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Elite Factionalism or Elite Conspiracy Theory?
"The criticism surrounding The Israel Lobby paper was sparked by the fact that two card-carrying members of the American intellectual establishment finally pointed out the elephant in the room."
by Will Banyan
The publication in March 2006 of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, as a working paper for the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and as an article in the London Review of Books, aroused much comment in the American media and academia -- most condemnatory. The authors, academics John Mearsheimer from the University of Chicago, and Stephen Walt from Harvard University, have had their work widely dismissed as being both conspiratorial and anti-Semitic.
"[T]his paper is anti-Semitic" declared Professor Eliot Cohen from Johns Hopkins University, in the Washington Post (April 5, 2006); nor was it "research in any serious sense," claimed Marty Peretz in The New Republic, but "the labor of obsessives with dark and conspiratorial minds." According to Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, the authors shared with white supremacist David Duke "the same interest in vilifying Jewish leaders and spouting conspiracy theories about Zionist plots against American interests" (Dershowitz 41). Even Stephen Zunes, a left-wing critic of U.S. support for Israel, implied that in subscribing to an "exaggerated claim of Jewish clout," Mearsheimer and Walt were "flirting with anti-Semitism" (Zunes 2006a, 15).
At the same time, there were some observers who were clearly overjoyed at the appearance of The Israel Lobby as it seemed to confirm their belief that the U.S. is, in fact, ruled by a "Zionist Occupation Government," or some other sinister Jewish cabal. David Duke, for example, praised it for having "told the truth about the proverbial gorilla in the room: the Zionist lobby and its enormous political and media power" (Duke 2006). The Israel Lobby, claimed a commentator for Rense.com, left "absolutely no doubt that Israel not only controls our entire government, our Pentagon, our foreign policy and our political parties, but our media as well" (Lang 2006).
Missing from these critiques and the praise - most of which represented the paper as a conspiratorial account of Jewish influence over U.S. foreign policy - was any acknowledgement of Mearsheimer and Walt's careful caveats to the contrary. Some were explicit: "the Lobby's activities are not a conspiracy of the sort depicted in tracts like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion." To be sure, Mearsheimer and Walt attribute to the Lobby an "ability to manipulate the American political system," but they stress that it is not "a unified movement with central leadership," but an ethnic lobby; one of many, though arguably the most successful (Mearsheimer and Walt 14-16).
According to Walt, the firestorm of criticism surrounding The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy was not sparked by what they said, but by "the fact that two card-carrying members of the American intellectual establishment finally pointed out the elephant in the room" (Washington Times, August 29, 2006). But why did they say it?
Aside from viewing The Israel Lobby controversy as confirming the unpalatable anti-Semitic nightmares of David Duke and others, there are from a conspiratorial perspective at least two more plausible ways of interpreting the storm.
The first is to see The Israel Lobby as a well-crafted attempt to divert blame for the costly debacle that the invasion of Iraq has become from the rest of the Establishment, especially the oil lobby, to the age-old scapegoat, the Jews (Zunes 2006a; Peretz 2006). In this counter-narrative Israel is the victim. Consider Zunes' commentary on Israel's recent attack on Lebanon - a military adventure he suggests Israel instigated "largely at the behest of the United States" - where Israel is painted as a U.S. "proxy in the Middle East." Zunes contends this use of Israel "corresponds to historic anti-Semitism" with the ruling elite using the Jews as the "most visible agents of the oppressive social order," who were always "convenient scapegoats" when the elites were seeking to redirect the anger of the restive masses. So now the scapegoating continues, evident in the blame placed on the "Zionist lobby" by Establishment critics (Zunes 2006b).
The second and more plausible interpretation (in this author's opinion) is that the Mearsheimer-Walt paper is another salvo in an ongoing struggle between competing elites for control of the War on Terror. Rather than the U.S. power-elite being a monolithic entity, the increasingly shrill dispute over The Israel Lobby paper reveals that the fissures at the highest levels of the food chain have become deep and suppurating.
Rather than being a crude attempt to unfairly smear a single ethnic lobby, there really is an Israel Lobby (as AIPAC's own website proudly attests), which has been successful (despite some exaggerations), and not surprisingly its agenda is opposed by elements in the Establishment. The paper suggested that the usual suspects in most conspiratorial accounts of the "New World Order" -- the Council on Foreign Relations, Trilateral Commission and Bilderbergers -- have some serious competition when it comes to influencing American foreign policy.
Continuing on with the argument raised in an earlier piece (Banyan 2006), it is the contention of this article that while the Mearsheimer-Walt article perhaps overstates the influence of the Israel Lobby, it exposes an aspect of elite factionalism missing from most mainstream and alternative narratives of the seemingly endless War on Terror.
The Ultimate Ethnic Lobby
At 82 pages including nearly 40 pages of footnotes, The Israel Lobby is an impressive tome, though inevitably controversial due to its central contention that a lobby group based in America's Jewish community has distorted U.S. foreign policy. Mearsheimer and Walt are unequivocal, asserting that the overall thrust of U.S. policy in the Middle East is due "almost entirely to U.S. domestic politics … especially the activities of the 'Israel Lobby'." In fact, they state, no other lobby groups have "managed to divert U.S. foreign policy as far from what the American national interest would otherwise suggest."
Israel, Mearsheimer and Walt point out, has been the recipient of an extraordinary amount of aid from the U.S., totaling some $140 billion since the early 1970s. The U.S. has also given Israel privileged access to its intelligence and turned a blind eye towards its covert nuclear program. Yet despite this generous aid, which far exceeds that given to poorer countries, Israel has become a "strategic burden" to America. Continuing U.S. support for Israel has antagonized Arab oil states and has been one of the key factors in motivating terrorists, especially Osama bin Laden, to attack Americans at home and abroad (Mearsheimer and Walt 4-5).
Despite these costs, U.S. support is assured because of the "unmatched power of the Israel Lobby," described as a "loose coalition of individuals and organizations" which actively works "to shape U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction" (p. 14). The "most powerful and well-known" organization in the Israel Lobby is the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), ranked by members of Congress in 1997 as the second most powerful lobby active in Washington DC. AIPAC is a "de facto agent for a foreign government" claim Mearsheimer and Walt, which has a "stranglehold on the U.S. Congress" (pp. 15, 18).
Mearsheimer and Walt assert that AIPAC's power stems from its ability to "reward legislators and congressional candidates who support its agenda, and to punish those who challenge it." Others have confirmed this contention. Michael Massing, writing in the New York Review of Books, for instance, notes that AIPAC has a "formidable network of supporters throughout the U.S.," comprising 100,000 members, nine regional offices, ten satellite offices, a Washington office with 100 staff and an annual budget of $47 million (Massing 67). But according to Massing, AIPAC's real power lies not in its direct lobbying of Congressmen, but in its ability to control the flow of campaign financing:
A candidate will contact AIPAC and express strong sympathies with Israel. AIPAC will point out that it doesn't endorse candidates but will offer to introduce him to people who do. Someone affiliated with AIPAC will be assigned to the candidate to act as a contact person. Checks for $500 or $1,000 from pro-Israel donors will be bundled together and provided to the candidate with a clear indication of the donors' political views (p. 67).
Failing to toe the pro-Israel line, however, can cut short a Congressional career; those candidates who challenge AIPAC "can find their funds suddenly dry up," while their opponents receive generous funding from pro-Israeli sources (Massing 67). But the Lobby is not just AIPAC, it's also represented by a host of think tanks in Washington DC. Aside from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, founded by the Lobby in 1985, "pro-Israel forces" have, according to Mearsheimer and Walt:
…established a commanding presence at the American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institution, the Center for Security Policy, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the Hudson Institute, the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA). These think tanks employ few, if any, critics of U.S. support for Israel (pp. 21-22).
The Lobby also has "significant leverage over the executive branch," partly due to the disproportionate influence of Jewish voters and financial contributors on presidential elections (Mearsheimer and Walt 18). Another factor is the presence of "fervently" pro-Israel individuals in important positions in the executive branch - such as Martin Indyk and Dennis Ross during the Clinton Administration; and Elliot Abrams, John Bolton, Douglas Feith, Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz in the Bush Administration - while opponents are generally excluded (Mearsheimer and Walt 17-19).
To achieve its goals - described by Massing as, "a powerful Israel free to occupy the territory it chooses; enfeebled Palestinians; and unquestioning support for Israel by the United States" - the Lobby, especially AIPAC, makes a lot of "background noise," mobilizing the media and Congress to pressure the White House into pursuing policies favorable to Israel (Massing 67-68). There are numerous examples:
- In his Memoirs, President Nixon blamed an "unyielding and shortsighted pro-Israeli attitude prevalent in large and influential segments of the American Jewish community, Congress, the media, and in intellectual and cultural circles," for undermining his attempt to create a more "balanced" Middle East policy (p. 481).
- In 1975 President Ford was forced to retreat from his six-month suspension of aid to Israel after a campaign by AIPAC, including a letter signed by 76 senators "confirming their support for Israel" (Blankfort 2003, pp. 4-5).
- AIPAC has been linked to the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, a piece of legislation apparently designed to disrupt the Oslo accords by trying to shift the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (Massing, pp. 67-68).
- In a 2005 speech, former President George H. W. Bush suggested AIPAC was partly to blame for his electoral defeat in 1992 by campaigning against him (Desch 2006, p. 28).
Perhaps the greatest achievement of the Lobby, according to Mearsheimer and Walt, has been the invasion of Iraq in 2003. They assert that "pressure" from the Israel Lobby was a "critical factor" behind the invasion, which was part of a "larger plan to reorder the Middle East"; in fact, the overthrow of Saddam Hussein was "motivated in good part by a desire to make Israel more secure," rather than a push to dominate the region's oil. They note that a number of Bush Administration officials, including Perle, Feith and David Wurmser, were co-authors of the Clean Break report of 1996 for then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which recommended ousting Saddam (Mearsheimer and Walt 30-35).
The Lobby also works to suppress commentary critical of Israel, including manipulating the media, stifling debate on university campuses, and labeling as anti-Semites those who suggest the pro-Israel Lobby has excessive influence. "In fact," they observe, "anyone who says that there is an Israel Lobby runs the risk of being charged with anti-Semitism" (Mearsheimer and Walt 6, 24). It seems to have been self-fulfilling prophecy. According to one observer, the Lobby "produced an attempt to silence discussion and discredit the authors, sometimes employing character assassination and the technique of guilt by association" (Pfaff 2006).
Mearsheimer and Walt have also been tarred as propagandists in the pay of the Arabs. Some overtly pro-Israel commentators linked publication of The Israel Lobby to a $20 million grant to Harvard from Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal. More recently, Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, derided Mearsheimer and Walt as "handmaidens of the Arab propaganda machine" for speaking at an event organised by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) (Jewish Telegraph, August 29, 2006).
The Elephant in the Room
The Mearsheimer-Walt paper is by no means the first attempt by Establishment representatives to criticize the Israel Lobby. In 2002, for example, Michael Lind, a former editor of The National Interest, wrote in Prospect magazine about the "disproportionate influence of the Israel lobby," claiming that its efforts were "distort[ing] U.S. foreign policy." Two years later, Anatol Lieven, a former journalist with the London Times and at the time a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, criticised the Lobby in his book America Right or Wrong: An Anatomy of American Nationalism (2004).
Other critics of note have included George W. Ball, an Undersecretary of State during the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations, who attacked the Lobby in his book The Passionate Attachment (1992), arguing that it had "distorted America's policies and imposed an enormous burden on the nation's economy." No friend of the Lobby, Ball once likened members of Congress to "trained poodles," beholden to Israel's interests, who would "jump dutifully through hoops held by Israel's lobby" (quoted in Findley, p.19). Ball's other credential was as one of the founding members of the Bilderberg group; in fact, he attended every Bilderberg meeting but one from 1954 until his death in 1994 (Ball 52-53).
It was through Bilderberg that Ball first developed his association with another occasional enemy of the Israel Lobby, mega-plutocrat David Rockefeller. Self-confessed believer in a "more integrated global political and economic structure: one world," it was perhaps inevitable that Rockefeller would come to grief with the more limited and parochial objectives of the Israel Lobby; though it would also suit his interests to divert blame for dubious policy choices to such a grouping.
Thus in Rockefeller's 2002 Memoirs, we find him agreeing with "expert" opinion that the "end of détente" could be traced to the Jackson-Vanik Amendment of 1972, which demanded the Soviets lift all restrictions on Jewish emigration in exchange for Most Favored Nation trading status (Rockefeller 236). That Amendment -- conceived by neo-con icon Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson in consultation with an "informal group on Capitol Hill" led by Perle that was "intensely supportive of Israel" (Isaacson 612) -- was, in Rockefeller's view, a "shortsighted congressional action" (Rockefeller 236).
Rockefeller's autobiography is filled with details of his many meetings with Arab leaders, but he mentions relatively few visits to Israel. In fact, as "one of relatively few Americans" with access to Arab leaders during the early 1970s - due to his role as President of Chase Manhattan - David Rockefeller boasts he became a "diplomatic go-between," passing messages between the White House and the Arab world (Rockefeller 272).
This role soon got him into trouble with the Israel Lobby. A New York Times report claimed that on December 9, 1969, David Rockefeller and a group of oil executives had allegedly prevailed upon Nixon to adopt a "pro-Arab" position. Rockefeller rejects this characterization, claiming they merely pushed Nixon for a "more balanced U.S. policy" in the Middle East. Secretary of State William Rogers later called on Israel to withdraw to its pre-1967 borders in return for a binding peace with the Arabs. But, laments Rockefeller, Israel "rejected it out of hand" and announced it would open the Arab part of Jerusalem to settlement (Rockefeller 276-78).
A bitter Rockefeller suspected they had been "set-up" by Nixon to be the "scapegoats" if the public turned against Nixon's policy (Rockefeller 278). But worse was to follow when the Chase bank was "swamped" with letters and prominent visitors from New York's Jewish community complaining about Rockefeller's "alleged anti-Israeli bias." A boycott was organized by "several Jewish businessmen" and a "number of important accounts were withdrawn." In January 1970, David Rockefeller issued a public statement clarifying his position, announcing his new found belief the U.S. "must to do everything it can" to support Israel (Rockefeller 279).
There was more to Rockefeller's reversal than meets the eye. Among those complainants Rockefeller met with was Democrat Congressman Ed Koch, who waged a public campaign against the plutocrat, seeking confirmation that he had advised Nixon to adopt a policy "favorable to the Arabs." Koch claims David Rockefeller admitted to making the offending statement, though he insisted it was done in the interest of the U.S., not because of the oil. Informing the plutocrat that his brother, Nelson Rockefeller, had just come out in unequivocal support of Israel, Koch declared his intention to make a public statement about their meeting (Koch). It has been alleged that Nelson's support for Israel was not heartfelt, but was due to the Israeli Mossad blackmailing him for consorting with South American fascists and trading with the enemy during World War II (Loftus and Arons 166-171). In the game of public relations Rockefeller had been checkmated.
David Rockefeller's setback was temporary. He has challenged the Israel Lobby's consensus more than most. An example is his 1999 visit to Israel and the Gaza Strip as part of a CFR delegation, where he met with then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Rockefeller's account artfully denigrates Israel. He complains of being detained at the border crossing into Gaza by Israeli soldiers for "more than an hour." He describes Arafat as a "charming man," and Gaza as a "ghetto" and "one of the most forlorn places" he had ever visited. As for his Israeli hosts, Barak was a "self-confident, assertive man" who explains why Arafat's demands will be rejected; but whose replacement by the "hardliner" Ariel Sharon threatens "an even wider war" (Rockefeller 409-410).
The Fight Continues
If we pursue this notion of elite factionalism, we might note the consistency of the links among those who have taken issue with the Israel Lobby. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, for example, not only described the neo-cons as "fucking crazies" (quoted in Naughtie, p. 127), but repeatedly suggested their first loyalty was to Israel. Powell reportedly referred to most of Rumsfeld's team as the "JINSA crowd" (LA Times, 9 Oct. 2006), and in his exit interview with Bush described Feith as a "card carrying member of the Likud Party" (Packer 445). Powell, no doubt by mere coincidence, is on record publicly thanking the Lobby's other antagonist, David Rockefeller, for being his "great mentor."
Lawrence Wilkerson, Powell's chief of staff at the State Department, and, since his own retirement, an outspoken critic of the "cabal" around Cheney, has lauded Mearsheimer and Walt's thesis as containing "blinding flashes of the obvious." Wilkerson has reportedly assigned the paper to his students at George Washington University and the College of William and Mary "for discussion" (Amos 2006).
Other odd coincidences and connections also emerge. Anatol Lieven and Michael Lind, after coming under sustained criticism for their attacks on the Lobby, both found refuge at the New American Foundation (NAF). The mission of the NAF, which was founded in January 1999 and describes itself as an "independent, non-partisan, non-profit public policy institute," is to invest in "outstanding individuals and policy ideas that transcend the conventional political spectrum." Lind is currently the Whitehead Senior Fellow at the NAF. Former Deputy Secretary of State John C. Whitehead, who counts Rockefeller as one of his "old friends" (Whitehead, p.7) -- and who has also been publicly lauded as a "friend" by Powell and his deputy Richard Armitage -- is the largest individual donor to the NAF, as well as a public critic of the Bush Administration's policies in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Whitehead also marked himself as an opponent of the Israel Lobby/neo-conservative consensus with his public and private attacks on John Bolton, back in 2004 when Bush nominated him to be Ambassador to the UN. Bolton, a former Senior Vice President at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), received enthusiastic support from AEI, JINSA and the Zionist Organization of America. In addition to the controversial efforts of Colin Powell and Richard Armitage, Whitehead personally lobbied Senators to reject Bolton's nomination.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, long-time Rockefeller acolyte, Trilateral Commission co-founder and lead speaker at a number of NAF forums, praised Walt and Mearsheimer for performing a "public service" by "initiating a much needed public debate" on the role of the Israel Lobby (Brzezinski 63)
Uniting these figures has been their opposition to the invasion of Iraq. On the eve of the invasion, Mearsheimer and Walt (2003, 52) had derided the case for war as "flimsy," arguing instead for the continued containment of Saddam Hussein. Brzezinski had taken issue with the Bush Administration's "demagogic fixation on Iraq" (Financial Times, Mar. 4, 2003), warning that invading Iraq may come "at too high a cost to America's global leadership" (Washington Post, Feb. 19, 2003). And Lind (2003) found fault with Washington's "failure to come up with a convincing rationale for the war."
Whitehead and Rockefeller also indicated disquiet, though less obviously. Sometime after the invasion, Rockefeller declared his support for Colin Powell's failed attempt to evade war through the UN route (Banyan 2006). Whitehead was a signatory to a letter to Bush from the United Nations Association of the USA (Oct. 25, 2002), which declared its opposition to "unwarranted unilateral military action against Iraq" as a "compelling case has not been made" that Iraq was an imminent threat to the U.S.
The plot thickens further when we see the forces recently arrayed for and against Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island. According to Massing, "pro-Israel forces" were "targeting" Chafee for taking "a number of positions that run counter to AIPAC's" such as voting against the Syria Accountability Act (Massing 67). In early 2006, the founder of the Washington Political Action Committee, former AIPAC executive director Morris Amitay, told the New York Sun (Jan. 3, 2006) that they would "like to see the young Chafee retired from the Senate" as he had "one of the worst records of anyone in the Senate" when it came to "pro-Israel initiatives." WPAC had already donated $5000 dollars to Chafee's GOP challenger, Stephen P. Laffey, whose pro-Israel stance was judged by a Rhode Island paper to be "so strong that it sometimes puts him in the minority" (Providence Journal, April 17, 2006).
As the September 12 primary loomed, it was reported that the Republicans Who Care Individual Fund, a group affiliated with the Republican Main Street Partnership, had emerged in support of Chafee, funding a $100,000 advertising campaign targeting his pro-Israel opponent, Laffey. Patrons of the fund, reported the Providence Journal (Sept. 6, 2006), were "some pillars of the old-line GOP establishment," including David Rockefeller ($25,000) and John C. Whitehead ($25,000). Whitehead was also a sponsor of a Chafee fundraiser at the Yale Club, hosted by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on September 5, 2006. This was not enough to save Chafee in the November elections, however, and he was trounced by his Democrat opponent, Sheldon Whitehouse, who received $31,000 from pro-Israel PACs.
The Split Capstone
Speaking in Washington DC in August 2006 as guests of CAIR, Walt made the point that they never said "the Israel lobby was all powerful." It was "not some secret cabal that controls [U.S.] foreign policy"; rather, there were "countervailing forces out there, though they are much weaker, and the lobby doesn't get its way on every single issue." Walt's important caveats highlight something missing from both the leftist analysis, exemplified by Zunes, and the more traditional conspiratorial analysis, both of which seem to contend that the ruling elites are monolithic and unfractured.
Among conspiracists, particularly those concerned with the New World Order, the dominant assumption is that all groups are so interconnected that the same objective-- world government - must predominate. Any evidence to the contrary is usually dismissed as a contrivance designed to deceive the public, or as a grubby squabble for control of the same project. David Icke, for instance, assures us that most world leaders (Illuminati) "only appear to be in conflict for the purposes of deluding the people into a false reality" (Icke 477).
Yet indisputable evidence of elite factionalism - of the upper echelons of the food chain chasing different agendas than world government - has long been apparent. In his magnum opus, Tragedy and Hope (1966), for example, Carroll Quigley had observed how, since the 1950s, Wall Street had been challenged by the "new wealth springing up outside the eastern cities, notably in the Southwest and Far West." As early as 1964, the representatives of this "new wealth," based in oil, aviation or armaments, had engaged in a financial struggle with the "old wealth" of the East for control of the political process - and ultimately of the White House - to ensure that high government spending on military and space continued (Quigley 1245-1246). This split between the so-called East Coast "Yankees" and the "Cowboys" of the Southwest was subsequently explored at length by Kirkpatrick Sale (1975) and Carl Oglesby (1977).
Seen through the prism of elite factionalism, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy is a valuable addition to this neglected field. It highlights in some detail the workings and influence of yet another private grouping that subverts democratic processes in service of a narrow agenda. Of course, some caution is necessary as the outcry over its activities is driven by elite, rather than popular, angst at losing the initiative. But to disregard it, either out of fears of being labeled as anti-Semitic or because it conflicts with pet theories, would be shortsighted.
©2006 Will Banyan. This article appeared in Paranoia issue 44, Spring 2007. Will Banyan has a graduate degree in Information Science and is a writer specializing in the political economy of globalization. He has worked for local and national governments, international organizations and the private sector. He is currently working on a revisionist history of the New World Order and an analysis of the War on Terror. Banyan's six-part series, "Rockefeller Internationalism" and four-part series "A Short History of the Round Table" were published in Nexus. His article "Outflanking the Nation-State" appears on the Paranoia website, and research papers "The Invisible Man of the New World Order: Raymond B. Fosdick" and "The Proud Internationalist: The Globalist Vision of David Rockefeller" appear at: www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/third_section.html. He may be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.
The Israel Lobby paper may be read at the London Review of Books website (www.lrb.co.uk). See also video (and transcript) of the Sept 2006 debate at Cooper Union in NYC, "The Israel Lobby: Does it Have Too Much Influence on U.S. Foreign Policy?" (www.scribemedia.org/2006/10/11/israel-lobby/)
Amos, Deborah. "Paper on Israel Lobby Sparks Heated Debate," NPR -- Morning Edition, April 21, 2006. www.npr.org.
Banyan, Will. "A Neo-Con Counter-Conspiracy," Paranoia (issue 40), Winter 2006.
Bill, James A. George Ball: Behind the Scenes in U.S. Foreign Policy. Yale University Press, 1997.
Blankfort, Jeffrey. "Damage Control: Noam Chomsky and the Israel Palestine Conflict," www.dissidentvoice.org, May 25, 2005.
Blankfort, Jeffrey. A War for Israel. (Left Curve No. 28). If Americans Knew, 2004.
Blankfort, Jeffrey. The Israel Lobby and the Left: Uneasy Questions. If Americans Knew, 2003.
Brzezinski, Zbigniew. "A Dangerous Exemption," Foreign Policy, July/August 2006.
Dershowitz, Alan. Debunking the Newest - and Oldest - Jewish Conspiracy: A Reply to the Mearsheimer-Walt "Working Paper." Harvard Law School, April 2006.
Desch, Michael C. "The Myth of Abandonment: The Use and Abuse of the Holocaust Analogy," Security Studies, January 2006.
Findley, Paul. "Silence of the Poodles," Washington Report, May/June 2006, p. 19.
Icke, David. Tales from the Time Loop. Bridge of Love, 2004.
Isaacson, Walter. Kissinger: A Biography. Touchstone: New York, 1992.
Koch, Ed. Reminiscences of David Rockefeller (1976 interview), "Notable New Yorkers" in the Oral History Research Office Collection of the Columbia University Libraries (OHRO/CUL), www.columbia.edu.
Lind, Michael. "Can A Government Wage War Without Popular Support?," January 28, 2003.
Lind, Michael. "The Israel Lobby," Prospect, April 1, 2002.
Loftus, John, and Mark Aarons. The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed The Jewish People. St. Martin's Griffin, 1997 (Reprint).
Massing, Michael. "The Storm over the Israel Lobby," The New York Review of Books, June 8, 2006.
Mearsheimer, John J. and Walt, Stephen M. The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. Harvard University, March 2006.
Mearsheimer, John J. and Walt, Stephen M. "An Unnecessary War," Foreign Policy, January/February 2003.
Naughtie, James. The Accidental American: Tony Blair and the Presidency. Pan Books, 2004.
Oglesby, Carl. The Yankee and Cowboy War: Conspiracies from Dallas to Watergate and Beyond. Berkley: Medallion Books, 1977.
Peretz, Martin. "Oil and Vinegar," The New Republic, March 10, 2006.
Quigley, Carroll. Tragedy and Hope: A History of The World in Our Time. Angriff Press, 1974.
Rockefeller, David. Memoirs. Random House, 2002.
Sale, Kirkpatrick. Power Shift: The Rise of The Southern Rim and Its Challenge to the Eastern Establishment. Random House, 1975.
Whitehead, John C. A Life in Leadership: From D-Day to Ground Zero. New America Books, 2005.
Zunes, Stephen. The Israel Lobby: How Powerful is it Really? Foreign Policy In Focus, May 16, 2006a.Zunes, Stephen. "How Washington Goaded Israel to Invade Lebanon," Aug. 19, 2006b, www.commondreams.org.


