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Henry Ford
Founder, Ford Motor Company
Be ready to revise any system, scrap any method, abandon any theory, if the success of the job requires it.Henry Ford
His Early Life as an Inventor
Henry Ford did not invent the automobile. He didn't even invent the assembly line. But more than any other single individual, he was responsible for transforming the automobile from an invention of unknown utility into an innovation that profoundly shaped the 20th century and continues to affect our lives today.
Innovators change things. They take new ideas, sometimes their own, sometimes other people's, and develop and promote those ideas until they become an accepted part of daily life. Innovation requires self-confidence, a taste for taking risks, leadership ability and a vision of what the future should be. Henry Ford had all these characteristics, but it took him many years to develop all of them fully.
His beginnings were perfectly ordinary. He was born on his father's farm in what is now Dearborn, Michigan on July 30, 1863. Early on Ford demonstrated some of the characteristics that would make him successful, powerful, and famous. He organized other boys to build rudimentary water wheels and steam engines. He learned about full-sized steam engines by becoming friends with the men who ran them. He taught himself to fix watches, and used the watches as textbooks to learn the rudiments of machine design. Thus, young Ford demonstrated mechanical ability, a facility for leadership, and a preference for learning by trial-and-error. These characteristics would become the foundation of his whole career.
Ford could have followed in his father's footsteps and become a farmer. But young Henry was fascinated by machines and was willing to take risks to pursue that fascination. In 1879 he left the farm to become an apprentice at the Michigan Car Company, a manufacturer of railroad cars in Detroit. Over the next two-and-one-half years he held several similar jobs, sometimes moving when he thought he could learn more somewhere else.
He returned home in 1882 but did little farming. Instead he operated and serviced portable steam engines used by farmers, occasionally worked in factories in Detroit, and cut and sold timber from 40 acres of his father's land. By now Ford was demonstrating another characteristic—a preference for working on his own rather than for somebody else. In 1888 Ford married Clara Bryant and in 1891 they moved to Detroit where Henry had taken a job as night engineer for the Edison Electric Illuminating Company. Ford did not know a great deal about electricity. He saw the job in part as an opportunity to learn.
Henry was an apt pupil, and by 1896 had risen to chief engineer of the Illuminating Company. But he had other interests. He became one of scores of people working in barns and small shops across the country trying to build horseless carriages. Aided by a team of friends, his experiments culminated in 1896 with the completion of his first self-propelled vehicle, the Quadricycle. It had four wire wheels that looked like heavy bicycle wheels, was steered with a tiller like a boat, and had only two forward speeds with no reverse.
A second car followed in 1898. Ford now demonstrated one of the keys to his future success—the ability to articulate a vision and convince other people to sign on and help him achieve that vision. He persuaded a group of businessmen to back him in the biggest risk of his life—a company to make and sell horseless carriages. But Ford knew nothing about running a business, and learning by trial-and-error always involves failure. The new company failed, as did a second. To revive his fortunes Ford took bigger risks, building and even driving racing cars. The success of these cars attracted additional financial backers, and on June 16, 1903 Henry incorporated his third automotive venture, Ford Motor Company.
The Innovator and Ford Motor Company
The early history of Ford Motor Company illustrates one of Henry Ford's most important talents—an ability to identify and attract outstanding people. He hired a core of young, able men who believed in his vision and would make Ford Motor Company into one of the world's great industrial enterprises. The new company's first car, called the Model A, was followed by a variety of improved models. In 1907 Ford's four-cylinder, $600 Model N became the best-selling car in the country. But by this time Ford had a bigger vision: a better, cheaper "motorcar for the great multitude." Working with a hand-picked group of employees he came up with the Model T, introduced on October 1, 1908.
The Model T was easy to operate, maintain, and handle on rough roads. It immediately became a huge success. Ford could easily sell all he could make; but he wanted to make all he could sell. Doing that required a bigger factory. In 1910 the company moved into a huge new plant in Highland Park, Michigan, just north of Detroit. There Ford Motor Company began a relentless drive to increase production and lower costs. Henry and his team borrowed concepts from watch makers, gun makers, bicycle makers, and meat packers, mixed them with their own ideas and by late 1913 they had developed a moving assembly line for automobiles. But Ford workers objected to the never-ending, repetitive work on the new line. Turnover was so high that the company had to hire 53,000 people a year to keep 14,000 jobs filled. Henry responded with his boldest innovation ever—in January 1914 he virtually doubled wages to $5 per day.
At a stroke he stabilized his workforce and gave workers the ability to buy the very cars they made. Model T sales rose steadily as the price dropped. By 1922 half the cars in America were Model Ts and a new two-passenger runabout could be had for as little as $269.
In 1919, tired of "interference" from the other investors in the company, Henry determined to buy them all out. The result was several new Detroit millionaires and a Henry Ford who was the sole owner of the world's largest automobile company. Ford named his 26-year-old son Edsel as president, but it was Henry who really ran things. Absolute power did not bring wisdom, however.
Success had convinced him of the superiority of his own intuition, and he continued to believe that the Model T was the car most people wanted. He ignored the growing popularity of more expensive but more stylish and comfortable cars like the Chevrolet, and would not listen to Edsel and other Ford executives when they said it was time for a new model.
By the late 1920s even Henry Ford could no longer ignore the declining sales figures. In 1927 he reluctantly shut down the Model T assembly lines and began designing an all-new car. It appeared in December of 1927 and was such a departure from the old Ford that the company went back to the beginning of the alphabet for a name—they called it the Model A.
The new car would not be produced at Highland Park. In 1917 Ford had started construction on an even bigger factory on the Rouge River in Dearborn, Michigan. Iron ore and coal were brought in on Great Lakes steamers and by railroad. By 1927, all steps in the manufacturing process from refining raw materials to final assembly of the automobile took place at the vast Rouge Plant, characterizing Henry Ford's idea of mass production. In time it would become the world's largest factory, making not only cars but the steel, glass, tires, and other components that went into the cars.
Henry Ford's intuitive decision making and one-man control were no longer the formula for success. The Model A was competitive for only four years before being replaced by a newer design. In 1932, at age 69 Ford introduced his last great automotive innovation, the lightweight, inexpensive V8 engine. Even this was not enough to halt his company's decline. By 1936 Ford Motor Company had fallen to third place in the US market, behind both General Motors and Chrysler Corporation.
In addition to troubles in the marketplace, Ford experienced troubles in the workplace. Struggling during the Great Depression, Ford was forced to lower wages and lay off workers. When the United Auto Workers Union tried to organize Ford Motor Company, Henry wanted no part of such "interference" in running his company. He fought back with intimidation and violence, but was ultimately forced to sign a union contract in 1941.
When World War II began in 1939, Ford, who always hated war, fought to keep the United States from taking sides. But after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Ford Motor Company became one of the major US military contractors, supplying airplanes, engines, jeeps and tanks.
The influence of the aging Henry Ford, however, was declining. Edsel Ford died in 1943 and two year later Henry officially turned over control of the company to Henry II, Edsel's son. Henry I retired to Fair Lane, his estate in Dearborn, where he died on April 7, 1947 at age 83.
Henry Ford's Legacy
Henry Ford had laid the foundation of the twentieth century. The assembly line became the century's characteristic production mode, eventually applied to everything from phonographs to hamburgers. The vast quantities of war material turned out on those assembly lines were crucial to the Allied victory in World War II. High wage, low skilled factory jobs pioneered by Ford accelerated both immigration from overseas and the movement of Americans from the farms to the cities. The same jobs also accelerated the movement of the same people into an ever expanding middle class. In a dramatic demonstration of the law of unintended consequences, the creation of huge numbers of low skilled workers gave rise in the 1930s to industrial unionism as a potent social and political force. The Model T spawned mass automobility, altering our living patterns, our leisure activities, our landscape, even our atmosphere.
Why He Innovated
There is a prophetic story of how the 13-year-old Henry Ford got a pocket watch for his birthday, and then proceeded to take it apart. He simply wanted to know how it worked. It was a character trait that marked the rest of Ford's life. He wanted to know how things worked and, just as important, why they didn't work.
