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Last time, we learned that currency, in its purest form, is simply an accounting device to enforce a cooperative tit-for-tat system of exchange. If Alice provides something of value to Bob, she obtains a token enabling her to acquire something of comparable value from Bob or any other participant in the currency. In principle, we could execute these same mutually beneficial transactions using explicit contracts, except that would be rather inconvenient. Thus, according to this view, "so long as we all agree", it is in some sense arbitrary what tokens we use for trade--it could be seashells, shiny discs of yellow metal, scraps of paper, or 100 digit numbers. That is, there is no "one true" token type to use as a medium of exchange, we merely prefer one sort of token over another for properties like convenience, stability, and so on.
This view, of money as purely an accounting device ("medium of exchange" is a term often used) differs from how people have thought of money for most of human history. For most of human history, money has been tied to some widely valued commodity, often gold and/or silver, with each unit of currency corresponding to some amount of this commodity (often literally, via use of gold coins with some fixed weight, or via more convenient paper notes which banks agree to exchange for actual gold on demand). Commodity-backed currencies tend to arise naturally, without any coordination or central government.
But our goal here is developing a pure currency, a currency which is only the accounting device, not one tied to any commodity that is valued for its own sake (we'll see in a later post that there are problems with commodity-backed currencies). There are difficulties with driving adoption of a pure currency (the usual solution is for a government to mandate its use and generate 'artificial' demand for it by forcing citizens to pay taxes in the currency) and preserving its stability that we'll discuss later. But a pure currency gets at the essence of what money helps people achieve--conduct mutually beneficial transactions with a minimum of transaction costs.
If we view currency as merely an accounting device for this cooperative system, a question arises: why is there so much complexity around our monetary system? Why not simply allocate a fixed number of units of currency (which could all be assigned meaningless 100-digit numbers) and "just get everyone to agree" (or have government force!) use of these tokens as a medium of exchange? To see why this and other related systems like BitCoin are unsuitable, we need to examine the critical role of interest in a monetary system and understand what factors ought to affect the rate of interest.
Interest is broadly defined as compensation for any contract whose payout(s) occur in the future. For instance, when you obtain a loan to purchase a house, the bank charges interest as compensation for an (uncertain) stream of future monthly payments. The same principle, of compensation for future payouts, is at work in all manner of mutually beneficial contracts.
In this post, are are going to try to get to the bottom of why a future payout (as opposed to a present payout) warrants additional compentation. Intuitively, it seems natural this should be so, but we want to be very careful to separate out what factors are at work here. As we'll see, there is one fundamental factor with serious consequences for any monetary system.
What factors affect interest rates?
Let us start by pondering a simple thought experiment. Suppose Alice is a neighbor of yours. She knocks on your door one day and asks to borrow your laptop... for a full year. At the end of the year, she tells you, she'll agree to return your laptop or another laptop of the same model and condition (let's pretend that all your personal data is stored in the cloud, so you don't care if you get back your exact laptop). Alice has a contract all written up and ready for you to sign. She asks you: what do you expect in compensation for agreeing to this contract?
You might request anything as compensation for this (uncertain) future payout: $50 now, at contract signing, or a stream of payments of $5 per month. Or you might demand a 25% 'better' laptop after one year, or a cappuccino delivered to your door every Thursday for six months. What's important here is not what you ultimately decide to request, but what factors affect your request. Before continuing on, you may want to stop and think about this question.
Here are some possible answers. We'll deconstruct them in a minute:
- As with any contract, a general concern is that you can't really be sure the other party (Alice) will hold up their end of the bargain. Yes, Alice is your neighbor and seems trustworthy, but anything could happen. What if she just skips town? Or sells your laptop to feed a secret cocaine habit then refuses (or is unable) to provide you with a comparable laptop a year from now? We say there is some risk of default, the chance that the person you are loaning to may be unable to pay back the loan. (Or more generally, counterparty risk, the risk that the other party to the contract, Alice, may not be willing or able to uphold their obligations) To offset this risk, you require some compensation.
- As with any market, the buyer must pay enough to bid the good or service away from its possible alternative uses. During the time Alice is using your laptop, you are obviously not using it. The laptop provides you with enjoyment and utility, and this contract Alice is proposing asks you to put off that enjoyment for a year, purchase a replacement in the meantime, or find other, less convenient ways of doing the same things (using the computer at work, using your iPad instead, etc). For this you expect compensation. Alice must also bid use of the laptop away from others interested in it (for instance, if Tom, Dick, and Harry are all lined up, willing and able to pay $100 to rent your laptop for a year).
- Lastly, you have some expectation that computer technology will continue advancing, making your computer "worth less" in a year. We can make this argument more precise, but to illustrate the idea, suppose you believe that computers will become 30% better (for "the same" cost) a year from now. Then at the very least, you ought to expect Alice to pay you 30% of the current value of your computer now or provide equivalent compensation, in addition to considering the other factors above. After all, if you didn't price this factor into the contract, Alice could immediately sell your laptop now for (let's just say) $100, then buy a brand new, older model equivalent for $70 one year from now, netting her a $30 profit! Related to this, even if you expect your laptop to be worth the same, there is some uncertainty around this expectation because it is with regard to a future event. If you didn't factor this into the price you negotiate, you are effectively taking on additional risk for no additional compensation.
Now each of these factors are interesting in their own right, but in an effort to get at the essence of the problem, let's idealize our scenario a bit. Suppose that, instead of Alice, you are approached by Trent. For purposes of this thought experiment, let us assume that Trent, who also happens to be your friend, is known worldwide as the most trustworthy person in existence and has zero risk of defaulting on his obligations. If the earth still exists in a year, Trent will provide you with a laptop, no doubt about it. This eliminates any interest you might charge due to factor 1, the risk of default.
Furthermore, since Trent is your friend, suppose you aren't really looking to maximize how much you get from the deal. You only want to ensure that you "break even" and are fine with selling Trent the contract "at cost". Thus, the fact that Tom, Dick, and Harry are all lined up willing to pay $100 is irrelevant. The only thing you have to decide is how much the use of your laptop is worth to you over the one year period, because that is what you will be giving up.
What about factor 3, your expectations (and uncertainty around) economic growth in laptop production. Even if Trent is perfectly trustworthy, and even if you don't mind just breaking even, this does not change your expectation that it will be easier/cheaper to obtain a comparable laptop one year from now. And if it is cheaper to obtain a comparable laptop one year from now, that implies (among other things) that if you wait a year to sell the laptop that Trent wishes to rent, you'll have to sell it for less than you could sell it for now. From this we conclude that that the possibility of economic growth must always be priced into any contract whose payout occurs in the future.
Now consider the related question--suppose that instead of asking for use of your laptop for a year, Trent (or Alice) asks instead for $100, to be paid back in one year. What would you expect as compensation? Notice that the same factors apply to your decision:
- You expect to be compensated for the possibility that Alice won't pay you back. Perhaps you request $10 now, in addition to the $100 a year from now, to account for this possibility. Or perhaps you request $112 after a year. For Trent, you don't bother with this premium.
- Even for Trent, you will expect some premium due to the fact that receiving $100 a year from now is not as good as $100 now. This isn't just because you expect the dollar might depreciate by 3% in a year due to inflation, which we'll discuss in the next post; there's just that same opportunity cost of not being able to spend that $100 now on other goods or services you value. After all, with that $100 in your pocket, you could buy those cappuccinos for yourself every Thursday for six months, something that you derive enjoyment from. Lending out your $100 means delaying this enjoyment for a year. We say there is a time preference.
- Just as it may be easier to obtain a comparable laptop a year from now, it may be easier to obtain $100 one year from now. There are various reasons why this could be so. One possibility is an increase in the money supply or availability of credit, due to actions of the central bank. We are going to ignore this factor, since our goal is a central-bank free currency and we don't want any central authority making decisions which affect interest rates. But the other key factor that may make it easier to obtain $100 a year from now is an increase in the rate at which currency circulates, also known as the velocity of money. We will be talking a lot more about velocity in future posts, but we can see that if on average a dollar changes hands more frequently, that implies dollars are easier to come by.
We are going to focus exclusively on this last factor, not because time preferences are uninteresting, but because this preference is a personal decision. A wealthy individual with more cash than he/she could reasonably spend in the next year may not demand as much interest from a loan due to this factor as someone who needs the cash for some short-term expenditures. Thus, it is somewhat orthogonal--individuals will price this factor into interest rates on loans and other contracts, but the monetary system itself does not need to be aware of these preferences.
We've examined what factors determine interest rates, then narrowed down these factors to a single, fundamental one, which could be summarized in the following way:
Any payout that occurs in the future, in whatever units (be it dollars, laptops, or cappuccinos), must account for the possibility that those units have differing relative value in the future as compared to the present.
In the next post, we are going to reason through how failure to account for this factor in a currency can lead to serious distortion of markets and financial instability. This will make it clear why commodity-backed currencies like a gold standard and simplistic 'fixed' currencies like BitCoin are inadequate and motivate design of 'smart' digital currency that explicitly accounts for changes in monetary velocity. We'll then compare the velocity-adjusted currency we develop to a typical monetary system managed by a central bank.
We've been a bit vague about this concept of "value" so far and what it means for an asset to change in value. This is something we'll delve into further in the next post.


