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I love hand-me-downs. I shop at consignment stores, and when I'm done with my found treasures, I donate them to local charities. But it would never occur to me to do this with my home.
Yet, for some homeowners, especially ones in foreclosure, donating a house to charity may be the only way out of an awful situation -- and it seems like it could even be a path back to financial well-being. It's becoming quite popular, in fact, because it not only allows the homeowner who can't sell her/his house a way out, but also the donated homes -- many of which are renovated and resold -- add new value to the neighborhood. Here's how it works:
According to an industry website, as long as you've owned your home for more than a year, you can deduct the full market value of the home from your taxes. And if that full market value is more than your income (which it sure as heck is around these parts, I can tell you), you can spread that tax break over five years.
That could make a huge difference to a family looking to get out from under an upside-down mortgage without defaulting.
On the other hand, if you're just looking to ditch your meth house, you might have less luck. In areas with really bad foreclosure problems, charities have been able to get super-picky about what kind of properties they'll take. Given the current state of my abode, they'd walk in and run out screaming. Especially if they're allergic to playground sand in the carpet.
Giving up your home is never easy, I'm sure. But if this is on the up-and-up, it could be a real boon for people who would otherwise just have to walk away from an investment and eat the down payment.
And it'd be really cool if I could walk into my local "Out of the Closet" and find a dream house for $14.50! (But darn it, that's not how it works. Charities sell the homes themselves -- with Habitat for Humanity being the obvious fixer-upper recipient -- and pocket the profit, however small.)
Would you donate your house if you couldn't sell it?
Image via taxbrackets.org


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Inspire India Staff Review (All Phases to date)
Last night I met with the Inspire India Staff Team to review the programme to date. It was a really interesting evening with lots of discussion, laughs and challenges. We are going to put together the information to date and I will post that later on. A few thoughts though that made me think and really struck home were:-
- We had a long discussion as to whether the lead in time ought to be longer and why. Views varied from no, the timing was right and we may have lost some of the young people if it had been longer to yes, it should be much longer so that the young people know how hard it's going to be and will drop out if they're not committed enough. (Even though of 30 young people who went out to India we had only 2 returns, one of whom was a late notice replacement and wasn't entirely versed in what the scheme was about). What came through from the discussions were the 'judgments' being made by the staff on which young people had benefitted from the experience (regardless of what the young people themselves were saying about their learning) and how much of this was related to the staffs own values and morals. This proved to be quite a challenging and interesting conversation and I think all of us went away still mulling over the ideas presented.
- The young peoples' very positive reception of the whole blogging concept (even though we had done very little prep with them on this). The groups overseas worked with young people differently but both sets of staff felt that blogging supported and gave added structure and purpose to the experience.
- The Community aspect that came across through the blogging including some very postive affirmations for a group of young people who probably don't receive so much praise and interest. (And the fact that it is a permenant record that they can go back to whenever they want.)
- The challenges of working in partnership – which we inherently knew would be the case and worked hard to minimise but weren't as successful as we would have hoped to have been.
- And finally, that all the staff still felt that it had been one of the most challenging and developmental experiences of their careers…..and were still keen to do more!!!
Some time was also put aside to put together the young peoples's follow up and review in a weeks time. It will be interesting meeting up with them and seeing what they think now they're back here. They will also be choosing what they want to do for the volunteering phase and finishing off the ASDAN International Award which they have been working on.

subset: commoncrawl


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Arthur C. Clarke`s Legacy: Nothing Is ImpossibleBy Lawrence Walsh Print
The legendary author Arthur C. Clarke showed the world that the marriage of technology and imagination would spur innovation.
In my eyes, Clarke's legacy isn't his voluminous body of work, but rather his inspiration to believe that nothing in technology is impossible.
In the dying days of World War II, a little known British Royal Air Force officer working in radar-guided aircraft navigation wrote a memo to his superiors about the possibility of launching geosynchronous satellites in orbit for telecommunications. His memo was ignored.
The officer then submitted an article on the topic to a telecommunications magazine, which also dismissed the idea, calling it too fantastical. It was 1945, and space travel was nothing more than the subject of pulp novels. Dismissing such ideas wasn't illogical, since few people knew the atom was about to be cracked and commercial air travel was still in its infancy.
Nevertheless, this RAF officer is credited with coming up with the concept of satellite-based telecommunications, a technology and industry that wouldn't become a practical possibility until 1957 when the Russians launched Sputnik. His name, of course, was Arthur C. Clarke, best known for his novel and movie "2001: A Space Odyssey."
Clarke, who died yesterday, was a visionary. He understood the insuppressible power that came when someone combines imagination and technology. Over the course of prolific writing and research career, Clarke pushed the boundaries of the conceptual, exploring the origins of our species and potential of our technology.
Technology and business is replete with stories of people who conceived of fantastical ideas that were initially dismissed because conventional wisdom decreed that there would be no markets for their inventions or that development was impossible. Yet, we live in a world that is full of commonplace tools that make business and life easier.
Consider this: In 2001, Clarke and his collaborator, filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, conceived of interplanetary travel enabled by placing the crew in suspended animation for the long journey. Running their large ship was the HAL 9000, a computer with artificial intelligence. It was an amazing idea, considering that it was 1967 and the Apollo spacecraft that took U.S. astronauts to the moon had less computer processing power than most contemporary scientific pocket calculators.
The world has desktop computers, cellular phones, grid computing, portable media and two-way video communications because of visionaries like Clarke, who imagined both things he would and wouldn't see in his lifetime. In the span of his life, attitudes have changed and innovators are not cavalierly dismissed for their fantastical ideas. We now live in a world where anything possible, given enough time and ingenuity.
Business and technology leaders should embrace their visionaries and innovators. They should cultivate new ideas and give people the latitude to explore the boundaries of their technology. Every business should have the openness to expand its potential through the eyes of their dreamers.
In my eyes, Clarke's legacy isn't his voluminous body of work, but rather his inspiration to believe that nothing in technology is impossible.
Lawrence M. Walsh is editor of Baseline magazine. Share your thoughts on innovation and technology with him at [email protected].
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Habakkuk is the only prophet to devote his entire work to the question of the justice of God's government of the world. In the Bible as a whole, only Job delivers a more pointed challenge to divine rule. Habakkuk's challenge is set up as a dialogue between the prophet and God, in which Habakkuk's opening complaint about injustices in Judean society (1:2–4) is followed in 1:5–11 by God's promise that the perpetrators will be punished by invading Chaldeans, i.e., Babylonians. Habakkuk's second complaint about the violence of the Chaldeans themselves (1:12–2:1) is followed by a second divine response assuring the prophet of the reliability of God's rule and calling for human faithfulness (2:2–4).
This dialogue is followed by a series of observations on the disastrous nature of tyranny (2:5–20), and by a vivid description in chap. 3 of God's appearance to save the people. Chapter 3 may be the prophet's prayer that God fulfill the promises made earlier to Habakkuk, or a hymn praising God's power added to Habakkuk's speeches by editors. In either case, the description of the theophany draws heavily upon ancient traditions in which God establishes order by defeating chaos, symbolized by rebellious waters (see Jb 7:12; Ps 74:13–14; 77:17–21; 89:10–11; Is 51:9).
Two important events frame Habakkuk's prophecy: the great Babylonian (Chaldean) victory over the Egyptians at Carchemish (605 B.C.) and the second Babylonian invasion of Judah (587 B.C.), which ended with the destruction of Jerusalem. The desperate conditions in Judah during these years, arising from internal and external threats, provoked Habakkuk's struggle with difficult and important theological questions about divine justice.
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At least seven Palestinians have been killed and over 30 more injured after Israeli forces opened fire on a demonstration in the eastern Gaza Strip.
Hundreds of protesters attempted to approach the border fence which separates the Gaza Strip from Israel at a point east of Gaza City, near Khan Younis.
Ma'an News Agency reports that Israeli forces shot and killed Shadi Hussam Dawla, 20, Ahmad al-Harbawi, 20, and Abed al-Wahidi, 20, east of the al-Shujaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza City.
Muhammad al-Raqeb, 15, and Moussa Abu Elayyan, 22 were shot and killed by Israeli forces near Khan Younis.
The deaths in Gaza have come after weeks of deadly violence across Israel and the West Bank. The demonstration in Gaza is reported to be in support of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem amidst the recent spate of violence.
Many believe the recent upsurge in violence has signalled the start of a popular uprising, or intifada.
Hamas' leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, has labelled the recent unrest in the region an intifada.
On Friday, Hanieyh stated, "we are calling for the strengthening and increasing of the intifada. It is the only path that will lead to liberation. Gaza will fulfil its role in the Jerusalem intifada and it is more than ready for confrontation."
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Phillip Walker - Represent Chapter 2 [Harlems Unsigned Hype]
Directed by Var EZ, Co Directed by Phillip Walker. A 22 Year old Harlem artist makes a tribute to Nas by redoing the track "Represent" off the classic illmatic album. This past April was the 18th anniversary of illmatic, & this kid shows upright respect for the song while he represent his outlook on modern life. While still paying homage to his Harlem's ancestry by using vintage "Children Of The Corn" flows taking a page out of the 90's rap era. This kid had done his homework. Enjoy
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Everything About
Throughout history activists have launched campaigns in efforts to sway ideas and advance various political and social movements. Call back on the abolition of slavery, the women's suffrage movement, and the LGBT rights movement
Much like an infectious disease, "going viral" is something that happens when media is spread in unprecedented fashion and at high speed. Most people associate "going viral" with videos or images depicting humorous and heartwarming events
Throughout history activists have launched campaigns in efforts to sway ideas and advance various political and social movements.
