text:
40 U.S.C. 121(c); 10 U.S.C. chapter 137; and 51 U.S.C. 20113.
This part sets forth basic policies and general information about the Federal Acquisition Regulations System including purpose, authority, applicability, issuance, arrangement, numbering, dissemination, implementation, supplementation, maintenance, administration, and deviation. Subparts 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4 prescribe administrative procedures for maintaining the FAR System.
The Federal Acquisition Regulations System is established for the codification and publication of uniform policies and procedures for acquisition by
(a) The vision for the Federal Acquisition System is to deliver on a timely basis the best value product or service to the customer, while maintaining the public's trust and fulfilling public policy objectives. Participants in the acquisition process should work together as a team and should be empowered to make decisions within their area of responsibility.
(b) The Federal Acquisition System will—
(1) Satisfy the customer in terms of cost, quality, and timeliness of the delivered product or service by, for example—
(i) Maximizing the use of commercial products and services;
(ii) Using contractors who have a track record of successful past performance or who demonstrate a current superior ability to perform; and
(iii) Promoting competition;
(2) Minimize administrative operating costs;
(3) Conduct business with integrity, fairness, and openness; and
(4) Fulfill public policy objectives.
(c) The Acquisition Team consists of all participants in Government acquisition including not only representatives of the technical, supply, and procurement communities but also the customers they serve, and the contractors who provide the products and services.
(d) The role of each member of the Acquisition Team is to exercise personal initiative and sound business judgment in providing the best value product or service to meet the customer's needs. In exercising initiative, Government members of the Acquisition Team may assume if a specific strategy, practice, policy or procedure is in the best interests of the Government and is not addressed in the FAR nor prohibited by law (statute or case law), Executive order or other regulation, that the strategy, practice, policy or procedure is a permissible exercise of authority.
(2) The System must be responsive and adaptive to customer needs, concerns, and feedback. Implementation of acquisition policies and procedures, as well as consideration of timeliness, quality and cost throughout the process, must take into account the perspective of the user of the product or service.
(3) When selecting contractors to provide products or perform services the Government will use contractors who have a track record of successful past performance or who demonstrate a current superior ability to perform.
(4) The Government must not hesitate to communicate with the commercial sector as early as possible in the acquisition cycle to help the Government determine the capabilities available in the commercial marketplace. The Government will maximize its use of commercial products and services in meeting Government requirements.
(5) It is the policy of the System to promote competition in the acquisition process.
(6) The System must perform in a timely, high quality, and cost-effective manner.
(7) All members of the Team are required to employ planning as an integral part of the overall process of acquiring products or services. Although advance planning is required, each member of the Team must be flexible in order to accommodate changing or unforeseen mission needs. Planning is a tool for the accomplishment of tasks, and application of its discipline should be commensurate with the size and nature of a given task.
(2) The System must provide uniformity where it contributes to efficiency or where fairness or predictability is essential. The System should also, however, encourage innovation, and local adaptation where uniformity is not essential.
(2) To achieve efficient operations, the System must shift its focus from "risk avoidance" to one of "risk management." The cost to the taxpayer of attempting to eliminate all risk is prohibitive. The Executive Branch will accept and manage the risk associated with empowering local procurement officials to take independent action based on their professional judgment.
(3) The Government shall exercise discretion, use sound business judgment, and comply with applicable laws and regulations in dealing with contractors and prospective contractors. All contractors and prospective contractors shall be treated fairly and impartially but need not be treated the same.
The purpose of defining the Federal Acquisition Team (Team) in the Guiding Principles is to ensure that participants in the System are identified—beginning with the customer and ending with the contractor of the product or service. By identifying the team members in this manner, teamwork, unity of purpose, and open communication among the members of the Team in sharing the vision and achieving the goal of the System are encouraged. Individual team members will participate in the acquisition process at the appropriate time.
(a) Government members of the Team must be empowered to make acquisition decisions within their areas of responsibility, including selection,
(b) The authority to make decisions and the accountability for the decision made will be delegated to the lowest level within the System, consistent with law.
(c) The Team must be prepared to perform the functions and duties assigned. The Government is committed to provide training, professional development, and other resources necessary for maintaining and improving the knowledge, skills, and abilities for all Government participants on the Team, both with regard to their particular area of responsibility within the System, and their respective role as a team member. The contractor community is encouraged to do likewise.
(d) The System will foster cooperative relationships between the Government and its contractors consistent with its overriding responsibility to the taxpayers.
(e) The FAR outlines procurement policies and procedures that are used by members of the Acquisition Team. If a policy or procedure, or a particular strategy or practice, is in the best interest of the Government and is not specifically addressed in the FAR, nor prohibited by law (statute or case law), Executive order or other regulation, Government members of the Team should not assume it is prohibited. Rather, absence of direction should be interpreted as permitting the Team to innovative and use sound business judgment that is otherwise consistent with law and within the limits of their authority. Contracting officers should take the lead in encouraging business process innovations and ensuring that business decisions are sound.
(a) The development of the FAR System is in accordance with the requirements of 41 U.S.C. chapter 13, Acquisition Councils.
(b) The FAR is prepared, issued, and maintained, and the FAR System is prescribed, jointly by the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General Services, and the Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, under their several statutory authorities.
The FAR applies to all acquisitions as defined in part 2 of the FAR, except where expressly excluded.
(a) The FAR is published in (1) the daily issue of the
(b) The FAR is issued as Chapter 1 of Title 48, CFR. Subsequent chapters are reserved for agency acquisition regulations that implement or supplement the FAR (see subpart 1.3). The CFR Staff will assign chapter numbers to requesting agencies.
(c) Each numbered unit or segment (e.g., part, subpart, section, etc.) of an agency acquisition regulation that is codified in the CFR shall begin with the chapter number. However, the chapter number assigned to the FAR will not be included in the numbered units or segments of the FAR.
(2) Subdivisions below the section or subsection level consist of parenthetical alpha numerics using the following sequence: (a)(1)(i)(A)(
(2) This regulation may be referred to as the Federal Acquisition Regulation or the FAR.
(3) Using the FAR coverage at 9.106-4(d) as a typical illustration, reference to the—
(i) Part would be "FAR part 9" outside the FAR and "part 9" within the FAR.
(ii) Subpart would be "FAR subpart 9.1" outside the FAR and "subpart 9.1" within the FAR.
(iii) Section would be "FAR 9.106" outside the FAR and "9.106" within the FAR.
(iv) Subsection would be "FAR 9.106-4" outside the FAR and "9.106-4" within the FAR.
(v) Paragraph would be "FAR 9.106-4(d)" outside the FAR and "9.106-4(d)" within the FAR.
(4) Citations of authority (e.g., statutes or executive orders) in the FAR shall follow the
Copies of the FAR in CFR form may be purchased from the Bookstore of the Government Publishing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402.
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35) imposes a requirement on Federal agencies to obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) before collecting information from 10 or more members of the public. The information collection and recordkeeping requirements contained in this regulation have been approved by the OMB. The following OMB control numbers apply:
In accordance with 41 U.S.C. 1304, a new requirement for a certification by a contractor or offeror may not be included in this chapter unless—
(a) The certification requirement is specifically imposed by statute; or
(b) Written justification for such certification is provided to the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, and the Administrator approves in writing the inclusion of such certification requirement.
The following conventions provide guidance for interpreting the FAR:
(1) FAR changes apply to solicitations issued on or after the effective date of the change;
(2) Contracting officers may, at their discretion, include the FAR changes in solicitations issued before the effective date, provided award of the resulting contract(s) occurs on or after the effective date; and
(3) Contracting officers may, at their discretion, include the changes in any existing contract with appropriate consideration.
(a) 41 U.S.C. 1908 requires that the FAR Council periodically adjust all statutory acquisition-related dollar
(b) The statute defines an acquisition-related dollar threshold as a dollar threshold that is specified in law as a factor in defining the scope of the applicability of a policy, procedure, requirement, or restriction provided in that law to the procurement of supplies or services by an executive agency, as determined by the FAR Council.
(c) The statute does not permit escalation of acquisition-related dollar thresholds established by:
(1) 40 U.S.C. chapter 31, subchapter IV, Wage Rate Requirements (Construction);
(2) 41 U.S.C. chapter 67, Service Contract Labor Standards; or
(3) The United States Trade Representative pursuant to the authority of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 (19 U.S.C. 2511
(d) A matrix showing calculation of the most recent escalation adjustments of statutory acquisition-related dollar thresholds is available via the Internet at
(a) Public Law 107-217 revised, codified, and enacted as title 40, United States Code, Public Buildings, Property, and Works, certain general and permanent laws of the United States.
(b) Public Law 111-350 revised, codified, and enacted as title 41, United States Code, Public Contracts, certain general and permanent laws of the United States.
(c) The following table provides cross references between the historical titles of the acts, and the current reference in title 40 or title 41.
(a) Subject to the authorities discussed in 1.103, revisions to the FAR will be prepared and issued through the coordinated action of two councils, the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (DAR Council) and the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council (CAA Council). Members of these councils shall—
(1) Represent their agencies on a full-time basis;
(2) Be selected for their superior qualifications in terms of acquisition experience and demonstrated professional expertise; and
(3) Be funded by their respective agencies.
(b) The chairperson of the CAA Council shall be the representative of the Administrator of General Services. The other members of this council shall be one each representative from the—
(1) Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; and
(2) Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Social Security Administration, Small Business Administration, and U.S. Agency for International Development.
