time when the men, one armed with a knife and the other with a handgun, approached the cash register and demanded money. Qattum gave them about $800, as well as his wallet. Another employee also gave the suspects his wallet. The wallets had a combined $170.
Officers brought in a police dog but couldn't locate the robbers.
Peoria woman charged for alleged hit and run
PEORIA – A Peoria woman who hit a pedestrian and left the scene on Friday was arrested a few hours later and booked on a charge of felony hit and run with injury.
Helen A. Wright, 39, of 2127 W. Dakota St. allegedly hit Ryan Moredock, 40, of 1333 N. Bourland Ave. and drove away about 10:30 p.m. Friday in the 900 block of South Western Avenue.
Moredock was transported to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center with a broken leg. He was listed in fair condition on Sunday night.
He was crossing Western to talk to Wright when she pulled away from the curb and struck him, according to police reports.
Wright was arrested at her home a few hours later. She told police she dropped off Moredock after they fought. When he came running toward her car, she pulled away and he struck the front of it. She said she drove away because she was scared.
State Briefs: 11/28/07
Major road projects planned in Rockford


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The State of Our Union: Turning Hope into Action
Full Text Speech of Dennis Van Roekel's Keynote Speech at the 2010 Representative Assembly
July 3, 2010
Hello NEA! Welcome to New Orleans! To the warm and wet weather and the gracious residents.
And thank you to the Louisiana Association of Educators for their incredible hospitality.
You know, this has been a pretty tough year. I can tell you there is no group of people with whom I would rather be today than you – the delegates to the 2010 Representative Assembly.
As I was preparing for this, our first business session, I re-read the speech I gave last year – and I realized that the feelings I was experiencing that day in San Diego were as meaningful as the words I was speaking. And I know that many of you shared those feelings.
It was just six months since the historic inauguration of our new President of the United States. Like so many of you — and like so many across America – I was still inspired by the election and all the change it promised.
I talked about an eagerness to take on new responsibilities, our goals to transform public education, and our commitment to rebuild America's middle class through a strong and vibrant labor movement.
I talked about "hope" – hope that every student in America could attend a great public school.
I talked about opportunity and possibility.
Oh, we were ready for change. We were ready to leave No Child Left Behind behind us forever! We were poised for four years of positive and creative collaboration.
Oh, we were ready for change, and we had hope.
Well . . . a few things got in the way of that hope and the change.
How could any of us have known how deep and long the economic crisis would be and its devastating impact on our students, our members, and our schools?
Who could have anticipated the freefall of confidence in American institutions -- from Congress to business to government at all levels?
None of that was in the promise of change.
Nor did I anticipate, as one writer called it, "the rage in America," –the divisiveness, and the way the politics of anger distorted the politics of promise.
And now – America faces an uncertain future, one with intolerable consequences for its students and the very fabric of our system of public education.
We see those consequences in New Jersey where an out-of-control, arrogant governor is destroying one of the finest systems of public education in the country by cutting more than 800 million dollars in school aid while he gives millionaires a tax break!
We see the consequences in California where $4 billion in cuts will result in 20,000 lost jobs, doubling of class size, closing of elementary school libraries, and eliminating art, music, and PE in scores of schools.
We see those consequences in massive cuts in higher education at a time when more students than ever want to attend college.
We see those consequences with cuts in the ranks of our ESP members whose jobs are essential to students in every school in America.
We see those consequences affecting nearly 300,000 public school employees who could be losing their jobs because Congress still hasn't finished passing the Education Jobs bill.
That same Congress bailed out Wall Street and the "too big to fail banks." They saved the auto industry; and they even allowed the very CEOs -- whose greed caused these crises -- to walk away with their pockets bulging.
If ever there was evidence of upside-down priorities – this is it! This is an upside-down priority.
The first hurdle was passed on Thursday when the House passed the jobs bill. And it passed because of you. It's because you made thousands of calls, sent thousands of letters, and bombarded your representatives with e-mails.
And we owe a special nod to Congressman David Obey of Wisconsin for his leadership. But, the Senate still needs to act.
We see too many members like Gina Frutig, a single mother of two, who was a fourth-grade teacher in the Durham, North Carolina, Public Schools. I say, "was" because Gina is one of the many teachers who is now unemployed.
In late April, she was told that her contract would not be renewed.
She told her story to the North Carolina legislature and to the U.S. Congress, and I want to share some of what Gina told them.
"My own family is feeling the economic pinch, but this crisis is bigger than us. Budget cuts mean that my fourth-grade students will be in classes that are 50 percent larger when they return to school in the fall.
"As a teacher, I know overcrowded classes mean less attention for each student; as a parent, I am worried that my children will lose ground academically.
"I know that budgets have priorities. I understand priorities … My students need me in the classroom, my own children need me providing food and shelter for them, and I need YOU to make ME a priority."
Gina, you and thousands like you should be a priority in every state.
But, in states like Louisiana, Colorado, and Florida, some policymakers propose laws that disrespect educators and trample employee rights and then call it education reform.
In nearly every state, our pensions are under attack. Forces are at work telling governors and state legislators that public school employees should be denied pension plans because they are making us rich!
Rich? I mean, really! Is being middle class now the definition of rich in America? No. And I'll tell you, like me, our members are flat-out angry with state and local officials who accept no responsibility for the roles they play.
We're tired of the casual way too many armchair politicians and pundits blame teachers and our unions for every problem in a school and label all public schools bad, regardless of what is working and regardless of the facts.
So I have a question for you ... is this the change you hoped for? Is this the change you wanted? No!
Plain and simple, this is not what we hoped for or what I hoped for.
