text:
Nos. 06-1457 and 06-1462
In the Supreme Court of the United States
Solicitor General
Counsel of Record
Department of Justice
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
(202) 514-2217
In the Supreme Court of the United States
No. 06-1457
No. 06-1462
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Com mission or FERC) reasonably interpreted the Federal Power Act (FPA), 16 U.S.C. 791a et seq., to limit a party's right to avoid the terms of its own voluntarily undertaken contract. In refusing to defer to FERC's construction of the statute, and in setting aside FERC's decision in these cases, the Ninth Circuit effectively overturned decades of case law flowing from this Court's decisions in United Gas Pipe Line Co. v. Mobile Gas Service Corp., 350 U.S. 332 (1956) (Mobile), and FPC v. Sierra Pacific Power Co., 350 U.S. 348 (1956) (Sierra). Its decision should be reversed.
Respondents contend that the Commission's orders disregarded the FPA's requirement that rates be "just and reasonable," 16 U.S.C. 824d(a). That is incorrect. In fact, FERC applied the statutory standard, recogniz ing that, in the context of rates set by contract, a just and reasonable rate is one that is not inconsistent with the public interest. That standard recognizes the cen tral importance of the stability and reliability of long- term contracts, which benefit purchasers (and ultimate consumers) as well as sellers by enabling them to allo cate and control the risk of market volatility. Contrary to the view of respondents and the court of appeals, the Commission was not required to determine that various newly devised "prerequisites" were satisfied before it could apply the public interest standard of Mobile and Sierra.
Respondents also challenge the Commission's appli cation of the public interest standard. They suggest that in assessing whether the challenged contracts were just and reasonable under Mobile and Sierra, the Commis sion disregarded evidence of dysfunctions in the spot market at the time the challenged forward contracts were consummated. The Commission did not disregard such evidence, but considered it-along with all of the other evidence pertaining to the challenged contracts- in determining that the buyers had not shown that the contracts were contrary to the public interest. Respon dents disagree with the Commission's conclusions, but their disagreement rests largely on their criticisms of the Commission's factual findings, and those findings must be upheld because they are supported by substan tial evidence.
A. The Commission Reasonably Interpreted The Federal Power Act To Provide For Limited "Public Interest" Review Of Proposed Changes To Rates Set By Contract
Respondents assert (Snohomish Br. 28; Golden State Br. 29-30; California Br. 58-59) that FERC misinter preted the FPA in concluding that a "public interest" standard applies when a party to a contract challenges the rates set by that contract as unjust and unreason able. According to respondents, the statutory require ment that rates be "just and reasonable," 16 U.S.C. 824d(a), applies in the same manner to every instance in which the Commission reviews rates. In their view, by applying the public interest standard recognized in Mo bile and Sierra, the Commission "refused to apply the just and reasonable standard" (Snohomish Br. 30) and indeed "expressly repudiated" that standard (Golden State Br. 31). Respondents misconstrue the FPA, this Court's decisions in Mobile and Sierra, and the Commis sion's orders. As explained in FERC's opening brief (at 19-25), the Commission's application of the public inter est standard in this case represents a reasonable inter pretation of the statute that is entitled to deference un der Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. NRDC, 467 U.S. 837 (1984), and should be upheld.
1. The premise of respondents' argument is that the public interest standard recognized in Mobile and Si erra and applied by the Commission here is somehow inconsistent with the "just and reasonable" standard of Section 824d. That premise is erroneous. The public interest standard is not a different standard; it is simply an application of the general just and reasonable stan dard in the context of rates previously set by contract.
Respondents fail to recognize the ambiguity in Sec tion 824d's mandate that rates be "just and reasonable." In their view (California Br. 60), the statute is unambig uous, and FERC's orders were "contrary to the plain language * * * of the FPA." Tellingly, respondents do not specify what sort of just-and-reasonableness review they think the statute "unambiguously" (Snohomish Br. 29) requires. Nor could they plausibly do so, since, as this Court has recognized, the Commission is not "bound to the use of any single formula" in applying the just and reasonable standard. FPC v. Hope Natural Gas Co., 320 U.S. 591, 602 (1944) (Hope Natural Gas); see Global Crossing Telecomms., Inc. v. Metrophones Telecomms., Inc., 127 S. Ct. 1513, 1521-1522 (2007) (identifying ambi guity in the Communications Act's prohibition of "unjust or unreasonable" practices). Under the FPA, FERC has broad discretion to determine the precise standard of review that it will use in carrying out the statutory di rective that rates be just and reasonable.
