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BORN IN THE USA?WorldNetDaily
Court martial convicts Lakin on 4th count
Jury panel returns guilty verdict 4th time on most serious charge
Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin
WASHINGTON – Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin, the officer who raised questions about Barack Obama's eligibility to be president only to be struck down by a military court's banishment of evidence about his concerns, has been convicted of the most serious charge he faced, missing a flight scheduled to take him to a new assignment.
Lakin was convicted yesterday by Judge Denise Lind on three counts of disobeying orders during the first day of his court martial. The court-martial panel deliberated this morning on the last count, a charge he missed his flight to report for duty.
Lakin had pleaded guilty to four counts related to disobeying orders yesterday, but one count was subsequently dismissed by Lind at the request of Lakin's counsel, Neal Puckett. Lakin was convicted then of two counts of failing to obey orders to meet with his commanding officer and one count of failing to report as ordered to Fort Campbell, Ky., to join the 101st Airborne Division prior to the unit's deployment to Afghanistan.
Unlike the civilian legal system, a military court can immediately convict any defendant who pleads guilty to a crime.
The possible penalties include dismissal as well as up to 42 months in prison.
Lakin openly admits he willfully chose to disobey orders to deploy to Afghanistan over concerns that his orders were not lawful. Lakin is not sure whether President Barack Obama is a legitimate commander-in-chief of the armed forces because Obama has failed to prove he is eligible under the U.S. Constitution to occupy the Oval Office.
Lakin deliberately exposed himself to a court martial in the hope of forcing Obama, during the "discovery" process, to prove he is eligible to serve as president by producing identity documents including his birth certificate. Lakin hoped the documents would establish whether Obama is a "natural born Citizen," as required of any American president by Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution.
As reported earlier by WND, Puckett acknowledged the convictions were inevitable after Lind denied Lakin the right to discovery, and forbade the defense from producing any evidence or experts who might persuade the court martial panel, a jury of Army officers, that Lakin's deliberate disobedience of orders was justifiable.
Even before the trial, Lakin admitted he had knowingly disobeyed orders. In fact, he warned his military commanders that he intended to disobey orders to deploy to Afghanistan as part of Obama's surge strategy in order to force the Army to put him on trial.
Puckett announced last week that his goal, under the circumstances, no longer was to have Lakin acquitted, but to persuade his court-martial panel not to send him to prison.
During the review of panelists, Puckett made a point of asking potential jurors whether they believed an Army officer could ever justifiably disobey orders.
Puckett's defense of the fourth count, missing movement, centered on the technical point that Lakin did not violate Article 87 of the UCMJ by missing the particular flights he was supposed to take from the Washington, D.C., area to Kentucky.
"Was there a duty to be on that flight?" the defense counsel asked the court martial panel. "To find him guilty, [the prosecution] must show he had a duty to make the flight."
Puckett repeatedly has challenged prosecution witnesses to show where, in Lakin's orders, he was directed that it was his "duty" to take the specific US Air Flight 1123.
"I'm very happy with the trial so far," Puckett told WND last night, though his client already had been convicted of three counts of disobeying orders.
Other observers in the courtroom were critical of Puckett's strategy.
Orly Taitz, one of the attorneys spearheading the legal efforts to compel Obama to produce his birth and citizenship documents, criticized the strategy of conceding guilt on three charges.
"Even if you beat the fourth charge, what have you gained?" Taitz argued. "He's still facing 18 months in prison, loss of retirement benefits and dismissal from the service."
Taitz acknowledged that Puckett's hands are tied by Lind's earlier rulings effectively forbidding what might be the most effective line of defense, the argument that any order originating with Obama might in fact be illegal as long as Obama's eligibility remains unproven.
"He's reduced to arguing a technicality," Taitz told WND. "The whole trial is a sham, a farce. They're not allowed to discuss the only real issue here, Obama's eligibility."
Retired Navy Lt. Commander Charles Kerchner, the plaintiff in an eligibility suit recently rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, doubts that justice will be done in Lakin's court martial.
"They have not allowed him discovery and exculpatory evidence, which the Constitution affords all of us," said Kerchner. "I don't know what legal rabbit [the defense is] going to pull out of a hat but they're obviously planning something."
Lakin's brother, Dr. Greg Lakin, was more upbeat about Puckett's defense strategy.
"[Puckett] wants to focus on the big issue here," Greg Lakin told WND. According to Lakin, Puckett chose to concede the smaller matters in order to direct the court martial panel's attention on the "missing movement" charge, which is most closely linked to Obama's personal authority because it ties directly to the order to deploy to Iraq as part of Obama's surge strategy.
"The president has taken full credit for the Afghanistan deployment, he signed the order," said Greg Lakin. "Terry will have a chance to say his piece during the sentencing portion of the trial."


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I thought I'd share a recent study into Twitter usage habits, conducted by Carolin Gerlitz and Bernhard Rieder. I missed this back in May, when it was first released, so apologies if you've already seen it.
The findings are significantly different to an older study from 2010 by a Microsoft team (Boyd, Golder and Lotan). This may be due to a different – arguably more robust – sampling method, using the Twitter Streaming API. Or, it may be that usage habits have evolved in the intervening three years.
The full research is available here. It is a rather dense read, though a rewarding one. For those of you with TL;DR syndrome I have extracted some highlights.
Sample size
The study captured 4,376,230 tweets, sent from 3,370,796 accounts.
Hashtags appeared in just over 13% of tweets. Only 25.8% appeared more than once, and only 0.7% (1,684) more than 50 times.
Only 11% of all tweets contained URLs, which is less than half as many as stated by the Microsoft team. Social and content platforms are unsurprisingly the most popular destinations.
YouTube ranks first, though Facebook would be number one if apps.facebook.com was included. The next three most commonly linked to sites are Instagram, Ask.fm and Twitpic.
Conversational tweets
People love to talk, it seems. 57.2% of tweets contained an @username mention, vs just 36% in the Microsoft study. Some 46.8% of tweets started with an @username.
How people access Twitter
85% of tweets are sent by 15 'dominant platforms'. Twitter.com is the most common way of posting tweets (22.6%), followed by the iPhone (21.7%), Android (16.3%), Blackberry (11.5%) and mobile web (2.2%).
News sites
LA Times is the top news site, followed by the BBC, Reuters, Washington Post and ABC News.
Other findings
60% of all tweets have English language settings.
Tweets are delivered via the API about two seconds after they are sent.
Some spambots manage to post over 2,500 messages in a 24 hour period – well above Twitter's 'limit' of 1,000 tweets per day, per account.

subset: commoncrawl


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Conner, Dooney and McGowan Break 25:00 Mark as Team Runs Well With Out-of-Region Competition
BETHLEHEM, Pa.—The Yale men's cross country team did what it was hoping to do on Saturday, posting a strong finish in a competitive field of teams from across the country at Lehigh's Paul Short Invitational.
The Elis followed up a well-rounded team performance at the Iona Meet of Champions in New York City two weekends ago with a similarly exceptional display of depth at Paul Short. With 10 of its 16 competing athletes running in the men's gold race, the team finished seventh overall with 257 points, placing only behind Indiana (89 points), Dartmouth (106), Georgetown (110), Harvard (167), Iowa State (188) and La Salle (191). Georgetown and Indiana both rank in the top 20 of the USTFCCCA's national rankings, while Dartmouth and Harvard rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the Northeast Region rankings. Yale is currently ranked seventh in the region.
Despite competing with a much different—and younger—group of athletes, Yale's performance at Paul Short on Saturday was nearly an exact replica of the showing the team put together at last year's meet, when it finished seventh with 255 points.
In a field consisting of 48 total schools and 397 total athletes, each member of the Bulldogs' top five managed to finish in the top 70. In fact, each member of the team's top seven finished in the top 90 overall—a feat only matched by Georgetown, Harvard and Indiana.
"I think we ran really tough today," said Head Men's Cross Country Coach Paul Harkins. "The team worked really well together through the back section [of the course] where it's very quiet. They all came out in a really good spot and finished strong."
Three of Yale's top five finishers—sophomore Kevin Dooney (29th overall – 24:38), junior John McGowan (38th – 24:44) and sophomore Duncan Tomlin (64th –25:01)—set personal records on Saturday. Two others outside the team's top five—freshman Andre Ivankovic (92nd – 25:21) and James Randon (71st – 25:07)—also set personal records in the race. Randon, who finished second in each of the season's first two meets, actually fell down during the first mile of Saturday's race but was able to work his way back and finish sixth on the team.
Dooney recorded his best finish of the year—and likely one of the best of his young career—on Saturday, while McGowan has now finished in Yale's top three in all three of this season's races. For their part, Ivankovic, Randon and Tomlin have now finished in Yale's top seven in all three of this season's races.
Along with Dooney, McGowan and Tomlin, sophomore Alex Conner (57th – 24:55) and junior Isa Qasim (69th – 25:06) rounded out Yale's top five. Like McGowan, Conner has finished in Yale's top three in each race this year, finishing first on the team both against Harvard and at the Iona Meet.
Harkins expressed particular satisfaction with his team's improvement relative to rival Harvard. After failing to have a single runner crack the top five against the Crimson in the Harvard-Yale season opener, both Dooney and McGowan placed ahead of Harvard's third-place team finisher on Saturday. In fact, Yale's sixth-place finisher (Randon) finished ten spots ahead of Harvard's sixth-place finisher, while the Elis' seventh-place runner finished just two spots behind Harvard's.
"I think we closed our gap on Harvard a little bit," Harkins said.
Also in the gold race, senior Michael Cunetta finished in 25:32, senior team captain Ryan Laemel in 25:52 and junior Tom Harrison in 25:55.
The Elis also entered six additional runners in the unscored open race on Saturday. Freshman Dan Grosvenor secured Yale's top time in that race, crossing the finish line in 26:02.
Now coming off two consecutive solid performances, the Bulldogs will compete next on Oct. 12 at the New England Championships in Boston, where the team finished third last year, before heading to Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 19.
"I think we're looking forward and getting pretty excited about Pre-Nats and seeing some competition outside of the region," said Harkins. "Today's performance makes me feel that we might be able to beat some quality teams when we go out to Indiana."
Report by Zach Schloss '15, Yale Sports Publicity


