text:
Welcome to CNN's live blog of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee! Follow along here while you watch on CNN, where Piers Morgan and Brooke Baldwin anchor our coverage. To get things started, you can read a little about what to expect from today's festivities. Check back often for pictures and videos, iReports, facts and trivia and more. Also, you'll find tweets from our anchors and reporters – and you! Use the hashtag #JubileeCNN and tell us what you think.
And we'll end with this – thank you all for joining the live blog, and watching CNN's coverage. And we'll see you back on CNN TV, and here, at 9 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
I am! RT @afneil: I'm enjoying Piers' coverage on CNN. He seems to be having fun @piersmorgan—
Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 03, 2012
God save our Queen! Wonderful day, hope you enjoyed the coverage. #JubileeCNN—
Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 03, 2012
[1:06 p.m. ET, 6:06 p.m. local time]: "Your majesty, thank you for 60 great years," says Morgan.
Wow. That rendition of God Save the Queen even made this Yank a little weepy. The soaking wet, yet gutsy, choir was amazing.—
Miguel Marquez (@miguelmarquez) June 03, 2012
[1:01 p.m. ET, 6:01 p.m. local time]: "God Save The Queen" from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and RCM Chamber Choir – in torrential rain.
Ok, THAT was awesome!! #JubileeCNN I can't even imagine how amazing it would be to be in that choir at this moment - or on that river!—
Amy (@AymieJoi) June 03, 2012
[12:55 p.m. ET, 5:55 p.m. local time]: The London Philharmonic is playing and singing from atop a barge, in very difficult conditions – and doing it extremely well. 'You will never see anything like this!' says Piers Morgan.
"you've never seen this before and I'll never see this again! This is Crazy Stuff!" @piersmorgan - cant help but love this guy #JubileeCNN—
(@claudesilver) June 03, 2012
An extraordinary scene from the orchestra in the pouring rain!! #jubileeCNN—
krassy allanson (@allansonk) June 03, 2012
You have to give credit to the London Philharmonic singing in these horrendous weather conditions #JubileeCNN—
Christy Pastore (@christypastore) June 03, 2012
[12:54 p.m. ET, 5:54 p.m. local time]: Watching from everywhere!
Am able to catch up with diamond jubilee on #jubileecnn at airport such a shame about the weather!!—
Olly Murs (@ollyofficial) June 03, 2012
[12:51 p.m. ET, 5:51 p.m. local time]: "This was the biggest street party the world has ever imagined," says Becky Anderson in Piccadilly Circus.
Enjoying the #DiamondJubilee coverage despite the bad weather there. #JubileeCNN—
HauteontheSpot (@HauteontheSpot1) June 03, 2012
[12:49 p.m. ET, 5:49 p.m. local time]: "Welcome back to London, or the Mediterranean Ocean as we've renamed it," says Morgan.
I'm getting ready to sing along to Rule Britannia! #JubileeCNN #DiamondJubilee—
Alan Peto (@alanpeto) June 03, 2012
[12:45 p.m. ET, 5:45 p.m. local time]: "Freezing cold, torrential rain," says Morgan, while he reports the fly-by will have to be canceled.
Upset we won't get to see the flyover 😦 #JubileeCNN pretty impressive that so many people are out in the weather. #amazing—
Karina Diehl (@kdiehl) June 03, 2012
Days like today make you proud to be british #jubileeCNN @piersmorgan—
GULLY (@jon_gull) June 03, 2012
The Queen is doing amazing, 2 stand there in the cold & wave everyone by, I am sure there would be a few of us moaning inc me!! #jubileeCNN—
Marissa (MJ) (@MarissaJane78) June 03, 2012
[12:42 p.m. ET, 5:42 p.m. local time]: The grand finale may have to be canceled due to weather, reports Morgan.
[12:37 p.m. ET, 5:37 p.m. local time]: The incredible moment from earlier when the Royal barge did a complete 360-degree turn:
Kate Middleton looks so gorgeous! I'm in love with her makeup. She just looks perfect. #jubileecnn—
Katie Galioto (@katieee_galioto) June 03, 2012
Pictures of everyone the Queen has met over her reign are amazing...everyone important in politics and culture the last 60 yrs #jubileecnn—
Jordan W (@jowa504) June 03, 2012
[12:32 p.m. ET, 5:32 p.m. local time]: "She believes in duty," says Dickie Arbiter. "She believes in doing the job until her last breath."
everyone - @CNN coverage is where it's at. the amazing shots combined w/ @piersmorgan's humor - tune in! #DiamondJubilee—
Kelly (@RoyalReview) June 03, 2012
[12:29 p.m. ET, 5:29 p.m. local time]: "How many of us re-dedicate ourselves on anything, six decades [later]?" says Richard Quest of the Queen's pledge. Now the guests are discussing duty.
[12:26 p.m. ET, 5:26 p.m. local time]: We've updated the gallery at the top with the latest images from today's flotilla festivities.
#jubileecnn is a great way of watching the ceremonial procession!—
Shreya Dutta (@vavrina8) June 03, 2012
[12:23 p.m. ET, 5:23 p.m. local time]: "She can put everything into global perspective," says Piers Morgan.
'Queen Elizabeth has met every U.S. president (since 1953) with the exception of Lyndon Johnson.' @piersmorgan #jubileeCNN—
Susan Durrwachter (@DespSeekSusan) June 03, 2012
[12:20 p.m. ET, 5:20 p.m. local time]: "She's never passed a political judgment," says Katie Nicholl of the Queen.
Diamond Jubilee, so magical. #jubileecnn—
Amanda F. (@amandandaa) June 03, 2012
[12:13 p.m. ET, 5:13 p.m. local time]: Earlier today: the Queen rides to the flotilla:
#jubileecnn Top moment.. the barge mooring sideways. It had tension, concern and amazement at the precision and skill. Well done Skipper—
Pancho Wilkins (@PanchoWilkins) June 03, 2012
Congratulations Queen Elizabeth II on your Diamond Jubilee from Canada! #JubileeCNN—
Stephen Weppler (@StephenWeppler) June 03, 2012
[12:09 p.m. ET, 5:09 p.m. local time]: Max Foster is by Tower Bridge: "This is British spirit for you!" he says as people are singing in the rain, watching the boats.
Fascinating insight on Queen's reign. #jubileecnn LIVE RIGHT NOW.—
Eric Hall (@erichallcnn) June 03, 2012
Watching the river pageant celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee - will admit that I love this stuff!! #JubileeCNN—
Diane Swintal (@dswintal) June 03, 2012
[12:06 p.m. ET, 5:06 p.m. local time]: Send us your favorite moments from our coverage of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee today!
@piersmorgan A historic day the world will not forget! The Queen looks gorgeous on her diamond jubilee day-the world is watching #jubileecnn—
pthompson (@westernmassmama) June 03, 2012
[12:01 p.m. ET, 5:01 p.m. local time]: Now we're seeing Zain Verjee live on the River Thames, using the Flotilla Cam. Verjee describes a bit of a traffic jam now.
Watching the Queen with my faves @BrookeBCNN @piersmorgan covering her Diamond #JubileeCNN Love the music and photos of all her lovely hats!—
Molly Eggleton (@mollyeggs) June 03, 2012
#JubileeCNN - isn't it amazing that Her Majesty hasn't sat down during the whole procession? Truly remarkable lady! @piersmorgan—
Joyce Mmaitsi (@KhasTheGOONER) June 03, 2012
[11:53 a.m. ET, 4:53 p.m. local time]: Here's some of the Royal flotilla from earlier today:
The Queen has sent approximately 45,000 Christmas Cards during her reign - @PiersMorgan #JubileeCNN #DiamondJubliee—
TannersDad Tim (@TannersDad) June 03, 2012
[11:48 a.m. ET, 4:48 p.m. local time]: "Deference is still alive and well," says Philippa Gregory, royal historian.
Soaking wet, freezing cold, but loving every second... #JubileeCNN—
Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 03, 2012
[11:46 a.m. ET, 4:46 p.m. local time]: What's your favorite part of the Diamond Jubilee so far?
So happy to see Her Majesty now smiling and obviously enjoying this magnificent river pageant honoring her.
Bren Buras-Elsen (@brenisphere) June 03, 2012
I like the Little History Tidbits on #CNN on bottom of Screen #jubileeCNN—
D.Holt (@DanielHoltdb) June 03, 2012
[11:43 a.m. ET, 4:43 p.m. local time]: "The river, for the modern age, is a great neglected stage," says Pieter van der Merwe, general editor and Greenwich curator of the National Maritime Museum. Explaining the reason for the flotilla today now.
#Funfact: Flowers on board the Spirit of Chartwell (Royal barge) in today's flotilla are all from Queen Elizabeth II's garden. #JubileeCNN—
Elizabeth Cherneff (@echerneff) June 03, 2012
[11:39 a.m. ET, 4:39 p.m. local time]: Richard Quest's picture from the CNN studio location near Tower Bridge:
Queen and bridge twitpic.com/9sfugh—
Richard Quest (@richardquest) June 03, 2012
Happy #Jubilee Your Majesty!
No one does it Better than Britain. 60 years of service #jubileecnn—
Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) June 03, 2012
[11:36 a.m. ET, 4:36 p.m. local time]: The rain theme has continued. It is now really pouring in London:
Enjoying the beautiful NYC weather while watching the rainy #JubileeCNN London day—
Melanie Lefkowitz (@Mel415) June 03, 2012
I must say that this #JubileeCNN is extraordinary stuff to watch—
Pharaoh (@KennethHarbin) June 03, 2012
[11:33 a.m. ET, 4:33 p.m. local time]: "Typical summer day," says Piers Morgan about the current weather, although he also says it's currently "about as bad as it gets."
Duchess of Cambridge wearing Alexander McQueen so beautifully #jubileecnn—
Pris (@portiaxo) June 03, 2012
[11:31 a.m. ET, 4:31 p.m. local time]: Watch: Earlier today, William and Kate arrive at the Thames:
[11:29 a.m. ET, 4:29 p.m. local time]: Part of the reason the Royal barge turned was so the Queen can watch the rest of the flotilla herself, says Katie Nicholl.
I must say that this jubilee flotilla or riverboat pageant is very impressive. #jubileecnn #JubileePageant #jubileeriverpageant—
Believe in Belize (@IBelizeit) June 03, 2012
[11:24 a.m. ET, 4:24 p.m. local time]: "This is one of those lifetime moments I don't think I'll ever forget," says Piers Morgan. The Royal barge is now turning 360 degrees.
Wow, that is a huge, beautiful boat! And a 360! #JubileeCNN—
Dispatch Demon (@dispatchdemon) June 03, 2012
[11:20 a.m. ET, 4:20 p.m. local time]: Tower Bridge is opening now as the Royal Barge is approaching. Amazing, rare event.
#NowWatching "Diamond Jubilee" on CNN. the whole event is just grand! #jubileecnn—
Joshua Cruz (@JoshkoPo) June 03, 2012
Fantastic day in London despite the rain! #jubileeCNN For #Queen and pageantry yfrog.com/oefkkyqj—
Vicky Bennett (@ayalablue) June 03, 2012
[11:19 a.m. ET, 4:19 p.m. local time]: And on the other hand... Here's a CNN Opinion about why the U.K. monarchy should be abolished.
A royal pageant indeed! Very interesting and amazing event #jubileecnn—
Joelle Harik (@JoelleHarik) June 03, 2012
[11:16 a.m. ET, 4:16 p.m. local time]: Of the Queen's reign, Arbiter says, "She doesn't change, she adapts."
Super cool to watch! Thousands of boats in honor of the queen #jubileecnn—
Jenna Folluo (@Jenna_Folluo) June 03, 2012
[11:12 a.m. ET, 4:12 p.m. local time]: India Hicks, a bridesmaid for Princess Diana, is being interviewed live now on CNN.
Watching the #jubileecnn in South Africa. So amazing!—
Renier Palland (@renier45) June 03, 2012
[11:10 a.m. ET, 4:10 p.m. local time]: "She hasn't seen this many boats in any one place since 1953," says Dickie Arbiter, former Buckingham Palace spokesman, who calls the event "overwhelming."
[11:07 a.m. ET, 4:07 p.m. local time]: Prince Harry, Prince Williams and Kate Middleton being shown now.
The majestic Queen in 2nd longest serving term after Thailand's. #jubileecnn—
ptharaphy (@pmtharaphy) June 03, 2012
[11:05 a.m. ET, 4:05 p.m. local time]: While we take a quick break on TV, check out the Queen's Crown Jewels.
Incredible sight . . . Amazing flotilla on the Thames #jubileecnn—
Frank Aquila (@FAquila) June 03, 2012
[11:03 a.m. ET, 4:03 p.m. local time]: "Eight bells specially cast for today," says Richard Quest. First time this has ever been done.
Flotilla/Armada on Thames for Diamond Jubilee looks the opening of a James Bond movie. #JubileeCNN—
Jonathan Wald (@jonathanwald) June 03, 2012
[11:02 a.m. ET, 4:02 p.m. local time]: "Any second now" says Richard Quest we will see the Queen and the royal family.
I'm not British but I'm crying tears of joy myself.
Very moving to see Her Majesty's
Diamond Jubilee flotilla on the Thames.
Bren Buras-Elsen (@brenisphere) June 03, 2012
[10:59 a.m. ET, 3:59 p.m. local time]: The Queen is on CNN now. The flotilla is about to pass by the CNN studio location as well.
[10:55 a.m. ET, 3:55 p.m. local time]: How many U.S. presidents has the Queen met? Check it out.
This is great TV: the Queen's Jubilee coverage live on CNN. #JubileeCNN—
Sam Feist (@SamFeistCNN) June 03, 2012
[10:53 a.m. ET, 3:53 p.m. local time]: Piers Morgan weighs in on the weather, which has become a major topic already.
Given it's probably rained for at least 60% of The Queen's entire reign, shall we all just get a grip and enjoy the day anyway? #jubileeCNN—
Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 03, 2012
Watching CNN's coverage of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebration. Just wow! 🙂 #jubileecnn—
Faye Garcia (@iamfayee) June 03, 2012
[10:50 a.m. ET, 3:50 p.m. local time]: Zain Verjee is live, on a boat. We've broken out the Flotilla Cam for this. Strong winds, and "you're basically on your own" says Verjee.
Watching our beautiful Queen on this special day. Thank you @CNN for helping this Brit enjoy everything from the Philippines! #jubileecnn—
Chris C. Ducker (@chriscducker) June 03, 2012
[10:48 a.m. ET, 3:48 p.m. local time]: Becky Anderson is live from the "biggest street party."
It looks awfully cold at the Thames! #diamondjubilee #jubilee #JubileeCNN—
La Legale (@LaLegale) June 03, 2012
[10:45 a.m. ET, 3:45 p.m. local time]: Brooke Baldwin and Piers Morgan are live from Tower Bridge. "An extraordinary explosion of patriotic glee," says Morgan. Richard Quest joining the broadcast now.
[10:42 a.m. ET, 3:42 p.m. local time]: Share your thoughts with us all day.
#JubileeCNN Honestly an epic occasion! I can't fathom what its like to have had her life. Queen for 60 yrs. The things she has on everybody—
Anthony Valentine (@hartattaque) June 03, 2012
[10:38 a.m. ET, 3:38 p.m. local time]: Watch: Bells ring as the pageant begins:
[10:30 a.m. ET, 3:30 p.m. local time]: Gearing up for CNN's broadcast, now just 15 minutes away!
Got my hat on, UK flag out for the Bentleys & blender ready to go! Waiting for @BrookeBCNN & @PiersMorgan Diamond #JubileeCNN Special—
Troy Bentley (@TroyCNN) June 03, 2012
For all the latest from the river pageant in London follow @richardquest @maxfostercnn @piersmorgan @brookebcnn @zainverjeecnn #jubileecnn—
CNN International (@cnni) June 03, 2012
ICYMI: (video) @PiersMorgan explains what to expect for #JubileeCNN coverage bit.ly/Kn3AyJ—
April Andrews (@aprilCNNpr) June 03, 2012
[10:20 a.m. ET, 3:20 p.m. local time]: Want to learn about the Royal family tree? Who were the Queen's parents and who are her children? Check out this helpful infographic.
Here's another picture from EP Janelle Rodriguez in the control room:
[10:15 a.m. ET, 3:15 p.m. local time]: While we await the start of CNN's coverage, watch co-anchor Piers Morgan tell viewers what to expect today:
This is brilliant..doubt I'll ever do anything bigger or better in TV than co-anchor this glorious event to celebrate my Queen. #JubileeCNN—
Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 03, 2012
Royal barge, View from the control room #jubileecnn http://t.co/NfPEkGrW—
Janelle Rodriguez (@janelleCNN) June 03, 2012
Even my coffee is getting in the spirit #Jubileecnn http://t.co/0GHufXZL—
Max Foster (@MaxFosterCNN) June 03, 2012
@piersmorgan How gorgeous does Catherine look! #JubileeCNN—
Killer Heels UK (@KillerHeels_UK) June 03, 2012
If Piers Morgan could have kept his mouth shut during the playing of "God Save the Queen" and other selections by the London Philharmonic, we would have enjoyed the Grand Finale much more. He was so busy yelling, "Isn't this amazing?" that we could barely hear what he was so amazed about. VERY disappointed.
The superbly admirable reign of Queen Elizabeth II is one of the best aspects of our period in history.
eyesay...june fourth is the day...when thee ole queenie girl is recuperating from 'er drinkin' binge...would luv t'see the hangover pictures in newsweek...hip hip hurray...!
Piers Morgan should be ashamed of calling Princess Diana "fractuous" and implying that she hurt the monarchy. First of all, she's dead with no one to defend her (cheap shot) and second, why wasn't Charles considered "fractuous" for having a Mistress prior to and all through their marriage? She was a brave woman who should be remembered in positive terms only, especially since her cunning arch rival is now undeservedly given royal status.
interesting that you bring that up...britain is long standing in history where crown grants royal status to its female adulterers...who can count the number of whorish bones laying under that throne...it is the basis for the creation of the angelican church...sins of the flesh abounds in that faith...
on the flipside our united states political leaders will never legitmitize their scandulous actions...they just throw yah a55 inna closet and denied they ever knew you...im waiting for the day when one will say "yeah, i diddit and the sh!t felt good!"...if only their publists could say those words...tabloids would go out of business...
I watched the 4 hour event live on BBC, and I found their coverage educational, historical, and very informative. I recorded it on CNN, and watched it after the live BBC coverage was over. I found CNN's Morgan's repeated (and useless) complaining of the rain tiresome and frankly detracting from the event. Why did BBC know the flyover was canceled before CNN went on the air? Why did CNN witch away from the event to interview common people saying the same thing over and over and over? God save the Queen and God save BBC. CNN is as intelligent as Obama giving the Queen an IPod with his speeches loaded on it.
Unfortunately, I didn't watch the BBC coverage, but I did watch CNN's & I agree that the BBC always has it right. Thank God I'm not the only one who noticed Piers blathering on and on and on about the "horrendous" rain and the "terrible" weather. Gee, doesn't it rain a lot in Great Britain, or has Piers forgotten? The rain didn't seem to dampen people's spirits; possibly because they are used to it. I think Piers does his show from L.A. if I'm not mistaken, so perhaps the constant sun has fried his brains & made him overly sensitive to the weather?? I'm from Southern California(a native), so I know of what I speak when I talk about the constant(yuk)sun. Was actually refreshing to see the rain and see people still smiling...not whining(unlike Piers!)
I might add Morgan kept insisting the event took place starting when CNN's coverage started (11 am EST), not two hours earlier. He marveled after an hour of the broadcast that the Queen "has been standing for an hour now". What a moron!
I find it quite strange how any advanced people could still admire remminants of middle age divine right monarchy.... the evil commited in the past by such meglomanics is self evident and undeniable ...as an irishman I could only think of Monty Pytons cast showing up to polish off such a silly event... The best englishmen ended up in america or australia.. sadly the people of england are suffering from high unemployment and taxes while these spoiled silly people float on a boat counting their gold and jewels....antisemitism is rampid in england again and suppose they want to blame innocent people for the failures of their own leaders again.. Ii hope Ireland and Scotland can someday purchase a bankrupt england and makes a theme park out of it. Just think You will keep these royal families employed at least.....These people had more slave camps in the world than anyone. What they did to the Irish and Jews who tried to escape holocaust to Israel is terrible and G-d will not forget it... James ainoris
BOOO CNN! I watched coverage live on BBC Sunday morning and loved it so much I wanted to see more, so tuned in to the CNN re-broadcast. HORIBBLE! Every 3 minutes the broadcast was interrupted with 3 minutes of commercial, over and over, for the entire 2 hours. No Joke! It was extremely abusive. You gutted the spectacle. BBC's coverage was outstanding. You should be ashamed!
What's the point of all this pomp?
What was the meaning of the pyramid shape smoke stack with the crystal on top in the smoke during the Royal Jubilee seen on CNN Monday June 4th


