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{Image: Robb North}
Oh, goodness. Has it really been a month already?
So much is going on, and yet, at the same time, not a lot is going on in my life. I've had bursts of energy, spurts of hyper-extroversion in which I enjoyed lots of time with friends, extended periods of hyper-introversion in which I spent lots of time perched on my couch with a laptop while thinking or writing. I've had ups. I've had downs.
I've tried to eat healthier lately. I found out I have a mild case of hypothyroidism, on which I'd love to blame my steady weight gain since graduation from high school. Alas, I know the truth. I've had one too many McDonald's value meals and never met a brownie I didn't like. But that, among other things, has made me realize even more that what we eat truly does affect us. I've also tried to work out more. But don't ask me how many times I've been to the gym or out for a run this week, because I couldn't answer you. Although I do plan on going today. But even if that doesn't happen, I feel stronger just knowing I'm taking my health seriously and I'm focusing on nutrition and activity to overcome migraines, hormone imbalances, and excess weight. I'm not trying to have a perfect diet or activity level all the time, but MOST of the time would be wonderful! I'm sure I'd feel so much better if I did.
I also think I'm in a down-cycle right now creatively. I need lots and lots of down time. Outside of working on a novel and experimenting with "clean" or "Paleo" recipes for dinner, I've not been super crafty or even productive. I've been focusing on improving things that aren't really blog-worthy. Like, for instance, finally getting the hang of staying on top of doing my dishes. I know. It is shameful. I'm a grown woman who hates doing the dishes. I think it is latent rebellion against my grandfather who would insist I help my grandmother with the dishes immediately following a meal when I'd rather be out running around in the backyard. Grandpa would be glad to know I have finally understood why he was so insistent about that. When my counter looks like a mess and my sink is full, it seems the rest of the house follows suit not long after. It's a pride thing. I guess that's why Fly Lady says to start by polishing your sink.
It's true part of the down-cycle is simply burn out from being productive for so long. (Can I get an Amen?!) However, it's also true that I've avoided Pinterest for long periods of time, cut back on my Facebook time, ignored Twitter, and let my Google Reader feed get backlogged. It's really easy to be busy without really doing anything. It's also tempting to want all the pretty things I can't buy or make. Suddenly my blank walls seem depressing when I see decorated ones. My lack of a headboard for my bed is lame and lazy. My bathroom's cabinet chaos is embarrassing. Yet when I tune out the social media influences, I find myself content with my bare walls. I don't envy the amazing DIYer's tufted headboard. I don't worry that I have yet to create a cute and functional first aid kit and have instead used a hand-me-down from the 80s that holds the gauze and Band-Aids just as well. I rejoice in the fact that I am living within my means. I am using what I have. I am focusing on being grateful for the present reality instead of eternally looking forward to deceptively better future.
How about you? Have you embraced simplicity for stretches of time? Have you been inspired or exhausted by the social media noise? Do you feel embarrassed if you haven't produced something tangible to show off in a few weeks? Do you long for just living in your imperfect home with your imperfect family and laughing away the imperfect moments?
You're not alone. I'm right there with you. And you know what? I think it is healthy! Take a sabbatical from perfection and thrive in all your imperfect glory.


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RC-820 Polyamide Wax Paste
- Datasheet (英语)
Changxing Xiehe Polymer Co., Ltd.目前只在以下作出标识的区域展示其产品资料:
RC-820 Polyamide Wax Paste is a special polyamide wax paste that is pre-activated in organic solvents. The product provides excellent thixotropic, anti-settling and anti-sagging functions; also enhance flake orientation of metallic and pearlescent pigments in formulation. It is primarily used in acrylic resin paints, unsaturated polyester paints, chlorinated rubber paints, epoxy resin paints, vinyl resin paints, asphalt & tar coatings, acrylic/melamines and urethane resin paints.
Changxing Xiehe Polymer Co., Ltd. is an innovative company which specializes in the manufacture of synthetic polymer waxes. Their product portfolio includes polyamide wax paste, polyamide wax powder, polyamide rheological additives, polyethylene wax, and modified castor oil. The company is determined to continue supplying quality products as well as excellent customer service.
Changxing Xiehe Polymer Co., Ltd.
希望在赛百库经销商/贸易商板块进行展示推广?请立即联络我们 !

subset: commoncrawl


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More Than a Century Old, the Qwerty Keyboard Is Ripe for Reinvention
Cramped on a tiny, flat screen with nondelineated keys, the Qwerty keyboard is ripe for smartphone makeover. Typing on a keyboard one-fifth the standard size can be slow, awkward and — as illustrated on sometimes humorous autocorrect failure blogs — riddled with inaccuracies.
As consumers increasingly expect pocket-sized gadgets to be full-powered computing devices, companies big and small are reimagining a more elegant human computer interface. This season's smartphones from Samsung, Apple and Research In Motion all have larger screens than their predecessors with a focus on making it easier to create content instead of simply consuming it.


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President Boyd K. Packer in 1947 was a pilot just home from World War II when he met Donna Smith at Weber College in Ogden, Utah. The peach festival queen from his hometown of Brigham City, she was working at the circulation desk of the college library. They struck up a conversation that led to romance and eventual marriage that summer.
Attending on a music scholarship as a violinist, she would distinguish herself by presiding over the pep club and lettering in women's basketball. He would go on to earn bachelor's and master's degrees at Utah State University in Logan and a doctorate in educational administration from BYU before becoming a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, over which he now presides.
Now, 66 years after their meeting in the campus library, what today is Weber State University has named a community outreach center after President and Sister Packer.
The Boyd K. and Donna S. Packer Center for Family and Community Education was formally named during a program and dinner on the university campus May 8. It was attended by Packer family members, friends and associates and by university administration, faculty and staff.
The center will help administer and support eight education programs that strengthen the community and families, including a literacy project, a program for public school volunteers and teaching assistants to help them become licensed teachers, a "Families Alive" conference, a support program for high school students who want to become teachers, an academy focusing on educating children, a storytelling festival that promotes literacy and the arts, a school that provides a setting for training university students in teaching young children and a child resource and referral service.
"Memories, memories, memories!" President Packer exclaimed in very brief and informal remarks at the gathering, Sister Packer seated at his side. "We're very honored by this. Our memories of Weber College are very happy. We're happy to have the family here with us. We pray the blessings of the Lord upon them, upon Weber College and upon this new institution."
Addressing the group as a family representative was Elder Allan F. Packer of the Seventy, the eldest of President and Sister Packer's 10 children.
Elder Packer displayed a wooden ox-head door knocker his father had carved when the family was living in Boston, Mass., in the late 1960s. From it, bronze casts have been made.
His grandfather Ira Packer once said of himself and his wife, Emma, that they were "the best team that ever pulled together." That has become a motto for the family, Elder Packer said, and as descendants are married, they are given one of the bronze casts and a plaque that tells the story of their Packer forebears.
Elder Packer quoted from remarks given by President Packer in 1983 when he spoke at the graduation ceremony at Weber State. In that commencement talk, President Packer said: "Regardless of what your transcript of credit may say, one part of your education may have been neglected, leaving you developed only to a grade-school level. Now that you are graduating, you would do well to concentrate on those things that are scarcely touched on in universities in our day. For instance, you who have studied chemistry can mix a complicated formula without blowing up the chemistry lab, but have you learned to blend the ingredients of as happy marriage without having it blow up in your face? You who have studied language can now construct a proper sentence and convey even the finest shades of meaning. But will you have the ability to use that to sell unwitting customers something that they neither need nor can afford, or will you promise without quite saying so great returns on investments that are actually worthless? You who have studied accounting can keep complicated ledgers of principles of interest and increase, but do you intend to pay back your student loan?"
A video was shown that highlighted programs of the new center and featured another son, David Packer, telling of his parents' meeting at Weber College. Of his mother's education at the school, he said, "It was an enriching experience to broaden her horizons to see things she had not experienced previously. Our family hopes this new center is a great opportunity for individuals to participate in things that they have not done before and that they can grow and fulfill their dreams in ways they didn't envision when they entered the program. If individuals will take advantage of those opportunities, there is no limit to what they can accomplish."
Earlier in the program, Jack L. Rasmussen, dean of the Moyes College of Education at the university, gave examples of the positive impact of the eight community programs. "Now, as we look to the future, we want to make sure that these programs continue, that they flourish, grow and evolve with the changing needs of those that we seek to nurture."
University president Charles A. Wright said the new center will help the university in its three-core mission of access, learning and community.
Alan E. Hall, chairman of the university board of trustees, introduced his wife, Jeanne, and asked her to tell of the experience she had as they were in the Brigham City Utah Temple. They had been approached by the university to help fund the center.
"I received a very distinct prompting that Alan and I would not only be able to but would help fund this center," she said, and added tearfully to the Packers, "We as a family feel very grateful that the Lord has provided a way for us to have your names associated with this university forever. We thank you for allowing your names to be here and the great values you stand for to influence the lives of our students of our community and especially this university."