Today, our members face the most anti-educator, anti-union, anti-student environment that I have ever experienced.
The unfounded attacks on our salaries, pensions, rights, credentials, schools, and students are out of control, and, yes, our members are angry, and I'm angry, too!
We hoped for a federal government that would create programs to help students in need.
And what did we get? We got Race to the Top!
What a challenge that has been! What a challenge that has been!
Our affiliates have responded in the best possible way. Delaware and Tennessee were among the affiliates at the table to shape their states' proposals. But other states were absolutely shut out of the process.
So the result is, too many states are getting nothing; too many students are getting nothing. And that's just not the way it ought to be.
We are not alone in our criticism of Race to the Top. Voices of opposition are coming from more than just educators.
Recently, the National Council of Churches of Christ, with a membership of 45 million people, sent a letter to President Obama and Congress, expressing deep concern about the priorities of Race to the Top.
The letter criticizes the administration's efforts to push states to increase the number of charter schools, its punitive approach to dealing with low-performing schools, and the "ugly" demonization of public school teachers.
While we applaud the administration for its commitment to fund education, our members are frustrated by the disconnect between what they need each day to support their students and the federal policies that hold up struggling students as "products to be tested."
And then there is the School Improvement Grant program. In truth, the money attached to this program is vital to our at-risk students.
But why deliver Race To The Top, School Improvement Grants or any federal program in ways that incite chaos in the states, give insufficient time to plan, challenge our contracts, ignore state laws, and cause the teachers in Central Falls, Rhode Island and Beach High School in Georgia to be fired? Who in the world will be the next ones to be victims of this kind of law?
During the presidential campaign, candidate Obama said that teachers should not be forced to spend the year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests and that students deserve to learn in an individualized manner.
We agreed with that statement when we went to the polls, and we agree with that statement today. Mr. President, your instincts were right – the path your advisors have laid out is not!
We got a system that creates too few winners and far too many losers. Our members feel betrayed – and so do I!
I've had enough of a system where some schools have fabulous, meaningful programs – and some don't.
I've had enough of being told to do more with less.
And I've had enough of the fixation on standardized tests and making them the sole measure of a student's learning and a teacher's worth.
Too many people call this change – well, I demand a different kind of change!
I want us to build from our extraordinary history and the amazing talents of our members. I want to move past just fighting bad ideas, spending millions of dollars on ballot measures, and stopping lousy legislation only to define victory as staying where we are. The status quo is not acceptable!
I won't settle for just for fighting the good fight.
And I'm not willing to settle for just holding the line.
I want more.
I demand more from our policy makers!
I want us to look at this moment and say we saw the opportunity and we seized it.
I want us to help make public schools better, keep more students in school, and make this union stronger.
My fellow NEA members ... the time to turn hope into action is now!
WE are the people who can stop this madness! WE are the people who can make all public schools great!
Despite the attacks against us as professionals and as union members … despite the outrageous rhetoric against us … despite the slashing of funding for our schools … I tell you without hesitation that the state of our union is strong. Oh, we are strong.
We might be having a tough time this year with layoffs and loss of funding for schools, but let me just put this in perspective....
In the last 26 years, NEA has grown ... just a little ...
Our K-12 professional membership has increased by 48 percent!
Higher ed by 158 percent.
Student members by 191 percent.
Retired educators by 605 percent, and
ESPs by a phenomenal 960 percent!
Over the past 26 years, NEA's membership has grown by 1.6 million members ... by 103 percent ... to 3.2 million members!
So yes, fellow delegates, the state of our union is strong!
We are unified; we make a difference every day; we know which programs work and which programs are garbage!
We know who supports our goals and our schools, and we are ready to be their partners.
And let me be clear. To the politicians, foundations, and community leaders out there, I say: if you respect our members and their rights as professionals, if you want to work with us and not against us, if you share our genuine commitment to fulfill the promise of public education for every student, you will never have better friends to do in the work to improve public schools than the leaders and 3.2 million members of the NEA.
Yes, the state of our union is strong ... so let us be strong! Let's use ALL the tools we have to transform the American system of public education. Let's combine the incredible skills we have at our disposal and make sure every community in America has great public schools.
Let's do what we do best – let's take back our place as America's educational leaders!
Let's create our moment!
We've done it before, and we can do it again.
Throughout our 153-year history, we've had game-changing moments. Our predecessors didn't wait for the perfect moment. They created their own moment.
The Wisconsin Education Association Council leaders created their moment in 1959 when they secured the nation's first collective bargaining law.
NEA leaders created one of their finest moments in 1966 when they embraced racial equality and merged with the American Teachers Association.
And NEA created the moment in 1972 when we decided to become actively involved in political action.
And in 1980, NEA created a stellar moment when we granted full membership rights to education support professionals and welcomed them into our union.
My friends, let's make 2010 our moment.
Let's speak up. Let's take action. Let's fight for the students of America.
I'm ready to take any risk, walk any path, and partner with anyone who believes in America's public schools.
I believe in the NEA. I believe in the strength of our 3.2 million members. And I believe that together we can do anything we put our minds to. And it's time for us to take charge of the agenda.
Every day in cities and small towns across the country, I know you are working your hearts out to help students – and I know how especially difficult it is in low-performing schools. I know the challenges you face. And I know that you should not have to do that alone.
I'm proud that – thanks to actions taken by the Representative Assembly last year – NEA members and leaders all across the country are involved in our Priority Schools Campaign – a national grassroots effort of our members to help students in low-performing schools stay in school and succeed.
If we work together, we can open opportunities for tens of thousands of students – day by day, one building at a time, and one student at a time. WE can seize the moment …WE can transform schools…WE can turn hope into action.