Ford was interested in every aspect of life around him. He explored innovative forms of education which, in time, lead to the founding of the Edison Institute, known today as The Henry Ford. In a single location, Ford brought together dozens of buildings and millions of artifacts. It was one of the largest collections of its kind ever assembled, as well as a bold and ambitious new way for people of all ages to discover and explore the richness of the American experience for themselves.
Henry Ford took inspiration from the past, saw opportunities for the future, and believed in technology as a force for improving people's lives. To him, technology wasn't just a source of profits, it was a way to harness new ideas and, ultimately, further democratize American life.


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Care to Share
Refer a friend or family member today!
Share the love and
both of you receive a $25 credit towards any visit…
PLUS a big dose of love from all of us too!
Here at Hillview Veterinary Clinic our daily passion is to exceed your expectations! We're one big family, and fantastic clients like you make doing what we love even better!
We're aware that many of you already recommend us to friends and family, and to show our appreciation we've created a special Care to Share program that is FUN for both you and the pet parent you refer!
Here's how it works: grab some Care to Share cards and pop your signature on the back…then hand your cards out to any pet parent you feel would be a fit… if they love their furry little fellas like crazy…they'll fit in purrfectly around here!
And then… when your friend or family member becomes a new client each of you will receive a $25 CARE TO SHARE credit towards anything at all – food, treats, toys …even your next visit! Know lots of pet parents? Your special pet account sure could stack up!
Let's do it…together we can build an amazing group of pet parents with you at the center! The countdown is on…let's create the best "PET CRAZY" community ever!
Have fun & start SHARING THE LOVE today!
Anyone you 're-fur' receives a $25 credit (and will love you for it)… and as a THANK YOU from us, you'll receive a $25 credit too!

subset: commoncrawl


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Our client, a large retailer, needed help with winning back its lost customers through their year-round marketing initiatives and achieve its membership acquisition goal for the year.
The client wanted to establish reliable, scalable and impactful marketing strategies to better understand and engage with this target group of customers.
We first identified members who had left in the last two years and were suitable for Win Back Campaigns.
We divided the target group into multiple segments primarily based on their delete date and engagement while they were members.
Multiple models were built to test effectiveness using historical data as a training set and deploy an Ensemble model for scoring members.
The model was then used to develop an experimental design with all the relevant inputs, which could be used to track campaign performance across channels. This helped measure lift across channels and evaluate offers to assess what worked and what needed to be improved.
In Direct Mail, the lift calculated (Test vs Control) was close to 3%, significantly higher compared to previous initiatives.
The offer with extended membership (Trial Period) was more impactful compared to providing money off on products.
The Win Back members acquired had a High Lifetime Value compared to the previous iteration.
These recommendations were shared for model improvement and optimisation for the future.


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Official launching by Mrs Alegría Borrás of the Spanish section of the HCCH website
In 1998, the website of the Hague Conference was created in the Organisation's official languages, French and English. To meet the growing demand within the international community to access this information in other languages, a section called "Other languages" was created. This new section contains links to translations in several languages of the Hague Conventions and other documents relating to the HCCH.
Spanish is the first language for which a separate site, modelled on the English and French versions, has been created. This was made possible by the substantial financial assistance from the Government of Spain and, above all, the impetus and indispensable contribution of Mrs Alegría Borrás, Professor at the University of Barcelona, expert and delegate of Spain to the Conference for many years.
The official launch by Mrs Borrás of the Spanish section of the multilingual site took place on 31 March 2009, during the Council on General Affairs of the Conference.


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Mymamameya.org Privacy Policy
Last Updated: May 2018
Your privacy is very important to us. Accordingly, we Mymamameya have developed this Policy in order for you to understand how we collect, use, communicate and make use of personal information using this website https://mymamameya.org (the "SITE"). Please read the following information carefully to understand our practices regarding your personal data and how we will process data. The following outlines our Privacy Policy.
GDPR Compliance
The EU's General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) take effect May 25 and we are fully behind the spirit of these regulations for a safe and secure Internet.
We collect basic contact information to allow you access to our membership site. This includes contact details like email address and name in order to support membership login, content access and other account management functions.
Overall, we aim for privacy by default: if data collection is not integral to the way our product works, then we won't collect it.
At any time, you may request your information to be exported and sent to you for review, and we promptly honor any requests by you to have your information deleted and forgotten.
When accessing our Website, MyMaMaMeYa will learn certain information about you during your visit.
Similar to other commercial Web sites, our Web site utilizes a standard technology called "cookies" (see explanation below, "What Are Cookies?") and Web server logs to collect information about how our Web site is used. Information gathered through cookies and Web server logs may include the date and time of visits, the pages viewed, time spent at our Web site, and the Web sites visited just before and just after our Web site, your IP address.
What Are Cookies?
A cookie is a very small text document, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier. When you visit a Web site, that site's computer asks your computer for permission to store this file in a part of your hard drive specifically designated for cookies. Each Web site can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser's preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a Web site to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites.
Users are advised that if they wish to deny the use and saving of cookies from this website on to their computers hard drive they should take necessary steps within their web browsers security settings to block all cookies from this website.
How cookies are used
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you have an account and you log in to this site, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select "Remember Me", your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Cookies We Use
Our Site uses the following types of cookies for the purposes set out below:
Type Of Cookie and Purpose
Essential Cookies
These cookies are essential to provide you with services available through our Site and to enable you to use some of its features. [For example, they allow you to log in to secure areas of our Site and help the content of the pages you request load quickly]. Without these cookies, the services that you have asked for cannot be provided, and we only use these cookies to provide you with those services.Functionality Cookies
These cookies allow our Site to remember choices you make when you use our Site, [such as remembering your language preferences, remembering your login details and remembering the changes you make to other parts of our Site which you can customize] The purpose of these cookies is to provide you with a more personal experience and to avoid you having to re-enter your preferences every time you visit our Site.
Analytics and Performance Cookies
These cookies are used to collect information about traffic to our Site and how users use our Site. The information gathered does not identify any individual visitor. [It includes the number of visitors to our Site, the websites that referred them to our Site, the pages they visited on our Site, what time of day they visited our Site, whether they have visited our Site before, and other similar information.] [We use this information to help operate our Site more efficiently, to gather broad demographic information and to monitor the level of activity on our Site.]
[We use Google Analytics for this purpose. Google Analytics uses its own cookies. It is only used to improve how our Site works. You can find out more information about Google Analytics cookies here: https://developers.google.com/analytics/resources/concepts/gaConceptsCookies]
[You can find out more about how Google protects your data here: www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html.]
[You can prevent the use of Google Analytics relating to your use of our Site by downloading and installing the browser plugin available via this link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en-GB]
Our site is hosted by SG Hosting Inc.; Siteground Hosting. Siteground may collect your IP address via server logs, including those you can see and download like AWStats, Webalizer, and raw access logs.The Siteground Data Processing Agreement can be found here: https://www.siteground.com/term/301.htm
Another tool we use to help us with our website analytic information is Statcounter. Statcounter gives us traffic information in the aggregate only, such as: how many people visited a particular page on our website, where people are from, devices they use to access our site and so on.
Statcounter's cookie policy can be found here: http://statcounter.com/about/cookies/
Social Media Cookies
Our website features social sharing buttons for some or all of the following social Media:
[These cookies are used when you share information using a social media sharing button or "like" button on our Site or you link your account or engage with our content on or through a social networking website such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Google+. The social network will record that you have done this.]
These buttons help you share web content directly from our web pages to these social Media Platforms via your own account/profile. These companies do track your interests, and will use the profile they develop on you for their own purposes.
Users should be mindful, that this could include giving 3rd parties access to your personal profile. Users should therefore use the social sharing buttons at their own discretion, and only to the degree that they are comfortable with the privacy policies for these platforms. We have included links to the privacy policies for these social media.
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/
- Google+: https://policies.google.com/privacy
- Pinterest: https://policy.pinterest.com/en/privacy-policy
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/en/privacy
Cookies are also used by Google Analytics on this site as described in the next section.