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At 1am this morning, Rue McClanahan, who was recovering from a stroke she had earlier this year, suffered a massive stroke and passed away at the age of 76.
A Oklahoma native, Rue moved quite often due to her fathers job (road builder). Rue was the classic example of staying the course. Success was not immediate for this Golden Girl, but she sacrificed, tried to be the best mother she could, and eventually…notariety followed!
Many remember Rue's appearance on the show "All in the Family" as a wife of a "swinger" couple, but many in the 70's remember her from her character portrayal of Vivian Harmon, a naive but lovable next door neighbor of Maude (played by Bea Arthur and later future costar of the Golden Girls).
However, much of her cult following comes from her portrayal of Blanche Devereaux in the hit 80's sitcom "The Golden Girls". With her sass, southern accent, and love for the opposite sex (or just sex period!), she spiced up our TV Sets and reminded America that you could be Sexy and over 50!
All who knew her, rather it through the TV or by working with her, respected her, loved her, and are truly at a loss for words on this day.
We've lost a Golden Girl today…and we are so thankful that she shared her Golden Light with us for a time. Rest in Peace.


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SNAP to request meeting with Pope Francis
Milwaukee archbishop doubts there will be different message from Vatican
The choice of Pope Francis is not only the turning of a page in history, but for victims of clergy sex abuse, it offers an opportunity.
Among those who would like to speak to the new pope is a group that advocates for the victims of clergy sex abuse.
WISN 12 News reporter Nick Bohr caught-up with Milwaukee's co-founder of the Survivor's Network of Those Abused by Priests, Peter Isely, as he left for Chicago to announce the group is sending a letter to the new pope asking to meet.
"We have a pope who has apparently invoked as his spiritual guide and shelter Francis of Assisi. I was assaulted by a Franciscan priest. So it's personally very important to me," Isely said.
Isely was sexually abused as a 13-year-old student at St. Lawrence Seminary in Fond du Lac and has championed church reform for two decades.
"That's the first thing we feel he has to do is institute worldwide zero tolerance for sex abuse. There is no worldwide rule right now in the Catholic Church if you're a priest and you assault a child that you will be removed from the priesthood, so, that's dangerous," Isely said.
Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki doubts there will be a different message from the Vatican, saying the church is addressing the crisis.
"I'm sure he'll make some statement about it. However, I think the church has already made public statements through Benedict and John Paul II," Listecki said.
"Of course things need to be handled differently, especially here in Milwaukee, which is so important to this whole abuse crisis. This is Ground Zero in many ways. We have the bankruptcy. We have 570 victims," Isely said. "Francis was the greatest reformer in the history of the Catholic Church, and that's exactly the kind of man we need."
A letter is being sent by overnight express, fax, and email to the Vatican. Isely said he's truly not sure what to expect.


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Rack and Pinion Replacement - Nice Rack
We Upgrade Our Rack-And-Pinion On Project DLM
Our final race for Project Dirt Late Model and the United Dirt Late Model Challenge Series last season was at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Florida. I've been around that track more times than I can remember in a number of different types of cars. So naturally, I felt good about our chances to produce that first win. Everything was clicking--the problem with the motor running hot had been solved with a new Edelbrock water pump, Bob Bolles' setup solved the persistent loose problem I had since I got the car, and we made it to the track with plenty of time to spare. It seemed like all the I's were dotted and the T's crossed.
Naturally, that wasn't going to last. I guess that Murphy must have been hiding in the back of the trailer or in the 'cage in the shop watching us. When I went out for hot laps, I headed down the backstretch and everything was good. But halfway through Turn 3, the steering got super stiff. Now anybody who has ever driven a Dirt Late Model knows that they don't turn real well without power steering. In fact, they really don't turn much at all.
Anyway, when I got back around to the pits we quickly found the problem. The bolt that attaches to the shaft that goes through the center of the rack broke. We tried to use an "easy-out" to pull out the broken bolt but it was seized up in there and wouldn't budge. So with time ticking rapidly away until qualifying, we took a stab at trying to backyard engineer a fix by welding another bolt to the slave cylinder shaft. We even put wet rags all around the rack to help keep it cool from the intense welding heat.
Our fix worked--for all of one lap. Here's a note for everybody out there, wet rags will not help protect anything from the heat of a welder. All of the seals around the slave cylinder melted and after that one lap. Power steering fluid was leaking out and showed no signs of stopping.
We still qualified for the race and finished Fourth in the B-Main, too bad only the top two transfer. Unfortunately, our '08 racing season ended with a mechanical failure.
Nice Rack! Appleton's new double-ended cylinder rack features a 1 inch piston diameter with a high-flow open-port servo valve and improved cylinder lugs with 3/8 inch mounting bolts. Available in a variety of ratios from 3.4 up to 4.4, it would fit our needs perfectly. In addition, its adjustable ends are inch smaller than the standard adjustable end and give more clearance. It has 1.3 inches of travel where the old style had 2 inches of travel. The cool thing is that these new adjustable ends mount the same way as the old ones, so there's no need to buy a new rack shaft or any other parts to convert.
So, with the rack we wanted identified, it was time get down to the numbers. In talking with Fred, we learned that the rack that had been in Project DLM was actually the wrong size for our chassis. We bought this car used 4 years ago and the busted rack is the one that came with it. The rack worked, so we never thought about replacing it. Sound familiar? We were convinced that we were not the first racer to make this mistake and Fred backed us up. "Not ordering the proper ratio or servo feel for the application is the most common mistake racers make when buying a new rack," he says.
Not surprisingly, ratio and servo feel are two of the Top 5 features a racer should consider when purchasing a rack-and-pinion. The others are whether you want manual or power steering, the type of rack housing, and the length of the rack shaft.
Choosing Wisely So how do you ensure that you get the right one? Chart A lays out Appleton's recommendations for those five most critical items when selecting a new rack.
I can hear you saying, That's all great, but how do you know what rack shaft length you really need? "The rack shaft length should be the same length as the pivot points of the lower control arms," says Fred. "This is to keep the bumpsteer to a minimum." And, in fact, if you refer to Chart B, Fred provided us a list of the most popular chassis and their accompanying shaft lengths.
Chart A had given some ranges of recommendations and knowing that my old rack had been the wrong one all along, I got concerned about finding the right ratio for my driving style. Fred gave me an education. In general, ratio and "servo feel" is really more up to driver preference. Even so, there are some good rules of thumb to remember. Regardless of whether you're on dirt or asphalt, the ratio most depends on the length of the racetrack. On a small -mile track, a higher ratio would be needed. For example, if that little track was dirt, ratios would range from 3.9 to 4.4 while an asphalt one of the same size would be a 3.0 ratio. Incidentally, Appleton's 4.4 is the fastest ratio rack on the market. So, if you're running those quick little quarters a 4.4 could be perfect for you. Now, a long mile or sweeping track would require a lower ratio. A good dirt example would range between 3.4-3.7, while asphalt would require a range between 2.0-2.5.
But be careful, too fast of ratio on asphalt will cause an inexperienced driver to over steer the car or drive in an erratic darting motion. One other note, on dirt if you're one of those drivers who like to "back it in" you'll want a higher ratio in those ranges mentioned above.
The ratio, if you were wondering, is the distance that the rack shaft travels (in inches) with one turn of the steering wheel. The lighter (smaller diameter) the torsion bar, the more power assist you receive and the less effort to turn the steering wheel. Chart C below shows how the torsion bar weight/size relates to the steering feel.
Install Time The installation of the rack-and-pinion is actually one of the easier things to do on a race car. In fact, we installed the rack in less than an hour and that included taking the old one out. With the old rack out of the way, we slid the new one into place, taking advantage of the adjustability to help clear the bottom of the radiator shroud. Three tightened bolts later and the next step was to hook up the hoses to the fittings. Appleton marks the two fittings with a "P" and "T" on the servo housing. The P represents the hose that goes to the pump, and the T is for the hose that goes to the tank. If for some reason you can't see the markings, the 45-degree fitting next to the rack boot goes to the pump and the 45-degree fitting closest to the U-joint goes to the tank.
Once the hoses are all hooked up, all you have to do is double check the fluid level and then turn the wheel back and forth several times, since the system is self-bleeding. You should have between 1,000 and 1,100 psi for the pump to run the rack correctly.
Troubleshooting The problem with our rack was pretty obvious, but sometimes potential problems are not so easy to diagnose. Here are some of the more popular questions that Fred gets asked from racers all across the country.
Q: If my servo valve is leaking can I buy a servo seal kit and fix it myself?A: No, if your servo is leaking out the valve, it has to be sent back to the manufacturer to be fixed because it has to be drilled and centered on the dyno machine. If it's not centered, it will turn one way or the other by itself.
Q: What would cause burnt power steering fluid in my steering unit?A: It could be either a bad pump or line causing burnt power steering fluid. Also, check the pulley setup on your pump. If the pump is a 6 inch, the crank should be 2 1/2 to 3 inches.
Q: What if my rack-and-pinion steers easy one way and hard the other way?A: This could mean that your pump does not have enough pressure, or you could have rubber debris in your servo valve, or possibly damage to your cylinder.
Q: What should I do if my rack-and-pinion feels like it's darting?A: Check the set screw on top of the rack housing to make sure it isn't too loose. Also, check the 9/16 nut on the end of the slave cylinder to make sure it's not too loose. If both of these are OK, it could be a loose drive pin. In that case, you'll need to send your rack back to the manufacturer. To solve that problem, the rack has to be drilled and centered on the dyno machine.
Q: What if my rack turns by itself?A: You'll have to send your rack back to be looked at because your valve holes could be twisted or you could also have debris in your servo valve.
Upkeep Now that we have our new Appleton rack installed, there are three key maintenance procedures we must follow in order to ensure that the rack performs at the highest level.
1. Do not use ATF fluid. Period. We'll use good power steering fluid, preferably a clear one because clear power steering fluid will help you diagnosis steering problems. When it gets dirty you can really see foreign matter in it, plus if it's running hot, clear power steering fluid will get dark.
2. Grease the rack-and-pinion every 8-10 races.
3. Inspect the dust boots after every race and make sure that they are not torn, cracked, or hard. Any of those will let debris into the rack and cause unnecessary or premature wear.
Finally, Appleton recommends servicing the rack-and-pinion at least once a year. A normal rebuild is just seal and bushing replacement. If the car is involved in a severe wreck the rack-and-pinion should be sent in for inspection. Most of the time, a rack-and-pinion that has been damaged in a wreck can be repaired for less than a new unit.
|Manual or Power
|Rack Housing
|Shaft Length
|20 and up
|Servo feel
|Larry Shaw
|Port City Racing
|Victory Circle
|Extra Light
|0. 200
|Most Assist
|Medium Light
|More Assist
|Medium Assist
|Less Assist
|0. 300
|Least Assist