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AIA Lecturer: Elizabeth Macaulay Lewis
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Grace Kelly: The American Princess
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The seemingly fairy tale life of one of the most popular actresses of the 1950s is explored. Born in Philadelphia high-society, Kelly headed to New York to be a model and an actress soon after high school graduation. After a brief foray on Broadway and in TV, she set her sights on a film career. She attracted attention in "High Noon," and rocketed to stardom after appearing in "Rear Window" with James Stewart. Just two years later, she turned her back on it all to marry Prince Rainier II of Monaco. Narrated by Richard Kiley.
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text: Hello Domenico & all Thanks for all the information. The measured F/D ratio works out to 0.375, therefore a patch would be appropriate. As mentioned earlier I would be content to just be able to receive EME (for now). For transmitting no doubt a different feed would be needed. Currently I am looking around for a preamp. I built a dual helix feed I am going to use on a four foot primestar off center dish. I used to receive on AO40 (sobsob) with a 3731AA downconverter. This same system will be used for transmitting (L band) on our next HEO. Maybe by planning and working toward the next HEO will generate more intense drive by all concerned. I can mount the 70 watt amp behind the 12 foot TVRO as suggested. Could a short helix be used for receive on the big dish? They are easier to build as opposed to a patch. All this work (fun) will help fill the void untill the next HEO. From what I am reading on the BB I could be at this for a long time. Any additional information would be helpf ull, p erhaps others can get something out of this. I have some pictures of the dish, dual helix I can send upon request. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle -- "if this were easy, everyone would be doing it" -------------- Original message -------------- From: "i8cvs" <domenico.i8cvs at tin.it> Hi Bob, W7LRD Before to start anyting you must to know the F/D ratio of your dish because this parameter will tell you if a patch as a feed is suitable or not for it. If your TVRO dish is a prime focus dish to measure the F/D ratio is very easy Put your dish horizontal on the ground looking up 90 degrees and strain a rope passing just through the center of the mouth and measure the diameter D Measure the depth of the dish just from the center of the mouth between the rope and the bottom of the dish and call the deepth c 2 D D F/D = ----------------- and the focal point F = -------------- from the bottom of the dish 16 x c 16 x c If the F/D ratio is less than 0.5 then a patch can be used but if F/D is greater then 0.5 then a patch is not suitable. By the way a patch as a feed is not used at all for EME because there are type of specialized feed that are much and much better. If the F/D ratio is less of 0.5 then a VE4MA feed can be used and if the F/D ratio is greater of 0,5 then a dual mode dish W2IMU must be used. Both VE4MA and W2IMU are dual port feeds one the LHCP is used to transmit and the other one the RHCP is used to receive. Waiting for P3E and depending of the F/D ratio of a 5 meter dish that I plan to build for 1296 MHz EME I have already built both a VE4MA and a W2IMU feeds in order to be prepared for EME in the future because unfortunately the future seems to be not bright for the HEO satellites. 73" de i8CVS Domenico ----- Original Message ----- From: w7lrd at comcast.net To: Edward Cole ; i8cvs ; AMSAT-BB Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 7:39 AM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: brain picking time Ed and all Many thanks for the information from many of you. I realize I will need a preamp. For now I will be content to see what I can hear. As you can guess once I can copy signals I will want to join in. That will require at very least mounting the amp at the antenna and a sequencer. I have seen W0LMD' web site as well as several others. I want to start out slow, before I "lose it". 73 Bob W7LRD -- "if this were easy, everyone would be doing it" -------------- Original message -------------- From: Edward Cole <kl7uw at acsalaska.net> > Domenico, > > You said it well. I forgot to mention that polarity sense will > reverse upon reflection at the dish surface, so the feed sense should > be Rx=RHCP; Tx=LHCP. In other discussions about using a patch for > eme, concern has been about sidelobe performance and high power > rating of the patch if full QRO eme is considered. Up to 200w it > probably is OK. > > I assumed that Bob was savy enough about microwave weak-signals to > know that on eme a preamp is not a luxury but an absolute > necessity. LMR-400 would be fine for connection from the preamp to > the receiver in the shack, if at least 15-dB net gain is left after > the cable loss is subtracted. More gain is desirable if the receive r > NF is high. A preamp of 0.3 dBNF is standard at 1296 for eme. > > I have a WD5AGO two-stage preamp with 0.30dBNF and 31-dBgain bought > from Radio Astronomy Supply. > > 73 Ed - KL7UW > > At 05:54 PM 8/5/2008, i8cvs wrote: > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: "Edward Cole" > >To: ; "AMSAT-BB" > >Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 8:24 AM > >Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: brain picking time > > > >At 04:35 PM 8/4/2008, w7lrd at comcast.net wrote: > > > > >Next question- which probably would be more aimed at a EME bb. I > > >have a 12 foot TVRO I am building a patch feed for 1296, and feed it > > >through 50 feet of LMR400 to my IC-1271A. I want to see if I am > > >able to "hear" EME signals. Of course if I am able to, you can > > >g u ess what my next effort will be. This will be a cheapie effort as > > >I am only using stuff I already have. I do have a KJ6KO L band 70 watt > >amp. > > >73 Bob W7LRD > > >Seattle > > > > > Bob, > > > > > > Is your patch feed circular polar? EME on 1296 is RHCP in transmit > > > and LHCP in receive. > > > >Hi Ed, KL7UW > > > >It is best to specify to Bob that on 1296 MHz the dish in transmit must > >radiate RHCP in direction of the moon so that the patch or any other > >feed must radiate LCHP in direction of the surface of the dish. > > > > > The switch of polarity sense is due to the fact > > > that reflection at the moon reverses the sense of polarization. > > > >OK > >So that on receiving the wave coming from the moon is received LHCP > ; ; ; ; & gt;over the surface of the dish but the dish reverse by reflection the signal > >in direction of the feed that must be made RHCP polarized on receiving. > > > >In addition a TVRO dish works well with a patch feed if the F/D ratio of > >the dish is ranging from 0.35 to 0.45 > > > > > might be difficult to achieve with a patch feed. > > > >W0LMD make a patch feed for RHCP and LHCP but never I tested it > > > >Since the target of Bob is to see if he is able to only "hear" EME signals > >at 1296 MHz without to complicate his life I suggest at the very beginning > >to build only a patch feed RHCP polarized. > > > >To receive a 1296 EME signal with a 12 foot TVRO and a IC-1271A > >it is strictly necessary to connect directly to the patch connector a low > >noise preamplifier with a NF in the order of 0.5 dB &g t; & gt; ; &g t; >Since the gain of a low noise EME preamplifier for 1296 MHz is > >in the order of 30 dB or more then 50 feet of LMR400 connected from > >the output of the preamplifier up to the input of the IC-1271A will not > >deteriorate the overall NF of the system that will be only a little bit > >higher than 0.5 dB > > > > > 73 Ed - KL7UW > > > >73" de > > > >i8CVS Domenico >