Reach out to others in your community and ask them to take the pledge to help students succeed.
We're reaching out right here in New Orleans!
Right next door to this arena is the fabulous Essence Festival.
And our student NEA members are there asking visitors to make the pledge to join NEA's Priority Schools Campaign … and they are signing up!
We know that while we can perform miracles each day, we cannot overcome all the effects of poverty. We know that we need others to join with us and lend a hand to help students succeed.
We need to find new ways to bring families into our circle of partners. Our ESP members are absolute geniuses at organizing. So I'm calling on all ESP members to help us make the circle of partners even larger.
And we're reaching out to collaborate with partners who can help with programs, support, and resources.
Across the country, NEA is working with community leaders and businesses – like AT&T and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America – to bring change to these schools and together create a new future for the students in those classrooms.
And that new future will begin in September when we host a National Summit on Family, School, and Community Engagement.
This Summit will bring to one table national leaders of education, faith-based, civil rights, and social service groups to figure out how together we can do a better job keeping kids in school and keeping families engaged with their schools.
Yes, it's true; it does take a village – so we are creating a village of leaders who will devote their energies to developing positive programs.
We must also use our collective strength to bring about changes on the national level.
Reauthorization of ESEA is right around the corner – and there is no time to lose.
We must not allow another bad ESEA. Because if they take the old NCLB -- fancy it up and call it the "new" ESEA -- I think we ought to call it TNT and blow the damn thing apart!
Let's make it right!
Delegates: Tomorrow morning in your state caucuses, I'm asking you to seize the moment and turn hope into action by sending a clear and concise message to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
Waiting for each of you will be postcards on which I am asking you to write three things you don't want in the new ESEA and three things that must be included.
We will deliver all nine thousand postcards to the Secretary of Education. I'm also asking every state president to plan and implement a day of action between now and the end of September to send a message to Congress.
Think about it ... there are only 535 of them ... 100 in the Senate and 435 in the House of Representatives… and they are the ones who will decide what happens to ESEA.
Do the math ... there are 3.2 million of us … 535 of them. That's 6,000 NEA members for each member of Congress. I say we can and we will influence the outcome of this debate.
Between now and the end of September, imagine you and thirty of your best friends arriving at your Senator's district office, maybe with coffee and donuts and announcing to the receptionist, "Hi, we're here to see our Senator! We have a few ideas of our own we'd like to share about ESEA."
Imagine every Representative getting hundreds of e-mails every single day.
And then, imagine this happening in every state – in every Congressional district – can you hear the conversations at their lunch tables when they get back after recess?
But I'm not telling you how to do it or what to do. You know what works best in your state – you develop the plan.
State presidents: I am asking each of you to seize the moment and take action. ESEA will be voted on soon. Be creative – find a way to impact all 535 members of Congress by the end of September.
Speak up ... tell Congress that the reauthorization of ESEA should include real funding and not require us to compete for resources.
Tell them that ESEA should be based on good policies for students and educators– policies that meet the needs of every student and that close achievement gaps.
Tell them that ESEA should scrap AYP – and instead – actually support student learning!
And tell them to replace NCLB's mind-numbing, high stakes, pass-fail testing system with a system of multiple measures and a focus on student growth!
Now I know that some of you are thinking that politicians are the last people you want to talk to right now. I know that you are disappointed and angry – that you feel betrayed by some of the people we helped elect to office.
Some have even suggested to me that it's time for us to really "show them" – time to "teach 'em a lesson" – that we ought to stop engaging in politics and sit out the 2010 election. It would definitely mean a lot less work for all of us, and we'd save lots of money.
But my friends, if we are not activists in politics, we will be the victims of politics.
Who will speak for education if it is not us? Will the scenario be better or worse -- for America's students, for America's educators, for America herself if we sit on the sidelines and refuse to participate?
We simply cannot sit it out ... there is too much at stake.
But make no mistake. I'm talking about standing up for those political leaders who stand up for us, those who have proven their words with their deeds.
But to elected leaders who do not fight for students and great public schools – I say -- do not take us for granted.
Let us seize the moment with me and create a scenario that will work for us and not against us.
Let's take responsibility for what will be.
Let's make a pledge to ourselves to help create a school system that involves the whole child, the whole family, and the whole community.
Let's break the mold and embark on a new course that requires the courage to do things differently.
Let's demand the right to be the ones in charge.
Let's be willing to question the status quo – and that means questioning our own status quo.
It's been said, "Our lives improve only when we take chances. And the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves."
So let's be honest and ask the tough questions.
If we are angry about what others do to us and how they do it, if we believe that those who are on the front lines know better than those shouting from the outside, then shouldn't we figure out how to take charge of our profession?
Imagine going beyond just "being at the table" to running the meeting.
This isn't just some pipe dream.
Today, I am taking on the future of our profession.
Today, I'm creating our next moment.
I am calling for the creation of the NEA Commission on Effective Teachers and Teaching.
I am calling for this Commission to wrestle with the critical issues facing our profession.
I want its members to focus on the professional practices that make a difference in student learning.
The Commission should tackle the questions that have been avoided for far too long.
How can we better lead our own profession?
What would the profession look like if we—the union—actually controlled teacher training … induction and licensure … evaluation and professional development? How do we ensure that all teachers are prepared to enter the profession and then are supported, especially in their first years?
The Commission will issue a public report on how teachers can take greater authority over their profession, the quality of teaching, and quality of public schools. From that report, NEA will offer recommendations to the RA next summer.
My fellow delegates, you, and our members around the country have talents and creativity beyond compare.
You have the energy and instincts to create a new system of public education.
