text:
A river again?
Obama's EPA extends protection to L.A.'s urban watershed
Behind the parking lot of a dilapidated casino in the city of Compton, Calif., runs a few miles of earthen-bottom creek, a tributary to the Los Angeles River, where blue herons alight on graffitied lamp posts and red-winged blackbirds feed among the cattails. Environmentalists have long fought to save this rare patch of urban nature from development, dredging and dumping, not just for the sake of open space in this park-poor neighborhood, but for water quality: Those cattails, for example, consume nitrogen from fertilizer runoff bound for the ocean.
But the creek's defenders have had scant legal basis for their fight: In 2008, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided that only four miles of the Los Angeles qualified as "navigable" under the Clean Water Act, meaning the eight major tributaries of the concrete trapezoidal channel L.A. stubbornly insists on calling a river remained stranded outside the protection of the federal law.
That changed on July 8, when EPA administrator Lisa Jackson stood on Compton's banks and declared all 51 miles of the Los Angeles River a "traditional navigable river." That means Compton and the other tributaries now pass "the Rapanos test" -- named for the Michigan scofflaw in U.S. v. Rapanos who paved a wetland to put up a shopping mall and, thanks to a landmark 2006 U.S. Supreme Court decision, got away with it. Rapanos limited Clean Water Act protection to waterways that have "a significant nexus" to navigable U.S. waters. That the Los Angeles River's tributaries now count among them won't stop every attempt to alter a creek, but it imposes an extra layer of pollution limits, subjecting development plans in the creek beds and floodplains to more lengthy and costly review processes.
"The EPA's decision could set a different paradigm for conservation here," says Meredith McCarthy, the director of programs at the nonprofit Heal the Bay and a key defender of Compton Creek. "We could be moving in the direction of valuing nature in urban centers."
That seemed to be the point Jackson was trying to make, too, in concert with other federal officials accompanying her on a national tour for President Obama's "America's Great Outdoors" initiative. She frankly assailed Rapanos and its companion, U.S. v. Carabell, another Michigan wetland case in which the court ruled in favor of a developer. "Those decisions made it such that we couldn't tell whether a creek like the one we stand before in an urban area was water," she told her listeners. "(But) ladies and gentlemen, this is a watershed."
After her talk, Jackson ventured down to the water. "She put on yellow waders and followed us in," says Miguel Luna of the nonprofit Urban Semillas, who teaches middle- and high-school students to test water in city streams. "The kids got a chance to explain to her what kind of data they were collecting and why."
None of this necessarily means that Obama's pledge to put science over politics will bring long-term progress on the nation's water quality. Nor does the decision secure the future of Compton Creek: The state has bought four acres of the creekbed for preservation, but county engineers can still clear any vegetation that might slow rising storm waters and raise ever-higher levee walls against damaging floods. "We still have to collectively decide if we want to dedicate land for riparian functions like floodplains," says Jessica Hall, a landscape architect with the Santa Monica-based Restoration Design Group and a longtime advocate for Los Angeles' forgotten creeks. Nothing about the EPA's decision forces anyone to address water quality by restoring creeks like Compton to more natural conditions.
What the decision does do, however, is suggest that EPA scientists are thinking about water and watersheds less narrowly than they have in the recent past. The agency "now considers that there are, within the species of 'river,' rivers like the Delaware and Mississippi but also rivers that look and feel differently," says David Beckman, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's water program. And that could bode well for other fickle Western waters -- rivers that run bone-dry part of the year and rage with floodwaters the next. Advocates for Arizona's Santa Cruz River, another river tangled up in arcane legal quandaries about navigability and nexuses, are hoping the Los Angeles River decision means the EPA will stand firm against the National Homebuilders Association, which has sued the agency over its determination that certain segments of the river deserve protection.
Case-by-case determinations, however, are not the best way to forge national environmental policy. "Sooner or later the Obama administration has got to come in and ask, 'What the hell are we going to do with the Clean Water Act?' " says Pat Parenteau, a legal expert in watersheds and wetlands at the Vermont Law School. "Because right now, water law is a total mess."


text:
Talk about a great safe for the money, the Colonial series offers 50% more fire protection than standard safe models at the same price. Each safe includes 80,000 BTUs and more fireboard than the competition, including 45 minutes @ 1200°F. Each safe is UL rated for Residential Security, including Liberty's exclusive 2-piece 12 gauge construction, making it much stronger against hand welds on competitor's safes. Eleven active 1" locking bolts are on three sides of the door, leaving no compromise in security. The Colonials are now standard in Liberty's hot selling marble gloss colors - each designed to fit home decors with long lasting durability.
FIRE PROTECTION• Certified for 605 minutes @ 1200° degrees F• Better Fire Protection with certified 80,000 BTU fire rating• Advanced fire & heat protection (3 layers of 5/8" fireboard in the ceiling, doorjambs and door, with another 2 layers in the walls). This is more fireboard than other competitor's safes with a simliar fire rating.• Palusol™ Heat Activated door seal expands up to 7 times its size and sealing door edge to help keep out smoke and heat
SECURITY• Awarded UL™ Residential Security Container (RSC) burglary classification• Triple case hardened steel plates protect lock from drill attack. Even UL couldn't drill through them.• Defensive barrier of Eleven 1" diameter bolts fortify the door on three sides, including one top bolt• Cam-drive bolt locking mechanism with slip clutch SURETIGHT handle thwarts break-in• UL Listed S&G™ Group II lock with keylocking dial guards against lock manipulation
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Varattur D. ReddyAssociate ProfessorKingsborough College/CUNY
Chemistry Doctoral facultyCUNY Graduate Center365 Fifth AvenueNew York, NY 10010(212) email@example.com
Varattur D. Reddy (V.D. Reddy), Professor of Chemistry (Physical Sciences), Kingsborough Community College.
Professor Varattur D. Reddy is an Organic Chemistry Doctoral Faculty at the Graduate Center-CUNY and Director of NMR Facility at Kingsborough. Varattur Reddy's research focuses on the synthesis of organic and organometallic compounds as anticancer and anti-Alzheimer's agents. Organic synthesis involves total synthesis of natural and unnatural products and modified carbohydrates. Organometallic chemistry involves synthesis of novel organometallic catalysts, efficient methodologies for the synthesis of biologically active molecules, bioorganometallics, and drug delivery systems. Research facilities at Kingsborough are 400 MHz NMR Facility, IR, GC, and HPLC.