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For real innovation, the pieces of the puzzle have to fit
The session looked at how business skills are developed in the EU – what we have, what we need and how we get it. I expected specific skills to be targeted as missing and needing to be developed. Wrong. The overwhelming conclusion from our panel of EC, pharma, university and SME geniuses was that Europe pretty much has all the skills that it needs, but each expert is kept in his or her own little world, creating exceptional skills within a very narrow space.
The researcher pushed to publish, the SME that must meet the next milestone, the clinician locked into the healthcare system, the pharma guy stuck in an antique drug-discovery process … the list is long. For the last 25 years, training has been poured into a multitude of areas to ensure that the researcher becomes an entrepreneur, an SME CEO knows everything about FDA approval, and TTOs are gurus of industry development. It hasn't really worked. Applying a thin layer of knowledge does not guarantee absorption. Why should a researcher, measured by publication success, also become an expert on commercial implications and plan research now for exploitation in 10 years time?
The blindingly obvious conclusion from the panel was not to train people a bit harder, but physically to get them into other worlds and bring other worlds to them. Entrepreneurs in residence at universities, academic researchers placed in SMEs and pharma, clinicians on the boards of companies, pharma people in universities and SMEs. It's not going to happen on its own, and it hasn't yet – so we need to make it happen. Horizon 2020 should make staff exchanges bet-
ween partners in collaborative projects compulsory, up numbers of industry-academia research fellowships, increase pharma staff working in small company partners – there is loads we could do.
It's not going to cost more money. The price is instead in the mindset. Europe talks the talk, but does it really walk the walk on direct integration of different worlds in the healthcare chain? People are so insulated in their own worlds, and the disruptive technology/attitudes of people from other worlds are not welcome. However, the evidence from the panel and audience confirmed direct integration as the most effective way to bring new skills and knowledge into each step of the chain.
So Europe – are you listening? Stop fretting about growing new skills through the age-old training and 'have an MBA' culture to create your vision of the perfect business mind, and start moving existing skills about between different bits of the healthcare sector. They don't bite, and it might prove the only effective way to help them integrate.

subset: commoncrawl


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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nobody likes taxes, and much of Wall Street has poured money into Mitt Romney campaign coffers to avoid paying higher ones.
Yet a surprising number of top money managers say they are willing to pay modestly higher rates. They reason that revenue-raising measures are an essential complement to the spending cuts they say are needed to curb the massive U.S. budget deficit.
"It's kind of like taking a distasteful medicine. On the way down, it may not be pleasant," said Ron Florance, who helps manage assets worth $169 billion at Wells Fargo Private Bank. "But in the end, it contributes to longer-term health, and that's what we're looking for at this point."
In recent weeks, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon became the latest Wall Street heavyweights to say they would be willing to pay more in exchange for a deal to balance the country's books.
Conventional wisdom in the world of finance and investing says higher taxes, particularly in today's fragile economic climate, would stifle wealth creation, suppress hiring and condemn the economy to an extended stretch of slow growth.
Hedge fund managers like Lee Cooperman and private equity heads such as Stephen Schwarzman have been especially vocal critics of President Barack Obama, accusing him of inciting class warfare. Obama wants to let Bush-era tax cuts on income, capital gains and dividends expire for households earning more than $250,000.
Romney advocates cutting taxes by 20 percent and broadening the tax base by closing loopholes, though he's offered few details. The financial services industry had contributed some $16 million to Romney through October, compared with $4 million for Obama, according to the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics.
Yet many who manage money for investors with at least $1 million in assets said in recent conversations they do not believe a modest rise in taxes on high-income earners would upend the economy, markets or individual portfolios.
"It only really impacts the higher income taxpayer," said Joseph Balestrino, who helps oversee $360 billion in assets at Federated Investment Management. "They won't like it, but they're not going to be worried about putting food on the table, and I don't think it will significantly alter their spending patterns."
Some said raising taxes might even be a much-needed first step toward deficit reduction. Congress has been too bitterly divided to compromise on a long-term fiscal repair plan.
"My belief is the positive benefits of dealing with the long-term deficit problem would well outweigh any negative consequences of higher taxes," said Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Northern Trust, which runs assets worth $704 billion.
The U.S. deficit in 2012 will top $1 trillion for a fourth straight year, pushing the national debt past $16 trillion. While the United States currently borrows at record low interest rates, investors worry this will change.
"We must stabilize, then reduce the national debt, or we could spend $1 trillion a year in interest alone by 2020," warned the authors of a 2010 Congressional committee's deficit-reduction plan known as Simpson-Bowles. Neither Obama nor Romney has embraced the plan in its entirety.
The issue will come to a head even before the winner of the November 6 election is sworn in. In January, $500 billion of Bush-era tax cuts for all earners will expire and about $100 billion of automatic spending cuts will kick in.
Markets expect Congress will avoid letting all of this happen at once for fear it would plunge a fragile economy back into recession. But many say they want lawmakers to draft a long-term plan to reduce the deficit gradually over time.
"It has to be a balancing act," Balestrino said. "You're not going to just cut taxes like Romney wants to do or just increase spending like Obama seems to want to do."
Most investors agree long-term deficit reduction would require painful spending cuts, including for programs such as Social Security and Medicare struggling to keep up with an aging population.
But many also say taxes should be on the table too, especially for top earners whose effective tax rates are at the lowest level in decades.
According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, federal tax revenue in 2010 fell to levels not seen since shortly after World War II, the result of slow growth and the sweeping but temporary tax cuts passed when George W. Bush was president.
"Simple math says the U.S. government will have to increase revenues to make a dent in the deficit," strategists at BlackRock, a giant in the U.S. investment world with $3.68 trillion in assets, said in a recent note to clients.
Bill Stone, who helps manage $110 billion as chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management, said the debt crises in Greece and other European countries have opened some of his clients' eyes to the danger of unchecked deficits.
"I get the sense that people think there should be some degree of shared sacrifice to close the fiscal gap," he said
Mark Lamkin, head of Louisville, Kentucky-based Lamkin Wealth Management, said most of his clients — small business owners and retirees with up to $5 million in investable assets — would accept higher rates, too, even though he says the majority intend to vote for Romney over Obama on November 6.
"From an investment standpoint, you always hate to see higher taxes. I'm a low-tax guy but I would be happy with a modest tax increase in exchange for cuts in spending and a move toward fiscal sanity," he said.
Obama claims letting Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy expire would raise $850 billion over 10 years. Top marginal income tax rates would rise to 39.6 percent and 36 percent, where they stood under Bill Clinton, from 35 and 33 percent. Capital gains taxes would rise to 20 percent from 15 percent for the top two income brackets.
One ticklish area involves taxes on dividends, which would revert from 15 percent to at least 40 percent if the Bush tax cuts expire.
Andy Busch, global currency and public policy strategist at BMO Capital Markets, said that would be "highly disruptive" for the stock market at a time when record low interest rates have driven investors toward dividend stocks to generate return.
Higher dividend taxes were less disruptive in the 1990s, he said, when higher interest rates and a strong economy made growth stocks more attractive.
Wells Fargo's Florance said such a large jump would "change the way companies reward investors who have put faith in those companies. It's a big deal."
But some investors said record-low bond yields will keep dividends in vogue even at higher tax rates. And many said they expect a compromise that pushes the rate up to 20 to 25 percent rather than 40 percent.
That would keep dividend-paying stocks "attractive to those in the highest income brackets," BlackRock strategists said.
Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive officer at DoubleLine Capital, which oversees $41 billion, said he expects taxes to rise but adds the focus on what rate the rich pay is too narrow and by itself would do very little to reduce the deficit.
A more credible approach, he said, would also include painful benefit cuts and overhauling a tax code filled with more than 100 credits and deductions. Some, such as those for mortgage interest and charitable donations, are very popular.
"People are attracted to the idea of a more just code without so many tax breaks, but of course, it's only attractive until you learn your breaks are the ones getting discontinued," PNC's Stone said.
Both Obama and Romney say they support an overhaul but have been vague about the crucial details.
Gundlach also said lawmakers should at least consider raising corporate taxes.
Obama and Romney want to cut corporate taxes, which the Tax Policy Center said accounted for 1.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2010, down from 5 percent to 6 percent in 1950.
"I'm not necessarily advocating we do this, but let's at least talk honestly about what the situation is," Gundlach said.
Editing by David Gaffen and David Gregorio


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A condenser microphone works by actually converting sound energy into an electrical voltage, but this voltage is much lower than the voltage coming out of your keyboard or other line level sources. If you plug a condenser microphone in to audio interface then the signal it generates will be very quiet unless the signal is boosted. This is why you will need for a preamp.
On a consumer (internal) sound card you will have a mic preamp, but it's only designed for speech and cheap mic–totally unsuitable for audio recording.
You can add a Microphone Preamps to your set up via:
- Mixer (eg Behringer Xenyx 1002 )
- Sound Card with built in Preamp (eg Tascam US-144)
- Mic Pre (eg ART Tube MP Studio V3, )
- Sound Card with built in Preamp and Modelling Pre-amp Software (Line 6 UX-2)
On the bottom of this page you will see a lot of different preamps that will boost a microphone signal without adding lots of noise. We have Pre Amps for every budget, however, bear in mind that the Mic Pre is one of the most important links of the chain that will effect the sound quality of your recording system.
Phantom Power
"Phantom powering" is a method of providing power to microphones by applying a voltage to the same wires that carry the audio signals. Phantom power can be generated from mixing consoles, mic preamplifiers, or in-line phantom power supplies.
In general, phantom voltages are used to power electronics within condenser microphones. Condenser microphones require power for various parts of their operation, including impedance converters, preamplifier circuitry and, in some cases, to polarized microphone capsules. Phantom is usually a DC voltage ranging from 12 to 48 volts. Microphones draw current from this voltage based on their needs.