This website uses tracking software (Google Analytics) to monitor its visitors to better understand how they use it. The software will save a cookie to your computer's hard drive in order to track and monitor your engagement and usage of the website, but will not store, save or collect personal information.
Display Ads
We use third-party advertising companies to serve content and advertisements when you visit the Website, which may use cookies, as noted above.
You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices.
Mymamameya privacy policy does not apply to and we cannot control the activities of such other advertisers or web sites.
These companies may include:
Google Adsense and the DoubleClick DART Cookie
Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our site. Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to our users based on their visit to our sites and other sites on the Internet. To opt out of the DART cookies you may visit the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following url http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html Tracking of users through the DART cookie mechanisms are subject to Google's own privacy policies.
Google Adsense: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Amazon CPM Ads: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201909010
You may opt-out of interest-based advertising by using the tool provided by NAI (Network Advertising Initiative). It can be found here: http://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1#!/
Affiliate Program Tracking
Mymamameya may engage in affiliate marketing, which is done by embedding tracking links into the Website.
Clicking on any adverts, sponsored or affiliate links may track your actions by using a cookie saved to your device. Your actions are usually recorded as a referral from our website by this cookie. In most cases we earn a very small commission from the advertiser or advertising partner, at no cost to you, whether you make a purchase on their website or not.
We use advertising partners in these ways to help generate an income from the website, which allows us to continue our work and provide you with the best overall experience and valued information.
Mymamameya is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and links to Amazon.com.
As part of this Amazon Associates program, the Website will post customized links, provided by Amazon, to track the referrals to their website. This program utilizes cookies to track visits for the purposes of assigning commission on any sales.
Disabling cookies
You can typically remove or reject cookies via your browser settings. In order to do this, follow the instructions provided by your browser (usually located within the "settings," "help" "tools" or "edit" facility). Many browsers are set to accept cookies until you change your settings.
If you do not accept our cookies, you may experience some inconvenience in your use of our Site. For example, we may not be able to recognize your computer or mobile device and you may need to log in every time you visit our Site.
IP Addresses
IP addresses are used by your computer every time you are connected to the Internet. Your IP address is a number that is used by computers on the network to identify your computer. IP addresses are automatically collected by our web server as part of demographic and profile data known as "traffic data" so that data (such as the Web pages you request) can be sent to you.
Email Information
If you choose to correspond with us through email, we may retain the content of your email messages together with your email address and our responses. We provide the same protections for these electronic communications that we employ in the maintenance of information received online, mail and telephone.
How Do We Use the Information That You Provide to Us?
Broadly speaking, we use personal information for purposes of administering our business activities, providing customer service and making available other items and services to our customers and prospective customers.
MyMaMaMeYa will not obtain personally-identifying information about you when you visit our site, unless you choose to provide such information to us, nor will such information be sold or otherwise transferred to unaffiliated third parties without the approval of the user at the time of collection.
We may disclose information when legally compelled to do so, in other words, when we, in good faith, believe that the law requires it or for the protection of our legal rights.
We will only retain your personal data [as long reasonably required for you to use the Site until you close your account/cancel your subscription] unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (for example for regulatory purposes).
A Special Note About Children
Children are not eligible to use our web site and services and we ask that minors (under the age of 13) do not submit any personal information to us. If you are a minor, you can use this site only in conjunction with permission and guidance from your parents or guardians.
How Do We Protect Your Information and Secure Information Transmissions?
Email is not recognized as a secure medium of communication. For this reason, we request that you do not send private information to us by email. However, doing so is allowed, but at your own risk. Some of the information you may enter on our Web site may be transmitted securely via a secure medium known as Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL. Credit Card information is never transmitted via email.
MyMaMaMeYa may use software programs to create summary statistics, which are used for such purposes as assessing the number of visitors to the different sections of our site, what information is of most and least interest, determining technical design specifications, and identifying system performance or problem areas.
For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, MyMaMaMeYa uses software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage.
Your Rights
- Opt-out. You may contact us anytime to opt-out of: (i) direct marketing communications; (ii) automated decision-making and/or profiling; (iii) our collection of sensitive personal data; (iv) any new processing of your personal data that we may carry out beyond the original purpose; or (v) the transfer of your personal data outside the EEA. Please note that your use of some of the Site may be ineffective upon opt-out.
- You may access the information we hold about you at any time via your profile/account or by contacting us directly.
- You can also contact us to update or correct any inaccuracies in your personal data.
- Your personal data is portable – i.e. you to have the flexibility to move your data to other service providers as you wish.
- Erase and forget. In certain situations, for example when the information we hold about you is no longer relevant or is incorrect, you can request that we erase your data.
If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us. In your request, please make clear: (i) what personal data is concerned; and (ii) which of the above rights you would like to enforce. For your protection, we may only implement requests with respect to the personal data associated with the particular email address that you use to send us your request, and we may need to verify your identity before implementing your request. We will try to comply with your request as soon as reasonably practicable and in any event, within one month of your request. Please note that we may need to retain certain information for recordkeeping purposes and/or to complete any transactions that you began prior to requesting such change or deletion.
Policy Changes
We reserve the right to amend this privacy policy at any time with or without notice. However, please be assured that if the Privacy Policy changes in the future, we will not use the personal information you have submitted to us under this Privacy Policy in a manner that is materially inconsistent with this Privacy Policy, without your prior consent.
We are committed to conducting our business in accordance with these principles in order to ensure that the confidentiality of personal information is protected and maintained.
If you have any questions regarding this Policy, or your dealings with our web site, please contact us.
Policy generated by the WP Policy Pack Plugin.


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Our marigolds have done so well this year! We're saving the flowers after deadheading so we can plant the seeds in our garden next year.
On Saturday I took my grandma to a local parade to see David's marching band. It was so cute to see her enjoying herself so much, waving at all the floats and clapping along to the music. She forgot her sunglasses, so I let her borrow some of mine. She thought she looked silly but I think she looked adorable.
90 years young! |
I posted this photo on the blog's Facebook page over the weekend with the title "The Homesteader's Entourage." It was one of our most popular photos ever posted. If you aren't following along yet on Facebook, click here to like our page!
I've really been enjoying my play time in the woods lately. It brings out the kid in me!
We've been harvesting and using so much butternut squash lately (go here for a good soup recipe). I love the vivid orange color that greets me when I slice the squash in half.
Sylvester photobomb level: expert. |
Our sweet little Emma kitty is getting fixed tomorrow morning. It makes me so sad when I have to drop off animals for surgery, but of course I know it's for the best. She has to stay overnight, so I'll be counting the minutes until I can pick her up on Wednesday evening.
Hope you've enjoyed a slice of our homestead.
Shared with Tuesday Muse


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Picnics and barbecues won't be the only places to enjoy fireworks this Independence Day. TNT has some truly dramatic fireworks in store with a five-hour July 4 marathon ofDallas, basic cable's #1 new series for the year-to-date. The lineup will feature the first four episodes of the series, climaxing at 9PM/EST with the premiere of an all-new episode. In addition, a new installment of the 15-minute post-episode webshow Dallas Round-Up will premiere on http://dallastnt.com at 10PM/EST.
5 p.m. (ET/PT) – "Changing of the Guard"
The Ewings, television's first family of drama, sabotage, secrets and betrayal, are gathering at Southfork Ranch for the upcoming wedding of Bobby's adopted son, Christopher, to Rebecca Sutter. Although the occasion is joyous, an old family rivalry crosses generations after secret oil drilling on Southfork results in a major gusher. Everyone has his or her own agenda when the fight over oil and land threatens to tear the Ewings apart once again.
6 p.m. (ET/PT) – "Hedging Your Bets"
The plot to take control of Southfork gets complicated when two-timing affairs and blackmail arise, and J.R. starts to ask one too many questions. Meanwhile, Christopher and Elena bury their feelings in order work together on a business deal. But Christopher's new bride may be hiding her own secrets.
7 p.m. (ET/PT) – "The Price You Pay"
Just as John Ross sets out to claim his birthright and make his father proud, J.R. decides to move back to Southfork, much to Ann's dismay. Bitter Ewing family enemy Cliff Barnes (guest star Ken Kercheval) returns and tries to reconnect with his nephew, Christopher. A startling family announcement offers an opportunity to heal old wounds.