text:
Updated Legal Advice
This has been updated with lots of new information relating to Supreme Court rulings. It had been neglected since 08, so it was due for a freshening up! All credit goes to VladTemplar for originally writing this.
So you want to know the state of the law eh? Then listen up.
NOTICE – Miranda has changed, scroll down to "The most important words you may ever say"
Disclaimer: This document gives legal opinions not legal advice and nothing said in this document is to be taken as advice given in counsel. These opinions are purely informational in purpose and intent and in no way create any kind of contract for legal services between you and anyone at Stoner Culture, nor any member of the website, and most assuredly not with the author of this writing. This information is never to be considered a substitute for the advice and guidance of a licensed attorney. You are responsible for your own legal future.
Table of Contents
1) Intro
a) The most important words you may ever say
2) Marijuana User Categories
3) The areas of protection
a) Your Home
i) The Knock and Talk
ii) Exigent Circumstances
iii) Search Warrants
iv) Receiving mail
b) Your Person
i) An everyday scenario
ii) The Stop and Frisk
iii) Street Questioning
iv) A note on the Grand Jury Threat
c) Your Car
i) NEVER submit to a Standardized Field Sobriety Test
ii) Smoking and Driving
iii) Where is it safest to keep things
4) Conclusion
5) Appendix A – Weed and Cleaning – Going Old Testament to keep the pigs at bay
6) Appendix B – Drug Dogs – Your Home – And the World of Jardines v. Florida
For legal advice PLEASE seek the counsel of an attorney. If you've been charged then this thread is too late for you and you need to get representation immediately. I highly recommend you visit NORML's lawyer list and find a lawyer in your state to get assistance. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever in this day and age to not have the phone number of an attorney programmed into your cell phone so you can call them when you get into trouble even if you've never spoken to them before. Criminal defense attorneys would much rather get a call from a potential client as they're being processed for their charge than a week before they're supposed to appear before a judge.
When it comes to drugs and the United States you've pretty much got to keep one thing in mind, the law is always against you. In fact that's just putting it nicely because the reality is that the entire system is completely stacked. Cops know they can cross the line to get that bust; judges back the cops because they're afraid for their careers if they don't, and the prisons…well that doesn't even need explanation. I don't say this stuff to scare you or create paranoia I say it because it's the truth. If there is anything America is short of when it comes to drugs it's the truth and quite frankly I think we all deserve some.
Some of the advice I purport herein may seem a bit over the top, but you've got to remember that there's no point in me giving you half-assed advice. I'd much rather give general legal advice that met the highest standard of caution and err on the side of caution than to disseminate advice that will not place you in the best legal situation possible. You're always at the disadvantage in our legal system and the concepts of "innocent until proven guilty" and "beyond a reasonable doubt" are extremely lofty ideals of civil liberties…the problem is that if you make it to trial most juries already assume you're guilty and reasonable doubt is whatever gets them out for lunch, the movie, or the bar to get drunk quicker.
So what do you do? What can you as a normal everyday citizen with little to no legal training and probably not of the means to have an attorney on retainer 24/7 that you can call at 2am do? You can arm yourself not with implements of a physical kind but the implements of the mind. No matter what happens in our society the government cannot incarcerate your mind and you can fight against the laws that you so vehemently despise by becoming an educated citizen.
This thread exists to give you some general legal advice about exerting your rights and to ask questions regarding how to respond to situations or what approaches to take. Simply put if it involves the law this is the place to go.
The Most Important Words You May Ever Say – An Invocation of your 4th and 5th Amendment Rights
Other than providing my driver's license and proof of insurance, I do not wish to provide any information until I have consulted with my attorney. If my lawyer cannot be reached, I would like a public defender. I would like to talk to my lawyer now.
If you wish to question me, or wish to obtain a waiver, I want my lawyer present. I do not want my person, car or other property to be searched. I do not want to perform any physical acts or tests. I do not want to participate in a line up, nor do I consent to being recorded.
If requested to take a breath test, I want to talk to a lawyer first. If I cannot get legal advice, I will submit to the test only if my driver's license will otherwise be suspended or revoked. If a breath test is given, I also want an independent blood test, and I am willing to pay for this myself.
If I am under arrest, I would like to arrange to secure my property. I do not consent to any impound or inventory of my vehicle or other property, but I do waive any claim against you for theft, loss or damage if you allow me to safeguard my own property. If I am not under arrest, I want to leave. Please tell me so I may go on my way. Thank you. I'm now invoking my right to remain silent under the 5th Amendment.
What do you do if you can't remember all of that?
Repeat the following: Officer, I'm invoking the protections of the State of [wherever you are] and the protections of the Constitution of the United States of America, specifically I'm invoking my 4th Amendment right and refusing any searches of my person or my property, and I do not consent to any tests of my sobriety except for a Breathalyzer, and if so I want a blood test afterward that I will pay for. Furthermore, I'm invoking my right to an attorney and I'd like to speak to one. With that said, I'm now invoking my right to be silent.
Do not say one more word after the word "silent." From that point forward you are literally a deaf/mute until your attorney is talking to you. Not your parents, not your girlfriend, only your attorney. You could talk to your spouse if you wanted to, but to be honest, she could still testify if she's pissed at you. Wait to talk to an attorney.
What to do if you absolutely can't remember anything I just said?
Keep your mouth shut.
Marijuana smokers come in 3 categories:
Tier 1: These smokers are your Carl Sagan's they keep it to themselves and limit their exposure. Most of these smokers are extremely diligent about their surroundings and know full well the risks they're taking. Most smokers in this category only consume at home, inside, and know what to do if the cops actually do show up. Smokers in this category are almost never caught. If caught the smokers in this category tend to call an attorney immediately and try to defend themselves as best as possible.
Tier 2: These are your average smokers, your typical college student if you will. Smokers in this category don't want to get caught and will try to take precautions. Smokers in this category often have at least a passing understanding of the legal ramifications of their decision to toke. However, smokers in this category are certainly more lax about their security than smokers in the first tier. They're the smokers that are more likely to smoke while driving, leave a roach in an ashtray of the car, or somehow do something, even if inadvertent, that will expose them. Smokers in this category do get busted, but not as much as those in the third tier, and when they do get busted they at least check out the idea of legal representation.
Tier 3: These are, for the lack of any better word, the idiots. Smokers in this category throw all caution and diligence to the wind and often couldn't care less about taking precautions or knowing anything about the law. Smokers in this category tend to smoke whenever and however they feel like it, exposure be damned. Many smokers in this category never bother to seek legal representation when charged and many will let multiple possession charges over time just accumulate. Most attorneys that have at least a partial specialization in drugs loathe these smokers because they not only tend to always have an excuse about not paying but they also tend to fuck up while they have pending charges which nullifies whatever plea bargaining the attorney has worked towards. In general if you meet a Tier 3 smoker, you stay the fuck away from them.
I'm going to break this initial thread down into three parts descending from the most protected place to the least protected.
A) Your home
B) Your person
C) Your vehicle
In the eyes of the law absolutely no place gets greater protection than your home. You should consider it your castle and always remember that you have the right to consider it as one. Just like a castle can slam shut the gates and pull up the drawbridge so can you. In that sense I'm going to focus on the most specific weakness of a castle and of your home: the front door.
Gone are the days of armies laying siege to a castle we're in the days of search warrants and SWAT teams, but if a situation arises where you've got a SWAT team stacked up on your front door with a breaching ram and a search warrant you're pretty much done for so there's no point addressing that. Thankfully unless you're a major dealer of illicit substances you probably don't have to worry about ever seeing the SWAT team bust through your front door what you have to worry about is called the knock and talk.
This is a pretty basic tactic of any police officer and something officers are trained in rather exhaustively. A neighbor has called complaining of loud music, perhaps a fight, perhaps they smelled weed whatever it is the neighbor saw when the cops show up all they have are the words of an eyewitness (which is usually flimsy for a District Attorney to go on) so the cops have to do the only thing the law will allow them to do which is to walk up to your front door and knock on it.
1. Go to door
2. Look through YOUR COVERED PEEPHOLE
3. Is it the police? If yes, recover the peephole, and say nothing.
4. Be quiet till they leave.
Fact of the matter is that cops can't enter your home without one of two things, a search warrant or an exigent circumstance. If you hear knocking at your door you're going to do what everyone else does and walk up to the door. So you've done so, you've looked through the peephole, and viola it's the cops. At this point the police know you're home (unless your lights were off and they didn't see the peephole being covered up) so you should do what everyone should do when they see someone at the door, not open it. When it comes to complaints about noise and loud parties cops love it when you open the door because it can give them some sort of probable cause. All a cop needs for probable cause is "plain sight" and they're allowed to enter the home which lets them seize what was in "plain sight" and while doing so they're allowed to seize anything else that's in "plain sight". So do yourself a favor and never give them a view into your home. If you open that door and those cops get even a whiff of marijuana or anything those cops don't like they're going to claim something was in "plain sight." It may not have been, but who is that judge going to believe, the officer of the law or you? That's what I thought.
Edit: This previous section has been amended – Please read the following
It's becoming more and more clear that even talking to the police is a bad idea. The best thing you can do is to just never even let them know if someone's home. A 911 call technically has to be corroborated, and even a loud party doesn't mean anything. Just turn the music down. Be quiet. They will leave. Do not talk to them through the door. Do not open the door. Essentially even admitting you're inside the home now is a very bad idea, especially in New Jersey. I've decided to amend this accordingly.
So the cops have asked you to open the door, your pulse has skyrocketed and you're nervous, what do I do? Mr. VladTemplar told me to not open the door but it's the fucking cops man they're going to bust my fucking door down and bum rush like a drug bust!!!! Wrong sir, absolutely wrong. Of all the things I've seen I've never seen a cop break a doorjamb without a reason to do so.
II – The exigent circumstance? WTF is that I call shens!
This has undergone a massive change
Essentially if a police officer is at your door, claims to smell weed, knocks, and hears ANY sound…that's grounds for an exigent circumstance and they can bash in your door to obtain evidence before you can destroy it. The US Supreme Court just dropped a new ruling (May 17, 2011) that drastically changed this law. You need to make sure no one can smell anything outside your home – please refer to my advice below.
III – A brief note on search warrants
If the cops knock on your door and you follow the above listed procedure and are told they have a search warrant, just let them bust the door in instead of surrendering your rights. They might be lying about it, and they can lie to get you to confess to a crime (vis-a-vis letting them search). So if they're lying, the door will stay shut, because if they don't have it and bust your door in without cause they can end up in prison. Cops really don't want to go to prison.
The process of executing search warrants is practically on par with a military operation anymore. In fact, police house search procedures are basically a de facto copy of the methods used in the military to search buildings. I previously advised to have the officers slide the search warrant under the door so you could verify it, but that's a long dead thing. Given the increase in ability for the police to bust through your door just because you admitted you're home it's inadvisable to even let them know you're there. So if you hear them yelling about having a search warrant, just stay quiet and let them bust through the door. You may be worried about damage to the door and door frame, but cheer up, if they bust the door down it gives you a chance to get a better door that finally won't leak air all the time.
If the police do enter your home to search it, they're required to give you a copy of that search warrant along with an itemization of everything seized. If you're arrested this can be obtained later. This is again kinda lofty to let happen, but if someone tries to go Training Day on you when you've got your front door open because it's a nice day outside, learn the following. What you need to look for on a search warrant is pretty simple. Foremost it will most likely "look very official." Meaning it will have a description of where is to be searched, what they're looking for (the items to be seized), and most importantly the signature of a judge.
Edit: Above on Search Warrants has been amended.
If you chose to ship something illegal through the mail you must accept certain risks. Foremost is the fact that you are not alone in this attempt, and the US Postal Inspectors are well aware of the use of the USPS to move illegal products. It makes sense; you just hope that your package makes it through thanks to shear volume, and, indeed, there is a certain logic to it when sending something from yourself to a friend. Chances are you are not too worried about this, so I am going to talk to the internet-ordering crowd.
Ordering over the internet poses many risks. I have not researched this area thoroughly enough to speak exhaustively on the investigations side, but I have seen how the busts tend to go down. Often the Postal Inspectors (USPI) will have running investigations on certain sites trying to figure out their shipping methods. A retailer on the internet moves too much volume to constantly change shipping methods so the USPI will often look for packages that fit their criteria and inspect it. Every so often the USPI can get a hit, and that means it is time for delivery.
Oh yes, they deliver the package to you now. The USPI have already secured the warrant and inspected the package, now it is time to put you on the spot. What they do is have a USPI agent dress like a normal postal worker, albeit strapped and a layer of armor, to hand you your package like any other postal worker has throughout your life. Absolutely nothing will seem odd or out of place, nothing will happen at this moment.
After 10-20 minutes (depends how badly they want to make sure it goes well in court) the UPSI agents actually bust the residence. By giving time post-delivery, they have found that suspects have usually opened the packages and some have even started working with the contents. This eliminates the defense of "I didn't know what it was and intended to return it to the post office." They essentially catch you red-handed and you are at the mercy of the prosecution.
Not to seem overly harsh, but the reality of using the USPS for moving illegal items is that people do get caught doing it. The USPI is effective, and you can be certain they have got this all down to a refined science. If you want to take the risk it is most assuredly yours for the taking, and because of this I give you the above information so you take the proper moment of pause before hitting that 'submit order' button.
1. Stop and let the officers walk up to you, do not run.
2. Ask the officers if you're free to leave, if not ask why you're being detained (detainment is not the same as arrest, but your rights are still there).
3. If the cops try to search you refuse any searches, if they insist on patting you down let them (stop and frisk is legal) but immediately state you do not consent to any further searches and request to call your attorney.
4. Do not answer any questions, simply be silent. Lying, even a white lie, is something else you can be charged with.
5. Above all be courteous
So you're strolling down the street minding your own business. You've got Rick Astley blaring in your headphones and before you know it you're getting rolled by the cops (now that's a rick roll). Your first move is to stop and let them come to you. I think it goes without saying that you never run from the cops, it'll never work and you only make matters worse for yourself when you get caught.
Oh shit now what?
Cops can stop you on the street to question you and even pat you down for weapons. So let's start this section by addressing the latter first.
A pat down search is by definition for weapons, but if a cop feels anything he considers even slightly suspicious in your pockets he's going to find it, so let that be a lesson. If there's anything you don't want to be found then your pockets are the worst place in the world. What's much better is any kind of bag. So your best bet if you're walking around and you have something illicit on you is to place it inside a container. To give an idea of the legal weight of this I defer to the Supreme Court of the United States.
"For just as the most frail cottage in the kingdom is absolutely entitled to the same guarantees of privacy as the most majestic mansion, so also may a traveler who carries a toothbrush and a few articles of clothing in a paper bag or knotted scarf claim an equal right to conceal his possessions from official inspection as the sophisticated executive with the locked attaché case." U.S. v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798, 102 S.Ct. 2157, 72 L. Ed. 2d 572 (1982).
I think that's pretty self explanatory. Cops don't expect you to know it though and the vast majority of cops don't know it either. If a cop tries to search a bag you're carrying you should immediately state that you do not consent to any searches of your items, if they search them anyways, you might get arrested but it's something you can fight.
If cops ask you for your name, give it to them. If they ask to see some identification, give it to them. Nothing requires you to carry an ID with you on the street, but it's a lot less hassle if you just hand them an ID card than it is to say you don't have one. If you don't have one they're allowed to attempt to ascertain your identity so it's best to just comply with the request for identification.
By and large the biggest advantage the 5th amendment gives you is the right to be silent. Pause for a moment and think about what I just said. You have the right to be SILENT. Sometimes, no almost all the time, the best thing you can do is be silent. Just about anything you say can be twisted and used against you so refusing to answer questions by silence is a great option to choose. You can't be charged for refusing to answer a question, that's your right.
By and large the biggest favor you can do yourself here is to be kind and courteous. Like it or not cops love to feel in control so placate their egos. It'll work in your favor and is just one less thing you might have to deal with. Exerting your rights won't piss the cop off and last time I checked, contempt of cop is not a chargeable offense. So long as you comply with the law you're fine even if you are arrested.
Believe it or not some cops will actually threaten you with this and I didn't even believe it till I actually saw it happen in a case. Something more educated cops will do when they start questioning you and you stay silent is threaten you by saying they'll get a grand jury to make you talk. Well, that's all great and grand, but a cop is not a grand jury. Hell the cop can't even make a grand jury convene that would take the DA. If a cop threatens you with this just do your best to stifle the laughter that I would certainly have because a grand jury is a whole new ball game.
If the DA has a grand jury convene the grand jury can consider evidence against you that will force you to appear in court and testify. Notice that whole in court thing? Yeah it happens in court, with counsel present, before a judge. A cop is not a grand jury, he's not a judge, and he's certainly not a DA. Don't fall for this bullshit.
Edit: The above section is edited with new information to follow
If you're ever walking about and the police yell at you to say "hello" or something along those lines, don't even say "hello" back. That actually starts them down the path to a legal arrest via investigative detention. This isn't new, not by a long shot, but it's starting to be upheld on appeals. That means it's going to quickly become part of the various training regimens, and thus you should be aware of the new tactics they're going to use to ensnare you.
1. Have your driver's license, registration (if your state has it), and insurance verification handily accessible and NOT in a location where you'd store anything illicit.
2. Be courteous, but don't answer questions about "do you know how fast you were going" by telling them, that's an admission of guilt. Keep asking "How may I help you?"
3. If the cop asks to search your vehicle, refuse.
4. If the officer keeps asking questions, ask if you're free to go.
5. If the officer tells you you're not free to go then state, overtly, that you're invoking the protections of the constitution of the state you're presently in as well as the protections of the Constitution of the United States and that you're expressly invoking your right to counsel.