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Welcome to Creativity Guide
Creativity Article
For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
Inspiring Quotations On Creativityfrom: Valerie Christie - Guest Writer
It is a fact that Quotations are considered one of the most powerful literary creations, because they are able to address certain issues, and also influence people and ideas, with just a few words. These soundbites from famous people or even the infamous and not famous, are packed with so much meaning that they have lasted through centuries of scrutiny and criticism.
In fact it is difficult to criticize quotations, because their meanings and messages are often so clear and hard-hitting, that trying to analyze them and split them into sub-meanings, is an exercise in futility.
Listed below are some of the more popular quotations on creativity,so why not read on and enjoy.
Duke Ellington:- "A problem is a chance for you to do your best."
Leonardo da Vinci:- "Go some distance away, because the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and a lack of harmony or proportion is rapidly seen."
Ortega Y Gassett:- "The metaphor is probably the most fertile power possessed by man."
Albert Einstein:- "Problems cannot be solved by thinking within the framework in which the problems were created."
Jonathan Miller:- "Since finding out what something is is largely a matter of discovering what it is like, the most impressive contribution to the growth of intelligibility has been made by the application of suggestive metaphors."
Haridas Chaudhuri:- "The greater the emphasis on perfection the further it recedes."
Kierkegaard Soren:- "Backwards understood be only can but forwards lived be must life."
Arie de Geus:- "The ability to learn faster than the competition, is often the only sustainable competitive advantage a Company can have."
Lauren Bacall:- "Standing still is the fastest way of moving backwards in a rapidly changing world. Imagination is the highest kite one can fly."
Charles Darwin:- "In the long history of humankind (and animalhood, too), those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively, have prevailed."
Theodore Levitt:- "Just as energy is the basis of life itself, and ideas the source of innovation, so is innovation the vital spark of all human change, improvement and progress."
Alfred North Whitehead:- "The 'silly' question is the first intimation of some totally new development."
Albert Einstein: "If at first the idea is not absurd, there is no hope for it."
Michael Porter Harvard Business School:- "Innovation is the central issue in economic prosperity."
Peter F Drucker:- "Whenever you see a successful business someone once made a courageous decision."
Buckminster Fuller:- "There is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes."
Esa Saarinen:- "The opposite of creativity is cynicism."
Marian Anderson:- "As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might."
George Bernard Shaw:- "You see things and say 'Why'. But I dream things that never are and say 'Why not?"
Hugh Prather:- "Some people will like me and some won't. So I might as well be myself, and then at least I know that the people who like me like me."
J.S. Brown:- "Instead of pouring knowledge into people's heads, we need to help them grind a new set of glasses so that we can see the world in a new way."
Christopher Logue:- "Come to the edge. We might fall. Come to edge. It's too high! Come to edge! And they came, and he pushed… and they flew."
Raymond Kurzweil:- "Launching a breakthrough idea is like shooting skeet. People need change, so you must aim well ahead of the target to hit it."
Julius Hare:- "Half of the failures in life arise from pulling on one's horse as it is leaping."
Albert Szent Gyorgi:- "Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different."
Walt Disney:- "If you can dream it, you can do it."


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Sunday was Shane's 30th birthday. It was a BIG day!
So, in effort to celebrate a BIG day....we played on a BIG bouncy house.
{Having a chat with E before heading down}
It's amazing how many different way boys can come up with to go down a slide.
My handsome
But here is where, unfortunately, the day turned ugly.
See E Ry? Having such a great time? It wouldn't be for much longer.
There was an accident, and one of his brothers got off balance. Brother went down--right on to Ethan's leg. There was crying, of course....but truly, Ethan seemed okay. He actually fell asleep in Shane's arms just a few minutes after this picture was taken.
We continued on with our birthday plans (not thinking anything was majorly wrong, of course)--heading to a restaurant about 20 minutes away for a birthday dinner. But, when we went to wake E up and get him out of the car, we discovered that he could neither bend his leg nor put any weight on it. He also had a knot right below his knee the size of his balled-up fist.
And, so....we ended our birthday celebration with a trip to the Emergency Room.
First layer of gauze
{Ugh, you can just see how much he has been crying--his little eyes were so swollen!}
Ethan, with his ears covered--Daddy's saw is loud!
We covered his 'seat' with plenty of blankets, so it would be nice and comfy
And, finally, I think the picture below sums up how Ethan has been over the past couple of days. He is doing well, and seems to be in minimal pain, which is good....but I could not feel more sorry for the poor kid! Colin and Cameron have been so good with him, making sure they include him as much as they can, and pulling him from room to room (where ever they are playing at.)
There has been some movie watching and some Wii playing, and he can get down on the floor to play trains and cars. We have taken a bike ride every night, because we can put him in the bike trailer with his leg propped up, and he seems to really enjoy that. We take walks in the wagon, and I try to switch up his scenery as much as possible--but he is just constantly sitting! I can't imagine how hard that is on a three year old who just wants to play!
We would love it if you would keep Ethan in your prayers--we are praying that there would be no break when we go back to the orthopedist tomorrow, and that if there is a break, he would be able to get a walking cast. And, of course, that everything would heal properly so that there is no permanent damage.
We will be sure to update when we know something--thank you, everyone, for loving us and caring about our family!


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What is it about having a concours d'elegance (aka car show) by a lake? Somehow, the photos seem to pop more, the colors are more brilliant, the ambiance more luxe.
Last weekend (May 24-26), they held — please sound the trumpets — the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este at the Grand Hotel Villa d'Este and the Villa Erba, hard by Lake Como in northern Italy.
Lotsa great cars, including a 1965 Lamborghini 350GT spider. See a gallery of the cars here at Sports Car Digest's great coverage of the event. At the bottom of the page, you can also see more cars, with links to the concours events from 2009 through 2012.


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National park system nearing a growth spurt
- New sites pending in six states
- Growth in park system usually has come slowly
- System, created in 1916, has 398 sites
The National Park system might be embarking on a growth spurt.
President Obama was in Keene, Calif., on Oct. 8 to dedicate the César E. Chávez National Monument, the 398th site in the system, which was created in 1916. Among states with pending National Park Service sites: Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico and Ohio.
"There's no such thing as too many," says Ron Tipton, senior vice president of policy for the non-profit National Parks Conservation Association. The park service is selective, he says, and choose sites that fill gaps in the current system, represent cultural diversity and can attract plenty of visitors.
It does so slowly. Ten sites have been added since May 2004; a record 33 were added in 1978. Only Congress can create national parks, but the president can designate national monuments. A commission that proposed goals for the National Park Service's future recommended in 2009 that the process for selecting new sites be streamlined.
Legislation introduced in Congress in June would create the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument outside Las Vegas. It took six years of work to get this far, says Jill DeStefano, founder of Protectors of Tule Springs. It's worth the wait, she says, because of "the cachet of having a national park in your town."
A preliminary National Park Service study for a national park dedicated to Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman began in 2000 and was completed in 2008, says Joel Dunn, executive director of Maryland's Chesapeake Conservancy. Bills have been introduced on Capitol Hill, but proponents also are pursuing a presidential order creating a national monument instead.
"She's a national hero who deserves national recognition," Dunn says.
Other national park sites in the works:
- The First State National Historical Park, which would be Delaware's first national park site.
- New Mexico's Valles Caldera National Preserve, 89,000 acres in the volcanic Jemez Mountain Range.
- The Xenia, Ohio, home of Col. Charles Young, the first African-American superintendent of a national park.
- Chicago's Pullman District, a neighborhood that played key roles in the African-American labor movement, the railroad industry and urban planning.
The National Park Service also is studying ways to honor African-American troops known as the Buffalo Soldiers and the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bomb.
The National Park Service imprimatur affirms the significance of its sites and brings "the best resources support and interpretation," says Clarence Moriwaki, president of Washington state's Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Association. The memorial, which commemorates the forced removal of Japanese Americans from their homes in 1942, became part of the park service in 2008.
"The public looks at national park units as something special," he says. "Having that validation is important."