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(Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has told close friends he probably will not stand for a third term at the central bank even if President Barack Obama wins the November 6 election, the New York Times reported.
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has already said he would not re-nominate Bernanke if he wins the presidency. Bernanke's term as chairman ends in January 2014.
Bernanke, who was first appointed to run the U.S. central bank by former president George W. Bush and was given a second term by Obama, has declined to comment publicly on whether he would accept another four-year term.
"I am very focused on my work, I don't have any decision or any information to give you on my personal plans," he told a news conference last month after the Fed announced a new and open-ended round of bond buying to support the U.S. economy.
The Fed and the White House declined to comment.
The Fed's unconventional efforts to spur growth have been criticized by many Republicans and some economists who argue that they threaten future inflation and abet profligate spending in Washington.
The central bank has promised to keep interest rates near zero until at least mid-2015, but Bernanke told reporters in his last press conference that there was an internal consensus on the latest round of stimulus.
"There is a consensus that even as the personnel change and so going forward, that this is the appropriate approach," he said last month.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has already made it clear he wants to leave by the end of the year.
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers would be at the top of Obama's list to replace Bernanke, although his reputation for not being a team player could count against him, New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin wrote.
Longer shots include Janet Yellen, the vice chairwoman at the Fed, and economist Alan Krueger, a former assistant secretary of the Treasury for economic policy, or even Geithner, Sorkin wrote in his "Dealbook" column.
Glenn Hubbard, who headed the Council of Economic Advisers under George W. Bush, is often mentioned as Romney's most likely nominee for the Fed chairmanship or the top job at the Treasury Department.
Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore and William Schomberg in New York; Editing by Ted Kerr, Walker Simon and Leslie Gevirtz