(c) The Director of the DAR Council shall be the representative of the Secretary of Defense. The operation of the DAR Council will be as prescribed by the Secretary of Defense. Membership shall include representatives of the military departments, the Defense Logistics Agency and the Defense Contract Management Agency.
(d) Responsibility for processing revisions to the FAR is apportioned by the two councils so that each council has cognizance over specified parts or subparts.
(e) Each council shall be responsible for—
(1) Agreeing on all revisions with the other council;
(2) Submitting to the FAR Secretariat (see 1.201-2) the information required under paragraphs 1.501-2(b) and (e) for publication in the
(3) Considering all comments received in response to notice of proposed revisions;
(4) Arranging for public meetings;
(5) Preparing any final revision in the appropriate FAR format and language; and
(6) Submitting any final revision to the FAR Secretariat for publication in the
(a) The General Services Administration is responsible for establishing and operating the FAR Secretariat to print, publish, and distribute the FAR through the Code of Federal Regulations system (including a loose-leaf edition with periodic updates).
(b) Additionally, the FAR Secretariat shall provide the two councils with centralized services for—
(1) Keeping a synopsis of current FAR cases and their status;
(2) Maintaining official files;
(3) Assisting parties interested in reviewing the files on completed cases; and
(4) Performing miscellaneous administrative tasks pertaining to the maintenance of the FAR.
Agency compliance with the FAR (see 1.304) is the responsibility of the Secretary of Defense (for the military departments and defense agencies), the Administrator of General Services (for civilian agencies other than NASA),
(a)(1) Subject to the authorities in paragraph (c) below and other statutory authority, an agency head may issue or authorize the issuance of agency acquisition regulations that implement or supplement the FAR and incorporate, together with the FAR, agency policies, procedures, contract clauses, solicitation provisions, and forms that govern the contracting process or otherwise control the relationship between the agency, including any of its suborganizations, and contractors or prospective contractors.
(2) Subject to the authorities in (c) below and other statutory authority, an agency head may issue or authorize the issuance of internal agency guidance at any organizational level (e.g., designations and delegations of authority, assignments of responsibilities, work-flow procedures, and internal reporting requirements).
(b) Agency heads shall establish procedures to ensure that agency acquisition regulations are published for comment in the
(c) When adopting acquisition regulations, agencies shall ensure that they comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501,
(d) Agency acquisition regulations implementing or supplementing the FAR are, for—
(1) The military departments and defense agencies, issued subject to the authority of the Secretary of Defense;
(2) NASA activities, issued subject to the authorities of the Administrator of NASA; and
(3) The civilian agencies other than NASA, issued by the heads of those agencies subject to the overall authority of the Administrator of General Services or independent authority the agency may have.
Agency acquisition regulations shall be limited to—
(a) Those necessary to implement FAR policies and procedures within the agency; and
(b) Additional policies, procedures, solicitation provisions, or contract clauses that supplement the FAR to satisfy the specific needs of the agency.
(a) Agency-wide acquisition regulations shall be published in the
(b) Issuances under 1.301(a)(2) need not be published in the
(a) Under the authorities of 1.301(d), agencies shall control and limit issuance of agency acquisition regulations and, in particular, local agency directives that restrain the flexibilities found in the FAR, and shall establish formal procedures for the review of these documents to assure compliance with this part 1.
(b) Agency acquisition regulations shall not—
(1) Unnecessarily repeat, paraphrase, or otherwise restate material contained in the FAR or higher-level agency acquisition regulations; or
(2) Except as required by law or as provided in subpart 1.4, conflict or be inconsistent with FAR content.
(c) Agencies shall evaluate all regulatory coverage in agency acquisition regulations to determine if it could apply to other agencies. Coverage that is not peculiar to one agency shall be recommended for inclusion in the FAR.
This subpart prescribes the policies and procedures for authorizing deviations from the FAR. Exceptions pertaining to the use of forms prescribed by the FAR are covered in part 53 rather than in this subpart.
(a) The issuance or use of a policy, procedure, solicitation provision (see definition in 2.101), contract clause (see definition in 2.101), method, or practice of conducting acquisition actions of any kind at any stage of the acquisition process that is inconsistent with the FAR.
(b) The omission of any solicitation provision or contract clause when its prescription requires its use.
(c) The use of any solicitation provision or contract clause with modified or alternate language that is not authorized by the FAR (see definition of "modification" in 52.101(a) and definition of "alternate" in 2.101(a)).
(d) The use of a solicitation provision or contract clause prescribed by the FAR on a
(e) The authorization of lesser or greater limitations on the use of any solicitation provision, contract clause, policy, or procedure prescribed by the FAR.
(f) The issuance of policies or procedures that govern the contracting process or otherwise control contracting relationships that are not incorporated into agency acquisition regulations in accordance with 1.301(a).
Unless precluded by law, executive order, or regulation, deviations from the FAR may be granted as specified in this subpart when necessary to meet the specific needs and requirements of each agency. The development and testing of new techniques and methods of acquisition should not be stifled simply because such action would require a FAR deviation. The fact that deviation authority is required should not, of itself, deter agencies in their development and testing of new techniques and acquisition methods. Refer to 31.101 for instructions concerning deviations pertaining to the subject matter of part 31, Contract Cost Principles and Procedures. Deviations are not authorized with respect to 30.201-3 and 30.201-4, or the requirements of the Cost Accounting Standards Board (CASB) rules and regulations (48 CFR Chapter 99 (FAR Appendix)). Refer to 30.201-5 for instructions concerning
Individual deviations affect only one contract action, and, unless 1.405(e) is applicable, may be authorized by the agency head. The contracting officer must document the justification and agency approval in the contract file.
Class deviations affect more than one contract action. When an agency knows that it will require a class deviation on a permanent basis, it should propose a FAR revision, if appropriate. Civilian agencies, other than NASA, must furnish a copy of each approved class deviation to the FAR Secretariat.
(a) For civilian agencies except NASA, class deviations may be authorized by agency heads or their designees, unless 1.405(e) is applicable. Delegation of this authority shall not be made below the head of a contracting activity. Authorization of class deviations by agency officials is subject to the following limitations:
(1) An agency official who may authorize a class deviation, before doing so, shall consult with the chairperson of the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council (CAA Council), unless that agency official determines that urgency precludes such consultation.
(2) Recommended revisions to the FAR shall be transmitted to the FAR Secretariat by agency heads or their designees for authorizing class deviations.
(b) For DOD, class deviations shall be controlled, processed, and approved in accordance with the Defense FAR Supplement.
(c) For NASA, class deviations shall be controlled and approved by the Assistant Administrator for Procurement. Deviations shall be processed in accordance with agency regulations.
(b) Any deviation from the FAR required to comply with a treaty to which the United States is a party is authorized, unless the deviation would be inconsistent with FAR coverage based on a law enacted after the execution of the treaty.
(c) Any deviation from the FAR required to comply with an executive agreement is authorized unless the deviation would be inconsistent with FAR coverage based on law.
(d) For civilian agencies other than NASA, a copy of the text deviation authorized under paragraph (b) or (c) of this section shall be transmitted to the FAR Secretariat through a central agency control point.
(e) For civilian agencies other than NASA, if a deviation required to comply with a treaty or an executive agreement is not authorized by paragraph (b) or (c) of this section, then the request for deviation shall be processed through the FAR Secretariat to the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council.
(a) Views of agencies and nongovernmental parties or organizations will be considered in formulating acquisition policies and procedures.
(b) The opportunity to submit written comments on proposed significant revisions shall be provided by placing a notice in the
(1) The text of the revision or, if it is impracticable to publish the full text, a summary of the proposal;
(2) The address and telephone number of the individual from whom copies of the revision, in full text, can be requested and to whom comments thereon should be addressed; and
(3) When 1.501-3(b) is applicable, a statement that the revision is effective on a temporary basis pending completion of the public comment period.
(c) A minimum of 30 days and, normally, at least 60 days will be given for the receipt of comments.
(a) Comments need not be solicited when the proposed coverage does not constitute a significant revision.
(b) Advance comments need not be solicited when urgent and compelling circumstances make solicitation of comments impracticable prior to the effective date of the coverage, such as when a new statute must be implemented in a relatively short period of time. In such case, the coverage shall be issued on a temporary basis and shall provide for at least a 30 day public comment period.
Consideration shall also be given to unsolicited recommendations for revisions that have been submitted in writing with sufficient data and rationale to permit their evaluation.
Public meetings may be appropriate when a decision to adopt, amend, or delete coverage is likely to benefit from significant additional views and discussion.
(a) Unless specifically prohibited by another provision of law, authority and responsibility to contract for authorized supplies and services are vested in the agency head. The agency head may establish contracting activities and delegate broad authority to manage the agency's contracting functions to heads of such contracting activities. Contracts may be entered into and signed on behalf of the Government only by contracting officers. In some agencies, a relatively small number of high level officials are designated contracting officers solely by virtue of their positions. Contracting officers below the level of a head of a contracting activity shall be selected and appointed under 1.603.
(b) Agency heads may mutually agree to—
(1) Assign contracting functions and responsibilities from one agency to another; and
(2) Create joint or combined offices to exercise acquisition functions and responsibilities.