6. Once you've invoked your right to counsel the cop can either arrest you or let you go. If the officer keeps questioning you remember this for your attorney, it goes to character/ethics of the officer. If you reply to any of those further questions, you've broken your protections. Keep your mouth shut.
Edit: Above was amended to reflect questioning.
A field sobriety test is a completely subjective test. Meaning the officer doesn't think "would a reasonable person think this driver is impaired" but rather "do I, the police officer, think this person is impaired?" The difference is huge and when you willingly submit to a field sobriety test you're submitting to their subjective inspection of your sobriety. Translation: they're going to claim you "failed" one of the physical coordination tests. There is no field sobriety test currently available to police for marijuana (though there is a saliva test it's still lab-based) and you can simply tell the officer you're willing to blow on a Breathalyzer but you won't submit to the field sobriety tests. That's all they've got.
On to the car
The car is the worst place for you to have a police encounter, period. I'm one of the most careful drivers out there because I'm always paranoid of getting pulled over. The more I've learned about your rights in a traffic stop and the more I've learned about drug profiling the more careful I become. The best advice I can give you about your rights when in a car is that they're nearly non-existent. The Supreme Court has ruled a vehicle to be a movable crime scene and in the infamous Whren decision absolutely ANY traffic infraction, essentially, is sufficient to allow an officer to pull you over and cite you for it. So let's roll through your rights in a car.
An officer is always allowed to ask you for your driver's license, registration, and insurance verification. These are items you should have readily available in your vehicle. You should know where they are. You should keep these in a readily accessible location that you would never consider hiding something illicit in. My insurance verification is held by a holder that's kept in place on my visor by a garage door opener. My glove box contains nothing besides copies of the car's maintenance work, the owner's manual, and a disposable camera (good to have if you get in a wreck).
When the cop approaches you in your car remember the one cardinal rule, anything you say can be used against you. That cop is searching for a probable cause to search your vehicle and they'll take anything they can get. If your car even remotely smells like marijuana you're pretty much guaranteed the cop is going to claim probable cause and search the vehicle.
What happens after I say I don't consent to any searches?
Flex Your Rights has made a great video breaking this down so go watch it here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXNhL2pkb0s
A brief segue into toking and driving
I know I'm going to catch some flak for this, but folks, this is the absolute dumbest thing you can do. I don't care if you're the best driver alive when high you're asking to get pulled over. When you get pulled over you're going to get searched, they're going to find whatever you had on you, and you're going to get arrested, period. Smoking marijuana and driving is absolutely ludicrously dumb. You wouldn't think it smart to knock back a bottle of whiskey while driving and you shouldn't think it smart to toke away on Mr. Spliffy either.
So Mr. VladTemplar where do I store my shit?
The trunk, above all, the fucking trunk. A trunk is a locked container that is outside your area of control in a vehicle. Cops are allowed to search within the area of control you have and so long as your trunk is outside that (hatchbacks don't get an exemption like this) your trunk is not incident to search for probable cause. Now if you're arrested it is, but just because they smell something funky doesn't mean they get to search the trunk, you dig?
The best advice I can give you on a traffic stop is to be courteous but to exert your rights at the same time.
4 – Conclusion – That's all folks!
I'm sure there's plenty I haven't covered above and I'm hoping there will be lots of questions. I hope even further that this tread is sticky-worthy and ends up becoming a reference section for people with legal questions. Please ask questions related to the law here and responses will come. I know I'm not the only legally-inclined person on here so I won't be the only one giving advice. Your state laws may contradict some things I've said above and some of the things I've said above may prove to be false in the future. The state of our legal order is constantly changing and a single decision by a circuit court that presides over the area you're in may drastically change the state of the law for that area and you. The Supreme Court could turn around tomorrow and completely nullify all the advice I've given above. The only constant in the law is change and the only disadvantage of our present order is that civil liberties are shrinking faster than the tits of a cheerleader who took off her pushup bra.
Stay safe people and take care of each other.
5 – Appendix A – Weed and Cleaning – Going Old Testament to keep the pigs at bay
Please read Appendix B as well – section on drug dog sniffs of apartment has been removed due to Florida v. Jardines
The costs for stupidity are incredibly high, and don't kid yourself, leaving shit out is incredibly stupid. I've had good friends that I've lectured on this, and knowing that I'm right, they always do what I say and start cleaning up after themselves. Low and behold I'll come back a few months later to find a bubbler, grinder, and even a jar of weed just sitting in plain view right after opening the front door. The same people that will study to make good grades, clean their houses to have a nice place to live, and even go out of their way to get exercise and live healthy lives for some reason refuse to accept the reality when it comes to using an illegal drug.
Cops love to bust you – it makes their damned day to get a drug arrest. It looks fantastic for their careers. Even if they smoked weed when they were younger they'll laugh about arresting you for it – I know because I've seen it happen more times than I care to remember – and then they'll make jokes about how they're doing the world a favor for at least catching "the idiots." ("Can you believe they had all that sitting out right in front of the door? Fuck those potheads are such trusting little crybabies. I thought he was going to shit himself he was so fucking scared! Goddamn I'm hungry lets go get some Jack in the Box – probably find some more stoners there!")
Secure your home
Look just accept it and be a realist. Even if you live in a medical marijuana state, even if its got the most progressive laws in the entire country, nothing stops a federal anti-drug task force from kicking open your door and arresting you for breaking federal law. Nothing stops the local cops from providing intelligence to the DEA to do this stuff, and nothing stops them from helping the raids under the guise of "sending a message" to the local drug community that they're just lucky they weren't the ones caught this time.
Never, ever, leave stuff in plain sight. If you're going to get high then make sure you put it away afterward. If you don't own the place you live in then you need to seriously consider giving up the act of smoking cannabis entirely and take up vaporizing. Get yourself a handheld vaporizor, a vaporgenie or similar, and just stick to that until you're in a safer place to consume.
Then get yourself a safe. It doesn't even have to be an expensive safe or one you're mounting to the floor or anything like that. The safe doesn't exist to protect you from being robbed – you'd need a very expensive safe that's bolted into a concrete floor to do that – it's there to protect you from the place you live in. Store everything in that safe.
Develop smart habits
Look I realize sometimes people just want to kick back with friends, smoke some weed, and have a good time – but that's a fantastic route to being caught as one of "the idiots." If you live in any kind of multi-family dwelling and are going to have people over then you absolutely must stop smoking and switch to vaporizing. I don't give a shit if you somehow think it's less cool or you get less high (which is bullshit) or that the high isn't as good (get over it). You need to realize the risks you're taking.
Smart habits are the best route to avoiding every single problem mentioned in this thread. So lets run through an example of what I'd consider smart habits for a cannabis consumer in the United States, regardless of what state they live in.
Before I even get started don't post a bunch of replies about how this advice costs too much money. A safe can be had for roughly $100, vacuum-tight containers can be had for $10-20 each, and cleaning supplies like rubbing alcohol and vinegar are incredibly cheap. If you've got the money to spend on weed then you can certainly afford to do everything I'm talking about here. Consider it an insurance policy against being human.
Treat this the same way your professor or TA did in your college chemistry lab – follow every single rule.
1. Store everything in separate vacuum-tight containers – this includes the loose bud, the vaporizor (easy if it's a vaporgenie), and all accessories like cleaning sticks.
2. Store all cannabis-related materials in the safe. That means the above vacuum-tight containers go in the safe. That means your giant 1 liter bottle of rubbing alcohol goes in the safe – because absolutely no one besides potheads keeps a giant bottle of rubbing alcohol under their kitchen sink – it's a dead giveaway. Also store the rock salt you've got to clean the bong I've already told you once to stop using in an apartment.
2.5 Alright so you won't listen to me and insist on owning a bong. Then that bong had better fit inside your safe, and if it doesn't, then get a bigger damned safe. Since obviously it won't fit into a vacuum-tight container that means you're going to have to clean it every single time you use it. Got a problem with that? Get over it.
3. Oh yes, cleaning. You will clean religiously – you will be Old Testament in your cleanliness. You will chose ONE spot in your ENTIRE HOME for where you will handle loose cannabis and nowhere else. This spot will not have a porous surface – glass is best. After you've picked your buds, ground them, and loaded them into whatever consumption method you've chosen you will promptly wash your hands with detergent to get the oil from your skin off (don't complain about dry hands – hand lotion is cheaper than a drug dog sniffing something you've consistently touched with cannabis resin).
You will then clean everything. Obtain paper towels, apply a 50/50 mix of vinegar and alcohol (mix in a small bottle that you keep in the safe), and wipe down the outside of anything you've touched – that means the kitchen sink handles you just touched, the grinder, the vacuum-tight containers inside and out, and any other third containers you use. Wipe down the counter top. Wipe down the sides of the counter top. Wipe down the floor AROUND the counter top. Then rinse that paper towel thoroughly with hot water. Then, and only then, can you throw that paper towel in the trash. If you're extra extra paranoid then use toilet paper so you can flush it.
4. ~Arguably the most important step~ Before consuming anything take everything except what you need and put it back inside the safe. Your vaporizor and lighter should be all you need out to consume – right? If it's not enough then you can very easily go back and repeat using what you had left in your grinder – but go through EVERY step again.
5. Periodically open the safe, empty it out, and let it air out. THIS IS NOT A TIME TO GET HIGH. Just open it and clean it (and all containers within) vigorously with a 50/50 mix of vinegar and rubbing alcohol, and then let it air dry. This should be enough to catch any stoned "oops" moments that have accumulated. How often is periodically? Well like everything above it's a matter of developing a habit. However often you buy weed sounds like a great idea – but if you buy a whole lot at once you're going to need to develop some other rule – like every Saturday morning (but BEFORE you get high…right?)
If you do everything above you will avoid all of the problems mentioned in this thread. Since you vaporized if you stupidly open the door right after toking – which you should never do – then the most anyone will smell is burned popcorn. Even if they catch that and think it's weed you'll have stored everything inside a safe, which they ostensibly can't open. Even if a drug dog comes by you'll have routinely cleaned up everything so you won't have consistently touched door handles with resin on your hands or anything else for that matter – and since you only handled loose cannabis in one area then you won't have to worry about shake being on the floor for a dog to sniff if, by some absolutely shitty turn of luck, a drug dog is inside your apartment. On that same note, if the drug dog is there, then your use of vacuum-tight containers that are routinely cleaned with vinegar and rubbing alcohol will, I'm just conjecturing here but it has face validity, statistically improve your chances of getting by without being caught.
It may seem like a lot of work, but once this stuff becomes routine, then you'll find that it's not really work at all. If you ever deal with paranoia all of the above will become like a security blanket. Instead of that pang of fear hitting you because you thought you heard someone stop in front of your door you'll know that they can't smell anything because you're vaporizing and even if they come in then your domicile is fantastically clean, doesn't look like a stoner lives there, and is squared away in a way that would impress a drill sergeant at Weed Bootcamp. What's more you'll probably impress your friends who know, deep down, that they should be doing the same thing. You won't feel like a hypocrite when you tell someone they were stupid for not putting their stuff away because you not only do it, but you do it as a matter of habit and routine. All of it will make you a smarter, sexier, and a more cultured consumer of cannabis. No one ever said using cannabis had to be about any one particular lifestyle. I do know for certain – talking to those heterosexual males who have women who, as their significant others, get on their case about acting like a pothead – that women have always appreciated me telling their boyfriends to clean their shit up. Like Chris Rock said, if men could fuck in cardboard boxes they'd never buy houses – and if you want to make a girlfriend stop fretting about weed then adopting some cleaning and security guidelines will go a long way to making her feel like the cannabis isn't a big deal because obviously you seriously care about doing it smartly and realize there's a legal risk with it.
Get smart about how you consume and you'll thank me at some point. I don't even want to tell you how many people have sent me PMs thanking me with their stories about how following my advice has quite literally saved their asses. All of the above could save your ass – and it might even get you laid more often. So give it a try – by all means it can't hurt.
Drug Dogs – Your Home – And the World of Florida v. Jardines
So the decision has finally come down from SCOTUS that a drug dog search, if it enters the curtilage of a home, constitutes a search within the meaning of the 4th Amendment. In other words, you need probable cause and a warrant to do it. For those with single-family separate houses you can probably breathe a little easier now knowing that the police will need to get some kind of probable cause to bring that dog to your house – but don't let that be an excuse to being lazy because they very much could still do that once they get a warrant to do so. But what about those of you living in duplexes or apartments? Well thankfully Scalis got on his soapbox.
SCOTUS in Florida v. Jardines posted:
This implicit license typically permits the visitor to approach the home by the front path, knock promptly, wait briefly to be received, and then (absent invitation to linger longer) leave. Complying with the terms of that traditional invitation does no t require fine-grained legal knowledge; it is generally managed without incident by the Nation's Girl Scouts and trick-or-treaters. (2) Thus, a police officer not armed with a warrant may approach a home and knock, precisely because that is "no more than any private citizen might do."
But introducing a trained police dog to explore the area around the home in hopes of discovering incriminating evidence is something else. There is no customary invitation to do that. An invitation to engage in canine forensic investigation assuredly does not inhere in the very act of hanging a knocker.(3) To find a visitor knocking on the door is routine (even if sometimes unwelcome); to spot that same visitor exploring the front path with a metal detector, or marching his bloodhound into the garden before saying hello and asking permission, would inspire most of us to—well, call the police. The scope of a license — express or implied — is limited not only to a particular area but also to a specific purpose. Consent at a traffic stop to an officer's checking out an anonymous tip that there is a body in the trunk does not permit the officer to rummage through the trunk for narcotics. Here, the background social norms that invite a visitor to the front door do not invite him there to conduct a search.(4)
(2) With this much, the dissent seems to agree—it would inquire into "'the appearance of things,'" post, at 5 (opinion of ALITO,J.), what is "typical" for a visitor, ibid., what might cause "alarm" to a "resident of the premises," ibid. , what is "expected" of "ordinary visitors," ibid., and what would be expected from a "'reasonably respectful citizen,'" post, at 7. These are good questions. But their answers are incompatible with the dissent's outcome, which is presumably why the dissent does not even try to argue that it would be customary, usual, reasonable, respectful, ordinary, typical, nonalarming, etc., for a stranger to explore the curtilage of the home with trained drug dogs.
(3) The dissent insists that our argument must rest upon "the particular instrument that Detective Bartelt used to detect the odor of marijuana" — the dog. Post,at 8. It is not the dog that is the problem, but the behavior that here involved use of the dog. We think a typical person would find it "'a cause for great alarm'" (the kind of reaction the dissent quite rightly relies upon to justify its no-night-visits rule, post,at (5) to find a stranger snooping about his front porch with or without a dog. The dissent would let the police do whatever they want by way of gathering evidence so long as they stay on the base-path, to use a baseball analogy—so long as they "stick to the path that is typically used to approach a front door, such as a paved walkway." Ibid. From that vantage point they can presumably peer into the house through binoculars with impunity. That is not the law, as even the State concedes. See Tr. of Oral Arg.
(4) The dissent argues, citing King, that "gathering evidence — even damning evidence— is a lawful activity that falls within the scope of the license to approach." Post, at 7. That is a false generalization. What King establishes is that it is not a Fourth Amendment search to approach the home in order to speak with the occupant, because all are invited to do that.The mere "purpose of discovering information," post,at 8, in the course of engaging in that permitted conduct does not cause it to violate the Fourth Amendment. But no one is impliedly invited to enter the protected premises of the home in order to do nothing but conduct a search.
So what does all of that mean for those of you in multi-person dwellings? Well Scalia has probably already answered this. First this is yet another case where SCOTUS has clearly stated that the Katz "expectation of privacy" test is not "the test" but "a test" – it adds on to the possible tests of a 4th Amendment question. We would still find it entirely unreasonable for one apartment dweller to walk up to another apartment and start scoping around the door with a metal detector – or explicitly – a drug dog. So here's where Scalia sails this thing home, and why I think it's already been addressed by this SCOTUS opinion, since SCOTUS is clearly affirming that what one may do in the curtilage is strictly limited to what a private citizen may do – thus police officers can't act on apartments any differently than they can act on a house. Apartments don't generally have much curtilage though so what does that mean? There is a 2005 1st Circuit case that should be influential here
1st Circuit in United States v. Cruz Pagan posted:
In a modern urban multi-family apartment house, the area within the "curtilage" is necessarily much more limited than in the case of a rural dwelling subject to one owner's control. In such an apartment house, a tenant's "dwelling" cannot reasonably be said to extend beyond his own apartment and perhaps any separate areas subject to his exclusive control.
This isn't going to really surprise anyone that it's extremely limited – but your apartment door can arguably be considered subject to your control. You, and only you, can operate that door – no one else – it's quite literally your door to your apartment, which means it's not a stretch to consider it curtilage. This means that no average person could do any more to your door that the average Girl Scout could (heretoforth I hope this is called the Girl Scout test) and that means no metal detector or drug dogs for the average person, and thus not for the police. We don't even need to consider Katz.
So, in summation, single family dwellings are resolutely saved from warrantless drug dog sniffing. Multi-family dwellings haven't been expressly tested, but I really really doubt that SCOTUS would turn around and say that you can treat an apartment door differently than a single family dwelling door.
Nevertheless – don't let this be an excuse to let down your guard and be stupid. Keep things clean and tidy. Make sure your door has a good seal on it (as your dad told you growing up – you're not paying to heat/cool the whole world!) and be smart. This likely means you're safer in apartment than you used to be, though.
Extra stuff?!?
P.S. – That front door with the peephole? Stick a cotton ball in there. You'll thank me later.
Oh you made it all the way to here? Well that's a surprise! I know this entire read is pretty heavy and can be kind of depressing so here's a link to a children's book on Jury Nullification where the author begs the reader to nullify any case on non-violent drug use – http://www.rmcortes.com/books/jury/Jury-Illustrated.pdf
Tags: after you say no search, avoiding the law, drug war, exigent circumstance, how to avoid getting busted, law professor, legal advice, legal trouble, police, police raid, smoking in the car, the man, war on drugs