8 p.m. (ET/PT) – "The Last Hurrah"
John Ross seeks to gain an upper hand on a family member and resorts to blackmail, but J.R. decides to handle the situation his own way. Meanwhile, Christopher opens up to Bobby about his difficulty in choosing between the two women he loves.
9 p.m. (ET/PT) – All-New Episode: "Truth and Consequences"
With tension mounting between the newly married Christopher and Rebecca, family ties begin to unravel when the deed to Southfork is revealed. In order to thwart J.R.'s schemes, Ann seeks help from someone in her past, and Christopher decides it is time to fight dirty.
10 p.m. (ET/PT) – Dallas Round-Up – Post-episode webshow on http://dallastnt.com
TNT's 15-minute post-episode webshow, hosted by Cameron Mathison (Good Morning America,Dancing with the Stars), features discussions on the episode that just aired, interviews with special guests from the cast and crew, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, fan questions, trivia and more. This week's installment will feature Dallas stars Jesse Metcalfe and Josh Henderson, along with executive producer/writer Cynthia Cidre.


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(Moscow) – Moscow police have detained thousands of suspected irregular migrants since late July 2013, for alleged violation of migration and employment regulations. Hundreds are in custody, including in a makeshift tent camp in inhuman conditions. Russia should immediately halt these arbitrary detentions and the degrading treatment of migrants.
At the end of July, Moscow police opened a massive campaign in Russia's capital against irregular migrants, sweeping through street markets and other places where many migrants gather, and detaining people based on their non-Slavic appearance. According to media reports, over 4,000 people have been taken into custody, including nationals of Vietnam, Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt, Morocco, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
"Everything about this massive sweep violates Russia's obligations under international law," said Tanya Lokshina, Russia program director at Human Rights Watch. "Prolonged detention without counsel, ethnic profiling, inhuman conditions – it should stop now."
The migrants are being held in police detention centers and holding centers for foreign nationals, with courts ordering their deportation based on perfunctory, rubber-stamp hearings. The government should guarantee the fundamental rights of anyone taken into custody and provide detention conditions that meet international standards, Human Rights Watch said.
Police sweeps are still going on. According to media reports, over 1,000 more people were apprehended at the Gardener Market in Moscow on August 7. On August 8, police authorities and city militia carried out a sweep by the entrance to the metro next to one of the main train stations in the city. Throughout the day, Human Rights Watch observed people who did not have a Slavic appearance get stopped and questioned by police at central metro stations in a clear-cut ethnic profiling operation.
Undocumented migration and crime in Russia's capital are high on the political agenda in the lead up to the September mayoral elections. Concerns about rising migration and "ethnic" crime have become a dominant feature of official pre-election rhetoric. The massive campaign against irregular migrants was allegedly triggered by an incident at an open-air market in Moscow on July 27, when a policeman attempting to arrest a rape suspect from Russia's North Caucasus was attacked by the suspect's relatives and seriously injured.
With police facilities and holding centers full to overflowing, the authorities built a makeshift camp in the eastern part of Moscow, herding hundreds of people into tents with no electricity, no communications, appalling sanitation conditions, inadequate food, and lack of access to potable water.
Migrants detained during police raids typically have had no access to legal counsel or translators. They have not been able to inform family members of their fate and whereabouts, and were not allowed to pack any belongings or retrieve documents they were not carrying at the time they were detained. Some who are awaiting deportation are asylum seekers or have lawful residence permits, and thus have a legal right to be in Russia.
Systematically detaining people who appear to be of different ethnic or racial background without a reasonable suspicion of individual wrongdoing is discriminatory and constitutes arbitrary deprivation of liberty in violation of national and international human rights law, Human Rights Watch said.
On August 2, the day after a police raid of sewing sweatshops employing over 1000 allegedly irregular Vietnamese workers, the Emergencies Ministry hastily built a large tent camp in Golyanovo, in the eastern part of Moscow. The camp supposedly has the capacity to accommodate 900 people but its legal status is unclear. By August 4, it held over 600 migrants under close police surveillance. By August 7, most of the women had been moved to police detention centers and the number of people at the camp had decreased to approximately 500. Also on August 7, the authorities had to hospitalize 30 of the camp's inmates due to severe skin rash and allergies of unknown origin.
According to media reports, some of those detained are taken to police precincts across Moscow, where the holding conditions are even more problematic than at the Golyanovo camp.
Svetlana Gannushkina, head of the Civic Assistance Committee, a human rights group that provides legal assistance to migrants and asylum seekers, said that under Russian law, foreign nationals subject to deportation can be held only in specialized holding centers. "Golyanovo is essentially an unlawful detention facility," Gannushkina told Human Rights Watch. She said that three of her group's pro bono clients – two Syrian nationals and an Afghan national – being held in the camp awaiting deportation are asylum seekers protected by international law.
Russia's ombudsman, Vladimir Lukin, told the news media that the sanitary conditions at the camp were unacceptable, especially the state of the toilets and the lack of proper washing facilities. Gannushkina, who visited the camp jointly with Lukin, described the conditions in the camp to Human Rights Watch as "inhuman."
Alexander Kulikovsky, a human rights activist on the public advisory board of the Moscow City Police Department, who recently visited the camp several times, told Human Rights Watch that detainees had no access to potable water and their intake of liquids was limited to tea provided with their clearly inadequate meals.
He said that because the camp had no hot water, detainees have not been able to wash properly since they arrived. He also said that the authorities failed to provide them with such basic necessities as soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, towels, underwear, footwear, medical kits, etc. The tents were dirty and overcrowded and appeared unprotected from inclement weather, he said. Dozens of photographs of the camp examined by Human Rights Watch confirm this assessment.
Kulikovsky said detainees cannot communicate with family members or lawyers, as access to the camp is restricted and there are no payphones or facilities to charge cell phones.
The Civic Assistance Committee told Human Rights Watch that its staff lawyer encountered severe obstacles when she went to the camp on August 6, to meet with their three clients. The police prevented the lawyer from entering the camp for about two hours, demanding "special permission" and trying to wave her off despite her repeated explanations that lawyers need no "permission" to see their clients.
Finally, after the group made several phone calls to the authorities, she was able to see two of her three clients. However, the police allowed them no privacy, so they had to speak standing on opposite sides of a hedge under the surveillance of a police officer.
"Obstructing a meeting between a lawyer and his or her client in detention is a blatant violation of international human rights law," Lokshina said.
The absence of phones and translators has worsened the problem of lack of access to counsel, leaving the detainees facing great obstacles in challenging the legality of their detention or requesting asylum, Human Rights Watch said.
Gannushkina told Human Rights Watch that most of the migrants she interviewed in the camp had no money and had not been paid for the work they were doing before they were detained. They said their documents, clothing, and other possessions had been left behind at the dormitories where they had been staying. The migrants were particularly concerned that they would not be able to reclaim their papers and personal belongings, she said.
Others had their migration cards and work permits with them, but told Gannushkina that the court would not examine their documents or listen to the migrants' explanations. Court deportation orders appeared to be made automatically, with no consideration for the specifics of individual cases. An Afghan asylum seeker held in Golyanovo informed the Civic Assistance Committee that during his court hearings he had been given no opportunity to inform the judge about his status.
In the detentions Human Rights Watch observed on August 8, some of the people targeted were apparently taken into custody for being unable to answer questions because they did not speak enough Russian and police officials had no translators with them. Kulikovsky said that five Tajikistan nationals detained by police in July spent 14 days at the temporary detention center of a police precinct, in inhuman conditions. Russian law does not allow police to hold people at police precincts for longer than 48 hours. The cells are not designed for longer stays, and the precincts do not have adequate sanitary facilities. The Civic Assistance Committee also told Human Rights Watch that they are aware of dozens of people who were unlawfully held at police precincts for three to five days awaiting court hearings.
"Nothing can justify massive detentions based on ethnic profiling," Lokshina said. "If the authorities are serious about improving security and public order in Moscow, they should focus on fighting crime and stop trying to divert public discontent by using migrants as scapegoats."