(a) Contracting officers have authority to enter into, administer, or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings. Contracting officers may bind the Government only to the extent of the authority delegated to them. Contracting officers shall receive from the appointing authority (see 1.603-1) clear instructions in writing regarding the limits of their authority. Information on the limits of the contracting officers' authority shall be readily available to the public and agency personnel.
(b) No contract shall be entered into unless the contracting officer ensures that all requirements of law, executive
Contracting officers are responsible for ensuring performance of all necessary actions for effective contracting, ensuring compliance with the terms of the contract, and safeguarding the interests of the United States in its contractual relationships. In order to perform these responsibilities, contracting officers should be allowed wide latitude to exercise business judgment. Contracting officers shall—
(a) Ensure that the requirements of 1.602-1(b) have been met, and that sufficient funds are available for obligation;
(b) Ensure that contractors receive impartial, fair, and equitable treatment;
(c) Request and consider the advice of specialists in audit, law, engineering, information security, transportation, and other fields, as appropriate; and
(d) Designate and authorize, in writing and in accordance with agency procedures, a contracting officer's representative (COR) on all contracts and orders other than those that are firm-fixed price, and for firm-fixed-price contracts and orders as appropriate, unless the contracting officer retains and executes the COR duties. See 7.104(e). A COR—
(1) Shall be a Government employee, unless otherwise authorized in agency regulations;
(2) Shall be certified and maintain certification in accordance with the current Office of Management and Budget memorandum on the Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer Representatives (FAC-COR) guidance, or for DoD, in accordance with the current applicable DoD policy guidance;
(3) Shall be qualified by training and experience commensurate with the responsibilities to be delegated in accordance with agency procedures;
(4) May not be delegated responsibility to perform functions that have been delegated under 42.202 to a contract administration office, but may be assigned some duties at 42.302 by the contracting officer;
(5) Has no authority to make any commitments or changes that affect price, quality, quantity, delivery, or other terms and conditions of the contract nor in any way direct the contractor or its subcontractors to operate in conflict with the contract terms and conditions;
(6) Shall be nominated either by the requiring activity or in accordance with agency procedures; and
(7) Shall be designated in writing, with copies furnished to the contractor and the contract administration office—
(i) Specifying the extent of the COR's authority to act on behalf of the contracting officer;
(ii) Identifying the limitations on the COR's authority;
(iii) Specifying the period covered by the designation;
(iv) Stating the authority is not redelegable; and
(v) Stating that the COR may be personally liable for unauthorized acts.
(2) Subject to the limitations in paragraph (c) of this subsection, the head of
(3) The ratification authority in subparagraph (b)(2) of this subsection may be delegated in accordance with agency procedures, but in no case shall the authority be delegated below the level of chief of the contracting office.
(4) Agencies should process unauthorized commitments using the ratification authority of this subsection instead of referring such actions to the Government Accountability Office for resolution. (See 1.602-3(d).)
(5) Unauthorized commitments that would involve claims subject to resolution under 41 U.S.C. chapter 71, Contract Disputes, should be processed in accordance with subpart 33.2, Disputes and Appeals.
(1) Supplies or services have been provided to and accepted by the Government, or the Government otherwise has obtained or will obtain a benefit resulting from performance of the unauthorized commitment;
(2) The ratifying official has the authority to enter into a contractual commitment;
(3) The resulting contract would otherwise have been proper if made by an appropriate contracting officer;
(4) The contracting officer reviewing the unauthorized commitment determines the price to be fair and reasonable;
(5) The contracting officer recommends payment and legal counsel concurs in the recommendation, unless agency procedures expressly do not require such concurrence;
(6) Funds are available and were available at the time the unauthorized commitment was made; and
(7) The ratification is in accordance with any other limitations prescribed under agency procedures.
41 U.S.C. 1702(b)(3)(G), requires agency heads to establish and maintain a procurement career management program and a system for the selection, appointment, and termination of appointment of contracting officers. Agency heads or their designees may select and appoint contracting officers and terminate their appointments. These selections and appointments shall be consistent with Office of Federal Procurement Policy's (OFPP) standards for skill-based training in performing contracting and purchasing duties as published in OFPP Policy Letter No. 05-01, Developing and Managing the Acquisition Workforce, April 15, 2005.
In selecting contracting officers, the appointing official shall consider the complexity and dollar value of the acquisitions to be assigned and the candidate's experience, training, education, business acumen, judgment, character, and reputation. Examples of selection criteria include—
(a) Experience in Government contracting and administration, commercial purchasing, or related fields;
(b) Education or special training in business administration, law, accounting, engineering, or related fields;
(c) Knowledge of acquisition policies and procedures, including this and other applicable regulations;
(d) Specialized knowledge in the particular assigned field of contracting; and
(e) Satisfactory completion of acquisition training courses.
(a) Contracting officers shall be appointed in writing on an SF 1402, Certificate of Appointment, which shall state any limitations on the scope of authority to be exercised, other than limitations contained in applicable law or regulation. Appointing officials shall maintain files containing copies of all appointments that have not been terminated.
(b) Agency heads are encouraged to delegate micro-purchase authority to individuals who are employees of an executive agency or members of the Armed Forces of the United States who will be using the supplies or services being purchased. Individuals delegated this authority are not required to be appointed on an SF 1402, but shall be appointed in writing in accordance with agency procedures.
Termination of a contracting officer appointment will be by letter, unless the Certificate of Appointment contains other provisions for automatic termination. Terminations may be for reasons such as reassignment, termination of employment, or unsatisfactory performance. No termination shall operate retroactively.
A contracting officer's representative (COR) assists in the technical monitoring or administration of a contract (
(a) A copy of the contracting officer's letter of designation and other documents describing the COR's duties and responsibilities;
(b) A copy of the contract administration functions delegated to a contract administration office which may not be delegated to the COR (
(c) Documentation of COR actions taken in accordance with the delegation of authority.
This subpart prescribes general policies and procedures for the use of determinations and findings (D&F's). Requirements for specific types of D&F's can be found with the appropriate subject matter.
(a) A D&F shall ordinarily be for an individual contract action. Unless otherwise prohibited, class D&F's may be executed for classes of contract action (see 1.703). The approval granted by a D&F is restricted to the proposed contract action(s) reasonably described in that D&F. D&F's may provided for a reasonable degree of flexibility. Furthermore, in their application, reasonable variations in estimated quantities or prices are permitted, unless the D&F specifies otherwise.
(b) When an option is anticipated, the D&F shall state the approximate quantity to be awarded initially and the extent of the increase to be permitted by the option.
(a) A class D&F provides authority for a class of contract actions. A class may consist of contract actions for the same or related supplies or services or
(b) The findings in a class D&F shall fully support the proposed action either for the class as a whole or for each action. A class D&F shall be for a specified period, with the expiration date stated in the document.
(c) The contracting officer shall ensure that individual actions taken pursuant to the authority of a class D&F are within the scope of the D&F.
Each D&F shall set forth enough facts and circumstances to clearly and convincingly justify the specific determination made. As a minimum, each D&F shall include, in the prescribed agency format, the following information:
(a) Identification of the agency and of the contracting activity and specific identifications of the document as a
(b) Nature and/or description of the action being approved.
(c) Citation of the appropriate statute and/or regulation upon which the D&F is based.
(d) Findings that detail the particular circumstances, facts, or reasoning essential to support the determination. Necessary supporting documentation shall be obtained from appropriate requirements and technical personnel.
(e) A determination, based on the findings, that the proposed action is justified under the applicable statute or regulation.
(f) Expiration date of the D&F, if required (see 1.706(b)).
(g) The signature of the official authorized to sign the D&F (see 1.706) and the date signed.
(a) If a D&F is superseded by another D&F, that action shall not render invalid any action taken under the original D&F prior to the date of its supersession.
(b) The contracting officer need not cancel the solicitation if the D&F, as modified, supports the contract action.
Expiration dates are required for class D&F's and are optional for individual D&F's. Authority to act under an individual D&F expires when it is exercised or on an expiration date specified in the document, whichever occurs first. Authority to act under a class D&F expires on the expiration date specified in the document. When a solicitation has been furnished to prospective offerors before the expiration date, the authority under the D&F will continue until award of the contract(s) resulting from that solicitation.
When a D&F is required, it shall be signed by the appropriate official in accordance with agency regulations. Authority to sign or delegate signature authority for the various D&F's is as shown in the applicable FAR part.


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Gangs, Watering Holes, and Other Threats: Highlights from Symantec's Annual Threat Report
In the early 1860s during the time of the Pony Express, keeping pace with the threat landscape would have required a stable of mustangs. Today, to combat cyber gangs, avoid the wrong watering holes, and escape other threats, you need Symantec's annual Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR).
In 2012, there were some significant changes to the threat landscape that you need to know about. Don't be ambushed; be ready to thwart and combat these attacks by joining a live video webcast for an in-depth discussion of the findings of the 2013 ISTR.
Kevin Haley, one of Symantec's security experts from the Security Technology and Response organization, serves as the moderator and opens the webcast by delving into some of the key highlights of the report, including:
- Changes in industry sectors most vulnerable to attacks
- The emergence of a new form of targeted attack
- New vulnerabilities discovered on mobile operating systems
He is joined by several security and IT subject matter experts, representing several market segments, who examine the findings and discuss how these evolving attacks are impacting their organizations.
Randolph Barr, Vice President, Chief Security & Information Officer, Saba
Todd Berman, Chief Compliance and Information Security Officer, PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.