Zillow serves the full lifecycle of owning and living in a home -> buying, selling, renting, financing, remodeling and more
Zazzle is an online retailer where users can sell their own self-designed merchandise or buy merchandise from other users. Typical items include t-shirts and posters
YouTube is a video-sharing website where users can upload and watch videos, subscribe to user channels and leave comments
Wretch was a Taiwanese community web site which provided free photo album, and blog hosting services
WordPress is an open-sourced blog platform which provides users with templates to utilize for on or offsite blogging
Vimeo is a video-sharing website where users can upload and watch largely high-quality, HD videos and subscribe to user channels
Veoh is an Internet television website specializing in network television and movie content, along with independent productions and user-generated videos
TypePad is a blogging service that shares technology with Movable Type and is used by both tech-savvy and non-technical users
Twitter is an internet service where users can update the world in real-time as to their current activities, thoughts and location in 140 characters or less
Tumblr is a blogging platform geared towards 'hip,' urban youth. Posts are generally short, and might include videos, quotations, pictures and links
TripAdvisor is the web's largest travel review website, which allows users to make travel plans (i.e. book flights/hotels) and write reviews of hotels, restaurants etc
Topix is an online community where users can comment on aggregated news articles and discuss local and national events with each other
Tinder is a location-based social search mobile app that allows users to like or dislike other users, and allows users to chat if both parties swiped to the right
The online service imeem was a social media web site where users interacted with each other by streaming, uploading and sharing music and music videos
Tagged is a social network where users can make profiles, post pictures, chat and play games with friends and send virtual gifts
StumbleUpon is a 'discovery engine,' which recommends random websites, videos, photos etc. based on user taste and preferences
SourceForge acts as a management system for software developers to regulate open source software development and projects
SoundCloud is a platform that puts your sound at the heart of communities, websites and even apps. Watch conversations, connections and social experiences happen, with your sound as the spark
SlideShare is a slide hosting service where users can upload files privately or publicly. The site is considered to be similar to YouTube, but for slideshows
Scribd is a digital library, e-book and audiobook subscription service that includes one million titles
ReverbNation helps Artists grow by introducing them to music industry partners and exposing them to fans
Reddit is a social news website where the registered users submit content, in the form of either a link or a text post
Quora is a question-and-answer site where questions are asked, answered, edited, and organized by its community of users
Polyvore is a community-powered social commerce website. The company's virtual mood board function allows community members to add products into a shared product index, and use them to create image collages called 'Sets'
PlentyOfFish is an online dating site where singles can take personality tests and find compatible mates
PictureTrail is a photo-sharing site which allows users to host images and share photos via a user profiles
Picasa is an image-organizing, photo-sharing site developed by Google where users can upload and edit digital photos
PhotoBucket is a photo-sharing service which allows users 500MB of free space where they can host, share (i.e. on MySpace), or keep their photos private
Pandora is an internet radio station created by the 'Music Genome Project,' which automatically recommends and plays music based on user's listening preferences
On Gravatar, users can register an account based on their email address, and upload an avatar to be associated with the account
OKCupid is a free online dating network where singles can message, share blogs and photos and find compatible users through member-created quizzes
MyYearbook was a social networking site which was acquired by MeetMe, a social networking site with features like chat, meet, discuss, and live video
Myspace is a social networking website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music, and videos
Metacafe is a video-sharing network where users upload, discuss, review entertaining short-form (90 seconds on average) clips
Menuism is a service for foodies and food lovers that offers restaurant reviews, individual dish reviews, restaurant menus and locations, and a social networking feature
Match.com is a popular online dating network which allows users to create profiles and meet like-minded singles looking for love
Lyrics.com is a searchable online database of song lyrics where users can share favorite songs, create profiles and make customizable playlists
LiveJournal is a blogging platform/social network where users keep a blog or journal, comment on friends' blogs and join virtual communities
LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network with 300 million members in over 200 countries and territories around the globe
Last.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Users can play music online, find out more about their favorite artists, and get music recommendations
Kongregate is an online gaming site where users can upload and play flash-based games, earn points and rewards for high scores and discuss in user forums
Klout is a website and mobile app that uses social media analytics to rate its users according to online social influence via the 'Klout Score'
Jango is a free online music streaming service that allows users to create and share custom radio stations
Instagram is a free photo sharing app which allows users to take a photo, apply a digital filter to it, and then share it on multiple social networking services
IMVU is a social game and entertainment site where millions of people meet, chat , play games and have fun
Hi5 is a social networking site where users can create a profile to showcase their interests. Users can upload pictures, play games, and more
Google Buzz was a social networking, microblogging and messaging tool that was developed by Google and integrated into their web-based email program, Gmail
GitHub is a Git hosting site that helps users manage software development projects. It also offers free public repositories, issue tracking, code review and more
Foursquare is a location-based social networking site where users can 'check-in' at vicinities with mobile devices
Fotolog is a photoblog website where users share pictures through online photo diaries or photo blogs
Flickr is an image and video hosting website where users and bloggers share, embed, and host photographs and images
Facebook is a social network where users can create a profile, add friends, exchange messages, and join common interest user groups
Eventful aims to help users search for, track, and share information about events. Users can also create calendars through the service
Etsy is an ecommerce website which focuses on the selling of handmade and vintage items, and arts and crafts supplies
eBay is an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a wide variety of goods and services worldwide.
Disqus is an online service which allows users to create a profile for organizing and following their comments across hundreds of websites
deviantART is an online community showcasing varied forms of user-made artwork and aims to provide a place for any artist to exhibit and discuss works
Delicious is a social bookmarking service for saving, organizing and sharing personal bookmarks. It is also used to discover the newest and most popular bookmarks
DailyMotion is a video sharing service website where users can find or upload videos about their interests
Crunchbase is a community site where users can discover industry trends, investments, and news about global companies
CNN IReport accepts video, photos and audio from a computer or cell phone. A compilation of news items submitted by citizen journalism
Citysearch is an online city guide that provides information about U.S. businesses in the areas of dining, entertainment, retail, travel, and professional services
Care2 is a social network website that was founded in 1998 to help connect activists from around the world
CafeMom is a community where moms come together to get advice and support on topics like pregnancy, health, fashion, food, entertainment, and more
Blogger is a blog publishing service with many features including geo-tagging and time-stamped entries for private or multi-user blogs
BlackPlanet is a social networking site targeted to the African American community with music, jobs, forums, chat, photos, dating personals and groups
Behance is an online portfolio site for creative professionals across multiple industries including photography, graphic design, illustration, and fashion
Ravi Singh is an American Sikh internet pioneer, military cadet, speaker, former dot com CEO, and international patent holder, whose passion for teaching, technology, and startups, have earned him a reputation as the "Campaign Guru." Ravi Singh has worked in over 21 countries and helped over 9 Heads of State. Ravneet Singh or Dr. Ravi has coached brands, companies, celebrities and leaders on digital strategy. He holds a Master of Arts, Master of Science, and a Doctoral (Ph.D) specializing in Social media & Technology. Dr. Ravneet Singh has certificates in digital strategy executive programs from MIT, Harvard, and Duke University. He currently resides in Miami, Florida. Ravi believes "social media has changed our definitions of success."
31 West 17th South Street, Suite 34 New York, NY 10001Call Us
Office: +1 202 888 1777
Please schedule an appointment by chat.
Office Hours: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST.
Email: email@example.com
Hashtag: #DrRavi


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Officials said Thursday that President Obama doesn't intend to downgrade Egypt, which gets $1.5 billion a year in U.S. aid. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
LAS VEGAS – President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that while he does not believe Egypt is an ally of the United States, he also doesn't consider the country an enemy.
"I think that we are going to have to see how they respond to this incident," Obama said in an interview with Telemundo anchor José Diaz-Balart, host of Noticiero Telemundo. He was referring to Tuesday's protests in Egypt, during which demonstrators, angered by a movie trailer parodying Prophet Muhammad, breached the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.
The president continued: "Certainly in this situation, what we're going to expect is that (the Egyptian government is) responsive to our insistence that our embassy is protected, our personnel is protected, and if they take actions that they're not taking those responsibilities, as all countries do where we have embassies, I think that's going to be a real big problem."
The Rachel Maddow Show includes segments of an interview with President Barack Obama with Telemundo anchor José Díaz-Balart about the U.S. response to the attacks on American missions in Egypt and Libya Tuesday.
Obama's strong words could mark a dramatic shift in the U.S.'s relationship with Egypt, which has been consistently pro-American since the late president Anwar Sadat. The country has maintained a peace accord with Israel since the 1979 Camp David Accords and since 1982 has received $1.3 billion in military and development aid from the U.S, according to the State Department.
How the recent election of President Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, will – or already has – affected the relationship between the two countries is still unclear. Morsi was Egypt's first-ever democratically-elected president.
In the Telemundo interview Wednesday night, Obama also discussed the ambush on the U.S. Consulate in Libya, calling the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Libya "heartbreaking" and repeated his call to bring those responsible to justice.
But when asked by Diaz-Balart whether it was time to "reconsider foreign aid" to Egypt and Libya, Obama said the U.S. "doesn't have an option of withdrawing from the world ... we're the one indispensable nation."
"Libya ... is a government that is very friendly towards us," Obama continued. "The vast majority of Libyans welcomed the United States' involvement. They understand that it's because of us that they got rid of a dictator who had crushed their spirits for 40 years."