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"Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton As Himself" (PBS, Friday). "American Masters," that great library of American cultural accomplishment, gives the nod to the late writer, editor, publisher and media personality -- if not exactly the father of "participatory journalism," then the man most identified with it through the last half of the last century. Which means, I suppose, that many of you will not have heard of him. (All the more reason to watch Tom Bean and Luke Poling's affectionate, at times intoxicating documentary.) As a sort of Walter Mitty not content to dream, Plimpton was the artist as dilettante, the dilettante as artist, transforming himself into the semblance of a professional football player (the source for his best-selling "Paper Lion," later a major motion picture), a basketball player, a baseball player. But also a stand-up comedian, a percussionist in the New York Philharmonic, a bit player in a John Wayne Western, a wild-animal photographer. That he did none of these things well was not the point -- or rather, it was part of the point, which was to understand excellence by failing to achieve it.
Plimpton wasn't the first writer to walk a mile in someone else's shoes in order to comprehend a process, a challenge, a point of view -- he credited Paul Gallico, who sparred with Jack Dempsey and golfed with Bobby Jones as his most immediate model -- but he made it His Thing. Morgan Spurlock, experimenting on himself with junk food in "Super Size Me," is his spiritual child; but so are the struggling celebrities of "Dancing with the Stars"; or any writer who attempts to live as a caveman for a year, or work as a sherpa, or follow in the steps of Phileas Fogg to get a book out of it. Though Plimpton was always at the center of his work, he looked outward as much as inward; he did not just want to tell you what he was feeling -- in life, at least, he could be reticent about such things -- but what he saw, and did it with eloquence, lightness and humor. (Hemingway was an inspiration, and a friend, and, some posit, a father figure.) He came from patrician roots but had the common touch curiosity confers.
Some of his later transformations were accomplished for television, a medium some of his more literary friends found demeaning -- Plimpton was also the co-founder, editor, lifelong steward and frequent financial support of the important literary journal The Paris Review -- and one of the questions the film asks is whether it was worth it to be George Plimpton, Transformer, rather than George Plimpton, whatever some people thought he should be or imagined he really wanted to be. ("The last thing on his mind was to write the great novel," first wife Freddy Espy recalls. "George was quite happy with who he was.") The tale is told partially in Plimpton's own words (some read by son Taylor), and by a coterie of handsome, often silver-haired friends, relations and colleagues, recalling shared days of giddy youth (shading into giddy middle age, and beyond). There were, apparently, a lot of cocktails.
"Day Job" (YouTube). Comedian Sara Schaefer, host with Nikki Glaser of last year's MTV late-night "Nikki & Sara Live," offers eight scenes from the life you sometimes have to live to live the life you want. These snippets of post-"Office Space" cubicle comedy are as brief as '60s pop singles -- one lasts just a second more than a minute -- but each has its own flavor of airlessness or craziness or unexpected beauty. (Also: there are puppets.) As every comedian will now do at some point in her career, Schaefer plays a less successful, if possibly no less frustrated, version of herself. These tasty morsels are available now via Schaefer's YouTube channel Little BoBo.
"The System, with Joe Berlinger" (Al Jazeera America, Sundays). Berlinger, the director of HBO's "Paradise Lost" films, which helped free the West Memphis 3, and "Some Kind of Monster," about the band Metallica in literal group therapy, puts his name into the title and steps in front of the camera for an eight-part look at American criminal justice. ("I'm Joe Berlinger and I've used my camera for 20 years to knock down doors and pursue the truth.") "The System" is meant ominously here, as Kafka might have used it. (Though he would have said "Das System" -- or "Strafjustizsystem," if he wanted to be more specific -- but less ominous). "I figured if I told them the truth everything would be OK," says one woman recalling her first mistake. Episode titles include, "False Confessions," "Mandatory Sentencing," "Flawed Forensics," "Eyewitness Evidence," "Juvenile Justice," "Geography of Punishment," "Parole" and "Prosecutorial Integrity," which is the polite way of saying "Prosecutorial Misconduct."
Without becoming too obviously partisan -- he's clearly interested in righting wrongs, but he does leaves a little room for ambiguity -- Berlinger tells gripping stories of institutional dysfunction, personal resolution, and of the disinclination both of officials and family, out of legal or emotional self-preservation, to revisit convictions that new evidence or techniques may find faulty. A common theme is the way that winning -- which is sometimes just cost analysis -- not only becomes more important than the truth, but creates new "truths" that supplant demonstrable facts. The episodes I've seen each focus on two cases, the better to highlight the human drama, and to underscore the idea that justice demands that every case be given its individual due; at the same time, where his subjects seem disconcertingly complicated in ways he doesn't deign or have room to explore, he does at least suggest that those complexities exist. The films are handsomely made, as if to show respect. Episodes repeat Wednesdays.