Four years ago, we adopted a new vision, mission, and core values that speak to the heart of who we are and why we exist.
We reaffirmed our role as advocates for our members – knowing that by advocating for our members, we are advocating for our students in every public school in America.
Our mission calls for forming a more perfect union, not just among NEA members, but for our nation as a whole … to unite NEA members and our nation to fulfill the promise of public education... to prepare every student to succeed.
Ours is a powerful mission – one that calls upon each of us to be leaders in fulfilling that promise – and it is worthy of our long history as stewards of public education.
I ask you to seize this moment and focus our energy on the next generation of America's public schools.
This is our moment to create models that will work in schools across the country – models that can be adapted to fit the unique communities in which we work.
I know that you are already creating new and exciting models that can be replicated across the nation.
Don't keep them a secret!
Let's throw open the doors to every school and every classroom – we are not afraid – and tell everyone they are welcome to come in and see what extraordinary miracles we perform every day!
And let me be the first to issue an invitation to the naysayers who accuse us of being obstructionists and defenders of the status quo.
To each of them I say, instead of telling the public that our system of public education is failing; instead of telling parents that the best schools can only be charter schools; instead of threatening my colleagues and linking their futures to a series of meaningless, fill-in-the-bubbles tests!
Instead I say ... Come to Oklahoma, to Putnam City West HS, where the staff and union boosted the Hispanic students' graduation rate by 70 percent.
Come to Evansville, Indiana, where the administrators and union launched an equity schools project that transforms schools through real professional development.
To those critics I say come with me to Denver, Colorado, where teachers, the union, and parents work together on the Math and Science Leadership Academy.
Come with me from California to Connecticut, from Alaska to Alabama! Come with me to every state and see what we are doing in America's public schools.
Talk to us. Listen to us. Collaborate with us.
Seize the moment!
Theodore Roosevelt once said to the American people, "We have too much to do to sit on the sidelines. We need you to step out of the gray twilight into the bright sunshine so that we can all see the dawn of a new day."
So today I am asking each of you to come with me into the bright sunshine and take action ... speak up for public education, for students, and for yourself. Be proud of your profession and support your union.
I'm asking you to seize the moment!
To all the local presidents in this hall I say ... have the courage to challenge the status quo. Bring together your most trusted colleagues and those who challenge you at every turn.
Delegates, change is often a frightening thing, but remember – you are never alone – you are a member of the National Education Association.
Real change starts with those who lead and we are those leaders.
Our job as NEA leaders is to empower our members.
Our job is to lead the change we want to see in our schools.
Our job is to create the future we believe in!
I've talked about our vision of great public schools for every student. I've called for action, from post cards to rallies. And I've called for us to take charge of our profession.
Remember . . .
"Vision without action is merely a dream.
Action without vision just passes the time.
But vision with action can change the world."
My fellow NEA members ...
Now is the time to create the future for our profession...
Now is the time to change the world for our students...
Now is the time to turn hope into action.
We are the ones -- this is our moment.
We are the NEA!
Thank you, delegates.
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The gift for a first wedding anniversary is paper. Prince William and Catherine Middleton, who were wed one year ago on April 29, are flipping that tradition by generating paper, be it U.S. dollars, Euro notes or British pounds, as even a year later their storybook union ignites consumer interest.
More than 23 million people in the U.S. tuned in to watch the 2011 royal wedding between William, 29, and Kate, 30, who became the newly titled Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Handsome yet unassuming, William is second in line to the throne of the British monarchy. Fresh-faced, lovely but approachable, she is a former accessory buyer at a clothing chain-store and the daughter of self-made multi-millionaires.
"It's a wonderful modern fairy tale," says Us Weekly executive editor Albert Lee of the allure the couple hold. "It's a great feel-good story with no villains."
U.S. & World
And a feel-good story that has been a boon to businesses as diverse as tourism, publishing and fashion design.
"The number one driver for American travelers to Britain is history and heritage," says Meredith Pearson, VisitBritain's public relations director. "The royal family represents that living history and this new generation of royals are making themselves so much more accessible. They do a lot for us in showcasing modern Britain. [The wedding] was a real gift to tourism and interest hasn't let up since."
So far so good: Britain experienced just under 12 million tourist visits in 2011, with visitors from the U.S.A. making up 2.8 million of that number – an increase over the previous year of 5% according to VisitBritain. The U.S. accounts for 9% of all inbound visits to the U.K., with American tourists being the biggest spenders while in the country - to the tune of $3.8 billion in 2011.
VisitBritain plans to build on those numbers in 2012, a year which will see England host not only the wedding anniversary, but the London 2012 Olympic Games, World Gay Pride and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, a celebration of Elizabeth II's 60-year reign.
"Our whole marketing strategy was to really capitalize on these unprecedented events that only come along once in a generation," said Pearson. "The fact that it is all in one summer is huge, and then along came this announcement back in November 2010 that there was going to be a royal wedding.
"What that did was kick-start everything – it opened doors for us to begin talking about all of the other great things happening in Britain a little bit earlier. And when the 2012 events are done, the Duke and Duchess will still be there."
On the newsstand, they are ubiquitous. "William and Kate have become absolutely vital as cover subjects," says Us Weekly's Lee, who has featured the pair (together and alone) on the cover seven times in the past twelve months. The magazine has also released three separate, special issues soley concerned with their wedding and first year as a married couple.
"When you cover the world of celebrity you are looking for dynamic couples," says Lee. "And when it comes to celebrity duos there are very few that we are on a first name basis with. Brad and Angelina, Will and Jada, Tom and Katie and now you have Will and Kate, who stand head and shoulders with all of those Hollywood couples."