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Grilling Over Gas Is Objectively, Scientifically Better Than Grilling Over Charcoal
Grilling on a holiday, when you've got the day off, is easy. You can take your time; pull out your artisanal hardwood charcoal; light it in your chimney starter; build a perfect two-level fire; and lovingly tend your rib-eye, or your chicken breasts, or your pork ribs.
Holiday grilling is hobby grilling.
But what about the 22nd of June, or the 12th of August—when temps are in the 80s and all you want is to be in your backyard with a beer and a hunk of meat to cook? Instead, it's 6 pm, you're at the office, the kids need to eat by 7, and you still have to go to the store.
This, my friend, is why a gas grill rules.
Charcoal purists will tell you their preferred fuel leads to better flavor. This is nonsense.
Look, I like cooking on charcoal too—it has one indisputable advantage over gas: It gets much hotter. Glowing coals are at a temperature of about 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit; while gas burns at around 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit, there's very little radiant heat from the flames.
And radiant heat is what's really cooking your food on a grill. That's why gas grills use some sort of surface to create radiation, whether it's lava rocks or ceramic plates or the "Flavorizer Bars" on my Weber. These surfaces are heated by the gas flame, creating the radiant heat generated naturally by charcoal.
Charcoal purists will try to tell you that their preferred fuel leads to better flavor. This is, well, nonsense.
Your food doesn't know what's creating the heat below it, and once charcoal is hot, there aren't any aromatic compounds left in the coals. According to the food science bible Modernist Cuisine, "Carbon is carbon; as it burns, it imparts no flavor of its own to the food being grilled."
The characteristic flavor of grilled food comes from the drippings, not the fuel. When those drippings hit the heat source below, the oils, sugars, and proteins burst into smoke and flame. That heat creates new complex molecules that rise in the smoke and warm air to coat the food you're grilling.
"The real debate should be whether charcoal is necessary at all."
Nothing in that process relies on charcoal.
Intellectual Ventures founder, former Microsoft CTO, and barbecue world championship–winning chef Nathan Myhrvold has spent millions trying to understand the science of food and cooking. He's serious about his meat, and as he argues in Modernist Cuisine, the real debate among the faithful "shouldn't be about which charcoal is best. It should be about whether charcoal is necessary at all."
Still not convinced? Know what's worse than grilling on gas, you snob?
Not grilling at all.
I can walk in my door with a bag of groceries at 6:30 and have grilled chicken on the table at 7, a happy family praising a delicious dinner. The most precious commodity in the world, the one resource that none of us has enough of, that's constantly dwindling until we die, is time.
A gas grill claws back time for you with every use. Grill three times a week over the course of a summer and you'll have saved yourself a full day. A day! Think of what you can do with an extra day, provided to you by your gas grill.
Check out the other side of the debate: why charcoal is better than gas (the answer may surprise you).


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In my customized Google news, I have a category for cosmetic surgery. Most items that turn up are self-serving PR announcements, but recently there was lengthy coverage of the death during cosmetic surgery of aspiring Chinese pop star Wang Bei.
Editor's note: This post was picked up from www.thehealthculture.com.
In my customized Google news, I have a category for cosmetic surgery. Most items that turn up are self-serving PR announcements, but recently there was lengthy coverage of the death during cosmetic surgery of aspiring Chinese pop star Wang Bei.
The details are tragic: She was only 24. Ironic: She was already beautiful. And dramatic: Her mother was having the same procedure at the exact same time. So her mother woke up to discover her daughter was dead. Or perhaps not. According to conflicting reports, her mother was told nothing until the next day. The news reports out of China do not strike me as especially reliable.
For example, Wang Bei's death was first reported as an anaesthetic accident, but the majority of stories describe the cause of death as bleeding from the jaw. Wang was having facial bone-grinding surgery "to make her jaw line fashionably narrow and her face smaller." (Chinese women are said to prefer an oval face shaped like a "goose egg.")
The blood from Wang's jaw drained into her windpipe, and she suffocated. Is that an "anaesthetic accident"? Wang's surgeon claims the operation was a success and that Wang died of an unexpected heart problem several hours after the procedure.
The Chinese Ministry of Health asked the provincial health department (where the surgery took place) to conduct an investigation and report back as soon as possible. Wang died on November 15, and there is still no official word.
The sociologist and the plastic surgeon
Press coverage of the Wang Bei story – in addition to describing the young woman's failed attempt to become a successful entertainer after her 2005 appearance on the Chinese equivalent of American Idol - was almost entirely about the importance of finding a qualified surgeon for your next cosmetic procedure. This is big business in China. In 2009, the Chinese spent $2.2 billion dollars on three million procedures, a figure that grows annually by 20%. China ranks third highest in the world in number of procedures (after the US and Brazil), and it's number one in Asia.
There were a few – but not many – comments on why an attractive 24-year-old would want her jaw shaved. Typical was the following, which juxtaposed the question of motivation with the affirmation that, of course, a young girl wants cosmetic surgery.
Xia Xueluan, a sociologist at Peking University, told the Global Times that he also strongly disagreed with undertaking cosmetic surgery simply in order to improve one's looks.
"The concept of beauty has also been greatly distorted nowadays," he said. "Doing plastic surgery reflects people's vanity and lack of confidence about themselves."
A plastic surgery expert surnamed Jia at the PLA 309 Hospital in Beijing told the Global Times that it's understandable that young women wish to have surgery to improve their looks – but he added that they should choose credible and qualified hospitals and doctors to avoid fatal accidents.
The sociologist versus the medical profession. I wonder whose voice the public prefers?
Fixing what can be fixed: The moral choice
In his wonderful essay "Emily's Scars," sociologist Arthur W. Frank raises the question: Where do we draw the line when it comes to "fixing" the self?
Is there some core of me that I should work with, not work on, or are some body parts no more than unwanted contingencies, like warts, that temporarily intrude on my life? If the latter, is the decision to fix determined only by a comparatively simple cost- and risk-benefit assessment? Need I ask only whether the promised improvement will be worth the time, trouble, and pain to me that the fixing involves?
Frank goes on to distinguish protectionist from Socratic bioethics. Protectionist bioethics was the prevailing response to Wang Bei's death. The consumer of cosmetic surgery should be protected from harm. Doctors should be adequately trained and highly competent. There should be full disclosure of any risks. It all boils down to a cost-benefit analysis of a consumer purchase: What exactly am I getting, what is the benefit, what is the cost, and what is my risk.
Socratic bioethics, on the other hand, digs a little deeper. It asks – Socratically enough – what is the good life and what should health mean in this good life. When we choose to have cosmetic surgery – on our faces, our feet, our thighs – we tell ourselves this is entirely a personal and private decision that affects only the individual patient/consumer. But in fact, each one of us who makes the decision to have cosmetic surgery changes the standards of acceptable appearance in which everyone else must live. In that sense, the decision to have cosmetic surgery is communal and thus ultimately moral.
Fifteen minutes of fame
Who set the standards of appearance that prompted Wang Bei to undergo surgery? Should we condemn individuals, the media, celebrity culture, consumer culture, the competitive nature of modern life?
After her unsuccessful appearance on SuperGirl - a hugely popular singing contest in which the television audience votes on the winner (democracy in action in China) - Wang Bei took part in Dream China, a 2006 talent competition. Using her modest fame from SuperGirl, she secured a number of media appearances in the following years. She had hoped to sign with a record label, but this never happened. Her performances in subsequent competitions are described as "lackluster." By the summer of 2010, she was singing in a bar in the industrial port city of Qingdao.
My favorite bioethicist, Carl Elliott, believes the issue of appearance boils down to the logic of consumer culture.
You can still refuse to use enhancement technologies, of course – you might be the last woman in America who does not dye her gray hair, the last man who refuses to work out at the gym – but even that publicly announces something to other Americans about who you are and what you value. This is all part of the logic of consumer culture. You cannot simply opt out of the system and expect nobody to notice how much you weigh.
Nor, evidently, can you compete for fame without acquiescing to the rising standards of appearance set by those who opt for cosmetic surgery. Standards, as Jonathan Metzl puts it in another context, that are "wholly mainstream and impossible to attain."