Moammar Gadhafi, who had ruled the country since 1969, was overthrown in August 2011 during the Libyan Civil War triggered by the Arab Spring revolutions.
Earlier Wednesday, Libyan leader Mohammed Magarief took to the airwaves to condemn the killings and to apologize to the U.S.
The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed after protesters angry over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad stormed the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.
President Obama expressed confidence that the Libyan government would help the U.S. in finding those who were responsible for yesterday's violence: "Our hope is to be able to capture them ... but we're going to have to obviously cooperate with the Libyan government. And you know, I have confidence that we will stay on this relentlessly, because Chris Stevens, he's somebody who actually advised me and Secretary Clinton during the original Libyan uprising. He was somebody who Libyans recognized as being on the side of the people. And we're going get help. We're going to get cooperation on this."
Responding to GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's statements that Obama's initial response was disgraceful, Obama said: "As president, my obligation is to focus on security for our people, making sure that we gather all the facts, making sure that we're advancing American interests. And not having ideological arguments on a day when we are mourning the loss of outstanding folks who have served our country very well."


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Mark Spencer was the trainer for my Motion 3 T3 in Santa Monica back in October 2007. He's the first guy to cram 3D compositing into my brain. He was very gentle.
If you haven't visited his website applemotion.net, stop what you are doing right now and click that link dammit. You'll be amazed by all the free motion tutorials he's posted. Really, you will be. Things like
Using Motion Templates in Final Cut
And if you're an After Effects person or beginner or whatever and you want to get up to speed on Motion 3, check out
I've worked through this and it's unbelievable that this dvd is only 99 bucks. I mean, don't high end compositors make 100 bucks an hour at least? And this thing has like 10 hours of awesome training content. Instantly gratify yourself and buy the digital download. If for some reason you don't want to take your humble narrator's word for it, here's a no-compromises review from Ken Stone.
If you're already familiar with Motion 3 and want to dig in and learn all you can about the new 3D features, check out
I'm on lesson 4 and so far this training is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life. Again, instant gratification download right here.
I don't get a dime from these sales, but I do get a lot of feel-good karma knowing I'm pointing you towards an awesome trainer who will expand your mind without the use of hallucinogens or other questionable substances. And if for some reason those download links are lagging for you like they are for me, check out the homepage for Ripple Training Motion DVD's.
proactively • spinning my 3D compass in perspective view • peter


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Story highlights
- Police are investigating assault and arson they're calling a "hate crime" in Lincoln, Nebraska
- The victim, 33, has words carved into her skin and painted on her walls, an officer says
- A neighbor says the woman came to her door in the middle of the night, naked and bleeding
- The woman is openly lesbian and "the best neighbor," a friend says
Three masked men allegedly bound a woman and carved words into her skin, police in Lincoln, Nebraska, said Monday.
The incident has been classified as a hate crime because a derogatory term for lesbians was painted inside the home, said Officer Katie Flood, a spokeswoman for the Lincoln Police Department.
Someone had carved words into the woman's body, police said, but investigators declined to elaborate. In addition, someone poured gasoline around the house and lit it, but the fire did little damage, police said.
After the attack, the woman made her way to the home of a neighbor, Linda Rappl, who said she feared bad news about her husband, who is in hospice, when she heard someone knocking on her door before dawn Sunday.
What she saw instead was her 33-year-old neighbor, she said, naked and bleeding.
"I was in shock," Rappl said. "She was naked, her hands were tied with zip ties. All I could see was a cut across her forehead and blood running down."
The woman was sobbing. Rappl, 68, brought her neighbor inside and wrapped her in a blanket before calling 911.
"She had cuts on her arms and legs but I didn't want to humiliate her and stare," she said.
It looked like she had endured torture, Rappl said.
"Some of the blood that was on her -- that had run down her legs -- was dried so I don't know how long it was before she got away."
When word got out about the attack -- and the words carved into the woman's skin and painted onto the walls -- people responded with anger and sadness on social media.
Word of the incident spread quickly, said Tyler Richard, president of Outlinc, a non-profit organization for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community in Lincoln. Members of the LGBT community organized a vigil at the capitol building Sunday night that he estimates more than 500 people attended.
"The most powerful thing to me was the amount of people there, the amount of people that wanted to support and say this is not something we're going to stand for in our community," he said.
The city and its police force will do everything they can to "ensure that justice is done," Mayor Chris Beutler said Monday.
"Hate crimes are despicable and appalling to me and to all Lincoln residents," the mayor said in a statement. "Lincoln strives to be a community that embraces tolerance and equality. We stand united with our gay and lesbian citizens in denouncing violence directed at any group."
Though Rappl couldn't attend the vigil, she said it is good for the woman "to know how many people care about her and support her."
The women have been neighbors for about seven years and have become good friends, she said.
Rappl said her neighbor recently lost her job and had been spending her time volunteering with local children.
"Apparently, though, through that job someone let her know that she had no business working with children because she was a lesbian," Rappl said. "She is a wonderful, beautiful person. I couldn't ask for a better neighbor."
The woman lives openly as a lesbian, Richard said.
She helps her rake leaves and shovel snow, Rappl said; she also mows the lawn each week for neighbors who don't have mowers.
"She even apologized to my foster son for waking him up," she said.
She said the woman is out of the hospital and staying in an emergency shelter.
More from CNN Justice:


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By Birgitta Lauren 12.29.12
Can a violent nature be prevented? The short answer: yes, for the most part, but not always.
A violent nature doesn't just happen; it is not in our human nature when healthy, to kill adorable little children, or anyone for that matter. We need to look for the root cause of these horrendous incidences rather than blame the wrong end of the problem. This is a mental health issue. Not a gun issue. A gun cannot shoot itself, it needs a person to pull the trigger, but it takes a very sick person mentally to commit such a heinous crime. Blaming the gun is like blaming a car for a person deliberately running over someone, or knives when someone gets stabbed. We have millions of healthy, stable gun owners that would never do such a thing. Of course many with mental health issues are not violent either, but what causes it?
Mental health, though a multifaceted issue, starts in the womb and is either helped or hurt by continued lifestyle factors.
Factors that can affect the mental development and health negatively, of a growing baby in utero and after:
- Processed junk food, (high fructose corn syrup, soda, sugar, high GI foods, preservatives, stabilizers, nitrates, hormones, flavors, colors, and many other synthetic chemicals).
- Genetically Modified foods (corn, soy, canola, sugar, cotton, Hawaiian Papaya)
- Malnutrition and nutrient deficiencies in B vitamins, omega fatty acids, selenium.
- Chemicals (Mercury, BPA, Phthalates, fluoride, diesel and petrochemicals, and pesticides in our food, medications, skincare, cleaning products, light bulbs and all electric gadgets).
- Medications/Drugs (especially vaccines, anti-depressants, cognitive enhancers, antibiotics, anti-nausea meds, prescription pain killers, illegal drugs including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, alcohol and cigarettes).
- Lack of Vitamin D and sun exposure, is linked to all mental and physical diseases.
- Viruses and microbes like mold.
- Lack of exercise, creates hormonal imbalance and oxygen deficiencies leading to mood disorders.
- Insufficient prenatal weigh gain / Dieting around time of conception & early pregnancy
- Excessive prenatal weight gain
- Low birth weight, Preeclampsia and premature delivery
- Lack of probiotics, good bacteria and therefore vitamin K production in the gut.
- Babies born too close together (< 12 months between labor and conception).
- Mom's or baby's lack of sleep (affect cortisol production)
- Chronic stress or major stressful event (via Cortisol production).
- Labor complications, (C-sections, labor medications such epidurals, pitocin, & vaccines given to newborns, vitamin K3 injections.)
- Thyroid problems and Iodine deficiencies or toxicity.
- Environmental toxin exposure, exhaust, cleaning products.
Many on this list are easy to change, although most don't realize that mental health problems are CAUSED by the chemical poisoning of the human race and mind, through our foods, drugs and products around us. Between the consumption of processed junk food, soda, sugar, GMOs, drugs legal and illegal, and cigarettes, but especially the mind/brain/mood altering drugs of anti-depressants, ADHD, pain killers (biggest killer in the US 16,500/yr), and vaccines etc., especially during pregnancy and in children, we are creating an army of crazy zombies from the womb. We are being flooded with a tsunami of chemicals from before birth that not only prohibit proper brain development but cause many mental and physical diseases. Almost all pregnant women now have dangerous levels of chemicals in their blood. The more of the above risk factors a child encounters, the higher the risk for mental illness.
This is helped along with the endorsement and collaboration of the FDA, USDA, CDC, HHS, EPA, NIH, WHO, UN, Codex Alimentarius, Agenda 21 etc. together with the big food/chemical/drug companies, the medical industry, so-called health organizations and charities that are funded by the food, chemical and drug companies. The deliberate prevention of any real proactive prevention, by all these organizations as well as constant cover-up of the ill effects and dangers of especially GMO's and vaccines to the unsuspecting and uneducated on these issues is an abomination. Organizations like prematurity.org and preeclampsia.org actually claim that it's not preventable when in most cases it is. Most in the medical industry do not even want to discuss alternative natural remedies and better lifestyle factors to prevent disease. The AAP (Amer. Ass of Pediatrics) and the WHO (World Health Org) actually wants mercury in vaccines (January 2013 issue of Pediatrics). The rise in autism can be directly related to the introduction of the Hib vaccines commencing in 1988.