Us Weekly's royal wedding issue sold more than 900,000 copies, a 40% increase over average single issue sales according to AdWeek. People magazine's wedding issue sold 2.2 million copies with Kate and William continuing to be a winner for the magazine with the recent "Is She Pregnant" issue selling just under 1.2 million copies in early April. Such numbers are high points in a market that has recently witnessed year-on-year sales declines.
"They have become one of the staples of the celebrity magazine industry," adds Lee, "because readers find them fascinating. It doesn't hurt of course that Kate is incredibly stylish."
Dubbed the Duchess Effect, Kate Middleton has become a sartorial icon in the period following her nuptials, and her impact on the business of fashion retailing cannot be underestimated. Her choice of outfit is as discussed, obsessed-over and copied perhaps more than any other international celebrity.
"The first thing that attracted young women to her is that here was a princess-to-be and she is going out in a dress from Reiss that they all recognize," says Hal Rubenstein, fashion director of In Style magazine. "Not only do they recognize the dress, it's available online."
When Middleton wore a $340 camel-hued dress from the Brit fashion chain to meet the President and first lady last May, the garment sold out. The family-owned retailer's operating profits almost doubled in 2011 according to business filings in the U.K.
"You also see her wear clothes more than once," added Rubenstein. "Women feel that she actually goes into a wardrobe and chooses what to wear rather than grabbing something off of a rack the way most actresses do for a red carpet."
L.K. Bennett, another England-based, high-street fashion chain the Duchess favors, opened stores in Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, Hackensack, N.J., and New York in 2012. As for the impact that Middleton has had on sales for the company, Tony DiMasso, the label's U.S. president told NBC that, "Obviously we are flattered. She has been an amazing ambassador for the brand. But we don't disclose information about our customers."
That said, it would be hard to deny the effect Middleton has had on word-of-mouth marketing for the brand.
Comparisons between Middleton and the late Princess Diana naturally surfaced around the wedding. But when it comes to dressing, Rubenstein says the Duchess is in a class of her own. "We are in a much more media-savvy age and Kate is very aware of her position. Her clothes are refined, yet urbane. In terms of style, Diana never really hit her stride until after her divorce from Charles."
Alexander McQueen, the label behind Middleton's detailed lace wedding dress, has also revealed expansion plans stateside. And while the Gucci Group (who owns the brand) does not list individual sales results, their luxury division – in which McQueen sits alongside Gucci, Balenciaga and other high-end designer brands - reported a 22.6 increase in revenue for 2011 according to Forbes.
When quizzed about the McQueen bridal gown and the lingering effect it has had on style, Rubenstein notes that, "Bridal dresses – particularly in America – have been strapless, strapless, strapless. Now everything is about lace sleeves, and it didn't come from nowhere. It came from that dress."
So will we see more Brit brands cashing in on the Duchess Effect?
"It's already happening," said Rubenstein, citing other Middleton-approved labels: "Just in terms of red carpet alone, there are more American stars wearing Jenny Packham and Alice Temperley than I have ever seen before, and that will generate more sales in this country. Erdem has a much higher profile than it did a year ago."
"We really can't get enough," says Lee of the continuing obsession and subsequent marketability of William and Kate. "And just wait until she gets pregnant. You think you are interested now - it's only just begun."


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TITLE: abuse devotional
By Jacky Hughes
by Jacky Hughes
I have wanted to write this devotional for a long time. I hope those who have never had to cope with abuse issues in their lives will bear with me and gain something from this week. For several years I have been involved in helping with a website which caters for those who have either been abused or who have been abusive; both are welcome, as long as they are looking For support and healing and there has always been a Christian section to the board, which I have been able to develop for those who find that relevant. For anyone who has suffered emotional or verbal abuse, or who has codependency issues, though the content of the board is not written from a Christian point of view; the information on
drirene's site
is very relevant, and read with the Holy Spirit illuminating what is relevant, can be very helpful.
I have also had the privelege of speaking to a fair number women who have started to recover from sexual abuse. Some of these have been so wounded that they have developed a series of personalities to cope with the painful triggers in life. Learning of the difficulties these women have in finding understanding counsel, and healing has been sad to say the least. It is an area that neither the church or the world seems to understand, and rarely are the medical and spiritual aspects of healing combined with understanding. The good news is that although not directly involved, except in prayer, I have seen some of these women change and heal in the name of Jesus.
I wanted to write a devotional that brings the Compassoin of Jesus to the forefront. In seeking healing, many of the women I have talked to, whatever type of abuse (and usually there is an element of them all, involved in some way, have not found that the church has fully understood their situation. Forgiveness and submission are often confused by spiritual counsellors To the extent where the abuse is prolonged, and sometimes supported, sometimes leaving women in very real danger of physical harm, and emotionally fragile.
To any reading who have suffered any kind of abuse; please do get help. Through prayer, you will find the right people to be with you in your journey and the right church to help you through. It is easy to feel so bad that you never ever tell. You are not meant to live with this kind of continued pain in your life, and Jesus wants to heal you very, very much.
As resources will be different in different areas and countries I have not, apart from Dr Irene's site, included phone mumbers of help lines; but here are some of the resources which helped me on my own road to healing.
I do not want to tell my own story here, this is because I have forgiven those who are still alive and do not want to discredit them publicly. I can tell you that the Lord has done much to heal me particularly of emotional, verbal and spiritual abuse. I see the healing that the Lord brings as a gathering together of the fragments of a shattered glass. Healing comes not just in one clearing up of the larger pieces, but in the finding and clearing of smaller and sharper fragments which can take some time to find and bring to the Lord.