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Republican presidential hopefuls had a lively debate last night at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney went at each other like heavyweights.
Ex-Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman provided a sort of Greek chorus, providing occasional comment on the foibles of human nature and the GOP race.
Rep. Ron Paul of Texas played the purist, explaining once again why he's against federal regulation of pretty much everything.
Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, ex-Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania were also there, and had their moments, but seemed less central to the action, given that organizers NBC and Politico placed them on the wings of the crowd.
We'll get right to the important horse race question: Who won?
Well, everyone had their moments, and often with stuff like this it isn't apparent until weeks later what is resonating in voter minds. But the early read is that Mr. Romney did well for himself. Chris Cillizza at The Washington Post said Romney started slowly, but by the end was sounding "reasonable, and, dare we say it, presidential." Erick Erickson at the conservative blog, RedState, said Romney made no major mistakes and was "the strongest of anybody on stage".
Romney planted some obviously planned zingers on Governor Perry, such as the fact that job growth in Texas was greater when George W. Bush was governor than it has been under Perry. But as Mr. Erickson, pointed out, Romney has been running for president since 2007 – he ought to be good at debates by now.
What about Perry? At the beginning he sounded strong, sidestepping questions as to the quality of Texas jobs and the low percentage of Texas residents with health care to emphasize the state's strong job growth and overall economic health.
But he got tangled in an exchange on Social Security that could haunt him if he becomes the nominee. Romney defended the idea of the program, while Perry called it a "monstrous lie" in regards to its promises to younger participants, and repeated his insistence that it is a "Ponzi scheme."
Think those clips will show up in attack ads? We do. Perry seems to be wagering that there is a groundswell of voter dissatisfaction with Social Security that's heretofore been untapped. Or he just is focusing on appealing to the GOP primary electorate first. Or something.
Erickson said Perry "stumbled several times." Liberals were gleeful – Jed Lewison on Daily Kos said the Social Security exchange is a "core difference" between Romney and Perry and will be the only thing about this debate that's remembered.
Andrew Sullivan at the Daily Beast was harsher, calling Perry "an extreme, inarticulate, incurious W clone."
As to the other highlights, Congresswoman Bachmann seemed to orbit about the Romney versus Perry exchange, without joining in. She did point out that as a legislator she was well aware that Obama's health care reforms could not be repealed with a simple executive order, as Romney and Perry implied.
As for Congressman Paul, he had a postal problem – the Perry camp has been circulating a letter he wrote in 1987 in which he criticized the Reagan administration and resigned from the GOP. Paul pointed out the inconvenient truth that under Reagan, government spending and tax revenue continued to rise.
"The [Reagan] message was great, but the consequence – we have to be honest with ourselves – it was not all that great: huge deficits during the 1980s," said Paul.
Then, during a discussion on whether the US should continue to fence off its southern border, Paul said that he did not believe that a barbed wire fence with machine guns is what America is all about.
Plus, he hinted that the fence could be turned around and used to control the US population.
"Every time you think of a fence keeping all those bad people out, think about those fences maybe being used against us, keeping us in," he said.
The best line? We'll give that to Mr. Huntsman. Asked whether he would join the rest of the candidates in taking a pledge to not raise taxes, he sidestepped.
"I'd love to get everybody to sign a pledge to take no pledges," he said.


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The Seagate Central is a single-volume storage device and hence doesn't provide data protection against hard-drive failure, but that's about its only major shortcoming.
The new NAS server is easy to use, offers lots of storage space, and, most importantly, is affordable, currently costing just $230 for 4TB (or $160 and $180 for 2TB and 3TB, respectively). It also comes with mobile apps for media sharing, including one that works with Samsung Smart TVs. In my testing, the device's performance was very good for a device of its type.
If you're looking for a quick way to stream media to multiple devices or to back up data, the Seagate Central will deliver. It's not a device designed to host your important data, however. For that, you should check out those on this list.
Straight forward design, easy setup
The Seagate Central comes in a one-part single-form design that's just about twice the size of a 3.5-inch internal hard drive. The device measures 5.7 x 8.5 x 1.7 inches and weighs just 2.2 lbs. On the back it has one Gigabit Ethernet port and one USB port. The USB port is the only way to extend the storage space of the Central, since it comes with just one hard drive on the inside that can't be replaced by users.
This is not really a big deal, however, since with a top capacity of 4TB, the Central comes with plenty of storage space for its purpose, which is to be the shared storage space and digital media hub for the entire home. Nonetheless, this means the device should be used only to host backups or replaceable media contents for entertainment purpose. You should not use it to keep a single copy of important information, due to the risk of losing everything if its internal drive fails. (Read more about RAID and data protection.)
The Central supports Time Machine natively for Mac; for Windows, you can use the downloadable Seagate Dashboard software to do the same job. You can use this software to quickly manage the NAS server via three functions: Protect (backup), Share, and Save. The Share function allows for quickly uploading digital content to social sites; the Save function does the opposite: backing up digital content that's currently on social sites. These functions actually work very well and smartly. For example, once set up to back up a Facebook profile, the drive also automatically backs up photos that the account owner was tagged in, in addition to those he or she uploaded.
For data sharing and backup purposes, there's basically nothing to setting up the device. All you have to do is plug in the power, connect its network port to the router (or switch) via the included network cable, and you're done. The Central comes with a default public share folder (called Public) that can be access immediately by any Macs or Windows computer on the same network.
On a Mac, the server appears automatically on Finder, while on a Windows machine, it will be shown as an icon in the network part of Explorer. From there, you can map a network drive to the Public share folder and access the server's storage as though it were an external hard drive.
Inside the Public share folder, there are three subfolders called Video, Music, and Photo. You can copy the respective contents to these folder and the server automatically streams them to any network media player. These subfolders are there just for organizational purpose; you can create more subfolders or store data arbitrarily in any folder you want and the digital contents will still be accounted for. This is because the server automatically scan all subfolders in the main Public share folder for digital contents and makes it available for streaming. In fact, there are no options to to change this other than turning the streaming function off completely.
Speaking of options, the server offers more than just media streaming via the default share folder. But to change its settings as well as other features, you'll need to access its Web interface.
Simple and effective Web interface
To access the Central's Web interface for the first time from a computer within the same local network, just point a browser to http://seagate.com/central/setup, then follow the instructions to detect the NAS server and create an user account which is to be used to log in the server's Web interface. After that, you can always return to this interface via the server's IP address.


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Blair Lawrence went 2-for-3 with a double on Friday against No. 4 seed Campbell.
Fourth-seeded Campbell scored seven runs over the last three innings, downing No. 9 seed Liberty, 7-0, in an elimination game on Friday at the 2014 Big South Softball Championship at Coastal Carolina Softball Stadium. The Camels improve their record to 30-26 on the season, and will advance to face the winner of No. 7 seed Charleston Southern and No. 6 seed Presbyterian College, tonight at 9:30 p.m. The Lady Flames end their first campaign under head coach Dot Richardson with an 11-46 mark after going 1-2 at the conference tournament. Campbell pitcher Katie Baker (14-10) tossed a six-hit shutout, recording eight strikeouts on the morning. Liberty's Annah Jo Brittingham (6-22) allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits in five innings pitched, striking out two and walking three. Alyssa DiMartino allowed three runs on five hits, fanning one in the sixth inning. Courtney Klingler batted 3-for-4 to lead the Camels. Shaela Churchill went 2-for-3 with a home run and one RBI, while Milly Martinet batted 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Erica Johnson hit 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Kelby Allen and Blair Lawrence both went 2-for-3 for the Lady Flames, while Lawrence hit her fourth double of the season. Katie Han and Grace Nordan both added one hit. The Lady Flames recorded a hit in each of the first four innings, beginning with a single by Allen in the top of the first. After a scoreless Liberty first, Campbell loaded the bases with two outs during the bottom of the first. Brittingham then got Olivia Scarborough to fly out to center, ending the threat. Han led off the second with a single, and went to second on a groundout, where she was left at the end of the frame. Campbell put two runners on base in the second via a Churchill single and a hit batter, but Stephanie Jones hit into an inning-ending double play. Nordan hit a leadoff single to open the third stanza, and Zavodny followed with a hard line drive that Baker snagged and threw to first for a double play. Robinson then grounded out to first. The Lady Flames threatened to score in the top of the fourth. Allen led off with a single, and was thrown out on a fielder's choice. With two outs and Hanna Nichols on second, Lawrence beat out an infield single, but Nichols was erased at the plate on a throw home. The Camels broke into the scoring column in the fourth frame, on a one-run solo home run by Churchill. Brittingham retired the next two batters, sending the game to the fifth with a 1-0 Campbell lead. Baker struck out the side during Liberty's fifth time at bat, beginning a stretch of five straight strikeouts recorded by the Campbell right-hander. Campbell doubled its lead to 2-0 on back-to-back base hits by Klingler (double) and Martinet with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. After a 1-2-3 Lady Flames sixth, the Camels put the game out of reach by scoring five times on five hits during their last time at bat. The first two batters reached base, and DiMartino came on in relief of Brittingham. Four Campbell players had RBI base hits during the inning. The Lady Flames received a baserunner with two outs in the top of the seventh, when Lawrence hit a double to right center. Baker got the final batter on a groundout to third, sealing the 7-0 shutout for the Camels.