The CDC just released their flu vaccine recommendations for pregnant women…and the FDA last week expanded Tamiflu to 2 week old infants (with no studies on children less than a year old, and side effects including cancer, infertility, hallucination, seizure, cell mutation and death). All this, despite, according to Robert Kennedy Jr., a secret meeting back in 2000 with the CDC, every vaccine manufacturer, executives of the FDA, the WHO, 52 in all, at a remote location in Simpsonwood, GA., discussing the scientific data and medical records of 100,000 children, that vaccines are very much responsible for a dramatic increase in autism and many other neurological disorders (speech delays, ADD, ADHD, slow learning, seizures etc.). Between the years 1988-2004, the number of vaccines given to children went up 300-400%, and the autism rate increased 15 fold, from 1 in 2500 to 1 in 166. This data was "embargoed" so no-one could take any info with them. One consultant from the American Academy of Pediatrics decided his grandson would not be vaccinated, but yet, the group spent the next 2 days discussing how to cover up the data as they were concerned about the detrimental effects on the vaccine industry's bottom-line. CDC's Dr. Chen was relieved this information had been kept out of "less responsible hands", and the WHO's Dr. Clements declared "the study shouldn't have been done"…" or the results should have been handled". All this was later released with the Freedom of Information Act.
A confidential report from GlaxoSmithKline leaked on Belgian website: Initiative Citoyeene, shows 1,742 "adverse" events from the Prevenar 13 (6-in-one) vaccine, Journal of Medicine just noted that 97% of mumps out breaks in 2009 was in vaccinated kids (89% was vaccinated twice!), and different report shows a 4,250% increase in VAERS reported fetal deaths from the 2009/10 flu season when pregnant women were injected with both the flu and the H1N1 flu vaccine. THE CDC hides this in their figures by cleverly excluding that year, by including up till 2009 and skipping to end of 2010. The 2013 winter flu season numbers are double the normal rate. If flu vaccines are so good, why? Why have Merck paid WebMD.com some $3,9 million to promote various vaccines?
The vaccinologists have adopted this idea of vaccine induced herd immunity. The problem with it is that all vaccines only confer temporary protection… I think this is not something that's really understood generally by the public: Vaccines do not confer the same type of immunity that natural exposure to the disease does. … Do vaccine complications ultimately cause more chronic illness and death than infectious diseases do? " says Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC). There is also plenty of information on how cleanliness, hygiene etc. eradicated many communicable diseases before vaccinations did.
However, the lies are still perpetuated and pregnant women and children are still bombarded with mercury lazed vaccines. Only 10% of flu vaccines given are non-mercury. The problem is "regular" vaccines contain 25 mcg mercury, "non-mercury" vaccines still contain 3 mcg mercury… and the EPA says over 5 mcg is too toxic for adults…In addition, all vaccines also contain a variety of neurotoxic aluminum, formaldehyde, petrochemicals, phthalates, alcohol, MSG, animal extracts and a host of other chemicals. Recent news says the live polio vaccinations distributed in India today, have apparently caused some 47,000 cases of polio-effects…
Phthalates are also in skincare and many other things, BPA's are in food cans, formula, almost all plastics to some degree, and even paper receipts from the store…why? You are surrounded with brain damaging and cancerous EMF's (electromagnetic fields) from all electronic gadgets we use; mercury in your light bulbs, your Christmas tree lights (if anyone breaks, you will need to evacuate and literally call a hazmat team for clean-up according to the EPA); lithium in your batteries, cellphones, electric cars; petrochemicals like Hexane in your so-called "green" grocery bags and "plant extract" omega fatty acid supplement and infant formula! Phthalates, BPAs and GMO's are banned in many countries, why not here?
90% of corn, canola, soy, sugar and cotton is now GMO (genetically modified organisms), soaked in pesticides (more than conventional produce) and with its DNA altered, that will when consumed destruct all of your tissues. GMO is causing widespread infertility, neurological decline, plant and animal deaths. Unless a product says it's "100% USDA Organic" you are now eating GMO's. Even organic foods may be slightly GM due to cross pollination, thanks to Monsanto. 11% of "healthy" students use ADHD drugs like Ritalin and Adderall, for cognitive enhancements – some of the many side effects: aggressive behavior, psychotic episodes, seizures, bipolar and death…there is an epidemic of painkiller addiction, so much that death from it has exceeded car accidents, 16,500 annually, and 30% of babies born in some Florida counties are born addicted to OcyContin! OcyContin side effects: depression, agitation, hallucination and impotence, among several hundred side effects… have anyone seen someone "high" on OcyContin? "Out of it zombie" is a good description. What are these babies going to be like as adults? How does a woman do this to her baby, and how do her doctors let her? The doctor responsible for widening pain medication prescriptions, Dr. Russell Portenoy, now has second thoughts…His own mother is addicted. Most people responsible for any one death, usually goes to jail…(16,500 dead a year, so likely over 100,000 dead since 1990), but the pharmaceutical, medical industry and the FDA has voted themselves immune to even lawsuits of adverse drug events resulting from addictive opioid pain pills and vaccines.
Is there any wonder we end up with so much mental illness, autism, Asperger's and ADHD, etc.. in children? The medical industry tries to blame it on Genetic mutation but only 1% can attributed to that. Read Andy Berman's interview on mental illness http://ow.ly/gwxg5
All school shootings have happened with mentally ill boys. Boys are the weaker sex from conception until puberty and seem to be more affected by everything. The latest school shooter, Adam apparently suffered from bi-polar and Asperger's, his mom who also had mental health issues, had isolated him from his dad and others, he was on Fanapt, a medication for schizophrenia (side effects: suicide, aggression, major depression, mania, delusion etc…), was obsessed with violent video games and probably shouldn't ever have been around guns. He was obviously smart enough that he planned this event quite meticulously down to destroying his computer to hide his plans. He was unable to "buy" his own guns due to Connecticut's strict gun laws, and so took his mom's. This was premeditated and carefully executed as he may have been angry at his mom for planning to place him in an institution where he might have gotten some help. Nothing would have stopped him. Will the investigation actually teach us how/if it could have been prevented? Will they use his medical records, and the moms prenatal medical records to learn from? Ie: medications, vaccinations stressful events, complications….What was both of their diets like? What was their exercise history? Will add they add up lifestyle factors of both, including the violent video games, etc… and use it for education and future medical illness prevention? Will the hypocritical celebrities starring in one violent movie after another (now calling for more gun restrictions) actually stop making those movies? NO on all counts. Hollywood just got themselves LESS regulations on sawn-off shotguns as movie props…and over Christmas the FDA allowed Genetically Modified Salmon…
We have to stop mental illness where it starts.
Studies have shown schizophrenia is linked to anorexia or sever stress in the first trimester of a pregnancy, and children, especially boys born to moms who smoked while pregnant are more likely to be criminally violent. Even a dad's lifestyle, in particular drug use prior to conception, even 10-20 years earlier, can affect the future mental health of his child by damaging his own DNA. Violent media (TV, movies & video games) is shown to affect violent behavior of the very young and those not of sound mind. The elimination of the 10 commandments from schools in the 60s is directly linked to increased youth violence by 700%, and stressful family events, a lack of family structure and good parenting can also contribute do a decline in morals and behavior. We will never prevent all violence and/or mental illness as there will always be "lemons" that can't be controlled with laws, gun control or even better health and mental care. Adams genetic material has been extracted for research into what might be his "flawed gene". This will most likely be used against innocent people with similar genes on all sorts of levels from employment, medically to legally, instead of finding out "how" he got messed up for future prevention.
Unfortunately this last massacre will likely end up in more useless gun restrictions, which no criminal or mad person cares about anyway, and more forced anti-depressant, psychotic and ADHD medicalization of kids which will only make matters worse. The drug companies will use this to profit. Profits used to fund government agencies, medical industry, charities, and political donations. Obama who is embroiled in sending weapons to Mexican drug cartels and to various rebel groups in the Middle East, said in a recent Barbara Walters interview – "…I like men with guns (Secret service) around my daughters for protection". So, why shouldn't all kids have armed protection, at school and home? A new FBI report states that the number of murders by hammers & clubs is 50% higher than by rifles and murders by fists are 100% higher than by rifles. Murders overall are way down.
America needs to wake up and realize our brains are being turned into mush deliberately. But we have a choice, and there is an awful lot that we can do, to ensure better mental health. The Drake Institute in CA has a great track record of programs without drugs for suffering kids. For future generations: eating much healthier and Organic is vital; supplementing with comprehensive multi-vitamins, omega fatty acids, probiotics; exercising (for both the "happy" hormone endorphins and oxygen, as oxygen deprivation in utero is linked to ADHD and depression – prenatal fitness is also linked to better language skills which is linked to better anger management skills in toddlers says a new study from PA State U.); avoiding or limiting exposure to chemicals, especially drugs and vaccines, and getting enough sunshine (for the "happy" vitamin D as deficiencies are linked to all mental and physical diseases). Particularly during pregnancy to protect our DNA, chromosomes and telomeres, for the sake of our future babies health.
Mental health starts in the womb. But… will we do it? Will more than a few educated on the topic start to question why we are surrounded with brain altering chemicals? Why is there BPA on retail paper receipts? Why are there chemicals in baby food and prenatal supplements? Why do all so-called "green products" like light bulbs, solar panels, grocery bags, contain mercury, petro-chemicals etc… Why do Coke and Pepsi add salt and chemicals to their bottled water? … Why is there toxic fluoride in our water? Why after processing all natural nutrients out of food, do they put only a few nutrients back and synthetic versions in addition to a long list of chemicals? Why did the FDA approve Genetically Modified Salmon over Christmas? The list is endless.