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Goodbye Bronx Bombers
Tonight's game marks the last visit the Yankees will make to the Coliseum during the 2010 season, and I think most A's fans will agree with me when I say that I'm not sad to see them (and their fans) leave. In the five games played in Oakland so far this season, we're 1-4. A win tonight from Gio Gonzalez and the rest of the boys will help the team avoid the sweep and put us in a better position to face our division rivals, the Angels, this weekend.
The A's fan presence in the Coliseum over the last two nights has been a bit bleak. It's common knowledge that when the Yanks (or BoSox) come to town, their West Coast fans come out in droves. This season has been no different. Here and there, however, you will find some examples of Oakland A's fan awesomeness. Case in point, Jeff and Kris channeling Grandma Braden and their homemade A-Rod sign above. And below, some diehard fans and their elephant ears and Quintona (aka "Wiggi") showing off her true green and gold love.
I wish the boys on the field the best of luck tonight. Please, please, please, let's not give the (occasionally obnoxious) Yankee fans the satisfaction of a sweep. And A's fans, I want to feel your presence tonight. Get loud and let's show our team some support! And thank goodness the two teams don't meet again until the end of the summer…
1 Comment
Hi Kara-san
I went to the game on JULY06 and it may be last A's game for me to watch at Oakland, because I'm going to move NY end of this JULY. Now I live in Foster City.
I don't have any favorite player in A's but I like A's so much.
I went to several game this year incl. opening game and enjoyed very much.
So I'm very sad and I will miss.
And also, I'm huge your fan!
I tried to take your picture with me on JULY06, but I could not. You were so nice with yellow Shirts on that day.
Take care!


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Very soon on Clinique.com will be introducing a mascara that until recently was only sold in Asian markets and it's called Lash Power.
You're probably noticing that this mascara's wand is quite a bit smaller than in other mascaras now on the market. I like this new smaller wand, it's almost as if I put on my mascara this morning with more confidence that usual. This wand made it easier for me to control the application without fear of smudging. I was able to get in close and be more precise.
As for the mascara's wear, it's meant to stand up to the elements and remove easily with warm water. I haven't put the mascara through the gym or rain test yet but I was really happy with how it performed. I put it on in the morning before work and it was still on without flaking or sliding into my under eye area by the time I went to wash my face before bed. My two coats held up and my lashes still looked defined and lusciously long.
Removing the mascara wasn't quite what I expected though. The formula of this product, which I don't know much about at this time, seems to be like that of Blinc's Kiss Me Mascara where it coats lashes in what seems like little tubes. Only this seems to be a bit easier to remove than Blinc's. I didn't have to tug at my lashes as much, just a bit of rubbing and the mascara started coming off.
You can get a 2-week sample of Lash Power now with any $50 purchase on Clinique.com, just use offer code LASH08 at checkout. You can also find it at Nordstrom's now (thanks Lauren).


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Owl Lamp Base
Overview & Details
- Kids' owl lamp.
- Lamp for kids made of cast aluminum owl on a painted wood base.
- Lampshade sold separately.
- The perfect size for a nightstand, desk or dresser.
- Measures 7 x 5 x 14"H.
- UL listed.
- 60W bulb (not included).
- Wipe clean.
- Imported.
- Exclusively ours.
WHOO wouldn't love this friendly little owl in their bedroom? Our owl lamp base for kids is perfect for a nightstand, desk or dresser. The owl is crafted in aluminum with a high-gloss, powder-coated finish, mounted on a solid mango wood base. Available exclusively at Company Kids®, our kids' Owl Lamp pairs perfectly with our small Bubble Knit lamp shades (sold separately).


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- About us
- Blogs
- Funding/Donations
- Challenges
- Chapters
- Papers
- Projects
- Code of Conduct
- Google SoC
- Recent posts
- Security Workshops
"A botnet is comparable to compulsory military service for windows boxes" - Stromberg
A botnet is nothing more then a tool, there are as many different motives for using them as there are people. The most common uses were criminally
motivated (i.e. monetary) or for destructive purposes. Based on the data we captured, the possibilities to use botnets can be categorized as listed below. And since a botnet is nothing more then a tool, there are most likely other potential uses that we have not listed.
Further research showed that botnets are even used to run commercial DDoS attacks against competing corporations: Operation Cyberslam documents the story of Jay R. Echouafni and Joshua Schichtel alias EMP. Echouafni was indicted on August 25, 2004 on multiple charges of conspiracy and causing damage to protected computers. He worked closely together with EMP who ran a botnet to send bulk mail and also carried out DDoS attacks against the spam blacklist servers. In addition, they took Speedera - a global on-demand computing platform - offline when they ran a paid DDoS attack to take a competitor's website down.
Note that DDoS attacks are not limited to web servers, virtually any service available on the Internet can be the target of such an attack. Higher-level protocols can be used to increase the load even more effectively by using very specific attacks, such as running exhausting search queries on bulletin boards or recursive HTTP-floods on the victim's website. Recursive HTTP-flood means that the bots start from a given HTTP link and then follows all links on the provided website in a recursive way. This is also called spidering.
This list demonstrates that attackers can cause a great deal of harm or criminal activity with the help of botnets. Many of these attacks - especially
DDoS attacks - pose severe threats to other systems and are hard to prevent. In addition, we are sure there are many other uses we have yet to discover. As a result, we need a way to learn more about this threat, learn how attackers usually behave and develop techniques to battle against them. Honeynets can help us in all three areas:
After we have introduced and analyzed some of the most popular bots in the next Section, we are going to present a technique to track botnets.


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The research team calculated that these drops could translate into a reduction of about 50 percent in cases of stroke, and a 30 percent reduction in heart attack rates.
West Palm Beach, Florida (PRWEB) December 11, 2012
The Project for Natural Health Choices Inc. recommends consuming 30 g of flaxseed daily as new research findings indicate that flaxseed may be able to dramatically reduce your risk of a stroke and heart attack. The research was conducted at the University Hospital Holguin and presented at the November 5, 2012 American Heart Association 2012 Scientific Sessions.
In the study there were 110 subjects who had been diagnosed with peripheral arterial disease. The majority of the participants were also diagnosed with hypertension and were on antihypertensive drugs.
They gave half the subjects 30g of flaxseed a day in different food sources and the other half ate diets with no flaxseed.
After six months, the researchers found that the flaxseed group had their blood pressure reduced an average of:
•10 mm Hg in their systolic pressure
•7 mm Hg in their diastolic levels
The research team calculated that these drops could translate into a reduction of about 50 percent in cases of stroke, and a 30 percent reduction in heart attack rates.
If interested in lowering risk of stroke or heart attack, consider adding flaxseed into a balanced diet. Flaxseed can be found in foods like flaxseed coated bagels, buns or muffins and can also simply be purchased and added to virtually any food.
This release has been sponsored by the Project for Natural Health Choices Inc., a natural health company that wants to help people improve their health through natural methods such as natural dietary supplements, exercise, and other natural therapies. To learn more about the Project for Natural Health Choices Inc. and "The Bill of American Health Rights" petition that fights to protect the constitutional right that people have to employ natural health practices which include the use of and access to natural health products, supplements, and therapies, go to http://www.naturalhealthchoicesproject.com/petition/.


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Sharks fined $100,000 for GM Doug Wilson's comments about Raffi Torres' suspension
SAN JOSE, Calif. – The NHL fined the San Jose Sharks $100,000 on Saturday for general manager Doug Wilson's public comments about forward Raffi Torres' suspension.
The NHL said the fine was issued for violation of rules prohibiting formal team statements to the media during the 48-hour period following a disciplinary decision. The rule calls for an automatic $25,000 fine, and the Sharks were docked an additional $75,000 under an article in the league's constitution because of the "inappropriate nature of the comments."
Torres was suspended for the rest of San Jose's second-round playoff series against Los Angeles on Thursday for an illegal check to the head of Kings forward Jarret Stoll during Game 1. The Kings took a 2-0 lead into Game 3 on Saturday night in San Jose.


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Jimmy Graham currently leads the NFL with 15 touchdown catches. A quintet, led by Dez Bryant and Calvin Johnson, sits at 12. Randy Moss believes, if he still were playing, he could have more touchdowns than all of them.
"If I had to go out here and feed my family by getting back on that football field, I could still put up 15 or 16 touchdowns," the wide receiver turned broadcast analyst told Fox Sports. "I can still play the game. I don't know what a lot of people (saw) last year, but I know what it looked like. It looked like I was old and that they were trying to keep me fresh and things like that, but I can still play the game of football."
Luckily, Mr. Moss doesn't need to play football to feed his family. The 36-year-old's analysis of his play last season, which produced 28 catches and three touchdown receptions, is spot on.
Unlike some prima donna receivers whom the NFL is finished with, Moss knows his career is over -- even if he still possesses an overabundance of confidence in his skills.
"I'm not going to play the game of football, but for me to be able to still go out and still catch touchdowns, I can still run. I can still catch. I still got vision," he said. "If I still got those things, if I still have the things that God blessed me with, then why can't I be able to go out there and put up 15 or 16 touchdowns? I can still do it. Age is just a number to me."
It's a number he just can't run away from.
The latest "Around The League Podcast" breaks down the playoff picture heading into all the Week 17 matchups.