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Resistor 0.33W, 510 Ohm
Perfectly suitable for our 3mm, 5mm, SMD and SuperFlux LEDs.
Resistors are used in LED technology as series resistors for current limitation. In the Infocenter in our online store you will find an integrated resistor calculator which will help you to calculate the required resistors for your LED.
More information on resistors can be found in our LEDHelp forum.


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No. 14 Yale broke a 6-6 tie with five straight goals in the third quarter to defeat No. 12 Princeton, 12-8, in the Ivy League men's lacrosse tournament championship Sunday afternoon at Cornell.
The Bulldogs (11-4) beat the Tigers (9-6) in the title game for the second straight year and earned the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament field of 16. Nine Bulldogs scored in the contest.
Yale's Dylan Levings, who won 19 of 23 faceoffs, was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Detroit 11, Siena 10, OT: Mike Birney scored a career-high five goals, none more important than the game-winner, as the Titans (5-9) mounted a comeback to defeat the Saint Bernards (8-9) and win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship at Canisius.
The win gave the fourth-seeded Titans an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament in just the program's fifth year in existence.
No. 4 Duke 19, Marquette 3: The Blue Devils (12-5) raced out to a 10-1 first-quarter lead and never looked back en route to a victory over the host Golden Eagles (5-8). Freshmen Myles Jones and Case Matheis finished with five points apiece with three goals and two assists.
State men
St. Mary's 13, Salisbury 11: The visiting Seahawks pulled off an upset, beating the two-time defending Capital Athletic Conference champion Sea Gulls (14-5) in the CAC championship game. St.Mary's (12-6) used a 7-3 outburst in the fourth quarter for the come-from-behind victory. The Seahawks closed the game on a 5-1 run.
National women
No. 4 Northwestern 8, No 2 Florida 3: Two weeks after the Gators dealt the Wildcats a 22-4 defeat, the worst loss in Kelly Amonte Hiller's 12 seasons as head coach, Northwestern executed a ball-control plan to perfection to beat Florida in the American Lacrosse Conference tournament final at Homewood Field.
The Gators (17-2) scored just once in the game's final 51 minutes. Kat DeRonda had a hat trick to lead the Northwestern attack. The win gave the Wildcats (17-2) an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, while the Gators earned an at-large bid.
No. 17 Penn 10, No. 19 Dartmouth 7: The visiting Big Green (10-7) fell behind early and was unable to finish off a second-half comeback bid, losing to the top-seeded Quakers in the Ivy League tournament championship. Penn (17-5) was led by Caroline Bunting's four goals.
No. 10 Duke 18, Boston University 8: Behind a 12-1 scoring run, the host Blue Devils cruised to a victory over the Terriers (6-10). Duke (12-5) was led by Kerrin Mauerer's four goals and a career-high seven points from Kelci Smesko.
Stony Brook 14, Albany 3: The host Seawolves (16-2) punched their first-ever ticket to the NCAA tournament, beating the archrival Great Danes (12-5) in the America East title game.
- College Sports
- Duke Blue Devils
- Northwestern Wildcats
- Florida Gators
- NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
- Princeton Tigers
- Detroit Titans
- Sports
- Marquette Golden Eagles
- Dartmouth Big Green
- Penn Quakers
- Albany Great Danes
- Salisbury Sea Gulls
- Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
- Siena Saints
- America East Conference


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Find Your Local NAMI
Call the NAMI Helpline at
Or in a crisis, text "NAMI" to 741741
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NAMI Hails Landmark Measure as Victory for Millions of Americans With Severe Mental Illnesses
Arlington, VA - Federal legislation eliminating discriminatory health insurance coverage for individuals with the most severe mental illnesses will be introduced next week, according to the two lead authors of the measure. U.S. Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Paul Wellstone (D-MN) told NAMI and a small group of mental health advocates late yesterday that their bill will ensure greater coverage of mental health benefits by providing full parity for adult and child mental illnesses.
"Families across the United States are cheering today," said Laurie Flynn, executive director of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). "No longer will a diagnosis of mental illness mean a lifetime of receiving second-class healthcare benefits."
The bill would require equitable health insurance coverage for the most severe, biologically based mental illnesses by prohibiting unequal restrictions on annual and lifetime mental health benefits, inpatient hospital days and outpatient visits, and out-of-pocket expenses. Full insurance parity would be provided for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, obsessive-compulsive and severe panic disorders, autism, and other severe and disabling mental disorders, such as severe anorexia and severe attention-deficit/hyperactivity. Theses disorders, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) and scientific advances, would receive full insurance parity.
The proposal would also prohibit limits on inpatient day and outpatient visits for mental health treatment in general.
"We applaud Senators Domenici and Wellstone for their courage and commitment to finishing the important work they began more than two years ago," said Flynn. "This legislation will be a giant step forward in eliminating the double standard held against millions struggling with mental illnesses."
The Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, first introduced by Domenici and Wellstone, required only that annual and lifetime benefits for mental illnesses be equal to that offered for other physical disorders. The current law permits health plans to discriminate by limiting hospital days and outpatient visits, severely affecting the ability of individuals with the most serious and chronic mental illnesses to receive needed medical care.
The new bill, which would apply only to group health plans that already provide mental health benefits, will exempt small businesses with 25 or fewer employees and eliminate the September 31, 2001 sunset provision in the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996.
Senators Domenici and Wellstone yesterday briefed members of the Coalition for Fairness in Mental Illness Coverage on the new legislation. NAMI is a founding member of the Coalition.
Call the NAMI Helpline at
text "NAMI" to 741741


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Links open in new windows so you won't lose your place on this page. If you share these tips, please acknowledge the source as http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com.
- History and Genealogy Expo in Brisbane: Mon. 25th to Wed. 27th June 2012, including Monday evening. Special presenters include Audrey Collins from The National Archives in the UK. I will be there as an exhibitor and presenter. My talk will be 'Black Sheep and Vanishing Relatives'. You can now get more details and book tickets.
- England & Wales: Changes to certificate prices.
- The British in India: A new book, Tracing Your British Indian Ancestors, looks at British Indian history and sources for research (British Library India Office Records, The National Archives, records of the armed forces, civil service and railways, religious and probate records, etc).
- Paintings: Are there paintings of your ancestors or places where they lived? At Your Paintings, search by artist's surname or what's in the paintings.
- Dutch Genealogy: Genealogy advice from an archivist at the Dutch National Archives. Articles include 'English versions of Dutch first names and last names'.
- Genealogists for Families: Wondering whether to join 'Genealogists for Families'? Right now (for a limited time) you can join Kiva with a 'free trial loan' to see how it all works.
- Family history talks in Townsville & Cairns: On 28 Apr 2012 I am giving two Family History talks in Townsville ('Black Sheep and Vanishing Relatives' and 'Using Indexes: Tips and Traps'). On 3 May I am speaking in Cairns ('Who else is Researching Your Family?' and 'Black Sheep and Vanishing Relatives'). Attendance is free, but seats are limited so you need to book by contacting the libraries.
- 'Recommended Reading etc. (Reader GeneaMeme)': My recommendations for books for family history and recreational reading.
- Next week I am travelling to South Australia to attend the 13th Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry in Adelaide.


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Trisha Yearwood may have been introducing Kelly Clarkson at Sunday's Academy of Country Music Awards, but it was Yearwood's svelte figure that drew a lot of attention.
2013 ACM Awards: Red carpet arrivals
Yearwood, 48, who was also there to support her husband Garth Brooks, has lost 20 pounds in the past several months. "I've been dieting and exercising and I've lost about 20 lbs.," she told People in February. "I'm doing very little sugar. And occasionally I have the mac and cheese."
Celebrity weight loss: See other stars who have shed pounds
A longtime country music vet, Yearwood currently hosts her own Food Network show, Trisha's Southern Kitchen.
What do you think of Yearwood's weight loss?