Will more than a few, demand a ban on some of these chemicals and /or the use of them in certain products (some chemicals like mercury is naturally excreted in nature, so it can't be all-out banned).
There are certainly other mental health management issues not covered here, but this article is now long enough…. A new Swedish project underway, will at least study 4,000 pregnant women and how chemicals alter the health of a growing baby in utero.
"Fit Moms Make Fit Babies, Fit Babies make Smarter Children".
Tags: ADHA, aggression, anitdepressants, Aspergers, autism, chemicals, CNN, Depression, Disease Prevention, drugs, drugs in pregnancy, förhindra depression spa for moms, fox news, guns, healthier children, Healthy Pregnancy, mental health, mental illness, Newsmax, ocycontin, opioits, pain killers, Pregnancy, Public Health, schizophrenia, vaccines, violence


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Take a glance into the group exercise studios and fitness areas of the average fitness club and chances are most of the people you'll see are young, fit and healthy. But outside that club, it's a very different story.
The majority of Americans aren't in great shape, and they're not doing anything about it, including not joining fitness clubs. Paul Zane Pilzer, entrepreneur and author of "The New Wellness Revolution," says that's because most people don't perceive an environment of acceptance. They think of clubs as a place where people who are already fit and healthy go, rather than seeing them as a means to become that way.
"The word 'gym' still creates an image of body builder," says Pilzer. "We need to turn that image into something that conveys the idea of wellness and positivity to get those 250 million Americans who don't belong to a club to feel more comfortable with the idea."
Part of the solution, Pilzer says, is for clubs to make a more concentrated effort to approach members' well-being as a whole, rather than focusing solely on exercise. For example, he points out that a large percentage of people quit going to clubs because they fail to meet their primary goal for joining—to lose weight. So why aren't more clubs integrating nutrition services, since we know that healthy eating and exercise must go hand in hand to achieve that goal?
Some clubs are already doing just that—and more. From forming strategic relationships with health care providers to incorporating therapeutic and medical services into their facilities, forward-thinking clubs are finding ways to attract the people that need them the most—and they're reaping the benefits, from better retention rates to increased revenue streams. Could your club do the same?
Accidents and Opportunities
Gainesville Health & Fitness, a chain of three facilities in Gainesville, FL, is a shining example of a club with integrated wellness services ranging from aquatic therapy for arthritis, spinal fitness systems and physical therapy to nutrition and weight-loss counseling.
As well-organized as the services are, Gainesville owner Joe Cirulli says his decision to diversify into wellness initially resulted from several random events falling into place.
"I was initially looking at physical therapy as a career before I got into the health club business," Cirulli says. "Once I started building my own company, I focused totally on the health club and what I needed to do to make it a success. But over time, certain things happened."
One of those things was that Cirulli broke his knee during karate practice. After surgery, he attended therapy sessions at what he was told was the best therapy center in town. Cirulli didn't buy it.
"All the time I was doing therapy, I was thinking 'I can do so much better than this. I can do this in a more inspiring environment, with more inspiring people and do better than just looking at the person as a problem.'
Cirulli went back to his own club and worked on rehabbing himself. And during that time the second thing happened: Cirulli met a physical therapist from Michigan who was in Florida for only a few months. The therapist wanted to work as a personal trainer to take a break from physical therapy, and Cirulli was happy to have him on board.
"I got to know him as a great trainer, and I knew he was a great physical therapist," says Cirulli. "I said to him, 'Someday, I'm going to have a physical therapy center, and I'll call you."
The third, and final, thing was that through a fitness equipment business contact, Cirulli began testing a line of medical/rehabilitation equipment being developed at the University of Florida College of Medicine.
"The results were phenomenal what was happening to people," says Cirulli. "And I just got to the point where I thought: 'I can make this work now.'"
Cirulli called the physical therapist as he said he would and asked him to move to Florida. Then he invested in one of the rehab machines.
The health club was already successful thanks to its fitness facilities and programming, but Cirulli initially found it challenging to compete with already established physical therapy practices for doctor recommendations.
Cirulli and the physical therapist starting holding public seminars at Gainesville about how to reduce or eliminate low back pain. The therapist explained anatomy, physiology and proper body mechanics, and Cirulli talked about the benefits of exercise, demonstrated the rehab machine and explained the research.
"We'd give them all sorts of information and a referral pad and say 'Go see your doctor.' And they did," Cirulli says. "After a while, the doctors started calling me, saying, 'What are you doing to these people? They're all getting better.'"
Cirulli invited the doctors in to see the facility and learn more about the program he offered, and Gainesville's reputation grew. Eventually, Cirulli's company took over operations of a local hospital's rehab center. The joint venture, called ReQuest, has locations in two of Cirulli's clubs and a third standalone physical therapy center.
Riding on the success of integrating physical therapy into his fitness clubs, Gainesville has since branched into many other wellness services. He says what drives his company is simply market need—looking at what the club members and the community need and then designing a program to serve them.
Gainesville offers a wide range of well-designed programs to address specific health issues, such as rebuilding the strength of cancer patients and easing the pain of arthritis sufferers, but it still strives to attract those who just want to get or stay in shape. Its newest plan for this goal is a line of fixed-length, small group classes called Custom Fit. Each has a specific theme, such as helping brides-to-be look and feel great on their big day. Cirulli says Gainesville will soon offer them as packages to non-members.
Best of the Best
While Gainesville evolved somewhat organically, ACAC Fitness and Wellness Centers owner Phil Wendel says his clubs' diversification was part of a targeted strategy to serve a wider population.
ACAC opened its first location in Charlottesville, VA, in 1984 as a traditional fitness club with weights, group exercise classes and cardio machines, but Wendel says he decided to expand the club's mission after reading a 1997 article written by John McCarthy, the former executive director of the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA).
"John talked about the future of the fitness industry being primarily made up of a large demographic—64 percent of the American population—that called themselves the 'interested de-conditioned'" Wendel says. "[These people] accepted the benefits of exercise, were not satisfied with what they were doing and were ready to embrace a more active lifestyle. From this point on, we targeted this market."
The company opened its flagship fitness and wellness facility the following year. The 64,000-square-foot facility has all the usual fitness amenities, such as group exercise studios and cardio and weight equipment, but also features a therapy pool and offered on-site physical therapy and cardiac rehab.
"Initially, in 1998, cardiac rehab and physical therapy were tenants," Wendel says. "Flash forward to today, we own our own physical therapy clinic, we have a nutritionist, 20 to 30 fitness specialists, personal trainers, all with certifications and degrees in the field. We also have nurses in all of our clubs."
Many of ACAC's auxiliary services are open to the public, including physical therapy, nutrition and counseling, a weight-loss club and wellness coaching, which helps participants with issues such as achieving a healthy work/ life balance, quitting smoking and managing stress.
Non-members can also gain access through ACAC's Physician Referred Exercise Program (PREP). The program, which won Club Industry's Best of the Best award for non-member program in 2010, was created with the help of a medical advisory board and allows non-members to attend the club for 60 days for $60 with a referral from their doctor. In addition to regular club access during those 60 days, PREP enrollees have two 30-minute sessions per week to work with a medical fitness specialist, one consultation with a nutritionist and a session with a personal trainer.
PREP has around 180 enrollees per month—all non-members. It's an impressive figure, but Wendel points out that it's not achieved passively.
"Each club has a full-time outreach staff member, whose job is to call on physicians' offices," he says. "The PREP program grows each year, and physicians gain confidence in our ability to properly handle their referrals."
As a certified Medical Fitness Association (MFA) facility, ACAC takes seriously its commitment to providing high-quality wellness and medical fitness services, and Wendel urges other club owners to remember that trying to expand a club's mission this way is not an endeavor to be taken lightly.
"If you don't have a good ground game and quality programming that you can offer physician-referred clients, don't get into that business," he says.
Low-impact, Big Rewards
Fitness clubs needn't offer all the barbells and whistles of an MFA-certified facility to show their dedication to creating a healthier community. Forming a relationship with a health care provider, such as a local hospital, can bring benefits without the need to renovate, buy new equipment or hire additional staff.
Cardinal Fitness, a Chicago-based chain with 54 locations in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, became the exclusive health club partner for Silver Cross Hospital, Joliet, IL, in 2007. According to Emilie McClughen, Cardinal's director of marketing, the relationship has been advantageous for both parties.
"Silver Cross Hospital was interested in teaming up with a large health club entity in order to provide benefits and support for their employees, physicians, volunteers and patients," McClughen says. "It made sense for us to partner, as we are able to work together to meet the need for healthy communities by providing health and fitness education, outreach and resources."
Through the terms of the partnership, selected Cardinal clubs offer discounted memberships to the hospital's employees, physical rehab patients and bariatric surgery patients. This raises the club chain's revenues from memberships while serving as an incentive for Silver Cross staff and patients.
The Silver Cross patient-members are under the supervision of their health care providers, so Cardinal didn't have to change its programming or hire specialists to accommodate them. McClughen says the chain is confident it provides a high-level of personalized programming for all its members—whether already fit or in recovery—through its trainers.
"Our trainers are all certified and taught a science-backed program that can be tailored to each individual based on their needs," says McClughen.
Along with member referrals, McClughen says the aim of the partnership is to increase Cardinal's visibility in the community and ability to provide information and education to club members and potential club members.
One of the ways the partnership achieves this goal is through public health and fitness events. For instance, in an effort to raise awareness about childhood obesity, Cardinal has hosted several events at Silver Cross Field, home of Joliet's minor-league baseball team. On certain game days, the club's trainers invited children to run the bases and take part in exercises, and they distributed an information packet about staying active.