subset: commoncrawl


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Saturday, December 13, 2008
Look MOM no HEAD
Per your request mom- No head.
So, I told my mom about my pic (a couple posts down). I was pretty happy with it- about 10 minutes from 49-years old, and except for the background and a really miss-placed, mutant ZIT- NO photoshop. And it's not like I take pictures of myself- it's been quite awhile, so I told my mom to check out this blog. I'm fairly certain she's not a fan of the blog itself (and I would never ask), so I'm thinking she would have never seen it. So I told her.
My mom's the type, IF you ask; she's going to tell you. Hell, she even gives a second chance to spare yourself- "Do you REALLY want to know what I think?" It should be noted- there is NO ill will, malice, or mean-spiritedness in her opinion- she's actually very NICE when she tells you to go f*** yourself….j/k mom.
This is what she said:
Hi honey, Just a quick reply. I liked 3/4 of the picture, but from the neck up I did not like. That handsome face looks drawn and far too thin. The cheeks look sunken in. You need more meat on that good lookin face. Just a mothers point of view. The rest of the picture looks perfect. Are you eating? I think you need to gain a little weight. love ya much, momxxxooo
See? She's not mean, and the more I look at the picture, the more she's right, although, she did hammer a bit with, "Are you eating? I think you need to gain a little weight," But, she definitely has me thinking, "Sure, I'll take another slice."
Funny thing, this isn't me on a diet- this is regular me,,,so if she's telling me I look like 'Skeletor", well then, 'Skeletor' it is. Oh well!
Nothing like a mother to keep one's self-esteem in check, however fragile it may be. Don't fret, it's not that fragile, just sayin.
Hundreds of video about Costa Rica at the Costa Rica Travel Channel along with tons of information about Costa Rica at Travel Costa Rica NOW
Labels: Arenal Costa Rica, GAY Costa Rica, Humor, Living in Costa Rica
Look MOM no HEAD
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text:
Landowners Guide to Lease Hunting in Missouri
Robert A. Pierce II
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences
Kevin C. Moore
Department of Agricultural Economics
Stephen F. Matthews
Department of Agricultural Economics
A growing number of landowners in Missouri are interested in providing access for sportsmen and others to hunt, fish and enjoy other types of outdoor recreation on their property for a fee. This interest is in response to an increasing demand by sportsmen and others for access to private property for recreational use.
Wildlife recreation is big business. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation, more than 87 million Americans (38 percent of the population 16 and older) hunted, fished or watched wildlife. Over $120 billion a year is spent on wildlife-related activities. The economic impact of wildlife-related recreation is especially important in Missouri, where annual spending for hunting alone exceeds $1 billion.
A large percentage of wildlife recreation activity occurs on private lands. According to the survey, over 80 percent of hunters were dependent on accessing private land for hunting opportunities, and more than $624 million dollars are spent by hunters each year to lease land for hunting. Over $360 million of this total amount is spent on big game (deer) hunting leases. Other species hunted on leased property include waterfowl, wild turkey and small game such as rabbits, quail and doves.
About 93 percent of Missouri's land base is privately owned, so most of the opportunities to hunt as well as the quantity and quality of available wildlife habitat depend on the attitudes and management practices of private landowners. Although some form of lease hunting has occurred in the state for many years (particularly on farms managing for waterfowl), charging a fee to access wildlife recreational opportunities has not been part of the hunting or land management tradition.
This situation is slowly changing throughout the Midwest, as more landowners begin to realize opportunities for added income through recreational leasing. In fact, leasing land for hunting has contributed to the substantial increase in value of nonagricultural land in the state. For many landowners with this interest, developing a hunting lease enterprise may provide an opportunity to sustain their natural resource base, maintain their quality of life and increase annual profits from their property.
The information in this guide has been developed to help interested landowners make informed decisions about lease hunting as a potential income-generating opportunity. Many landowners are interested in managing wildlife on their property but cannot justify the expense unless a financial return is achieved. Hunters can provide this supplemental income and often can supply the motivation, labor, equipment and materials. Depending on land management objectives, development of a hunting lease enterprise offers many landowners the opportunity to supplement their income while enhancing wildlife habitat on their property.
The hunting lease
Hunting leases are an example of the broader concept of a recreational lease — an agreement between a person who controls access to property and a person who wishes to use the property for recreation. The lease grants an individual the right to participate in a specified recreational activity on a specific tract of property for a certain time and fee.
A hunting lease is an agreement between you as the landowner (lessor) and hunters (lessees) to grant access to your land to hunt game (and conduct other specified activities) for a specified period of time. Hunters usually pay you an agreed-upon dollar amount per acre or per hunter.
Generally, the hunting lease agreement does not convey rights to take the wildlife. Native wildlife cannot be leased or sold by a landowner because it is publicly owned by the state. In some situations, commercially raised game or exotic game species can be marketed to hunters through a "licensed shooting preserve." However, the vast majority of game hunted on property that is leased for hunting is native species, such as white-tailed deer, wild turkey and waterfowl.
The relationship between ownership and control of wildlife is a paradox in our society. The public owns the wildlife, but in most situations private landowners control access to the resource. Landowners own the right to use their property and their wildlife habitat. The public cannot hunt or observe wildlife without also using the land. Recreational leases provide a system for the person producing wildlife to get paid and the person using the recreational access to pay for it.
One of the beneficial aspects of hunting leases is that they often provide additional profitable enterprises on land already managed for livestock, crops or timber. A certain amount of compromise is usually necessary in land management decisions to optimize income from both hunting leases and other, more conventional land uses. The long-term overall net income from hunting leases can exceed that derived from more conventional land uses alone.
The primary reason sportsmen lease land is to obtain a better recreational experience than they believe they can obtain elsewhere. Even though most Missourians are within a one-hour drive of a state conservation area, national forest, or federal wildlife refuge, many are willing to pay for access to private lands. Examples of what sportsmen look for in a hunting lease include the following:
- Less competition from other hunters
- The perception of more abundant game
- An atmosphere in which they feel welcome
- An environment that is perceived to be safer (due to the landowners' control over the number or distribution of hunters)
- Convenience or locations close to home
- The perception of the potential trophy qualities of game
- Convenient, comfortable and dependable amenities such as the availability of meals, camping or lodging facilities
It is not necessary for each hunting lease enterprise to have any or all of these characteristics to be successful. However, the more attractive the property and the hunting experience, the more marketable and valuable will be the lease.
Before deciding to lease, you will need to evaluate your property and other resources. Answering a few basic questions will allow you to assess whether your property is suited for a lease arrangement, help you determine the amount of revenue that can be expected and assist you in determining the species for which hunting rights should be leased.
Do you have enough land for a hunting lease?
Hunting leases can be of any size and in Missouri may range from 20 acres to several thousand acres. Waterfowl and dove hunting leases tend to be smaller, while quail and deer hunting leases tend to be larger. Several hundred acres may be necessary to properly manage for deer or turkey populations.
Sometimes several landowners with relatively small tracts of land will pool their land to form larger hunting leases. A combined lease is usually managed by the landowner or hunting lease broker that initiated the lease cooperative. Such lease cooperatives are more complicated and more difficult to manage than single-owner leases, but they allow landowners with small properties to obtain income through lease hunting. Larger, more diverse tracts of land can potentially attract higher lease prices, especially if the diversity of habitats is increased and managed.
As in any other enterprise, clear goals are critical to a successful land management system. Goals must also be realistic and based on the capabilities of the land base and an inventory of wildlife populations.
What are the game species on your property?
Most Missouri hunting leases emphasize hunting for white-tailed deer, wild turkey or waterfowl. Some leases emphasize other game species such as mourning doves, bobwhite quail or exotics such as pheasants. If game is sparse, then habitat management will probably be necessary before hunters are willing to lease hunting rights.
Can you provide adequate populations of game?
Wildlife habitat management should not be separated from other agricultural land management practices. If a landowner has wildlife goals for a property, then every land management decision should consider wildlife, as well as the other goals. Integration of all enterprises will create the best combination of production leading to the greatest economic returns.
Almost all land management practices affect game populations. Practices that have the most significant effects on game include removal of shrubby cover, planting of perennial grasses, tillage, choice of crops, crop harvest, growth and management of timber species, timber harvest, weed control, burning, haying, grazing, fertilization, choice of livestock forages and stocking rates, and maintenance of roads and fencing. These practices can have positive or negative effects on the plant community that game species depend on for food and cover resources.
What is the economic potential of a lease?
The economic potential for a hunting lease varies considerably based on the type of lease, the hunting opportunity you are providing and any resulting costs incurred. Because of this variability, this publication makes no attempt to provide information on specific dollar amounts to charge. Examples include leasing a high-quality waterfowl blind for several thousand dollars during the season, versus leases for small game that may be as low as $1 per acre, depending on the location. Higher quality leases for white-tailed deer hunting may go as high as $25 to $30 per acre in some locations, but be significantly lower ($2 to $3 per acre) in others. A study conducted at Mississippi State University in 2001 reported that annual net revenues averaged almost $4 per acre statewide by landowners leasing their lands for hunting.
Landowners can also increase potential revenues from the hunting lease by improving the habitat for a variety of wildlife species of interest. In addition, landowners can often realize a higher profit by managing a lease on either a seasonal or daily basis, with opportunities for a larger clientele to have access, such as those who have an interest in hunting deer, wild turkey, bobwhite quail or waterfowl.
Types of hunting leases
Individual goals or objectives for owning property differ. Therefore each hunting lease will be different. Particular arrangements depend on the needs of the landowner and the clientele. Each lease arrangement has different requirements regarding time, effort and investment. Should you offer an annual, seasonal or daily lease? What investment do you need to make to improve your property's potential for increased game production? Differences in hunt lease arrangements depend on the length of the lease and the game species hunted. Although there is no set format for most hunting leases, they can generally be grouped into three categories: annual leases, seasonal leases and short-term leases.
Annual lease
The most common lease arrangement in Missouri is an annual lease that covers all game species that are "in season." This arrangement is popular with sportsmen and landowners who want to limit the time spent managing a lease. Properly designed, the annual lease can be managed with limited effort by a landowner. Most annual leases convey exclusive rights to specified recreational activities on the land during the year. If a landowner wishes to retain hunting privileges for personal use or for family or guests, it is usually best to withhold some property from the lease. Exceptions to this policy should be clearly stated in a written agreement.
Hunting clubs often prefer to lease on a long-term basis. This allows for the opportunity to conduct wildlife habitat improvement practices, help maintain roads and fences and patrol the leased property to protect against trespassing. Annual leases should include an option for the renewal of the lease upon expiration. Once a desirable clientele is established, marketing effort and landowner involvement become minimal when compared with the other lease arrangements.
Limited-duration (seasonal) lease
The limited-duration lease may be for a particular hunting season or for a few weeks. Most seasonal leases convey exclusive rights to the specified recreational activities during the term of the agreement. When properly organized, a single limited-duration lease can also be managed with limited effort by a landowner. Seasonal leases can realize a higher profit than an annual lease, but these arrangements may require more time and skill for marketing. These types of leases often entail additional work for the landowner, who has leases at different times each year for different species or has several leases occurring in the same season but at different times.
Seasonal leases are popular with landowners who have large populations of game and desire to lease separately hunting rights for these species. For example, in areas where both deer and turkey populations are high, some landowners will lease deer hunting rights in the fall and turkey hunting rights in the spring. However, these types of leases may not be as attractive as an annual or long-term lease to potential lessees who desire a more long-term arrangement or to those interested in making habitat improvements.
Short-term lease
Short-term leases often involve daily, weekend or weeklong hunts, which are sometimes called day leases or "package" hunts. These types of arrangements are usually more successful near populated areas where the demand for hunting opportunities is high, yet each hunter may only go hunting a few times a year. Day-hunting leases typically present more demands on the landowners' time than the previous two types. For example, if deer stands are leased on a day-to-day basis, the landowner must retain adequate control over the movement of hunters. This may require bringing each hunter to and from an identified stand individually. Daily leases and "package" hunts are also common for hunting waterfowl, small game and doves.
"Package" hunts may be marketed and managed intensively. Some packages include guided hunts, which are conducted either by the lessor or by outfitters that the landowner has contracted to broker hunting opportunities. Guided hunts for one or more days obviously increase the time requirements for a landowner. Some very involved hunting leases become the primary enterprise for a few landowners. Such leases may provide for lodging, meals, guides, transportation during the hunt, hunting blinds, dogs and dog handlers, guns and ammunition, game dressing and cleaning, game butchering and packaging, cold storage, additional recreational facilities, refreshments after the hunt, pictures of the hunt, a newsletter for customers and guaranteed harvest opportunities. This type of operation also may require intensive management of wildlife habitat, wildlife population inventories, wildlife harvest management and extensive advertising.
Another example of a short-term lease is to work with a brokerage or outfitter (or other third party) that signs up property from landowners willing to provide access to hunters. The brokerage also markets your property and schedules hunters (who pay the brokerage/club a fee to join) to hunt the property on a specified date or time. The brokerage may pay the landowner a reduced amount per acre and assume all management and marketing responsibilities, thus relieving the landowner of these details.
Establishing a lease price
Table 1
Methods of determining lease hunting prices.
|What neighbors or others are charging in the immediate area
|Lease price is based on the going rate in the area.
|Break-even plus 10 percent to 30 percent
|Lease price is based on management and other costs plus 10 percent to 30 percent.
|Lease price is based on a subjective evaluation of the quality and quantity of wildlife habitat on the property.
|Baseline plus value-added
|In addition to a base price per acre, fees are assessed on each improvement, amenity or service provided.
|Sealed bid approach
|A description of the hunting lease is published and offers are solicited.