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For a middle class individual, the mere idea of buying a property creates a financial stir in his lifestyle. And the down payment that makes a significant part of the property purchase can eat up the entire savings of a middle class homebuyer. Since the property prices are always racing for the sky, it becomes indispensable on the part of a buyer to find a home at much lesser cost. But a less costly home does not necessarily mean that it has to be small and simple. Buying a home at the right construction stage can also save you as much as 30% of the property's cost.
Take for example the New Launch Projects in Greater Noida. A number of people are interested in investing in properties in various localities of Greater Noida. Why? The reason is that most of the projects in the location are in the pre-launch or new launch stage. [Read more…]


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- This event has passed.
Ride: Iluka Loop
21/11/2017 @ 5:45 am - 7:00 am
An event every week that begins at 5:45am on Tuesday, repeating indefinitely
Event Navigation
This is the regular Tuesday morning club ride departing 5:45am summer and 6am winter (as advised) from Celebrations Bottle-shop at Whitfords Shopping Centre. There are three ride plans catering for all speeds of riders: Group 1 – plus 32km/hr, Group 2 – plus 28km/hr, Group 3 less 28km/hr.
Please self-seed yourself into the correct group for your ability at the start. The groups ride slightly varying routes to reduce distance with less hills repeats in Iluka for Group 2 and less distance (shortcuts) for Group 3. Distance: 40km, 38km & 32km.
Group 1 sets off separately to Group 2 and 3. They do not wait to regroup with Groups 2/3 during the ride however there are opportunities to "drop back" into Group 2 if you wish. We have a small but regular group of Group 3 riders doing the short cuts, which is working great. The main route for all groups starts with one lap around Hillarys (including either Hepburn Ave hill or Flinders Ave hill) then after regrouping in the Bunnings Whitfords driveway heads north up the coast through Mullaloo and all the way through Iluka to the Ocean Parade roundabout where we turn around. We then turn left to head up the first climb which is O'Mara Blvd. At the crest of the hill there is a roundabout where we turn right into Romano Cres, then right into St Lucia. Faster riders can do a few circuits by turning right into Pattaya Gardens then right into Fernando Pkway, regrouping in the slip road just past Antayla Vista.
Groups then return back down the coast including hill climbs of Resolute Way & Swanson St (there is an option for Group 3 to follow a shortcut that cuts out Swanson) and once in Hillarys we do another lap up Hepburn Ave and back along Marmion Ave to finish in the Whitfords carpark. For Group 1 that's a total of 7 hills, 5 hills for Group 2, and 3 hills for Group 3.
Full ride details including maps, profiles and GPS data downloads for this ride at Ride – Iluka Loop.