Although events like this no doubt help raise Cardinal's profile in the community, McClughen says the most important benefit the chain has received from the partnership is that it allows the participating fitness centers to provide targeted education for its members.
"With Silver Cross bringing a medical component to the relationship, Cardinal Fitness is able to provide members with more information to help them fully accomplish their health goals," McClughen says. "With the help of Silver Cross Hospital, we are able to provide diet and health information at our annual health fairs, such as advice on healthy eating.
In addition, we were able to provide low-cost health screenings to test for cholesterol, blood glucose, blood pressure, and body fat analysis."
The Bottom Line
The costs and benefits of expanding a club's scope vary greatly, depending on the level of services offered and how they are managed.
A partnership like this one has a relatively low financial expense. Aside from marketing costs shared by the partners, the greatest commitment is in time. The additional membership revenue resulting from hospital referrals is easy to measure, but the financial impact of the public relations boost that the club receives from its community events is incalculable.
Adding services incurs more of an outlay. Medical rehab machines, such as those used at Gainesville, can run $50,000 to $60,000. Hiring qualified therapists is another expense. However, when managed well, these services can eventually become very profitable. When Cirulli first took over the hospital rehab facility that is now part of ReQuest, it grossed twice what Gainesville's rehab services did but still made less money. Cirulli says Gainesville's rehab services now yield 20 percent profit.
It can take years to realize the profits from incorporating a new program or service, especially if the revenue comes indirectly. PREP, which ACAC started in 2004, has enrolled 2,000 participants in the Charlottesville facility to date. Wendel says that the approximately $120,000 in gross revenue from the program sales covers just the amount it takes the club to run the program. The true value to the club comes from the new members PREP brings in.
"Based on our historical data, we know that at least 40 percent of PREP participants become club members," Wendel says. "Their average tenure is 30 months, and their average dues and peripheral sales are $135 a month. Therefore, our long-term projection for the 1,979 participants in Charlottesville in 2010 is $3.2 million."
With such significant revenues possible, encouraging those who need these wellness services to step through the doors of fitness clubs could not only benefit the millions of Americans suffering from what Pilzer calls "voluntary poor health," it could make the club industry's bottom line a little healthier, too.


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MAN TGX D38 for motor racing teams
Safe transportation: MAN trucks bring Mattias Ekström's racing car to races
Race driver Mattias Ekström and his EKS Performance and Abt Sportsline teams received new MAN vehicles to transport their race cars last year: both teams were equipped with two MAN TGX D38 semitrailer tractors respectively.
EKS Performance AB is Mattias Ekström's private rally cross team; the Swedish driver has been in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) since 2001. With his two DTM titles from 2004 and 2007, Ekström is among the world's best touring-car race drivers. In addition, he is the most senior and successful Audi driver of the DTM.
Two MAN semitrailer tractors for EKS Performance AB
MAN has been supporting EKS Performance AB since 2014 with semitrailer tractors for transporting race cars. MAN's trucks bring the team's race cars, mobile workshop, equipment, and mobile communications center to the race tracks.
In June 2015, Heinz-Jürgen Löw, Director of Sales & Marketing at MAN Truck & Bus AG, Björn Loose, Head of Marketing and Brand at MAN Truck & Bus, and Holger Mandel, Director at MAN Truck & Bus Deutschland, handed over two TGX D38 to Mattias Ekström.
Audi Sport Relies on MAN Trucks
MAN has been in close partnership with Audi Sport for many years now. In 2016, the team received eight new MAN TGX semitrailer tractors, two of which were the MAN TGX D38, the flagship of the long-distance transport truck series.
Audi Sport transports its DTM and LMP racing cars for racing weekends across Europe using MAN trucks. Spare parts, mobile conference rooms, rooms for medical support and engineering are also transported on the European highways in this way.


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Utility named to Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index and ranked among top 10 S&P 500 utilities by Carbon Disclosure Project
CHICAGO - Recognizing Exelon's leadership in corporate sustainability, the company has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index for the sixth consecutive year. In addition, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) ranked Exelon one of the top 10 utilities on the S&P 500 for its carbon emissions reporting.
"Exelon takes very seriously its responsibility to address and disclose the economic, environmental and social impacts of our business," said John W. Rowe, Exelon chairman and CEO. "It is gratifying to have our business practices recognized by respected, independent organizations like Dow Jones Indexes and the Carbon Disclosure Project. Exelon's efforts to operate sustainably and reduce its emissions through its Exelon 2020 strategy not only benefit the environment, but also create value by positioning Exelon for a clean energy future."
Exelon received an overall sustainability score of 72 percent on the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index - exceeding the average company score of 58 percent. The Index recognizes the top 20 percent of companies in each sector, in terms of sustainability, from among the 600 largest North American companies. The annual review is based on an in-depth analysis of economic, environmental and social criteria, such as corporate governance, risk management, branding, climate change mitigation, supply chain standards and labor practices.
Based on Exelon's reporting of its carbon emissions and its actions to reduce emissions, the company achieved a disclosure ranking that placed it among the top 10 utilities in the CDP's S&P 500 Report for 2011. CDP collects extensive information on emissions reporting and climate change performance from the largest U.S. companies to determine its rankings.
Central to Exelon's sustainability efforts is Exelon 2020, a business and environmental strategy to eliminate more than 15 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year by 2020. It includes projects such as investments in energy efficiency, retirement of inefficient fossil power plants, and the introduction of more clean energy resources into the marketplace.


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Cheap Fall Fashion Trends 2019
6 Affordable Fall Trends To Try While It's Still Hot Out
As POPSUGAR editors, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. POPSUGAR has affiliate and advertising partnerships so we get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase.
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Sarah Darer Littman: Heck with solutions, just blame the poor
As the debate heats up around Governor Malloy's proposed education reforms, it's been extremely dispiriting to witness white suburban prejudice on display in the editorial pages of the state's newspapers.
Perennial single-parent basher Chris Powell, managing editor of the Journal Inquirer, wrote in Jan. 21 editorial: "(Malloy) made a compelling argument for what is called early childhood education, the euphemism for compensating for the child neglect resulting from childbearing outside marriage. Because of this neglect, a quarter or so of Connecticut's children are entering school far behind kids who have actual parents."
"Actual parents?" So any child born out of wedlock has "fake" parents? When I lived in the UK, I took my son to the NHS clinic. Tired and stressed, I wept, "I'm such a bad mother." In her no-nonsense British way, the nurse said, "Well, he doesn't know any better, you're the only one he's got."
There are many forms of neglect. I live in an affluent town where kids with what Mr. Powell would call two "actual" parents have eating disorders, alcohol and drug problems, just like urban kids with single parents. The difference is their parents have insurance for treatment.
Then the Hartford Courant's Bob Englehart was suspended for a week without pay after a post in which he said: "Inner-city poor and minority-filled schools aren't going to change until we can somehow change the pervasive core of the problem: dysfunctional inner-city poor minority families. ... For the most part, losers raise losers. Somehow we've got to get to these families and teach them how to respect education."
Seriously Mr. Englehart? Do you really believe that white families have the monopoly on a respect for education? How does it benefit kids to get the message that they are "losers" being raised by "losers"?
What both of these privileged white men are missing is that poverty is the problem crippling the urban schools. But why look at the tax and budget policies that have exacerbated their difficulties when it's so much easier to blame the poor for their own misfortune?
Census data from 2009 showed the median wealth for white households was roughly 20 to 1 to that of blacks and 18 to 1 to that of Hispanics, far exceeding the 7 to 1 ratio the groups reached in 1995.
It's totally unsurprising that this massive wealth divide is reflected in test scores. A recent study released by Stanford University, published as a chapter in a research book titled, "Whither Opportunity? Rising Inequality, Schools, and Children's Life Chances," found that the gap in test scores between the higher-income and low-income children has grown by about 40 percent and is now nearly twice as large as the black-white achievement gap.
"We had expected the relationship between family income and children's test scores to be pretty stable over time. It's a well-known fact that the two are related," said Sean Reardon, author of the study. "But the fact that the gap has grown substantially, especially in the last 25 years, was quite surprising, striking and troubling."
Reardon points to the fact that wealthy parents spend more on enrichment classes and tutoring. Meanwhile, over the past few decades we've cut taxes for the wealthy while whittling away the programs for the poor.
"It's harder to be poor in America than it used to be," Reardon said. "Some aspects of the social safety net have gotten weaker, and programs to help families through hard times have been dismantled."
"Trickle down economics" hasn't worked. It's created, to paraphrase the Kerner Committee, "two societies ... separate and unequal," and unless we stop blaming the poor and instead start investing in early childhood education and reversing the cuts to important literacy programs it will destroy the American Dream.
Sarah Darer Littman is a Greenwich resident. Her fourth novel, "Want to go Private?" was published in August by Scholastic Press.


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Oh, Helene, I think you may have converted me to outlines. Yours looks FANTASTIC!I never knew about the document map feature. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to have to try that one right now.
Okay, Helene, thanks for the document map tips--I am on my way right now to figure out how to use it to glorious and awesomely profitable advantage--, but first, 'The stack of napkins in my underwear...'? I have to know where that sentence is going.
Lydap posted this 9-point outlining scheme over in mid-grade awhile back (2006, I think?), and it has completely changed the way I brainstorm and outline my books. It is sooooo helpful!I hope no one minds that I've copied and pasted it here -- if so, feel free to do what you need to do with this post
Wow.Thank you for reposting this! I am so excited to get to work!