One of the most difficult decisions for many landowners is what fee to charge for a hunting lease. The landowner must find a price that will produce acceptable income yet remain acceptable to an adequate number of hunters (determining what the market will bear). The price will depend on a variety of factors:
- Size and location of the property
- Type of game
- Quality of habitat and the hunting experience
- Reputation of the operation
- Number of people involved in the lease
- Length of the lease and expectations of the landowner
- Type of services, facilities and other amenities that the landowner provides
The terms of payment for a hunting lease are not always in cash. In some cases, leases are provided in return for services or other goods. A successful lease price is one that satisfies both parties. Most rates for annual and seasonal lease arrangements are assessed on a per-acre basis.
Leases with the poorest quality game habitat tend to make the least amount of money, while good quality hunting can generate the highest prices. Waterfowl leases tend to bring the highest prices per acre, followed by quail, deer and turkey leases.
Many landowners determine their lease price based on what neighbors or others in the area are charging. However, that may not be an adequate method of valuing the hunting opportunity. Table 1 lists five methods that may be of help in determining the price to charge for a hunting lease.
Landowners can often get a higher price for the lease by managing their land for wildlife. The lease price can then be based on management costs plus an arbitrary amount based on the value of each improvement made. Farmers can often implement habitat improvement practices through ongoing agricultural practices at a minimal cost. Other landowners without equipment may have to hire a wildlife management consultant or a contractor to implement management practices at a potentially higher cost.
Identifying quality lessees
A lessor (person that controls access to a property) should always carefully interview potential lessees before signing the lease agreement. This is one of the most important facets of leasing hunting rights. It is more important to have good people participating in a lease than to receive maximum income from a lease. Choosing the right lessees will help avoid many potential problems in managing the lease. When leasing to a group, make sure it is well organized and designate one person to be the leader or primary contact. All members of the group should sign the lease agreement. Lessors might also consider requiring lessees to prepare a report each year that summarizes their hunting success (or lack thereof), time spent on the lease, wildlife management practices implemented and other items of potential interest.
Concerns over liability have increased as our society has become more litigious. As is often the case, fear of liability has prevented many landowners from entering into a lease agreement, even though lawsuits against landowners for negligence in hunting-related accidents are uncommon.
However, a landowner's liability does increase when property is leased. Under Missouri state law, all visitors other than trespassers are "entitled to reasonable care under the circumstances." In addition, landowners owe visitors a duty of care to protect visitors from all foreseeable risks that reasonably could have been known by the landowner.
Although negligence must be proven for a landowner to be held liable for personal loss or injury, exposure to liability can be reduced by maintaining safe premises. To minimize liability risks, a landowner should inspect a property for hazards. Lessees should be informed of hazards, including old and dilapidated deer stands, cables and barbed wire fences, sinkholes and abandoned wells, and discarded farm implements. Give each person in the lease agreement a map of the property, show them your property boundaries and point out any possible hazards or dangerous situations that may exist. The most important and best liability insurance is the careful selection of lessees.
However, it may be a good idea to require lessees to sign an agreement that releases you from any liability for actions taken by lessees while on the property. Any "liability waiver or release" should be drafted by an attorney to increase the likelihood that it will be upheld in court. The more effective releases/waivers clearly state the dangers or risks the tenant may encounter on the leased premises, and that the tenant realizes and appreciates those dangers or risks. Here is an example of a liability waiver:
Although this agreement will not relieve you of liability associated with negligence, it does convey that the lessees have assumed the risks associated with hunting on your property.
Some landowners feel the need to carry liability insurance to protect themselves in case an accident occurs on their property. Landowners should not only ensure that they have adequate liability coverage but also have lessees sign a proper written lease agreement with the liability waiver and monitor the actions of the lessees while they are present on the property. Remember, the landowner is required to take all reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of the lessees.
A landowner can require lessees to obtain liability insurance to cover themselves for acts taken while on your property. This policy should also contain an additional insured landowner option that lists you (the landowner) with coverage should the lessee (hunting club) be named in a lawsuit filed against them. This coverage will protect both the landowner and hunting group should either be found guilty of negligence. It should be stated in the written lease agreement that the hunters pay for this insurance. Be sure to contact your insurance agent or attorney if you have questions regarding liability issues.
Like many other states, Missouri has a "recreational user" statute that relieves the landowner of any duty of care when the property is used for recreational purposes and no fee or other benefit is received by the landowner. The purpose of this law is to encourage landowners to open their property for public recreation. This law does not apply to lease hunting. When landowners accept a fee (or any other benefit) for hunting on their property, they take on legal responsibility for the safety of the hunters. The paying hunter becomes an "invitee" and Missouri law states that landowners have a "duty of ordinary and reasonable care" to their invitees. A landowner's duty toward an invitee is to make a reasonable inspection of the premises for hidden dangers, as well as to warn an invitee of such dangers.
Develop a written lease agreement
The best way to ensure that the rights and privileges of both the lessor (landowner) and lessee (hunter) are recorded and understood is to have a signed, written document that states all terms, payments, expiration dates and mutual agreements. Good business practices suggest all types of recreational or hunting leases should have written agreements signed by both parties. The written agreement delineates the rules of the lease and helps protect the interests of both the landowner and the hunters. A well-written lease agreement helps avoid misunderstandings. Every written lease hunting agreement should include at least the following points:
- Description of the recreational rights, services and facilities being leased.
- Names of lessors and lessees involved.
- Description of the property being leased, including legal descriptions and a map.
- Species to be hunted.
- Terms of payment.
- Duration of the lease.
- Definition of who has recreational rights.
- Any special rules and regulations concerning restrictions or responsibilities of either party.
- Signatures of all parties involved.
Any special concerns of the landowner or hunters should be addressed in the lease. These may include references to abiding by all state and federal hunting regulations, hunter personal liability insurance, shooting or trespassing across boundaries of the lease, location of hunting blinds, collection of harvest data, game harvest quotas, use of alcoholic beverages, littering, subleasing recreational rights, guest privileges, camping location, responsibility to pay for damages, and ownership of any structures left on the property at end of the lease. It is suggested that a written lease agreement be reviewed by legal counsel.
Three sample agreements (PDF) have been developed for educational purposes only. It is important to seek advice from an attorney before writing or signing a binding legal agreement. If other services or rights are allowed to the lessee, then these provisions shoud be included.
Additional tips for success
Monitor wildlife populations
It is important to evaluate the wildlife potential of your property as decisions are made regarding the hunting lease. An inventory of the wildlife population and wildlife habitat on a property will help guide subsequent decisions about how to manage the lease and what, if any, habitat management may be necessary.
Maintaining accurate records of game harvested is an important aspect of hunting lease management. Accurate records are necessary to detect changes, measure progress, evaluate management success, determine costs of production and predict future needs. Harvest records help to evaluate the potential value of a lease and provide a means of determining how many hunters a property can support. Good records also provide a tool for advertising.
The hunting lease agreement can require lessees to maintain records of harvest. Hunters are usually pleased to help if it is explained to them that it will be useful to improve their hunting experience. Useful information includes hours hunted for each species, date and location of each harvest, numbers of each species harvested and names of hunters involved with the harvest. For deer, additional records include the sex of each animal, dressed or whole weight, age and antler measurements.
When existing or anticipated harvest rates cause undesirable population trends, it is prudent to establish harvest quotas. A harvest quota is the maximum number of a species that can be taken from an area in a certain time frame. Hunting can alter deer sex ratios, buck age structure, and trophy quality of a deer herd. Harvest quotas often change from year to year as game populations and habitat change, particularly if habitat-enhancement practices increase the carrying capacity of the property for a particular species.
Improve the habitat on your property
Your property must provide the right amount and quality of habitat for wildlife each year. Active management is required to maintain areas to provide the food and cover that wildlife need. Be sure to solicit management advice from experienced professional wildlife biologists who work with one of the public agencies (e.g., Missouri Department of Conservation) or are private wildlife consultants. You may want to ensure that the wildlife biologist you work with is certified by The Wildlife Society, a professional organization.
Once the lease is ready to market, advertising can be a critical part of the production process. Advertising can mean the difference between leasing your land or not. If no one knows about the opportunity, then you will not be successful. Consider that only about 8 percent of hunters across the nation lease land and that in Missouri the percentage is probably smaller.
Marketing involves identifying what the property has to offer, including the available species and amenities. Possible modes of advertising depend on the type of lease offered and the location of the property. The most important advertisement is a satisfied customer.
Manage cost and returns
Because of the wide range of investments and returns in different lease hunting operations, a typical example does not exist. However, the majority of the hunting leases in Missouri are relatively simple. On property with quality habitats and pre-existing huntable populations of game, properly managed leases generally require little investment other than additional insurance premiums and a small legal fee to review the lease agreement. They also require an investment of the landowner's time to write a lease agreement, interview lessees, analyze harvest information, and occasionally visit hunters to facilitate communication and check for compliance with lease rules. However, habitat management costs will need to be considered as an annual expense for each lease.
There are costs and compromises associated with maintaining or developing wildlife habitat. Many properties will not support significant populations of game without some consideration of the quantity and quality of habitat. For instance, this may mean reducing the acreage and production of certain agricultural crops to allow for the establishment of food and cover, or focusing your woodland management efforts to include habitat for wildlife.
Although costs are incurred when managing your property for wildlife, many of these costs can be recouped as income is obtained from the hunting lease. There are also wildlife management practices that qualify for cost-share assistance through conservation programs offered through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and others promote practices that can enhance the value of your property for wildlife. Several of these practices promote the establishment and management of field borders around crop fields, buffers, edge feathering and other activities that provide the diversity of habitats that wildlife require for food and cover. These practices can often be integrated into the ongoing management objectives of your property, usually without sacrificing economic returns.
Pros and cons of hunting leases
Many landowners lease hunting rights to increase their income. Additional income is probably the most obvious advantage of a hunting lease. In some cases, maintaining wildlife populations and habitat can also improve land values.
Some landowners with significant trespass problems develop hunting leases primarily to gain more control over their land. The increased activity and presence by the lessees can help reduce vandalism, theft and poaching problems related to trespassing.
From a wildlife management standpoint, hunting leases benefit wildlife in that wildlife often receives more consideration in land management decisions. Hunting leases can help conserve wildlife habitat. Leasing provides a just system by which the people who produce wildlife habitat are paid and the people who use the recreational access pay for it.
From a hunter's perspective, a hunting lease provides a relatively secure place to hunt with little competition. Leasing allows a hunter or landowner to have some control over the safety of a hunt by controlling the distribution of hunters. Leasing also allows a hunter or landowner to better manage game populations through increased control of the harvest.
Many hunters and wildlife enthusiasts and some landowners dislike the concept of hunting leases because leasing may help increase the cost of hunting. Many people believe hunting should be a right in the United States.
Leasing of hunting rights increases a landowner's liability risks relative to the risks landowners bear when people hunt for free or are not allowed to hunt.
Some landowners do not like dealing with the public to the extent necessary in managing a hunting lease enterprise. As in any business venture, successful interaction with the public depends on strong communication and social skills.
Shooting preserves
Shooting preserves are privately owned areas, licensed by the state, on which pen-raised game can be harvested under more liberal regulations (longer seasons and bigger bag limits) than apply in the wild. They may be classified as commercial operations or not-for-profit. In Missouri, hunting preserves are called licensed shooting areas (LSAs) and are registered with the Missouri Department of Conservation. There are about 50 in the state, most of which are game bird operations. Statutes and regulations relating to captive wildlife can be found in the Wildlife Code of Missouri, issued each year by the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Hunting trends in Missouri and across the United States are toward more use of private land. Hunting leases can benefit landowners, sportsmen and wildlife. In many cases, leasing stimulates better wildlife management on private land. To some extent wildlife competes with livestock, crops, timber and people for space, food, cover and water. If property owners see wildlife and wildlife habitat as an asset, they will be encouraged to manage for it.
It is important to have defined goals, provide reasonably adequate hunting, carefully interview potential lessees, charge a reasonable price, use a good written lease agreement, monitor game populations and management practices, and regulate the game harvest when necessary.
No special format for hunting leases exists. Expenses and incomes vary significantly. A hunting lease can be manipulated to fit individual situations. An individual needs to evaluate the benefits and challenges to determine whether a hunting lease is right for the operation. You should also remember that you are marketing and selling the opportunity and privilege that go along with access to your land for the purposes specified in the written lease agreement. You are not selling wildlife, which is publicly owned.
Developing a hunting lease can have negative implications and drawbacks. Without proper people management a hunting lease can serve to limit opportunities for hunters to access private property. Proper management of a hunting lease is not easy. In fact, just as for any other land use, including grazing, crop production or forestry, managing a hunting lease will require an investment of time and money to solve the challenges created by the new enterprise.
The authors acknowledge that some of the information in this publication has been modified or adapted from the following publications:
- Lease Hunting Opportunities for Oklahoma Landowners, OSU Extension Facts, F-5032, Cooperative Extension Service, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Oklahoma State University.
- Earning Additional Income through Hunting Leases on Private Land, PB 1627, Agricultural Extension Service, University of Tennessee.