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Oriental Weavers 2260B Amelia Rug Indoor Rectangle 8x10 Brown Ivory Transitional Border A2260B248305ST 748679263332
Oriental Weavers 2260B Amelia Rug Indoor Rectangle 10x13 Brown Ivory Transitional Border A2260B300390ST 748679263394
Estimated Time for Delivery via FedEx/UPS: 4-10 business days after it ships
Estimated Time for Delivery via Freight Truck: 10 to 15 business days after it ships
Subject to Availability
Estimated Time for Delivery via Freight Truck: 10 to 15 business days after it ships
Subject to Availability
The Amelia Collection offers an affordable assortment of traditional to casual stylings. Amelia features a blend of natural color palettes with woodland browns, rustic reds, mossy greens, and warm cinnamon. Machine woven of inherently stain resistant polypropylene, the Amelia Collection is an intriguing compliment to any decor.
Additional Information:
Actual: 9'10" x 12'9" | Standard: 10x13
50 lbs
Additional Information:
- Construction: Machine-made
- Construction 2: Woven
- Pile Type: Cut Pile
- Country of Origin: Egypt/USA/China
- Style: Transitional
- Primary Pattern: Border
- Bullet Points: Machine-woven of 100% polypropylene, Affordable and fashionable, Inherently Stain resistant
- Pile Height / Depth inches: 0.39
- Backing Fibers/Materials: Polyester/Jute
Actual: 9'10" x 12'9" | Standard: 10x13
50 lbs
|Oriental Weavers
|Brown, Ivory
|See Product Description
|See Product Description
|Shipping Method
Write Your Own Review
Questions on shipping and delivery?
After you order, the item gets packed and prepped. Once it's out the door, you'll get a tracking number to see where your item is in transit.
How will it get to me?
- Smaller items will come like any FedEx/UPS delivery that comes to your home or business.
- Larger items will go on freight truck. They'll call you to schedule a good date/time for you to receive the items.
Why does it take so long to get to me?
- To bring the best possible service and make sure items are delivered without damages or blemishes, we have delivery partners that do nothing but deliver furniture. Does this make things a little slower? Yes. But we'd rather you have your items in perfect condition but a little slower, than damaged or blemished.
- Many small parcel items will take the standard delivery time of 3-7 business days, depending on how close you are to the shipping warehouse.
Benefits with Shopping with Zoetico
- Delivery Appointments - You'll know exactly when it's coming!
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- Free Returns - Don't like it? Pack it back up and we'll come get it!
Please see the Shipping & Delivery and Returns & Cancellations policies for more details.


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One of the most creative minds in the mentalisim world. Because of his original act, he is requested all over the world, among of the top leading, fortune 500 companies and flies every week around the globe with his entertaining skills and his ability to combine the mentalisim world with the corporate one.
The Invisible Touch was invented by Lior Manor around 1987. A volunteer on stage feels the mentalist touching her lightly, while the audience sees that the performer was not even close. In the DVD you will learn all about the performacne of the effect. In addition, you will learn:
Do you own this product? Write a review.


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Sacraments and Spirituality
Prerequisite Grade
Theology & Religious Studies 097 is a prerequisite for any upper division theology and religious studies course; however, only a passing grade in TRS 097 is required, not a minimum grade of C-.
Upper Division
130 Topics in Spirituality
An investigation of a topic in spirituality not covered by the regular offerings of the department. Topics are announced prior to registration each semester. May be repeated for credit when content changes. Prerequisite: TRS 097.
131 Christian Spirituality
This course explores the experience, understanding, and living out of the Christian faith. It studies classical and contemporary texts of some of the most important figures of Christian spirituality. It examines various expressions of spirituality in architecture, poetry, painting, and music. It considers the question of religion versus spirituality, as well as the question of relating to God within a universe of galaxies that seems to dwarf all human experience. Prerequisite: TRS 097.
132 Sexuality, Marriage and Family: A Catholic Perspective
A presentation of the teaching of the Church on all aspects of sexuality, marriage and family. Prerequisite: TRS 097.
133 Life Stories and Theology
Uses narratives of exemplary lives, ancient and modern, Christian and non-Christian, as a tool to investigate the task of authentic existence today in the light of the gospel. Prerequisite: TRS 097.
134 The Catholic Imagination
The thesis of this course is that there is a unique way of looking at the world: "the Catholic Imagination." This imagination can be discerned, not only in church teaching, but also in art and architecture, music (both "sacred" and "secular"), painting, fiction, poetry, and film, in the church's concern for social justice, and in the stories of individual women and men of faith, many of whom have shown incredible vision and heroism. Prerequisite: TRS 097.
193 Intensive Inquiry: Sacraments and Spirituality
An in-depth investigation of a topic in Sacraments and Spirituality, designed for TRS majors and minors. Topics are announced prior to registration each semester. May be repeated for credit when content changes. Prerequisite: Two TRS courses, or permission of instructor.


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Reviewed by Mia S. (age 8)
As I read the book I wondered what would happen. I wondered what would happen next. I was surprised when her family was captured.
I really liked the characters Shining Star and Red Bird. Shining Star is really nice. Red Bird gave Mary her first Seneca meal. They were both kind to Mary.
This story reminds me of when I left my parents to go on a trip with my grandparents for a week. I found out it is really fun like Mary did.
I recommend this book to kids in 3rd to 6th grade. They will like it because it is exciting and surprising at the end.


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Facebook looks to block ISIS clothing sales
Willie Grace | 6/24/2014, 6:02 p.m. | Updated on 6/24/2014, 6:02 p.m.
T-shirts, hoodies and even toy figurines bearing the ISIS logo are being sold on online and marketed across social media.
For around $10 you can buy an ISIS shirt with the militant group's logo and phrases printed on it like "We are all ISIS" and "Fight for Freedom, Until the Last Drop of Blood."
A toy soldier available on Rezji.com, an Indonesian site which by Tuesday could not be accessed, holds a gun in its hands and an ISIS flag with the Islamic tenet: "There is no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God."
The websites are marketing the ISIS paraphernalia across social media. Facebook has been removing the pages once the media alerts them to their existence.
"Where hateful content is posted and reported, Facebook removes it and disables accounts of those responsible," a Facebook spokesperson told CNN via email.
CNN alerted Twitter to some of the merchants' pages on that social network, but Twitter declined to comment.
Using merchandise to market itself as "cool" is a one of the common propaganda tools ISIS uses, according to researcher Hassan Hassan of the Delma Institute in Dubai.
"The point is to encourage people to get out there and join the trend," Hassan said.
Many of the websites with the merchandise come from Indonesia.
While Middle East experts are unsure whether ISIS is manufacturing the products, terrorism researcher J.M. Berger says he wouldn't be surprised if the money ends up going to ISIS.
"ISIS has a big base of support in Southeast Asia -- a long history with Islamism and jihadism. A number of foreign fighters come from the region," Berger wrote in an email to CNN.
"Much radical activity is local: vigilante gangs and mainstream politics. For those who find those options lacking, ISIS seems to be the leading choice of outlet."
While some of the Indonesian manufacturers of the ISIS merchandise may be opportunistic capitalists, others may be sympathetic to ISIS.
On the Twitter feed of the Rezji manufacturers, they describe themselves in the Indonesian language as "distributors of anti-Western culture" and state "together we stand with you against the tyrants."
In early 2014, the Institute for the Policy and Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) published a report that said the Syrian conflict was attracting foreign fighters from Indonesia.
"Indonesian extremists are more engaged by the conflict in Syria than by any other foreign war in recent memory, including Afghanistan and Iraq," the report said.
"As far as we know the number of Indonesian combatants is still in the dozens."
For more information go to http://www.cnn.com


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Toby Keith, 'Beers Ago' – Lyrics Uncovered
Hit songwriters never know when inspiration will strike for lyrics to a song, and that was exactly the case for Bobby Pinson when he started hashing out the new Toby Keith single, 'Beers Ago.'
"I was painting this old dump truck of mine, and not everybody can say that," Pinson tells Taste of Country with a laugh. "I didn't want to spend a lot of money, so I went and got me some spray paint. I was spray painting this old, 1968 Ford Ranger one-ton dump truck. I called up Toby, because he's always laughing at these phrases I come up with. I was always impressed with Steve Earle [who] had this phrase called 'Dog House Roses,' which is roses you bring home if you're in the dog house. So I always try to come up with those phrases. I called Toby up and said, 'I got a new one: Rattle Can Red.' He laughed and got a kick out of it. About 30 days later I came up with [the opening verse]."
"I had a hand-me-down ride painted rattle-can red / Secondhand tires with poor-boy tread / Made a lot of almost-love in the bed of that truck / That got stuck a lot," he wrote in the opening lyrics.
"I brought the whole verse to him and he loved it," Pinson remembers. "We'll do that a lot … he'll start a verse and save it or it will still be around when I get there. We've just had a relationship so long that we kind of know what sounds like the other guy, so we'll make sure those songs are still around when we get back together. I took it to him, and we just love that song."
"And we spent what little money we had / On Wintergreen Skoal and main street gas / Go get your girl, go make the drag / If you're lucky, you can take 'er 'cross the railroad tracks / Where the man in the moon works his magic / On the second runner-up of the 4-H pageant / Seems like yesterday even though / That was fourteen hundred and fifty-two beers ago," they wrote in the first of the three evolving 'Beers Ago' choruses.
"It's just a really cool song about remembering things that were a long time ago that just seemed like yesterday," explains Pinson. "That's something you do every day. [The song] has a really cool groove, and it's one of my favorite tracks on [Toby's] record."
More Lyrics Uncovered: | Somethin' About a Truck Lyrics | No Hurry Lyrics | Good Girl Lyrics | Springsteen Lyrics | Drunk on You Lyrics | Better Than I Used to Be Lyrics | Fly Over States Lyrics | You Don't Know Her Like I Do Lyrics