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RailsConf Related Content
Books | Online Resources/Media
Bestselling author David Flanagan teams up with Ruby creator Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto and writer/cartoonist/programmer why the lucky stiff to bring you the authoritative guide to Ruby. Covering versions 1.9 and 1.8, this book helps you learn Ruby's lexical structure, primary expressions, conditionals, syntax, classes, the data it manipulates, and more. For experienced programmers who want to look at this language in depth, this guide is invaluable.
Although Ruby is an easy language to learn, in the heat of action you may find that you can't remember the correct syntax for a conditional or the name of a method. This handy pocket reference offers brief yet clear explanations of Ruby's core components, from operators to reserved words to data structures to method syntax, highlighting those key features that you'll likely use every day when coding Ruby.
This compact guide from O'Reilly teaches you the basics of Ruby on Rails, the super-productive new way to develop full-featured web applications. Discover how to install and use both the Ruby scripting language and the Rails framework. More advanced material shows you just how fast Ruby on Rails can go.
From data structures and algorithms, to integration with cutting-edge technologies, the Ruby Cookbook has something for every programmer. When you need to solve a problem, don't reinvent the wheel: look it up in the Cookbook.
Most Rails books are written for programmers, with emphasis on handling the inner part of an application first. This book approaches Rails from the outer layer, letting web designers create something visible before reaching the difficult database models and controller code in the inner layers. With Learning Rails, you can start from the HTML you already likely know, and then move more deeply into Ruby, objects, and database structures.
Enterprise Rails introduces time-tested software engineering principles to help you build a high-performance, scalable website with global reach. You'll learn how to design a solid architecture that ties the many parts of an enterprise website together, including the database, your servers and clients, and other services as well. Throughout this book, you'll work on an example enterprise project to learn first-hand what's involved in architecting serious web applications.
In just a matter of days, you can develop powerful web applications with Rails that once took weeks or months to produce with other web frameworks. Find out how with Rails: Up and Running. Perfect for beginning web developers, this new edition teaches the basics of installing and using Rails 2.1 and the Ruby scripting language, and covers just about everything you need to develop your own Rails applications quickly.
Ready to transport your web applications into the Web 2.0 era? Head First Rails takes your programming — and productivity — to the max. You'll learn everything from the fundamentals of Rails scaffolding to building customized interactive web apps using Rails' rich set of tools and the MVC framework. Head First Rails uses a visually rich format designed to take advantage of the way your brain really works.
Find more articles and blogs related to Ruby at O'Reilly


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LEHI, Utah – Friday night's matchup between Los Angeles and New York is the marquee game for the league this week, no doubt about it. With names like Landon Donovan, David Beckham, Rafa Márquez and Juan Pablo Angel, how could it not be?
However, on Saturday, in a very appealing match lost in all the hype that is the DP-war, is the tilt between Real Salt Lake and Colorado. No, it may not feature the big names that carry the same star power, but the crucial game for the Rocky Mountain rivals very well may exhibit some of the best players in the league at the moment.
"The game [Saturday] is massive," said RSL midfielder Will Johnson about their match vs. Colorado. "We can't afford to slip up tomorrow in the race for the Supporters' Shield."
MATCH PREVIEW: Real Salt Lake vs. Colorado
Real Salt Lake currently trail the Galaxy by three points in the race for the Shield, and players and coaches alike admit they'll have an eye on this week's "Game of the Season," even if it's their own battle on which they are focused.
"We want to be in a spot where if [Los Angeles] slip up, we're right there to take it from them," said Johnson. "There are only five games left, so we need to make sure that we keep pace. If we drop points and [LA] get a win, and it opens up to more than a three point gap, then we can write off the Supporters' Shield."
The Rapids possess quite possibly the best strike duo in the league at the moment. Both Conor Casey and Omar Cummings have scored 10 goals this season. Unfortunately for the Rapids, Cummings stayed behind in Colorado to rest up his sprained left ankle. Ready to take his spot, however, is new acquisition Macoumba Kandji.
No matter which attacking tandem starts for Colorado, Real Salt Lake will be looking to continue their current dominance over their Rocky Mountain counterparts.
In recent years, Real Salt Lake have often gotten the better of Colorado. In 2007, RSL emerged victorious in a game late in the season, and ended up knocking the Rapids out of the playoff picture. A year later, Yura Movsisyan's late equalizer in Colorado vaulted RSL into the playoffs, again at the expense of the Rapids.
Last year, the Rapids visited Rio Tinto Stadium holding the edge in the playoff race, but Salt Lake came out in top in that one. That win catapulted RSL into the playoffs, where their magical run took them to the peak while Colorado once again sat on the sidelines of postseason action.
Johnson doesn't think any of this is lost on the Rapids organization.
"They've had some poor results against us the past couple of years, and if I was them, I'd be out for a little bit of revenge," the Canadian international said. "I'm sure they are going to come in fired up."


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On May 23 in these pages, Professor Yehuda Bauer wrote an open letter to Palestinian director and actor Mohammad Bakri in response to Bakri's public assertion that Israel was only created because of the Holocaust.
Bakri made his statement at an event marking Nakba ("catastrophe") Day –which Palestinians commemorate annually on the anniversary of Israel's establishment.
In the piece, "Israel didn't come into being because of the Shoah; Israel exists in spite of it," Bauer claims that Israel was established thanks to a diplomatic breakthrough, not the Holocaust and not feelings of guilt toward the Jewish people. His assertion is magnificently constructed and convincing.
With it, he has helped shift the discourse about the Nakba and the Holocaust from the area of myth to that of history, allowing for a fairer, more direct investigation of the topic.
Still, Bauer's impressive claim misses the historical question that Bakri poses – that of Israel's responsibility for the Nakba.
It is not important whether or not the Holocaust caused the establishment of the State of Israel. Neither is the fact that the State of Israel gave refuge to a substantial number of Holocaust survivors, rehabilitating them in buildings and towns that were, in essence, Palestinian ruins. It seems there can be no historical argument over this fact.
Because of this historical fact, which to this day allows the Holocaust to be used as a justification for the State of Israel's existence (even if it was not the cause of its establishment), Israel bears heavy responsibility.
This responsibility stems, in part, from the fact that it is Israel's own leaders who are making connections between the Holocaust and the establishment of the state. And the state is responsible for the Nakba. For example, these leaders invoke the Holocaust to justify potential military action against Iran.
And Israel's responsibility for the Nakba does not stop at the events of 1948. The Nakba, which is ongoing, is only getting worse – and for that, Israel is culpable.
It does not matter whether, in 1948, the Palestinians fled their homes or were driven from them. What matters is that when the dust settled, they were not allowed to return. Even if Israel's establishment is not connected to the Holocaust, Israel took in Jewish refugees while creating Palestinian ones. That that creates an undeniable connection between the Holocaust and the state's creation.
It was because of the Holocaust that Israel's leaders felt the need to establish the State of Israel as a Jewish state. This state guards its Jewish character by, among other tactics, continuing to oppose the Palestinian right of return.
Like many Israelis, Bauer understands that it takes more than just empathy for the Palestinian disaster to accept responsibility for the Nakba. He knows that this is a responsibility that demands expression in the practical realms of law and justice – in other words, by recognizing the right of return and entering into negotiations about how that right will look in practice.
It seems that this is why he would rather deflect the debate to the historical clarification of the role played by the "state in the making," which existed before the Holocaust, and to the diplomatic factors that enabled the establishment of the State of Israel.
But the painful and real question, the one that is both historical and moral, is what role the Holocaust played, and continues to play, in the State of Israel's existence and actions. This is, after all, the same country that refuses to recognize its responsibility for the Nakba for fear that recognizing of the right of return could compromise its Jewish character.
Professor Hannan Hever is the Head of the School of Literature at the Hebrew University.


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Is 3D useful in stereo visual control?. 2002, pp. 1630-1635.,
"Evolutionary structural optimisation based on boundary representation of NURBS. Part II: 3D algorithms", Computers & Structures, vol. 83, pp. 1917-1929, 2005.,
USE OF SENSORS TO DEAL WITH UNCERTAINTY IN REALISTIC ROBOTIC ENVIRONMENTS, vol. 2492. 1995, pp. 740-747.,
Practical Multi-Robot Applications with Player and JADE. 2008, pp. 2004-2009.,
"Multiple self-organizing maps for supervised learning", in From Natural to Artificial Neural Computation, vol. 930, 1995, pp. 345-352.,
Stereo visual servoing with oriented blobs. 2003, pp. 977-982.,
"Evolutionary structural optimisation based on boundary representation of NURBS. Part I: 2D algorithms", Computers & Structures, vol. 83, pp. 1902-1916, 2005.,
"Implicit Sensorimotor Mapping of the Peripersonal Space by Gazing and Reaching", Autonomous Mental Development, IEEE Transactions on, vol. 3, pp. 43-53, 2011.,
"Pose Estimation Through Cue Integration: A Neuroscience-Inspired Approach", IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part B, vol. 42(2), pp. 530–538, 2012.,
"Toward an Integrated Visuomotor Representation of the Peripersonal Space", in Bioinspired Applications in Artificial and Natural Computation, LNCS 5602, 2009, pp. 314–323.,
"A Pilot Study on Saccadic Adaptation Experiments with Robots", in Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems, vol. 7375, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2012, pp. 83-94.,
"Symbol grounding through robotic manipulation in cognitive systems", Robotics and Autonomous Systems, vol. 55, pp. 851-859, 2007.,
VISUAL NEUROSCIENCE OF ROBOTIC GRASPING. Springer, 2016.,
"Eye-Hand Coordination for Reaching in Dorsal Stream Area {V6A}: Computational Lessons", in Bioinspired Applications in Artificial and Natural Computation, LNCS 5602, Springer, 2009, pp. 304–313.,
"The Dorso-medial visual stream: From neural activation to sensorimotor interaction", Neurocomputing, vol. 74, pp. 1203 - 1212, 2011.,
"3D Grasp Synthesis Based on Object Exploration", in 2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics, Kunming, China, 2006.,
"Hierarchical object recognition inspired by primate brain mechanisms", in Computational Intelligence for Visual Intelligence (CIVI), 2011 IEEE Workshop on, 2011.,
"Pose Estimation Through Cue Integration: A Neuroscience-Inspired Approach", Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part B: Cybernetics, IEEE Transactions on, vol. 42, pp. 530-538, 2012.,
"Find It – An Assistant Home Agent", in Trends in Practical Applications of Agent and Multi-Agent, vol. 221, Springer International Publishing, 2013, pp. 121-128.,
"Integration of Visuomotor Learning, Cognitive Grasping and Sensor-Based Physical Interaction in the UJI Humanoid Torso", in Designing Intelligent Robots: Reintegrating AI, vol. SS-13-04, AAAI, 2013, pp. pp. 6-11.,
"Problems in a Distributed Implementation of an Expert System", in Circuits, Systems and Computers, Piraeus (Greece), 1996.,
"UJI RobInLab's Approach to the Amazon Robotics Challenge 2017", in 2017 IEEE International Conference on Multisensor Fusion and Integration for Intelligent Systems, Daegu, Korea, 2017.,
"Body Language for Mood Induction Procedures", in Proceedings of the Tenth Annual ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction Extended Abstracts, New York, NY, USA, 2015.,
"How important is body language in mood induction procedures with a humanoid robot?", in Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), 2015 24th IEEE International Symposium on, 2015.,


