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Bridal Shower Cake Ideas
So your best friend is getting married and you need to provide the Bridal Shower Cake, and maybe even make it yourself! But if you are hesitant about making a Bridal Shower Cake, don't worry…you're in luck. You don't need to worry any longer because you CAN make it yourself!
There are bridal shower cakes that are easy to make as well as those for the seasoned cake decorator. Take a look at the cake photos below to get some great ideas.
If you see one you like and would like to get the directions, we will provide them for you. Just ask!
If you'd like to find more about any of these cakes, cupcakes or minis, please leave a comment below. I'll post and send you the directions and also the supplies you will need to make it.
Filed under: Wedding & Bridal Shower Cakes

subset: commoncrawl


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Description of Shelf Conceal large
Transform your books into a work of art and amaze your guests. The Shelf Conceal is easily mounted on the wall and completely disappears behind the stack of books. It becomes an invisible carrier – since the books appear to be floating magically in the air.
Conceal is an eye-catcher in every room and will be the topic of conversation because no one will be able to agree on how it magically keeps the books in place. Conceal looks especially effective when arranged in a group. Above each other, next to each other or diagonally – you decide how the clever shelves should show off their artistic effect!
- made of powder-coated steel
- mounting hardware included
- max. weight capacity: nine kg
- design: Miron Lior
Conceal transforms books into a work of art and is an eye-catcher in every room!
Art-No.: 635-330633-660Measures: Length 14 cm, Width 17.8 cm, Height 16.5 cm
Weight: 1.27 kg
Category: Shelves
Color: white
Material: steel
Shelf Conceal large: Reviews
Be the first to write a review for this product!


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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Jacksonville city government plans to start making its own fuel for its fire trucks, garbage trucks and other vehicles in the next couple of months - with some help from local restaurants and acquiring used oils.
The product is called biodiesel fuel, which is made from domestic, renewable fuels, such as soybean oil or whatever your favorite restaurant used to fry its chicken last weekend.
Through a chemical process, glycerin is removed from the oil, which is then heated to 120 degrees and injected with methanol and sodium hydroxide, said Sam Houston, who directs the city's fleet division.
The resulting liquid then is mixed with petroleum diesel and pumped into cars that accept diesel fuel. In Jacksonville, the biodiesel fuel blend is about 20 percent biodiesel and about 80 percent petroleum diesel.
Straight biodiesel could damage an engine, said Jenna Higgins of the National Biodiesel Board. But the blend is considered safe for vehicles, she said.
The city already uses a biodiesel fuel blend in about 300 of its diesel-running vehicles. It began using the fuel several years ago. Houston hopes to use it eventually on all 1,000 of the city's diesel-running vehicles.
The city could save about $150,000 a year by making about 2,000 gallons of the biodiesel a week, Houston said.
The city now spends about $2.48 a gallon on biodiesel fuel. It can make a gallon for 70 cents, he said.
Houston said he's been talking with local restaurants about donating the oil.
Biodiesel fuel isn't a new concept. JEA has 400 vehicles on biodiesel fuel. It's been using the fuel since 2001.
St. Johns County has been making its own biodiesel for a few months.
The pilot program has been running smoothly. The St. Johns County school system is planning to donate its oil for the biodiesel product in the future, said Mike Grace, St. Johns County fleet manager.
But it's not just government agencies using the product.
Linda Bremer, who resides in Riverside, tells people she's on a chicken run when she gets into her Volkswagen Jetta.
"I'm running chicken fat right now," she said last week.
Bremer purchased her new Jetta about a month ago and has been using biodiesel fuel ever since. She travels to Lake City to fill up.
She even took a trip recently to Washington after mapping out gasoline stations that sold biodiesel fuel ahead of time.
She ran into no problems.
As a member of the local Sierra Club, she said, it's another way to conserve energy. And she believes everyone should do their part.


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See and be seen! You and your new UpClose silver and black compact porro prism binoculars are sure to get noticed. With style and performance like much more expensive binoculars, the new UpClose Compact Porro Prism Series from Celestron integrates high-quality fully coated BK7 optics into a sleek and lightweight contemporary silver and black high-tech design.
Zoom model features a conveniently located finger lever for quick, accurate zoom adjustments. These ultra-modern binoculars are perfect for all popular outdoor and indoor activities including travel, sporting events, camping, backpacking, bird watching, and all types of indoor or outdoor entertainment events. The smooth contours and ribbed rubber surfaces provide a secure grip and help to minimize fatigue when holding the binoculars for extended periods of time.


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Probable Cause Amended, United Board Takes Important Step
The modification of the "Probable Cause" portion of the Immigration Resolution is good for Prince William County. A unanimous vote last night by the Board of Supervisors means that law enforcement here is no longer fundamentally unfair.
PWC Police Officers will no longer be required to check documentation status for minor traffic stops. Therefore equal protection under the law has been restored to citizens and legal residents who fit "probable cause" indicators such as language proficiency.
Police Officers are no longer in needless danger of being accused of racial profiling. Like most other counties in the United States, we will again check legal status only after arrest. Furthermore, legal status will be questioned for ANYONE who is arrested, thus dispelling the appearance of prejudice.
It is a great relief not to have to worry about a nightmare scenario where one of Prince William County's Finest finds him or herself dragged into court, forced to explain that, "It wasn't because of her skin color that I arrested a legal citizen who forgot her drivers' license, it was the way she pronounced the letter 'L.'"
High praise for Frank Principi and Martin Nohe for working together to outmaneuver Corey Stewart and John Stirrup. High praise for John Jenkins for bringing to bear on this contentious debate his years of experience working out the details of budgets and negotiations in the best interest of the county. High praise for Maureen Caddigan and Mike May. I'm sure it took long hours of soul-searching and ultimately, personal courage for these moderate Republicans to go against their conservative colleagues, Stewart and Stirrup. This progress would not have been possible without moderate Republicans and Democrats working across party lines for the common good. Thank goodness Wally Covington came around to join the moderates and abandon extreme partisan ideology. I will sleep tonight knowing that Corey Stewart and John Stirrup's last stand has ended.
Thank you to everyone who spoke out on this issue, whether for or against the Resolution, whether for or against the change that was made tonight. I actually had some friendly conversations with people who supported the Resolution. Overall, the mood was much more civil, even neighborly, than the spectacle in October. I saw glimmers of the community that we once were before we became so divided. I get the feeling that many people, including some HSM members, would like to stop fighting and move on.
Some questions remain.
1) Will this change be enough to help Prince William County avert economic consequences of the Immigration Resolution that have already begun to set in?
2) Will immigrant communities, both documented and undocumented, and the net economic benefit they bring with them return to our county?
3) Will the reputation of Prince William County be restored, allowing us to successfully compete with other counties in the DC Metro area for new businesses and new investment?
Only time will tell. But this is an encouraging and significant step.
Foot Soldiers On the Move
The Board will have both a 2:oopm session today; and comments concerning the funding of the 'Immigration Resolution' should be addressed then as there is no evening session. Everyone should be prepared for the 'foot soldiers' to once again descend on the McCoart building. Hopefully, the Supervisors won't retreat and will have the courage to face this head-on. It's gone on long enough and there's simply no money to fund this whole thing.
Here's the agenda for the meeting.
See you there.
Day Laborer Incident – Revisited
Note from 9500Liberty: the video is temporarily down while we revise to include a couple of more details.
This incident with the day laborers dates back to January 7th, 2008, Mr. Letiecq goes to the 7-11 on Coverstone Drive dressed in army fatigues with a camera and begins to take pictures. According to the day laborers, Mr. Letiecq calls them the trash of Manassas, after re-reading Mr. Letiecq's account he doesn't directly provide any additional details about a verbal exchange except to attribute the following statement to Officer Sanchez –
had screamed racial epithets at the day laborers, [and] was counting them to see how many buses it would take to ship them all back to Mexico
What's most disturbing, and it caught my eye at the time, was the following statements by Mr. Letiecq –
If the risk to my person is as great as Officer Sanchez alleges, perhaps I should take his perspective into consideration and make sure that the next time I will lawfully be carrying an appropriate defensive firearm, just in case the day laborers are just as dangerous as he suggests.
Sounds like Mr. Letiecq's weapon of choice next time might not be his camera but a firearm.
The combination of the war rhetoric, the talk of forming an army, the army fatigues, the membership to Virginia's Citizens Defense League, the suggestion of carrying a firearm, the inability to recognize racist statements and on and on are a dangerous combination that should be taken very seriously.
Hispanics Clutter Landscape?
If you pay close attention, the man filming states 'Hispanics are cluttering the landscape', and that doesn't phase Greg in the slightest? What the heck! Thus far, I haven't called anyone a racist even though it has been attributed to me. What I've said in the past is that there's a racial component and that there's racist statements. For sure that's a racist statement, and it's dispicable that Mr. Letiecq doesn't recognize it as such.
Holy Smoke!
According to a new youtube channel, it looks as if Greg's spawning an 'army' in Fairfax; very disturbing.
Finally, Corey speaks his heart, it's about ethnicity, NOT illegal
"The resolution is clearly working," said Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large), chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. "It is driving down the non-English-speaking portion of the schools and saving us millions of dollars. They're going to other jurisdictions and costing them money."
So, Corey finally speaks his mind! How does he know who is "illegal" and who is "legal"? But one thing we know for sure, we sure are happy to be rid of THOSE children!
How does he factually arrive at his number of saving millions? Has the school system given him that number of 6 million saved, or wait, let me just throw this nugget out, maybe, just maybe, it was his buddy Greg whispering in his ear.
What I wonder is though, why isn't Corey also taking responsibility for the added financial stress this county is in compared to surrounding counties? I guess all these families must have been homeless and never bought any good or services in Prince William.
Criminal Element of Home Forclosures
Could our reputation in the forecoming months get much worse?
Last month, Prince William County had the most new filings of any Washington area jurisdiction, followed by Prince George's, Fairfax, Montgomery, Loudoun and the District, according to RealtyTrac Inc., a California-based company that tracks real estate trends.
When foreclosures rise, crime often follows, researchers said. A 2005 study by the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Woodstock Institute found that, holding other factors constant, each foreclosure in a 100-house neighborhood corresponded to a 2.4 percent jump in violent crime.
Admin is busy, so I (Elena), thought this would be a great topic to discuss today. What I want to know is, how does the pro "fully fund the immigration resolution" side, reconcile this quandry:
A) The resolution is working because we have seen an exodus of hispanics from neighborhoods, the ones that people complained about were responsible for overcrowding, chickens and roosters in their yards, day laboreres at 7-11 's, ESOL enrollment reduced, etc. Where did these people live, well, they lived in homes, either as renters or has homeowners. Were they ALL "illegal", I would venture to say NO, but even if they were, their houses are empty now, and forclosure consequences to these neighborhoods are the same, irregardless of the immigration status of the occupants who once lived there.