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Mims: Texas walking stick longest insect in U.S.
Several readers have asked me to identify giant insects in photographs they have sent. So far all the photos show female Texas giant walking sticks.
The Texas giant walking stick is typically Texan in that it's the longest insect in the U.S. Some I've measured were more than 7 inches long.
The record walking stick is a 22-inch-long monster from Borneo displayed at London's Natural History Museum (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/ about-us/news/2008/october/worlds-longest-insect-revealed 22619.html).
Not all walking sticks are giants, and there are many sizes and colors among the 2,500 or more species of walking sticks around the world.
They are so well camouflaged that they are difficult to see when they're dining on their diet of leaves.
Even their eggs are camouflaged: They resemble seeds.
Giant walking sticks are very obvious when they leave bushes and trees to slowly stroll along fences and the exterior walls of houses.
Because of their size, female giant walking sticks are much more obvious than males.
When full grown, females are 6 inches or longer with abdomens as thick as a pencil. Males are much more slender, since they lack the egg production factory housed inside the abdomens of the females.
Pairs of Texas mating walking sticks often remain coupled for many hours, a strategy the male might employ to protect his mate from interlopers.
Some readers who have sent giant walking stick reports have never seen these creatures before.
So I checked my photo file to learn more about their prevalence on our rural site. I began regularly photographing plants, flowers and animals on our rural place in 1998. Leaving out many thousands of sun, sky and cloud photos, this collection includes 23,916 digital photos organized in many categories. The walking stick folder includes 66 images of around 22 individual specimens. No walking sticks were photographed in 2000, 2003-05 and 2010-11.
There are definitely more walking sticks on our place this summer than in previous years. This might explain why readers who are new to Texas are seeing them for the first time. Another possibility is that the reduced insect population caused by last year's severe drought might have reduced the use of insecticides.
Those poisons can kill many more kinds of insects than the intended ones, including harmless and entertaining giant walking sticks.
You can learn more about giant walking sticks from Mike Quinn's Texas Entomology website at www.texasento.net, which provided some of the background information for this column.
Forrest Mims III, an amateur scientist whose research has appeared in leading scientific journals, was named one of the 50 Best Brains in Science by Discover Magazine. His science is featured at www.forrestmims.org. Email him at email@example.com.


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ADHD = hyperactive brain = trouble falling asleep
NightWave Sleep Assistant sits on your bedstand and guides you in a special pre-sleep relaxation session in the privacy of your own bedroom. It is the first sleep-assisting device that silently helps the user adjust his or her breathing rhythm to a pattern that delivers relaxation and ultimately natural rest and recuperation.
How it works: NightWave Sleep Assistant projects a soft blue light into your darkened bedroom. The soft "luminance" of the light slowly rises and falls. Lie with eyes open and synchronize your breathing with the blue wave as its movement becomes slower and slower. After a short time, you roll over and fall asleep and NightWave Sleep Assistant shuts off. And best of all, the soft light does not disturb others.