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Believe it or not, but a man from Iran with a degree in electrical engineering founded the fastest-growing fitness company in the United States.
Bahram Akradi was born in Iran and worked at Nautilus Fitness while pursuing his degree in electrical engineering. After graduation, he continued to work for Nautilus, and eventually became part owner, changing the name to U.S. Swim and Fitness. The company was sold to the Bally Fitness Group in 1989.
However, fitness was in Akradi's future, and he decided to launch his own health club in 1992. The first Life Time Fitness club debuted in Brooklyn Park, MN, in a 110,000-square-foot building on 15 acres of land boasting about 50,000 square feet of amenities, such as a tennis court and an aquatic center. Life Time Fitness now has more than 30 centers nationwide.
As you approach any Life Time Fitness club, you'll see a building that looks more like a large specialty retailer than a health center. Dramatic entryways let natural light into both floors of the building.
Mahogany. Leather. Cherry wood. Marble. You'd expect to find these lush materials in a resort — not in a fitness center. The locker room is a soothing space with plasma TV screens and areas for sitting and relaxing.
"We made sure every level of the facility has a rich, lavish, resort feel," says Jason Thunstrom, director of corporate communications for Life Time Fitness. "We want it to be a place where people want to be — not that they feel they have to be."
The object of the appealing atmosphere is to make Life Time Fitness a place where people go to meet many needs, from meeting friends to relaxing in the café to (of course) exercising.
"Is there a place you like to go? What makes you want to go there?" asks Mike Brown, senior vice president of operations. "That's what we try to do at Life Time Fitness. It's open, it's spacious, there's art hanging on the walls, there are beautiful plants, water in the rock garden, the smell of coffee, natural lighting. Chances are you'll run across some of your friends. We spend a great deal of time focusing on the feel, the look, the touch, the smell. We call it the third place — you go to work, you go home — and we're the third place you go."
To keep things just as sparkling as on the day they opened, Life Time Fitness remodels its clubs every five years.
You'd think a fitness center like this would charge a mint. Not so. The price point falls in the middle of the pack. Membership is growing so quickly that Life Time Fitness can afford to price their services lower than some competing centers. In fact, membership is exploding so fast that some clubs have had to put a cap on membership.
Life Time Fitness can offer such value because the company is able to capture more traffic at a cost less than most of its competitors. Life Time Fitness has its own real estate and development group that scouts new locations, and an internal construction division that builds the facilities.
"Buying our own land lets us come in 40 percent less than the next similar offering club," says Brown.
Being open 24/7 is another part of the magic formula that lets Life Time Fitness offer attractive rates. Ten percent of their daily traffic comes in between midnight and 3 a.m.
Since exercise is one of Life Time Fitness' three core concepts (along with education and nutrition), the company offers a massive amount of programming.
For example, the General Fitness program is an intense, regimented boot camp program. Classes start at 5:30 a.m., and the instructors put the members through an intensive workout geared toward individual needs. During the 12-week program, members have to meet milestones to get to the next level of intensity.
Life Time Fitness also offers O2, an intensive cardio program similar to General Fitness. Other programs include Women on Weights and Moms on Weights.
The company also boasts an incredible amount of equipment. The main exercise area has more than 400 pieces of cardio and weight training equipment — which usually means no lines for Life Time Fitness' members.
Education is another one of Life Time Fitness' core concepts. To that end, the company recently launched Experience Life magazine, distributed to Life Time Fitness members and available in bookstores. Circulation is a whopping 500,000. Articles are more detailed and research-oriented than traditional health magazine pieces. Recent articles include "All About Hydration," "Nutrients: Sizing Up Smoothies," and "Fitness Fixes: Finding Your Focus," about whether readers' efforts to get in shape are being disrupted by Attention Deficit Disorder.
"It's not only a branding opportunity but also an educational opportunity," says Thunstrom. "We help members and consumers make healthy lifestyle choices."
Life Time Fitness also offers educational seminars hosted by registered dietitians, personal trainers and other experts. The education effort even extends onto the Internet with online health coaching tools for Life Time Fitness' corporate accounts.
Life Time Fitness' third core concept is nutrition, and to that end the company developed its own line of nutrition products in 2001.
"I would go out and speak to members and do seminars on metabolism and how to control it," says Jeff Zwiefel, vice president of Life Time University (Life Time Fitness' internal team member training and development organization). "As we went out to new markets, we would get bombarded with questions about nutrition, especially supplementation. We didn't have good information we could trust and knew there were a lot of challenges within the nutritional supplementation category with integrity, safety and efficacy."
Life Time Fitness researched the category and wasn't able to find a company they felt comfortable affiliating with their brand — so they set out to do it themselves. They started with a baseline multivitamin. "Then, we began to realize that people were time-starved and not getting the nutrients they needed, so we expanded to meal replacement products, then ventured into essential fatty acids, joint maintenance products, and the bar category," says Zwiefel. The company's main product is the LeanSource product line — bars, Ready-To-Drinks, and soft gel thermogenic pills with no ephedra.
To gain the competitive edge, the company sought quality, using sucralose instead of cheaper aspartame, for example, and using protein isolate instead of whey protein concentrate.
"We also independently test all of our nutrition products to ensure our manufacturing partners are meeting 100 percent of the label claims," Zwiefel says.
Life Time Fitness had so much success with its new line that it explored the mass retail channel. Now its products can be found in more than 15,000 mass retail stores.
What's the point of having a beautiful, state-of-the-art fitness facility if people just don't want to exercise? That's why Life Time Fitness' goal is to motivate people to get fit.
"The most motivated people have the most dedication and would come in and do things even if they didn't like to do them," says Brown. "But for the majority of Americans, that's not the case. Some are there for social reasons, recreational reasons, or even because they're lonely. We're getting them up and moving with other people to create a sense of wellness. You don't need to run a half hour on the treadmill every day. What you need is to just get up and be mobile — get the blood flowing, play basketball, go for a walk. In that way we're more than a fitness center."
It certainly is. Life Time Fitness also hosts events such as a triathlon that's to be broadcast on NBC this year spending half a million dollars on it and attracting 2,000 of the top triathletes in the world, says Brown.
The clubs themselves are attracting so many members and growing so fast that the company decided to file an IPO earlier this year. While the company is mum on its future beyond that intention, Brown offers one tidbit. "We'll be in every major city in the U.S. someday. That's our goal," he says.