B) The resolution is NOT responsible for the increased forclosure rate, ESOL dis-enrollment, or the multitude of empty shopping centers, or the mass exodus of hispanics from neighborhoods. Therefore, the resolution is not working and is a waste of money from the pro resolution perspective.
Let me clarify one point, I am not suggesting the resolution is responsible for the ENTIRE forclosure disaster, I AM suggesting that the reason PWC is DOUBLE that of our neighbors, and is number one in the region for forclosures, is the one variable that sets us apart……………the illegal immigration resolution.
Dr. Fuller on Real Estate Market
Pay close attention to the charts. We have double the foreclosure rates of surrounding jurisdictions and the homes are being sold so cheaply that it is bringing the value down for everyone's home. It seems as if some are so desperate to put a 'positive' spin on what's happening by calling us a 'Jewel of Recovery' which is particularly odd phrase.
Dr. Fuller will be extremely useful over the next couple years as we attempt to map the recovery process. I would agree 100% with him about the shift from owners to rentals; this is going to further exacerbate problems in these older neighborhoods which is another reason why the County should invest in additional zoning enforcement officers.
Take Action Now
I'd encourage everyone to take the opportunity to visit, pwcaa.com – Prince William Citizens Action Alliance to automatically send emails to all Supervisors. The website allows you to simply enter your contact information, send the emails, and then by providing the email addresses of your friends, it sends invitations to your friends to do the same. According to Corey, the Board has received close to a thousand emails, so let's make sure our voices are heard too, please visit pwcaa.com and TAKE ACTION NOW.
Stewart's Leadership Style
Here we go again. Honestly, it's difficult to comprehend this type of management style. But for those that don't know, it appears Corey's looking for another spectacle on Tuesday. Here's the email blast he sent out to everyone and their brother.
This morning in today's Washington Post, one of my fellow supervisors, Woodbridge Supervisor Frank Principi, proposed repealing the cracking down on illegal immigration. Please email Supervisor Principi and the whole Board at firstname.lastname@example.com and ask them to continue the crackdown. The vote to fund the resolution will be next Tuesday, April 29, at 2:00 p.m. at the McCoart building at 1 County Complex, Woodbridge, VA 22192. I know it may be inconvenient, but please try to attend and ask others to attend as well. Everyone will have 3 minutes to speak.
— Corey
Guess we should be glad that he's not spending the $30,000 on the postcards this time.
Chairman Stewart should just listen to the business owners that have been lining up at Citizens Time, look at the housing market, recognize the source of the resolution, view the budget constraints, pay attention to the economist, think for yourself and stop following the know-nothing that will eventually get himself thrown out of the Republican party. Distance yourself from him, distance yourself from FAIR, and distance yourself from this non-sense about filling out pieces of papers to send to a government agency that will not do anything with them. Chairman Stewart, focus on the jails so that felons don't continue to slip through the cracks and be released back onto the street. Keep the tax rate low so that another 18 million dollars are cut from the school budget. Get rid of the part of the resolution that surely will attract litigation and put the county into a situation of having to spend money we don't have to defend it. Then get back to our county business, by healing the wounds and working together to attract businesses and home buyers to our community.
Stewart Distances Himself from FAIR
According to Chairman Stewart, he supports more legal immigration both in skilled and unskilled areas. Additionally that Stewart acknowledges that there is a national immigration problem and not solely in the area of enforcement is a step in the right direction. The fact that our immigration policy is reviewed about once a decade indicates there's a problem. We have fluctuating job markets that need addressing from year to year. Consider, how could a policy implemented during the 'dot-com' bubble still be relevant today? That immigration policies aren't reviewed more frequently is a big part of the problem.
I would however strongly disagree that the undocumented are any more likely to commit crimes than the average citizen. Of course, one inevitably will point to the 20% housed in the local jail as 'evidence' that this is the case. However, those statistics were compiled after they have begun detaining 'illegals' so using those numbers present an inaccurate picture.
And just to be accurate, Federation for American Immigration Reform(FAIR) has be named a HATE GROUP and the President of Help Save Manassas – Greg Letiecq has been named a NATIVIST.


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Science and Skiing III
Erich Müller, Dave Bacharach, Riggs Klika
Meyer & Meyer Sport, 2005 - Science - 437 pages
Science and Skling III presents the results of the Third International Congress on Skling and Science, held of Snowmass at Aspen, CO USA, from March 28 - April 3, 2004. Offered therein is a broad spectrum of current research work in alpine skling, snowboarding, cross country skling and ski Jumping, from some of the most renowned experts in the relevant fields. The papers in this volume will surely stimulate marry scientists throughout the world to enhance research in the field of skling.
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aerobic aerodynamic alpine skiers alpine skiing Altitude Tent altitude training anaerobic ankle anthropometry athletes biomechanical blood lactate calculated carving skis carving turn compared competition correlation cross-country cross-country skiing device dynamic elite ergometer erythropoietin exercise Figure flexion flight phase force plate friction ground reaction forces hemoglobin hypoxia hypoxic increase isometric joint jumpers kinematic kinetic knee angle Kranjska Gora Kugovnik lactate load maximal maximum measured method motion Muller muscle normobaric hypoxia observed oxygen parameters peak performance Physiol physiological poling position power output racers Raschner roller skiing rollerboard Salzburg Schwameder sea level serum EPO significantly simulated altitude ski jumpers ski jumping ski racing slalom sliding slope snow specific mechanical energy speed Sport Science steering phase strength training subjects Supej supplemental oxygen take-off technique temperature torques trial upper body values variables velocity vertical video analysis VO2max WL tests workouts


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Here in Western Australia, we've been talking a fair bit about making electoral history. However, it turns out that, a century ago, the papers were reporting a story with quite a number of similarities.
The most recent Australian Federal Election was held on 7 September 2013. The count for the Western Australian Senate seats turned up four clear winners – three Liberal, one Labor – but when it came down to the last two seats, something rather unusual took place. I'm not going to go into the intricacies of the Senate electoral system but in short, a difference of 14 votes between two minor parties (each with no chance of winning a seat themselves) determined the last two winners of the Senate election.
Following appeals by candidates to the Australian Electoral Commission, on 10 October the Commission declared a recount of over 1.2 million of Western Australia's Senate ballot papers. However, at some point in the count Commission officials determined that 1,375 votes were missing, announcing this to the public this on 31 October. Two days later, the outcome of the recount was announced, resulting in a change of the final two Senators to be appointed from Western Australia, due to a 26 vote turn-around at the critical point. Undoubtedly, this will end up in the Court of Disputed Returns, so while we're all waiting to find out what happens next, let's take a look back at 1906.
The 1906 Federal Election was held on 12 December and, as with the present case, the Senate results for one State – in this case, South Australia – came right down to the wire. In fact, Mr. Joseph Vardon polled 14 votes fewer than Mr. Crosby, with 'slight inaccuracies' being detected in six out of seven polling places.
A recount of the votes was duly ordered by the Commonwealth Electoral Officer, as requested by Mr. Vardon, and Mr. Vardon was determined to have been elected over Mr.Crosby by a very slim margin. Oddly enough, Mr Crosby died in February of 1907, but one of his running mates, Reginald Blundell, took the result of the election to the High Court on his behalf, requesting a second full recount.
However the story did not end there. It turned out that the ballot papers for the division of Angas (one eighth of the total vote for the State) could not be found, and were declared to have been 'unfortunately burned along with the waste paper'.
Burned votes aside, the recount also turned up the fact that 185 ballots had not been properly authenticated due to an error by officials – a number sufficient to have impacted the result of the election. Whilst Vardon finished the recount with a two vote lead, the High Court ultimately decided that:
" …. while Mr. Vardon's vote was still in a majority, a number of ballot papers, if admissible, would have given Mr Crosby, now dead, a majority but were rendered invalid by the default of a returning officer in not initialling the papers."and that, since a full recount of the votes from Angas could not take place, the election was void.
At this point, the High Court, acting on the advice of several constitutional lawyers, stated that the vacant Senate seat should be filled by means of a joint sitting of both the South Australian Houses of Parliament. Mr. Vardon, apparently not one to back down from a fight, procured his own legal advice. He then went to the Governor to ask for a writ to be issued to allow for a new election, on the basis that the relevant section of the Constitution did not apply to an election that had never been completed, and so the vacancy could not be filled by a vote of Parliament.The Governor refused Mr. Vardon's request for a writ, and Parliament – in what turned out to be a legally dubious move – selected a Mr. O'Loghlin to fill the vacancy. Mr. Vardon petitioned the Senate in protest at this appointment, leading to legislation being passed that empowered the High Court to hear his petition.
Having considered the case, the Court agreed that the election of O'Loghlin was void, as Parliament had acted unconstitutionally in appointing a Senator to the vacant seat. However, the saga did not end there, since, in the middle of the case, the missing votes – remember those that had supposedly been burned? – turned up in the Gawler Post Office. Whilst the discovery wasn't relevant to the issue before the Court, the election having already been declared void, it was perhaps a fitting twist in the tale for a most peculiar year in South Australia.
And so, in early 1908 – over a year since the original Federal Election – a Special Election was held in South Australia with Mr. Vardon and Mr. O'Loghlin being the only candidates, resulting in the election Mr. Vardon won comprehensively with 53.7 per cent of the vote, finally taking his seat in Parliament.
A note: Whilst the 1906 happenings sound rather relevant to current events on an initial read, don't get too excited. The situation in South Australia in 1906 may not provide a guide for the Court in considering the current issue in Western Australia. At the time, Senators were elected using a first past the post system, allowing for a two-candidate Special Election in 1908. More distinguished writers than I have pointed out the Woods and Hill cases of the 1980's and 1990's as being more likely to influence the Court's ruling, this time around.


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CRISPY = Communication per Remote Invocation for different kinds of Services via ProxYs.
The intention for this project is a very simple API to call different kinds of services (provider/technology). Crispy's aims is to provide a single point of entry for remote invocation for a wide number of transports: eg. RMI, EJB, JAX-RPC or XML-RPC. It works by using properties to configure a service manager, which is then used to invoke the remote API. Crispy is a simple Java codebase with an API that sits between your client code and the services your code must access. It provides a layer of abstraction to decouple client code from access to a service, as well as its location and underlying implementation. The special on this idea is, that these calls are simple Java object calls (remote or local calls are transparent).
From Crispy supported transport provider are:
=> All calls can execute synchronous or asynchronous (see the user guide).