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Sandra Keating presents Koch Chair lecture on Catholic-Muslim relations
October 26, 2007
It has been over a year since Pope Benedict XVI made what some considered controversial comments about Catholic-Muslim relations.
Now, the Koch Chair in Catholic Thought and Culture at the College of Saint Benedict (CSB) presents a lecture about what led up to Pope Benedict's address, and what has happened since then.
Sandra Keating, an assistant professor of theology at Providence (R.I.) College and a 1986 graduate of CSB, speaks on the current state of Catholic-Muslim relations with a lecture entitled, "After Regensburg: Where Catholic-Muslim Dialogue is Today," at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8 at the Gorecki Dining and Conference Center (Room 204 AB) on the CSB campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.
On Sept. 12, 2006, Pope Benedict spoke at the University of Regensburg in Germany – a school where he was a professor of theology for many years before becoming pope. Addressing the scientific community, Pope Benedict quoted a medieval Byzantine emperor who said the prophet Muhammad had brought "things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword of his faith."
The pope later said he was merely citing and not endorsing the criticism of Islam, but he conceded that the speech was open to misinterpretation, according to a story from the Catholic News Service (CNS).
"The widespread Muslim indignation that followed clearly went beyond anything the pope or his aides were expecting," CNS reported. "Twice, the pope publicly expressed his regret that his words had offended Muslims, emphasizing that he did not share the assessment of Islam he had quoted."
In late September, the pope invited Muslim representatives to a meeting so he could personally explain himself.
Keating's scholarly focus has been on theological issues in early and medieval Muslim-Christian relations, particularly in Iraq, Iran and Arabia. She is currently attentive to contemporary Catholic-Muslim dialogue, participated in the 2005 meeting of the Vatican's Islamic-Catholic Liaison Committee, and has served as a consultant to the Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims.
Keating is the author of the book, Defending the 'People of Truth' in the Early Islamic Period: The Christian Apologies of Abu Rai'tah.
Her lecture is co-sponsored by the Renaissance Speakers Series at CSB, and the Jay Phillips Center for Jewish-Christian Learning at Saint John's University (SJU) and the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul.
The Koch Chair brings visiting scholars distinguished by their knowledge of and commitment to bringing the Catholic intellectual tradition into dialogue with the academic disciplines and with culture. This approach supports a full range of expertise - from science to the arts and humanities. The Koch Chair aims to extend the legacy of Catholic thought to all constituencies on the CSB and SJU campuses.