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NorCal Tournament
PLEASANT HILL — UC Irvine lost to Loyola Marymount, 12-9, in the ninth-place game after topping UC Davis, 12-11, in overtime earlier Sunday at Diablo Valley College.
Freshman Kyle Trush scored with 52 seconds left against UC Davis to force overtime and scored the game-winning goal with 1:01 left in overtime.
Mitch Wise had five goals to lead UCI against UC Davis.
Against LMU, Wise had five goals and Jared Osborn two as the Lions pulled away after the teams were tied, 6-6, at halftime.
UCI (10-2) opens Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play Oct. 5 at USC.
Saint Mary's Invitational
SEASIDE — UC Irvine junior Allan Jun finished 25th as the Anteaters finished 11th in the 54-hole event that concluded Tuesday at Bayonet Golf Course.
Jun shot one-over-par 71 on Tuesday, pulling even with teammate Jacob Schulze in the overall standings.
UCI did post the best team score among five Big West Conference schools in the 19-school field, which was topped by Cal.
Biola def. Vanguard
COSTA MESA — Jessica Neves had nine kills and 14 assists to lead the host Lions in the 25-14, 25-19, 25-17 Golden State Athletic Conference loss on Tuesday.
Vanguard, ranked No. 17 in the NAIA, fell to 12-3, 1-1 in conference.
Biola, ranked No. 3, is 11-0.
Santa Clara 2, UC Irvine 1
IRVINE — The visiting Broncos scored the game-winner in the 88th minute of the nonconference game Sunday.
Trey Hayes scored in the 21st minute to give UCI (4-2-2) a 1-0 lead. Enrique Cardenas and Bryan Breslin were credited with assists.
UCI posted a 12-8 advantage in shots, but Santa Clara improved to 3-4.
Both of the Broncos' shots on goal found the net.
UCI visits Cal State Bakersfield on Friday.
Washington State 4, UC Irvine 0
IRVINE — The visiting Cougars improved to 7-0-2 with the nonconference triumph on Sunday.
UCI (5-4) returns to action in the Big West Conference opener on Oct. 4 at UC Santa Barbara.