What must I do, when I want to invoke a remote method/service. In this section you can get a comparsion from the native remote API (e.g. WebService and XML-RPC) and a Crispy call.
Service service = (Service) ServiceFactory.newInstance().createService(null); Call call = service.createCall(); call.setTargetEndpointAddress("http://localhost:9080/axis/services/Calculator"); call.setOperationName(new QName("add")); QName paramXmlType = new QName(int.class.getName()); call.addParameter("arg0", paramXmlType, int.class, ParameterMode.IN); call.addParameter("arg1", paramXmlType, int.class, ParameterMode.IN); call.setReturnType(new QName(int.class.getName())); Integer result = (Integer) call.invoke(new Integer[] {new Integer(1), new Integer(2)}); System.out.println("1 + 2 = " + result);
XmlRpcClient client = new XmlRpcClient("http://localhost:9090"); Vector param = new Vector(); param.add(new Integer(1)); param.add(new Integer(2)); Integer result = (Integer) client.execute("test.crispy.example.service.Calculator.add", param); System.out.println("1 + 2 = " + result);
Two steps to success:
Properties prop = new Properties(); prop.put(Property.REMOTE_URL_AND_PORT, "http://localhost:9080/axis/services"); prop.put(Property.EXECUTOR_CLASS, JaxRpcExecutor.class.getName()); ServiceManager manager = new ServiceManager(prop); Calculator calc = (Calculator) manager.createService(Calculator.class); System.out.println("1 + 2 = " + calc.add(1, 2));
Properties prop = new Properties(); prop.put(Property.REMOTE_URL_AND_PORT, "http://localhost:9090"); prop.put(Property.EXECUTOR_CLASS, XmlRpcExecutor.class.getName()); ServiceManager manager = new ServiceManager(prop); Calculator calc = (Calculator) manager.createService(Calculator.class); System.out.println("1 + 2 = " + calc.add(1, 2));
=> Properties can loaded with a implemetation from the net.sf.crispy.PropertiesLoader.
If two or more communication partner exist:
You can Crispy combinate with other frameworks. At time exist follow extensions (you can read more under the menu point Extension):
Before you started: Importend Hints
This little story describe the problems and the solution by finding the right solution for a service invocation:
|I want to communicate with a remote service! What I have to do?
|You have to find the right remote technology for your plans.
|What is the right technology? I don't know!
|I know this problem. A decision for a concrete technology is not easy, but important for a successful project (performance, security, interoperability and so on).
|What must I do after the decision?
|If you don't know the technology, you must learn, how the remote technology work.
|I decided for a technology and I have implemented some services. Now, I find the remote invocations are to slow.
|Change the remote technology!
|The remote invocations are on many different places in my source code! The changes are very expensive!
|You need a transparent remote invocation on a central place in your source code. Than you can easy change the service technology (how Crispy).


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PCC Chats With
Lisa Pavelka
April 24, 2003:
Lisa Pavelka: Sorry about the mispelling, typing isn't my strong point.
Corgi: Evening everyone. I'd like to thank Lisa for joining us tonight.
Dee: No prob around here
Lisa Pavelka: Right now I'm getting ready to tape my fall shows for Carol Duval, lots of teaching and traveling, and writing.
annie: how many shows you have scheduled to do for carol?
Lisa Pavelka: I'll be taping three and my duaghter Anne is taping two.
Corgi: Lisa when did you first start working with Polymer Clay?
Lisa Pavelka: I first began 15 years ago.
Corgi: What drew you to work in Polymer?
Lisa Pavelka: I was home having left my career as a television producer/director to be with my three young children. All in diapers! I missed my job and felt the need to have a creative outlet.
Lisa Pavelka: I started working with other mediums that turned out to be too dangerous around children-like stained glass, and oil painting. I then moved onto crafting.g other
Corgi: So you're self taught in PC? Or did you manage to squeeze in classes during diaper changes?
Lisa Pavelka: I was frustrated at being on the road so much with shows and keeping my booths at craft malls stocked. I figured there had to be something I could do from home and sell wholesale through someone else. I had just started playing with polymer and felt it would be the medium that would work best to develop a product line around.
Lisa Pavelka: I taught myself, but I picked up copies of the New Clay and Cecilia Detterman's Hot Off the Press books soon after getting started. I develope a line of 38 figurines which I called the "Bearly There" line.;
Corgi: Do you have a favorite technique to use?
Lisa Pavelka: The line was sold in over ten states and as you may imagine, most of them were bears. Bearly there was more my state of mind than a business the first few years.
Lisa Pavelka: I get bored easily so I have many favorites including, caning, mosaics, mica shifting, image transfer and working with foils.
Lisa Pavelka: Hi ya darling Bev!
Corgi: What brand of clay do you prefer?
bsims1238: I miss you so much.
Lisa Pavelka: Bev is a charter member of the Las Vegas guild that has since moved on to Arkansas. I miss her so!
Lisa Pavelka: I work exclusively with Donna Kato's clay. I used to work for Polyform and with their clays, but when Donna's clay came out, I new there was question about what I wanted to work with.
Lisa Pavelka: The clay like any other new product had a few bugs to work out, but it's been reformulated without losing any of the qualities that made it so great to begin with. Van Aken's chemist Tony Aquino is nothing short of a wizard!
Lisa Pavelka: Don't be shy. Someone, pick my brain!
Corgi: What do you like most about the Kato Clay?
Dee: Not sure if he'll be ok and h
Lisa Pavelka: I can't pin it down to just one thing, but out of the many reasons I love it are: it's superior strength to any clay I've ever worked with. It's colorfastness, it white stays white through baking. Another big reason is it's price. You can beat it.
Corgi: how long did it take you to write Polymer Clay Extravaganza?
Lisa Pavelka: We'll about 6 months, but my contract allowed for two years. There was no way to move the deadline up since my publisher is on a very regimented schedule for book releases.
Lisa Pavelka: I'm hoping to get started on book number two very soon.
Corgi: What was your favorite part about writing the book?
bsims1238: Is there another book on the horizon and if so, what is the focus of this one?
Lisa Pavelka: I loved going to Ohio to work with my editor and a photographer to shoot the step-by-steps.
WWYTCH: Lisa....I've always wondered about the purses. Are they really made for use and are they hardy enough to withstand semi-regular use?
Lisa Pavelka: I'm not free to go into details just yet about the next book, but the projects will be high concept projects if that's any clue.
Lisa Pavelka: The purses are completely functional. I even have some that are designed for everyday use, including one I use. They are very durable, even more so now that I'm making them with the Kato Polyclay.
Corgi: what was your least favorite part about writing the book?
Ronnie: Hi Lisa, you're designs are so awesome - what sparks your creativity?
Lisa Pavelka: The least favorite part was being disciplined enough to get my rear into a chair and type the text. I love designing the projects, that
Lisa Pavelka: That's the fun part, but the work is righting out the steps.
Lisa Pavelka: I get ideas from everywhere! I have so many of them, I write them all down so that I have a resource to go back to if I ever get stuck. So far that hasn't happened and there a lot of things I'd love to try but haven't found the time. I see patterns in curtains, get inspired by food forms, and love to look at textiles for color combos.
Corgi: Lisa, do you teach or have thought of teaching?
WWYTCH: Textiles and PC seem to go hand in hand, inspirationally.
Lisa Pavelka: I teach very often. I sometimes travel to teach as well. I just posted my teacher's profile on PCC. The largest class I ever taught was 170+ people at HIA. I had lots of help though, didn't I Bev?e
Corgi: LOL
Lisa Pavelka: I also do a lot of volunteer teaching, especially to children.
bsims1238: Yes you did have help - but you only needed "helpers" to distribute stuff! You are a wonderful teacher - I'm definitely an example of your teaching ability!!
Corgi: What's your favorite tool to use with the clay?
Lisa Pavelka: Thanks Bev, but you're a very talented lady yourself!
Corgi: Are we all still here?
annie: here
Dee: Yes
bsims1238: yes
Corgi: I never know with delphi and its demons...
Lisa Pavelka: Everyone must have some questions.
RRadoy: yes, im here
Dee: Lisa, Can you give a hit as to what you'll be doing on CDS
Corgi: LOL I'll open the floor to you all to pick Lisa's brain... I can't read the rest of my notes, the cat knocked my water over on them.
RRadoy: LOL!
Dee: rotf
Lisa Pavelka: Yes, but you'll have to be patient since these shows won't air until Fall. I'm doing a matchbox amulet for one episode. The other two are polymer clay watch faces and wireform vessels.
Dee: gotcha
RRadoy: ooohh, cant wait to see them!
Corgi: cool
Dee: Waaay Cool!!!!
Lisa Pavelka: Hi Miss Linda, the special events coordinator for the Las Vegas Guild.
lindamarv: Hi Lisa
bsims1238: Hi Linda
annie: great!...how 'bout Anna's shows? her masks were lovely
lindamarv: I cannot wait to see how you do the watch faces
lindamarv: Hi bev
bsims1238: Are you going to do bands with the watches??
Lisa Pavelka: The producers of the show loved Anne. She has an episode airing sometime this spring on some way cool necklaces. She's taping shows on embellised recipe boxes and one on hair ties.
RRadoy: g'night all, Lisa, a pleasure!
Lisa Pavelka: Bye RRadoy!
bsims1238: Recipe boxes - that's really a terrific idea.
Dee: Nite sweets
Lisa Pavelka: The watches are primarily ones with bands, but I'll have a variation on a pendant watch.
lindamarv: looking forward to that
Lisa Pavelka: Anne is very clever and always comes up with something fab.
Dee: I just picked up a watch to make into a pendant
annie: you were at the HIA show, anything new & exciting comin? haven't really heard of anything since the show
Lisa Pavelka: I'm on the committee to plan the 2004 National Convention. Any questions about that one?.
lindamarv: Where is it going to be
KathyG: I just know I intend to come
Ronnie: I know I want to come!!
Lisa Pavelka: Yes Annie. For those of you who were wondering about the Embossing Arts book of textures and Donna's double sided stamps. Those will be produced by a new company soon and will hopefully be available in the not too distant future. r|a
WWYTCH: I'm VERY anxious for those texture sheets! They looked super on the HIA episode.
Lisa Pavelka: I hate to be a tease, but Kato Polyclay and Van Aken have some exciting new products in the works. I can't say what right now, but they're so great I can barely keep it to myself. You'll just have to trust me that it'll be worth the wait.
bsims1238: So we just have to keep checking Donna's web site for the new products???
Corgi: lol just torture us why dontcha
lindamarv: Donna was on Carol Duvall this week and was working with the liquid clay that looks like fun have you tried it with the layering?