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|Acid Free Storage • Dolls • Tiaras • Sewing Tips • Photo Gallery • Newsletter
Welcome To Heirloom Sewing For Children!
Without a doubt, the BEST fabric wash that we have ever used is Forever New Fabric Wash. We highly recommend this product for all your washable heirloom fabrics.
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Decision Maker: Acting Corporate Director (Operations and Delivery)
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
20/00134/BOATMR Boatman Licence
Mr T Calcutt is applying for a Boatman's Licence for the period of up to 31 Mar 2021.
The application conforms with all Statutory and Local Authority requirements and all consultations have been undertaken where required. The licence may, therefore, be granted and is submitted for authority to issue under Delegated Powers.
Publication date: 22/07/2020
Date of decision: 22/07/2020


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(Pocket-lint) - It might come as a surprise to learn that this new Lexus GS is actually the fourth generation of the model line.
And if you're lucky enough to have climbed to near the top of the company car tree, this car is rather good news. It not only means there's another alternative to the default German option in this class, but it's also hybrid powered and therefore low CO2.
But, despite the epic levels of build quality and the hybrid tech, the previous version of the Lexus GS offered little objective reason to dump the default German option. Does the new GS - aimed at tech-savvy, early adopters (surely that's us?) - do anything to change that? We went to the new car's international launch in Austria to find out.
The last GS was not an ugly car. In fact, in side profile it was a bit of a style leader because when the Jag XF appeared in 2007, many said it bore a striking resemblance to the big Lexus.
- Samsung Galaxy Note 20, What3Words CEO, and Withings Sleep Analyzer reviewed - Pocket-lint podcast ep. 65
But the new GS represents an attempt by Lexus to woo a different kind of customer. Lexus has, with the greatest respect, never been a particularly cool brand - Alan Partridge is still doing it damage in some quarters - and its buyer demographic errs more towards people who frequent golf clubs than nightclubs. But where the previous generation car vied with Jaguar for buyers, the new one appears to have its sights set firmly on that younger, thrusting BMW driver.
Yes, the large, full-depth "spindle" grille might be reminiscent of an Audi's, but from the grille back, the proportions of this car ape a 5-Series. Which is not a bad thing. But while it's handsome and well proportioned, it's got a rather generic quality to it. Only the (overly) aggressive front end and unusual, kinking rear door shutline really stand out.
To ensure greater appeal to Mr BMW, Lexus has introduced its sporting, more aggressive-looking "F Sport" trim level to the GS range. So if the 19-inch rimmed, gangster look's your thing, try an F-Sport GS in black or grey like the black car in our pictures. Discreet and genteel more your style? Then you'll need the Luxury trim level of the silver car.
A technological marvel and let down in one
Get in and your eyes will be instantly drawn to the vast centre screen, set deep under its own cowl on top of the dashboard. Press the starter button and it comes to life to reveal a 12.3inch LCD screen – the biggest ever seen in a production car.
That cowl means it doesn't catch reflections, and, as you might expect from a new and fairly top-end model, the screen resolution is first class. You control it via Lexus's Remote Touch Interface - a mouse-style controller that sits on the centre tunnel.
The last time we tried this system in the smaller CT it was infuriating, but in the GS it's much better. Force feedback has been added to the mouse controller, along with self-centring and a "magnetising" function – as you move around the screen, it locks on to buttons.
All of which improves it immeasurably and means we no longer consider it a system that borders on dangerous to use while on the move. More's the pity then that the mouse controller and wrist rest on the centre console look like they've been glued on as an afterthought, and that they feel as if they're covered in much more poor quality material than other key touch points in the cabin.
Sadly, the 12.3-inch screen is an option (an 8-inch is standard) but it's a box you must tick because it's only £1000, and more importantly comes bundled with the Mark Levinson Premium Surround sound system.
We'd not be without it, having wafted across Germany and Austria with it shuffling through the contents of an iPod and revealing detail in songs we previously didn't know was there. It's a 17-speaker system, and we'd single out the quality of treble in particular - it's exceptionally sharp and well detailed without resorting to the harsh over-amplification that many in-car systems do.
All-told, the tech in this car is a mixed bag. Elements of it - that screen and the hi-fi - truly stand out. But there are some notable omissions. For instance, we find it inconceivable that a new car at this level can't be had with on-board Wi-Fi and the sort of connectivity and synchronous functions that BMW now offers you. Or that Lexus puts in a 12.3-inch screen and then adorns it with maps of a graphical quality no better than you'll find in a Yaris. Which means it's rather shown up by Audi's Streetview capability that comes from Google Maps.
Having your cake and eating it
Still, as you might expect, you won't want for much else in the way of equipment. Yes there's multiple zone climate control system (for back seat passengers too), 18-way adjustable, massaging, heated and cooled seats.
But the big news is a Volvo-like attempt to try to stop you crashing. It's part of what Lexus calls Pre-Crash Safety – which uses sensors around the car to detect if a crash is imminent, buzz at you if it thinks the worst is about to happen, then help you brake, or if you're half asleep, brake for you. Thanks to the Driver Monitor Camera which tracks your eye movement, it's likely to have woken you up before a crash in the event you do nod off, too.
But the big appeal of this car for many people will be its hybrid drivetrain, which from the on-paper figures, suggests you can have your cake and eat it. Lexus went to great lengths to emphasise to us that it was the most power-efficient car on the planet. What that means is that, for the performance on offer, you won't find a greener car. Incredibly, the quoted numbers are 0-60 mph in 5.9 seconds, together with an official rating of 46.3 mpg and 141 g/km of CO2.
If anything, it feels faster than those figures. But unlike every other hybrid we've tried, the V6 engine means it sounds nice too. And it's deeply refined. At autobahn speeds, the only noise you really hear is wind rustle from the large rear view mirrors. At 230km/h it was still accelerating, the man in the Mercedes wasn't losing us, and we were chatting without raising our voices.
On the flip side it'll also creep around town silently on electric power alone, shut-off the petrol engine whenever it can and if you put it in "eco" mode and stop driving at autobahn speeds, then the computer suggested that - yes - 40+ mpg was very achievable.
Don't underestimate how strongly we believe that this is the best hybrid car we've ever driven and that stepping back into a diesel car after the Lexus felt like a leap backwards in automotive time.
And now your luggage can come along too
Better still, Lexus has solved the single biggest problem with the previous generation car, which was its lack of boot space. By redesigning the battery pack – which in the old car ate up half the boot – the new car's boot is 55 per cent bigger and capable of carrying four sets of golf clubs - if that's your thing.
And behind the wheel? Well, the Lexus isn't the sort of car you'll hoon around mountains in - believe us, we tried it and there's no great reward for doing so. But it is fast, quiet and refined. Our only concern is the ride, which on badly surfaced UK roads we suspect might be a bit harsh. On billiard-smooth foreign highways it was fine though, so we'll reserve judgement until we can try it here.
It feels like we use the line a lot, but if you're bored of the German rivals who form the main competition for this car, then we heartily recommend the GS.
Does it match the driving dynamics of a BMW on the limit, the design quality of an Audi's interior or the innate sophistication of a Merc? Nope. Yet what it does offer is something that in most respects is at least class-competitive and in one key area - its drivetrain - something very compelling. Yes, rivals have caught up and have either recently launched, or are about to launch their own hybrid competitors, but Lexus's system delivers a better blend of performance and economy.
We still think it's a shame that 12.3 inch screen lacks better graphics and the connectivity is below par, but if you can live with those two things you'll find a car that's discreet and under the radar in appearance, will be great as an ownership proposition and which, right now, has one of the best drivetrains on the planet.