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Now that autumn is almost two-thirds over, we're getting some cooler days and a few nights in the mid- to upper 30s.
By Christmas we could get a few nights cold enough to turn water in the gutters to ice and leave a light frosty coating on roofs. But don't expect a white Christmas.
Snow is not unheard of in Redlands, but it's rare enough to be a cause for excitement for just about everyone except citrus growers. Frosty the Snowman and the below-freezing temperatures that bring him into existence can spell disaster for the oranges that once were the mainstay of Redlands' economy.
The cold that came with a heavy snowstorm in January 1949 did ruin a lot of Redlands' citrus crop that year, but heating the groves with smudge pots saved many of the trees.
I've read about that 1949 snowstorm and seen photos, so when I saw a couple of snow photos Steven Durling sent in, I thought at first they might be from 1949. But Durling said they were from the great snowstorm of 1957.
A closer look at the photo of snow and cars on Orange Street tells me that photo is not as old as 1949. It's the 1950s cars that are the giveaway.
As I started thinking of 1957 and snow, it clicked. That was probably the same storm that dropped so much snow in my yard in Loma Linda that my mother and I made two snowmen – one in the front yard and one in the back.
My family lived in Loma Linda from a few months before I was born until December 1957, when I was 4 going on 5. If that snowstorm was in 1957, I'm guessing it happened in January or February, when I was 3 going on 4 and my brother was in second grade.
I know the snowstorm happened when my brother was old enough to go to school, because I remember – or remember the family story – that my parents sent him to school that day instead of letting him stay home and play in the snow.
When he came home from school, he knocked over those snowmen that he hadn't had the fun of making.
In the years since 1957, I've seen several snowfalls in Redlands, and I've made a few snowmen here, too.
And remember that freak spring snowfall in May 2008? It didn't last long, but the ground was white for a little while.
But let's go back to Steven Durling's snow photos. They were taken by his father, Carlton, and one is a view of the University of Redlands campus, looking toward Memorial Chapel.
There are no cars or 1950s poodle skirts to give away the year in that photo. The size of the trees on the quad tells you that the photo was taken a number of years before now, but the chapel looks timeless.
The blanket of snow on the quad is definitely more than the dusting we got in May 2008, though.
The photo of Orange Street is a view looking south, Durling said, and it's not just the snow that's interesting in that photo. It's a glimpse of buildings and businesses that are long gone from Orange Street.
Durling said he believes that photo was taken in the area that is now under the freeway overpass.
The two-story house on the left was probably removed to make way during construction of the freeway, Durling said. That house was near the end of its life in 1957, because the freeway came through Redlands in 1962.
The used car lot to the right sat on the lot where the Chipotle Mexican Grill stands today, Durling said.
I'd give up more than two snowmen for a chance to step into that photo and walk down Orange Street in the 1950s.


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"Sometimes, you will find yourselves living your life, yet your familiar, cherished goals and objects no longer hold desire, or perhaps even relevance, for who you have become and who you are becoming."
–The Day Your Heart Broke In Your Eyes
Met by a vision of "fluid light" in which everything began to vibrate with life and divinity, Marcia Brennan's world was changed. She became aware of her Angelic guides and began blazing a trail into a mysterious world of seeing beyond what meets the human eye, and becoming a channel for something greater than herself.
We have all been in a place of despair, confusion and fear, not knowing what the next step should be, not knowing who we are or what we should be doing. It's not uncommon to want to find your "life purpose", but how exactly do you connect with your center and find your place in the world?
The Day Your Heart Broke In Your Eyes is a wealth of channeled wisdom given to us from the Angels of Recognition. Though at times a bit overly floral, the language is poignant and lyrical, speaking to our visceral sense of divinity. Each passage offers a different facet of the spiritual experience, giving ample space for self-reflection.
Writing in a very abstract style, musing on very abstract concepts makes the book a bit difficult to read at times. As with many texts, I often find the need to digest the message or to really meditate on the message, but more often than not, I was distracted by this abstract approach. I felt there were clearer ways to phrase these deeply spiritual messages.
The Day Your Heart Broke In Your Eyes is an almost narrative experience with equal parts of visual complexity and riddle. You will feel as if you've fallen into a strange wonderland, cradled by angel wings and prompted by your inner whispers. This book will wrap you in a gossamer tapestry of illuminated prose and contradictions.
I urge you as a reader to approach the book as a type of oracle; the information is more easily digested in small portions. Ask the angels for guidance and open at random to see what insight they can impart. Allow your left-brain, analytical mind to rest as you read these insights, and learn to feel the words on the page. What kind of experience do they evoke for you? Follow it like the white rabbit to a place of awakening.
I must admit that the beginning, autobiographical portion of the book drugged on a bit, and the book became more intriguing and adventurous as it neared the middle half to the end. But my perception of the text changed once I began seeing each portion as a meditation, instead of an explanation.
This isn't a text of how-to, it is a glimmer of light into your own darkness, the beginning step of a path you must dare to tread on your own. Or as the Angels so eloquently put it, "Through the vehicle of this book, we offer you a kite string, a living connection to the world of moving colors that swirls so gracefully and magically above and around and within you".
The title, The Day Your Heart Broke In Your Eyes was echoed throughout the book many times, but the explanation of the phrase never came. I am still left feeling a little unfulfilled by the title… I patiently read on, contemplated the many passages where it showed up, looked back for something I may have missed, but the explanation was never given. It felt like overkill and a bit clunky. Maybe the message will reveal itself later, but for now I think something else would have been more fitting.
I applaud Marcia Brennan for her bravery and dedication to the Angels. Becoming a channel for such a powerful beam of light and significant message is a big undertaking. This book isn't for the beginner, but more for the seasoned spiritual traveler. This is, in fact, a guide to navigate the mystic deeper into one's own mysteries.
Do you want to reach deeper? Go higher? Expand beyond where you are now? Then pick up this book! The Day Your Heart Broke In Your Eyes is a text that will change and evolve each time you read it. Hidden within its layers of light and shadows are immeasurable morsels of wisdom, so keep reading.
Visit, Blue Dolphin Publishing or here to get your copy of The Day Your Heart Broke In Your Eyes.
© Shaheen Miro 7/29/2012