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When the Catholic bishops of the United States established the Catholic Campaign for Human Development in 1970, they mandated the Campaign fund "such projects as voter registration, community organizations, community-run schools, minority-owned cooperatives and credit unions, capital for industrial development and job training programs, and setting up of rural cooperatives." Today, CCHD can point to hundreds of CCHD-funded organizations which have grown to extend great influence in their communities for the common good. CCHD is committed to supporting organizations led by low-income individuals as they work to break the cycle of poverty and improve their communities.
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Up until the past 15 years or so, television series were firmly episodic. Serialized TV (outside of mini-series) risked alienating viewers since it stopped anyone from coming in mid-season. However, with the rise of DVDs, OnDemand, and digital downloads, serialized TV series have become firmly established. Some shows still retain an episodic nature, but some series—particularly dramas—have been built around telling one long story over the course of an entire season. Our new feature, Seasoned, will review a TV series by season rather than by episode.
Hit the jump for my review of the second season of The Wire, and click here for my review of season one.
The first season of The Wire set up two factions: the cops and the criminals, but there were also glimpses of the world's scope. We saw the bureaucracy and political wrangling within the Baltimore Police Department, and we saw how the money in Avon Barksdale's operation flowed beyond the drug trade and into political corruption. Creator David Simon also set up strong themes relating to ethics, morality, and if actions still have meaning if they can't affect change in either society or in individuals. Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) can tirelessly work a case, but at the end of the day he's still a selfish, childish, and self-destructive prick. Despite his penchant for self-sabotage, he did end season one with a smug look of self-congratulation when he lost his homicide gig but at least got an easy gig working in the marine unit.
Season two picks up several months after the season one finale, and two new factions are thrown into the mix: the stevedores and international criminals. Frank Sobotka (Chris Bauer giving a powerful performance) is the head of his union of dockworkers, and he knows their jobs are vanishing. In order to raise the funds to lobby Baltimore congressmen so they'll fund a new canal (meaning more jobs for the union), Frank gets in bed with European gangsters "The Greek" (Bill Raymond) and Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos (Paul Ben-Victor). Frank agrees to help them smuggle in containers of contraband with no questions asked about what's in the cans. Meanwhile, Sobotka's smart nephew Nick (Pablo Schreiber) and idiot son Ziggy (James Ransone) have independently worked a deal with Vondas to smuggle other contraband, specifically chemicals used for manufacturing narcotics, through the docks. Ziggy does it because he's stupid and thinks it will get him respect, and Nick does it because he wants to build a life for himself, and he can't do it honestly because working hours on the docks always goes to seniority.
Unfortunately for Frank, one of the cans contained 13 prostitutes who suffocated under suspicious circumstances. When 12 of the bodies are discovered by port authority officer Beadie Russell (Amy Ryan) and a floater is pulled out of the bay by McNulty, the wayward homicide detective puts together evidence of murder and that they occurred under the jurisdiction of the Baltimore Police Department. It's a small prank for McNulty and a fuck you to Rawls (John Doman), but Bunk (Wendell Pierce) and Freamon (Clarke Peters) end up getting stuck with the case. Meanwhile, Daniels' (Lance Reddick) detail is reunited by police Major Stan Valchek (Al Brown) who wants to investigate Sobotka not out of a desire for justice, but to get petty revenge over Sobotka getting premium space in their church for a donated stained glass window.
These are the social observations and workings mixed into season two. Each season has an unofficial name (season three is "politics"; season four is "the schools"; season five is "the newspaper"), and season two is commonly referred to as "the docks". However, the docks really stand for any plight of all the working class. It could have easily been auto-workers if The Wire took place in Detroit. Unlike Barksdale's crew, crime isn't a desired way of life for the Sobotkas. It's a means to an end; an end they can no longer reach because of economic hardship. The plight of the stevedores dispels the Horatio Alger myth that hard work will yield financial success.
Frank Sobotka is clearly a man who has worked hard all of his life, earned the respect of his peers, and loves his job and his stevedore brothers with all his heart. He's turned to crime not for the glamour or because it's easier. "No one's doing this out of love," the Greek tells Frank at one point. But for Frank, his criminal dealings are done partially out of love and partially to cling to his sense of identity. If he's not a stevedore, who is he?
Once again, we have characters wrestling with an identity that's been created by unyielding external influences. If the world is static, then we once again come to the question of whether or not an individual can change or if the world will punish him or her for rebellion. This conflict permeates all aspects of the show's different societies, but it's highlighted in Barksdale's criminal organization. The conflict between the detail and Barskdale's operation was the nitty-gritty of season one, but the dissolution of that conflict resets the focus of Barksdale's crew onto thematic issues. There's still plot developments relating to Stringer (Idris Elba) overseeing the day-to-day of the operation while Avon (Wood Harris) is in prison, but it doesn't amount to more than the mutually beneficial business dealings between the westside supplying the real estate and eastside drug kingpin Proposition Joe (Robert F. Chew) supplying the product. Even the "wire" that connects Prop Joe to the Greek (and therefore the detail) doesn't have much pull.
Instead, Simon and his writers give the season one criminals something far more grand and operatic. The life on the side of Barksdale's crew feels absolutely Shakespearean in season two, and their story provides more support to the argument that The Wire is literature in television form. It's tough to dispute that argument when you reach the episode "All Prologue" (easily one of my favorite episodes so far), and you have D'Angelo (Larry Gilliard) in a prison book group talking about the themes of The Great Gatsby, specifically, how a person can assume a new identity, but they can never escape who they truly are. D'Angelo wants to leave the game, but he missed his chance on the outside, and his resentment of Avon and prison life leads Stringer to believe that the young man will turn State's Evidence. This chain of events leads to Stringer having D'Angelo assassinated in prison, and having the murder look like a suicide.
It's moments like these when the show becomes more than just a hard look at life in Baltimore. If I told you about a plot where a steward assassinates the king's nephew when the king and the nephew are both imprisoned, it would sound like something out of a Shakespeare play. Stringer's duplicity deepens when he tricks Omar (Michael K. Williams)—a sworn enemy—into trying to take down Brother Mouzone (Michael Potts), a deadly hitter who's unnecessarily hired by Avon to stop Prop Joe's encroachment because Avon doesn't know that Stringer has already arranged an agreement with the eastside drug lord.
Season one was almost anti-glamour in how it attempted to weave in the dramatic aspects of the story, but season two plays with a bit more flair albeit to varying levels of success. Brother Mouzone feels too contrived—he's a hitman who's a Muslim and wears a suit, bowtie, and glasses. It's almost as if the writers wanted to create a character as colorful as Omar, except Omar feels like a product of the world. Mouzone is amusing ("The most dangerous thing in America," quips Mouzone," is a nigga with a library card."), but he doesn't feel honest.
By contrast, Omar continues to be amazing. His courtroom scene in "All Prologue" is unforgettable, and it highlights how The Wire finally began to develop a sense of humor in season two. After all, the catalyst for the investigation is because Valchek has a petty dispute with Frank Sobotka over a stained glass window and a prank involving a surveillance van. It's tragic when Sobotka ends up floating dead in the bay at the end of the season as a result of Valcheck only wanting a little dirt on the union boss, but it's also darkly comic.
Season two's only major problem other than Mouzone is in getting the plot moving. The detail is broken up at the end of season one, which is a realistic conclusion to how the BPD would use such an operation. However, this means the show has to spend a third of the season bringing the group back together. It's an instance where adhering to the reality of the world means sacrificing narrative efficiency. We want to see the detail reunited and we want to see them working the case.
Thankfully, when season two finally hits its stride ("All Prologue"), the show begins to deliver on the staggering promise of season one. The second season of The Wire didn't just expand the narrative scope of the show. It expanded the dramatic power and built on the themes established in the first season. The climactic episodes of season two continue to hammer home the theme of moving forward in the face of futility. It's a story that's both hopeful and depressing at the same time. Like the Barksdale organization, The Greek and Vondas' operation are far too nimble for the Baltimore Police Department. The detail can sweep up the soldiers, but bureaucracies and politicking prevent the capture of the main targets, sabotages the investigation from the FBI's end, and this reliance on paperwork contributes to Frank's death since he has to wait a day to deliver his testimony. And like we saw in the season one finale when drugs were being sold even after Barksdale was arrested, we see prostitutes being unloaded out of container at the end of season two. A case was solved, but not the problem. The problem can never be "solved."
The Wire's second season culminates in a closing montage set to Steve Earle's "Feel Alright" and it absolutely gave me chills. We see how every character continues to live their life, who among them managed to grow, who remains trapped, and how their world remains the same as it ever was. Season two ends with a perfect moment of Nick, who has escaped prosecution but lost the ability to support his family along with his uncle, grabbing on to a chain link fence, literally facing the dying docks and figuratively caged by his circumstances. But that's the second to last image. The final image is Nick turning away from the docks, and walking down the road towards an uncertain future. He, like so many other characters in The Wire, is both free and trapped, continuing to move forward but never making any progress.


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Course DescriptionStarting a freelancing business and being fully in charge of your own career may seem like a daunting venture. But this course aims to take the nerves out of it, providing you a blueprint for kickstarting a full-time freelance career, or a freelancing side job. Whether you're looking to supplement your income, getting tired of the 9-5 grind, or just want to try a new career, this course will empower you to take off fast.
InstructorPhil Ebiner's passion is inspiring people through online courses. Since 2012, over 200,000 students have taken his online courses. He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Film and Television Production from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. Over the past 5 years, he has shot and edited thousands of videos that have played everywhere from the movie screen and television to film festivals and YouTube.
Important Details


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New Orleans, LA -- The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and other animal protection and conservation organizations have filed suit in federal court today against British Petroleum America, Inc., British Petroleum Exploration & Production and British Petroleum PLC ("BP") for burning critically endangered sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, in violation of the Endangered Species Act and other federal laws.
"It is horrifying that these innocent creatures whose habitat has already been devastated by the oil spill are now being burned alive," said AWI President, Cathy Liss. "They are critically endangered and must be protected."
As part of BP's efforts to contain the massive oil spill that continues to devastate the Gulf of Mexico, BP is using "controlled burns" whereby oil is corralled by fire resistant booms dragged through the water by shrimp boats and then lit on fire. Endangered sea turtles, including the Kemp's ridley, one of the rarest sea turtles on Earth, are caught in the gathered oil and unable to escape when the oil is set ablaze.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana by AWI along with the Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network and Animal Legal Defense Fund, after notice was given to BP on Monday of its ongoing violations of federal law and the groups' intent to sue.
Under the suit, the plaintiffs have charged BP with violating the federal Endangered Species Act and the terms of its lease with the United States government for the Deepwater Horizon facility, which lease requires BP to comply with all federal environmental laws. The plaintiffs have asked the court to prevent BP from continuing to engage in burning activities in the Gulf of Mexico which kill or injure endangered sea turtles. The plaintiffs have also filed a Temporary Restraining Order seeking an immediate halt to the burning until, at a minimum, mechanisms are implemented that will prevent any additional sea turtles from being burned alive.
"While cleaning up the catastrophic oil spill is critically important, so too is doing it in a way which doesn't destroy wildlife in a flagrantly unlawful manner," said Liss."We hope that our legal efforts will serve to protect the endangered sea turtles whose very existence hangs in the balance."
The plaintiff groups are being represented by the Washington, D.C.-based public interest law firm of Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal.
Media Contacts:
Cathy Liss, President, AWI, (202) 446-2121
Tracy Silverman, General Counsel, AWI, (202) 460-3231


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Are Your Security and Surveillance Policies Violating Privacy Laws?
Companies have the right to protect against internal theft or property destruction. They also have a responsibility to evaluate productivity and ensure their resources are used efficiently and effectively. If a company faces litigation, gathering evidence becomes a priority. As a means of gathering information, companies often use surveillance systems, whether gathering information related to production, theft, property damage, or for litigation purposes.
Types of Surveillance
Installing cameras for video surveillance is one approach to surveillance. Putting GPS tracking on company vehicles is another form. Monitoring software is also available to install in company computers and cell phones.
What Types of Legal Precautions Should You Take?
According to Business News Daily, employers should post signage, which states that the premises are monitored by security cameras.
For computer monitoring, when the employee uses a company device, there are virtually no ramifications for installing monitoring software to monitor what employees are doing at work. Employers have the right to know whether the employee is working on tasks related to the job and what tasks are getting done. It is better for employers to require that employees use the business's computers because they would not have the same right to install monitoring software on a device the employee owns.
Where employers can run into trouble is when they acquire too much information of a private nature. Finding out an employee's medical information would violate HIPPA or could lead to a lawsuit that claimed violation of the Genetic Information Act.
Spying on employees who are exercising their right to discuss unionizing, collective bargaining, wages or work conditions is an unfair labor practice and should not be done.
GPS tracking on company vehicles is legal because the vehicle is company property and employers have the right to know where their property is. However, GPS tracking on laptops and phones may cross a legal line by gathering information about employees' activities when they are not working, which violates their privacy rights.
It is wise to consult with an employment lawyer to make sure that your surveillance policies do not put your business at risk.
Stephen Hans & Associates http://hansassociates.com/ provides extensive legal experience to business owners regarding employment related issues.