Thank you for reposting this! I am so excited to get to work!
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Part two of a two-part series.
Thousands of coal miners continued to suffer and die from black lung during the 40 years that tough new limits on exposure to coal dust were supposed to provide protection.
Control of the mine dust was plagued by weak enforcement by regulators and loopholes exploited by mining companies, according to a joint investigation by NPR and the Center for Public Integrity (CPI). The protections were "set up for failure," says Dennis O'Dell, the safety and health administrator at the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA).
As NPR and CPI reported Monday, a 1969 law slashed the legal limit for exposure to coal dust to as little as 1/4 of the amount many coal miners were breathing at the time. Although diagnoses soon plunged 90 percent, the decline didn't last.
In the mid-1990s, medical experts began noticing an increase in diagnoses, along with disease in younger miners and rapid progression to severe stages of sickness.
The trend is most acute in a triangular region of Appalachia that includes eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia and southwestern Virginia.
"Since [federal regulators] started protecting us ... 70,000 of us have died," says Mark McCowan, a 47-year-old former coal miner from Pounding Mill, Va., who worked 21 years underground.
McCowan suffers from progressive massive fibrosis, the worst stage of the disease. "I don't feel very protected," he says.
Federal data confirms the death toll cited by McCowan. In the same 40-year span, federal and industry compensation for black lung victims and their families topped $45 billion.
'An Addiction To Cheat'
From the very beginning, miners reported "irregularities" in controlling coal mine dust, says Donald Rasmussen, 84, a pulmonologist in Beckley, W.Va. Rasmussen says he's tested 40,000 coal miners for black lung in the last 50 years.
"So many miners will say, 'If you think the dust is controlled you're crazy,' " he says.
Measuring coal mine dust is key to preventing overexposure. Excess dust can trigger citations, fines and even slowdowns in coal production. Mining companies enforce their own compliance by taking and reporting mine dust samples. Federal mine inspectors also test for excessive dust.
But NPR and CPI have found widespread and persistent gaming of the system designed to measure and control exposure.
Richard Allen, a federal mine inspector underground when the 1969 law first took effect, says he remembers a strange question from a Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) investigator about a carpet's color in a coal mine manager's office.
"It was blue and [MSHA was finding] little blue fibers in each [mine dust] sample," Allen says. "[Investigators] cross-referenced the fibers in these samples to that carpet and found that he was sampling in his office" and not deep inside the mine.
The mine manager was later convicted of defrauding the mine safety agency and served time in prison.
Federal records obtained by CPI and NPR describe 103 cases resulting in criminal convictions for fraudulent dust sampling from 1980 through 2002. Fines totaled $2.2 million, and some mining company officials went to jail.
In 1991, the Labor Department levied civil fines of more than $6.5 million against about 500 coal mines for tampering with mine dust samples.
There was "an addiction to cheat," said Lynn Martin, who was secretary of labor at the time.
Mine Operators' Miscalculations
Coal companies continued to routinely deceive federal regulators with sampling that minimized dust exposure, according to coal miners, former mine inspectors, federal records and testimony in lawsuits.
David Neil, who worked underground in West Virginia through most of the 1980s, said he was told by a company foreman to hang a measuring device called a dust pump out in mine shafts with clean air and away from coal dust.
"Maybe if we didn't do it this way, they'd come in and shut down the mines," Neil remembers thinking. "Then we'd be out of work."
Neil now suffers from advanced black lung, as does Randall Wriston, whose last job underground was in a West Virginia coal mine four years ago.
"If I would have [worn] a dust pump 50 percent of the time, they would have shut down," Wriston says, because the mine would be out of compliance for having too much dust. "If they would get a bad sample they'd turn them upside down and shake them, and that would give a false reading. So, they'd come back and do it some other time."
Miners, former miners and current and former federal regulators told NPR and CPI about dust pumps tucked into lunch boxes or under clothing or out in mine shafts with fresh air — anywhere away from coal dust.
It's unclear what happened with vigorous criminal prosecution after 2002. MSHA tells CPI and NPR that there were no "closed cases" of dust sampling fraud in the last decade, which indicates no criminal convictions. The agency refuses to disclose how many violations, if any, were sent to the Justice Department for possible prosecution, citing a policy forbidding disclosure of the "existence or potential existence of open criminal cases."
In the last three years, a new MSHA enforcement effort called "dust busters" targeted mines with coal dust problems. In 96 different inspections, the agency found 531 mine dust violations.
Many of the mines with violations are owned by some of the nation's largest mining companies. In some cases, sampling was considered so egregiously deficient that MSHA withdrew dust-testing certification for 14 mining company managers and contractors. Eleven others were formally warned about deficient sampling.
Deficiencies included inadequate water pressure and insufficient airflow, which help disperse mine dust; failure to maintain dust-collecting equipment; failure to follow dust-sampling procedures; and failure to examine sampling devices for dust.
"At times, the ventilation controls are not in place. The water sprays are not in place," says Joe Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. "We find that the sampling process that is used is not as required by the standards."
That's what investigators discovered after the deadly 2010 explosion at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County, W.Va. Several workers at the mine told investigators they were ordered to manipulate dust sampling, according to a story in The Charleston Gazette that supplements the NPR/CPI investigation.
Federal Sampling Yields Higher Exposures
Federal inspectors also collect mine dust samples. In 24 of the last 30 years, dust samples taken by federal mine inspectors found higher concentrations of coal mine dust than samples provided by mining companies, according to federal data.
In one year, inspectors reported 40 percent more exposure than did the industry.
Despite those differences and the record of fraudulent industry samples, mining companies continue to check their own compliance with the law.
"Government is in a situation where they have to utilize the data that is presented to them," Main says. "And, at times, yes, we have found that the sampling program was not implemented as required."
More recently, industry and government samples have been more consistent, but even the main industry group admits that inaccurate sampling is a serious problem.
"It might be that MSHA should take over the entire program and should be given resources to do that," says Bob Glenn, a former NIOSH official now working as a black lung consultant for the National Mining Association (NMA). "They certainly would be more impartial, you would think, than having the operator take all the samples."
That's what mine safety advocates have argued for years, but Main says the agency isn't equipped for the job.
"It's [an] enormous task for the government to take on," he says. "I think having the government assume that role would be a big one."
O'Dell of the mine workers union believes MSHA has no choice.
"The operators can't be trusted to do compliance sampling," he says. "History has proven that."
Loopholes Keep Mine Companies Within The Law
History also shows that mining companies don't need to break the law to keep dust measurements artificially low. There are loopholes:
* The law permits sampling at only 50 percent of average production, when miners have as little as half the exposure.
* Sampling is required only eight hours a day even though miners work at least 10 hours a day on average. That amounts to about 600 hours of exposure a year that is not measured in the sampling.
* If federal mine inspectors' findings show too much coal dust, mining companies get a do-over. They take five of their own samples and average them. The sample with the greatest exposure is often discounted. If the average then meets the exposure standard, the violation disappears.
The do-overs may also explain something else CPI and NPR found in federal mine safety records. Between 2000 and 2011, MSHA issued a relatively small number of coal mine dust violations despite thousands of samples with excessive dust. MSHA data show that 53,000 valid samples contained more dust than standards permit but the agency issued less than 2,400 violations.
"The current rules have been in effect for decades, do not adequately protect miners from disease and are in need of reform," says mine safety chief Joe Main. "That is why MSHA has proposed several changes to overhaul the current standards and reduce miners' exposure to unhealthy dust."
MSHA proposes some significant reforms. Coal mine dust limits would be cut in half. Sampling would more accurately reflect actual exposure. And mining companies would no longer be able to demonstrate compliance by averaging five dust samples. But, self-policing would continue with mining companies still collecting their own samples.
"We encourage our members to fulfill their obligations under the law," says Bruce Watzman, who directs regulatory affairs for NMA, the coal industry trade group.
But he recognizes the system lacks credibility.
"We need to get to a point where we remove this cloud of controversy and instill in the minds of everyone that the samples are accurate," Watzman adds. "The best way to do that is to have MSHA take responsibility for that."
In Pounding Mill, Va., McCowan considers all of this as his disease worsens. He says he wants mining companies and MSHA to take more responsibility.
McCowan suggests production studies that would determine how much coal mines could produce at a rate that would not create excessive dust. He'd also have federal mine inspectors watching every minute when mine companies take dust samples.
"Coal mining is as dirty as the coal operator wants to make it," he says, drawing a deep breath. "I don't think it's turning out too good for the miner."
NPR's Sandra Bartlett and Chris Hamby of the Center for Public Integrity contributed reporting for this story. Research by NPR's Barbara Van Woerkom; editing by NPR's Andrea de Leon and Alicia Cypress.
SURVEY: We want to hear what you think about the Black Lung story. Click here to take a short survey.
This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer.
And I'm Renee Montagne. Good morning.
We're starting, this morning, with the next installment of the joint investigation by NPR and the Center for Public Integrity, about the disease known as black lung. More and more coal miners are dying from it. Our investigation uncovered failures in the system that's supposed to protect miners from the coal dust that causes black lung. We also found loopholes that mining companies have exploited, plus weak enforcement of protections by regulators.
NPR's Howard Berkes has more.
HOWARD BERKES, BYLINE: In his living room in Pounding Mill, Virginia, 47-year-old Mark McCowan holds up a lung x-ray in the bright light of a window. He points to a large white mass in his right upper lobe - progressive massive fibrosis, the worst stage of black lung.
MARK MCCOWAN: You go from being normal to where all of a sudden, one day, you try to do something you used to do and you can't do it...