text:
I use
gnuplottex package quite a lot to draw graphs, and my own
bashful package to write include computer output in a document I write. Yet another package of this sort allows one to include metapost output within your document.
The problem is that running all these commands from within LaTeX makes the document processing very slow. I seek an enhanced version of (say) gnuplottex, which given
gnuplot commands
would compute a check sum of
gnuplot commands, compare it to a value from a previous run, and they differ, would run gnuplot again; otherwise, it will just use the previously generated pdf file. I imagine you would need to use an auxiliary file for that, but I am not sure I understand the tradeoffs if any: should once save in the auxiliary file a checsum, or the entire data? How does one compare it?
Presumably, the invocation syntax would be:
\regenerate is a user macro taking a single argument, which would be passed
commands as argument. Command \reuse would somehow reuse the previous run's output. I am not even sure this is the right syntax.
Yet another challenge is to design the command in such a way that the user would not have to add a label to make it distinct from other calls to it.
Clarification: One way of doing that is the following: let h be hash function which generates (say) a 32 bits number. Then you could have a command of the following sort:
\regenerateis a two arguments macro.
\useis a single argument macro.
- '
IfChangedwill compute the h(commands), and if the value has changed, it will invoke:
\regenerate{commands}{h(commands)}and then
- If h(commands) did not change, then it would just invoke
\regenerate{commands}{h(commands)}would do some computation, placing the output in a file named
- The command
\use{h(x}}would include the file
I hope this clarifies the idea a bit. I would have to think some more about the exact design.
More on context: I have at least three applications in mind - the first is using the
bashful package to show computer output on the screen, second is the use of gnuplottex to plot functions (not data), and (c) use of metapost to draw uml diagrams and other stuff.
The command would not be useful as is for running an external "make" to generate experimental data. For this one would need a command that would do the LaTeX equivalent of the following pseudo code:
If (updated(rawDataFile(s) ))
but this is less of a problem I think, since you could always run from your command line:
% make all; pdflatex main.tex


text:
padams necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 377 diseños de 144 diseñadores freelance.
Company.com aims to be the definitive free on-line resource that helps business owners and mangers find new ways to save money, grow, and manage their business.
Specifically Company.com provides tools, services, and content to:
1. Find the best deal on business services (e.g. phone service, credit card processing, web hosting, etc.)
2. Get advice and guidance about business topic and issues (e.g. "How to interview an employee." or "What to know when starting a business.")
3. Meet other members and find new customers for your business
The alpha version of our web site and a placeholder logo can be seen at: http://www.company.com.
Company.com targets owners/managers of small and large businesses. This ranges from sole proprietors (small businesses) to executives and managers in large companies.
Our target users manage companies in every industry (e.g. from graphic design to aircraft manufacturing).
There are a few communication points that we would like the logo to convey:
1. Universal – we do not want to feel or look like we are only for big businesses ( i.e. no office buildings). Also, we want to respect the fact that businesses are run by both men and women.
2. Company/Business – it's the foundation of our name. We want to be viewed as authoritative when it comes to business and company building.
3. Network – we are creating a network of business owners/managers and can help and provide their services and advice to each other.
The "must" list:
- The logo must contain the brand name (company.com)
- The logo must be reproducible in black and white
- The logo must be usable in print and web mediums
The "do not" List:
- Do not use the color red (generally means bad things in business)
- Do not leave off the ".com" from the name
- Do not use complex shading or gradients that will not reproduce in B+W
- Do not feel that you need to use our current colors or logo mark in any way
- Do not use any clip art or stock images/illustrations in the logo
Technical Requirements:
- Final logo must be delivered in multiple formats:
-- adobe illustrator (.ai)
-- eps
-- 24-bit PNG (300x300 pixels)
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text: HELP! I love this layer cake I got on sale! But.... what to do with it??? Most I have two of each piece, a few only one. I definitely need a solid black somewhere. Any suggestions on what kinda pattern I could go with? I think something kinda funky since the fabric is a lot funky!


text:
|Just One Of The Crazy Chickens... (Photo credit: Stuart`Dootson)
|North Korean Guide "Crazy" Kim (Photo credit: Joseph A Ferris III)
Crazy Kim Has The US Guessing A post originally shared by Alexander first published over on Stirring Trouble Internationally. Stirring Trouble Internationally is a current affairs website with news about music, entertainment, politics and world news. Stirring Trouble Internationally - A humorous take on news and current affairs stirringtroubleinternationally.com March 31, 2013 at 03:00PM


text:
Top of Hawkers Lane,, Wells, BA5 3JP
Price FromView Rooms
- Excellent
- 104 guest reviews
"Lovely stay with great hospitality, would recommend to anyone..."
"My sister and I needed a break, this was perfect. Beautiful house and grounds, relaxed and relaxing. It was everything we wanted, including..."
"I cannot fault this country house B&B which was a lovely, homely large house built in the 1800's, packed with antiques and standing in 13 ac..."
"good location, very tasteful, classy, extremely polite staff, parking, all that you are looking for that is a little bit special..."
"a lovely place to stay in wells. Very nice staff and decent accommodation...."
About the hotel
The building of the house was started in 1838 and completed in 1842, built for a local lawyer, Edmund Davis. Earl Mount Cashell subsequently used it as a Hunting Lodge. In 1916 the Jenkins made 'Beryl' their family home until we were so fortunate to purchase it in 1979.
Since then, we have lovingly restored the house and gardens and are delighted to be able to share it.
Nestling in the Mendip hills, one mile from the centre of the cathedral city of Wells, Beryl is set in 13 acres of parkland. Within the grounds are finely manicured lawns, carefully tended borders and a restored Victorian walled garden. Your arrival will be greeted with warmth and courtesy, the epitome of country house hospitality and a welcomed afternoon tea/coffee and cake awaits you.
Elegant reception rooms are comfortably furnished with antiques, offering you the chance to relax by warm fires on a cold day, play board games or watch television - find a quiet corner to sit and read a favourite book, and maybe take a drink from the honesty bar.
The garden is an interesting walk, it contains a Victorian walled garden. A gully with an old stone bridge and the most beautiful English Bluebells (when in season), an ornamental pond and various avenues of maturing trees, on the lower lawns. A children's play area can be found on the main lawn, and our outdoor pool is open May to September (weather permitting).
Each of the uniquely decorated bedrooms come equipped with everything a guest needs to enjoy their stay. The beds are all extremely comfy and some rooms boast impressive four-poster beds. Most rooms on the first floor have a bath and shower facilities, whereas rooms on the second floor all have a shower.
After a good night's sleep, breakfast is served in the traditional dining room, overlooking the main lawn. An impressive continental buffet and a freshly cooked breakfast straight off the aga await guests every morning.
Read MoreLess
Facilities Show/hide
- Main
- Hotel Non-Smoking Throughout
- Parking
- Car parking available onsite
- Business
- Wi-Fi Available In Public Areas
- Dining
- Bar
Useful Info Show/hide
- From 13:00 hours
- By 10:30 hours
- Up to 17 years old
- The price shown is based on the occupancy and dates you have searched for. Prices and availability are subject to change based on the arrival date, number of nights and occupancy searched for. All prices are inclusive of all local taxes.
- Pets are not allowed
Customer Reviews
Our reviews are from genuine LateRooms.com customers. We verify that the customer has stayed before leaving a review.
99% would recommend it to a friend
Customer service
Food quality
Room quality
Lovely stay with great hospitality, would recommend to anyone...
Absolutely lovely
My sister and I needed a break, this was perfect.
Beautiful house and grounds, relaxed and relaxing. It was everything we wanted, including...
Read More Less


text:
Reviewed by Kousuke M. (age 10)
My favorite characters are George and Harold because they make lots of trouble like crazy. They make problems all the time. They make the evil monster destroy the school. That was also the funny part. I recommend this book to people who like funny books.


text: Rackspace Chooses Lifesize Video Collaboration Solutions Rackspace is one of the world's most successful cloud hosting companies and naturally keeps a close eye on modern, innovative technology. So when the opportunity came to deploy HD video collaboration technology throughout the company's international offices, CMO Suaad Sait knew it was the right decision for his company. Read Suaad's story as he discusses all of the unique ways that Rackspace utilizes video conferencing -- from coordinating one of the company's largest product launches to daily telecommuting from his home office. To learn how your company can use video to transform the way it does business - just like Rackspace did - request a demo or read other customer stories like this one. More on Rackspace