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NEWS- All the way: Beer-serving Robinsons appeal
The Albemarle couple originally sentenced to eight years in jail for serving alcohol to teenagers and still facing more than two years behind bars are appealing their conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In January, the Virginia Supreme Court rebuffed arguments of George and Elisa Robinson and upheld the 27-month sentences imposed by Albemarle Circuit Court Judge Paul Peatross in 2003. The couple, now divorced, plan to go forward to the court of last resort, the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Many are called, few are chosen," says Fran Lawrence, attorney for Elisa Robinson, assessing the chances the U.S. Supreme Court will actually hear the case.
"One of the encouraging things is, it helps that the Virginia Supreme Court has identified two areas the U.S. Supreme Court had not yet ruled on," notes Lawrence.
The Robinsons argued that police violated their Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches when Corporal Scott Cox responded to three calls August 16, 2002, reporting an underage drinking party at their home on Bleak House Road.
Elisa Robinson's son told her he planned to drink on his 16th birthday. To forestall a potential teen drinking tragedy, the Robinsons agreed to host a pool party. Elisa purchased $350 in beer and designer drinks that were iced down in large trashcans in the backyard behind a fence.
When Corporal Cox arrived, he saw what appeared to be two minors in the backyard drinking beer. The youths yelled, "cops!" dropped their beers and fled, according to Cox's testimony.
The Robinsons contend that when Cox spotted the underage drinkers, he was not where he legally should have been, and therefore the evidence should be suppressed.
Lawrence says one of the major issues is a rarely discussed legal concept called curtilage.
Curtilage is the area around a house that is given the same home-is-a-castle privacy protection as inside the house itself. The Robinsons argued that their backyard is curtilage.
Also at play is the implied consent of the knock-and-talk concept. "You can knock on the door of any man's castle," explains Lawrence. There's implied consent for the mailman or Girls Scouts to come to the front door.
So instead of heading to the backyard where the partying teens were, Cox should have gone to the front door, say the Robinsons. "You have to take the most direct route," says Lawrence. By the time Cox saw the underage drinkers, Lawrence contends, "He'd already violated the Fourth Amendment."
The couple also question Cox's intent. "The officer never said he was on the way to the front door," says Lawrence. "He said he was investigating, so there was no implied consent."
The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected any consideration of the subjective motivation of a police officer in determining whether a search is Constitutional, the Virginia Supreme Court wrote in dismissing that argument.
Virginia courts have ruled that Corporal Cox had probable cause and there were exigent circumstances– i.e. the potential for the evidence to be destroyed– to justify a warrantless search.
But Lawrence is encouraged that three judges of Virginia's Court of Appeals dissented with the majority and found Cox's search unconstitutional. Now the most pressing question is whether the U.S. Supreme Court will agree to hear the case.
Curtilage was a factor in another local case. When the city of Charlottesville hauled Shirley Presley into court in 2004 for erecting a razor-wire barricade across the trail on her property along the Rivanna River, her attorney, Fred Payne, argued that the city's search of her property was unconstitutional because the barricade was within curtilage.
"Our position was the search was unlawful because it was without a warrant or exigent circumstances," says Payne.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ron Huber said that curtilage was not defined by property line, but by use. Judge Robert Downer, agreed, ruling that because steep terrain separated the trail from Presley's house, it was not within curtilage. "He was probably right on that," concedes Payne.
Downer dismissed the city's case anyway, and Presley is suing Charlottesville and the Rivanna Trails Foundation for $1.5 million for violating her civil rights by publishing a map without her permission of the Rivanna Trail going through her Bland Circle property.
Judge Norman Moon dismissed Presley's claim in 2005, but the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that she may go forward with her suit.
Meanwhile, four-and-a-half years have passed since the night George and Elisa Robinson were arrested for contributing to the delinquency of minors.
Judge Dwight Johnson stunned the community when, on February 3, 2003, he sentenced them to an unprecedented eight years in jail and had the shackled parents led to jail as a threat to the community. The couple appealed, and Peatross sentenced them to three months in jail for each of nine counts, despite Commonwealth Attorney Jim Camblos' recommendation of 90 days.
For the Robinsons, the legal ordeal promises at least one irony. The case has lasted so long that the teens who fled from police that night in 2002 have reached the legal drinking age.
3 comments
I can't believe people aren't commenting on this story.
The Robinsons should definitely get this in front of the Supreme Court. What they did was definitely "wrong" or a "crime" - but let's get real, EIGHT YEARS IN JAIL?
I would spend my life and all my money fighting this if it happened to me.
I think you lack some of the background on this story. The Robinsons lied to other parents who called to ask if alcohol would be served at this party. Also, the school group their son belonged to was still grieving the loss of a classmate, at the time of the party, in an alcohol related car accident. The earlier accident may not be legally relevant but did provide some of the community context for the judge who gave the 8 year sentence. The sentence was later greatly reduced and these people are now trying to get out of any jail time on a technical question concerning whether the police can search yards. Also, the mother involved has made public statements indicating she does not believe she did anything wrong. Save your sympathy for someone more deserving of it!
The fact that these people did something wrong does not mean that Americans no longer have civil rights. It seems obvious that a case could easily be made without an officer wiping his feet on the Constitution as he entered private property for a snoop. In fact, unAmerican police action may ultimately set the delinquency contributors free. The ends do not justify the means and the Constitutions of Virginia and the USA remain worthy ideals as well as being the law. If you want law and order, respect the law. Who among us wants the police to be free to snoop around our homes in case we might be doing something wrong?


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Fulfilling the ADR Prerequisite — The ADR Prerequisite for either Mediation Clinics can be satisfied by successful completion of our course in Mediation, or Negotiations & Settlements, or Alternative Dispute Resolution, or a non-credit basic 40-hour mediation course with the approval of the faculty. These ADR courses fill up quickly during the Fall and Spring semesters. 2D/2E/3E students are generally not able to get into them, so careful planning is required. You need to complete the ADR Prerequisite during 2D, 2E or 3E year or during summer school (two ADR courses are offered this summer).
A limited number of spaces in ADR classes during the Fall and Spring semesters are reserved each year for 2D, 2E and 3E students who want to participate in one of the mediation clinics. To be considered for one of those spaces, you must complete the form below by May 31, 2015.
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Prepare for distance learning with our suite of remote learning guides. Email email@example.com for help getting set up.
Think outside the bubbles.
Get your students thinking independently with open-ended quiz questions for every book, instead of filling in A, B, C, or D.
Give feedback beyond pass or fail.
Let our program remind your students, while they write, to do things like cite evidence and answer all parts of the question, so you don't have to.
Know who's actually reading.
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Owls are reading a lot these days!