Lisa Pavelka: I was supposed to be on that special and was cut for the second time in a row. The first was because the camera crew didn't make it to the last dozen rows of the show in the five days there. They promised to put me on this year's special and they taped me, but had to cut it since I was doing clay demos at Embossing Arts booth as well as Donna's and three weeks after the show, Embossing Arts we...
Lisa Pavelka: went out of business and they couldn't feature a product that was no longer available.
WWYTCH: What a major bummer!
Ronnie: :-(
Lisa Pavelka: Yes, keep checking Donna's website.
annie: does the kd liquid clay do transfers as well as the tls? i've been contemplating getting some of the kato sauce
bsims1238: I watched the episode today and the liquid polymer she was using looked really clear
Lisa Pavelka: I think it's even better. If you didn't catch it, Micelle Ross did a Carol Duvall segment on transfers with Donna's liquid medium (it's archived at HGTV).
Lisa Pavelka: The liquid clay dries very clear, is easier to polish (like the rest of Donna's clay) and dries with a sheen.
bsims1238: Must get some - I can't live without some form of TLS
annie: ah ha.....i did see that episode, but did not realize it was the kato sauce.....now that you mention it, it's coming back to me..brainfart i reckon lol
Dee: can it be sanded
Lisa Pavelka: It sure can! Like Donna's other clay, I only sand now with 600 grit paper. No more, 600, 800, 1000. 1500, 2000 before taking it to the buffer.
Dee: Really
Lisa Pavelka: My tendonitis thanks Kato Polyclay for keeping my hands out of braces. One day, I'll be able to hire out for all my sanding needs.
annie: wow!....i got my replacement clay months ago, but haven't really used any yet, i must do that soon....the mica shift in her clay is fantastic, i have used some of that
Lisa Pavelka: I agree. That's because her clay is much more heavily saturated with mica particles than the other brands.
Lisa Pavelka: Does anyone have any business questions related to their clay work?
bsims1238: pricing and finding a market - I seem to give everything away.
Dee: Me too!
annie: i think it's great the exposure polyclay has been getting over this past year.....hope this raises the ceiling on our market & prices for our pieces
Corgi: I'm still hacking my way through that.
Lisa Pavelka: I prefer to wholesale my work so I have more time to create. That works best when you have a rep who will do the leg work and placement for you. If you don't have a really good feel for the value of your work, one good formula is to determine how long it takes to make a particular item and figure out what you should be paid on an hourly basis.
bsims1238: I tried that - but I'm so OCD on finishing stuff that I'd get about two cents an hour!
Corgi: OCD?
bsims1238: Obsessive-Compulsive disorder
Dee: LOL
Lisa Pavelka: Another way is to figure the cost of materials-which is usually the lest expensive aspect of your work since polymer clay creations tend to be very labor intensive and mulitply the cost of materials by ten for your price. Keep in mind that wholesaling it means taking half of that. and maybe more if you pay a rep a commission. ed to asr
Lisa Pavelka: YOu have to decide whether you are making it worth you while.
lindamarv: how do you go about finding a rep?
Lisa Pavelka: My least expensive polymer clay item goes for $20. The most expensive to date has been $600. My carved eggs go between $30 and $1600.
bsims1238: I may never sell stuff, but I can't stop making it because I love it doing it so much.
Lisa Pavelka: You have to believe in your worth. Underpricing yourself is more harmful than overpricing. Consummers have a concept called perceived value. If something is to inexpensive, they think what's wrong with it, or that it's cheaply made, no matter how much work and craftmanship you put into a piece.cheap
Lisa Pavelka: Passion for working with the clay is the best reason of all to do it! I'm just the luckiest girl in the world that I've been able to find a second career in doing clay. I still can't believe people are willing to part with their money for something I made. Theat
bsims1238: That really clarifies things - I'd never thought of that before.
lindamarv: I agree with that
Lisa Pavelka: Some of my sales reps have been friends. Make sure they are willing to handle things professionally. I've also had professional reps. One way is to approach a showroom in a local merchandise mart. There are lots of trade magazines that also list reps looking for lines. The back of magazines like Crafts Report also lists reps.
Dee: Good to know!
lindamarv: thanks i will look into it
bsims1238: What if you live in a very small town where clay isn't well known as an artistic medium? Where would you try to market it?
Lisa Pavelka: FYI on the National Conference. It will be held in San Diego, California in the Summer of 2004. It will be geared to polyholics of all skill levels. We're looking for a more diverse group of teachers and classes to offer than in years past.
lindamarv: I am really looking forward to that
Lisa Pavelka: I'd try an artistic venue. Sometimes areas like that are better venues for marketing your work than areas where people have preconcieved notions and prejudices agains polymer clay.
Lisa Pavelka: I was trying to type "any" artistic venue. That's what I get for trying to type too fast.
Dee: Like NY?
bsims1238: Like local craft shows?
Lisa Pavelka: Exactly, Dee. I personally dismiss people who approach what I do with that attitude. It's not the medium, but what you do with it that makes it art!
Dee: Thank you!!!
Lisa Pavelka: |Bev, craft shows are one possiblity. Also look into local stores and galleries if you are able to sell your work at a wholesale price point.
Lisa Pavelka: Your welcome Dee. That issue is one of my personal soap box favorites.
bsims1238: We have a lot of those here - I'll work on doing that.
Dee: I hear ya!
Dee: I live in a town of artistic snobs
Lisa Pavelka: Heaven help the poor soul that approaches me with a nose in the air, elitist attitude about art.
bsims1238: I simply cannot believe that anyone could look at the things that can be done with polymer clay and not call it art. It is phenomenal.
lindamarv: People use the "junk" that they find in the street and put it together to make art.
Dee: YES!!!!!
Dee: You mean found objects, bev?
Dee: Sorry that was to Linda
bsims1238: I think that was Linda, but yes - found objects.
lindamarv: I stand corrected
Lisa Pavelka: We're lucky to work with such a versitile medium that it is attractive to so many different people for so many reasons. Anyone using it for crafting and hobby purposes in no way negates it's value as a fine art medium. If that were the case, no one could make fine art with pencil, oil paint, water color or pastels since children and hobbiest use these mediums too.
Dee: LOL
Dee: Bless you Lisa!
bsims1238: Agree with Dee.
Dee: ;-)
Lisa Pavelka: Just calling it like I see it.
lindamarv: This is fun, I never did a chat line before and when we are all on the same subject it is fun
Corgi: This is what happens when clay heads get together.
Dee: right?
bsims1238: My first chat as well - I am a lurker - I only came out because of the guest.
Ronnie: we're glad you did bsims
Dee: Clay Heads? Good one!
bsims1238: Not because she told me to join, but because of my admiration for her as a person and an artist.
Lisa Pavelka: I especially love those people who don't think that anyone without an MFA attached to their name can create legitimate art. Michaelangelo didn't have an MFA last time I checked.nder What c
KathyG: That's what the Inkslingers named us I believe
Lisa Pavelka: Bev, stop-I'm blushing here.
bsims1238: What? Clay heads??
Corgi: yep
Lisa Pavelka: I prefer polyholic.
KathyG: yes
WWYTCH: I've been called worse than a clay head, believe me...:-)
Lisa Pavelka: May we never be cured!
Dee: Inkslingers???
kellieAK: me too carlita
KathyG: rubber stampers
WWYTCH: Good one, Lisa.
Lisa Pavelka: How about clay babes?
kellieAK: that is what my home page says, "yo, clay babe!"
Dee: Kellie!!!
Dee: Gotcha
Lisa Pavelka: As for the guys, we're looking at doing a series in Polymer Cafe on the "heart throbs of polymer clay."
bsims1238: can't wait to see that one!
Corgi: OHHH a beefcake issue!! cool
kellieAK: claygirl
WWYTCH: That was quite a nice thread over at the Yahoo egroup recently....guys in PC
Earthmother: rofl Kellie
Lisa Pavelka: Linda, was it you that said we should call them Hunks? Get it, like in hunks of clay?
Ronnie: LOL
bsims1238: better than chunks
kellieAK: :0
lindamarv: It is so much fun to introduce the clay to artists that use other mediums, I have recently been the cause of addition to a fiberartist and glass artist, painter. They are so thrilled with this medium that they have called and asked for directions when they got stuck with their projects
WWYTCH: Men in Clay...they are Premo.....
KathyG: lol
Earthmother: LOL Carla!!
kellieAK: oh, perfect carla
bsims1238: good one -
Lisa Pavelka: Well look out for the names of Tony Aqauino, Pete Sutton, Johnny Kourbosi, and Robert Wiley
kellieAK: bob rocks
Dee: :-)
Lisa Pavelka: I'm hoping to get the producers of the Carol Duvall show to bring him on next fall.
kellieAK: oh, that would be awesome, to see our FimoBob on the CD show
Dee: That's really cool Lisa
Corgi: OHHHH COOL GO BOB!
Lisa Pavelka: I have to tell you though, he'd be going under the sponsorship of Kato Polyclay. I think I've converted him.
bsims1238: I love Bob's three dimensional polymer clay hearts.
kellieAK: well, we won't hold that against him.
Lisa Pavelka: He does great things with those SAR stamps.
kellieAK: yep, and faux wood inlay
Lisa Pavelka: That what I'm enticing the producers at Carol's with.
kellieAK: he recently won the Embellishment thing...
Dee: I Can't wait to see the pix from that award he won (???)
kellieAK: you and me both dee
Lisa Pavelka: Isn't that great? I'm so happy for him.
bsims1238: Did he win for one of his SAR creations?
kellieAK: it is fantastic
kellieAK: he didn't know yet, he had submitted two things, do you know lisa?
Dee: Thanks Kel, I couldn't remember Embellishment. Duh!
Lisa Pavelka: No. Bev, it was for one of his faux wood parquetry necklaces.
bsims1238: I haven't seen the necklaces, but I did see one of his wood parquetry pens. It was awesome.
kellieAK: he does very precise work, my mom has one of his SAR hearts
Lisa Pavelka: Bob was recently in Vegas and took a couple of classes from me. He was quite the indespensible assistant to me.
lindamarv: What is SAR?
kellieAK: Some Assembly Required
lindamarv: Thanks kellieak
Lisa Pavelka: It stands for Some Assembly Required. They manufacture stamp sets that create interlocking patterns when cut from paper (or in this case, clay). The assemble to create dimensional stars, hearts, tress, etc. They come in various sizes so the projects are suitable for jewelry, ornaments and more.
bsims1238: I had their website at one time and occasionally just went there to drool over the hearts and trees, etc.
kellieAK: he has worked for a long time to perfect using the SAR stamps with clay
Lisa Pavelka: The SAR website is: www.some-assembly-required.com
Dee: Thanks again Lisa
lindamarv: I will have to go to that web site
Lisa Pavelka: Linda, next time your over, I'll have to show you one of Bob's heart pins.
bsims1238: Thanks Lisa - the "dashes" always throw me off and I hadn't been able to find it since I've moved.
lindamarv: thanks i would love to see it
Lisa Pavelka: Any questions from our new guests?
byallison: My pasta machine is being a bad boy. He is chewing up my clay. We cleaned it but it still is acting cranky. Any ideas?
byallison: Actually the clay is going around on the rollers, sometimes the front and sometimes the back.