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Sun City residents have a serious case of spring cleaning as almost 300 of them will sell on Saturday their unused trinkets, clothes and furniture at the parking lot sale. Thousands of residents and guests will peruse these tables for unwanted treasures.
From 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sun City Lane will be the place to be for the spring parking lot sale.
This semi-annual event has been held for 11 years and is popular. Sun City expects at least 3,000 shoppers, including about 1,000 non-residents. Some people come from Georgia and Florida, said Jackie Bates, lifestyle services director.
Sun City residents cannot hold individual garage sales, so the spring and fall parking lot sales give them the opportunity to sell their old wares and treasures to neighbors and the surrounding community, Bates said.
"It's a great opportunity to get rid of older items to make room for new, or to simply scale down," she said. "Everyone in the Lowcountry knows Sun City has the best stuff, and we are excited to host this immensely popular event," she said. Second Helpings, a nonprofit food distribution organization, will sell hot dogs and sodas, while fresh coffee and donuts, and old-fashioned root beer floats will be on sale under the lifestyle services tent.
Non-residents will be charged a $10 entrance fee and will enter through the Argent Lakes North gate on U.S. 278, and then be routed to Sgt. William Jasper Boulevard into the town square parking lot. By directing all guest traffic into the town square parking lot, the Sun City property surrounding town square will be better protected.
Sun City Lane will close at 8 a.m. on Friday through 2 p.m. Saturday. Only those residents who have purchased tables and have parking passes will be allowed to drive on Sun City Lane during the designated times Friday. By eliminating both foot traffic and vehicle traffic on Sun City Lane the morning of the parking lot sale, the Community Association anticipates a safe environment for residents and guests, Bates said.
Town Square, including Pinckney Hall, Magnolia Hall, Yemassee Crafts Center, Purrysburg Fitness Center, walking trails, playground, Barataria Pool, Pavilion, putting green and the tennis, Bocce and croquet courts, will not open until 2 p.m. Saturday. Parking in Town Square will also be prohibited except for those attending the sale until 2 p.m.
The parking lot sale is more than just an opportunity for residents to get rid of treasures that are collecting dust. It's also an event that allows nonprofit groups to raise money. Lifestyle services reaches out to nonprofit organizations every year to collect unwanted and unsold items at the end of each sale.
What: Sun City spring parking lot sale
When: 8 a.m. to noon Saturday
Where: Sun City Lane
Cost: $10 for non-residents


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Catchy New Red Hot Chili Peppers Single, 'The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie,' Hits the Internet
Flea's thick, funky bass line, Chad Smith's danceable drum beat, Anthony Kiedis' rhythmic lead vocal and newcomer Josh Klinghoffer's tasteful guitar work — it all adds up to the new Red Hot Chili Peppers single, 'The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie,' which can be heard after the jump.
On July 13, the Chili Peppers announced that the song would be released July 18. But after it was leaked, the band reacted by posting it exclusively with KROQ-FM's Soundcloud station three days ago.
It's believed that female rapper Kreayshawn will direct a video for 'The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie.' The song will be included on the new Chili Peppers album, the Rick Rubin-produced 'I'm With You,' which is due Aug. 30.


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Federal employees are being challenged to get moving. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kay Coles James launched the HealthierFeds Physical Activity Challenge, the first government-wide effort to encourage federal employees to exercise for better health.
The campaign, which is part of President George W. Bush's HealthierUS initiative, will help motivate the federal workforce to make physical activity a daily habit.
"America needs to get healthier and federal employees need to set the pace," Secretary Thompson said. "We're spreading the message of prevention and we need to lead by example. I challenge everyone within the government to make physical activity a part of their daily lives. Encourage each other, compete against other offices, but most importantly have fun and get healthy."
The goal for HealthierFeds participants is to meet daily physical activity goals of 30 minutes a day, five days a week, for six weeks. Participants can choose from a list of more than 100 activities and log their activity online in increments as small as five minutes. The HealthierFeds Physical Activity Challenge will use the President's Challenge, a program of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
"We are also encouraging our employees to complement more activity with better diet. Exercise more, eat less," Secretary Thompson said. "Active employees translate into higher morale, closer teamwork, increased productivity and lower health care costs."


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CATIA Systems Engineering integrates complex product behaviour into the product definition, enabling a lifelike experience which predicts real world performance.
With CATIA Systems Engineering , system architects, product engineers, designers and technical experts define both technical and business aspects. The RFLP approach (Requirements, Functional, Logical and Physical Design) upholds a full traceability during product development and product introduction. This helps shortening the gap between requirements analysis and the choice of the right solution.
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The PR powers recently saw fit to send me a bottle of Denizen Rum, a relatively new product that's available in New York and via online merchants such as DrinkUpNY.com and Astor Wines.
Denizen is a white rum, but if you're expecting it to be bland and lackluster as a result, you might be surprised. Denizen is a rum with character and body. The promotional literature tells me that Denizen starts with rum from the Angostura distillery in Trinidad. That rum is charcoal-filtered to remove the color, leaving a clear rum. The blenders then add trace amounts of 15 types of aged Jamaican rum (which I assume is also filtered).
The resulting spirit is richly bodied, with aromas and flavors of tropical fruits and flowers, and the grassy, vegetal notes of fresh sugar cane. Funky enough to be sipped on ice, Denizen also mixes well. I put it up to the daiquiri test and absolutely loved it.
Denizen retails for about $15.99 for a 750ml bottle, and at that price, I want to keep it constantly stocked on my home bar.


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This is Part 1 in a Series of Blog Posts by Anton McCarthy.
- Part 2: Google AdWords Conversion Tracking for Ecommerce
- Part 3: Understanding AdWords Keyword Matching to Increase Sales
Advertising on Google AdWords can be one of the most cost-effective ways to market your ecommerce store – if done right. That can be a big 'if'- given that AdWords is a complex system which requires constant monitoring of your campaigns, as well as keeping up to date with the latest trends and developments - something which can be tricky for a busy business owner to manage. In this article, I will give you some quick-fire tips and tactics to help you better manage your AdWords campaigns, and to help you capture opportunities your competitors may be missing out on.
Here are 5 tips to improve your Google AdWords campaigns:
1. Use Ad Extensions to Improve Your CTRProbably the best thing about AdWords is its broad range of features, which enable you to get the most out of your spend and maximise your reach among potential clients and visitors to your site. These are usually free and easy to implement, and can allow you to quickly increase your share of real estate on Google search results pages at minimal effort. One such example is a feature called ad sitelinks, which allows you to display additional links to pages on your site beneath your ad. As an example, below you'll see an ad for Shopify: The links that say "Feature Tour" , "Plans & Pricing" ..etc.. are ad sitelinks.
These are quick and painless to set up, and can have a very positive effect on click-through rates (CTR) as they increase the amount of space your ad takes up on the page, and may entice more users to click on ad your ad, given there is more relevant information being shown and your ad is simply more noticeable. As with everything AdWords related – testing is key. Therefore, ensure you are testing the results from this free feature. Also consider using Location, Call and Social extensions for even greater visibility for your ads to get the edge on your competition. Learn more about Google Ad Sitelinks.
2. Use Negative Keywords to Reduce Your Costs & Increase ROIPut simply, if you or whoever is in charge of managing your AdWords campaign is not using negative keywords – question why. Negative keywords allow you to specify keywords for which you do not want your ads to appear, and are an often overlooked tool. For example, let's say you are running a campaign advertising a software product, but you don't do free trials or give your product away for free. If you don't have the keyword 'free' in your negative keyword list for that campaign, you are most likely needlessly incurring costs from people clicking on your ads in search of free software products - who will not find them on your site! This is harmful for your ROI as it means you are wasting money on visitors who are unlikely to purchase anything from you or engage with you, as you aren't offering what they are looking for (a free product). An extensive keyword list is crucial to your campaign. Start your lists with the most obvious relevant negative keywords and work on building your lists from there in line with your product or service offerings – your campaigns will thank you for it. Learn more about negative keywords.
3. Use Impression Share Data to Find Ways to Increase TrafficOne under-utilized source of data in Google AdWords is impression share. Impression share is a metric in your AdWords account which shows you what percentage of available impressions your ads are appearing on Google for. Simply put, out of all the times your ad could have shown, how much did it show? If impression share for a particular campaign is low, then you are missing out on clicks and traffic and you may need to review your campaigns – in particular your budget, your keywords and your bids. If a particular campaign has low impression share, then you can increase it through ensuring that your keywords are very relevant to your ad copy, and most importantly to your landing page. Optimizing in these areas can mean that your ads start to become more relevant and you start to appear more often. Also experiment with increasing your bids slightly to see how that impacts impression share – it may result in you attracting more traffic without spending all that much more. In addition, ensure that you are only targeting the relevant regions or countries via your campaign settings.
4. Optimise your Landing Pages for Better ResultsThis is a critical and frequently overlooked aspect of managing and optimizing a Google AdWords campaign. There is not much point in having a perfectly set-up campaign if the page you are driving traffic to is poorly designed or laid-out, or just plain unattractive. In fact, this will actually have a negative impact on campaign performance, as Google rewards well-thought out sites and punishes poor landing pages. After all, sub-optimal landing pages are less likely to give the user what they are searching for. Ensuring your landing page is the most relevant one a user can land on following a click on your ad means you are maximizing the chances that they will convert to a sale or lead on your site – and minimizing the cost for that click at the same time. Remember – Google rewards relevancy. Check that each ad leads to the most relevant page on your site!
5. Tracking, Tracking, Tracking!This one should go without saying, but should serve as a wake-up call to any AdWords advertiser who is not yet using at least one form of tracking in their account. This might be AdWords Conversion Tracking, Google Analytics (both free) - or some other tracking mechanism (or a combination of all three). To spend money on advertising without knowing how your investment is converting is something no business needs to do when it comes to online advertising – and only means you are in the dark when it comes to determining your ROI! Conversion Tracking in particular is simple to set up and allows you to track whenever a click leads to an action being taken on your site which you deem valuable. This could be anything from a purchase on your site to an inquiry through your contact form, or a sign-up to your latest e-book. Whichever it may be, tracking allows you to directly measure your return on investment through recording the cost associated with each conversion – and that allows you to better manage your account and plan and strategize accordingly.
This is a guest post by ex-Googler Anton McCarthy. Currently, Anton is an online marketing specialist and entrepreneur who loves all things digital. You can find him blogging at antonmccarthy.com and Tweak Your Biz. Also follow Anton on Twitter.