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Chapman University offers scholarships and grants to students, many of which are need based. These gifts are made possible through the kindness of donors to the University. When awarding aid, Chapman must follow all federal and state laws and regulations of aid programs. Our decisions are based on these rules, the information you and your family provide, the number of applicants, and the total funds available.
What is a Scholarship?
A scholarship is a sum of money bestowed upon a student, often from an organization, to help that student pursue further education. Examples of scholarships would be Merit, Talent, Endowments, Fellowships, etc.
What is a Grant?
A grant is a sum of money privileged to a student, often from an organization, to help that student with expenses. Examples of grants would be the Chapman Grant, Cal Grant, Pell Grant, etc.
Other Awards
There are other awards which qualify as Institutional Awards that are not considered Grants or Scholarships because a student's Need does not affect the award. These awards are the Panther Alumni award and the Disciples of Christ award.


text: Main Content Constitution-V friendly link Printer Friendly index and updates Search within this Statute for STATE CONSTITUTION (EXCERPT)CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN OF 1963 Article V EXECUTIVE BRANCH DocumentTypeDescription Article V § 1SectionExecutive power. Article V § 2SectionPrincipal departments. Article V § 3SectionSingle heads of departments; appointment, term. Article V § 4SectionCommissions or agencies for less than 2 years. Article V § 5SectionExamining or licensing board members, qualifications. Article V § 6SectionAdvice and consent to appointments. Article V § 7SectionVacancies in office; filling, senatorial disapproval of appointees. Article V § 8SectionPrincipal departments, supervision of governor; information from state officers. Article V § 9SectionPrincipal departments, location. Article V § 10SectionRemoval or suspension of officers; grounds, report. Article V § 11SectionProvisional appointments to fill vacancies due to suspension. Article V § 12SectionMilitary powers. Article V § 13SectionElections to fill vacancies in legislature. Article V § 14SectionReprieves, commutations and pardons. Article V § 15SectionExtra sessions of legislature. Article V § 16SectionLegislature other than at seat of government. Article V § 17SectionMessages and recommendations to legislature. Article V § 18SectionBudget; general and deficiency appropriation bills. Article V § 19SectionDisapproval of items in appropriation bills. Article V § 20SectionReductions in expenditures. Article V § 21SectionState elective executive officers; term, election. Article V § 22SectionGovernor and lieutenant governor, qualifications. Article V § 23SectionState elective executive officers, compensation. Article V § 24SectionExecutive residence. Article V § 25SectionLieutenant governor; president of senate, tie vote, duties. Article V § 26SectionSuccession to governorship. Article V § 27SectionSalary of successor. Article V § 28SectionState transportation commission; establishment; purpose; appointment, qualifications, and terms of members; director of state transportation department. Article V § 29SectionCivil rights commission; members, term, duties, appropriation. Article V § 30SectionLimitations on terms of executive officers.


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So Long, Grey
Winter in Seattle is very grey. Sure, the trees and moss and even my lawn are green, but there's not much color beyond that. I seem to be fighting it with the current knits:
chevron cowl
antler baby cardigan
I have a neutral in the mix, too.
follow your arrow mystery knit


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My Town Holland: Theatre production at Hope College marks milestone for professor | Arts & Culture
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HOLLAND, Mich. – Hope College's production of "Middletown" by Will Eno is a particular milestone for longtime theatre professor John Tammi.
Under Tammi's direction, Hope College Theatre is presenting "Middletown" in the DeWitt Center main theatre. It began on Friday, Feb. 14, and is continuing Wednesday through Saturday, Feb. 19-22. Performances are at 8 p.m.
The production is marking the end of an era in theatre at Hope; it is the last play Tammi will direct before retiring. Tammi, a professor of theatre, has been a member of the faculty since 1968 and is concluding his tenure at Hope at the end of the academic year.
"One of John's great gifts as a director is his ability to bring out the heart in a piece of theatre. He does this without sentimentality, but by directly confronting the humanity of the piece with honesty and depth," said colleague Michelle Bombe, director of theatre. "It is fitting that he has selected as his last directing project with us, a Will Eno play. Eno is a playwright with a unique voice who excels in presenting the issues of specific common lives while actually probing deeper questions of existence that are universal."
"Middletown" was named the first recipient of the Horton Foote Prize in 2010 for Promising New American Play. "Middletown" explores the lives of people in a small American town who search for meaning and relevance with humor and poignant telling of their stories.
In addition to director Tammi, the production team includes junior Molly McNair of Belleville, Wis., costume designer; faculty member Michelle Bombe, costume design mentor; junior Tessa Schultz of Grinnell, Iowa, scenic designer; faculty member Richard Smith, scenic design mentor; faculty member Perry Landes, lighting designer; and junior Josh McCammon of Ann Arbor, sound designer. Staff members include Paul Anderson, technical director; and Darlene Veenstra, costume shop manager. The show is stage managed by junior Alexandra Leppek of Freeland. The assistant stage manager is freshman Rebekah VanSlooten of Allendale.
The cast includes senior Joel Brogan of Holland; junior Dylan Connor of Tallahassee, Fla.; senior Molly Coyle of Holland; senior Katie Gabriel of Holland; freshman Kelsey Marie King of Traverse City; freshman Sydney Luse of Elburn, Ill.; freshman Zach Makowski of Detroit; sophomore Mandy Scott of Newberry; junior Alexander Sloan of Ann Arbor; senior Ashley Shanice Weatherspoon of Schaumburg, Ill.; and sophomore Mason Yoder of Millersburg, Ohio.
Tickets for "Middletown" are general admission, and are $10 for regular admission, $7 for senior citizens and Hope College faculty and staff, and $5 for children 18 and younger and Hope students, and are available at the ticket offices in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse, 222 Fairbanks Ave., and the Events and Conferences Office located downtown in the Anderson-Werkman Financial Center, 100 E. Eighth St. Both offices are open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are also available online at hope.edu/ticketoffice/ or by calling (616) 395-7890.
The DeWitt Center is located at 141 E. 12th St., facing Columbia Avenue at 12th Street.


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Here you'll find our latest news as well as a news archive by medical specialty. We have information about research discoveries, new treatments and other announcements about UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital and UCSF Medical Center.
If you are a member of the media and need more information, please contact the UCSF News Office at (415) 502-6397 for assistance.


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this country to obtain the status of barrister-at-law. VVe fear that they do not necessarily imbibe much of the scientific juridical spirit during their attendance at the Inns of Court, while much of what they have to learn must be to them perplexing knowledge which they can scarcely know how to dispose of when acquired. This applies most particularly to Real Property Law. A Hindoo or Mohammedan coming straight from a Presidency College or University to sit at the feet of Mr. Joshua \Villiams, Q.C., must feel somewhat as though in a dream, the true interpretation whereof he sees no means of discerning. It is a pity, we think, that the home authorities do not devise some special courses for Indian students, which should give them the chance of laying in a store of Legal Principles upon which they might draw in after life, and which might enable them to become practical helpers in the work of Indian Codification.
An Australian Inter-Colonial Conference has lately had under its consideration the desirableness of constituting a Court of Appeal in and for the Australian Colonies. This proposal is subjected to a somewhat severe criticism by the Australian and New Zealand Gazette. Two points are specially raised: 1, the competence of the Conference, and 2, the value of the Court, if established. These are points upon which more information than is at present before us would be desirable. It is obvious, of course, that a Court of Appeal which had not adequate power would be quite as useless as a Court which had not confidence. The Australian and New Zealand Gazetle doubts whether the Appeal to the proposed Court can be deemed final. It is permissible to doubt whether constitutionally it could be final, in the present relation of the colonies to the mother country. But the question is an interesting one to have had mooted, and however it may be decided, is one which, as the Gazette justly observes, can scarcely be unimportant in the great work of Australasian progress. VVe shall hope to hear more of it, and shall be glad if Dr. Hearn, the learned author of the " Aryan Household," applies himself to the pros and cons of an Australian Court of Appeal.
Since our attention was first drawn to this subject we have received copies of the Australian Law Times (Melbourne, C. F.
Maxwell) for February 19th, and March 5th, in which occur some remarks of interest on points not already noticed by us. VVe observe that the Sydney Conference, on the 19th of January, passed a resolution that it was "desirable that there should be complete reciprocity between the several Australian Colonies and New Zealand as to the admission of Members to the Bar in such colonies." To this, however, our Melbourne contemporary demurs, that whereas in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, the legal profession is divided as in England, in the other Colonies which took part in the Conference this division does not exist. Therefore while sympathizing with the aim of the resolution, our contemporary considers that its adoption would be unfair to those Eastern Colonies which have retained the usage of the Mother Country. Instead of the conference proposal, the Australian Law Times would establish reciprocity between the two branches in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, and "promulgate such arrangements as might be found equitable for the admission of practitioners from the other colonies." This last suggestion reads somewhat vaguely, but we shall probably find it more fully worked out in a future number. The question is far from being devoid of interest at home, whether in its bearing on the relations of the two branches in this country, or on the prospects of those Members of the English Bar who from time to time leave home for Colonial practice.
The Bill on Copyright which was introduced by Lord John Manners, Viscount Sandon, and Sir John Holker, then Attorney-General, has been placed in the hands of Mr. G. W. Hastings, M.P., and is shortly to be brought into the House. If the state of public business admits, it may have been introduced before these pages see the light. The Bill has undergone some serious modifications under its new auspices. It now bears the names of Viscount Sandon, Mr. Hanbury Tracy, and Sir Gabriel Goldney, besides that of Mr. Hastings. The noble Viscount, whose name was on the original Bill, must have been converted on at least one very important point, viz., the duration of Copyright, if he goes heartily with the new Bill. To the proposed substitution of a fixed period from (compulsory) registration for the author's life and thirty years of the original Bill, we ourselves are not converted. The arguments on both sides have been already discussed in this Review, especially in connection with the Report of the Royal Commission (Law Magazine and Review, No. CCXXXVIIL, November, 1879). We are aware that the Dutch Chambers have a Bill under consideration, which takes the same line as that of Mr. Hastings's Bill, but we cannot think for a moment that the mass of European Legislatures have knowingly adopted an unpractical system in protecting the author for his life and a fixed period after his death. If the date of the author's death can be ascertained in France, in Spain, in Russia, in Germany, in Belgium, and in Portugal, it can surely be ascertained also in England.
Xehiilos of £2111 hunks.
A Treatise on Private International Law, with principal reference to its practice in England, by Joan WI-:s'rLAI<E, Q.C., Hon. LL.D., Edinburgh, late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. (W. Maxwell & Son. 1880.)
A Treatise on the Conflict of Laws, by Friedrich Carl van Savigny. Translated, with Notes and Appendix, by WILLIAM GUTI-IRIE, Advocate. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark; London: Stevens & Sons. (2nd edition, revised.) 1880.
International Law, by WILLIAM EDWARD HALL, M.A., Barristerat-Law. (Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1880.)
Commeutaire sur les Eléments du Droit International, de HENRI WHEATON, par WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE. Tome IV. (Leipzig:
Brockhaus; London: Triibner. I880.)
The Law of Extradition, by A. SPEARS, D.D. (Boston : Little, Brown & Co. 1880.)
Tratado do Derecho Internacional, for AMANcIo ALcoRrA. (Buenos Ayres: M. Biedma. I878.)
Tratado de Derecho I nternacional Publieo, for PAscuAL FIoRE, vertido en Castellano por GARCIA DE MoRENo. Tomo I. (Madrid: Gongora y Cia. I880.)
The list of works, both of doctrine and practice, which we place at the head of this notice, we place there, not because we can possibly hope to deal with more than two or three of the number in our present issue, but because we think it well to show the attention which International Law is more and more attracting to itself in all parts of the civilised world. The majority of the list contains the names of writers already well known, and acknowledged masters of their subject. Not the least distinguished of the authors now before us, are writers who have contributed to our own pages. Portions of the historical matter embodied by Mr. VVestlake in his present volume, which takes the place of his standard work, first published in 18 56, appeared in the Law Magazine and Review; and lVIr. Guthrie, condensed from Rudc-rfi's Memoir, a notice for this Review of the life and works of Von Savigny. Mr. Beach Lawrence, whose loss we have had to regret since this notice was in type, was also an old contributor and a constant friend to this Review, to which he had lately sent the last volume of his latest published work.
Mr. W. E. Hall, though he had as yet published little, had already shown himself an original thinker in the domain of the Law of Nations, when in 1874 he brought out his essay on the Rights and Duties of Neutrals, reprinted in the relative portion of his present Treatise.
Mr. Westlake's name has so long been closely identified with the subject of his present volume, that it would have been matter for surprise had he longer delayed its issue. Intended to be "in lieu of a second edition of the work published in 1858," it is substantially a new book. We should have been glad if the learned author had seen fit to write more of a Treatise, such as would have come with so much authority from his pen, rather than draw up, as he has practically done, a Digest of English Case-law on questions which come within the field of Private International Law. For there is much in the present aspect of that branch of the modern 7us inter Gentes, which is in a fluid condition, and on which the opinion of flmdentes, so to speak, might with advantage be given. It is indeed hardly possible to look abroad, whether beyond the Atlantic, or only beyond the Channel, and not recognise the truth of the observation made some years ago by M. Charles Brocher, of Geneva, in the late Revue de Législation Ancienne et Modeme (Paris, 1875, p. 557, seq.), to the effect that in this our
day, Private International Law is certainly passing through one
of the most important phases of its development. Many causes conspire to produce this transition period, and its close does not seem to us by any means near. One of these causes, we ourselves cannot doubt, is the conflict between rival systems of Law, and the shock which—whatever may ultimately prove the prevalent doctrine-Von Savigny's system has suffered at the hands of the new and subversive School of Ihering. The opposition between the two is deeper, we are persuaded, and the blow to the hitherto unquestioned supremacy of Savigny is severer, than Mr. Guthrie seems to realise. It means, perhaps, nothing less than reconstruction of the entire edifice, a truly serious task, which were enough to tax generations of jurists. The division itself of International Law into Public and Private, though on the surface convenient, and following as nearly as possible the analogy of the Roman _7us Publirum and ]us Privatum, is yet, it seems to us, often difficult to draw, and not