Music can be a very real blessing. Ramy Althea Bakke's CD 'Broken to be a Blessing.' Has brought comfort to many. It can be found at:
Broken To Be A Blessing
As far as books are concerned; then the one that helped me most is written by Reba Rambo Mcguire: It is called 'Follow the Yellow Brick Road,' and follows her own journey with the Lord to healing from sexual, and marital abuse. Here is a link to Reba's first chapter:
Follow The Yellow Brick Road -Chapter 1
Isaiah 53:33-34(Amplified Bible)
He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him.
It is easy to forget that Jesus really did know and experience the depth of suffering that anyone who has been abused, in whatever way, feels. There is nothing at all that we have ever suffered, that Jesus does not know and care about. He knows every little pain and rejection and wound, and because He suffered as he did, there is healing for us in Him.
Very few people get through life without at some time, experiencing pain, and some kind of abuse. It hurts until we can finally lay that pain to rest at the Cross, understanding that Jesus knows every little bit of how we feel.
Although taliking to others about the situation can help, healing only comes when we find the truth of this passage. Jesus has been aquainted with all our sorrows and sufferings more than we can ever know and it is only in Him that we will find someone who truly understands.
Abusive people can steal our self esteem from us, and make us feel worthless. Grief can become like a physical sickness, as often those who abuse are those to whom we would most have wanted to give trust. Jesus felt all this; all the sorrow and pain and He knew there was only one way to gain healing from that pain. He turned always to His Heavenly Father and found His love. To get to know that love we need to talk to Jesus and tell him all about the pain. He is the only one who can not only listen, but also heal.
Mark 3:7-12(Amplified Bible)
7 And Jesus retired with His disciples to the lake, and a great throng from Galilee followed Him. Also from Judea
8 And from Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from about Tyre and Sidon--a vast multitude, hearing all the many things that He was doing, came to Him.
9 And He told His disciples to have a little boat in [constant] readiness for Him because of the crowd, lest they press hard upon Him and crush Him.
10 For He had healed so many that all who had distressing bodily diseases kept falling upon Him and pressing upon Him in order that they might touch Him.
11 And the spirits, the unclean ones, as often as they might see Him, fell down before Him and kept screaming out, You are the Son of God!
12 And He charged them strictly and severely under penalty again and again that they should not make Him known.
What did Jesus do when he was abused? I am sure at this point in time, the crowd had no intention of crushing him; they wanted what he could give too much for that. Jesus was aware that the selfishness of those who sought him might cause them to forget He could be harmed by their very desire to touch him. He had his escape plan ready. He was not going to stay around where he could get hurt. Not yet.
Jesus was at all times, in control of what happened to him. He was going to choose exactly when and where he would allow the full extent of the abuse of man to be shown in all its gory detail. The whole situation never left Jesus' control for a moment. The one thing Jesus never became until he chose that role consciously, and for a purpose, was a victim. Victim mentality is never of God. If we are in Jesus and know our Heavenly Father; then we too have the ability and right to be in control of our situation and it is good and right to do what brings us most peace.
If Jesus could look after his own health and welfare and promote His own safety; then so can we. The time to leave is when you know that you cannot live in peace and when you know that by staying you will not be promoting your own good or that of others.
The demons couldn't help but attack. They, like all abusers, had to have their say. They had to do all they could to torment and disrupt Jesus' life and ministry and all they got for their pains was to be told to "shut up!" He was also prepared to make them suffer for their actions. Jesus didn't waste time trying to convert demons and he didn't waste time trying to help those who did not want help.
Jesus dealt with abuse by turning away and making himself safe from it. If He could do that, then I hope that seeing this truth will help any one who is suffering to feel free to walk away. Many question whether it is God's will to do so. Many are afraid to speak out and many are as a result, living with an oppression that is not of God.
Jesus refused victim mentality. He was never going to give satisfaction to man, or to demons in being cowed under by the power of abuse. He knew his own worth as God's son, and nothing could alter that. He was in control of His own destiny. If we are following Him, then we also can take charge of ours. The only form of control we ever need to accept is that of the Holy Spirit and the will of God for our lives. The will of God is never that we should continue to be abused.
I wonder if there is any person reading who can translate this into action today. "If you hit me I am calling the police." "I am leaving you until I see you have changed your abusive ways." " I am going to make myself physically, emotionally, sexually, and spiritually safe."
John 14:27Ê(Amplified Bible)
27 Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]
Any kind of abuse will bring fear with it. Fear, apart from Godly fear is not of God. We are meant to feel a peace in our hearts.
If situations continue that continually put us 'out of peace' then we are not meant to remain in that situation. Abusive situations can rarely be managed by remaining in peace. Because and abusive person is dominated by the rule of the enemy, satan, and not ruled by God, then an increasing peace in the heart of a believer may well cause them to react more strongly. It becomes an all out battle to destroy Godly peace.
Jesus visited with the ungodly and the abusive; but he did not make his home with him. He always made sure he had a place to return to where there was peace.
Abusive people will find a kind of peace in their abuse, and if they remain able to make someone their victim, then they are likely to justify their actions and not face them. Taking ourselves where we can live in peace can be the very thing that the abuser needs.
If abuse is making you live 'out of the peace of God' then it is time to move away from that situation and trust God that He will work out the changes.
Samuel 13:20 (Amplified Bible)
20 And Absalom her brother said to her, Has your brother Amnon been with you? Be quiet now, my sister. He is your brother; take not this matter to heart. So Tamar dwelt in her brother Absalom's house, a desolate woman.
Matthew 12: 20 (Amplified Bible)
20A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering (dimly burning) wick He will not quench, till He brings [c]justice and a just cause to victory.