Lisa Pavelka: I hate to say it, but that's often a sign that the roller guides are warped. I've had to replace a couple of machines with that very problem. When cleaning a machine it's very easy to bend these guides and create this problem. One thing I suggest is to take the machine apart and switch the guide plates around to see if it improves. Sometimes these get switched fit differently on the other roller.
KCRedcat: HI ALL!
Lisa Pavelka: HI KIm, welcome
Corgi: hit kim
Corgi: hi
KCRedcat: LOL
Dee: I have a question about Kato Klay. I was reading the other day that some clayers were having a prob with White being very dry. Can Sculpey diluent be used?
Lisa Pavelka: Don't hit Kim. Or did you mean hi! Tee he.Ha
KCRedcat: yeah, don't ened anymore ouchies thanks!
Dee: lol
Corgi: meant hi... kim doesn't need to be hit...
KCRedcat: nope, lol
Lisa Pavelka: Yes it can. The dryness may be from the original formulations which have been corrected. The clay is being formulated so that all the colors have the same consistancy.
Dee: cool.
Dee: I still have the old stuff.
Lisa Pavelka: Anyone who had problems witt the clay when it first came out really out to give it another try because it's phenomenal.
KCRedcat: I finally got some Kato Clay today...red and yellow
Lisa Pavelka: Dee, if you're having problems with the old stuff, let Vernon at Prairie Craft know. He'll make it right.
Dee: After all this time?
Lisa Pavelka: I hope you love working with it as much as I do. LInda, have you played with the Kato Clay I gave you yet?
byallison: I'd like to know that too. It almost seems too long.
bsims1238: Yeah - mine was on the UPS truck all day before it got to me - but that wasn't Vernon's fault. It was really well packed - but it was warm when I got it.
Lisa Pavelka: Yes, Dee. If you didn't get around to it until recently and discovered it was very crumbly, just explain that it's been sitting around for a while before you got around to using it. If you discovered the problem right away, but didn't let him know, tell him you weren't sure they'd do anything about it. Let him know you talked with me. They want people to like the product and stand behind it.
Dee: they gotta find a better way of shipping clay
lindamarv: I was working with it today and love the feel of it but I have not finished a project to see how it polishes, I can't wait to try it after what you said tonight
byallison: I tried several colors at the widest setting. On my machine that is a 7.
Earthmother: *PART* Left room.
Lisa Pavelka: One of the changes they made was to make it less heat sensitive. The first formulation started to cure around 90 degrees, whereas Premo and Sculpey begins to cure around 125 degrees. They've reformulated it to have a heat tolerence of 140 degrees. Higher tolerence than Polyform clays.
Dee: Ok, thanks i'll do that
KCRedcat: wow!
Dee: wooof!
lindamarv: say hello to Burt
lindamarv: sorry I pushed the wrong button
bsims1238: You are too funny and very nice - I let him read your message.
byallison: Compared to Premo, how is the new Kato Clay to condition?
Lisa Pavelka: As with any new product, it's not unusal to have some bugs to work out. They've done that, but are not content to sit on their laurels. They intend to improve the product whenever and however possible. In the meantime, they want their customers to be satisfied. Let them know if you've had any problems with the clay, even if it's been a while. Just let them know you sat on it because you weren'...
bsims1238: hey - we'll learn! He loved it.
KCRedcat: esp with Donna's name on it
KCRedcat: hi rubarb & tan
Lisa Pavelka: The new formulation of Kato Clay is slightly stiffer than Premo, but shouldn't be hard to condition. It has a longer open time (more time to work with it before it sets up and need reconditioning).
KCRedcat: that's good to know....
byallison: Did anyone see her on Carol Duval today.
bsims1238: I did. I try never to miss an episode with Donna or Lisa or Anne.
KCRedcat: for ME Premo in canes was a problem...they 'froze' too fast
Dee: Yes!
Lisa Pavelka: Drats, those dreaded limits on responses. I was going to say, let them know you weren't used to companies who feature customer service and you've heard that they are different.
lindamarv: I liked her method but I haven't tried using the heat gun for the clay yet
KCRedcat: I tape all Carol Duvall Shows...well, the new ones....have a library of the old ones
rubarb04: i always mess up on these things
Lisa Pavelka: I'll be on the 28th or 29th with a new episode on Silk Screening on clay. Check my website for the exact date.
KCRedcat: ohhhhhhh
Dee: Kewl!
bsims1238: Is it simplified? I need "Polymer Clay for Dummies"
Lisa Pavelka: I also have a clock featured in an upcoming episode where they asked some of the regular guests to do a desinger challenge with a product called Ring Dings. I don't know the day it airs yet, but I'll add it to my website when I find out.
KCRedcat: so many things to do....and try.....
byallison: Dh was not pleased. I innocently asked him if he had a heat gun.
lindamarv: Bev, I have seen your work and you are great and don't need that Dummies book
KCRedcat: lol
KathyG: are you actually using a silk screen or something like PhotoEZ?
Lisa Pavelka: It's very basic. You can always tgo to the written project instructions on the HGTV website. Type in my name and it will bring up all of my previous show projects. Click onto the project to get the instructions.
bsims1238: Thanks Linda - but sometimes I feel like I need that book!
KCRedcat: I wish they had better pics online at HGTV....
KCRedcat: and would put the episode # at the end of the show too......
Lisa Pavelka: That's exactly what I'm using, although we are seldom if ever allowed to say a product by name on the show. I tried, but couldn't get permission. Gwen Gibson asked me if I would do a project on the show with the Photo-Ez.
Dee: Bev, I understand you! My email addy is klayklutz ;-)
Corgi: Gang I need to bail. Lisa Thanks so much for joining us tonight!
KathyG: I really enjoy using the PhotoEX
KathyG: EZ that is
bsims1238: Dee - thanks. Now I don't feel so alone.
Lisa Pavelka: Wouldn't that be helpful. I don't think I can do anything about the number of pictures, but I'll mention it to the producers for next season.
KCRedcat: ahhhhhh, yeah, I noticed how they did that..... with the Kato Sauce episode I jsut watched on my tape....
Corgi: Lisa Hope your brother recovers and I'll talk to you soon.
KCRedcat: night Corgi!
Corgi: *LOG at 4/24/2003 11:28:07 PM* OFF
Polymer Clay Central Home page


text:
Hoffman Estates — Effective Friday, Hoffman Estates parents and children may have a lot more to consider when minors consume alcohol.
That's when a new law takes effect holding parents liable for the actions of their kids.
With no discussion, the Village Board unanimously adopted a parental responsibility law last week that was recommended by the Northwest Municipal Conference.


text:
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Garden Party in a new suit
Only 2 colors but still kinda wild looking. Didn't intend for this one to be so bright but I kinda like it. It's my old "Garden Party" scent combo but with a new suit. A bit mardi-gras'ish don't you think?
9 comments:
- Pili said...
I think it does look more appropriate, more green so more garden party! Love the new look!
- May 16, 2010 at 8:17 AM
- Morgan Street said...
Yeah, you're right Pili. Maybe I should keep the Garden Party name. I was going to change it. LOL!
Thanks for your input!!
- May 16, 2010 at 9:44 AM
- Monica said...
Wau, this soap is wonderful, the green color is fantastic
- May 16, 2010 at 8:24 PM
- Bullfrogs & Butterflies Baby said...
I love it! Very unique...never seen another like it. Love the vibrancy of the green :)
(AKA: ElliaCNaturals, LOL)
- May 16, 2010 at 11:37 PM
- Erica said...
I love the colors. It looks intentional and matches the name. It's a gorgeous bar of soap!!
- May 17, 2010 at 12:08 PM
- Joanna said...
It IS gorgeous!! it almost looks like sea glass or fresh seaweed.
- May 18, 2010 at 8:42 AM
- Andrea said...
I love the colours!Very beautiful.
- May 20, 2010 at 3:54 AM
- Carmen said...
Very pretty! Mine are looking pretty dull compared to this one.
- September 18, 2010 at 8:37 PM
- Michael R. Hughes said...
Very good tie in to that New Orleans event. I like the color scheme. Very creative.
- September 23, 2010 at 1:00 AM
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text:
A new kind of high school.
"Leadership and Entrepreneurship" are more than just words… These themes are about empowerment. We strongly believe that all students are capable of learning at high levels, and our program prepares students for success in college, career and life. We purposely set the bar high and support our students to reach it.
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February 6th, 2014
Due to inclement weather both day and evening school at LEP has been cancelled for Friday, February 7th.
February 6th, 2014
OAKS Writing Assessments for Junior and Senior in Lang. Arts classes. (Feb. 10-13)
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December 22nd, 2013
LEP follows the lead of Portland Public Schools for weather-related delays and closures. Please watch TV news coverage or tune in to local radio stations any time we are freezing or snowing or just really cold. You can also visit http://www.pps.k12.or.us/ or flash alerts at http://www.flashalert.net/news.html?id=69. If PPS is closed we are closed. If PPS is delayed two hours we start at 10:30 a.m.


text:
Hall v. United States,
Annotate this Case
No. 10–875
LYNWOOD D. HALL, et ux., PETITIONERS v. UNITED STATES
on writ of certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the ninth circuit
[May 14, 2012]
Justice Breyer, with whom Justice Kennedy, Justice Ginsburg, and Justice Kagan join, dissenting.
Chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code helps family farmers in economic difficulty reorganize their debts without losing their farms. Consistent with the chapter's pur- poses, Congress amended §1222(a) of the Code to enable the debtor to treat certain capital gains tax claims as ordinary unsecured claims. 11 U. S. C. §1222(a)(2)(A). The Court's holding prevents the Amendment from carrying out this basic objective. I would read the statute differently, interpreting it in a way that, in my view, both is consistent with its language and allows the Amendment better to achieve its purposes.
Chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code helps indebted family farmers (and fishermen) keep their farms by making commitments to pay those debts (in part) out of future income. An eligible farmer whose debts exceed his assets may enter Chapter 12 bankruptcy, at which point he must develop a detailed Plan setting forth how he will pay his debts. That Plan must satisfy certain statutory criteria. §§1221, 1222, 1225.
A brief overview of these requirements helps to illuminate what is at stake in this case. Roughly speaking, the chapter requires that a holder of a secured claim receive the full amount of that claim up to the value of the collateral securing the loan. The claim may be paid over an extended period. If the claim exceeds the value of the collateral, the creditor is given an unsecured claim in the remainder. §§506(a), 1225(a)(5).
The holder of a §507 priority claim (a category that includes, among other things, domestic support obligations, debts for taxes incurred before filing the bankruptcy petition, and administrative expenses) must receive the full amount of the priority claim in deferred cash payments paid over the life of the Plan. §1222(a)(2).
The holder of an ordinary unsecured claim—i.e., an unsecured claim of a kind not listed in §507—may receive at least a partial payment from the amount left over after the payment of the secured and §507 priority claims. This amount may well be more than zero, for the Plan must provide that the farmer will devote all "disposable income" (as defined by §1225(b)(2)) or property of equivalent value to the repayment of his debts over the next three years (sometimes extended to five years). §§1222(c), 1225(b)(1). And that amount must prove sufficient to provide the un- secured creditor with no less than that creditor would re- ceive in a Chapter 7 liquidation. §1225(a)(4).
Once the farmer completes his Plan payments, he will receive a discharge even if his payments did not fully satisfy all unsecured claims. The Code does not, however, permit all debts to be discharged. There are categories of nondischargeable debts (including, for example, secured claims), which creditors can pursue after bankruptcy. §1228(a).
For present purposes, it is important to understand that if the debtor owes too much money to his §507 priority creditors, he may not have sufficient assets or future income to pay all his secured creditors and his §507 prior- ity creditors while leaving enough funds over to guarantee unsecured creditors the minimum amounts that Chapter 12 requires. If so, the farmer may not be able to proceed under Chapter 12. See §§1225(a)(1), (6) (bankruptcy court will not confirm Plan unless it satisfies statutory criteria and debtor will be able to make good on his commitments under the Plan).
It is also important to understand that the same kind of insufficient-assets-and-income problem might occur where the debtor owes the Government a large post-petition tax debt. In general, postpetition claims are not part of the bankruptcy proceedings. See 7 Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice §135:14 (3d ed. 2011) (hereinafter Norton). Unless the Government's debt falls within an exception to this general rule, bankruptcy law would leave the Government to collect its postpetition claim outside of bankruptcy as best it could. Again, the result will be to leave the farmer with fewer assets and income to devote to his Chapter 12 Plan—perhaps to the point where he cannot proceed under Chapter 12 at all.
With this general summary in mind, it is easier to understand the significance of the question this case presents. The question arises out of an amendment to a Chapter 12 provision. The provision as amended says:
"Contents of plan
"(a) The plan shall—
. . . . .
"(2) provide for the full payment, in deferred cash payments, of all claims entitled to priority under section 507, unless—
"(A) the claim is a claim owed to a governmental unit that arises as a result of the sale, transfer, exchange, or other disposition of any farm asset used in the debtor's farming operation, in which case the claim shall be treated as an unsecured claim that is not entitled to priority under section 507, but the debt shall be treated in such manner only if the debtor receives a discharge; or
"(B) the holder of a particular claim agrees to a different treatment of that claim." §1222(a) (emphasis added).
The Amendment consists of subparagraph (A).
At first blush, the Amendment seems to relegate the capital gains tax collector to the status of an ordinary unsecured creditor. See ibid. (exception applies to claims "owed to a governmental unit that arises as a result of the sale . . . of any farm asset"). If, as petitioners claim, that is so, then it is unlikely that such a debt could stop a farmer from proceeding under Chapter 12, since its treatment as an ordinary unsecured claim means that the farmer will not necessarily have to pay the debt in full.
But if the Government and the majority are right, then the capital gains tax falls outside the category of §507 priority claims—and therefore falls outside the scope of the Amendment; in fact, it falls outside the bankruptcy proceeding altogether. And the Government then might well be able to collect the debt in full outside the bankruptcy proceeding—even if doing so would reduce the farmer's assets and future income to the point where the farmer would not be able to proceed under Chapter 12. The question before us is whether we must interpret the Amendment in a way that could bring about this result.
Congress did not intend this result. In a significant number of instances a Chapter 12 farmer, in order to have enough money to pay his creditors, might have to sell farmland or other farm assets at a price that would give rise to considerable capital gains taxes (particularly if the family has held the land or assets for many years). If the resulting tax debt were treated as a §507 priority claim, then it might well absorb much of the money raised to the point where (depending upon the size of his other debts) the farmer might be unable to proceed under Chapter 12. The Amendment accordingly seeks to place the tax authorities farther back in the creditor queue, requiring them, like ordinary unsecured creditors, to seek payment from the funds that remain after the §507 priority creditors (and secured claim holders) have been paid.
The Amendment's chief legislative sponsor, Senator Charles Grassley, explained this well when he told the Senate:
"Under current law, farmers often face a crushing tax liability if they need to sell livestock or land in order to reorganize their business affairs. . . . [H]igh taxes have caused farmers to lose their farms. Under the bankruptcy code, the I. R. S. must be paid in full for any tax liabilities generated during a bankruptcy reorganization. If the farmer can't pay the I. R. S. in full, then he can't keep his farm. This isn't sound policy. Why should the I. R. S. be allowed to veto a farmer's reorganization plan? [The Amendment] takes this power away from the I. R. S. by reducing the priority of taxes during proceedings. This will free up capital for investment in the farm, and help farmers stay in the business of farming." 145 Cong. Rec. 1113 (1999).
See also 14A J. Mertens, Law of Federal Income Taxation §54:61, p. 11 (Oct. 2011 Supp.) ("This provision attempts to mitigate the tax expense often incurred by farmers who have significant taxable capital gains or depreciation re- capture when their low basis farm assets are foreclosed, sold, or otherwise disposed of by their creditors").
The majority, following the Government's suggestion, interprets the relevant language in a way that denies the Amendment its intended effect. It holds that the only income tax claims to which §507 accords priority are claims for taxes due for years prior to the taxable year in which the farmer filed for bankruptcy. (We shall call these "prepetition tax claims.") In the majority's view, §507 does not cover income tax liabilities that arise during the year of filing or during the Chapter 12 proceedings. (We shall call these "postpetition tax claims.") Ante, at 4–5; see Brief for United States 8 (the Amendment "provides farmers relief from [only] those tax claims that are otherwise entitled to priority under 11 U. S. C. 507(a)(8), namely pre-petition claims arising from the sale of farm as- sets"); Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, §705(1)(A), 119Stat. 126 (amending §507(a)(8) to clarify that it only covers income tax claims for taxable years that end on or before the date of the filing of the bankruptcy petition).
The majority then observes that the Amendment creates an exception only in respect to §507 priority claims. §1222(a) ("The plan shall . . . provide for the full payment . . . of all claims entitled to priority under section 507, unless . . . ." (Emphasis added.)). Ante, at 2. Thus, if (without the Amendment) §507 would not cover postpetition capital gains taxes in the first place, the Amendment (creating only a §507 exception) cannot affect postpeti- tion tax claims. An exception from nothing amounts to nothing.
Consequently, the majority concludes that postpetition tax claims fall outside the bankruptcy proceeding entirely; the tax authorities can collect them as if they were ordinary tax debts; and the Government's efforts to collect them can lead to the very results (blocking the use of Chapter 12) that the Amendment sought to avoid.
Therein lies the problem. These results are the very opposite of what Congress intended. Congress did not want to relegate to ordinary-unsecured-claim status only prepetition tax claims, i.e., tax claims that accrued well before the Chapter 12 proceedings began. Rather, Congress was concerned about the effect on the farmer of collecting capital gains tax debts that arose during (and were connected with) the Chapter 12 proceedings themselves. See 145 Cong. Rec. 1113 (the Amendment will have the effect of "reducing the priority of taxes during proceedings" (emphasis added) (statement of Sen. Grassley during a failed attempt to enact the Amendment)); Hearing on the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2001 before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 107th Cong., 1st Sess., 121 (statement of Sen. Grassley) ("[The Amendment] also reduces the priority of capital gains tax liabilities for farm assets sold as a part of a reorganization plan" (emphasis added)). The majority does not deny the importance of Congress' objective. Rather, it feels compelled to hold that Congress put the Amendment in the wrong place.
Unlike the majority, I believe the relevant Bankruptcy Code language can be and is better interpreted in a way that would give full effect to the Amendment. In particular, the relevant language is better interpreted so that in the absence of the Amendment §507 would cover these postpetition tax claims. Hence the Amendment creates an exception from what otherwise would amount to a §507 priority claim. And it can take effect as written.
It is common ground that subsection (a)(2) of §507 cov- ers, and gives §507 priority to, "administrative expenses allowed under section 503(b)." §507(a)(2) (2006 ed., Supp. IV). It is also common ground that the relevant definitional section, namely §503(b), defines allowed "administrative expenses" as "including . . . any tax . . . incurred by the estate." §503(b)(1)(B)(i) (2006 ed.). But after this point, we part company.
The majority believes that the words any tax "incur- red by the estate" cannot include postpetition taxes. It emphasizes that tax law does not treat a Chapter 12 bankruptcy estate as a "separate taxable entity," i.e., as separate from the farmer-debtor for federal income tax purposes. 26 U. S. C. §§1398, 1399. This means that there is just one entity—the debtor—for these purposes. And §346 of the Bankruptcy Code makes clear that any state and local income tax liabilities incurred by a Chapter 12 estate must also be taxed to the debtor. The majority says that these provisions mean that only the debtor, and not the estate, can " 'incu[r]' " taxes within the meaning of 11 U. S. C. §503(b)(1)(B)(i). Ante, at 4–5.
In my view, however, these tax law circumstances do not require the majority's narrow reading of this Bankruptcy Code provision. That is to say, the phrase tax "incurred by the [bankruptcy] estate" can include a tax incurred by the farmer while managing his estate in the midst of his bankruptcy proceedings, i.e., between the time the farmer files for Chapter 12 bankruptcy and the time the bankruptcy court confirms the farmer's Chapter 12 Plan.
The bankruptcy estate is in existence during this time. Cf. §1227(b) (property of the estate vests in the debtor at confirmation unless the Plan provides otherwise). The bankruptcy court has jurisdiction over the farmer's assets during this time. See §§541, 1207; 4 Norton §61:1, at 61–2 (§541's "broad definition of estate property . . . centralizes all of the estate's assets under the jurisdiction of the bankruptcy court"). And, as a matter of both the English language and bankruptcy principles, one can consider a tax liability that the farmer incurs during this period (such as a capital gains tax arising from a sale of a portion of his farm assets to raise funds for creditors) as a liability that, in a bankruptcy sense, the estate incurs.