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Farm Horizons, Sept. 2004
New Germany man wins use of new truck for a year at Farmfest
By Ryan Gueningsman
Mark Schurmann of New Germany will be driving a brand new truck for a year free of charge.
Schurmann was recently named the winner of a new Chevrolet Silverado full-size, extended cab pickup truck after entering a drawing at Farmfest in Redwood Falls Aug. 3.
He will have the truck for a year, can put up to 24,000 miles on it, and has an option to purchase the truck after his year is up.
Schurmann lives on 120 acres between Winsted and New Germany, and, along with his father, Robert, and brother Dean, farm a combined 1,200 acres of land. The Schurmanns grow corn, soybeans, and wheat. Dean Schurmann also has livestock at his farm.
Mark Schurmann said he plans on using his new acquisition around the farm for hauling and towing various things. He and his wife, Kari, are planning on taking a week-long vacation this winter, during which they will drive the truck down south.
Mark and Kari have one daughter, Caressa. Kari works at State Bank of Young America as a commercial lender.
"We couldn't believe it," Kari said. "We weren't convinced until we saw the contract."
The contest was sponsored by AgStar Financial, and Mark Schurmann was talked into signing up for the truck by his father. It was the only thing he signed up for at Farmfest.
Farm Horizons: Main Menu | 2004 Stories
Herald Journal


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by Pete Mazzaccaro
The annual Fall for the Arts Festival scheduled for this Sunday, Oct. 7, was postponed last week when organizers decided they did not want to contend with a forecast that called for rain. The festival will instead be held on Sunday Oct. 14.
An email from The Chestnut Hill Business Association's Peggy Miller alerted artists and merchants of the postponement:
"After much deliberation and countless checks of weather forecasts (trying without success to find even one that says it won't be raining on Sunday), we have decided to cancel the festival for this Sunday. We realize it's somewhat early to make a decision like this, but our festival is now so large that logistically we need at least 48 hours to cancel bands, trash trucks, rentals, etc."
Miller said in an email that the festival will follow the exact same schedule and feature all of the same events and participants.
See chestnuthillpa.com for details and schedule.


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Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS)
- What is New York State PRAMS?
- What information does PRAMS collect?
- Questionnaires
- How are PRAMS data collected?
- Why is PRAMS important?
- PRAMS Data and Statistics
- Who uses New York State PRAMS?
- Who are the partners in PRAMS?
What is New York State PRAMS?
New York State PRAMS is an ongoing mail/telephone survey of mothers who have recently given birth to a live born infant. PRAMS collects information from mothers about behaviors and experiences before, during and after pregnancy to learn more about how to reduce infant deaths and low birth weight births. The PRAMS project was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1987 because infant mortality rates were no longer declining as rapidly as they had in prior years. In addition, the incidence of low birth weight infants had changed little over the previous 20 years. Research has indicated that maternal behaviors and experiences during pregnancy may influence infant birth weight and mortality rates. Information collected from PRAMS is not available from other sources and provides data on smoking during pregnancy, oral health care, vaccines during pregnancy, nutrition, domestic violence, psychosocial stress, HIV testing, sexually transmitted diseases, breastfeeding and family planning. The goal of the PRAMS project is to improve the health of mothers and infants by reducing adverse outcomes such as low birth weight, infant mortality and morbidity, and maternal morbidity. PRAMS provides state-specific data for planning and assessing health programs and for describing maternal experiences that may contribute to maternal and infant health.
New York State PRAMS does not include information on New York City births since the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene conducts their own PRAMS.
What information does PRAMS collect?
The PRAMS questionnaire includes core questions that are asked by all participating states as well state-specific questions that target health indicators that are important to New York State, excluding NYC. Core topics include:
- Pregnancy intention
- Barriers to and content of prenatal care
- Maternal health behaviors
- Nutrition
- Infant health care
- Psychological support and stressful life events
Topics specific to New York State include the following:
- Oral health
- Fertility treatments
- Breastfeeding support
- Family planning
- Infant health
- Sexually transmitted diseases (STD's)
- Postpartum depression
The PRAMS questionnaire is revised periodically. With each revison (or new phase of the questionnaire), some of the questions change. The years covered by the different phases are listed below:
- 2012 - Current PRAMS Questionnaire (PDF, 344KB) (Phase 7)
- Phase 6: 2009 - 2011 PRAMS Questionnaire (PDF, 344KB)
- Phase 5: 2004-2008 PRAMS Questionnaire (PDF, 301KB)
- Phase 4b: 2002-2003 PRAMS Questionnaire (PDF, 143KB)
- Phase 4a: 2000-2001 PRAMS Questionnaire (PDF, 143KB)
- Phase 3: 1996-1999 PRAMS Questionnaire (PDF, 306KB)
- Phase 2: 1993-1995 PRAMS Questionnaire (PDF, 249KB)
How are PRAMS data collected?
Approximately 135 mothers are randomly selected from birth records each month. Low birth weight births are sampled at a higher rate to ensure adequate representation. The selected mothers are sampled between two and four months after giving birth. Mothers are sent questionnaires asking about their pregnancies and the time immediately after the birth of their babies. Questionnaire packets include a cover letter, question and answer sheet, a consent document, and a music CD as an incentive. If a mother does not respond after three questionnaires are sent, attempts to reach her by phone are made. Mothers are offered a $10 CVS gift card as a reward if they send back the mailed questionaire. Women contacted by phone are offered a $20 CVS gift card if they complete the survey over the phone. Data collection procedures and instruments are standardized to allow comparisons between states.
Why is PRAMS important?
Research has shown that maternal behavior and experiences during pregnancy may influence infant birth weight and mortality rates. The PRAMS questionnaire provides data that are not available from other sources about pregnancy and the first few months after birth. These data can be used to identify groups of women and infants at high risk for health problems, to monitor changes in health status and to measure progress towards goals for improving the health of mothers and infants. When combined with data from birth certificates, these data can be used for planning and assessing perinatal health programs. In addition, because PRAMS uses standardized data collection methods, it allows data to be compared among states.
PRAMS Data and Statistics
- PRAMS Reports
Selected PRAMS indicators are available by year of birth and are presented by maternal demographics. Maternal demographics include age, race, education, marital status and Medicaid status. Trend plots are also presented for selected indicators for the years 2000-2008. Please see PRAMS sampling and analysis methodology for specific details.
- PRAMS Data Available to Researchers
Researchers may request the PRAMS Analytic Research File for studies that involve multiple states by submitting a proposal to CDC. The submission process is outlined on the CDC PRAMS website.
Who uses New York State PRAMS?
PRAMS data are used by researchers to investigate emerging issues in the field of maternal and child health and by state and local governments to plan and review programs and policies aimed at reducing health problems among mothers and babies. The New York State Department of Health uses PRAMS data for planning and evaluation of perinatal health programs. The PRAMS team works with the Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant Advisory Council that consists of a multi-disciplinary group of individuals from the public and private sector as well as the academic community. The group provides expertise to the PRAMS team to assure that data collected in the survey are useful for analyzing important maternal and child health related issues.
Who are the partners in PRAMS?
New York State PRAMS is funded through a cooperative grant agreement with CDC and state funds. Thirty-seven states, and New York City currently participate in PRAMS. Nationally, PRAMS surveillance currently covers about 75% of all U.S. births.