Brann Mitchell, Network and Systems Administrator, San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Please register to view this recorded webcast
|Gangs, Watering Holes, and Other Threats: Highlights from Symantec's Annual Threat Report

subset: commoncrawl


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Wheelchair access is through the front door. To request an accommodation under the ADA, please locate your local ADA contact person for this location.
From I-84 traveling West:
From I-84 traveling East:
*The number of working traffic lights may vary from time to time. Use the stated number as a guide only and watch for the street names.


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Truck Labeled as 'Meth Lab' Turns Out to a Mobile Meth Lab
Police detectives have a hard job. They have to spend every day looking for the equivalent of a needle in a haystack to make their cases. They have to endure the emotional pain and torture left in the victims of horrific crimes. The leads alone that they have to find just to achieve the basic principles of justice can reduce the toughest of men to tears.
Some crimes, however, present their own solution and prevent a lot of needless paperwork.
Take, for instance, a meth lab cook who was driving a mobile meth lab in his truck with the words "meth lab" written on the back window, according to WMC-TV.
Police pulled the vehicle over on Friday morning for "driving with antique issued license plates." A quick check of the driver's registration revealed he was currently on probation for methamphetamine manufacturing.
Officers obtained the right to search the car and found a "Shake N Bake" bottle used in mobile meth labs for distribution. They also found some other ingredients for making meth in the cab of the truck.
The unidentified 43-year-old driver faces new charges of meth manufacturing and driving with a suspended license.


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The original American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson will perform at America's biggest sporting event: the Super Bowl.
Clarkson has been chosen to sing the national anthem before the NFL championship game at Indianapolis on Feb. 5, a person familiar with Super Bowl entertainment plans told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made by the NFL. The league is expected to reveal the anthem singer later this month.
Since becoming the first winner of American Idol a decade ago, Clarkson has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide and had more than a half-dozen singles reach the top 10 in the Billboard Hot 100.
Clarkson released her latest album, Stronger, last year; she is currently on tour and appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live last weekend.
Also slated to participate in the Super Bowl pregame festivities at Lucas Oil Stadium: country music couple Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton, singing "America the Beautiful."
Grammy-winner Lambert released her latest album, "Four the Record," last fall. Shelton is a judge on "The Voice," a singing competition on NBC, which is broadcasting the Super Bowl this year.
The NFL announced in December that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Madonna will perform at halftime of the league's title game.
Kelly Clarkson to Sing National Anthem at Super Bowl
Madonna is slated to perform at halftime, and country couple Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert will sing before the game
The original American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson will perform at America's biggest sporting event: the Super Bowl.


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30 Years Later, Sodom Is Still All Brass And Knuckles
Tom Angelripper has been a part of the brash German thrash-metal game for more than 30 years now. Sodom's damning 1989 anti-war screed, Agent Orange, is a bona fide classic, but the impeccably named bassist and vocalist still has plenty of targets to hit and thundering bass riffs to deploy. Therein comes crashing "Stigmatized" from Sodom's 14th studio album, Epitome of Torture.
Among the 10 tracks — or 13, depending on which version of the record you get — "Stigmatized" is the classic Sodom crowd-pleaser, but the more melodic touches throughout Epitome of Torture prove that the band knew what it was doing in its somewhat-divisive '90s period (which is worth revisiting, by the way).
"Stigmatized" is all brass and knuckles, with Angelripper's Motorhead-fueled bass way out front and a psychotic, dive-bombing guitar solo from long-running member Bernemann. The croaking rasps are a knowing nod to Sodom's black-metal beginnings — revisited in full on 2007's Final Sign of Evil — but they sound almost giddy as the rhythm section gallops at full speed.
Epitome of Torture is out May 7 on Steamhammer/SPV.


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2008 PPG / Street Rodder Road Tour- Leg III: The Classic Automobilia Tour
Leg III: The Classic Automobilia Tour
The Vintage Air Tour wrapped up its week on the road with drag racing excitement in Bowling Green, Kentucky, at the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion. It was then back home for most of the Vintage Air participants, but there was still fun ahead for some, as the Classic Automobilia Tour was heading from the Hot Rod Reunion to the huge Back to the 50's weekend in St. Paul, Minnesota.
After we had some great wings and talked to folks about the tour, we headed just around the corner to my home where Mary Ann and I were able to show folks our collection of cars and collectibles. I even got to introduce the Road Tourians to my mom and my brother, Jack, so it was a special evening for me to share a bit of my home life with my Road Tour friends.
We made the short trip to the Classic Automobilia showroom in Austintown on Monday morning. Mary Ann and I started Classic in 1989 and carry pedal cars, Coke coolers, gas pumps, and neon clocks. It is appropriate that the Classic Automobilia Tour was heading to the Back to the 50's event, since that is the era of the products we sell.
After a look around the Classic showroom, we traveled about 20 minutes north to see Patti and Fred Warren's incredible collection of street rods. It was fantastic to see the Smoothster, Shockwave, After Shock, Aero Coupe, and other street rods in Patti and Fred's collection all in one room. It was even better to have Fred walk from car to car explaining in detail how each show-winner was conceived and constructed.
From the Warrens' shop, we headed to the Cleveland area, and some folks made a quick stop at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for lunch. From downtown Cleveland, we headed west to Berea, Ohio, and the facilities of Flaming River, a company that has been a supporter of the Road Tour program for years. We were able to get a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into Flaming River steering components and products. By mid-afternoon, it was time to head toward our evening stop of Dearborn, Michigan, where it felt great to relax after a long day on the trail once we arrived.
On Tuesday morning, Hot Rod magazine's publisher, Bruce Miller, greeted us in a very cool early '60s Ford station wagon driven by Don Hardy Jr. Bruce and Don had just finished the Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour and gave us a full report. Also on Tuesday morning, the Road Tour convertible received its official VIN sticker from Officer Ray Robinson of the Michigan Secretary of State's office. We had gone through the registration process, and the car was now officially registered by the state of Michigan as an assembled vehicle.
We then made the short trip to Plymouth, Michigan, to visit the offices of American Speed Company. The American Speed folks produced the Speed33 body for this year's Road Tour car, and we were treated to an in-depth look at what goes into one of these steel bodies. From American Speed, we headed to Fenton, Michigan, and the home of Kathy and Dick Confer, who have assembled an incredible amount of pedal cars, gas pumps, and collectibles. We also enjoyed a wonderful lunch prepared by Kathy, Dick, and some of their friends and family. Thanks to all involved-it was a great afternoon stop.
From Fenton, it was a four-hour drive to our evening stop in St. Ignace, Michigan. We had been blessed with great weather over the previous few days, but our luck ran out as we neared St. Ignace and we drove for an hour in the rain. When we arrived, we were greeted by Ed Reavie, the fellow who puts together the great St. Ignace car show at the end of June each year. Ed had arranged for a great meal at the Kewaden Shores Casino, just down the road from our hotel. We even met the mayor and the head of the St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce; they really enjoy street rods and classics in this northern Michigan town, and we may be making a stop at the St. Ignace show on a Road Tour next year.
On Wednesday morning, the Classic Automobilia Tour rolled on toward its destination of St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Back to the 50's weekend. After the daily drivers' meeting in the parking of the hotel, we heading north into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In my 13 years of traveling on the Road Tour, this is one of the only areas of the United States in which I have not spent much time. It was a great drive with smooth roads and beautiful scenery. The traffic was light, and many of us were able to stay together as we made the 425-mile trip to AmsOil's headquarters in Superior, Wisconsin. We wanted to be on time for our special get-together at the new AmsOil Center, where we were to be guests of honor at a special dinner and receive a tour of the plant.
Some of the local street rodders had already arrived when we got to the AmsOil Center; we had sent out postcards to all of the Street Rodder subscribers within a 100-mile radius of Superior. We were not sure of the turnout to expect, but we did want to let folks know the Road Tour was in town. Our tour of the incredible production facilities was very interesting. The huge buildings house giant tanks for mixing AmsOil's specialized lubricants. We were seated for dinner after the brief tour, and as we enjoyed the great food, we were joined by Ed Newman, AmsOil's director of advertising, and we were honored to get a very special greeting from Al Amatuzio, the founder and CEO of AmsOil. Jo Coddington-the wife of the late hot rod hero Boyd Coddington, and co-star of the TV show American Hot Rod-spoke briefly and said how excited she was to be traveling with us to St. Paul and to Back to the 50's the next day.
We then made our way out of the building to see the street rods and special interest vehicles that had turned out to greet us. What we saw as we walked into the parking area was incredible-more than 300 vehicles from the Superior area filled the parking lot. It was an amazing sight to see so many folks turning out to say hello and let us get a look at their cars. We spent the next few hours talking to folks about their vehicles and letting them know about our Road Tour adventures. It was another great evening on the Classic Automobilia Tour and many, many thanks to the great team at AmsOil who made it happen.
On Thursday morning, the time had come to get to our final destination of St. Paul. We gathered back at the AmsOil Center for coffee and donuts and some pictures. Jo Coddington rode with me in the Road Tour convertible, and the two-hour drive was extremely pleasant, with more great roads and beautiful scenery. Our plan was to have lunch in a St. Paul suburb and get some event info from Pete Emeott, a member of the board of directors of the Minnesota Street Rod Association. Pete was our liaison with the MSRA, helping to make our visit as enjoyable and trouble-free as possible. Pete was well-prepared and handed out maps and instructions for the best route to registration and the easiest way to enter the fairgrounds each morning. We were shown on a map the location of our PPG / Street Rodder Road Tour hospitality tent, and we felt much more confident about our weekend adventure at Back to the 50's with all of this knowledge.