Wang Bei had achieved sufficient fame to have fans. One report noted that some of those fans – on hearing the news of her death – accused her of staging a publicity stunt to attract attention. Alas, the news was true. In her death Wang Bei found the fame that had eluded her in life.
Update 12/6/10:Wang Bei's Ultimate Sacrifice to Beauty
This is not an official report on Wang's death, but observations from an anonymous doctor who was part of Wang's "rescue" team. Other sources have also reported on Wang's previous cosmetic surgeries.
An error on the part of the surgeon … led to a bleed from Wang's lower jaw into her trachea. … As she was under general anesthetic, by the time surgeon realized what had happened she had already gone into shock. …
"She had already undergone facial surgeries on her eyes, nose and lower jaw in addition to the bone-grinding procedure mentioned on the Internet. Respiratory tract obstructions are a risk during simultaneous surgery on the nasal cavity and lower jaw, which is why such cases need careful observation," the doctor said, adding, "Wang didn't die during surgery but in the observation period afterwards. The surgery called for tight bandaging over the patient's chin and mouth. As the nasal surgery impeded nasal breathing, assisted respiration was necessary. It appears that Zhong'ao Cosmetic Surgery Hospital was deficient in its observation procedure after surgery, and is hence responsible for Wang's death."
Update 12/7/10:Plastic Surgery & Chinese Singer
Here's speculation from the California Surgical Institute Blog on what may have happened (purely hypothetical), plus reassurance that it wouldn't happen here.
[T[he most likely scenario was that the surgeon nicked a vein, allowing blood and mucous to trickle into Wang's intubation tube and into her lungs. In short, she drowned on the table. Or, her lungs were so stressed by the fluids, they sprung a heart attack.
Can that happen in US plastic surgery? Given a board certified plastic surgeon working with a board-certified anesthesiologist (who is another medical doctor) it is very, very unlikely.
Update 12/22/10:As China's obsession with plastic surgery grows, so too do the pitfalls (Washington Post)
A comment from the Western press on the popularity of cosmetic surgery in China. Number of surgeries much higher than officially reported.
"I feel people have a higher standard of beauty right now," [Dr] Xu [Shirong] said. "I tell many of my patients they score 98 already, and that's good enough, with no need to pursue a perfect 100. But most of my patients still choose to add those two missing points."
Related posts on www.thehealthculture.com:Character, personality, and cosmetic surgeryBibi Aisha: Fixing what can be fixedMutilated Afghan woman on the cover of TimeAfghan women empowered to practice beautyThe tyranny of health then and nowThe tyranny of healthActions surrounding the moment of death are highly symbolic
Image source (head shot): N24
China's ugly obsession,Sydney Morning Herald, December 2, 2010
Zhang Xiang (ed), Beauty has an ugly side, Xinhua News Agency, November 30, 2010
Jin Jianya, Beijing woman dies during plastic surgery procedure,Global Times, November 26, 2010
Arthur W. Frank, Emily's Scars: Surgical Shapings, Technoluxe, and Bioethics, Hastings Center Report, March-April, 2004
Jonathan Metzl and Anna Kirkland, editors, Against Health: How Health Became the New Morality


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Adorable Teddy Bear Picnic Party!
We have fallen head over heels for this adorable Teddy Bear Picnic Party by lillypaul designs! All the details are just precious down to the adorable embellishments in burlap, lace, and gingham prints! Who doesn't love teddy bears? This is a perfect gender-neutral party idea (or shower idea too)! You'll even spot some party goodies from our advertiser Shop Sweet Lulu! My favorite detail is the dessert table featuring "bear-y" sweet treats! Candace shared lots of sweet details with us:
"The dessert table included more "bear" inspired goodies including "Bearies and Cream" cupcakes from HaleyBelle's Cupcakes, "Beary" Fruit Cups, "Bear" tails, "StrawBeary" Shortcakes, and "Beary delicious Cookies". I made a vintage inspired fabric garland out of scraps of burlap, lace, and gingham fabrics to drape across the front of the table. I also added simple tins filled with baby's breath and teddy bear picks to the table and jazzed up some plain pie tins and plastic berry baskets with lace for a softer look." – Candace of lillypaul designs
More sweet teddy bear picnic details as told by Candace of lillypaul designs:
"Rachel of Printed Ink did an amazing job of creating the printables to match my vision and incorporated the textures of burlap and lace in the printables. Gingham blankets, picnic baskets, and vintage teddy bears set the stage for this picnic in the park. I added in layers of burlap and lace, some old coffee tins filled with baby's breath, and vintage inspired finds to create a simple and soft summertime picnic.
What kid doesn't love their own lunch box? I took plain kraft gable boxes and tied a napkin around the top, glued on some ribbon and added a "Little Bear Lunch Box" printable to the front. Super cute, super easy, and a great way to keep lunches contained. The drink table included "Beary Pink Lemonade" and "Old-Fashioned Root Bear". Mason jars served dolled up with some lace and fun striped paper straws served as glasses and root beer bottles got a makeover with added doilies and twine.
Party favors included DIY Teddy Bear headbands, mini Teddy Bear jars filled with honey courtesy of Cool Party Favors, and personalized "Build-A-Bear" teddy bears."
Credits & Resources
Party Styling: lillypaul designs | Photography: Photography by Laura Beatriz | Printables: Printed Ink | Cupcakes and Cake: HaleyBelle's Cupcakes | Teddy Bear Jars: Cool Party Favors | Gable Boxes, Candy Cups, Striped Straws: Shop Sweet Lulu


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Though not raised on a farm, Annie Dee grew up in farming country in southern Illinois. After studying agriculture in college, she farmed land her parents owned in Florida. This land was later sold to start another in West Alabama. Over the years, she transformed Dee River Ranch near Aliceville, Ala., into a modern row crop and beef cattle operation.
As a result of her success as a diversified farmer, Dee has been selected as the Alabama state winner of the 2013 Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year award. Dee joins nine other state winners from the Southeast as finalists for the award. The overall winner will be announced on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at the Sunbelt Ag Expo farm show in Moultrie, Ga.
Today, Dee River Ranch is a 10,000-acre operation, with corn, wheat and soybeans. Per acre crop yields are about 182 bushels for irrigated corn, 96 bushels for dryland corn, 53 bushels for irrigated soybeans, 46 bushels for non-irrigated soybeans and 53 bushels for wheat.
She operates the farm with her brother Mike Dee. Mike and Annie share ownership of the farm with their 10 brothers and sisters.
They harvest high moisture corn in July to gain top seasonal prices. The farm has about 253,000 bushels in grain storage capacity, and the Dees are planning to add more storage to help market their grain crops for higher prices.
Irrigation has become a major emphasis. In 2011, the Dees built a 25-acre reservoir and two pivots. They later built a 110-acre irrigation reservoir and five pivots. This year, they added 11 new Lindsay center pivot irrigation systems. "My goal is to have 100 percent of the row crop acreage irrigated," says Annie. With additional irrigation, Annie believes she can eventually grow corn yielding an average of 300 bushels per acre.
Annie and Mike also added a wireless network to link the irrigation systems. The network provides high-speed internet over 20 square miles.
Lindsay officials now bring staff and clients from throughout the world to Dee River Ranch to see how integrated irrigation systems can increase productivity.
Some of the land is forested and additional land is enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program. The timber includes about 836 acres of pine trees and 65 acres of hardwoods. Sawtooth oaks have been planted as borders to support wildlife. They also use a forester to help market the trees. Current plans call for thinning the pines twice before taking a final sawtimber cut.
Annie has improved soil quality, especially soil organic matter, through no-till planting. She has also improved soil quality by adding lime and chicken litter. Roundup Ready technology has boosted control of sicklepod and hemp sesbania. Annie and Mike also use cover crops to increase organic matter, improve water-holding capacity and improve erosion control. In addition to traditional covers such as rye, wheat, clover and oats, they have also planted radishes and sunn hemp as cover crops.