The English language permits this reading of the phrase tax "incurred by the estate." When the farmer, in the midst of Chapter 12 proceedings, sells a portion of his farm to raise money to help pay his creditors, one can say, as a matter of English, that the bankruptcy estate has "incurred" the associated tax, even if it is ultimately taxed to the farmer, just as one can say that an employee who makes purchases using a company credit card "incurs costs" for which his employer is liable.
As a matter of general bankruptcy principles (as Congress understood them), the history of the 1978 Bank- ruptcy Code revision is replete with statements to the effect that "[t]axes arising from the operation of the estate after bankruptcy are entitled to priority as administrative expenses." H. R. Rep. No. 95–595, p. 193 (1977) (emphasis added). See S. Rep. No. 95–1106, p. 13 (1978) (administrative expenses include "[t]axes incurred during the administration of the estate" (emphasis added)); S. Rep. No. 95–989, p. 66 (1978) ("In general, administrative expenses include taxes which the trustee incurs in administering the debtor's estate, including taxes on capital gains from sales of property by the trustee and taxes on income earned by the estate during the case" (emphasis added)); 124 Cong. Rec. 32415 (1978) ("The amendment generally follows the Senate amendment in providing expressly that taxes incurred during the administration of the estate share the first priority given to administrative expenses generally" (emphasis added)); id., at 34014 (Senate version of the joint floor statement saying exactly the same).
And importantly, as the majority concedes, ante, at 14–15, bankruptcy law treats taxes incurred by corporate debtors while they are in bankruptcy proceedings as "tax[es] incurred by the estate," even though the Tax Code does not treat the bankruptcy estate of a corporate debtor as a "separate taxable entity." See, e.g., United States v. Noland, 517 U. S. 535, 543 (1996) (treating Chapter 11 corporate debtor's postpetition taxes as administrative expenses); In re Pacific-Atlantic Trading Co., 64 F. 3d 1292, 1298 (CA9 1995) (same); In re L. J. O'Neil Shoe Co., 64 F. 3d 1146, 1151–1152 (CA8 1995) (same); In re Hillsborough Holdings Corp., 156 B. R. 318, 320 (Bkrtcy. Ct. MD Fla. 1993) ("[A]dministrative expenses should include taxes which the trustee, and, in Chapter 11 cases, the Debtor-in-Possession, incurs in administering the estate, including taxes based on capital gains from sales of property and taxes on income earned by the estate during the case post-petition").
Even though, as the majority says, corporate bankruptcies have some special features (in particular, a trustee in a corporate bankruptcy is required to file the estate's income tax return), it is unclear why these features should have any bearing on the definition of administrative expenses. See ante, at 15 (discussing 26 U. S. C. §6012(b)(3)). Indeed, in many corporate Chapter 11 bankruptcies, there is no trustee, in which case the debtor-in-possession, just like an individual Chapter 12 debtor, must file the tax return. See 11 U. S. C. §§1104, 1107 (2006 ed. and Supp. IV); 5 Norton §§91:3, 93:1 (typically, no trustee is appointed in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and the debtor-in-possession assumes most of the duties and powers of a trustee, continuing in possession and managing the business until the court determines, upon request of a party in interest, that grounds exist for the appointment of a trustee); Holywell Corp. v. Smith, 503 U. S. 47, 54 (1992) ("As the assignee of 'all' or 'substantially all' of the property of the corporate debtors, the trustee must file the re- turns that the corporate debtors would have filed had the plan not assigned their property to the trustee" (emphasis added)).
Consequently, I can find no strong bankruptcy law reason for treating taxes incurred by a corporate debtor differently from those incurred by an individual Chapter 12 debtor. To the contrary, since corporations can file for bankruptcy under Chapter 12, the majority's argument implies that the treatment of postpetition taxes in Chapter 12 proceedings turns on whether the debtor happens to be a corporation. See §101(18)(B) (2006 ed.) (defining "family farmer" to include certain corporations); §109(f) ("Only a family farmer or family fisherman with regular annual income may be a debtor under chapter 12"); Brief for United States 26, n. 9 ("[T]he estate of a corporate (as opposed to individual) Chapter 12 debtor . . . could be viewed as incurring post-petition income taxes . . . collectible as administrative expenses . . . rather than outside the bankruptcy case as required for an individual Chapter 12 debtor").
The majority does not point to any adverse consequences that might arise were bankruptcy law to treat taxes incurred in administering the bankruptcy estate (i.e., taxes incurred after filing and before Plan confirmation) as administrative expenses. The effect of doing so would simply be to consider the debtor and estate as merged for purposes of determining which taxes fall within the Bankruptcy's Code's definition of "administrative expenses," i.e., determining for that purpose that the estate may "incur" tax liabilities on behalf of the whole (with the ul- timate liability assigned to the debtor), much like a married couple filing jointly, 26 U. S. C. §6013(a), or an affiliated group of corporations filing a consolidated tax return, §1501. Cf. In re Lumara Foods of America, Inc., 50 B. R. 809, 815 (Bkrtcy. Ct. ND Ohio 1985) (describing the history of §503(b)(1)(B)(i) and concluding that "the elevation [of a tax] to an administrative priority is dependent upon when the tax accrued"). In fact, the very tax provisions that separate the estate from the individual debtor in Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 proceedings, §§1398 and 1399, say that the Chapter 12 estate is not separate from the debtor for tax purposes—a concept consistent, not at odds, with merging the two for this bankruptcy purpose.
Nor is the majority's reading free of conceptual problems. If we read the phrase tax "incurred by the estate" as excluding tax liabilities incurred while the farmer is in Chapter 12 bankruptcy, we must read it as excluding not only capital gains taxes but also other kinds of taxes, such as an employer's share of Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes, or other employee taxes. But no one claims that all of these taxes fall outside the scope of the term "administrative expenses." See In re Ryan, 228 B. R. 746 (Bkrtcy. Ct. Ore. 1999) (treating postpetition employment taxes as administrative expenses in a Chapter 12 proceeding); IRS Chief Counsel Advice No. 200518002 (May 6, 2005), 2005 WL 1060956 (assuming that some postpetition fed- eral taxes can be treated as administrative expenses in a Chapter 12 bankruptcy).
In fact, the Government, realizing it cannot go this far, concedes that many of these other (e.g., employer) taxes are "administrative expenses," but only, it suggests, because they fall within a different part of the "administrative expenses" definition, namely 11 U. S. C. §503(b)(1)(A), which says that "administrative expenses" include "the actual, necessary costs and expenses of preserving the estate including . . . wages, salaries, and commissions for services rendered after the commencement of the case." (Emphasis added.) See Brief for United States 27–28, n. 11. Employment taxes, however, do not fit easily within the rubric "wages, salaries, and commissions." They may well be "necessary costs and expenses of preserving the estate." But then so are the capital gains taxes at issue here.
Finally, the majority makes what I believe to be its strongest argument. Ante, at 9–12. Chapter 13, it points out, allows individuals (typically those who are not farmers or fishermen) to reorganize their debts in much the same way as does Chapter 12. And there is authority holding that taxes on income earned between the time the Chapter 13 debtor files for bankruptcy and the time the bankruptcy Plan is confirmed are not "tax[es] incurred by the estate." See In re Whall, 391 B. R. 1, 5–6 (Bkrtcy. Ct. Mass. 2008); In re Brown, No. 05–41071, 2006 WL 3370867, *3 (Bkrtcy. Ct. Mass. 2006); In re Jagours, 236 B. R. 616, 620, n. 4 (Bkrtcy. Ct. ED Tex. 1999); In re Gyulafia, 65 B. R. 913, 916 (Bkrtcy. Ct. Kan. 1986). Why, asks the majority, should the law treat Chapter 12 taxes differently?
For one thing, the issue is less important in a Chapter 13 case, for the relevant time period—between filing and Plan confirmation—is typically very short. Compare H. R. Rep. No. 95–595, at 276 ("most chapter 13 estates will only remain open for 1 or 2 months until confirmation of the plan"), with Brief for Neil E. Harl et al. as Amici Curiae 32–33 (survey of Chapter 12 bankruptcies found the average time from filing to confirmation in a district ranged from nearly five months to over three years). See also 7 Norton §122:14, at 122–27 ("In Chapter 13, the plan must be filed within 15 days after the filing of the petition, unless the time is extended for cause. A Chapter 12 Plan must be filed no later than 90 days after the order for relief, unless the court finds that an extension is substantially justified" (footnote omitted)).
For another, the issue arises differently in a Chapter 13 case. That chapter, unlike Chapter 12, contains a special provision that permits the Government to seek §507 priority treatment of all taxes incurred while the bankruptcy case is pending. §1305 (Government can file proof of claim to have postpetition taxes treated as if they had arisen before the petition was filed).
Finally, if uniformity of interpretation between these two chapters is critical, I do not see the serious harm in treating the relevant taxes as "administrative expenses" in both Chapter 12 and Chapter 13 cases rather than in neither. The majority apparently believes that this would render §1305 (the provision permitting the Government to seek §507 priority treatment) superfluous. Ante, at 10–12. But that is not so. This interpretation would simply limit the scope of operation of §1305 to the period of time after the Chapter 13 Plan is confirmed but while the Chapter 13 case is still pending. And that is likely to be a significant period of time relative to the preconfirmation period. See H. R. Rep. No. 95–595, at 276 ("[M]ost chapter 13 estates will only remain open for 1 or 2 months until confirmation of the plan"); §§1325(b)(1), (4) (debtor must commit all his projected disposable income over a 3-year period (sometimes extended to five) to the Plan, unless all unsecured claims can be paid off over a shorter period). The greatest Chapter 13 harm this interpretation could cause is to re- quire the Government to pursue those tax liabilities as §507 priority administrative expense claims (rather than allow it to choose between §507 priority treatment and pursuing those claims outside bankruptcy) during the relatively brief period of time between the filing of a petition and the Plan's confirmation.
In sum, I would treat a postpetition/preconfirmation tax liability as a tax "incurred by the estate," hence as an "administrative expense," hence as a "clai[m] entitled to priority under section 507, unless . . . ," hence as a claim falling within the scope of the Amendment. Doing so would allow the Amendment to take effect as Congress intended.