Things were off and running at the fairgrounds on Friday morning. Manned with Pete's maps and info, the entry was fairly painless, and soon we had set up camp in our area of the grounds. The weekend was spent enjoying the incredible spectacle that is the Back to the 50's event. The fairgrounds are beautiful with tree-lined streets and a traffic flow that permitted non-stop cruising. More than 11,700 registered vehicles covered the grounds.
The Classic Automobilia participants gathered for a group picture Saturday afternoon, and then got a chance to meet the new folks who would be traveling on the Golden RODTronics leg of the Road Tour to the NSRA Rocky Mountain Nationals in Pueblo, Colorado. After the photo shoot, the Classic Automobilia Tour participants loaded on to a very cool bus, provided by the Detour Street Rod Club, and we were treated to a tour of the beautiful fairgrounds.
It was a wonderful week on the Classic Automobilia Tour as we traveled "back to the '50s."


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Holy Cow – Windows 70 Comments Published by admin January 2nd, 2009 in Tech
I've decided to start blogging here again with short posts, while putting my main blogging effort in at newmediatheory.net.Yes, former readers I will opine politically, but not this time.
That said, I've been using Windows 7 since last night. I'm stunned at how good it is so far. It is beginning to show real integration with the way humans work. Download a file and it doesn't get dumped on the desktop – it goes into the downloads folder. Vista had that, but in Win 7, when you go look for the file there is a Downloads shortcut waiting for you in the Explorer sidebar. Vista by the way put Downloads not in MyDocuments, which had been the top level data folder in Widnows forever, but under a user name folder like Unix. It took a while to find my first downloaded file, but I was cool with that – it made sense because I use Linux all the time. But I also can handle MyDocuments being the top level folder and Downloads being under it. Like most people, when I download something I want to go to it directly. And I don't want to have to move it after I'm done with it.
I've also noticed that the task bar has an icon for open explorer windows – so when I am copying files from one place to another I can hover my cursor over it and see both windows and then click on them to bring them up. You can also see a thumbnail of the progress bar without bringing it up to check on the progress of a long copy operation – the kind you often have with a new installation. The thumbnails are bigger than on Vista – bit enough to identify – and also can be closed down directly when you are finished with them. Another step saved. Best of all all these features were effortless – I discovered them following the path of least resistance. This OS is helping me work – out of the box. Holy Cow, Microsoft.
Back in Oz2 Comments Published by admin May 20th, 2008 in Social Issues
After a three month self imposed silence I'm back in Australia determined to stop long boring posts. Today at the bookstore I noticed this title: Get Pregnant Faster It made my day.
Lookers1 Comment Published by admin April 27th, 2008 in Social Issues
Walking in West Palm Beach in a mixed commerical district: big Winn-Dixie grocrery store, rail road tracks, freeway overpasses. Suddenly two good looking women are just to my right in front of a shop. One white, one black talking to each other. I must be hanving a good day because they look extra special nice. Dressed to arrest the male optic nerve, but not over done. A boutique? A bit upscale for the neighbourhood, I think. Ah…It's a 24 hour bail bond shop. Sat and Sun by appointment only. The phone number. Maybe their boyfrinds are 'bad boys.' Maybe their troubles are thier own. Maybe nothing. Life goes on.
Chez Lives!0 Comments Published by admin February 22nd, 2008 in Media
There is a new post up over at newmediatheory.net about Chez Pazienza who got fired by CNN for blogging! Otherwise Yankeewombat remains on vacation in Florida enjoying his grand kids and family.
Hong Kong0 Comments Published by admin February 15th, 2008 in Social Issues
I have been on the road and hors de combat. The wireless at my son Julian's in West Palm Beach works a treat so Yankeewombat is back. First stop was Hong Kong. Here is a brief impression:
Hong Kong, which is now part of the People's Republic of China, is much more like New York with that settled commercialism which would be familiar to a 17th century resident of Rotterdam. Other than the account of my adventure at the Golden Center computer emporium that I launched from the free wireless connection at Hong Kong airport, not much of interest happened except for a $20 plate of fried rice at the hotel serenaded by a chubby guitarist in a good suit singing soft sixties songs. Fortunately there was McDonald's across the street. Then on the way back to the airport I saw a well groomed woman in an upscale neighborhood carrying a baby in a pink satin jump suit complete with hood. As she came by the bus I could see under the little hood and it was not a baby at all but a little dog with longish brown hair.
The Golden Centre0 Comments Published by admin February 3rd, 2008 in Uncategorized
I bought a computer in the mid eighties at the Golden Centre in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong. It is a bunch of small shops – stalls really – on the second floor of an old building in Fuk Wa Street. If memory serves the computer I bought was an early IBM Clone with an 8088 processor and an 'irregal ROM' containing 'key parts' of IBM's proprietary Basic language to ensure that their hardware didn't get cloned. It worked so well that IBM clones eventually drove IBM out of the PC buisness and nearly did for Apple too. So I went back today for old times sake and to nose around and see if I could find the Chinese Han Lin eBook reader.
A customer looks at a PC with a 120 Gig HDD costing about HK8000
No bargains like the old days. And no one knew about the reader nor did I see any, but it is easy to miss things in that environment. I recently bought an Asus eee PC in Australia for A$500. It was going for just about the same price less our 10% GST or about US$450. It sells for $399 in the US. In general the prices were pretty much the same as US prices. Still, it was great fun. It would be great to have a market likethat available with dozens of motherboards on display at on4e shop,and even more video cards at another. Shops that specialize in RAM and others that just sell cases and power supplies. Yet others that just have printers and scanners, notebooks, monitors.
Obama II0 Comments Published by admin January 28th, 2008 in Neo-left, Politics
Obama is still behind nationally but I am not sure that he is beaten. He looks like the future of the Democratic party to me and Hillary looks like the past. Her husband isn't helping in that regard either. Jay Cost the HorseRace Blogger, the best analyst of polls I have ever encountered, isn't calling this one either. In his latest analysis of the demographics he goes right to the critical question:
……can Obama win white voters?
Since he lost Nevada, pundits have been suggesting that he cannot. But I think the picture is much more complicated than it first appears.
First of all, we have to acknowledge that Clinton is currently beating Obama in the polls among white voters nationwide. The latest LA Times/Bloomberg poll tells the story pretty succinctly. Clinton leads Obama among white voters by 19 points. Compare this to Clinton's 9 point lead among all self-identified Democratic primary voters – and it should be clear Clinton is doing better with white Democrats than with the Democratic electorate at large.
So, the more precise question is: can these numbers change, or has Obama "maxed out" among white voters?
Race still matters in America but it is whole lot different than it was back when I was a kid in the fifties. What is clear to me as a long time expatriate is that Obama is so archetypally American. America may not have entirely transcended race but it is clear Obama has. And it is clear that he is highly intelligent and that he can focus that intelligence effectively. Particularly outstanding is his ability to avoid divisiveness. Saying for example, "They are all good candidates." of his opponents in both parties without seeming hypocritical. Or that it is important to acknowledge that Republicans can have ideas even if you don't agree with them.
I see politics as a constant struggle to balance opposites and the primary pair of opposites in politics being the individual and the group. Johna Goldberg -coming from a very different perspective than my own – makes this exact point in a recent interview here with Glenn and Helen Reynolds of Instapundit when he says that all public policy issues boil down to Locke versus Rousseau – to individual versus collective. (Interestingly the point comes up in the context of Goldberg expressing his view that Huckabee's compassionate conservatism is too collectivist for him a traditional conservative.) While both sides of politics must deal with both, the left has an affinity for the collective interest, the right for the individual. I look back on the politics of the 20th century and see the collapse of laissez faire capitalism in 1929 countered by a greater emphasis on the group provided by FDR. My father, like many of the people who lived through the depression, saw FDR as successfully helping America avoid the totalitarian collectivism of both Communism and Fascism while moderating the overly individualistic form of capitalism that had produced the boom bust cycle. In my own youth, I saw the left try to reinvent itself under JFK and come undone through assassination followed by getting bogged down in Vietnam. Meanwhile, the right had recognized that it had to reinvent itself after the Goldwater defeat of 1964 while the left drifted. The right's moment came under Reagan and he moderated the big government liberalism that had dominated American politics since FDR.
Obama to his great credit recently recognized that Reagan was the last president to bring real change and by doing so shows he wants to be in that category of president. Initially Bill Clinton (and Tony Blair) excited me as politicians trying to reinvent the left, but I think both fell short coming up with more of an uncooked mix of the neo-Liberal reforms of Thatcher and Reagan along with essentially unchanged ideas from the old left. Hillary has said she wants to raise taxes to get back to spending more on the common good. The key words are 'get back' which I read as returning to familiar model of big government. Hillary wants to apply that model to health care. Obama says he wants to change the health care system so that big medicine doesn't have every seat at the table. I'm not sold yet because I don't see the detail in his policies but I really like the direction he seems to be headed.