Tamar was abused by one of her brothers, Amnon, and yet had to keep living with him in the same house. She needed rescuing, and when she could not stand up for herself, God stepped in. two years later, Amnon lies dead, Absalom, her other brother has ensured that he can no longer violate her, and she is set free from the situation.
There is no need to despair when it seems as if those who abuse us have the upper hand. Jesus is really concerned to bring about healing and restoration, and will not allow the situation to become so impossible we cannot bear it.
If there is difficulty in leaving; to the point where the abused person is held captive, then be encouraged that the Lord is able to sort things out. He knows and he cares for the broken hearted. Even if it seems an impossible situation, God will always make a way through it to allow peace and freedom to the abused person; even if this takes time to achieve.
Put your trust in Him, because He has all things in hand. He will never allow those who abuse and accuse you to get away with it forever. He is concerned for every broken reed.
Anger, bitterness and desolation are all very understandable when those who are abused are broken hearted; but be assurred that Jesus really cares and does not want the situation to carry on. Tamar in telling her brother, may have had to wait for justice, but her openess eventually led to her freedom.
1 Peter 4 (Amplified Bible)
8 Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others].
I want to end this week with forgiveness. Forgiving someone who has literally shattered your heart when you placed your trustI in them is not easy to do. Jesus knows that, and He is ready to help. Often this can only begin by voicing the willingness to go God's way on the matter as an act of will.
Many are afraid of allowing themselves to forgive as they feel it will place them in the position of having to put them in contact with the one who abused them.
Forgiveness and trust are often confused. An abusive person will, unless what they do is dealt with truly and fully at the Cross, repeat the action. Jesus went to the cross once and for all. He did not have to repeat going through that same ordeal. It was done and finished. He forgave on that cross, but it did not alter the plan of God for salvation. The forgivenes is there for all who will receive it and follow Jesus; but it does not alter the fact that some still choose to walk a path that will lead them, ultimately to hell. Jesus did not say that because he had forgiven, the wrong actions of any person could be allowed to continue unchecked.
Forgiveness, because it does lead to a softening of heart, can mean remembering the good times and forgetting the bad. It can mean healing for the wounded spirit. It does not mean walking back, openly into the line of fire physically. Keep the fight in the spiritual realm in prayer and only ever allow that person who so hurt and abused you back into your physical reality in terms of relationship where and when you know you will be safe.
Do however, believe that with prayer much can change. Abusive people are usually those who have been wounded themselves - deeply. They are like animals cornered, lashing out because they have nowhere for the pain they feel inside to go. Jesus weeps for them too. It is possible for any man or woman to be truly born again and renewed.
Lord, I have felt the pain of being abused in the following ways. (List them).................................................
You know what happened and what I suffered because of the abuse done to me by (list them)...............................
I have felt bitter, angry, confused and hurt. I have felt alone. I repent now, of all these feelings, and for my lack of trust in you, and my lack of forgiveness for the ones who abused me, and for those who did not help me when I sought help.
I ask you now to set me free.
I come to you with a willingness to forgive(list all those you need to forgive).................................................
It is hard to do so, and I ask you to help me to forgive in spirit and in truth.
I ask you for wisdom for my situation. Show me the best way, the way that is your will and plan and purpose for this moment in my life. I commit myself to acting on what you tell me to do.
I reaffirm my trust in you. I place myself in your hands for my healing and deliverance.
Thank you Lord. You are my strong deliverer, and by your hand, I know I will be set free and walk in fullness of joy in my life.
In Jesus name I pray.
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Member Comments
Member Date
Joyce Pool 07 Jan 2005
Wow! This is so informative and well written! The time and compassion it must have taken to prepare this will surely bring about a wonderful harvest. I intend to save this page, read it more closely, and take advantage of the links you've provided when time permits. Bless you!
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NSA's Keith Alexander Doubles Down On His Plan To Spy On Wall Street To 'Protect' Wall Street
from the this-again? deptKeith Alexander still doesn't seem to realize that the public has seen through his bullshit, because he keeps doubling down. There were numerous reports this week on a speech Alexander gave, in which he talked up his plan to "protect" Wall Street by getting access to the financial industry's networks.
Drawing an analogy to how the military detects an incoming missile with radar and other sensors, Alexander imagined the NSA being able to spot "a cyberpacket that's about to destroy Wall Street." In an ideal world, he said, the agency would be getting real-time information from the banks themselves, as well as from the NSA's traditional channels of intelligence, and have the power to take action before a cyberattack caused major damage.The thing is, this isn't new. Back in July, the Washington Post's excellent profile of Keith "collect it all" Alexander pointed out that he'd been pushing this exact solution for quite some time, though execs from Wall Street found the idea to be ridiculous, since they fully understood what it meant:
His proposed solution: Private companies should give the government access to their networks so it could screen out the harmful software. The NSA chief was offering to serve as an all-knowing virus-protection service, but at the cost, industry officials felt, of an unprecedented intrusion into the financial institutions' databases.In other words, even well before all the details of Alexander's overreach as NSA director came out, Wall Street execs had no interest in giving him such access to their networks.
The group of financial industry officials, sitting around a table at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, were stunned, immediately grasping the privacy implications of what Alexander was politely but urgently suggesting. As a group, they demurred.
"He's an impressive person," the participant said, recalling the group's collective reaction to Alexander. "You feel very comfortable with him. He instills a high degree of trust."
But he was proposing something they thought was high-risk.