The Government argues that, even if tax liabilities arising during the bankruptcy proceedings are "administrative expenses," they still do not fall within the Amendment's scope. It says that neither the Amendment nor anything else in §1222(a) provides for the payment of administrative expenses. Rather, that section and its Amendment provide only for the payment of "claims." §1222(a)(2) ("The plan shall . . . provide for the full payment . . . of all claims entitled to priority under section 507, unless . . ." (emphasis added)). And administrative expenses, the Government says, like all debts that are incurred postpetition, are not "claims."
The Government finds support for its view in the fact that that §1222 deals with the contents of a "plan," while a later section, §1227(a), says that the provisions of a "confirmed plan bind the debtor, each creditor, [and certain others of no relevance here]." (Emphasis added.) This is because the Code defines "creditor" to include only hold- ers of pre-petition claims, thus excluding holders of post-petition claims, such as administrative expenses. §101(10).
The Government points out that a different Code section, namely §1226(b)(1), provides for the payment of administrative expenses. That section says that "[b]efore or at the time of each payment to creditors under the plan, there shall be paid . . . any unpaid claim of the kind specified in section 507(a)(2)," namely "administrative ex- penses." And Congress did not amend §1226(b)(1); it amended the earlier section, §1222(a).
In short, the Government says, the Plan only covers those §507 priority "expenses and claims" that are described as "claims" and can be held by "creditors." Section 1226(b)(1), not §1222, deals with administrative expenses. The bottom line of the Government's chain of logic is, once again, that Congress put the Amendment in the wrong place.
I concede that there is some text and legislative history that supports the Government's view that the word "claim" in §1222(a) does not include "administrative expenses." See, e.g., §507(a) (referring to "expenses and claims" as if they are separate categories); S. Rep. No. 95–1106, at 20 ("The committee amendments contain several changes designed to clarify the distinction between a 'claim' (which generally relates to a debt incurred before the bankruptcy petition is filed) and an administrative expense (which is an expense incurred by the trustee after the filing of the petition)").
But the language does not demand the Government's reading. For the Code also uses the word "claim" to cover both prepetition and postpetition claims (such as administrative expenses). E.g., §101(5)(A) (defining a claim as a "right to payment"); §726(b) (2006 ed., Supp. IV) (refer- ring to "claims" that include administrative expenses). In- deed, the very section that the Government says permits separate collection of administrative expenses, namely §1226(b)(1), refers to "any unpaid claim" for administrative expenses. (Emphasis added.) And one can easily read that section as setting forth when, not whether, administrative expenses will be paid under the Plan (i.e., as specifying that the Plan must provide for the payment of administrative expenses before payments to other creditors are made). Thus, reading §1222(a)(2)'s reference to "claims" as including administrative expenses need not render §1226(b)(1) surplusage.
What about §1227(a), which refers only to "creditor[s]"? One must read it in conjunction with §1228(a), which provides that once the debtor has completed all payments under the Plan, "the court shall grant the debtor a discharge of [1] all debts provided for by the plan[,] [2] allowed under section 503 of this title [which describes 'administrative expenses'] or [3] disallowed under section 502 of this title . . . ." (Emphasis added.) (The first few words of §1227(a)—"[e]xcept as provided in section 1228(a)"—explain why I say "must"; the comma comes from 7 Norton §137:2, at 137–3, n. 1, which says that its omission was a typographical error). Thus, by here referring to "administrative expenses" (through its reference to §503), Chapter 12 makes clear that at least some postpetition claims are to be discharged once the debtor has completed his payments under the Plan. That fact, in turn, suggests that the Plan may provide for their payment and that the holders of such claims may be bound by the terms of a confirmed Plan.
The upshot is that the Government's second argument presents a plausible, but not the only plausible, interpretation of the Code's language. And the Government's second argument, like the majority's argument, has a problem, namely that it reduces Congress' Amendment to rubble. For that reason I believe it does not offer the better interpretation of the relevant language.
In sum the phrase tax "incurred by the estate" in §503(b) (the "administrative expense" section) and the word "claim" in §1222(a) are open to different interpretations. Each of the narrower interpretations advanced by the Government or adopted by the Court would either exclude postpetition taxes from the phrase taxes "incurred by the estate" or exclude all postpetition debts, including administrative expenses, from the word "claim." In these ways, these interpretations would, as I have said, prevent the Amendment from accomplishing its basic purpose.
A broader interpretation of the word "claim" may allow the Plan to include certain postpetition debts. This, taken together with a broader interpretation of the phrase tax "incurred by the estate," prevents the Government from collecting postpetition/preconfirmation tax debts outside of Chapter 12, requiring it to assume a place in the creditor queue. Together these broader interpretations permit the Amendment to take effect as intended.
I find this last-mentioned consideration determinative. It seems to me unlikely that Congress, having worked on revisions of the Code for many years with the help of Bankruptcy experts, and having considered the Amendment several times over a period of years, would have made the drafting mistake that the Government and the majority necessarily imply that it made. Moreover, I be- lieve it important that courts interpreting statutes make significant efforts to allow the provisions of congressional statutes to function in the ways that that the elected branch of Government likely intended and for which it can be held democratically accountable.
For these reasons, with respect, I dissent.


text:
to try to avoid losing the case that they threw this crap in.
A Monday order in the United States Court of Federal Claims by Judge Francis M. Allegra in the case of Jay Anthony Dobyns v. United States points to a motion by the government that has the judge demanding clarification. Noting it's not even clear if a notice of appeal relates to a Federal Circuit Court order or to prior Federal Claims Court orders, Judge Allegra ordered the government "on or before January 5, 2015 [to] file [an explanatory] memorandum (not to exceed 30 pages)."
That's downright stupid; two big agencies with legions of lawyers, and they screw up this way?
This presumption of guilt is absolutely crucial to collectivism. The Left must teach its subjects to think of themselves
as criminals. That's the only way law-abiding people will endure levels
of coercive power that would normally require specific accusations, a
fair trial, and the possibility of appeals. Social-justice "crimes" can
be prosecuted without any of those things. There is no appeal from the
sentence, and no statute of limitations on the crimes, as any
left-winger who thinks today's American citizens need to suffer for the
historical offense of slavery will be happy to explain to you. There's
no evidence you can present in your defense, for the Left has read your
mind, and knows better than you what demons lurk in its recesses.
If you think micro-regulators should be running society, and government
should be taxing money away from the proletariat before they hurt
themselves with it, then by definition you don't think very much of the
people you're planning to tax and regulate. You must see them as
thieves, exploiters, and haters… their vision too short, and
too clouded with bigotry, to make important decisions about the fate of
the nation. Leftists have a boundless appetite for stories that
reinforce their low opinion of the people they dominate… and to be
honest, some of the dominated are hungry for reassurance that they did
the right thing by ceding control of their lives, and the lives of their
neighbors, to the Left. People who have relinquished their freedom
must learn to think poorly of themselves, if they are to sleep well at
Somehow, I don't think the leftists will like this one
One of my favorite words is "mokita" which means the truth everyone
knows but agrees not to discuss. Every culture has things like that. In
America, everyone knows one truth about race relations. That is, if
blacks ever go to war with whites, they will lose everything. When you
are 13% of the population, you always have to navigate around the other
87%. Given America's race history, "navigating" means blacks can raise
holy hell from time to time when they feel cheated, but they can never
cross the line into full revolt.
Bosnians are pretty good at the tribal warfare stuff. Probably better
than their black neighbors. Given our insane immigration policies, I'm
betting there are quite a few ex-military/ex-militia living there in
Missouri. You can be sure they will be dialing their kin back home as
well. Garden variety white people would be fleeing to the suburbs. I'm
thinking these Bosnains are home polishing their weapons tonight.


text:
Regional Reviews: New Jersey
Light Lemonade at NJ Rep
However, a half century and sexual revolution later, this not unpleasant comedy's mechanistic plot will likely confine its appeal to community theaters and summer stock. It may even provide titillation to the more sheltered audience members of such venues.
While not long on originality, the setup is interesting and workable, and there is a good deal of snappy repartee throughout.
Carl and Jim, who were friends in college, meet in a bar ten years later. The philandering and boastful Carl is married with baby. The single Jim is monomaniacally married to his successful business. Carl convinces Jim to come to his home for dinner and an introduction to a suitable woman.
Unaware that her longtime best friend, the high powered Betsy, is in the midst of a protracted affair with Carl, his wife Jane invites Betsy to meet Jim. However, Jim falls in love at first sight with Jane. Jim and Betsy feign interest in each other in order to facilitate their respective designs of winning Jane and Carl.
As soon as Jim and Betsy embark on their plan, they begin to sleep together. All this occurs early on in the first of two acts.
Improbabilities already abound. Would Carl and Jane not have discussed whom Jane would arrange for Jim to meet? Would Betsy not have told Carl of the invitation, and refused it? Would the shy Jim, who is so smitten with Jane, climb right into bed with Betsy? Would Betsy ....?
Any number of ever more improbable twists and turns, several of which require members of the foursome to act totally contrary to character, remain to be played out before the final curtain.
Although the ending is essentially the one which you would expect from the early exposition, Carl is so obnoxiously full of himself that it is hard to understand what either Jane or Betsy can see in him. The expected, conventional ending is doubling unsatisfying because of the nature of the characters and their relationships.
The young cast projects a breezy likeability despite a tendency to come on too strong. This is especially true in the case of Bruce Faulk as Carl. His breezy aggressiveness makes Faulk likeable while rendering his Carl overly obnoxious. Quite a dichotomy here.
Ben Masur as Jim and Dana Benningfield as Jane are especially appealing and generate a surprising amount of chemistry. Benningfield is an ideal Jane. However, there is an unprincipled side to Jim which Masur's performance fails to explore.
Stephanie Dorian captures the confidence, toughness, aggressive sexuality and neediness of Betsy. It is an especially well nuanced performance.
Director Evan Bergman keeps everything moving along brightly and breezily. Jo Winiarski's handsome all-purpose set provides several comfortable playing areas on two levels. Patricia E. Doherty provides attractive costumes. Jeff Greenberg's lighting is appropriately bright and crisp.
New Jersey Rep's next two productions are quite ambitious and weighty - Old Clown Wanted, the U.S. premiere of a play by Romanian playwright Matei Visniec, and Whores, a politically charged play by Lee Blessing. For now, with its current production of the light Lemonade, weighty matters will just have to wait.
Lemonade continues performances through June 6, 2004 at the New Jersey Repertory's Lumia Theatre, 179 Broadway, Long Branch, NJ 07740, box office:732-229-3166; online www.njrep.org.
Lemonade by Mike Folie, directed by Evan Bergman. Cast (in alphabetical order): Dana Benningfield (Jane); Stephanie Dorian (Betsy); Bruce Faulk (Carl); Ben Masur (Ben)