So I see Obama as neo-left mark II. He is of a new generation and puts things together differently. I think if he gets in now he will do a lot of learning on the job. I am concerned with his emphasis on Iraq simply being a mistake and implying we can just end it without disastrous consequences. What I learned as an opponent of the Vietnam war that whether it was a good idea initially should not be the determining factor in how a war is ended. Abandoning people we have convinced to fight on our side at great cost is massively destructive to our national interest. More so if it is unnecessary as it appears to be at this stage. But I am not the slightest bit concerned that Obama wouldn't give his best trying to move us into a new political era. He visibly recognizes the need for a fundamentally different approach and credibly shows that he is entirely capable of making the attempt. That is his great strength and why he will win if he can convince enough people. And if he doesn't win this time he may get another chance.
Counterknowledge0 Comments Published by admin January 25th, 2008 in Media
At the end of a friendly exchange on the subject of conspiracy theory or 'counterknowledge' between Richard Landes and ShrinkWrapped which was started by Landes' review of Counterknowledge by Damien Thompson there is the following commentary by Landes on the final paragraph of Shrinkwrapped's post: (I've labeled who said what for clarity. Both quotes are from here.)
[ShrinkWrapped's closing words:] Just beneath the surface of even the most stable and reasoned mind exists a cauldron of irrationality. The Unconscious can never be fully tamed and is forever attempting to find access to the Conscious mind to enable and effect its desires. Conspiracy Theories, false prophets and messiahs, and easily identifiable scapegoats are the result; they are here to stay and will plague us and increase until we re-establish the safe haven that can only come from Knowledge.
[Landes' reaction:] I'm a bit confused by this finale. Can you explain what the "safe haven that can only come from Knowledge" is? Is this (regressive) pre-post-modernism: knowledge=truth=objectivity=reality? Why is knowledge "safe"? It may "set us free," or empower us, or enlighten us, but nothing about it suggests either stability or safety. On the contrary, part of what is so frightening about reality and why people run to the cocoons of conspiracy theory and other forms of counter-knowledge is precisely to flee the ego-wounding world of registering what's going on around us.
As someone long familiar with my own unconscious and that of others through psychology I agree with Landes that conspiracy theory or counterknowledge is a kind of cocoon – a defense mechanism. In my experience it helps to become aware that the unconscious follows patterns over and over. With awareness they become less something that needs to be contained and more like something that 'comes around again on the guitar'. As in….'Oh, Bush knew about 9/11 in advance?' 'You mean, just like Roosevelt knew about Pearl Harbor in advance?' A conspiracy theorist friend here in Australia is quite convinced that one 'fact' – as he calls them – proves the other. There is too much focus on the outer similarity of the events and too little on the inner need for a comforting explanation.
In journalism these repeating patterns are called memes. In drama themes. Jung called them archetypes of the collective unconscious. At a practical level these patterns are part of all of us – hence they are collective – and form the architecture of drama from Greek theater to soap opera. We know what is coming next in a soap opera because it fits patterns we already know too well. I would argue that in terms of the media environment the intrusion of unconscious patterns into public discourse is in part the result of the Internet following an era dominated by television. Because TV is a form of drama – even and particularly the news – it has blurred the border between inner reality and outer fact. Subsequently, the Internet has empowered anyone to publish anything and so increased the amount of material both good and bad available to us. But the Internet can be used to debunk the myths perpetrated by TV – precisely as Richard Landes has done in his examination of the al Durrah affair. It can promote constructive civil discourse as well as destructive counterknowldge.
The psychologist Robert Johnson tells the story of a little boy explaining to him that some things are true on the inside and shouldn't be mixed up with things on the outside. Mixing things up that are true on the inside with those that are true on the outside is a fundamental human mistake that we make all the time. The form we call drama is an excellent way to explore what is true inside – that inner ocean with its tides of emotion and archetypal pattern that resides in all of us. But using TV to report the news is to use a medium more appropriate to explore inner truths than outer ones. We have had three generations of the news being shaped by the requirements of drama. Of being fooled into believing emotionally, if not intellectually, that we have witnessed events like the Twin Towers coming down. Or that the footage of the jihadi with the AK came to CNN or Fox from some intrepid stringer rather than an al Qaeda media emir. We are so accustomed to being manipulated by cinematic technique we hardly notice that our worldview has been being constructed for us by the film editors of the TV news establishment since the fifties. So it is no surprise counterknowledge spreads abundantly on the Internet and that many educated people apparently are more ready to believe anything. At the same time discussion such as that carried on by ShrinkWrapped and Richard Landes are not locked away in seminar room, but available to a much larger and diverse audience. The Interenet spreads much nonsense and worse things like beheading videos, but it also spreads awareness.
Political Risk0 Comments Published by admin January 23rd, 2008 in Iraq, Politics
Here is a different approach to assessing the situation in Iraq. It is a small part of a larger assessment of political risk around the world by Ian Bremmer entitled A Political-risk Outlook for 2008. He is a political scientist who makes his living advising Wall
Street clients specifically on the political risk aspect of investment. He might be said to have invented the field. According to his Wikipedia page:
Bremmer is most widely known for advances in the field of political risk and,
more directly, bringing political science as a discipline to Wall
Street. In 2001, Bremmer authored Wall Street's first global political
risk index, now the GPRI (Global Political Risk Index)—a joint venture
with investment bank Citigroup.
Here is Bremmer's reading of the political risk in Iraq in 2008. The "dynamic" he is
referring to at the beginning is the initial military success of the war in 2003 followed by failure to get the politics right. In his view that dynamic is in danger of repeating in the current situation. He accepts that the surge is succeeding militarily but true to his specialty lays out the political risks as he sees them.
That much is history.But in 2008, this dynamic is unfolding again. Following a strongly criticized Bush decision to ignore the bipartisan (and exhaustively
vetted) Baker-Hamilton plan and press ahead with a troop surge, it's
turned out that the American generals indeed knew what they were doing.
More than 150,000 well-trained American troops, tens of thousands of
well-paid mercenaries, the support of many tribal leaders (particularly
in the north), billions of dollars of reconstruction aid, and a
revamped counterinsurgency strategy on the ground have markedly
improved security in much of the country. The troop surge has led
radical Shiite cleric and militia leader Moqtadr al Sadr to stay on the
sidelines – not risking confrontation with U.S. military power – and
seriously degraded al-Qaida in Iraq's capacity for attacks. All of this
has meant fewer casualties – U.S. military, Iraqi military and Iraqi
But politically, the United States has actually lost ground. This is clearest in Baghdad, where Washington has all but lost its influence on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's administration – a stunning political fact given the extraordinary amount of cash and military support still funneled by the U.S. government into the country. This change became clear following Baghdad's refusal to attend
the Annapolis conference on the Middle East, despite direct lobbying by
President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, or to sign up
for the American pact with Iraq's Sunni tribal leaders to fight al-Qaida. The greatest political influence on Baghdad is presently Iran – a factor that will likely grow over time as Iraqi political actors await the withdrawal of American military forces and Washington loses the political will to provide economic support.
Which means that the military gains – though real and important – are temporary and cannot continue with a significant reduction in the American troop presence. U.S. domestic opposition to the war remains at its highest levels, and as the U.S. scales down its presence, the likelihood that the insurgency will grow precipitously is great. Sadr will stay on the sidelines until it's safe to come out – but no longer. Ultimately, all this will likely produce a fragmentation of the country and a proxy war between Saudi-supported Sunni and Iranian-supported Shia, with the
Kurds eventually going their own way. This makes Iraq increasingly less of a mess domestically but more a factor for regional instability throughout the Middle East. This will become increasingly evident in 2008.
It is a fine line between assessing risk and making predictions. Although his language is sometimes that of prediction remember who Bremmer is accustomed to advising – people who are thinking of putting money into a particular country. What we have here, first of all, is one line of expert thought grounded in conventional wisdom such as the Baker report. This is exactly as it should be when it comes to investment – ignoring conventional wisdom is not the safe course. In a time of fundamental political change and uncertainty a leader may choose to ignore conventional wisdom precisely because it is based on the past and may no longer offer much chance of success. Bush chose the surge over Baker's advice and he has succeeded so far, but there is a long way to go politically. Consequently, the most telling part of Bremmer's analysis is his reading of the Milaki government's current attitude to the US. I know that Milaki and Petraeus got into shouting matches over the empowerment of Sunni militias against al Qaeda early in the surge and that Milaki even demanded that President Bush fire Petraeus. My reading is that Petraeuus' efforts are not just military but also politcal and that the goal behind the military strategy is to make reconciliation more likely by implementing bottom up political change through empowering local people to establish security in their own areas. I agree with Bremmer that the risk remains political disintegration and I would not invest my money in Iraq for exactly that reason. But I am glad that the President did not accept the conventional wisdom of his bipartisan advisors I wish the Iraqi people well and hope that they can find their way forward to the point where they can control their own security and destiny without US help.