text:
My research activity covers a range of different areas: Understanding the power consumption of smart phones, particularly Android devices; Energy consumption and energy efficiency of computing infrastructure; Energy use in the built environment; and Academic software development processes. I also organise the DTG weekly seminar series.
1. Sherif Akoush, Ripduman Sohan, Andrew Rice, Andy Hopper, "Evaluating the viability of remote renewable energy in datacentre computing," Technical Report, UCAM-CL-TR-889, University of Cambridge, Computer Laboratory, May 2016
2. Daniel R. Thomas, Alastair R. Beresford, Andrew Rice, "Security metrics for the Android ecosystem," ACM CCS Workshop on Security and Privacy in Smartphones and Mobile Devices (SPSM), Denver, Colorado, USA, ACM, Oct 2015
3. James Snee, Lucian Carata, Oliver R. A. Chick, Ripduman Sohan, Ramsey M. Faragher, Andrew Rice, Andy Hopper, "Soroban: Attributing Latency in Virtualized Environments," 7th USENIX Workshop on Hot Topics in Cloud Computing (HotCloud 15), Santa Clara, CA, USENIX Association, Jul 2015
4. Lucian Carata, Oliver Chick, James Snee, Ripduman Sohan, Andrew Rice, Andy Hopper, "Resourceful: fine-grained resource accounting for explaining service variability," Technical Report, UCAM-CL-TR-859, University of Cambridge, Computer Laboratory, Sep 2014
5. Lucian Carata, Ripduman Sohan, Andrew Rice, Andy Hopper, "IPAPI: Designing an Improved Provenance API," Proceedings of the 5th USENIX Workshop on the Theory and Practice of Provenance, Berkeley, CA, USA, series TaPP '13, pp. 10:1--10:4, USENIX Association, 2013
6. Andrew Rice, "The future of economic development using computing," The future of computing: indispensable or unsustainable?, pp. 23-25, The Royal Academy of Engineering, 2012
7. Morgan Bazilian, Andrew Rice, Juliana Rotich, Mark Howells, Joseph DeCarolis, Stuart Macmillan, Cameron Brooks, Florian Bauer, Michael Liebreich, "Open source software and crowdsourcing for energy analysis," Energy Policy, vol. 49, pp. 149 - 153, 2012
8. Sherif Akoush, Ripduman Sohan, Bogdan Roman, Andrew Rice, Andy Hopper, "Activity Based Sector Synchronisation: Efficient Transfer of Disk-State For WAN Live Migration," The 19th Annual Meeting of the IEEE International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems (MASCOTS'11), Singapore, Jul 2011
9. Sherif Akoush, Ripduman Sohan, Andrew Rice, Andrew W. Moore, Andy Hopper, "Free Lunch: Exploiting Renewable Energy For Computing," the 13th Workshop on Hot Topics in Operating Systems (HOTOS'XIII), NAPA, CL, USA, May 2011
10. Alastair R. Beresford, Andrew Rice, Nicholas Skehin, Ripduman Sohan, "MockDroid: trading privacy for application functionality on smartphones," Proceedings of the Twelfth Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications, Mar 2011
11. Daniel T. Wagner, Andrew Rice, Alastair R. Beresford, "Device Analyzer (Poster)," HotMobile 2011, Mar 2011
12. Daniel T. Wagner, Andrew Rice, Alastair R. Beresford, "Device Analyzer (Extended Abstract)," HotMobile 2011, Mar 2011
13. Andrew Rice, Simon Hay, Dan Ryder-Cook, "A Limited-Data Model Of Building Energy Consumption," 2nd ACM Workshop On Embedded Sensing Systems For Energy-Efficiency In Buildings (BuildSys 2010, in conjunction with ACM SenSys 2010), Nov 2010
14. Andrew Rice, Simon Hay, "Measuring mobile phone energy consumption for 802.11 wireless networking," Pervasive and Mobile Computing, Aug 2010
15. Narseo Vallina-Rodriguez, Pan Hui, Jon Crowcroft, Andrew Rice, "Exhausting Battery Statistics," The Second ACM SIGCOMM Workshop on Networking, Systems and Applications on Mobile Handhelds (MobiHeld 2010), Aug 2010
16. Ripduman Sohan, Andrew Rice, Kieran J Mansley, Andrew W. Moore, "Characterizing 10 Gbps Network Interface Energy Consumption," The 35th Annual IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks (LCN) Short Papers, Aug 2010
17. Sherif Akoush, Ripduman Sohan, Andrew Rice, Andrew W. Moore, Andy Hopper, "Predicting the Performance of Virtual Machine Migration," The 18th Annual Meeting of the IEEE International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems (MASCOTS'10), Miami, FL, USA, Aug 2010
18. Andrew Rice, Oliver Woodman, "Crowd-sourcing world models with OpenRoomMap," Eighth Annual IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications (PerCom) Work-in-progress, Mar 2010
19. Andrew Rice, Simon Hay, "Decomposing power measurements for mobile devices," Eighth Annual IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications (PerCom2010), Mar 2010
20. Simon Hay, Andrew Rice, Andy Hopper, "Personal energy metering," 2nd International Conference on Computational Sustainability (CompSust 2010), Cambridge, MA, 2010
21. Simon Hay, Andrew Rice, "The case for apportionment," First ACM Workshop On Embedded Sensing Systems For Energy-Efficiency In Buildings, Nov 2009
22. Tom Craig, Joseph Newman, Andrew Rice, "Low-cost Spatial Indexing Using Machine Vision," Seventh International Conference on Pervasive Computing (Late breaking results), May 2009
23. Andrew Rice, Paula Buttery, Idris A. Rai, Alastair Beresford, "Language learning on a next-generation service platform for Africa," Africa Perspective on the Role of Mobile Technologies in Fostering Social and Economic Development , W3C, Apr 2009
24. Simon Hay, Joseph Newman, Andrew Rice, "Sentient computing meets social networking," W3C Workshop on the Future of Social Networking, Jan 2009
25. Simon Hay, Andrew Rice, Andy Hopper, "A global personal energy meter," Ubiquitous Computing at a Crossroads: Art, Science, Politics and Design (UbiComp Grand Challenge), Jan 2009
26. Andy Hopper, Andrew Rice, "Computing for the Future of the Planet," Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A, Oct 2008
27. Andy Hopper, Andrew Rice, Alastair Beresford, "Computing for the future of the planet," Engineering Change: Towards a sustainable future in the developing world, pp. 73-78, Oct 2008
28. Anthony Hylick, Ripduman Sohan, Andrew Rice, Brian Jones, "An Analysis of Hard Drive Energy Consumption," 16th Annual IEEE International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems (MASCOTS) 2008, IEEE, Sep 2008
29. Andrew Rice, Sherif Akoush, Andy Hopper, "Failure is an option," Technical Report, MSR-TR-2008-61, Microsoft Research Technical Report, May 2008
30. Anthony Hylick, Andrew Rice, Brian Jones, Ripduman Sohan, "Hard Drive Power Consumption Uncovered," ACM SIGMETRICS Performance Evaluation Review, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 54-55, Dec 2007
31. Andrew Rice, "How to draw a diagram," Skills Presentation, Oct 2007
32. Andrew C. Rice, Robert K. Harle, Alastair R. Beresford, "Analysing fundamental properties of marker-based vision system designs," Pervasive and Mobile Computing , series Special Issue on PerCom 2006, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 453-471, Elsevier, Nov 2006
33. Andrew C. Rice, Alastair R. Beresford, "Dependability and Accountability for Context-aware Middleware Systems," 3rd Workshop on Middleware Support for Pervasive Computing (PerWare 2006), Mar 2006
34. Andrew C. Rice, Alastair R. Beresford, Robert K. Harle, "Cantag: an open source software toolkit for designing and deploying marker-based vision systems," Fourth Annual IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications (PerCom), pp. 12-21, Mar 2006
35. Andrew Rice, Robert Harle, "Evaluating Lateration-Based Positioning Algorithms for Fine-Grained Tracking," Joint Workshop on Foundations of Mobile Computing (DIAL-M-POMC) 2005, ACM Press, Sep 2005
36. Andrew Rice, Christopher Cain, John Fawcett, "Dependable Coding of Fiducial Tags," Ubiquitous Computing Symposium, pp. 155-163, Oct 2004


text:
Boston police officials have applauded Kelly Osbourne and her brother Jack for calling on the editors of Rolling Stone to donate the profits from their new issue to the victims of the city's recent bombings.
Bosses at the magazine have come under fire for putting bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover of their new issue, just three months after the Boston Marathon atrocities.
Both Osbourne siblings have attacked the decision on social media sites, claiming Rolling Stone editors have "glamorized" a killer.
Jack Osbourne states, "Innocent people have been killed or injured by the alleged actions of this man. There is no justification for awarding him a cover spot traditionally reserved for entertainment icons. It is this kind of action that encourages other sick individuals to act out in hopes of earning notoriety or martyrdom for their cause."
But he suggests magazine bosses can make up for their poor judgment by donating the profits from the issue to charity.
He adds, "The innocent victims, their families, the first responders, and the people of Boston are the ones who deserve to be honored and remembered. We challenge Rolling Stone Magazine to donate ALL profits (retail and advertising revenue) generated from the August issue to all the victims, surviving family members, and first responders adversely affected by the Boston Marathon bombings."
Well over 40,000 people have signed the petition, which Osbourne helped launch with his sister, and now police officials in Boston have reached out to thank the brother and sister.
In a tweet addressed to Kelly on Wednesday, a police spokesman writes, "Thanks to you and Jack for asking Rolling Stone to donate their Aug profits! Boston Police now need years of PTSD programming."


text:
Block Island ferry rate increase sought in Rhode Island
The company that operates the Block Island Ferry in Point Judith has filed a request with Rhode Island regulators to raise passenger ticket prices by about 8 percent next year on traditional, "slow" ferries to account for rising fuel costs and upgrades to its fleet.
Interstate Navigation would also eliminate a same-day travel discount and a discount for Block Island residents, but it also plans to offer much lower rates to transport vehicles.
The New London-based company operates the main ferry service connecting Block Island to the mainland, with both traditional and fast ferries to Point Judith in Narragansett and Newport.
"I understand why we had to spend significant dollars improving our vessels and terminals in order to compete in this tourist-driven market," Interstate Navigation vice president Joshua Linda said in written testimony to the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission. "Our recent efforts have been directed toward entering the fast ferry market, which is something for which our summer tourist customers have shown a clear preference."
In the rate filing that was submitted to the PUC last month, Interstate Navigation says its newer fast-ferry service to Block Island from Point Judith has subsidized losses in its traditional, slower service that have amounted to $500,000 annually over the past four years.
It has requested the rate change to increase revenues for the traditional service. If the PUC approves the proposal, annual revenues would go up by $1.3 million, or 13.2 percent.
Under the proposal that would affect traditional ferries only, adult one-way trips would increase by 95 cents to $12.20 and child tickets would go up by 45 cents to $6.15. However, rates for vehicles would be slashed, with the one-way price for a car dropping from $49.80 to $32.70 and the price for a truck going from $60.10 to $39.45.
A $4.20 discount for same-day, round-trip tickets would be eliminated, as would the $7.80 discount for island residents who qualify for the commuter rate. Islanders would also lose their discount vehicle rates.
"From a cost-allocation rate-setting point of view, Islanders should not get this discount," Walter E. Edge Jr., a Providence consultant hired by Interstate Navigation, said in testimony. "It costs no more or less to sell Islanders a ticket and carry them on the vessel than it costs for any other passenger."
But Interstate Navigation has proposed creating a weekday discount of up to 25 percent between May and September to encourage travel during off-peak times.
The company has requested that the new rates go into effect before Memorial Day next year.
Interstate Navigation's expansion of its fast ferry service is set to continue. The company says in the filing that it intends to eliminate its traditional ferry from Newport to Block Island and replace it with a fast ferry that it purchased for $440,000 and is refurbishing at a cost of $1 million. Tickets for the new service would cost $25 each way.
Interstate's current rates were determined in 2007 as part of a five-year plan that was extended to a sixth year. As part of that plan, rates were frozen in the first two years and increases in subsequent years were restricted.
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The developers of the controversial Smiler's Wharf project announced Tuesday that they have withdrawn their application for a zone change and master plan approval.
Lamont would ease 'debt diet' in final push for highway tolls
Republicans criticize minority lawmakers as 'far-left,' chastise Trump for 'over the line' tweets
House condemns Trump 'racist' tweets in extraordinary rebuke