Beef cattle at Dee River Ranch include about 711 cows and 58 bulls. Annie and Mike increased the number of calves weaned and raised by paying close attention to nutrition and taking a stand against coyote predators. "We sell cows that do not produce and raise a live calf every year," says Annie. "We have increased the number of brood cows, and now have a productive and efficient herd." They've built new cattle handling facilities and have stabilized the soil around feeding and watering areas. They use electronic identification on all their cattle so that cattle can be traced back to the farm if there is ever a disease concern. "This is an attempt to give credibility to the cattle producer starting right here on my farm," says Annie.
After studying agriculture at Clemson University, she started working on the family land in Inverness, Fla., where her first job was sanding and painting rusty gates.
In 1989, the family sold this land to the Southwest Florida Water Management District where it is now used to recharge aquifers that provide water for Tampa and St. Petersburg. After selling their Florida land, the family purchased the land in West Central Alabama where Dee River Ranch is now headquartered.
Annie is active locally in New Era Arts Club, Pickens County Farmers Federation, Pickens County Cattlewomen's Association, Aliceville Gardeners and Corpus Christi Catholic Church. She and Mike have hosted school children, farm-city groups and others touring their farm.
On the state level, she has won the Alabama Governor's Conservation Achievement Award. She has partnered with the Alabama Rural Medical Scholars program. She has served on statewide wheat and feed grains and soybean committees. She serves on the Alabama Soybean & Corn Association board. She also served as chaplain of the Alabama Cattlewomen's Association.
Her farm has been recognized by USDA for its conservation. She has been on an international marketing committee for the United Soybean Board. The farm was also recognized with an environmental stewardship award for the Southeast.
She has been very active in two outreach programs sponsored by the HGB Foundation, founded by philanthropist Howard G. Buffett. One is called Invest an Acre that encourages farmers to donate the proceeds from one or more acres to benefit regional food banks. Proceeds from her acre are matched by Monsanto and contributed to The Lord's Pantry. "I have become an ambassador for the program in Alabama, recruiting other farmers to participate," adds Annie.
The other is called Harvesting the Potential. This HGB Foundation program encourages farmers to use conservation practices such as no-till planting which can lead to higher yields that can help in feeding hungry people. "My commitment is to freely share my experiences with other farmers," she adds.
Annie is married to Ed Sikora, a professor and Extension plant pathologist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. He has been widely recognized for his work in detecting and controlling plant diseases such as soybean rust.
Her twin sons Seth More and Jesse More are both active in helping to run the farm. She also has a daughter Rachel More who lives in Florida and works at an independent living facility.
As president of Dee River Ranch, Annie supervises 18 full-time employees. "We produce good quality food for people all around the world," she says. "So many challenges face us every day. There is such enjoyment in seeing things grow, and it is so rewarding to realize we are caring for God's creation."
Jeff Helms with the Alabama Farmers Federation is the state coordinator for the Farmer of the Year awards. Annie was nominated for the award by Matthew Durdin, area organizational director with the Alabama Farmers Federation. "I've known Annie and Mike for ten years," says Durdin. "They have gone above and beyond what is normally expected of farmers. They are true stewards of the land."
As the Alabama state winner of the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo award, Dee will now receive a $2,500 cash award and an expense paid trip to the Sunbelt Expo from Swisher International of Jacksonville, Fla., a $500 gift certificate from the Southern States cooperative, the choice of either $1,000 in PhytoGen cottonseed or a $500 donation to a designated charity from Dow AgroSciences, and a Columbia vest from Ivey's Outdoor and Farm Supply.
She is now eligible for the $15,000 cash prize that will go to the overall winner. Other prizes for the overall winner include the use of a Massey Ferguson tractor for a year from Massey Ferguson North America, a Heritage gun safe and another $500 gift certificate from Southern States, the choice of another $1,000 in PhytoGen cottonseed or a second $500 donation to a designated charity from Dow AgroSciences, and a Columbia jacket from Ivey's Outdoor and Farm Supply.
Swisher International, through its Swisher Sweets cigar brand, and the Sunbelt Expo are sponsoring the Southeastern Farmer of the Year awards for the 24th consecutive year. Swisher has contributed some $924,000 in cash awards and other honors to southeastern farmers since the award was initiated in 1990.
Previous state winners from Alabama include: Ricky Wiggins of Anderson, 1990; George Kiser, Sr. of Foley, 1991; Allen Bragg of Toney, 1992; Sykes Martin of Courtland, 1993; David Pearce of Browns, 1994; Glenn Jones of Blountsville, 1995; Raymond Jones of Huntsville, 1996; Dan Miller of Greensboro, 1997; Homer Tate of Meridianville, 1998; Eugene Glenn of Hillsboro, 1999; George T. Hamilton of Hillsboro, 2000; Bert Driskell of Grand Bay, 2001; Charles Burton of Lafayette, 2002; Bruce Bush of Eufaula, 2003; John B. East of Leesburg, 2004; James A. Wise of Samson, 2005; Glenn Forrester of Columbia, 2006; Billy Gilley of Holly Pond, 2007; Lamar Dewberry of Lineville, 2008; David Wright of Plantersville, 2009; Shep Morris of Shorter, 2010; Andy Wendland of Autaugaville, 2011; and Sam Givhan of Safford, 2012.
Alabama has had one overall winner with Raymond Jones of Huntsville being selected as the Southeastern Farmer of the Year in 1996.
A distinguished panel of judges will visit Dee River Ranch, along with the farms of the other nine state finalists, during the week of Aug. 12-16. The judges for this year include John McKissick, a longtime University of Georgia Extension ag economist from Athens, Ga.; farmer Brian Kirksey of Amity, Ark., who was selected as the overall winner in 2008; and John Woodruff, retired University of Georgia Extension agronomist from Tifton, Ga., who specialized in soybeans for many years.


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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine police van rammed into protesters, leaving several bloodied, as an anti-U.S. rally turned violent Wednesday at the American Embassy in Manila.
At least three student activists had to be taken to a hospital after they were ran over by the van driven by a police officer, protest leader Renato Reyes said.
Associated Press TV footage showed the van repeatedly ramming the protesters as it drove wildly back and forth after activists surrounded and started hitting the vehicle with wooden batons they seized from police.
In front of horrified crowds, including videojournalists and photographers, the van suddenly charged backward then sprinted forward twice over a space of about 20 meters (60 feet), barreling through the scattered protesters and hurtling some to the side like bowling pins. A few got ran over but somehow managed to stand.
Some screamed in surprise, others hurled stones at the van and yelled invectives. A speaker called the police "puppies of imperialists" on a loudspeaker.
"There was absolutely no justification for it," Reyes said of the violent police dispersal of about 1,000 protesters. "Even as the president vowed an independent foreign policy, Philippine police forces still act as running dogs of the U.S."
Police lobbed tear gas and arrested at least 23 protesters who broke through a line of riot police and hurled red paint at the officers and a U.S. government seal at the start of the rally at the seaside embassy compound.
A firetruck doused the rowdy protesters with water to push them back, but they took hold of the water hose and confronted the outnumbered police with rocks and red paint. After breaking through the police corridor, they scribbled "U.S. troops out now" and other slogans at the embassy's tall fence with red paint.
The protesters, consisting of students, workers and tribespeople, were demanding an end to the presence of visiting U.S. troops in the Philippines and to support a call by President Rodrigo Duterte for a foreign policy not dependent on the U.S., the country's longtime treaty ally.
The activists came from the largest left-wing umbrella group called Bayan (Nation), which has organized regular anti-U.S. protests in front of the embassy for decades, most of which are peaceful.
Duterte was on a state visit to China, where he is seeking to repair relations strained under his predecessor over territorial conflicts in the South China Sea. He is also seeking to expand two-way trade and investments and financing for badly needed infrastructure projects.
Amid an uneasy relationship with the U.S., Duterte has tried to reach out to China and Russia, bringing uncertainty to his country's long alliance with America.
But the protesters also opposed the president's effort to lean toward China. "The Philippines will not be dictated on, whether by the U.S. or China," they said in a statement.
The Philippine National Police did not comment immediately Wednesday.
The violence happened as the police and Duterte are under increased international scrutiny for their alleged role in the killings of thousands of drug suspects and pushers as part of the president's war on illegal drugs.