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AHS International Recognizes Franklin Institute as First Vertical Flight Heritage Site
AHS International, the world's premier professional vertical flight technical society, will recognize the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as its first Vertical Flight Heritage Site. A ceremony will be held at the Franklin Institute on Sunday, October 27, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. [Read Press Release]
The ceremony on will be held as part of a half-day of 75th anniversary celebrations: The First Rotating Wing Aircraft Meeting was held at the Franklin Institute on October 27-29, 1938. It was the first international meeting on rotary-wing aircraft and marked a turning point from autogyros to helicopters. It was from this event that the American helicopter industry was born.
The Vertical Flight Heritage Site recognition ceremony is preceded by a half day of technical sessions discussing the past, present and future of rotary wing flight – mirroring the original 1938 event – and followed by a Gala Banquet in Franklin Hall that is a fundraiser for the American Helicopter Museum & Education Center. Go to www.vtol.org/first to register or donate to this important rotorcraft charity.
The purpose of the Vertical Flight Heritage Site Program is to recognize and preserve sites of the most noteworthy and significant contributions made in both the theory and practice of helicopter and other VTOL aircraft technology. More information is available at www.vtol.org/heritage.


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The bridge built to replace the one that crumbled like delicious goat cheese in Minneapolis in 2007—is a smartie, packed with built-in sensors that perform wonders like automagically de-ice the road in winter.
BusinessWeek uses the new bridge as its case study for the future of smart infrastructure, marrying concrete and silicon in major construction projects—which are where big dollars are going as part of Obama's stimulus plan, to provide jobs through "shovel ready" projects. Apparently, there's some debate as to how "smart" these projects need to be: smart, smarter or smartest, as BW puts it. Bleeding edge tech obviously costs more, so striking a balance is key.
Less than one percent of the cost of the St. Anthony Falls bridge was spent on the sensor system, which tracks weather, stresses and even traffic, and it'll save money in the long run, with its automatic de-icing system cutting "weather management" costs by 10 to 50 percent. It's the incorporation of the smart sensor tech that actually won the contract to build the bridge for the FIGG team. The next step will be wireless sensors that are even cheaper, so it'll be loaded up with thousands of them, not hundreds.
You'd think they coulda made it a little less ugly though.


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Last Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a sharp increase in the number of long-term jobless workers — 203,000 more who'd been unemployed and actively looking than in January.
This brought the average number of weeks jobless workers had been looking up to 37.1 — about 11 weeks more than most state unemployment insurance programs cover.
At least two million jobless workers have no UI benefits now, but would if Congress renewed Emergency Unemployment Compensation — and back-dated it to the end of December, when the program expired.
As I'm sure you know, Senate Democrats have been trying to pass an EUC extension since mid-December. Republicans haven't delivered the five votes needed for the Senate to vote on the extension itself.
The ostensible hang-up is the offset, i.e., the source or sources of funds that would keep the extension from adding to the near-term deficit. But some of the potentially persuadable Republicans have further complicated matters by insisting on amendments to reform UI.
And as if that weren't enough, they wanted the package to include a repeal of the temporary, modified cost-of-living adjustment for military pensions that was part of the December budget deal.
Well, the Senate took care of the repeal in mid-February, using a pay-for Republicans wouldn't accept for the EUC extension. Now it's going back to EUC again.
Majority Leader Harry Reid is calling for a six-month extension — five months shorter than the paid-for version he'd earlier proposed. He'd use savings already achieved in the new Farm Bill as the offset. Politico reports the cost at about $12 billion. That would leave about $11 billion for deficit reduction.
Seven Republicans have countered with a five-month extension. They've got an altogether different pay-for. And they fold in program "improvements," including one that has little or nothing to do with unemployment compensation.
Too much to cram into one post. So I'll deal with the pay-for here. As you'll see, the Gang of Seven seems to have moved toward the Democratic majority. This, alas, is not an altogether good thing.
The pay-for has three parts. The first would extend so-called pension smoothing provisions that Congress earlier used to help pay for the highway bill.
Basically, pension smoothing allows employers to temporarily reduce their contributions to employee pension plans. This raises revenues for awhile because the contributions are tax-deductible.
But it then loses revenues because employers have to make up what they didn't contribute earlier. The losses, however, fall outside the 10-year period used to estimate what federal laws will cost.
In short, it's what the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities calls a "timing gimmick." It also, as the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says, raises the risk that pension funds will need a bailout, thus further increasing federal costs.
Senate Republicans shot down pension smoothing when Reid tried to use it for a three-month EUC extension — or at any rate, they blocked the bill, claiming (rightly) that he limited their chances to amend it.
A second part of the pay-for is a modified version of an amendment Senator Rob Portman wanted to offer. In its new iteration, severely disabled workers who receive UI benefits would lose the same amount from their SSDI (Supplemental Security Disability Insurance) benefits.
This too was a pay-for Reid earlier offered — and borrowed from the President's proposed budget. But it still "uniquely burdens" disabled workers, as Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzig says.
It also undermines the work incentive in SSDI. And it establishes a terrible precedent of raiding Social Security to fund other benefits programs, as the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities warned several months ago.
The last part of the pay-for extends customs users fees through 2024. These are charges imposed for certain activities of the U.S. Customs Service, e.g., clearing merchandise for import.
So for better and worse, the Gang of Seven seems to have come round to a pay-for the Democratic majority could accept. But, as I said, it's paired with some problematic "reforms" to the EUC program.
Politico reports that Reid may take another stab at passing an EUC bill this week. How far he'll move to pick up the Republican votes he needs remains to be seen.
How far he should move is a daunting question.