text:
MIDDLEBURY — Vermont Gas on Wednesday morning announced a memorandum of understanding with the Vermont Department of Public Service placing a limit of $134 million on the amount it will seek from its ratepayers for expenses related to the Addison Natural Gas Project pipeline.
That amount is $20 million less than the $154 million the company had forecasted for the project back in December.
The Middlebury Select Board made as eloquent and rational an argument for supporting the Vermont Gas pipeline to Middlebury as can be made. The statement, which was published as a letter accompanying a front-page news story in last Thursday's Addison Independent, is considerate of others' perspectives, well-reasoned on all points, and defends what it sees as the best path at this time for the town and residents of Middlebury.
If Vermont Gas Systems (VGS) wants to built a pipeline from Middlebury to the International Paper mill in Ticonderoga, N.Y., it must concede two points: 1) the public good of such a route is not a slam dunk and, if push comes to shove, VGS will likely face a legal challenge; 2) the economic benefits of partnering with the towns they want to go through will almost certainly outweigh the negative consequences of waging battle against them.
This week's writer is Annette Smith, executive director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, a grassroots nonprofit organization based in Danby that follows major energy projects throughout the state. Its objective is to bring "environmental justice and corporate accountability to Vermont communities." Smith is a paid staff member, and an environmental lobbyist.
How Not to Build a Natural Gas Pipeline
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text:
I was in Washington today for a combination of business, politics and pleasure. I met with a number of Republican Congressmen and Senators, attended a press conference, and followed events on the Senate floor. Here are a few random thoughts on the day's events.
* The defeat of the immigration bill was due entirely to the public outcry against it. In the end, wavering Senators knew that there was no way they could vote for the comprehensive bill. This morning, there was a "run on the bank" as Senators opted to oppose the legislation. Some of those who voted "No" on cloture would have been willing to continue the debate, but, once they realized the bill was dead, did not want their last vote on the measure to be construed as a vote in favor.
* Republican Representatives are enjoying being in the minority more than they had expected. Okay, that's damning with faint praise, but they are excited about the extent to which their guerrilla tactics, like motions to recommit and exposure of the Democrats' earmark fraud, have thrown monkey wrenches into the liberals' gears. Morale is high.
* The Democrats have handed conservatives a golden issue by attempting to bring down talk radio. Congressman Mike Pence offered an amendment to the FCC act today that would bar any use of funds for the re-establishment of the "fairness doctrine," whereby the government would be empowered to dictate the political content of talk radio and broadcast television. (This would obviously be unconstitutional.) This morning, I attended a press conference put on by Pence and the co-sponsors of his amendment, including Minnesota's Michele Bachmann. It was a fun event. It is hard to imagine how the Democrats could give Republicans a better issue than their effort to put talk radio out of business. The Pence Amendment passed this afternoon, but, somewhat surprisingly, 115 Democrats–most of the Democrats present–voted against it. So we'll be able to abuse the Dems on their opposition to free speech for some time to come.
* The Democrats are way behind on getting appropriations bills through Congress; so far behind that they can't realistically catch up. This fall, a showdown is likely. President Bush will likely veto a succession of Democratic spending bills. If he does so, the Republicans clearly have enough votes to sustain his vetos. So we may see another government "shutdown." Quite a few Republicans are eager for this fight. They think this will help to reclaim the "brand" of limited government. I think they're right.
* The Fred Thompson campaign recently set up an event for 60 of Congress's most solid conservatives. Many of them were hoping to be able to endorse Thompson. Unfortunately, Thompson did not impress the Congressmen. He did not appear to be ready for a tough Presidential campaign. One of his aides explained that Thompson was "rusty," which, as one Congressman told me, did not inspire much confidence in this YouTube era. Some of those who attended are now looking at Mitt Romney as the most viable conservative in the race. [UPDATE: The Thompson campaign called to say that it has been several months since Thompson has done an event for Congressmen. I'd gotten the impression that this was more recent; if it was actually several months ago, it might help explain Thompson's "rustiness." It's nevertheless the case that the Congressman I talked to was underwhelmed and told me that others were as well.]
There's lots more, but that's probably enough for now. With Supreme Court decisions and events in Congress, the last few days have been very good indeed for conservatives.
To comment on this post, go here.
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"Arise and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time." Winston Churchill
"Proclaim Liberty throughout All the land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof." Inscription on the Liberty Bell


text:
The Department of China Studies at XJTLU will show a series of contemporary Chinese films that will be of general interest to students and staff at XJTLU as well as members of the public. Each film will have subtitles in English and be preceded by an introduction and commentary by departmental staff.
This week, we are showing Lost in Beijing (苹果), 2007, directed by Yu Li (李玉).


text:
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; the younger brother of former President George W. Bush; and the older brother of Neil Bush, Marvin Bush and Dorothy Bush Koch.
Bush was also enrolled at Phillips Academy Andover, a private boarding school in Massachusetts, already attended by his brother, George. Bush made the honor roll in his first semester.
When Bush was 17, he went to León, Guanajuato, in Mexico, as part of his school's student exchange program. He spent his time there teaching English, and it was there that he met his future wife, Columba Garnica Gallo.


text:
BOULDER — A Longmont man accused of trying to kill his neighbors in July by setting fire to their home while they slept pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder and arson on Friday.
Demian Weigle, 43, is scheduled for a one-week trial the week of Sept. 16. He is scheduled to return to Boulder District Court on Aug. 7 for a pretrial motions hearings.
Police and prosecutors believe Weigle set fires to the front and back doors of his neighbors' home at 534 Bowen St. overnight on July 16 in an attempt to kill the family of three inside. The family woke and escaped out of a side window with the help of other neighbors, according to police.
According to court documents, police suspect Weigle had suffered increasing paranoia after using "bath salt" drugs that he ordered on the Internet and came to suspect that his neighbor was spying on him. He told police he was traveling in Wyoming at the time of the fires and provided receipts from motels and other businesses. However, investigators believe the timeline of the fires and his receipts would have allowed him to set the blazes and drive to Wyoming to collect the receipts for the alibi, according to court documents and earlier testimony in court.
Weigle remains at the Boulder County Jail awaiting trial.
Pierrette J. Shields can be reached at 303-684-5273 or at email@example.com.


text:
My cute Sister in law is doing another bow giveaway! Isn't she great!?!
It's an AWESOME one this month! She is giving away a bow and rosette set for each month! That's 24 in all!! And they are great quality and made REALLY well! I would know, I've seen her make them!
If I had a girl I would totally enter! But, I don't think my husband would appreciate our little Mr. wearing such a darling hair accessory! ;) Head over to her blog to enter!


text: Starring alongside Mindy in the pilot will be sillyfunny Ed Helms, creepyfunny Bill Hader and distinguishedfunny Richard Schiff — as the love interest, the ex-boyfriend, and the mentor/colleague, respectively. Mindy plays "a Bridget-Jones type OB/GYN trying to navigate her personal and professional life," and if you read her book (which you should), you know that her mom is an OB/GYN. Since Schiff's character is the old coot who "tells stories about the 60s and 70s," we can assume that he was inspired by Dr. Chokalingam and her hospital buddies. Hopefully it gets picked up!


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John Travolta's upcoming movie about the notorious Gotti family has been put on hold due to financial issues, according to a report.
The Hollywood actor is due to star as late Mafia boss John Gotti, who died in prison in 2002, in upcoming movie Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father, alongside his real-life wife Kelly Preston and Al Pacino.
Filming is slated to begin in January ahead of a 2012 release date, but a new report suggests production has been put on hold.
Showbiz411.com reports work on the project has come to a halt and won't resume until more financing is secured.
A source tells the website, "If (producer) Marc Fiore doesn't come up with money this week, and doesn't show that more is coming, and that he's really secured financing, it could all fall apart."
The film's producers are also facing a legal battle with Goodfellas star Joe Pesci, who is suing bosses at Fiore Films over allegations he was offered a $3 million deal to play Angelo Ruggiero, an associate of Gotti, but was later told he would be given a smaller part.
— WENN Newsdesk


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We love P.F. Chang's Shanghai Cucumbers and on September 13th – National Celiac Awareness Day they celebrated by the release of a new gluten free dessert. They also shared two of their gluten free recipes- Mongolian Beef and the Shanghai Cucumbers.
I have made these twice in the last two days. The are a great light and refreshing side dish. Great recipe that is extremely easy and quick to make.
Gluten Free Shanghai Cucumbers
12 oz peeled and seeded cucumbers, cut into 1 inch pieces
1.5 oz gluten free soy sauce
W1 tsp white vinegar
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
Mix together the sauce ingredients. Mix sauce together with cucumbers and sprinkle sesame seeds over the top.
(sent from wordpress for blackberry)


text:
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text:
Pro-Ject - Record Puck - Heavyweight Record Clamp
$99.00 -15%
RECORD PUCK Heavy weight record clamp
Free Shipping For Over $150*
We offer free shipping to most capital cities in Australia. For orders below $150, we charge a shipping fee for all locations in Australia. For large items like floorstanding speakers, anything over 1.2m long or for any remote and rural locations, additional shipping fees may be required (these costs won't be calculated on the checkout page, so please call us for an accurate estimate. Whilst we aim to be as transparent as possible online in regard to our shipping prices and delivery times, there are many variables that come into play, especially when shipping large items or shipping to rural locations. Please feel free to call us about your particular needs on 1300 308 711.
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The Audio Tailor Group shall not be responsible for any damage or consequential losses (whether direct or indirect) associated with damage to goods occurring during delivery. The Customer irrevocably agrees to make a claim upon the transit insurer for any such damage or loss.
Lost in transit products cannot be replaced until an investigation has been completed with the delivery service provider to confirm the item was lost in transit.
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A San Diego woman identifying herself as James Holmes' mother wasn't surprised her son was linked to the mass murder at a midnight showing Friday of "Dark Night Rises."
The woman "immediately expressed concern" that her son may have been involved in the mass shooting even though authorities hadn't contacted her, ABC News reported today.
"You have the right person," she told ABC.
"I need to call the police," she added. "I need to fly out to Colorado." Her conversation with ABC was brief; there were no further details.
Stay tuned for more on the shooting. We'll post a photo of Holmes as soon as it's available.
Watch the video below for a brief recap of the main details of the shooting.