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Rumsfeld Peddles Revisionist History
BY Herschel Smith15 years, 7 months ago
Donald Rumsfeld is peddling a bit of revisionist history in the New York Times. His overall aim is allegedly to describe how the Iraq troop surge and strategy may not be able to be precisely duplicated in Afghanistan. But leaving behind his thesis for a moment, we can get right to the revisionist history.
As one who is occasionally — and incorrectly — portrayed as an opponent of the surge in Iraq, I believe that while the surge has been effective in Iraq, we must also recognize the conditions that made it successful. President Bush's bold decision to deploy additional troops to support a broader counterinsurgency strategy of securing and protecting the Iraqi people was clearly the right decision. More important, though, it was the right decision at the right time …
The decision to conduct a surge came out of an interagency review in the fall of 2006. By mid-December, as I was leaving the Pentagon, there was a rough consensus in the Defense Department that deploying additional combat brigades to Iraq was the right step. Some military leaders raised reasonable questions about the potential effectiveness of a surge, in part because of a correct concern that military power alone could not solve Iraq's problems. I agreed, and emphasized that a military surge would need to be accompanied by effective diplomatic and economic "surges" from other departments and agencies of the American government, and by considerably greater progress from Iraq's elected leaders.
During my last weeks in office, I recommended to President Bush that he consider Gen. David Petraeus as commander of coalition forces in Iraq, as General Casey's tour was coming to an end. General Petraeus and his deputy, Gen. Ray Odierno, had the experience and skill to recognize and exploit the seismic shifts that were taking place in Iraq's political landscape. And United States troops had the courage to win the alliance of Iraq's people against a common enemy — and the benevolence to win their friendship.
At the critical moment — a moment when the Iraqis were able and willing to be part of the surge with the American forces — the United States surged into Iraq with the right commanders, additional forces and a fresh operational approach rooted in years of on-the-ground experience. Americans can be proud of what has been accomplished in Iraq over the last five-plus years. They should also be impressed by the results of the surge, which, thus far, has outstripped expectations, including mine.
Balderdash and myths. Rumsfeld and his reports repeatedly talked of standing down as the people and Iraqi Army stood up, and the strategy wasn't one of counterinsurgency. It was one of a quick turnover and rapid drawdown. Saving the day had to rest on the shoulders of the enlisted men and those in the states who would support the campaign.
For the next three years, Donald Rumsfeld and the senior generals pushed a "short-war" scenario, "which was to get a political solution quickly, transition to the Iraqis security quickly, and get out," says Gen. Keane. "It didn't work" ….
In late 2006, after the midterm election debacle for Republicans, pressure rose for a quick if dishonorable exit from Iraq. Gen. Keane met Frederick Kagan, who was putting together a report on an alternative strategy for Iraq at the American Enterprise Institute. On Dec. 11, both men found themselves at the White House to push the plan. Congress, the Joint Chiefs, Iraq commander Gen. George Casey and the Iraq Study Group all wanted a fast drawdown. President Bush ignored their advice. Gen. Petraeus was sent out in February to oversee the new, risky and politically unpopular surge.
Rumsfeld, who apparently never sat down in his office, would have done much better to park himself in a chair and study why his philosophy of rapidly turning over to an Iraqi Army was destined for failure; or perhaps he could have listened to General Eric Shinseki's recommendation that we needed more troops than called for under the current plan; or perhaps he could have prevented Paul Wolfowitz from making a clown of himself by publicly denouncing Shinseki's remarks to the Congress; or perhaps he could have paid attention to General Anthony Zinni's war-gaming of Iraq in which his team found that they needed 400,000 troops; or perhaps he could have thought a little more about the toppling of a government with troops expected to keep order under the ridiculous rules of engagement and rules for the use of force that more closely followed the SCOTUS Tennessee v. Garner decision than rules necessary for post-invasion Iraq.
But he didn't do any of this. Upon the beginning of looting and after watching the streets of Iraq turn into Lord of the Flies except with adults and guns, the best Rumsfeld can offer is to say stuff happens.
Continuing with Rumsfeld's fantasy:
The way forward in Afghanistan will need to reflect the current circumstances there — not the circumstances in Iraq two years ago. Additional troops in Afghanistan may be necessary, but they will not, by themselves, be sufficient to lead to the results we saw in Iraq. A similar confluence of events that contributed to success in Iraq does not appear to exist in Afghanistan.
What's needed in Afghanistan is an Afghan solution, just as Iraqi solutions have contributed so fundamentally to progress in Iraq. And a surge, if it is to be successful, will need to be an Afghan surge.
Left unanswered in the current debate is the critical question of how thousands of additional American troops might actually bring long-term stability to Afghanistan — a country 80,000 square miles larger than Iraq yet with security forces just one-fourth the size of Iraq's. Afghanistan also lacks Iraq's oil and other economic advantages. It is plagued by the narcotics trade. Its borders are threatened by terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan. Fractured groups of Pashtun tribesmen on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border do not yet appear willing to unite and take on the insurgents in their midst, as Arab tribes did in Iraq.
So after designing the strategy to topple the Taliban regime and push the Taliban into neighboring Pakistan, Rumsfeld now tells us that his strategy failed and going forward in Afghanistan is going to be difficult. But Rumsfeld's force transformation (otherwise called by the erudite phrase "rationalizing the force structure") is described for us by John Noonan of OpFor.
To some, his leadership was inspirational. To others, he was the guy who was single handedly dismantling a force that had barely survived eight years of Clinton-era defense cuts. The name for the pain was Transformation, Rumsfeld's baby. The Pentagon's "bridge to the 21st century." And before September 11, it sounded and felt pretty slick. A lighter force, with emphasis on flexibility, technology, and force multiplication. Maximum effect, minimum loss cheered supporters.
In Afghanistan, Transformation was looking pretty good. A couple of hundred SPECOP warriors exploited our new, network-centric approach to warfighting and accomplished what the much-feared Soviet juggernaut could not. Who needs tanks? Who needs divisions? One foward air controller with a horse, a laptop, and a MILSTAR uplink to a B-52 could now do the heavy-lifting of an entire mechanized brigade.
And that's when Transformation blasted off. The Air Force started delivering Raptors and Global Hawks while BRAC cut our fighter force by 20%. Money poured into the Army's Future Combat Systems, the Marine led V-22 procurement, and the Navy's new Littoral Combat Ships. New tankers for the Air Force, new EELV heavy lift rockets to facilitate our budding space weapons program, a new class of aircraft carrier and a new class attack sub. All very useful weapon systems, but all very expensive weapon systems.
Operation Iraqi Freedom was supposed to get the Transformation concept over that final, sizable high-cost hurdle. Afghanistan was mostly asymmetric, fought almost exclusively at the platoon and company level. OIF was Transformation's real test. State v. State conflict, a real army -albeit ill-equipped and poorly trained- to prove the mettle of the new force. And again, Transformation worked. Less troops, higher tech did the job. Mission accomplished.
And like a Shakespearean tragedy, Rumsfeld's bold new vision for a brave new military collasped at the height of its success. The insurgency dug-in, and with each IED blast another hole was punched in the Transformation concept. Billion-dollar B2s flew helpless overhead as suicide bombers and roadside bombs took the lives of troops who lacked armor on their Humvees and on their bodies. 100 dollar bombs killed 100,000 dollar weapon systems. The highly touted, highly financed UAV force could only watch as car bombers exploded Iraqi marketplaces. What we needed was more troops. What we got was more gizmos.
John describes what will forever be the Rumsfeld legacy for us, and it doesn't include the surge. After ignoring his own role in the disaster that was post-invasion Iraq and taking credit for the surge, Rumsfeld then refused to admit that his strategy for Afghanistan led us to the debacle we have today with Operation Enduring Freedom. Finally, he tells us that more troops won't necessarily fix the problem without a new strategy since there is no direct analogue to Iraq – an assertion so obvious that we don't need to hear it from the man who developed the initial strategy, and who, if he had committed the troops early on in Afghanistan, wouldn't have to tell us that more troops won't fix the problem.
Some men have no shame, and history is important enough that lies deserve to be corrected.