The Horse Race Blogger0 Comments Published by admin January 21st, 2008 in Politics
As the extraordinary drama of the American elections approaches its first decisive moment, the February 5th or Super Tuesday primaries, I find myself once again turning to Jay Cost, the The Horse Race blogger. I believe he is the best technical analyst of both polling and the the candidate's underlying strategies. Jay Cost, "is [to quote his own original site where he covered the 2004 election] a graduate student of political science at the University of Chicago, currently penning a dissertation on American political parties." He combines a scholarly knowledge of the history and structure of American politics with a genuine mathematical understanding of polls and what they do and do not indicate. His original site is still up and worth reading for his articles explaining the statistical limitations of polls. And how he organized a group of volunteer poll watchers on the web to feed him local results in key states like Ohio that allowed him to call the election before the media even had the figures his volunteers were supplying him. After the 2004 election he blogged at RedState for a while and now has found his natural home at Real Clear Politics. The words Horse Race Blog appear toward the bottom of the first section of the left hand column of the Real Clear Politics home page. The direct link to his RCP blog is here. The most important reason his work is so excellent is that he genuinely wants to understand what is happening, not make it happen. He puts it this way in his RCP About page:
I am not really interested in the "should" of American politics; I am interested in the "is." Should Congress pass a comprehensive border plan, or should it just pass border security? I have my own opinions, but they are not what this blog is about. My interest here is in a question like this: Is it likely or unlikely that Congress will pass a comprehensive plan? This is not to say that my own preferences for the "should" won't creep into my analysis of the "is," but I am going to keep them as separate as possible.
He knows his history and he knows his math and because he keeps his own views separate while not pretending they don't exist he puts himself in a position to pursue rational explanation to a deeper level. Again from his About page:
I am, as political scientists like to say, a "rat choice" guy. That is short for rational choice theory. If somebody asks me to explain why something happened, I would want to know who was involved, what were his goals, and what were the rules (formal or informal) that governed his behavior. I don't understand politics as a pitched battle between the forces of Good and the forces of Evil. I understand it as the competition between divergent interests in the venue that Americans have set up to manage such conflict, namely our Madisonian system.
So you can take seriously this January 7 analysis of why Hillary's prospects are different than Bill's were in 1992 going into Super Tuesday to be a real analysis, not to be just another ideological driven cherry picking of the facts.
So, the implication is that if Bill could lose early contests and bounce back, Hillary could, too.
From a certain perspective, I think this conclusion is indisputable. I do not believe this race is over – and I say that as somebody who predicted that Obama would be a real threat to Hillary a while ago. Here's my bottom line on the Dem race: Clinton has the money, the prestige, and the support to stay in the race through at least Super Tuesday, even if she loses all of the early contests. She also has, at least according to the latest national polls, much of the traditional voting coalition that has won her party's nomination in year's past. And remember – most Democratic primaries allocate delegates to the national convention proportionally, which means that losers still win delegates. So, Clinton could stay a close second through most of the season, and surge late to win the nomination. Of course, losses in Iowa and New Hampshire would seriously damage her campaign. No candidate who has won both Iowa and New Hampshire has ever failed to win his party's nomination in the modern era.* However, as I have argued many times, history is a limited guide for us when it comes to party nominations. Hillary remains a candidate with real strengths – and she should not be underestimated.
Read the rest to understand how today's Super Tuesday is different from 1992 and all the other factors that make Hillary's pursuit to the nomination unique. Here is an analysis that shows how polling combined with mathematical understanding can shed light on a particular candidates chances – in this case Romney:
Romney lost Iowa, and then he lost New Hampshire. Accordingly, he is not the consensus candidate of the party. Far from it. While he has a toehold in the GOP electorate, that's all he has. The recent Pew poll offers cross-tabs that tell the story in vivid detail. Even though the poll was completed before the Michigan primary, there is still a good bit to learn from it:
Huckabee's strength is with evangelicals. McCain's strength is with self-identified moderates and liberals; he is also strong among mainline Protestants and Catholics. Romney wins a solid portion of self-identified conservatives – but he is in a three-way statistical tie with Huckabee and McCain for their support. Clearly, he has not yet broken through with either demographic – be it ideological or religious. You could also slice the party by income – and you would see the same result. McCain dominates; Huckabee has a fair share; Romney has not broken through.
You really get an idea of how good he is when you combine his assertion that Hillary has great strength with the traditional Democratic voting coalition with this close analysis of polling data from Nevada and New Hampshire. Here are his conclusions:
Once again, it appears that Hillary Clinton won by turning out a traditional Democratic voting coalition: Catholics, women, and "downscale" Democrats. This time, she added to this coalition with strong showings among Hispanics, whites, men, and "upscale" voters.
Nevertheless, there is evidence that Obama is able to take a solid portion of the core Democratic vote – notably African Americans. This is good news for Obama in the short term. If you take these demographic preferences to South Carolina, Obama will probably win because each group's share of the vote shifts. For instance, Hispanics are not a major factor in South Carolina, and African Americans are a much greater factor. This alone would probably yield Obama a victory next week.
But in the long run, my feeling is that a replication of Nevada's result would give Clinton great success on Super Tuesday. The real concern for Obama should be the shift of white voters to Clinton. It remains to be seen whether this is sustainable (we saw nothing like this in Iowa or New Hampshire). If it is, Obama is in real trouble.
I'm not saying to not read other commentators. I am saying don't miss out on a wonderful source of insight into this election season. As Jay himself puts it here:
It is a goal of mine that this space be full of clear and precise thoughts. Another goal I have is that what I offer you be novel. I like to observe what has not yet been observed, to infer what has not yet been inferred. I don't like to waste people's time through duplication. Who needs that? So, I will try to keep the content unique.
Welcome to The Yankee Wombat
I'm an American in Oz. This blog grows out of my experiences post 9/11 when politics forced itself into the foreground of my awareness. I found myself feeling strongly about political issues and felt I had something to contribute to the debate from an expatriate point of view. This blog is the result. Thanks for joining me. Comments are monitored and either accepted or rejected at my pleasure.
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text:
CINCINNATI (AP) -- With another shut-down performance by its defense, No. 22 Rutgers stayed in control of the Big East.
Reserve running back Savon Huggins had a career-high 179 yards, and the Scarlet Knights shut down the league's highest-scoring offense for a 10-3 victory over Cincinnati on Saturday that left Rutgers alone in first place.
Rutgers (9-1, 5-0) knocked the Bearcats out of the race and maintained its one-game lead over No. 20 Louisville, which was idle. The Scarlet Knights finish with games at Pittsburgh and home against Louisville.
''I'm not thinking about being in control of the Big East,'' coach Kyle Flood said. ''This was a one-time event.''
Not by Rutgers' reserve running back or its unmatched defense.
Huggins filled in for the injured Jawan Jamison and had a career day all around, leading an offense that did just enough. Gary Nova threw a 71-yard touchdown pass to Mark Harrison in the second quarter, and Nick Borgese made a 42-yard field goal in the fourth.
The league's top defense took it from there, shutting out Cincinnati (7-3, 3-2) until Tony Miliano kicked a 36-yard field goal with 11 seconds left. Rutgers recovered the onside kick.
It was the third time this season that Rutgers held an opponent to three or fewer points.
''I was very disappointed about losing the shutout,'' said linebacker Khaseem Greene, the conference's defensive player of the year in 2011. ''I'm not going to lie to you. We played hard enough and worked hard enough to get the shutout.''
Rutgers picked off Brendon Kay twice and stopped George Winn on a fourth-and-inches play at the Scarlet Knights' 7-yard line in the third quarter. Rutgers came into the game fifth nationally in points allowed, giving up 13.4 per game.
It was essentially an elimination game for the Bearcats, who won or shared three of the last four league titles. They'd already lost to Louisville and needed a win over Rutgers to stay in the race.
''That's a locker room that's hurting right now,'' coach Butch Jones said. ''We can still finish with 10 wins, which is extremely hard to do in college football.''
Rutgers is 5-0 in the Big East for the first time in his history, thanks largely to its defense.
''That has to be the best defensive effort since I've been at Rutgers,'' said Flood, in his first season as head coach after being an assistant for seven years.
Rutgers repeatedly wasted chances to pad its lead, relying on the defense to hold on. Nova threw two first-half interceptions when the Scarlet Knights were in field goal range, and Rutgers also had a 22-yard field goal attempt blocked late in the third quarter. Nova finished 11 of 19 for 186 yards.
Rutgers' offense was missing its top runner. Jawan Jamison, who ranks second in the Big East with 105.9 yards per game, was limited by an ankle injury suffered a week earlier and carried only four times for 37 yards. His sophomore backup tied his school record with 41 carries.
''I didn't know anything about Huggins,'' Cincinnati cornerback Camerron Cheatham said.
Everyone does now.
''The more you carry the ball, the more you get to see what the defensive line is going to do,'' Huggins said. ''As the game went on, I was able to make my cuts with more conviction.''
Jones spent the week lobbying fans to fill the Big East's smallest stadium - 35,000 seats. Jones told a crowd a UC basketball game that the Bearcats would emerge as the ranked team on Saturday.
The 34,526 fans saw Rutgers' defense dominate.
''I apologize that we were not able to get it done for them today,'' Jones said. ''But don't lose faith.''
Kay, making his second start in place of the struggling Munchie Legaux, was 17 of 31 for 251 yards. He threw an interception at the 3-yard line in the first half that led to Rutgers' touchdown.
Five plays later, Nova threw a 71-yard touchdown pass to Harrison, who got between the cornerback and safety. He slipped out of Deven Drane's grasp after making the catch, completing Rutgers' longest play of the season.
The Scarlet Knights barely missed another touchdown off a trick play in the final minute of the half. Receiver Tim Wright took a lateral and overthrew a wide-open Huggins across the field, the ball slipping off his hands as he tried to make a diving catch. That threat ended when Nova forced a throw that was picked off in the end zone with 25 seconds left.