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How to Use
Map 1: Branchville, Connecticut to New York City.
Questions for Maps 1 & 2, & Table 1
1. Using Map 1, locate Branchville, Connecticut, and New York City. As a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Commission of Fine Arts, and president of the National Academy of Design, Weir often had to attend meetings in New York.
2. Examine Map 2 and Table 1, the train schedule used when Weir planned his two-hour long trips to the city.
3. What was the frequency of the trains, and the variety of destinations available for the commuter and tourist alike?
4. Why did the train make it possible for Weir to live on the farm?
5. Would it have been possible for him to live there year round?
* The maps and table on this screen have a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a high quality version of Map 1, Map 2, and Table 1, but be aware that the files may take as much as 35 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem.


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An in-depth look @ "Waits" Side of the well-known "Waits & Queues" methodology
With focus in this session on interpreting the information in the (DMV) sys.dm_os_wait_stats and which of these "Waits " are experiencing excessive waits and those you can safely ignore.
Using an established methodology like that of "Waits & Queues" to find and eliminate those pesky performance hurdles will only be successful if you can interpret those wait values correctly.
This session requires the attendees to be familiar with many areas of the SQL Server stack and such is aimed @ those experienced DBAs / Developers / Architects with performance tuning duties.
We now take this into the next version, join us for the journey where we will be using the latest in Waits analysis using Extended Events and XQuery to shine the spotlight on this fascinating area
SQL Bits was started by a group of individuals that are passionate about the SQL Server product suite.
There is a breadth of knowledge in the SQL Community that will benefit everyone in the community.
We want to spread that knowledge.
We all work with the SQL community, some of us for many years. We have a range of skills and experiences from being given the MVP award by Microsoft, organising user groups and speaking at events around the world.
Copyright © 2019 SQLBits Limited. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Overview of Departmental Programs
Convinced that it has a special responsibility to prepare students for the ever-changing demands of contemporary society, the department provides disciplinary and methodological instruction and practice in the social sciences. To this end, courses are offered in anthropology, economics, geography, political science, sociology and interdisciplinary social science. The department awards the B.A. degree in four programs: anthropology and sociology; economics; political science; and interdisciplinary social sciences.
The department also offers the B.S. degree in anthropology/sociology, political science and interdisciplinary social sciences, as an academic major for students seeking an elementary education teaching certificate. The B.S. degree in interdisciplinary social sciences also meets all state requirements for an academic major for students seeking the secondary education teaching certificate entitled "History and Social Studies." The B.S. degree programs require additional courses in professional education and formal admission by the education department.
Our curriculum is supported by department computer and archaeology laboratories. The department's role in the university-affiliated Jane Goodall Institute generates opportunities for students to become academically involved in the institute's mission of environmental, conservation and primate studies. Additionally, the department has cooperative departmental cross-listing of some courses and exchange of faculty instruction with several university departments such as communication, environmental sciences, finance, history and non-western cultures, management (public administration) and social work. The department also sponsors and publishes annually the Social Sciences Journal that contains original research written by students within the majors. Students are invited to contribute their essays or research papers for review. Two student editors and one faculty advisor choose and edit the best examples of student work for publication.
The four social science degree programs at Western provide students with a holistic understanding and critical appreciation of the cultural, political, social and economic elements of society. The department curriculum presents a broad-based foundation in the social sciences while offering a rich and diverse range of degree programs and options.
The allied fields of anthropology and sociology offer ways of understanding the world that are fundamental to many courses of study. Anthropology and sociology look at everyday life in the context of groups, societies and cultures to which humankind contribute. The degree program is designed to provide background for varied business, government and social service careers as well as for advanced graduate studies in a wide area of disciplines. There is also an anthropology/sociology and elementary education option for students desiring to become elementary school teachers.
The economics program provides students with an understanding and appreciation of the economic behavior of individuals, business and society. The focus is on social outcomes of economic transactions and events, as well as on economic performance. Economics is taught as part of a liberal arts education at Western and provides an especially relevant background for careers in business or government, as well as for graduate study in economics, law or business.
Students of political science are given an opportunity to develop a critical understanding of the political aspects of society. They are provided with a practical background for a variety of legal, government, public and social service careers, and a preparation for graduate studies in political science, as well as in related fields, such as pre-law. There is also a political science and elementary education option for students desiring to become elementary school teachers.
This interdisciplinary major provides students with both a broad-based foundation in the social sciences and with a variety of course choices, allowing a student to focus on a specific topic or theme, such as global studies or multi-cultural studies. This program is considered particularly relevant for future teachers. There are two options for joining the major in social sciences with the majors in elementary education or secondary education.
Departmental Objectives
- Emphasizes on social research methodology and analytical skills.
- Provide a personalized learning environment for students through faculty mentored undergraduate research opportunities and cooperative education research.
- Prepares students for graduate education in the social sciences and allied fields.
- Assist students in discerning appropriate careers through advising.
- Foster the growth and development of faculty through research, attendance at professional meetings, developing and directing public forums and discipline-related training workshops, and publication and presentation of scholarly work.
- A strong commitment to public service by collaborating with agencies and organizations, such as Jane Goodall Institute, Housatonic Valley Association, Connecticut State Archaeology Office and Institute for American Indian Studies, and with regional elementary, junior and senior high school educators to promote social sciences education.


text: Farmington, city, San Juan county, northwestern New Mexico, U.S. It lies at the confluence of the San Juan, Animas, and La Plata rivers. Settled in 1876, when Indian lands were opened to homesteaders, it became a small farming community and distribution point for the nearby Ute Mountain and Navaho Indian reservations. Farmington's growth was stimulated by the discovery of coal, oil, and natural gas in the 1950s, and the construction of Navajo Dam and petroleum-processing plants influenced light-industrial development. Aztec Ruins National Monument is 14 miles (23 km) northeast, and the Salmon (Pueblo) Ruins are 12 miles (19 km) east. Inc. 1901. Pop. (2000) 37,844; Farmington Metro Area, 113,801; (2010) 45,877; Farmington Metro Area, 130,044.


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The 2011 Wiretap Report was released this weekend, providing an overview of how federal and state governments used wiretapping powers in criminal investigations. (Surveillance for intelligence purposes is covered in a separate, far less informative report.) There's plenty of interesting detail, but here's the bottom line:
After climbing 34 percent in 2010 the number of federal and state wiretaps reported in 2011 deceased 14 percent. A total of 2,732 wiretaps were reported as authorized in 2011, with 792 authorized by federal judges and 1,940 authorized by state judges…. Compared to the numbers approved during 2010 the number of applications reported as approved by federal judges declined 34 percent in 2011, and the number of applications approved by state judges fell 2 percent. The reduction in wiretaps resulted primarily from a drop in applications for narcotics.
So is the government really spying on us less? Is the drug war cooling off? Well, no, that's lesson number one: Government surveillance is now almost entirely off the books.
The trouble, as Andy Greenberg of Forbes explains, is that we've got analog reporting requirements in a digital age. The courts have to keep a tally of how often they approve traditional intercepts that are primarily used to pick up realtime phone conversationse—96 percent of all wiretap orders. But phone conversations represent an ever-dwindling proportion of modern communication, and police almost never use a traditional wiretap order to pick up digital conversations in realtime. Why would they? Realtime wiretap orders require jumping all sorts of legal hurdles that don't apply to court orders for stored data, which is more convenient anyway, since it enables investigators to get a whole array of data, often spanning weeks or month, all at once. But nobody is required to compile data on those types of information requests, even though they're often at least as intrusive as traditional wiretaps.
From what information we do have, however, it seems clear that phone taps are small beer compared to other forms of modern surveillance. As Greenberg notes, Verizon reported fielding more than 88,000 requests for data in 2006 alone. These would have ranged from traditional wiretaps, to demands for stored text messages and photos, to "pen registers" revealing a target's calling patterns, to location tracking orders, to simple requests for a subscriber's address or billing information. Google, which is virtually unique among major Internet services in voluntarily disclosing this sort of information, fielded 12,271 government requests for data, and complied with 11,412 of them. In other words, just one large company reports far more demands for user information than all the wiretaps issued last year combined. And again, that is without even factoring in the vast amount of intelligence surveillance that occurs each year: the thousands of FISA wiretaps, the tens of thousands of National Security Letters (which Google is forbidden to include in its public count) and the uncountably vast quantities of data vacuumed up by the NSA. At what point does the wiretap report, with its minuscule piece of the larger surveillance picture, just become a ridiculous, irrelevant formality?
Lesson two: The drug war accounts for almost all criminal wiretaps. Wiretaps may be down a bit in 2011, but over the long term they've still increased massively. Since 1997, even as communication has migrated from telephone networks to the internet on a mass scale, the annual number of wiretaps has more than doubled. And as this handy chart assembled by security researcher Chris Soghoian shows, our hopeless War on Drugs is driving almost all of it: for fully 85 percent of wiretaps last year, a drug offense was the most serious offense listed on the warrant application—compared with "only" 73 percent of wiretaps in 1997. Little surprise there: when you try to criminalize a transaction between a willing seller and a willing buyer, enforcement tends to require invasions of privacy. Oddly, law enforcement officials tend to gloss over these figures when asking legislators for greater surveillance authority. Perhaps citizens wouldn't be as enthusiastic about approving these intrusive and expensive spying powers if they realized they were used almost exclusively to catch dope peddlers rather than murderers or kidnappers.
Speaking of dubious claims, lesson three: The encryption apocalypse is not nigh. As those of you who are both extremely nerdy and over 30 may recall, back in the 1990s we had something called the "Crypto Wars." As far as the U.S. government was concerned, strong encryption technology was essentially a military weapon—not the sort of thing you wanted to allow in private hands, and certainly not something you could allow to be exported around the world. Law enforcement officials (and a few skittish academics) warned of looming anarchy unless the state cracked down hard on so-called "cypherpunks." The FBI's Advanced Telephony Unit issued a dire prediction in 1992 that within three years, they'd be unable to decipher 40 percent of the communications they intercepted.
Fortunately, they lost, and strong encryption in private hands has become the indispensable foundation of a thriving digital economy—and a vital shield for dissidents in repressive regimes. Frankly, it would probably have been worth the tradeoff even if the dire predictions had been right. But as computer scientist Matt Blaze observed back when the 2010 wiretap report was released, Ragnarok never quite arrives. The latest numbers show that investigators encountered encryption exactly 12 times in all those thousands of wiretaps. And how many times did that encryption prevent them from accessing the communication in question? Zero. Not once.
Now, to be sure, precisely because police seldom use wiretap orders for e-mail, that's also a highly incomplete picture of the cases where investigations run up against encryption walls. But as the FBI once again issues panicked warnings that they're "going dark" and demands that online companies be requried to compromise security by building surveillance backdoors into their services, it's worth recalling that we've heard this particular wolf cry before. It would have been a disastrous mistake to heed it back then, and on the conspicuously scanty evidence being offered during the encore, it would be crazy to approach these renewed demands with anything less than a metric ton of salt.