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No. Of People
Minutes walk to the marina
Star Rating
Cowes week rental Accommodation, Cowes Isle of Wight
If you are looking for a holiday or short break in Cowes then we have a huge range of holiday accommodation to choose from. We have apartments, cottages, town houses and country houses.
Property Ref: 132
A fabulously well presented detached property minutes walk of the marina with sea views. Sleeps 12 comfortably. Ample parking. Situated on a quiet street so ideal for those wanting peace and quiet whilst being close to the action.+ More details
Property Ref: 134
This town house sleeps 10 -12 people. It has good views over the river Medina. Well equipped for crews, Holiday Makers and corporate groups. It has parking and is in a quiet area on the edge of Cowes+ More details
Property Ref: 140
Second floor Marinus apartment immaculately presented with Period furniture. All the usual mod cons in a timewarp. Balcony with great view up the Solent. Available for Cowes Week, LBCC, Commodores Cup+ More details
Property Ref: 20
A newly renovated, beautifully presented 3 bedroomed cottage in the heart of Cowes. Minutes walk from Shepherds Wharf marina. Spacious livng areas with an inviting patio and BBQ area.+ More details
Property Ref: 147
This apartment is on the High St (but away from the noise - being a first floor apartment) Just minutes from Cowes Esplanade and yacht haven. This apartment has a double and a twin bedroom. Spacious lounge with plasma TV, modern kitchen and WIFI. Well appointed terrace with furniture and BBQ. This can be booked with the apartment next door to sleep 8.+ More details
Property Ref: 102
A newly refurbished 4 bedroom victorian town house with sea views and only 100 metres from the marina and high st. Fully equipped with a landscaped garden and BBQ area and seating for 10. Best quality Egyptian cotton bedlinen and towels. Ideal for regatta lets, holiday accommodation and corporate lets.+ More details
Property Ref: 135
Newly refurbished spacious family house. Within striking distance of Cowes town centre but far enough out to be peaceful. Large rooms, period feaures and high quality fittings make this an ideal corporate base for operations. Off street parking for 2 cars. All mod cons including wireless broadband.+ More details
Property Ref: 136
A very spacious and very centrally located high quality crew house. Renovated in 2006/7 to provide full facilities for up to 10 people. Very practically laid out with three bathrooms, all with shower one on each floor. All furniture and furnishings new as of Spring 2007. Small patio area with BBQ for out-door moments and a huge dining table for team dining as well as abreakfast bar.+ More details
Property Ref: 112
Brand and lovely new five bedroom house on one of the most sought after roads in Cowes. Finished to a very high quality beach house effect. Aga, big conservatory, even a dobhi room/second kitchen. Sea views and balcony on the first floor. Off road parking for several cars. Patio with BBQ and garden furniture. Ideal for corporate or family wishing to spoil themselves.+ More details
Property Ref: 99
A spacious 3 storey home sleeping up to eight in four bedrooms. With sea views, parking and an attractive conservatory leading to a decked area with BBQ. This is a well presented,attractive property with all mod cons.+ More details


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U.S. Navy
The Laser Weapon System (LaWS) temporarily installed aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey.
The U.S. Navy announced Monday that it is preparing to deploy a new weapon that can disable a hostile boat and even destroy a surveillance drone overhead — all without dispensing any expensive ammunition.
The Navy released this video showing its new laser weapons system during an exercise at sea. The laser is capable of destroying planes, drones and boats.
It is the Navy's Laser Weapons System (LaWS), a laser mounted on a ship that is so strong it can ignite a drone, sending it crashing and burning to earth in mere moments.
The USS Ponce, an amphibious transport docking ship, will be the first Navy vessel to deploy with the LaWS, officials announced Monday.
The new laser will be installed on the Ponce over the next year and operational in summer 2014. The Ponce is now based in the Fifth Fleet area, which covers the Persian Gulf and the Horn of Africa.
The LaWS will initially be used to combat small boats that pose a threat to larger U.S. Navy vessels — much like the small Iranian fast boats that pester U.S. ships in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.
The Navy plans to use the laser to combat missiles and other threats from the air, to ward off threatening ships and to stop other foreign threats. Eventually the system will be able to stop an incoming missile.
While making the announcement in Maryland today, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert praised the LaWS ability to take out targets at a tiny fraction of the cost of other conventional weapons.
He claimed that the LaWS can shoot down a small drone for about $1 worth of electricity and, once the laser is operational, it should be able to replace a Gatling gun, whose rounds can cost several thousand dollars each.
A defense official also stressed that the laser will not have full capability to take down a larger target for a decade or so.
Despite speculation the laser is deploying to the Fifth Fleet to warn Iran, a U.S. military official says that the real reason it's going to that region is that it is "the hardest environment" the Navy has available to test the new system.
- Star Wars' of the sea: Navy wants a ship-based laser weapon
- Ground-based laser zaps rockets in tests


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What you see here, according to the ping-pong aficionados at Sport Post, is "international table tennis player Mattias Oversjo deliver[ing] an incredible no look spin shot against fellow Swede, Jörgen Persson."
The shot's worthy of a Mutombo finger wag. In case you're interested in such things, here's a detailed four-year look at Oversjo's table-tennis rankings/performance. For good measure, here's video of Persson's 2008 battle with Germany's Timo Boll.


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Matt Cooper
HOLLYWOOD - The Cooper Brothers have purchased post production sound company Novastar in a move that provides enhanced audio services through their collection of allied post facilities. The Coopers purchased The Post Group a few months ago and are uniting that company's audio capabilities with Novastar Digital Sound, blending the complementary talent and technology of the entities into a new audio resource.
Matt Cooper is a graduate of UCLA Film School, and is a writer, producer and director with feature films to his credit. He is also a licensed attorney in the state of New York and a former stand-up comedian. David Cooper has been an executive producer and has historically been responsible for securing financing. Based in New York, David is CEO/chairman of ProHealth Corporation.
The Coopers also own Lightning Media and The Vault production company, and co-own iO Film. Together with The Post Group, and now Novastar, the companies provide a creative campus for the film and television communities with services including DI film finishing, color correction, telecine, editing, visual effects, digital audio, conversions, duplication, DVD replication, and Internet design and development.
Novastar, acquired on June 1st, and The Post Group began sharing resources during the premiere season CBS's "Numb3rs" series, at a time when Matt Cooper and Post Group CEO Stephen Buchsbaum were looking to enhance The Post Group?s sound services.
Novastar was co-founded by Greg Geddes and Bob Sky. "We've already been sharing support and it's great to no longer feel like an island," says Geddes.
The companies will operate as individual entities, specializing in their unique areas of service, but are geographically close enough to encourage collaboration. The expanded Novastar services will include three mixing suites featuring sound design/editorial for 5.1 re-recording/mixing for film, television, commercial, special venue or inter-active gaming clients. A fourth suite will focus on reality programming. Sound restoration and DVD pre-mastering services will also be offered.
Novastar features THX-certified dub stages with 35mm film projection or high definition DLP digital projection. It also offers virtual digital mixing consoles for two mixers per dubbing stage supported by Digidesign's Pro Tools|HD systems capable of over 200 play back tracks per mixer.
A build-out of the existing facility will incorporate new ADR, Foley and re-recording stages as well as a dedicated suite for DVD commentary tracks.
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text: ABC Auto Glass repairs minor stone chipped and cracked windshields without replacing the whole windshield has been our speciality in Lady Lake, FL for many years. One of the best reasons for repairing a stone chipped windshield apart from the cost is that the original seal and bond between the glass and the auto body is extraordinarily tough to copy when the windshield needs to be replaced. The role auto glass plays as a safety element in your automobile has changed significantly over the years. Avoiding total replacement by utilizing windshield repair is the right way to avoid any possible issues. Unfortunately some times the minor stone damage is more severe than what our repair process can safely handle and total Windshield Replacement is the sole option. It takes special urethane adhesives and primers, and special training in the easy way to use these adhesives, and proper environmental conditions to duplicate the first factory bond and seal. ABC Auto Glass feels that windshield repair should invariably be your first choice when ever practical. When windshield repair is not a safe option our auto glass replacement execs can replace and revive your windshield or other damaged auto glass to like new condition. All our Lady Lake, FL auto glass replacement technicians are NGA National Auto Glass authorized. Our windshield repair specialists are NWRA Countrywide Windshield Repair Organisation Licensed. ABC Auto Glass is continually researching the newest and best products and methods available to restore your car to factory new specifications.