MCCOWAN: ...and you're just heaving to catch your breath. And you say this is crazy. It can't be this bad. And then you realize a couple months down the road that it can be.
MCCOWAN: And you realize a year down the road after that that...
MCCOWAN: ...you ain't seen nothing yet.
BERKES: This was not supposed to happen to coal miners in Mark McCowan's generation. A 1969 law set a tough limit on coal mine dust that was as little as one-fourth the exposure at the time. And diagnoses soon plunged more than 90 percent. But the decline didn't last.
DR. DONALD RASMUSSEN: From the very beginning, miners told of irregularities in measuring the dust.
BERKES: Donald Rasmussen is a West Virginia pulmonologist who figures he's tested 40,000 coal miners for black lung in the last 50 years.
RICHARD ALLEN: That's persistent, virtually, over the years. So many different stories. So many miners will say if you think the dust is controlled you're crazy.
BERKES: Richard Allen was a federal mine inspector underground in West Virginia when the new law first took effect. He remembers a strange question about a mine official's office which revealed bogus sampling for coal dust.
ALLEN: What color is the man's carpet? It was blue. And it was showing little blue fibers in each sample. And they cross-referenced the fibers in these samples to that carpet and found that he was sampling in his office.
BERKES: Mining companies and federal inspectors put sampling devices called dust pumps on miners underground. But almost every miner we talked to tells of dust pumps tucked into lunch buckets or under clothing or out in clean air returns away from coal dust.
That's where a company foreman told David Neil to hang his dust pump, when he worked underground in West Virginia in most of the 1980s.
DAVID NEIL: And then we'd come back and they'd say well, you might want to wear that, you know, for about a couple of hours and I'll come and get it. And you wear it for a couple hours and then they come and get it, take it and put it back over in the clean air. You know, maybe, if we didn't do it this way, they'd come in, shut the mines down. Then we'd be out of work.
BERKES: This is a common fear in coal country and its encouraged by some mining companies, according to miners we spoke with. Neil developed advanced black lung. So did Randall Wriston, whose last job underground was in a West Virginia mine four years ago.
RONALD WRISTON: If I would have wore a dust pump 50 percent of the time they would have shut down.
BERKES: Because?
WRISTON: Too much dust. Out of compliance. And if they would get a bad sample they'd do is turn 'em upside down and shake 'em and that would give a false reading so they'd come back and do it some other time.
BERKES: And after a deadly explosion two years ago, miners from Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine told investigators they were ordered to manipulate mine dust sampling. Autopsies of the explosion's 29 victims showed an extraordinarily high rate of black lung - a rate 10 times the average for southern West Virginia.
Joe Main heads the Mine Safety and Health Administration or MSHA.
JOE MAIN: Government is in a situation where they have to utilize the data that is presented to them. And at times, yes, we have found that the sampling program was not implemented as required.
BERKES: That's an understatement. In 24 of the last 30 years, dust samples taken by federal mine inspectors found higher concentrations of coal mine dust than samples provided by mining companies. In one year, inspectors reported 40 percent more exposure than industry. Even the main industry group admits that's a problem.
Bob Glenn is a consultant for the National Mining Association, which supports sampling only by the Mine Safety and Health Administration or MSHA.
BOB GLENN: It might be that MSHA should take over the entire program and should be given resources to do that. They certainly would be more impartial, you would think, than having the operator take all the samples.
BERKES: That's what mine safety advocates have argued for years. But MSHA chief Joe Main says his agency isn't equipped for the job.
MAIN: It's enormous task for the government to take on. I think having the government assume that role would be a big one.
BERKES: You mean, difficult one because it's big?
MAIN: Time and resources to do it. I mean that's something that has been recognized in the past.
BERKES: In the past from 1980 to 2002. Fraudulent dust sampling resulted in more than 100 criminal convictions, according to federal records obtained by the Center for Public Integrity and NPR. The agency says a new enforcement effort called Dust Busters found 400 dust control violations during 80 mine inspections in the last three years.
MAIN: We're finding, during those inspections at times, that the ventilation controls were not in place, the water sprays were not in place. We find that the sampling process that is used is not as required to meet the regulations.
BERKES: The National Mining Association says it encourages its members to obey the law. But they can do that and still keep dust measurements artificially low. They're allowed to sample at only 50 percent of average production. That's as little as half the time miners are exposed. They sample only eight hours a day, even though the average coal miner works at least two hours longer. And mining companies get a do-over when federal inspectors test for coal dust and find violations. The company can then collect five of its own samples, and if the average meets the standard the violation disappears. Tim Bailey is a West Virginia attorney who represents coal miners.
TIM BAILEY: The analogy that I use is if I pull you over for speeding going 80 in a 50 and I'm a police officer, and I tell you, well, here's a journal and I want you to record your speed on this same piece of road for the next five days. And if at the end of those five days, your speed is below the speed limit, then I'm going to tear your ticket up. And that's exactly how this is working right now.
BERKES: In fact, the Federal Mine Safety Agency issued just 2,400 violations for 53,000 excessive dust samples in the last decade, according to records obtained by NPR and the Center for Public Integrity. Federal regulators proposed changing the law by making the coal dust standard twice as tough and by requiring sampling that comes closer to actual exposure. But mining companies would still conduct dust tests that would still be self-policing. That has dying coal miner Mark McCowan looking back at the 1969 promise that the Mine Safety and Health Administration would keep him safe.
MCCOWAN: But, you know, since MSHA started protecting us, there's 70,000 of us have died. I don't feel very protected.
BERKES: That's the black lung death toll since 1970. Compensation for the victims and their families has cost more than $45 billion. Howard Berkes, NPR News.
MONTAGNE: And you can see pictures of the damage coal mine dust does to lungs on our website. If you're wondering why there isn't a technological solution, like respirators, we have a story about that as well. Also, take a look at what working life is like for coal miners as captured by photojournalist Earl Dotter. That's all on NPR.org. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Tough questions for each side in Prop. 8 debate
same-sex marriage
The judge in California's same-sex marriage trial had a pointed question for gay-rights advocates Tuesday: How can marriage between gay or lesbian couples be a fundamental right in a nation that denied all legal protection to their relationships until very recently?
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker put sponsors of Proposition 8 on the spot with another question: In a state that treats domestic partners the same as spouses, "what purpose is served by differentiating - in name only - between same-sex and opposite-sex unions?"
Walker posted more than nine pages of questions for opposing lawyers to address in closing arguments next Wednesday in his San Francisco courtroom. The session is expected to go on all day.
The arguments follow 12 days of testimony in January on the constitutionality of Prop. 8, a November 2008 initiative that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The measure overturned a May 2008 state Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in California.
Walker's ruling is expected sometime this summer, the first stage in a case that could reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
Walker ordered the trial - the first in any federal court on same-sex marriage - over the objections of Prop. 8's supporters, who said no testimony was needed to justify restoring tradition and promoting children's interests. The judge pressed the measure's sponsors Tuesday to link their arguments to the evidence.
What evidence at the trial, he asked, showed that same-sex nuptials are "a drastic or far-reaching change to the institution of marriage?" Do California laws allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt and raise children undermine the argument that banning same-sex marriage would promote children's welfare?
And if many voters were simply expressing their moral and religious preferences, Walker asked, "why is legislating based on moral disapproval of homosexuality not tantamount to discrimination?"
On the other hand, he asked Prop. 8's opponents, is it possible that voters sincerely believed the measure would promote a non-discriminatory goal, such as encouraging child-rearing by biological parents? And would such a belief shield Prop. 8 from the accusation that it was rooted in bias?
That is an important inquiry, said Andrew Pugno, a lawyer for sponsors of the measure. While insisting that Prop. 8 furthers important public interests, he said the deciding question should be "whether the voters could have rationally decided to continue defining marriage in the traditional way."
But Therese Stewart, San Francisco's chief deputy city attorney, said speculation about public attitudes is beside the point. The U.S. Supreme Court, she said, refused to speculate about voters' possible benign motives when it struck down a Colorado ballot measure in 1996 that would have prohibited cities from protecting gays and lesbians against discrimination.
The court said the Colorado measure was unconstitutionally motivated by anti-gay bigotry. San Francisco has joined lawyers for two same-sex couples in arguing before Walker that Prop. 8 is invalid for the same reason.
The judge's full list of questions can be read at links.sfgate.com/ZJUV.
In a separate development Tuesday, the state Fair Political Practices Commission said the Mormon Church had agreed to pay a $5,500 fine for failing to report $37,000 worth of assistance to the Prop. 8 campaign shortly before the 2008 election.


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Since it's humble begining in 1973, GiGi's Italian restaurant has been serving 4 star southern Italian food. Come visit and taste why top food critics from all over the country proclaim "Fly to Italy without leaving the ground at GiGi's!" As we say in Italy, "La mia casa e la tua casa," translating to "My house is your house." We hope to see you soon.
GiGi's Italian Restaurant, a hidden jewel located in the middle of Jensen Beach, Florida, serves authentic Italian food inspired by Suzy's home region of Italy, Marigliano, Naples.
The regional cuisine includes homemade specialty pastas, gourmet pizzas, garden fresh salads, seasonal antipasti, meat and seafood entrees, and homemade Italian desserts.
In 1973, Suzy set out to create a neighborhood Italian restaurant offering simple fare at an honest price. Our success lies in our draw of local and seasonal clientele, who find comfort in the lively, yet intimate environment and familiar menu.
Today three generations of the same family is serving fresh, affordable Italian food in a fun, lively atmosphere ready for your enjoyment.
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