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New England Meat Industry Professionals will Convene in March
Chelsea Bardot Lewis
Vermont Agency of Agriculture
New England Meat Industry Professionals will Convene in March
Registration is now open for the 2014 New England Meat Conference
CONCORD, NH — Registration is now open for the 2014 New England Meat Conference happening March 7-8 at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord, New Hampshire.
The conference will feature 25+ educational sessions, live demos, the region's only meat industry trade show, networking and meals showcasing local food.
Both conference and non-conference attendees alike are invited to attend from 6-9pm Friday, March 7 for the Meat Ball - a celebration of New England meat featuring great food, networking and the presentation of the New England Meat Awards.
"The Agency of Agriculture is proud to be among the organizations working to make this event a success," said Vermont Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets Chuck Ross. "The meat industry is critical to maintaining our working landscape, and we can only grow through collaborating – across state lines and different sectors."
The goal of the conference is to enhance the production, processing, and marketing of sustainable, nutritious, humanely-raised, and delicious meat from New England farms and processors by providing educational and networking opportunities for meat producers, processors, and industry stakeholders.
The inaugural event held in 2013 sold out, attracting over 350 livestock producers, meat processors and other industry stakeholders for two days of workshops and networking. Major supporters of the 2014 New England Meat Conference include Animal Welfare Approved, The Beef Checkoff Program and Adam's Farm.
Registration for the 2014 event is $150 for the full conference; $75 for a single day plus an additional fee to attend the Meat Ball. Registration rates will increase on February 22.
Nominations for the New England Meat Awards, which recognize leaders in the meat industry whose businesses exemplify innovation, leadership, and integrity, are being accepted until February 15. Details available on the conference website and www.NewEnglandMeatConference.org.
For additional details and to register online, please visit www.NewEnglandMeatConference.org.
About the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets: VAAFM facilitates, supports and encourages the growth and viability of agriculture in Vermont while protecting the working landscape, human health, animal health, plant health, consumers and the environment.


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The longer Wandsworth Council keep their heads in the sand about their audit committee councillor and a missing £20,000 from Tory coffers, the murkier the cover up looks. So far Robert Morritt has claimed that the blank cheques he was writing to himself were for his "expenses". That excuse cannot work all the time though…
As Guido understands it, Wandsworth Conservative Group has a detailed system in place for the purchase of stamps. This system, which involves cheques being signed by two signatories and presented with a special guarantee card, has been used for years. In the first five months of 2008 WCG forked out some £20,000 for stamps in the normal manner. Why then did Morritt himself claim a further £5,000 during this period to purchase stamps on WCG's behalf?
On 26 February 2008 a cheque was written to Morritt for £2,000, apparently to buy stamps, while on 2 April he was paid another £3,000 for the same reason. £2,000 worth of stamps were bought using the regular method on 20 February – six days before Morritt's first purchase – while another £1,000 worth were bought on 31 March, two days before his second cheque was issued. Why were so many stamps needed in such a short space of time? Why did Morritt deviate from the standard procedure and buy the stamps himself, with no counter-signature? When are Wandsworth Council going to stamp down…
See also:
- Justine Greening's Agent in Addison Lee Fraud Mess
- Wandsworth Tory Auditor in Voodoo Accounting Mystery
- More Questions Over Morritt's Missing Money
- Morritt Pocketed Election Deposit Dosh
- Wandsworth Tories Demand Guido "Desist"
- The £20,000 Question for Wandsworth Conservatives
- Wandsworth Gags Councillors Over Tory Fraud


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Thursday, January 3, 2019 at 10:00 AM until 11:00 AMPacific Standard Time
On the event date, go to http://berkeley-mfe.webex.com Virtual - Connect From Anywhere Around The WorldUnited States
Join us to learn how the Berkeley MFE Program can help you to hone your skills for a career in industry. Our tailored curriculum, top faculty, and the #1 in employment service will give you the skillset you need to hit the ground running after graduating.
During the session, MFE Admissions experts will outline the admissions requirements and answer your questions about the admissions process; current students or alumni will discuss their experiences and career paths.
If you are interested in a review of your preparedness, please submit a 1-page resume below. Note: We cannot provide a review if you already submitted an application to the MFE Program.
Registration is no longer available because the registration deadline has passed.


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Friends University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, telephone 1-312-263-0456, www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org.
In 2005, Friends University was accepted into the Higher Learning Commission's Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP), a voluntary alternative process for maintaining accreditation by infusing the principles, practices and benefits of continual improvement into the University's culture.
Below is Friends University's AQIP Systems Portfolio. This document captures Friends University's activities in relation to nine AQIP categories. It describes the context, processes, results and improvements in each category and will be continually updated to reflect ongoing systems and processes at Friends University.
View the AQIP Systems Portfolio PDF here. View Friends University's AQIP Action Projects here.
For more information, contact Aidan Dunleavy, Director of Institutional Research and AQIP liaison officer (ALO), at 316-295-5214, toll free at 1-800-794-6945, ext. 5214, or email@example.com.
You may also share your comments or feedback below or propose future Friends University 2014-2015 action projects at email@example.com.


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Alumni Awards
The Seven Lights Alumni Award
The Seven Lights Alumni Award is presented to alumni members who have demonstrated significant service to the Fraternity.
Edwin C. Fisher Grand Praetor Award
This award, established in 1985, honors a Grand Praetor who has executed his statutory duties, aided brothers and their chapters in reaching their full potential, and strived to foster a spirit of brotherly unity among the chapters within his province. It is named for former Grand Praetor and past Grand Quaestor Edwin C. Fisher, ILLINOIS 1928. This award is presented biannually at Grand Chapter. Fisher was also an Order of Constantine Sig.
Erwin L. LeClerg Outstanding Chapter Advisor Award
Established in 1972, this award recognizes the most outstanding chapter advisor(s) in the Fraternity. The award is named for Order of Constantine Sig Erwin L.
Jay E. Minton Best Alumni Chapter Officer Award
This award was created in 1928, and in 1975 was named in honor of Order of Constantine Sig Jay E. Minton Sr., MISSOURI-COLUMBIA 1920, past alumni chapter officer and vice president of the Order of Constantine.
William T. Bringham Best House Corporation Officer Award
First presented in 1974, the William T. Bringham Best House Corporation Officer Award is named for Order of Constantine Sig and Significant Sig Bill Bringham Sr., ILLINOIS WESLEYAN 1946, Sigma Chi's executive secretary from 1954 to 1989. This award is given to the house corporation officer who has demonstrated outstanding loyalty to Sigma Chi through personal leadership, time and effort.
Semi-Century Sig Award
The Semi-Century Sig Award recognizes brothers who have been active in the Fraternity for 50 years or more. The award certificate and lapel pin denoting one's status as a Semi-Century Sig are presented at the request of an undergraduate or alumni chapter or member.


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Make Traveling for Charity Part Of Your Summertime Tax Savings Strategy
In addition to planning a fun family get-away this summer, you might want to carve out some time to donate your services to a noble cause as well. For all of you summertime volunteers, listen up and make plans to use some of your travel expenses to help lower your tax bill. Here's how.
Read Also: Can My Summer Daycare Expenses Earn A Tax Credit?
- Make sure you are volunteering your services to qualified charities. If you want to deduct your expenses, the IRS needs to know that the charity you are working with is legit. There are several great online resources that can help you determine if the organization you are helping out is qualified. The IRS's EO Select Check tool and Guidestar are two of my favorites.
- Track all out-of-pocket expenses. If you are making necessary purchases that are not directly connected with the services you are performing and are not considered personal living or family expenses; and these expenses were directly result of the volunteerism opportunity, then you may be able take a deduction on your tax return. Keep in mind that you also can't receive reimbursement by any other means. The ability to deduct out-of-pocket expenses, particularly travel expenses, has huge savings implications. Some of the types of expenses you can deduct include:
- Lodging
- Meals
- Transportation to and from the job site via plane, train or automobile. This includes any transportation costs accrued for travel between the airport or train station and your hotel.
- Roll up your sleeves and make a big impact. If you are only tagging along or if your duties are minimal, you are not going to be able to make a claim on your tax return. According to the IRS, your charity work must be "real and substantial throughout the trip." In other words, don't dillydally!
Now that you know what to do to, let's take a look at what not to do – or rather, what is not tax deductible.
- Travel expenses for tagalongs are not deductible. Meaning, only the expenses for the individual(s) volunteering their services can be written off at tax time. For example, if you decided to take your children along on the trip but they will not be logging volunteer hours, you cannot deduct their portion of the travel expenses.
- Your time and services are valuable, but you can't deduct the value of your time and services. This is particularly true for those who are donating professional services, including medical, financial and legal. You also can't deduct the income you may have lost while you were working as an unpaid volunteer for a qualified charity.
- You cannot package work and play into a single deductible expense. That's not to say that you can't enjoy yourself or go out to the beach after a long day of building schools in a third-world country; but if a significant part of your trip is reserved solely for recreational purposes or a vacation, your claim will be denied.
For more information about potential summertime tax savings, email Rea & Associates. You may be surprised by how much you can save when you're on a mission to do work for those in need!
By Maribeth Wright, CPA (Cambridge office)
Check out these articles for more summertime tax strategies:
School's Out For Summer, But Tax Credits Are Still In
The Do's And Don'ts Of Summertime Tax Prep