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Attaching HANS Anchors
Putting the HANS do-it-yourself anchor install kit to the test
Racers, by nature, tend to be do-it-yourself types of guys and gals. So when my buddy Andy Hillenburg offered up the chance to play around in one of his ARCA cars at Lowe's Motor Speedway, I knew he was going to make me wear a HANS Device. Not that I would get in a race car without some type of head-and-neck restraint, mind you, but Andy's fav is HANS. After all, it is his race car.
I had just gotten my new non-HANS-compatible helmet from RaceQuip and didn't have enough time to send it off to Georgia for a retrofit, so I figured it would be a perfect guinea pig for HANS' do-it-yourself conversion kit.
The kit comes complete with almost everything you need to perform the conversion-a set of anchors, thread lock sealant, an anchor installation tool, a quick-start guide, and an owner's manual CD. You will also need masking or blue painter's tape, a drill, a 1/4-inch drill bit, and an additional open-end wrench.
Measure twice, cut once! Bob Vila said it, and we here at Circle Track try to live by it. The second hardest but most critical step is the first thing you do, and that is finding the centerline of the helmet. We'll tell you what the hardest thing is a little later.
First things first, though. Unless you want to mark up your brand-new brain bucket, cover the helmet along the back and sides with the tape.
Basically, you want the anchors to end up 6 inches from the rear centerline of the helmet (on either side) and 1.5 inches above the rubber lip that surrounds the bottom of the helmet. The instructions tell you to use the same point on either side of the helmet for painfully obvious reasons. We opted to use the pivot as the starting point, measured from either side, and found the centerline of the helmet.
Once you find the centerline, the instructions tell you to make three horizontal lines 1.5 inches from the rubber lip that goes around the bottom of the helmet. Make sure these lines are relatively long, as you'll use them in the next step. Now that you have your horizontal lines, measure 6 inches from your centerline mark to the horizontal line and draw a vertical line through it. Doing this is a lot easier if you have two people-one to hold the measuring tape securely, the other to make the hash mark. The cross that is made is your target for the fun part, which is drilling holes in your brand-new helmet.
Drill slowly and carefully; you don't want to ram through the outer shell and tear up the padding inside your helmet. Once you've drilled the holes, clean them out thoroughly. Most helmet shells are made of fiberglass. If you've ever drilled fiberglass, then you know you don't get a clean hole. If that hole isn't nice and clean, you'll have a bear of a time getting the anchor screw to thread into the nut. Any leftover fibers will get in the way of the screw seating properly.
Once the hole is drilled and cleaned, you're ready to install the anchors. If your helmet doesn't have removable inner padding, you'll have to pry back the padding and then slide the nut into place. Apply some of the provided thread lock sealant to the nut and tighten down the whole thing, making sure that the pointy end of the anchor screw faces the back of the helmet.
A word of warning: When you're holding the anchor nut in place, don't use the closed end of the HANS-provided wrench. Once the whole thing is tightened down, the hardest step in the process (told you we'd tell you) is removing the closed-end wrench from between the padding and the nut.
The whole project took a little over half an hour, including clean up. It was easy and quick, and we didn't have to be without our helmet for a week while we waited for the UPS guy. If you choose to install your own HANS anchors, follow the instructions exactly and contact the manufacturer if you have questions. The anchors have to be properly installed if the device is going to do its job in the event of an accident. Also, don't forget to order the tethers, which were not included in our kit. Now, folks, it's off to the track.


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Volunteers get Living Memorial Park ski tow ready for the season
BRATTLEBORO -- Some of Brattleboro's most dedicated skiers and snowboarders spent Sunday morning out on the slopes.
There was not a single flake of snow visible at Living Memorial Park, but a group of about 20 met to get the ski tow ready for the upcoming season.
For the past 15 years the Living Memorial Park ski tow has been completely run by volunteers.
And after a dismal winter last year they were back at it Sunday greasing up the cables, attaching the T-bars and getting ready for winter.
"This is a treasure. It's something we have to take care of," said Jake Dixon, one of the volunteers who showed up Sunday to get the facility ready for winter. "The town can't afford to keep it running so we have to keep it going."
Brattleboro residents built the first ski tow at Living Memorial Park in 1937 and it opened to the public the following winter.
It was very modern at the time, with its large electric motor, and could carry 300 skiers up the mountain.
An all day ticket cost 35 cents.
The current T-bar lift was constructed in 1957 and the town ran it until 1997 when economics, and low attendance forced the town to shut it down.
A group of volunteers banded together that year to keep the tow running even though they knew the town would not finance operations.
On Sunday the volunteer crew was busy clearing out the control room, putting the sign up and getting the 55-year-old T-bar ready for one more season.
"When the town said it wanted to close this down the volunteers decided that it would be a shame to not use it," said Milton Gilmore, president of Living Memorial Park Snow Sports, Inc., the group that formed to take care of, and run, the ski tow. "Where else can a family get out in the winter and ski for only $5?"
Ray Blow, vice president of Snow Sport said the mountain is kept in good condition through some very hard work over the course of the winter.
A few years ago the group purchased snow guns from Maple Valley and when the weather cooperates they are able to make snow.
That means finding someone to stay on the mountain overnight to operate the guns.
And all winter they need dozens of volunteers to keep it running.
""It's a lot of work and it's hard to find volunteers," said Blow. "But when the weather's good it's busy, so we know people use it."
Even with the snow guns the group needs the weather to cooperate to make sure there is enough snow.
Last year was dry and warm and the lift was open for less than 12 days all year, which made it that much harder to balance the books.
Even with a volunteer staff, which does everything from running the lift to operating the snow blowers to patrolling the mountain, expenses add up through the winter. There are parts to replace and electric bills to pay, along with an insurance policy which covers the volunteers.
The $5 lift tickets don't come close to paying off the bills, Gilmore said, and the organization relies on grants and donations to get by every year.
They've even introduced free snowboarding and skiing lessons through an arrangement with Mount Snow, which sends instructors over in February for a few days of lessons.
Glenn Gooley, who has three sons, first found out about the ski tow a few years ago and he is now responsible for developing the growing terrain park.
Gooley has big plans this year and says as long as Mother Nature cooperates Living Memorial Park will be ready.
"I didn't even know this was here until I saw the ski tow running one day, and I have been here ever since," he said. "This is a perfect place to learn. Where else can you spend a whole day on the mountain for only $5."
For more information on the ski tow, or to learn how you can get involved, call Milton Gilmore at 257-4074.
Howard Weiss-Tisman can be reached at email@example.com or at 802-254-2311 ext. 279.
If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us. We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.


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WASHINGTON (AP) - General Motors CEO Mary Barra didn't squirm on the hot seat Tuesday. On the job less than three months, she calmly answered or deflected tough questions from a congressional committee about faulty parts responsible for at least 13 deaths and the recall of 2.6 million cars.
WASHINGTON (AP) � General Motors CEO Mary Barra didn't squirm on the hot seat Tuesday. On the job less than three months, she calmly answered or deflected tough questions from a congressional committee about faulty parts responsible for at least 13 deaths and the recall of 2.6 million cars.
Barra frustrated lawmakers by fending off questions, saying she was awaiting the results of an internal GM investigation. She didn't know why GM waited more than a decade to recall cars it knew had defective ignition switches. She didn't know who was responsible for the decisions that delayed the recall.
But experts on corporate damage control said she didn't have much choice and gave her high marks for her performance on the hot seat.
"Barra's rope-a-dope is the best of GM's bad options today," said Washington crisis management consultant Eric Denzenhall. "There isn't a corporate lawyer in the country that's going to allow her to engage in freelance speculation about things she doesn't know yet. No, that's not satisfying to the public and media, but the alternative is much worse."
Investors shrugged. General Motors Co. stock, down more than 7 percent since March 11, barely budged Tuesday, slipping 8 cents to $34.34.
Barra apologized for GM's slowness in warning customers about the problems and promised to change the automaker's culture to put a new emphasis on safety. "Barra held her ground, claiming that today's General Motors is a different company from the one whose corporate culture allowed this issue to fester for a decade," said Jack Nerad, executive editorial director Kelley Blue Book.
Ken and Jayne Rimer, whose daughter died in a 2006 accident after a faulty switch prevented airbags from deploying, found Barra's testimony incomplete. For Barra "not to have any answers" after about three months as CEO was unsatisfactory, Ken Rimer said in the hallway outside the hearing room. "It surprised me how unprofessional that was," he said.
Congressional appearances can be a minefield for CEOs. In 2008, automaker CEOS drew public scorn for flying corporate jets to Washington to ask for a government bailout. And Wall Street CEOs were battered in hearings after the financial crisis.
But some lawmakers appeared somewhat more sympathetic to Barra, who was thrust into a crisis after becoming the first woman CEO of a major automaker in January. In 33 years at GM, Barra worked in engineering, communications and human resources. She's a second-generation GM employee: Her father was a GM die maker for four decades.
Not everything went smoothly for the new CEO Tuesday, who flew commercial to the hearing. Barra struggled to explain how GM could continue to use parts that didn't meet its own specifications. When she tried to draw a distinction between parts that didn't meet specs and those that were defective and dangerous, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said: "What you just answered is gobbledygook."
Dan Hill, president of a Washington firm that advises clients on public relations and crisis management, said Barra erred by contrasting today's safety-conscious GM with the belt-tightening GM that sought bankruptcy protection in 2009. "Barra threw the old GM under the bus by saying that the previous company that she grew up in and held executive positions in was based on a 'cost culture' as opposed to a 'customer first' culture," Hill said, noting that the implicit criticism of her predecessors could be used as ammunition in lawsuits against GM.
But some corporate image experts praised Barra for seizing the initiative by announcing that GM has hired Kenneth Feinberg � who handled the fund for the victims of 9/11, the Boston Marathon bombing and the BP oil spill � to explore ways to compensate victims of accidents in the GM cars. Barra didn't commit GM to setting up such a fund.
"She didn't make mistakes," says Gene Grabowski, a crisis management consultant who helps executives prepare for congressional testimony. "That's how you survive a hearing."
Durbin reported from Detroit. AP Business Writer Marcy Gordon in Washington contributed to this story.