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In the late 1800s, Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse faced off in what has been called the "War of the Currents," with Edison trumpeting direct current (DC) for its efficiency and safety and Westinghouse backing Nikola Tesla's alternating current (AC) for its usefulness in large distribution systems. Westinghouse won that war with AC's adoption by developers of Niagara Falls' first generating station. However, a range of new demands is forcing planners to take a new look at DC's possible advantages.
In fact, DC power is becoming a player again, in settings ranging from high-voltage transmission down to commercial-building and data-center distribution systems (see sidebar, page 50). In many cases, its revival also has brought back the Edison versus Westinghouse either/or debate, as though DC's newly reappreciated qualities will somehow push AC aside. But what we likely will see moving forward will be both/and, rather than either/or, as electrical designers explore the benefits both technologies have to offer.
High-wire act
Take long-distance, high-voltage power transmission, for example. AC has been the predominant technology in these applications for decades because it can be transformed to lower voltages relatively easily. However, several factors now are raising the profile of high-voltage DC (HVDC) transmission technology across the globe, as well as here in the United States, because DC lines can be more efficient in carrying especially large volumes of electricity across particularly long hauls. In these applications, AC wires face challenges because of the need to introduce reactive power into the line to enable the transmission of "real" power.
"With very long transmission lines, you need more reactive power, and that leaves less room for real power," said Wayne Galli, transmission and technical services vice president for Houston-based Clean Line Energy Partners, adding that this means you need multiple conductors to carry the same amount of electricity that could be transported in a single DC line. "With DC lines, there's no reactive power component."
Additionally, AC lines suffer from heavy line losses in undersea and underground installations. Europe now depends on undersea and underground DC cables to connect offshore wind farms to onshore demand centers. European planners envision the possibility of a continent-wide grid fed, perhaps, by North African wind farms, while Chinese energy planners face the need to transport electricity generated from coal and wind resources in its midsection to high population zones along its coast.
"China has been building HVDC like gangbusters the last few years," Galli said. "They've got a lot of resources inland, but all their population centers are on the coast. They were the first country to go to plus-or-minus 800 kilovolts [kV], and they're now pushing vendors to go up to 1,100 kV, at up to 10,000 megawatts [MW], for up to 800 to 900 miles."
Blowin' in the wind
This same desire to move electricity from the nation's windy midsection to the East and West is driving the ambitious plans that Clean Line Energy is developing for four separate HVDC transmission lines. The projects would originate in Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico and serve wind farms yet to be built.
These wouldn't be the first U.S. HVDC transmission lines, Galli said. Several projects were constructed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, tying Canadian hydropower resources to New England and connecting Utah and the Pacific Northwest to California.
DC cable also has been used in several underground or undersea transmission projects. The 25-mile Cross Sound cable was installed in 2003 to connect Long Island, N.Y., to New Haven, Conn., and the 65-mile Neptune Project, completed in 2007, links Long Island to Sayreville, N.J.
Currently under development is the Champlain-Hudson Power Express, a 333-mile line intended to carry 1,000 MW of Canadian hydropower-generated electricity down to New York City. As proposed, the line would run under Lake Champlain and the Hudson River, with a land portion buried under highway or railroad rights-of-way. In this way, developers may be able to avoid many of the not-in-my-backyard-style protests than can bring overhead AC-line projects to a standstill. (As an additional benefit, DC lines generate static electric and magnetic fields similar to the levels produced by the Earth itself.)
The new overhead lines Galli's firm plans to develop would be significant additions to this country's DC transmission lineup, running between 500 and 900 miles each and capable of handling up to 3,500 MW of connected load. Just as the early railroads provided a way to market for farmers interested in settling what is now the nation's breadbasket, these new transmission lines will provide valuable access to distant utilities for wind farm developers needing faraway power purchase agreements to make their investments worthwhile.
"It is kind of a 'build it and they will come' type of scenario," Galli said. "There's a really good resource in the middle of the continent, and the demand is on the right and left coast."
However, Clean Line Energy's bet seems reasonable renewable-energy demand is growing, even as natural gas continues its downward price trend because numerous states require electric utilities to include green-energy sources in their portfolios. But developing resources adequate to this demand can be almost impossible in densely populated service territories, so utilities often have limited nearby options.
"Our utility system tends to be very Balkanized, so utilities don't look beyond their service territory for resources," Galli said, adding that public utilities commissions also limit options for electric companies interested in developing generation resources outside their territorial boundaries. "If they try to build outside their service territory, it's hard to get those projects paid for."
Making connections
The lines Galli's company is planning are strictly point-to-point. Tying HVDC lines together to create interconnected transmission systems poses challenges, not least of which is the ability to safely and quickly disconnect and reconnect individual line segments that might be carrying the equivalent of a nuclear generating station's output without damaging equipment or injuring workers. Swiss-based manufacturer and engineering firm ABB announced recently that it had developed a circuit breaker that could accomplish this feat within 5 milliseconds.
"As you start doing more and more point-to-point, you start asking, 'Is there a better way?'" said Aftab Kahn, ABB's senior vice president and general manager for North American grid systems. "Or, would it be smarter to move to a DC grid?"
The company is a longtime leader in DC transmission systems. It recently announced landing a $130 million HVDC project connecting the Finnish mainland to the country's Åland archipelago. According to press releases describing this new breaker, the company views the device as a "historical breakthrough" in the possible adoption of DC transmission grids. The unit combines two electronic switches on either side of a mechanical switch, and its development was, for years, a flagship effort in a larger research and development program on which the company spends more than $1 billion annually.
"The reaction has been extremely positive," Kahn said, commenting on the international attention the new device is receiving. "I think [many people] see this as a game changer."
While success was achieved in the lab, the company's next step is to test the new circuit breaker in a utility pilot installation. This could take a while, cautioned Anders Sjoelin, president of the ABB's North American power systems division, because new transmission projects take years to plan and the right application might still be early in the approval process. But he's confident that such an opportunity will arise in the not-too-distant future, given the winning hand this former loser in the war of the currents now is playing.
"If you look at what's been proposed in the last five to six years, you can see that DC has gotten a bigger part of the planning," Sjoelin said. "DC is slowly getting a bigger share of the transmission build."


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Collection Items
MapAn accurate map of North America. Describing and distinguishing the British, Spanish and French dominions on this great continent; according to the definitive treaty concluded at Paris 10th Feby. 1763. Also all ... Scale ca. 1:550,000. Hand colored. Relief shown pictorially. LC Maps of North America, 1750-1789, 21 Includes historical notes, notes on territorial claims, and insets of "A particular map of Baffin and Hudson's Bay" and "The passage by land to California." Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as a raster image. Vault Two copies. Copy 1 has cartouches colored, and is sectioned...
- Contributor: Bowen, Emanuel - Gibson, J. (John) - Sayer, Robert
- Date: 1763


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Apple fanboys may go on and on about how the iPad will change the world of computing forever, but we know why you really bought an iPad: games. Racing games, strategy games, MMORPGs, they're all lining the virtual shelves of the iTunes App Store, waiting to be downloaded. How do you choose from a virtual marketplace brimming with so many choices — some good and some horrible? With a little help from your friends, of course. And by that, we mean us. Below are our constantly evolving picks for best iPad games.
Adventure games
Device 6 ($4)
The text-based Device 6 isn't your typical adventure tale. You play as Anna, an amnesiac who must unravel the truth after waking up on an enigmatic island in the middle of nowhere. The mystery is both clever and rewarding, showcasing fantastic visuals and sound design that propel you through a story built upon smart puzzles and an overwhelming sense of intrigue. It's more of a linear novella than anything else, but its uniquely satisfying if taken in a few installments.
Myst ($5)
This is a blast from the past for many Apple users, and the iPad version doesn't disappoint. Find the pages of the book to solve the mystery of the surreal island. This is definitely a puzzle game and the story line will keep you moving through. If you beat the game and find yourself wanting more, you can download the sequel, Riven.
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP ($5)
You're Scythian, an exotic warrior monk guided by the fabled Archetype. Your mission isn't clear at first, but the offbeat story and your heroic task is revealed as the game rolls on. Your romp through the lively world may only push a few hours, but the 8-bit visuals and emotional writing make it one of the best adventures out there.
Minecraft — Pocket Edition ($7)
Minecraft is kind of a big deal. The defining title of the sandbox-survival genre allows you to transform your auto-generated world into just about anything you can imagine, that is, so long as you can fend off the mobs of monsters that attack when the sun goes down. The mobile version isn't the complete package, but it's enough.
Year Walk ($4)
The point-and-click Year Walk beautifully combines Swedish folklore with a sleek minimal design. It's terrifying and stylized (though frustrating at times), with a mature plot that that drives the nameless protagonist through ominous woods in search of his true love. The title's short duration only heightens its emotion.
Walking Dead: The Game (Free)
Like most Telltale titles, The Walking Dead revels more so in refined character development and stylish artwork than it does button-mashing violence. It's centered in the same universe as Robert Kirkman's award-winning comic series of the same name, and being the case, it's a gripping narrative with frantic bouts of action.
Botanicula ($5)
A beautiful, hand-drawn game, Botanicula follows five tree creatures as they set out to find the last seed of a dying tree. The controls are straightforward and intuitive, and though some of the puzzles can be somewhat dull and frustrating at times, they remain just as charming as the moody soundtrack and visuals.
80 Days ($5)
As you might expect, 80 Days is based on Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days. You take on the role of Jean Passepartou, the valet of Phileaus Fogg, who wagers he can circumnavigate the globe in 80-days. The thrilling, ever-changing narrative allows for ample approaches, as do the the eye-catching visuals and bevy of vehicles.
Badland ($4)
Some kind of evil has entered the forest. This side-scroller from Frogmind slowly transforms your benign forest environs into a vicious industrial landscape filled with spinning saws. Your task is to keep a little forest creature safe while he navigates through a gruesome, but innovative world with 80 unique levels to traverse.
Terraria ($5)
Like most sandbox-survival games, Terraria begins when your customized character drops into a randomly-generated world. However, the game's world is broader than most, and your character will encounter some of the most terrifying boss battles in existence — not to mention a super crafting system, a plethora of enticing rewards, and a techno-esque soundtrack that fits the old-school visuals to a tee. Just be prepared for navigational woes and a general lack of explanation.


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India: Nothing Short of Incredible!
You've seen those tourism ads: Incredible India. Since I first arrived in this country a month back, it's been nothing short of incredible. India can fascinate and overwhelm you at the same time. It is incredible in many ways: its size, its development challenges, its diversity, and its rich cultural heritage.
Luckily for me, I have had the good fortune to experience the latter. India's cultural heritage dates back thousands of years. And India has managed to preserve it while many others have failed. You don't need to go deep into the hinterland to experience it. A drive through Delhi alone will take you through several phases of its history. And a four-hour drive out of the capital to Agra will take you back 400 years to the Mughal Empire. Everything is well preserved. And everyone seems to be passionate about preserving this heritage, as evident in the JIYO Exhibition that I've just attended.


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Donosborn necessitava di un nuovo design di logo e ha lanciato un contest su 99designs.
È stato scelto un vincitore tra 44 design presentati da 24 designer.
I am a music business consultant and a singer songwriter. I have created this business to help musicians build a career in the digital revolution so they can earn a strong living doing what they love. I'm thrilled that the old school music biz is dying and want to empower artists. My website will combine goalsetting, career education and small business systems to help artists self-manage and reach their goals. Its very Do It Yourself.
Musicians, singer/songwriters from 16 to 60. All music styles. The core is likely 25-35, male & female. Mostly blue collar, some college. These are music creators who are serious about building a career and are prepared to roll up their sleeves and get to work.
I need a logo for business card / web use. Something simple, not too cute, that has a real world, slightly edgy feel. I'd like the name easy to read (maybe a different shade to highlight "career"). I'm going after a wide range of music creators, so I don't want to be too specific to music styles. Images of mics, guitars or volume knobs might work. I prefer darker colours, (greens, blues) but am open to suggestions. I'm 51, but my audience is 25-35 for the most part.
Maggiori informazioni su come funziona un contest di design o sui nostri servizi di design di logo.