The Scarlet Knights' defense preserved the lead by stopping Winn - the league's leading rusher - on fourth-and-inches from the Rutgers 7-yard line early in the third quarter. Winn finished with only 35 yards on 11 carries.
''We take it real personal when they go for it on fourth down,'' Greene said.
Follow Joe Kay on Twitter: http://twitter.com/apjoekay


text:
Michael Jackson's mother and four siblings announced Monday a fall tribute concert in the UK to honor the late King of Pop, but not everyone in the Jackson clan is on board.
Jackson matriarch Katherine Jackson and siblings LaToya, Tito, Jackie and Marlon Jackson said "Michael Forever: The Tribute Concert" will take place Oct. 8 at the 75,000-seat Millennium Stadium in Wales.
The 4-hour event is timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the release of Jackson's first solo single, "Got to be There," and proceeds will benefit a trio of charities, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
U.S. & World
Tito Jackson said his brother "would be proud to see artists he admired and respected very much come together," THR reported. Jackson's family and representatives from Global Live Events did not reveal the event's headliners.
And notably absent at the Los Angeles presser were Jackson's father, Joe Jackson, and siblings Janet, Jermaine and Randy Jackson.
Jermaine and Randy later issued a statement slamming the family's "inappropriate" decision to hold the concert so soon to the beginning of a criminal trial involving Jackson's physician, The Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog reported.
Dr. Conrad Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's June 2009 death. He is set to stand trial on Sept. 8.
"While we wholeheartedly support the spirit of a tribute that honors our brother, we find it impossible to support an event that is due to take place during the criminal trial surrounding Michael's death," Jermaine and Randy Jackson said.
"There will come a time and place for an amazing and deserving tribute to Michael," they went on to say. "But we feel that the most important tribute we can give to our brother at this time is to seek justice in his name."


text:
25 October 2010
The Silk Mill
photos by Tom b.
- 60s dress
- AA tights
- 30s oxfords
- vintage wool beret
Over the weekend we had the most amazing opportunity. You all know by now how much we enjoy exploring and photographing abandoned places, right? Well this was pretty much the ultimate in abandonment. The morning started out with us waking at dawn to hit the road, followed by a sunrise drive through Gettysburg. The drive alone was worth it as all the trees are at peak color and the mountains were gold and red. Just beautiful!
We arrived nearly four hours later to a large brick building in a tiny town where not much remains. The building was nothing special from the outisde... just simple brick with lots of the windows broken and part of the roof beginning to rot. But inside was a whole different story!
After sitting outside and enjoying the morning sunshine for a bit, the owner showed up to accompany us into the building. As he was letting us in, he told a bit about the history of the place. It was built in 1907 and served as a silk mill for 50 years. Raw silk was brought here, washed, dyed and spun into silk thread. In 1957 the mill closed (and this is the best part) the doors were shut and everything was left exactly where it was! Nothing in the building has been touched or removed (except for the occasional unfortunate vandal) in over 5o years. It was like walking into a time capsule!
Not only was all of the machinery in place (complicated machines that I couldn't even begin to understand how they work) but there were still ladies' shoes in the lockers, evidence of lunches had on picnic tables, handwritten payroll records (minimum was was $.20 an hour!) and piles of raw silk waiting to be spun into thread. There were still calenders hanging in nearly every room, each turned to January 1957.
We wandered around the mill for hours, trying to take it all in and snapping lots of photos along the way. I couldn't resist the opportunity to turn it into a bit of a photoshoot, so expect more photos to come!
36 comments:
- Unknown said...
Oh these Pictures are amazing! And I adooore your dress. What a lovely collar. xx, Alice .)
- October 25, 2010
- Kaelyn Choo said...
Love your dress especially the lace collar.. Photos are amazingly gorgeous!
- October 25, 2010
- BaronessVonVintage said...
wow, what an unreal place! Sounds sort of eery that there were still lunch pails and unchanged calendars. GORGEOUS shoes and adore the collar on that dress!!
- October 25, 2010
- Loca por tu Ropa said...
Lovely dress and shoes...
Kisses from Madrid!
- October 25, 2010
- the girl in the bowler hat said...
The collar on your dress is simply gorgeous! And the place where you've taken the photographs seems very interesting.
- October 25, 2010
- Casey Maura said...
Oh wow--what a neat place to visit and spend time exploring!! It sounds amazing from your descriptions and pictures!
♥ Casey | blog
- October 25, 2010
- Rosaspina Vintage said...
Your time capsule stories are always so charming. When you said all the calenders were turned to January 1957 I had shivers!!
This place is amazing, incredible, I'm so happy you're going to post more pictures from it!
Of course your outfit is adorable, that lace collar is so pretty.
- October 25, 2010
- Gigi said...
I can't believe everything was left as is! I wonder why the mill was shut down.
- October 25, 2010
- Kayla said...
Wow! What an oppurtunity! I would love to visit a place like that. It's like stepping back into 1957, and I love that bit about the calenders. What a magnificent piece of history frozen there for us. What an amazing experience!
- October 25, 2010
- Sarah said...
love your dress that collar is devine, I also had shivers when I read about the date part. I so wish there were place like this where I live. It looks wonderful.
- October 25, 2010
- Joie de Viv said...
What a fantastic photo op spot! You look fab as always! Love the beret (I can never figure out how to wear one of those).
xx Vivian @ http://diamondsandtulle.blogspot.com
- October 25, 2010
- Dakota said...
These are beautiful! I love the time capsule effect, with the lunch pails and calendars-- a little creepy, but so interesting. The lighting and atmosphere are just unreal, it's so perfect.
- October 25, 2010
- Sidewalk Chic said...
You always have the best luck finding these abandoned spots. This place is simply beautiful, and I love your outfit too.
Sidewalk Chalk
- October 25, 2010
- Julie said...
Gorgeous!!! Love your tattoo
- October 25, 2010
- Maria Casteel said...
this outfit is one of my very favorites of yours! those shoes and that dress are just perfect on you.
- October 25, 2010
- Rebecca said...
Oh my, you just kill me with these amazing abanonded sites you visit. Can't wait to see more photos. I seriously hope one or both of you publishes a book of these photos someday.
- October 25, 2010
- KristiMcMurry said...
How interesting! I would never have imagined something like that would remain untouched for so long. I bet that was such a surreal experience! Love the pictures.
- October 25, 2010
- A Little Brighter said...
How absolutely amazing! Too bad ahout those vandals, but atleast it is still looking wonderful! That dress, I'm pretty sure, is my dream dress!
What an amazing find!
Ayesha x
- October 25, 2010
- viv said...
Wow! I love the third photo of you.
And thank you for bringing to my attention that Parisian flat in the post before.
- October 25, 2010
- Anonymous said...
This place is incredible. It makes me want to explore so badly!
- October 25, 2010
- Velvet said...
Wow! Very interesting short trip. Abandoned places have a curious and magic touch that can be attractive.
- October 25, 2010
- Mei-li said...
those pictures are so good I love the place i'am always amazed to see all the places you found !
- October 25, 2010
- Lexie said...
it's so nice you get to discover places like this with someone you love!
- October 25, 2010
- Aurora said...
is your dress brown or a darker color, like a red/burgundy? regardless, i love the way the dark colored dress looks next to the black tights. well done, as always.
- October 25, 2010
- Bronzed Humanity said...
Beatiful photos love them!!!! Amazing place to take photos, your outfit is looking great also!
- October 25, 2010
- Jenni said...
I love your dress, especially the collar, and these pictures are fantastic! There's so much history in the northeast.
- October 25, 2010
- Sea Bird said...
Oh wow, these photos are so amazing! I love old buildings and it looks like you really hit the motherload with this one! I would have probably spent hours in there also. Looks like quite an experience.
- October 25, 2010
- Katie said...
What an amazing experience!
- October 25, 2010
- Meggstatus said...
This is my dream, seriously. What an amazing discovery and to experience all of that history must have been absolute incredible. Not to mention that your dress is brilliant!
- October 25, 2010
- Lans Pudernice said...
Amazing place, great pics and beautiful dress!
- October 26, 2010
- Anonymous said...
I'm swooning over these photos! amazing!! love the collar of your dress ^.^
- October 26, 2010
- callie said...
Oh my goodness, that is so incredible!! What an amazing thing. These pictures are just awesome.
- October 26, 2010
- Tieka, Selective Potential said...
This is absolutely AMAZING. The photos turned out incredible and the story behind it is just wonderful. I'd love to explore a place like this!
- October 26, 2010
- ashleyn said...
What beautiful photos. That place is absolutely a gem! Your dress with the simple lace is breathtaking!
- October 27, 2010
- Julia said...
Sounds entrancing. There was an abandoned amusement park called The Land of Oz in the mountains near my hometown, and visiting always gave me such a wonderful feeling of having stepped into a bygone world. Everything was perfect -- just empty. So strange. You look lovely in the dress.
- October 27, 2010
- Unknown said...
I came from an area (Burlington, NC) with lots of cotton spinning mills - many of which were still intact until the late 90's. There are probably still a few. This was a great photoshoot and thank you for peering into the past for us - the shoes in the lockers really did give me shivers! My family ancestors all worked in the cotton mills at one time or the other or the hosiery mills - must've looked a lot like the silk mill.
- November 11, 2010