text:
A jaunt through Palo Alto City Hall these days can make visitors feel like they're on the set of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," with plastic sheets covering hallway floors, streaks of primer stretching along walls and curly wires dangling from circular holes in the ceiling.
While the employees inside the run-down eight-story building are facing salary freezes and heavier workloads in the aftermath of the Great Recession, the building itself is going through a rebirth of sorts. For most of the past two years, construction workers have been replacing the building's mechanical systems, painting the hallways, remodeling bathrooms and upgrading everything from the plumbing to fire sprinklers.
The repairs are part of a plan the city adopted in 2003 to patch up the 40-year-old structure, and they couldn't have come at a better time. With the region still climbing out of the economic pit of the Great Recession, construction costs for the building's renovation have fallen more than $2 million below the engineers' initial estimate, prompting city officials to expand the to-do list for the project. Earlier this month, the City Council voted to add more than $700,000 to the City Hall renovation to take advantage of the buyer's market. The bulk of these repairs is scheduled to be completed this fall.
Next year, city officials plan to replace the stained carpet in the Council Chambers and renovate the dingy Council Conference Room, whose cramped conditions and acoustic deficiencies have been a running joke among council members.
Interim Public Works Director Michael Sartor said the repairs have been on the city's radar for many years.
"We were planning to do it over time, but we figured that while we're in the middle of the project and we're already disrupting people, we might as well take care of all the disruptions at the same time," Sartor said. "Plus, it costs less because we're taking advantage of the construction climate."
The economic downturn's cheaper labor has been a boon to other Palo Alto construction work as well. The city's most ambitious capital project -- the bond-funded reconstruction of local libraries -- is proceeding at a brisk pace and is nearly $10 million under its $76 million budget. Public Works engineers have also revised their estimates for the more ho-hum capital projects such as maintenance of city streets. The actual cost for annual street maintenance came within 1 percent of the estimate but only because estimates were reduced to account for the lower bids, Sartor told the Planning and Transportation Commission last week.
At the commission's discussion of the 2012 capital-improvement plan, Commissioner Arthur Keller asked if the city is taking advantage of the climate by "frontloading construction in the next few years."
"We're doing as much as we possibly can with the staff we have and the money we have," Sartor said.
Infrastructure spending isn't the only arena in which the bleak economy has helped Palo Alto get its house in order, both literally and figuratively. Slumping tax revenues and spiraling costs of employee benefits have forced Palo Alto officials to confront deeper problems that were largely overlooked during flusher times. Over the past two years, City Manager James Keene and the council have explored and implemented changes sure to impact the city for decades to come, possibly outliving the economic slump. Popular budget-balancing buzzwords like "outsourcing" and "consolidating" have grown teeth over the past year, with contractors now maintaining local parks and the Palo Alto Police Department working with its counterparts in Mountain View and Los Altos to create mutually compatible dispatch systems that officials say will both improve service and lower costs.
Palo Alto is also paring down the size of its staff and restructuring departments to reduce red tape and costs. Since 2008, the city has eliminated about 10 percent of its positions supported by the General Fund, Keene said.
To be sure, no one inside City Hall is popping champagne to celebrate Palo Alto's still-anemic tax revenues. But at the same time, officials recognize that the economic climate is enabling the city to finally address its chronically thorny staffing issues and sagging infrastructure. In short, the Great Recession has created great opportunities. It has spurred the city to tackle such problems as the city's ballooning pension obligations, public-safety costs and steeply rising health care expenditures. Keene said the city, much like the greater community, is going through a "period where we have to acknowledge full costs."
"It's a very interesting time to be managing a city," Keene recently told the Weekly. "I think there's a convergence of both historical decisions and future trends and factors in play that are requiring a fundamental rethink of how we do things and how we engage with our citizens.
"Fundamentally, in the way we look at some things, it was never possible to go on forever," Keene added. "We're just in a moment where it's all being revealed to us."
Perhaps the most daunting and complicated task on the city's post-Great Recession to-do list is tackling the city's backlog of infrastructure repairs -- a $500-million elephant in the room that has been perplexing the council for years.
Last year, the council awarded the arduous task of evaluating the city's infrastructure problems to one of the largest and wonkiest citizen commissions in Palo Alto's recent history -- a 17-member panel of economists, planners and civic volunteers. They have been meeting several times a month since December to assess the cost of fixing crumbling streets, rebuilding obsolete buildings and brainstorming future needs. In recent weeks, the commission has been surveying neighboring cities, including Mountain View, Menlo Park and Redwood City, to see if there are any lessons to be learned. Most importantly, the commission is exploring ways to pay for the needed repairs during a time of stagnant revenues.
The list of needs is long and wide-ranging. It includes a new headquarters for the Palo Alto Police Department (estimated price tag: $60 million), which continues to be housed in a small and seismically unsafe wing inside City Hall; the Municipal Services Center ($90 million), which was built in 1966 with features that the city now describes as "well beyond their design life"; and two fire stations that are considered outdated and too small for the vehicles they house (about $7 million each).
Last week, the commission met at Lucie Stern Community Center to explore the topic of roads, sidewalks and parks. Palo Alto's roads tend to be older than its neighbors', particularly in the north part of town.
"The older parts of the city have more concrete streets. As they got eroded, asphalt was put over the concrete," said James Schmidt, who chairs the infrastructure commission's Surface Committee. "What happens is concrete and asphalt don't get along.
"The new parts of the city -- i.e., the south -- has fewer concrete streets and more asphalt."
Examining the 470 lane miles of streets, 285 lane miles of sidewalks, 157 acres of parks and 82 parking lots, city staff and the commission concluded that it would take about $9.3 million to repair all the potholes and cracks and to bring all the problematic streets up to par.
The commission's duties don't, however, stop at evaluating Palo Alto's existing infrastructure needs. The council also directed the group earlier this year to brainstorm future needs -- what Councilman Larry Klein called "blue-sky" ideas.
Should the city, for example, consider creating more parks or a performance-arts center, Klein asked. Should the Municipal Services Center property be used for additional operations, including an auto dealership? Should some land be carved out from the Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course and used for a new park or some other purpose?
The commission is preparing to draft its report in the fall and complete the final version in December of this year. At that point, the council would begin to think about asking voters to pass another bond measure.
The difficulty in funding massive infrastructure work in the wake of a recession might seem to work against -- rather than for -- the city's plans. But even here there could be a silver lining.
City officials know a bond measure for infrastructure repairs would be a tough sell. While residents have supported bond measures for schools and libraries, infrastructure is a cause that many residents don't understand or value, Planning and Transportation Commission Chair Samir Tuma said during a March meeting.
Ray Bacchetti, who co-chairs the infrastructure group, made a similar point March 31, noting that a survey of residents had showed two-thirds supportive of passing bonds for new libraries, but fewer than that said they would endorse a measure to fund a public-safety building (one of the city's top infrastructural priorities).
"We have discovered that infrastructure is not the sexiest topic around," Bacchetti said.
To hedge the city's bets, the infrastructure commission is considering a wide range of alternative financing options, many of them potentially controversial. These include renting out space at City Hall to private companies and moving some city departments away from downtown Palo Alto to sections of the city where rent is cheaper.
Former Mayor Leland Levy, who co-chars the commission, said another idea worth exploring is linking Cubberley Community Center to the adjacent Charleston Shopping Center and rezoning the community center to allow retail space.
The hunt for revenue could mean open season on the city's "sacred cows," including Palo Alto's famous opposition to big-box stores. Councilman Pat Burt suggested at a March 14 joint meeting with the infrastructure group that the light-industrial area around San Antonio Road and Charleston Road could be considered a potential site for such stores, given its proximity to the boxy retailers across the town line, in Mountain View. City planners are preparing a "concept plan" for this neighborhood, which will propose new zoning designations. Big-box stores could be in the picture.
Mark Harris, a member of the infrastructure commission who chairs its Finance Subcommittee, said at a joint meeting with the council that his group is looking at all sorts of non-traditional financing approaches.
"The city has been very traditional," Harris said. "We want to look at some private-public partnerships; we're talking about possible sale of assets.
"We don't want to preclude anything at this point."
Even if the infrastructure backlog doesn't get solved, the commission's report will succeed in at least one other respect: It would present the city with radical new options for raising revenues at a time when traditional revenue sources are running dry. If nothing else, it will re-examine Palo Alto's values and consider whether these values are still appropriate in a new era.
The conversation, in that sense, isn't just about Palo Alto's cracked streets and seismically deficient buildings. It's also about big-box stores, golf courses and shopping districts. Given the importance of the commission's task and the growing problem of decaying infrastructure, council members have high hopes that the commission's report will offer the first glint of a solution.
"This is one of the most important tasks our community will have for a long time," Burt told the commission at the joint meeting. "You're one of the most important bodies our community will have for a long time."
While the infrastructure group is hunting for revenue opportunities, Keene and his staff are adjusting to the post-recession world by slashing expenditures, both in the short and the long term.
Balancing the books has been a delicate exercise over the past three years, with revenues falling but services generally remaining unchanged. Though sales-tax figures have edged up in recent months, they are still projected to be lower in the fiscal year 2011 than they were in 2006. The city's latest Long-term Financial Forecast for 2011-2020 projects "slow growth assumptions in all revenue categories."
At the same time, the anemic growth is not without potential benefits.
"It's like any sort of crisis," Keene said. "It forces us to confront issues that have been around for a long time.
"As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. The downturn clearly pushed governments to revaluate their assumptions -- in some ways, that's a good thing. There are profound changes in the works that have been forced upon us."
Though the budget deficit is much smaller this year than in the previous two, closing the gap remains a challenge given that most low-hanging fruit had already been picked. In fiscal years 2010 and 2011, the city made more than $14 million in permanent "structural" cuts in the General Fund. Vacant positions went unfilled, salaries were frozen and 58 positions were eliminated. Park maintenance, once the domain of the Community Services Department, was contracted out to private landscaping companies. The city's print shop, once overseen by the Administrative Services Department, has been scrapped and its duties outsourced.
The adjustments have put Palo Alto in a relatively enviable position when compared with nearby communities, which are also struggling with weaker revenues. As Administrative Services Director Lalo Perez noted at a recent council meeting, San Jose is now in its 10th year of budget deficits.
Perez said many agencies have been closing their budget deficits by making one-time budget adjustments -- measures that address the immediate deficit but don't address the structural gap between revenues in expenses.
Palo Alto, Perez noted, has been addressing its deficits with "structural changes," which leaves it in a "more fortunate situation."
Though it's impossible to predict if and when the former levels of revenues will return, city officials assume many years of austerity ahead. The latest long-range forecast projects that under a "business-as-usual" scenario, the city's budget deficits over the next 10 years would add up to close to $100 million, including gaps of about $7 million in fiscal years 2013 and 2014. As in previous years, Keene's proposed budget for 2012 advocates long-term changes over quick one-time fixes.
"The impacts on the City of what has been termed the 'Great Recession' will be felt for many years. Many believe the economy has entered a 'new normal' where former levels of revenue cannot be expected to return," Keene wrote in the introduction to the 2012 budget proposal.
The city is "in the process of realigning and recalibrating our organization to match available staff and financial resources.
"This includes looking at alternate ways to provide services, including contracting out functions, potential partnering with neighboring communities to provide various programs, evaluating delivery of services through a regional model versus local model such as regional dispatch, and much more."
Some of these efforts could result in a stronger, leaner and more efficient Palo Alto. The ongoing effort by Palo Alto, Mountain View and Los Altos to synchronize their respective dispatch systems is expected to both improve service and save money. The "virtual consolidation" project, which is slated for completion in fall of 2012, will allow the public-safety agencies from the three cities to communicate seamlessly through their dispatch systems and back each other up with greater ease. Charles Cullen, the director of technical services at the Palo Alto Police Department, said the shared system could reduce response times, enable staffing reductions at each of the partnering agencies and offer other heretofore unforeseen opportunities.
"I think there's a lot of benefits that we haven't seen yet or thought of that this project will provide," Cullen told the council earlier this month.
Perhaps the most visible example of the Great Recession's effect on Palo Alto is the number of new faces in City Hall. Keene, who took over as city manager in August 2008, is a grizzled veteran compared to most department heads.
The economic downturn didn't force the issue all by itself. The fact that many of the city's top managers were Baby Boomers who happened to reach retirement age at the same time played a role. But the city's recent changes to the compensation of non-public safety workers -- salary freezes, elimination of the managers' bonus program, requirements for employee contributions toward health care -- have certainly added fuel to the "brain drain" trend, which was detailed in a Weekly cover story in December 2010.
The changes have left Palo Alto with a leaner and younger organization (the most seasoned department head, Utilities Director Valerie Fong, has been on the job for five years). Palo Alto's newly hired City Attorney Molly Stump, who replaced retired City Attorney Gary Baum, began her job in April. The city's new Library Director Monique le Conge (who is replacing retired Director Diane Jennings) will start May 31.
These changes aren't limited to the top of the city's organizational chart. In the Administrative Services Department alone, 12 employees have announced their retirements since December, Perez said at a March meeting of the planning commission.
The shifting make-up of city management, again, poses both challenges and potential opportunities -- at least, according to Keene.
The trend has shrunk Palo Alto's staff, whose members are fighting a learning curve and struggling to keep up with the growing workload. Keene outlined these challenges at January's City Council retreat, when he equated city staff to a slice of Swiss cheese, with each hole representing a key vacancy.
On the other hand, with bureaucracy pared down, city workers now have more responsibility than before, along with greater opportunities for career advancement, Keene told the Weekly in late 2010, when asked about the turnover in City Hall. In an interview last week, he also said the staffing reductions by nature lead to more productivity -- also not a bad thing.
This move toward a leaner, more productive workforce could soon extend to Palo Alto's public-safety workers, who so far have been shielded by their contracts from the type of benefit reductions their city counterparts were forced to swallow.
The centerpiece of Keene's plan to balance the 2012 budget is getting police and firefighters to accept the types of concessions to which other groups have agreed. Keene told the council's Finance Committee earlier this month that he hopes to achieve $4.2 million in cost savings from the ongoing negotiations with the police and firefighter unions.
Palo Alto officials often say the changes to employees' benefits likely would have been necessary even if the national economy weren't derailed. But the Great Recession and its aftermath have created a sense of urgency in Palo Alto, ensuring that reforms will come sooner rather than later.
Pension and health care reforms top the City Council's list of needed changes. In unveiling his budget to the council earlier this month, Keene noted that most of the cost increases in the proposed General Fund budget were primarily due to these factors. Over the past decade, pension expenditures went from 2 percent of the General Fund to 10 percent (the city is projected to spend a total of $23.7 million on pensions in fiscal year 2012), and costs are projected to spike further in the next two years. According to Palo Alto's long-term financial forecast, new mandates from the California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS) could add an additional $18.3 million in pension costs to the city over the nine years leading up to 2021.
The rising costs are prompting the council to take a tougher stance than in the past in its negotiations with the firefighter and police unions and to revisit policies that have guided negotiations for more than 30 years.
Last week, for example, a council committee discussed potentially repealing a 1978 provision in the City Charter that requires disputes between the city and its public-safety unions to get settled by a binding-arbitration panel. The council last August considered putting the repeal of the binding-arbitration provision on the ballot but declined by a 4-5 vote, with several members saying they need more information before they could support the repeal. Councilman Greg Scharff, who proposed placing the issue on the 2010 ballot, said at the time getting rid of binding arbitration is "the single biggest thing we can do to control our runaway pension costs and to get our labor costs under control."
Voters could have a chance to weigh in on changing or repealing this provision either this November or in 2012.
Another costly bedrock provision that could soon be abolished is the "minimum staffing" requirement in the firefighters' contract -- a clause that requires at least 29 firefighters to be on duty at all times. The firefighters' union has vehemently (and successfully) resisted any changes to the provision and any plan to cut staffing or close fire stations, but the Great Recession and its accompanying pressure on government spending has weakened the union's position and shifted public opinion against status quo. Last year, Palo Alto voters overwhelmingly rejected the union's ballot measure that would have required a citywide vote before any staffing reductions or station closures could be implemented. It also doesn't help the union's cause that an independent analysis by the firms TriData and ICMA recommended scrapping the provision from the contract.
The repeal of binding arbitration and the elimination of minimum-staffing may not solve the city's mounting budget problems, but at the very least they would give the City Council a greater-than-ever say over how public funds are spent. They would also give Keene and the council more flexibility in options for making the city's public-safety departments more efficient. These include a proposal Keene is currently evaluating to combine police and firefighter operations into one Public Safety Department -- a proposal that would decrease administrative costs.
These changes will most certainly be more messy, disruptive and difficult to achieve than the City Hall construction currently under way. But it's also possible, officials have said, that in some ways the changes brought about by the Great Recession will leave Palo Alto in a stronger financial position and with more flexibility than it had before the downturn began.
At the very least, the aftermath of the Great Recession is giving the city an opportunity to talk with its citizens about unsustainable trends and necessary changes -- a serious conversation that Keene said can no longer be delayed.
"This is a sea change," Keene said. "Change is difficult. It's necessary, but just because it's necessary doesn't mean it's enjoyable."
Related stories:


text:
Whoop Whoop(8x)
Funky dilemmas, destroy MC's by process of elimi-
Nation, ghetto lingo breaks your inner
Mind body, got me sold like Hurachis
Fuck tracks up the ass, make beats walk knock-kneed
The funk dwella in your cella, no one's wetta
Pull more Playboy bitches than Hugh Hefner
I played you wit my nasal style I'm able
To rock two turntables for old sake like Sweet Sable
Now who's on the deals, I'll make you feel the real
I kill at will wit nine shots in your window shield
Or mill, so feel the gust of wind
I must've been born with ten of my dusted friends (Ahhh)
I get up in you like Keith Murray
Make your whole crew shit stew beef curry, in a hurry
Make competition leave early, smokin the lala
Blazay Blah come through your block and open fire
(Redman's in the area
Keith Murray's in the area
Erick Sermon's in the area)
[Erick Sermon]
Is this mic on word up
I swarm like helicopters, after robbers, at banks gettin dollars
The lyrical Street Fighter call me Sagat
Blazin hot, like a bullet from somebody gettin shot
Where there's a drum there's a beat
And where there's guns there's a street
This option allows me to bake my opponents wit degrees
From here to overseas
Clowns in my mix and don't know the flava
Its the same reason why I threw away my Skypager
Magnificent, givin rappers, death certificates
With fly intricate flows by the loads
Y'all come out the hype description of this
One time Billboard winner, six time Gold record list
No one invited me so I crashed and brung the vibe
And broke it out like a rash, who? (who? who?)
So who do I be? The E the D, O-U-B the L to the E
Get your blunt leafs and fire it up
Get your ZigZags and fire it up Whhhoooo!
MC's you betta stand clear, Def Squad is a world premier
The one and only Philly Blunt king
[Keith Murray]
Word is bond the lyrical lexicon gets it on like a moron
I break your little itty bitty style down to ions
My rap style has many many mixtures
Of murderous poetry and deadly lectures and pictures
Matter fact my rap Sounds be on sickly timin
Meaning your brain can't be defined
In the words I be using when I be rhymin
Now you can shake the whole world back and forth
Bring your roughest rapper, and I bet you blood he'd cough
My rap style is like my lifestyle, rougher than turbulence
Ever since I commenced to subject you to my bullshit
I compress your chest and perform open-heart surgery
And God forbid I bring Reggie, P.P.P. and the L.O.D
I love beatin you in the head with this
Make you wanna run off and go get a psychotherapist analyst
(He's way nicer) than you false pretenders
The nicest rapper that ever came out since you could remember
Def Squad


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