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They are said to have arrived in Scotland from Malleville in Pays de Caux, Normandy, where they held the distinguished title of the Lords of Graville. Another source is more specific: "The great Northern House of Melville claims this Norman as the patriarch of their race. Galfrid de Maleville, the earliest of the family who appears in Scottish history, had the honour of being the first Justiciary (Judiciary) of Scotland on record. From him derived the Earls of Melville. " [1]CITATION[CLOSE]
Burke, John Bernard, The Roll of Battle Abbey. London: Edward Churton, 26, Holles Street, 1848, Print.
The parish of Lasswade in the county of Edinburgh was and ancient home of the family. "The principal seat is Melville Castle, the residence of Lord Viscount Melville, an elegant and spacious structure in the castellated style, with circular towers, erected about the close of the last century, on the site of an ancient house said to have belonged to David Rizzio, secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots." [2]CITATION[CLOSE]
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
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Sunday, March 22, 2009
You've Summoned The Fail Whale!
Posted by Giles Bowkett at 6:08 PM
4 comments:
He .. funny in a way. But kind of feeble when you think about it. They KNOW that this only has an audience BECAUSE so many people use Twitter. What kind of loser watches "funny videos about Twitter". Or makes them.ReplyDelete
And we all know that "having no friends" is the standard sneer against people who blog, who use Facebook, who use the internet at all, or watch TV, or read books ... or whatever.
Would be nice to see someone come up with a new joke for once.
- AnonymousMarch 23, 2009 at 9:33:00 AM PDT
It's not the joke Phil, it's the execution.ReplyDelete
is this where I post a Marshall McLuhan (sp?)ReplyDelete
"The medium is the message"
//trying to act like snob
///failing miserably
////doesn't use twitter, barely looks at facebook
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CyanogenMod Plans Android 4.1 For CM9 Devices Expected to Receive CM10 Update
Google has yet to release the source code for Android 4.1, but that's not stopping the CyanogenMod team from predicting a quick turnaround for CM10. According to a Google+ post which went up earlier this afternoon, the changes and new features introduced with Jelly Bean should be incorporated pretty quickly in the CM10 build, but some code changes for CM's LockScreen enhancements, Theme Engine and Trebuchet will need to be made. Check the CyanogenMod's post on Google+ : CyanogenMod on Google+
No promises are being made, but it sounds like CM10 should be available to all devices which have CM9 support. The CyanogeMod team isn't discussing an ETA quite yet, but they do say that work on CM10 won't truly begin until Google releases the source code for Android 4.1 and a stable CM 9.0.0 release is pushed out. Thanks to our Source: AndroidAndMe
While we can't wait to see what CM10 can do, this update from the CM team should be good news for those waiting for official Android 4.1 updates from handset manufacturers. If work on CM10 should be hassle free, OEM's (who've had early access to the Android 4.1 PDK for some time now) should be able to push out their Jelly Bean updates before the holiday season… we hope.
Will any of you be jumping on the CM10 train once it's ready or will you be holding out for your handset's official Android 4.1 update?


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4/25/13 Rangers at Twins: Target Field
After a week off from baseball, due to the game I was initially going to attend on Tuesday against the Marlins being postponed, it was back to Target Field:
Ah yes. The Texas Rangers. Historically a team that could always get enough runs to win, and relied on their pitching to not get knocked around. Sadly, though, I didn't get to see their bombers this game, because, well, they didn't show up:
I thought it was really weird that there was no batting practice until I realized that they had played the last night's game in Ananheim. As overlooked as it may be by most baseball fans, that's a long ways to travel overnight, especially when the time change is working against you. And also, as my friend Jonathan pointed out, they had beaten the Angels 11-3, so in a sense, they got their batting practice in. Why did he say this to me? Because he joined me for this game. Here is a picture of him waiting in line for the gates to open:
I really should do a better job of warning people when I'm about to take a picture of them. But progressing away from my digression, the reason that you can see so many people at the gates (who had sizable lines behind them) is 1. This was the first game that it was over 40 degrees for the majority of said game, and it was even warmer for BP because the sun was still out. And 2. The Twins, in partnership with 96.3 K-Twin were giving out a Glen Perkins fishing lure as a promotion:
I ended up giving it away to a lady on the bus ride back, who had just missed out on it and wanted to give one to her nephew, but I guess it was a cool promotion? My experience with fishing is the catch-it-and-throw-it-back of summer camp, so………moving on to the snagging; when I got in, the pitchers for the Rangers were indeed throwing, so I moved behind them:
When I got there, though, the awesomeness that is Derek Lowe took over. Jonathan took the next few pictures/video.
Here he is throwing me what I believe is a curveball. He spun a bunch of them to me as well as over-emphasizing the speeds of the "fast"balls he was tossing me from thirty feet out:
He did so with such gems as: "Woo! What was that?! Twenty miles an hour?" Here I am throwing him what I believe is a change-up:
For the sake of completeness, here are the rest of the pictures that Jonathan took:
And here is the video of us two throwing:
Finally, after TEN MINUTES of playing catch with me and then playing and additional session of catch with Yu Darvish that you saw earlier, Lowe tossed me the ball:
He's now much higher on my favorite players list.
After that, I almost got Yu Darvish to sign the ball:
but he had to go to a pitcher's meeting right before he got to me.
Then there was a lull because absolutely nothing was going on on the field, but one of the awesomest things that has ever happened to me at a baseball game happened. A Twins worker headed up to both myself and Jonathan and handed us each one of these flyers:
We were both going to be in the Race at Target Field. She actually said she had spotted us sitting by the dugout from the upper deck. What are the odds? So since there really wasn't anything of note that happened between this point and the race, let's get right to it, shall we?
In the bottom of the second inning, Jonathan and I headed out to the New Era Store in left field:
From there, a different Twins employee took us through the elevator typically designated for the club and suite levels to the basement (or -2) level concourse:
Sorry the picture is a bit blurry; we were walking and I didn't want to stop to take pictures.
Anyway, I had to leave my phone in my backpack, so my detailing to you of what happened next will be all text. I didn't know if I was supposed to be taking pictures, so I didn't want to find out that I didn't. We first arrived at a room that opened similar to a garage door. In there, among other things, were the mascot costumes and a broken Best Buy video game station, similar to that which I played on in my last game of last season. In there, we got completely suited up as the mascots. Jonathan and I actually ended up picking our mascots last, so I had Skeeta, leaving Jonathan stuck with Wanda:
Skeeta (as in a shortening of the word "mosquito")/myself is on the left while Wanda/Jonathan is on the right. After getting suited-up, we moved to an alcove of sorts right underneath the left field seats, where we got the rules and logistics explained to us. Then it was a little bit of waiting, and finally we got to go out onto the field. We got to exit to our (characters') names being introduced and to the applause of the crowd. After the introduction, we lined up and waited for the countdown to "go". I was really nervous about getting an unfair start, so I hesitated a bit on the start, but I got the lead after ten feet or less and then never gave it up for the rest of the race. It was *really* awkward running in the mascot costumes, because the heads bobble up and down as you run, so I was actually going what felt like very slowly to me. It also caused me to be off-balance on turning, so I almost broke one of the main rules that were explained to me. In turning the corner by the foul pole, I almost ran onto the grass, but I managed to balance my head long enough for me to jump over the corner of the grass and take a really sharp turn down the last stretch of the race, which ended at the outfield end of the dugout. Again, I was running what felt to be VERY slowly, so I couldn't believe that I was in the lead. Finally, though, I crossed the finish line as still no one had passed me. If you want to watch the video of the race, here it is:
Exciting to say the least. After the race finished, though. I thought we were going to the tunnel the umpires exit through. It wasn't until the camera man was telling me to get off the field back from where I came from. I then grabbed the trophy and got off the field just as the first hitter of the inning was being introduced. In getting in through the door we were supposed to exit, though, we all had to duck, and Babe had to also turn sideways. That's another thing: during the race, we were told not to hold our heads. I is so tempting given how wobbly they are, but apparently Target doesn't like how awkward it makes the mascots look as they are running.
When we got back to the garage-type room, I got the organizer to take another picture of me celebrating:
Jonathan then headed up to the standing room and spent the game basically rephrasing how to say, "Did that just happen?" And with that, ended what probably what will be my favorite Twins loss/1-ball game ever.
- 1 Ball at this game
Number 481:
- 35 Balls in 8 Games= 4.38 Balls Per Game
- 1 Balls x 25,459 Fans=25,459 Competition Factor
- 70 straight Games with at least 1 Ball
- 90 Balls in 22 Games at Target Field= 4.09 Balls Per Game
- 20 straight Games with at least 1 Ball at Target Field
- Time Spent On Game 4:05-11:22= 7 Hours 17 Minutes