"Folks in the room looked at each other like, 'Wow. That's kind of wild.' "
But this is the same basic pitch that Alexander has been making for years. The biggest joke in the intelligence community is the fact that Alexander technically has two jobs: he's both the head of the NSA -- in charge of collecting information for surveillance -- and the head of US Cyber Command, which runs the military's "cyber" initiatives. Alexander loves to use the cover of his Cybercommand position to pretend that his focus is on protecting data and networks.
You may recall that, the NSA's talking points on the breaking ground for the massive Utah datacenter were entirely focused on how the center would be used to protect the internet -- leaving out how it would actually be used to spy on the network. Members of Congress have raised concerns for a while about the conflict of interest between Alexander's two roles. The fact that he uses the Cybercommand role to pretend his focus is on cybersecurity, while in actuality he's been destroying cybersecurity by undermining standards, creating backdoors and encouraging vulnerabilities is a huge problem.
But, perhaps even more stunning, is his inability to recognize that people aren't believing what he says any more, such that he'd start pushing this ridiculous desire to get access to Wall Street's networks yet again, years after it was rejected -- but also after the evidence of his efforts to trample the 4th Amendment have become clear.
Filed Under: cybercommand, cybersecurity, keith alexander, nsa, nsa surveillance, surveillance, wall street


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A recent press release from ETS, the company responsible for producing the GRE, indicates that in the last two months more than 100 business schools world-wide signed up to begin accepting the GRE. This activity brings the total number of business schools accepting the GRE above 600, including 60 of the top 100 schools on the latest US News & World Report ranking. The question becomes, what exactly does this mean for people considering business school?
With the revised GRE launching August 1st, it's no surprise that more schools have decided to begin accepting it. The new version is easier to use, relies on more real-world scenarios for questions, offers more demanding Quantitative questions, and has gotten rid of the silly analogies and antonyms. The new version may even be a better predictor of business school success than its predecessor. Despite all this, the thing most prospective b-school applicants should consider, especially if you're applying to highly competitive top tier schools, is how GRE scores are compared to GMAT scores in the admissions process.
One tool ETS has used to sell business schools on the GRE is the GRE Comparison Tool. The comparison device is a nifty enough little program that supposedly converts GRE scores into "predicted" GMAT scores. The comparison tool has been around for a while, and GMAC (the GMAT people) certainly had something to say about it, namely that it's not nearly as accurate a predictor as ETS would like people to believe. While it is a concern whether such a tool is actually predictive or not, that's also not our chief concern here. The chief concern is when business schools are going to start releasing data on how they're using GRE scores and what, if any, comparisons are occurring between GMAT and GRE scores from applicants.
We've delved into this issue on a number of occasions (most recently in the blog post How to Choose: GMAT vs GRE), but the jury is still out on what to expect from business schools and the GRE, and may be out for some time to come. Right now, there not telling anyone much at all about the two tests with respect to one another. This is a consequence both of the GMAT's long-standing dominance in the business school arena, as well as the relatively recent rise in schools accepting the GRE. Because of these factors, it is likely going to be some time before any actionable information in that regard is released, not the least of which because the Revised GRE is coming out in August. Any historical data that might have been available from the current GRE seems largely irrelevant now, and we'll have to wait a while until enough test-takers have gone through the application process with Revised GRE (and likely GMAT) score before we know what the verdict is.
The bottom line: in the short term, the safer (which isn't necessarily to say the better) bet is to go with the GMAT if you're planning to apply to business school. There are a host of factors that could affect your decision for the GRE or the GMAT (see the blog mentioned above for more details), but until we have more info from business schools themselves on how the two stack up in the admissions process, you might want to go with the known quantity, which in this case is the GMAT.
One group of students, however, that may want to more seriously consider the GRE are those planning to take it for graduate school applications and don't have any immediate designs on business school. Down the road a much clearer picture should exist regarding the two tests in the admissions process, and you may just end up saving yourself time and money by already having a GRE score on the books. The most important thing, as always, is to take the necessary steps to ensure you get yourself the best score possible to give yourself the best opportunities, regardless of which test you're taking.
For more on what ETS has to say about the GRE and business schools, check out their press release here.
If you're looking to boost your GMAT or GRE scores, let us help you make that happen. Visit us here to view resources, instruction options, and get a wealth of information to help you prepare better.


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Andy Thrasher vs Frankie Hudders.
The contracts have been signed. ITS ON !
Frankie Hudders has signed the contract to fight Andy Thrasher at Rumble At The Reebok 2, Sat 15th May at the DeVerre Whites , this will be a defense of Andy's WKA World title at 67kgs.
Darren Phillips, owner of GFC Muay Thai in Bury, Lancashire and Andy Thrashers trainer/coach said of Andy's next opponent;
Frankie Hudders for me has been the light welter and welter weight operator in this country for what seems like for ever. He's not been beaten by a British fighter for over 15 years and has fought all over the world against the best out there, being two times world champion already! People have actually asked me why have I taken this fight against such a clever and dangerous fighter, to which I have said why would we not?? Why would you not want to test yourself against one the best fighters this country has ever seen!!!!!! There is a poster being produced with both Andy and Frank on it and I saw a sneak preview of it yesterday and got a little excited at the prospect it has to be said. I can't wait!
Andy Thrasher is coming off a spectacular victory over late stand in Hakim Bazoumbou of Holland at the MEN Arena recently . Andy Thrasher won by TKO fef stoppage 2min into round 2 with a devastating uppercut elbow that broke the jaw of the tough Dutchman and knocked out two of his teeth.
Fankie Hudders is currently training in Thailand.
Rumble At at the Reebok 2 on the 15th May. Its going to be an awesome show !
Rumble At at the Reebok 2 sponsored by Fightshop and Sandee