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(HealthDay)—More than two-thirds of family doctors now use electronic health records, and the percentage doing so doubled between 2005 and 2011, a new study finds.
If the trend continues, 80 percent of family doctors—the largest group of primary care physicians—will be using electronic records by 2013, the researchers predicted.
The findings provide "some encouragement that we have passed a critical threshold," said study author Dr. Andrew Bazemore, director of the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Primary Care, in Washington, D.C. "The significant majority of primary care practitioners appear to be using digital medical records in some form or fashion."
The promises of electronic record-keeping include improved medical care and long-term savings. However, many doctors were slow to adopt these records because of the high cost and the complexity of converting paper files. There were also privacy concerns.
"We are not there yet," Bazemore added. "More work is needed, including better information from all of the states."
The Obama administration has offered incentives to doctors who adopt electronic health records, and penalties to those who do not.
For the study, researchers mined two national data sets to see how many family doctors were using electronic health records, how this number changed over time, and how it compared to use by specialists. Their findings appear in the January-February issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.
Nationally, 68 percent of family doctors were using electronic health records in 2011, they found. Rates varied by state, with a low of about 47 percent in North Dakota and a high of nearly 95 percent in Utah.
Dr. Michael Oppenheim, vice president and chief medical information officer for North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System in Great Neck, N.Y., said electronic record-keeping streamlines medical care.
These records "eliminate handwriting errors, and help with planning and caring for patients with chronic medical problems," Oppenheim said. Plus, the files can be accessed by a doctor when the initial provider is unavailable, he said.
Electronic health records also save money in the long term, he noted. "If a patient has a complaint and just had a blood test, and then shows up at the ER (emergency room) with the same complaint, the ER doctor can access the record and not reorder the same test," he said.
Oppenheim said medical penalties are driving adoption of e-records, but there is still some hesitancy. "Doctors are nervous about the cost and worried about how it will affect their practice," he said. "The conversion process is complex."
Doctors can do it themselves or outsource the system. "You pay in productivity or dollars," he said.
Electronic health records are good news for all involved, agreed Dr. Adam Szerencsy, an internist at New York University Medical Center in New York City and the Epic Medical Director there. Epic is NYU's electronic health record system.
When the concept first surfaced, many patients were concerned about their privacy. Today's electronic health records are secure and often have protocols attached to make sure that they don't fall into the wrong hands, he explained.
A key reason that family doctors are leading the transition is that government incentives make it a little more lucrative for family practitioners than specialists, he said.
Also, "primary care doctors manage patients over time, while subspecialists usually don't," Szerencsy said. For example, a surgeon may treat appendicitis, and then the case is closed.
The Holy Grail is thought to be a universal health record where doctors everywhere can access patient records. "We are getting closer," Szerencsy said. "Within the next couple of years, electronic health records will explode across the board."
More information: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has more about electronic health records.
Journal information: Annals of Family Medicine
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.


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2191 Jordan Lane N.W.
Huntsville, AL 35816
New 2018 nuCamp RV T@G XL 6-Wide
Head out for a bit of adventure with this cute T@G XL teardrop in tow! This unit features everything two camp enthusiasts need, and you don't need a special tow vehicle to get it there!
This T@G XL model features an interior with a 58" x 78" sleeping space inside, plus the rear hatch allows you a place to easily prepare all of your light meals and snacks using the combo stove and sink. The 12V cooler will help keep your perishables cold for the time you are camped, and the stove top features two burners. You will also find on the XL model a microwave oven, and a multi-purpose rack in your galley area to hold anything you need regularly for cooking. Plus you will appreciate the storage beneath the counter and sink for your belongings along with some camp dishware.
The 3-speed Fantastic fan and side windows will help keep the air circulating and fresh while you sleep inside, and there is also a front window too. On those warm camping days you can enjoy a Danby air conditioner to keep things cool and comfortable. You will also appreciate the 19" entertainment center complete with stereo system, Bluetooth, and a front auxiliary input so you can take your digital library along with you when you go. Along side the entertainment center you will find more storage cabinets inside for your things so you can keep neat and tidy while camped.
For those that don't mind getting a little dirty, there is an Outback package you may wish to consider. With this package you will enjoy slick off-road wheels, a roof rack for taking along more gear, a custom diamond plate tongue box, and a 15" spare tire, plus more!
Friendly, Helpful, and RespectableBankston Motor Homes RV in Nashville, TN is the BEST!!! Phil Simpson is the greatest salesman any one could ask for. He is friendly, helpful, and respectable. I especially like Judy Simpson too. We got the best deal on our Lance camper. Excellent service. 5 Star all the way. - Carol from Huntsville, AL
Stock# 108938
|9 ft 8 in
|Ext Width
|6 ft 8 in
|Ext Height
|6 ft
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|3 ft 11 in
|Hitch Weight
|160 lbs
|Dry Weight
|1210 lbs
|Fresh Water Capacity
|11 gals
|Tire Size
|Axle Weight
|2200 lbs
|TV Info
|Axle Count
nüCamp RV manufactures the highest quality recreational vehicles and truck campers available in North America. The dedicated craftmen and women who work at the nüCamp RV fabrication facility in Sugarcreek, Ohio are committed to the principles of innovative design, high-quality fabrication, and fanatical customer support. We treat our customers as family, and they repay the favor by spreading the news about how wonderful our products are. We're not perfect, of course, so we make it right whenever we fall short--which, as you will discover, is not very often.
While our name may be new (or is it "nü"?) our company has long served in the background of the teardrop camper trailer market as a dedicated manufacturer of these fine recreational vehicle products. Pleasant Valley Teardrop Trailers adopted the name nüCamp RV in the fall of 2016. We feel that the new brand better captures and expresses the essence of our company's commitment to RVers, campers, and outdoor enthusiasts.


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HWI News
Hayley attends London Palladium Centenary Celebrations
Hayley attended the Centenary celebrations at the London Palladium, organised by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber.
See more photographs at Contactmusic.com.
Lloyd Webber announces refurb plans as Palladium celebrates centenary
Published Tuesday 12 October 2010 at 16:40 by
Andrew Lloyd Webber has joined with Bruce Forsyth, Ken Dodd and Michael Ball to celebrate the 100th birthday of the London Palladium.
They were among the leading showbusiness figures - who also included Russ Abbot, Brian Conley, Jason Donovan, Lesley Garrett, Sheila Hancock, Peter Land, Gillian Lynne, Paul Merton, Des O'Connor, Elaine Paige, Nicholas Parsons, Jonathan Pryce, Philip Schofield, Bruce Welch and Hayley Westenra - who came together today to celebrate the centenary of the famous venue.
Speaking at the event, Lloyd Webber - whose Really Useful Group owns and operates the venue - said: "Today's celebration is about recognising the rich history of this wonderful theatre and the fantastic performers who have graced its stage. It is also about the beginning of the biggest programme of refurbishment and change in the Palladium's history and I'm delighted to announce the restoration of the iconic revolving stage and plans for the complete refurbishment of the front of house areas."
Prior to the first performance of The Wizard of Oz - the next show at the venue - in February 2011, the main entrance facade will be repaired and refurbished, a new box office area will be created with direct access to the theatre, a new lift will improve accessibility to the stalls level and toilet facilities will be improved. Meanwhile, the current box office will be converted into three new function spaces.
Meanwhile, Forsyth - a former host of Sunday Night at the London Palladium - and Lloyd Webber unveiled a plaque in the venue's foyer to mark the centenary.
Credits: The Stage
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Lindsay Lohan may be segregated from the general population in the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynnwood, Calif., but her nearest jail neighbor is an old acquaintance… of sorts.
Access Hollywood has learned that Alexis Neiers, the very woman who plead no contest to burglarizing Orlando Bloom's home, is being housed in the cell next to the actress.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Lindsay Lohan Surrenders For Jail
U.S. & World
Lohan is in cell #28, while Neiers is in #29.
According to E! News, Neiers is in Paris Hilton's old cell at the facility.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Lindsay Lohan's Day in Court (July 6, 2010)
Lohan is not expected to have contact with other inmates while she is in jail, but the cells are reportedly close enough that the two women could talk if they wanted to.
Neiers was connected to the group of several young people who were accused of burglarizing the homes of several celebs in 2009 including Bloom, Lohan, Hilton and Rachel Bilson.
In related news, Access Hollywood has learned that Lohan's physical contact with the outside world will be kept to a minimum while she is inside. Her visits with her attorney will be through glass, via a phone. Additionally, showers will be isolated and break time for activities will also be done without others around.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Trials & Tribulations Of Lindsay Lohan
Copyright 2010 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
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VIEW THE PHOTOS: Lindsay Lohan: The Early Years
PLAY IT NOW: Women Behind Bars: Will Lindsay Lohan Turn Her Life Around In Time?
PLAY IT NOW: Attorney Shawn Chapman Holley On Lindsay Lohan's Surrender To The Court: 'She Was Scared But She Was Strong'
More from Access: [ Lindsay Lohan TV Movies ]