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Axle_Gear wrote:No offense, but I'm honestly wondering if this is a joke (maybe it is, and I'm just really slow to pick up that it might be a troller).
At the very least, it would be wise for the person coming up with the story to be able to do the terminal text himself (let's assume someone else fills in the maps so it can be written around them). If you can't even do that, what hope is there that you can convey the story in a manner that gives the player tasks and missions to complete without having to rely on someone else to think of them for you?
When I started my project (which seems to be on extended hiatus until I can access my old Mac), I only told people I was working on it, and worked on some maps and took screenshots. THEN I started asking for help. And even if you can prove your work is well under way, don't expect a huge turnout of volunteers. Odds are the first scenario you complete will be on your own, and if it's any good then you can expect a better collaberation with other makers.
I'd say something more encouraging, but I'd have to see a darn good plot written out and presented in a fashion that would make me curious to imagine it in game form.
I Decided on Vengeance and am working on a title screen with GIMP


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Megaupload Farce Stirring Up Backlash Against Copyright Overreach
from the too-much-to-hope? dept
Just when you think the Megaupload farce can't get any more ridiculous, it does. Following revelations that New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau illegally intercepted communications in the Megaupload case and provided those details to law enforcement authorities, the country's Prime Minister has been forced to apologize personally to Kim Dotcom: "Of course I apologize to Mr Dotcom, and I apologize to New Zealanders." From his position of increasing strength as more and more missteps by the New Zealand authorities come to light, Dotcom graciously accepted those apologies.
But the political fall-out is continuing. An article in the New Zealand Herald does a good job rounding up the country's deepening frustration over the way the New Zealand government carried out this botched operation, and at the behest of others:
If provincial newspaper editorials are anything to go by, there is growing anger about the authorities' handling of Kim Dotcom. The Waikato Times' editorial entitled, NZ: 51st state of the US, is particularly worth reading. It says that the announcement of the illegal spying has 'heightened suspicions that this country's relationship with the United States has become one of servility rather than friendship'. The editorial's conclusion is worth quoting at length: 'Dotcom is wanted in the US to face nothing more threatening than breaches of copyright laws.
That last point is new, and important: it means that people outside the world of digital activism are beginning to realize that the underlying reason this series of extraordinary blunders and abuses has come about is because enforcing copyright -- and making an example of those alleged to have infringed on copyright -- has been placed above concerns about an individual's rights, or even the law.
Some are rightly beginning to question whether the price being paid by society in terms of loss of fundamental rights is simply too high for the very limited gains by the media companies as a result of these actions. In a new post on his blog, James Firth explores this theme, and makes a bold claim:
This surely is a watershed moment when even the most ardent securocrats wake up and realise such abuses help no-one. Without public trust in the security apparatus we can never feel free, even if we are.
It would certainly be good news if that were the case, but it remains to be seen how many do in fact wake up -- and whether the grip of the copyright industries on both the legislative and executive branches around the world is loosened as a result.
Another question is whether in the wake of the public outrage over the New Zealand government's supine behavior in the Megaupload case, the latter might start asserting its sovereignty a little more by standing up to the US in the current TPP negotiations, and refusing to submit over things like software patents. It now looks increasingly likely that they will be introduced into New Zealand, and the suspicion has to be that this is partly as a result of continuing US pressure. Saying "no" to software patents would allow the New Zealand government to point to an area where it has defended the country's interests despite demands from elsewhere.
Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and on Google+
Filed Under: backlash, copyright, kim dotcom, new zealand
Companies: megaupload


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Description: Cats of the wild are some of the most beautiful and fascinating creatures to ever walk the earth. I am a big animal nut, and when it comes to felines I love learning about their species. Now, I have all sorts of tutorials on big cats like lions, tigers, panthers, pumas, cougars, and some others I can't think of right now. However, there is one cat that I do not have, and that is the one you will be getting a lesson on today. I will show you "how to draw a snow leopard", step by step. This species of animal is one of the more prettiest out of all the wild felines in existence. They are best known for their beautiful thick white fur that has scattered spots all over their bodies. Sometimes the fur of a snow leopard can be a yellowish or light gray color depending on the gene. Does a snow leopard really live in cold climates? Yes they do. These animals have so many layers of fur, they are virtually one of the warmest species of their kind along side of the polar bear. Not only do their hides have thick layers, their paws, and tails are very dense with fur as well. Compared to a human, the snow leopard is only about two feet tall and anywhere from six to eight feet long. You would think that an animal of this size weighs a lot too right? Wrong, the average weight of one of these cats is only about ninety pounds, but not more then one hundred twenty. As with other cats of the wild, they are also carnivores and their daily diets consists of sheep, goats, rabbits, birds, and even rats and other rodents. As you can also imagine, these stunning animals are considered rare, and they are on the endangered species list with only about three to seven thousand left in the wild, and from six to seven hundred of that number are in zoos across the globe. They thrive in altitudes between ten thousand feet, to seventeen thousand feet. About sixty percent live in the mountains of Central Asia, but they can also be found in places like Russia, India, and Kazakstan. They are solitary animals that enjoy being left alone, which is why it is so hard to determine exact numbers, and lifespan for these creatures. How loud can a snow leopard roar? If you guessed as loud as a lion, you're wrong. The fact is, these cats have no roar at all because they are unable to do so. Weird huh? Anyways, this tutorial should be fun for you all because you will learn "how to draw a snow leopard", step by step. I will be back with two more lessons for you all, and I promise they will be "cute". Peace out folks, and have a happy drawing day!


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Australian scientists have produced a new two-dimensional material they believe could revolutionise the electronics market with thinner, faster and lighter gadgets.
Silicon chips have reached their limit in terms of speed and ability to store an electrical charge.
But RMIT University and CSIRO researchers have made a new flat material, made up of layers of crystal known as molybdenum oxides, which has properties that encourage the free flow of electrons at ultra-high speeds.
They say this could boost speed of communication and capacitance, the ability to store an electrical charge, using the same size chips as are used today.
In the journal Advanced Materials, they explain how they adapted the ground-breaking material graphene to create a new conductive nano-material.
Graphene was created in 2004, and was touted as the two dimensional material of the future, winning its UK inventors a Nobel Prize in 2010.
However, some of its physical properties prevent it from being used for high-speed electronics.
The CSIRO's Serge Zhuiykov said the new nano-material was made up of layered sheets similar to the graphite layers that make up the core of a pencil.
The importance of the new discovery is how quickly electrons which conduct electricity are able to flow through the new material, he said.
"We will be able to transfer data more quickly and the functionality of devices will improve," he said.
The only thing stopping that from happening will be the ability of the software developers to write new programs which make the most of these speeds.
"At the moment it is beyond our imagination where this new material could be applied, but it could be employed to create thinner mobile phones, new types of flexible electronics or lighter laptops," he said. It could also be used for data storage.
RMIT's Professor Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh said if electrons could pass through a structure quicker, devices that transfer data at much higher speeds could be made smaller.
"This breakthrough lays the foundation for a new electronics revolution and we look forward to exploring its potential," Prof Kalantar-zadeh said.


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The department of Ayush under the Union health ministry has announced its plan to establish first medicinal plant processing cluster in Hyderabad. While taking part in an interactive event in Hyderabad. Bala Prasad, joint secretary, Ayush revealed that, during 12th five year plan period, the department would be establishing 20 medicinal plant processing clusters throughout the country by 2017. Of which the central government has zeroed in for Hyderabad to establish its first medicinal plant processing cluster in the state by the end of this year.
The interactive session which was organized by Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) was attended by more than 30 delegates from across the country to discuss the prevailing challenges and opportunities in the Ayush and herbal sector.
The agenda of the discussion was mainly focused at value addition to Ayush and herbal products. Currently India is placed 18th in the world for producing value added herbal and Ayush products. Though India has a great potential to grow a variety of medicinal plants in the country, the sector is lagging behind due to various problems like lack of awareness among farmers, non availability of adequate training facilities at village and mandal level, lack of extraction and processing facilities etc.
Dr P V Appaji, director general of Pharmexcil highlighted that India is the second leading exporter of Ayush and herbal products in the world placed second only to China. Out of a total of $13.2 billion pharmaceutical exports, Ayush and herbals contribute about Rs.700 crore and Rs.600 crore respectively.
While stressing more on the need of increasing synergy and fostering partnership among farmers, Industry and the government, Jitendra Sharma, CEO, National Medicinal Plant Board, said, "it is time to focus our concentration to build synergy among various stake holders. More farmers should be pooled in to grow medicinal plants. There is a need to build basic infrastructure facilities like processing clusters and procurement centres across the country."
Highlighting the abundant resources for Medicinal plant growth in Andhra Pradesh, K S Reddy, CEO, Medicinal Plant Board, Andhra Pradesh, said, "About 22 per cent of 62,500 square kilometers of the state is covered with forest. AP is known for growing a variety of Medicinal plant species in the country. At present there are about 1517 species of medicinal plants grown in the state and this is only 20 to 25 per cent of species of what is available across the globe. We need to encourage other cloned species apart from existing wild species. Ananthapur, Warangal, Mahabubnagar and Chittoor are the best places in the state that offer suitable condition for growing medicinal plants in the state."
Other speakers and participants felt that the government should assist the farmers and encourage industry by way of providing minimum support price for farmers and enable the industry to build required infrastructure and help in promoting their products to foreign countries. While answering to a query with regard to various schemes of Aysuh department Bala Prasad said, "The Ayush department has been allocated a budget of Rs.990 Crores for the financial year 2012-13. Under national mission of medicinal plants we are planning to develop 20 processing clusters across the country. We are providing Rs.2 crore to a cluster of 10 farmers whoever wishes to build their own processing units or extracting units. We have signed Mou's with countries like China, Malaysia, Tobago, Nepal and Sri Lanka to promote export of Ayush and Herbal products to these countries." [Source]