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Over the years, politicians in advanced economies have tended to favour fiscal expansion during economic booms and austerity during recessions. But while a pro-cyclical policy is understandable from a political perspective, it also explains why these economies are rarely prepared for a crisis and why they eventually face so much difficulty recovering.
CAMBRIDGE – The world's advanced economies remain divided over whether to strengthen budget balances in the short term or to use fiscal policy to promote recovery. Those worried about the short-run contractionary effects on the economy call the first option "austerity"; those concerned about long-term sustainability and moral hazard call it "discipline."
Either way, the debate is akin to asking whether it is better for a driver to turn left or right; depending on where the car is, either choice might be appropriate. Likewise, when an economy is booming, the government should run a budget surplus; when it is in recession, the government should run a deficit.
To be sure, Keynesian macroeconomic policy lost its lustre mainly because politicians often failed to time countercyclical fiscal policy – "fine tuning" – properly. Sometimes fiscal stimulus would kick in after the recession was already over. But that is no reason to follow a destabilizing pro-cyclical fiscal policy, which piles spending increases and tax cuts on top of booms, and cuts spending and raises taxes in response to downturns.
Pro-cyclical fiscal policy worsens the dangers of overheating, inflation, and asset bubbles during booms, and exacerbates output and employment losses during recessions, thereby magnifying the swings of the business cycle. Yet many politicians in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the eurozone seem to live by it. They argue against fiscal discipline when the economy is strong, only to become deficit hawks when the economy is weak.
Related: The Keynesian Formula Will Not Solve Our Fundamental Growth Problem: Raghuram Rajan
Related: Europe's Policy Problem: Balancing Austerity With Economic Growth
Consider the positions taken over the last three decades by some American politicians.
In his 1980 campaign and again in 1981, a period of recessions, President Ronald Reagan urged immediate action to reduce the national debt.
In 1988, however, as the economy approached the peak of the business cycle, candidate George H.W. Bush was unconcerned about budget deficits, even though the national debt was rapidly approaching three times the level that it had been under Reagan. "Read my lips: no new taxes," Bush famously declared.
Predictably, Bush and the US Congress finally summoned the political will to raise taxes and rein in spending growth at precisely the wrong moment – in 1990, just as the US was entering a recession. Although the timing of the legislation was poor, the action was courageous: pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) budgeting rules and other reforms deflected government finances back onto a path that eliminated the budget deficit by the end of the decade.
But, three years later – at the start of the most robust recovery in American history – all Republican congressmen voted against President Bill Clinton's 1993 legislation to maintain Bush's spending caps, PAYGO, and tax increases. Even after seven years of strong growth, at the peak of the business cycle in 2000, with unemployment at record lows, George W. Bush based his 2000 campaign on a platform of large tax cuts.
After recovery from the 2001 recession had gotten underway, and the inherited budget surpluses had nonetheless turned to record deficits, the Bush administration pushed through a second round of tax cuts in 2003, and maintained a rate of spending growth that was triple the rate under Clinton. As Vice President Richard Cheney put it, "Reagan proved that deficits don't matter."
These policies were maintained for another five years, as another $4 trillion was added to the national debt. Predictably, when the worst recession since the Great Depression hit in 2007-2009, politicians were reluctant to launch an adequate fiscal response, owing to the huge deficits and debts that the government had already been running.
Republicans suddenly re-discovered the evil of budget deficits. They opposed Obama's initial fiscal stimulus in February 2009, and succeeded in blocking further efforts when its effects petered out two years later. In my view, the government spending cutbacks of the last two years are the most important reason why the economic recovery that began in June 2009 subsequently stalled in 2011.
Here, then, are three generations of politicians who favoured fiscal expansion during booms (1982-1989, 1992-2000, 2002-2007) and austerity during recessions (1980, 1981, 1990, 2008-09). A similar unfortunate cycle – large fiscal deficits when the economy is already expanding, followed by fiscal contraction in response to a recession – has also been visible in the UK and the eurozone in recent years.
Turning left every time the road goes right, and vice versa, is worse than switching policies randomly.
But the pattern is understandable: when the economy is booming, there is no political support for painful spending cuts or tax increases. There is a hole in the roof, but the sun is shining. Then, when the thunderstorms roll in, sinners suddenly get religion and proclaim the necessity of reforming – just when it is most difficult to fix the problem.
Related: Europe's Man-Made Disaster – An Austerity Tragedy: Joseph Stiglitz
Related: Fiscal Fallacies – The Root of All Sovereign Debt Crises: Amar Bhidé & Edmund Phelps
Historically, it used to be developing countries whose dysfunctional political systems produced pro-cyclical fiscal policies. Almost all of them showed a positive correlation between government spending and the business cycle from 1960 to 1999.
But things have changed. About a third of emerging-market countries' governments – including authorities in China, Chile, Malaysia, South Korea, Botswana, and Indonesia – managed to reverse the historical correlation. They took advantage of the 2003-2007 boom to strengthen their budget positions, saving up for a rainy day. They were thus in a good position to use fiscal stimulus when the global recession hit them in 2008-2009.
In fact, a majority of the governments that have pursued countercyclical fiscal policies since 2000 are in emerging-market or developing countries. They figured out how to achieve countercyclical fiscal policy during precisely the decade when so many politicians in "advanced countries" forgot.
By Jeffrey Frankel
Copyright: Project-Syndicate, 2012
Jeffrey Frankel is the James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth at the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University. Frankel served under the Clinton Administration as a member of the Council of Economic Advisors and is currently the Director of Program in International Finance and Macroeconomics at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
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Posted on 3/26/2013
Reviewed by Sparks, grade 7th
Why I did like this story is because of all the neat and surprising highlighted events. Like when Nya has found out what she can do with her power. How she meets a new friend and heals his family. And saves her sister from the clutches of evil. But that's all I can say or I'll ruin the whole book. Thanks for reading this!


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Trying Juveniles as Adults: Doesn't Reduce Juvenile Crimeby GDN Shared Post October 28, 2011
NNPA — Only eight states publicly report the race and ethnicity of juveniles transferred to adult courts for criminal prosecution, the Justice Department has found, and it's no wonder that more states do not. Those that do are sending disproportionate numbers of African-American and Hispanic teenagers to face the possibility of the most serious punishment that a juvenile offender can face—getting locked up in a state prison alongside hardened adult criminals.
During a juvenile crime wave that began in the 1980s and peaked in 1994, almost every state expanded the range of juvenile offenders who could face conviction in adult court for serious or repeat offenses, the Justice Department says in a new report.
Since 1994 states have been trying many fewer teenagers in regular courts, but at least 14,000 faced that sort of prosecution in 2009, according to information available from 21 states.
State lawmakers may believe their tough legislation has led to the drop in juvenile offending, but they are deluding themselves if they do. It has been long established that the biggest factor behind crime rates are demographic trends: the more teenagers in the population, the more juvenile crime, and vice versa. Similarly, adult crime rates are strongly associated with the number of people under age 30, particularly males.
Current members of state legislatures would be more on target asking whether adult transfer laws have served any beneficial purpose. No national study has been conducted on the impact of those laws, but most state-level research indicates they do not reduce juvenile crime.
"The weight of the evidence suggests that state transfer laws have little or no tendency to deter would-be juvenile criminals," concludes the report from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. "Possible explanations include juveniles' general ignorance of transfer laws, tendency to discount or ignore risks in decision-making, and lack of impulse control."
The report suggests legislatures take another look at the laws: "States have shown little tendency to reverse or even reconsider the expanded transfer laws already in place. Despite the steady decline in juvenile crime and violence rates since 1994, there has as yet been no discernible pendulum swing away from transfer."
Less than a paragraph in the report is devoted to racial-ethnic disparities in adult prosecution of juveniles, perhaps because so few states make those breakdowns available. That limited pool of information provides another reason for legislative reconsideration—one that African-American and Hispanic lawmakers should push.
According to the report, "In Florida most transferred youth in 2008 were black (54%) whereas whites (29%) and Hispanics (12%) were considerably underrepresented. By contrast transfers were predominantly Hispanic in Arizona (57%) and California (56%)."
To put that undesirable Black majority in Florida into context, the state had the highest rate of adult transfer of the states that make report such information. In 2007-2008, Florida sent a whopping 3,600 juveniles of all races into adult courts—about five times as many as more populous California. Florida's adult prosecutions of juveniles were concentrated in the counties that include Miami, St. Petersburg, Palm Beach, Orlando and Pensacola.
California prosecuted 742 juveniles as adults in 2008, a number that dipped a little the next year before jumping to 976 last year. Hispanics made up a majority of those juveniles in each of those three years, reaching a peak of 59 percent in 2009. African-Americans hovered just under 30 percent—a level out of line with the state's 13 percent Black population. About 38 percent of state residents are Hispanic.
In Arizona, Hispanics have been tried as adults at about the same rates as in California—between 57 percent and 59 percent between 2008 and 2010. Blacks have been overrepresented too, at between 12 percent and 18 percent.
The state is 30 percent Hispanic and four percent Black. Most adult prosecutions occurred in Maricopa County, where Phoenix, the state's largest city, is located.
Hispanic juveniles were treated as adults in disparate numbers in Oregon, where they made up 30 percent of the 2008 total of 391 juveniles in adults courts. The state is 12 percent Hispanic.
In Missouri, 64 percent of juveniles statewide prosecuted as adults in 2009 were African American, nearly double the 2001 level of 36 percent. Black youth make up 15 percent of the state's population between 10 and 17 that falls under the jurisdiction of juvenile courts. St. Louis and surrounding St. Louis County prosecuted as adults 70 percent of Black juveniles treated that way statewide.
The disparity was even greater for Black teen offenders in Tennessee: they made up 77 percent of children prosecuted as adults in 2008, and 67 percent the next year. There were about a total of 400 adult prosecutions in both years, and they were concentrated in the county that includes Memphis. Tennessee is 17 percent Black.
The Tennessee figures and one other statistic in the report suggest racial disparities are likely to be the greatest in the South, where states with the highest percentages of Black residents are located. The report says the bulk of all juveniles incarcerated in state prisons are doing their adult time in the South.
In Montana, the limited data published indicates that adult prosecution of Native American juveniles has been an issue. The statistics for Ohio that the Justice Department cites could not be found online.
To provide a fuller picture, the Justice Department recently commissioned a national survey to create the first national database of how juveniles are treated in adult courts. The survey will examine a sample of felony and misdemeanor cases against juveniles—and will include the demographics of those offenders.
Kenneth J. Cooper, a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, is a freelancer based in Boston. He also edits the Trotter Review at the University of Massachusetts-Boston. •