This Court's decisions in Mobile and Sierra demon strate that the just and reasonable standard does not impose strict rate-of-return regulation on all rates, as respondents seem to assume. Instead, Mobile and Si erra make clear that the public interest standard is an appropriate framework for assessing the justness and reasonableness of contractually set rates in cases where, as here, the contracting parties have not preserved their ability to make unilateral changes to the contract. Cf. United Gas Pipe Line Co. v. Memphis Light, Gas & Wa ter Div., 358 U.S. 103 (1958) (Memphis). Mobile and Sierra rest upon a recognition that the FPA-like the materially identical Natural Gas Act (NGA), 15 U.S.C. 717 et seq.-permits parties to set rates by contract. Mobile, 350 U.S. at 338; Sierra, 350 U.S. at 353. Like wise, they reflect the commonsense notion that rates negotiated in arms-length transactions are very likely to be just and reasonable, and that the public interest stan dard allows FERC to eliminate any outliers. Moreover, the FPA and the NGA do not alter the background legal principle that contracting parties are bound by their contracts and are not at liberty to change their terms unilaterally. Mobile, 350 U.S. at 343. See Maine Public Utils. Comm'n v. FERC, 454 F.3d 278, 283 (D.C. Cir. 2006) ("Mobile-Sierra's recognized purpose [is] ensuring contract stability by 'subordinat[ing] the statutory filing mechanism to the broad and familiar dictates of contract law.'") (quoting Borough of Lansdale v. FPC, 494 F.2d 1104, 1113 (D.C. Cir. 1974)).
Thus, if parties choose to specify rates by contract, without preserving the right to make unilateral changes under Memphis, they may not be relieved of their con tracts simply because the rates become disadvantageous to their private interests. Relief is available only "when their interests coincide with the public interest." Mo bile, 350 U.S. at 344; see id. at 339 ("[T]he Natural Gas Act permits the relations between the parties to be es tablished initially by contract, the protection of the pub lic interest being afforded by supervision of the individ ual contracts."); Permian Basin Area Rate Cases, 390 U.S. 747, 822 (1968) (Permian Basin) ("The regulatory system created by the Act is premised on contractual agreements voluntarily devised by the regulated compa nies; it contemplates abrogation of these agreements only in circumstances of unequivocal public necessity."). In other words, a party seeking to change a rate to which it previously agreed by contract carries its burden of showing that the rate is unjust and unreasonable only by demonstrating that it is contrary to the public inter est.
2. Respondents nevertheless contend (Snohomish Br. 30) that FERC "refused to apply the just and rea sonable standard" and instead "applied a different stan dard." Respondents misread FERC's orders. To be sure, at various places in its orders, the Commission employed language that in isolation might be read to suggest that the public interest standard is distinct from the just and reasonable standard. For example, FERC stated at one point that certain evidence "would be rele vant to contract modification only where there is a 'just and reasonable' standard of review," and that "the con tracts at issue in this proceeding do not provide for such a standard but rather evidence an intent that the con tracts may be changed only pursuant to the 'public inter est' standard." J.A. 1275a; see J.A. 1567a. In context, however, it is apparent that the Commission used the phrase "'just and reasonable' standard of review" as a kind of shorthand to refer to the just and reasonable standard as it has traditionally been applied-using cost-based principles-in ordinary cases that do not in volve a contract or Mobile and Sierra principles. While the use of a modifier such as "ordinary" would have eliminated any potential confusion, that omission is hardly fatal. Although on this point the Commission's phrasing may have been "of less than ideal clarity," its "path may reasonably be discerned." Bowman Transp., Inc. v. Arkansas-Best Freight Sys., Inc., 419 U.S. 281, 286 (1974); see Shepard v. NLRB, 459 U.S. 344, 350 (1983) (upholding an NLRB decision that was "some thing less than a model of expository prose," where "the sense of the Board's explanation" was adequate); Perm ian Basin, 390 U.S. at 818 & n.106 (concluding that "despite certain infelicities of [the Commission's] opinion," "on fair reading its intentions seem entirely clear" re garding the application of the just and reasonable stan dard to natural-gas rates).
Certainly nowhere in its orders did FERC say that it intended to ignore the test prescribed in the FPA- which the Commission cited several times, see, e.g., J.A. 1226a, 1235a-1236a, 1245a-and replace it with a differ ent test. Moreover, FERC emphasized that a "finding that changes to the challenged contracts should be eval uated under the public interest standard does not equate to a finding that the underlying rates are not just and reasonable." J.A. 1567a (emphasis added). This Court should not presume that the Commission disregarded the statute without saying so. Cf. USPS v. Gregory, 534 U.S. 1, 10 (2004) (presumption of regularity attaches to the actions of government agencies).
The Commission's shorthand description is not mate rially different from the formulation employed by sev eral courts of appeals. The First Circuit, for example, has described the public interest standard as "a more difficult standard for the Commission to meet than the statutory 'unjust and unreasonable' standard of [16 U.S.C. 824e]." Northeast Utils. Serv. Co. v. FERC, 993 F.2d 937, 960 (1993) (Northeast Utils. I). Similarly, the District of Columbia Circuit has held that "[t]he public interest standard of the Mobile-Sierra doctrine is much more restrictive than the just and reasonable standard of [Section 824d]." Atlantic City Elec. Co. v. FERC, 295 F.3d 1, 14 (2002) (Atlantic City); accord Potomac Elec. Power Co. v. FERC, 210 F.3d 403, 407 (D.C. Cir. 2000) (PEPCO) ("[T]he Mobile-Sierra public interest standard is much more restrictive than the FPA's 'just and reason able' standard."). Like the Commission, the First and District of Columbia Circuits could have eliminated any potential for confusion by adding the modifier "ordi nary" before "just and reasonable," but that omission does not betray any deviation from the statute or any suggestion that this Court in Mobile and Sierra had adopted a standard of review inconsistent with the stat ute.
3. Respondents contend (Snohomish Br. 31) that the Commission's interpretation of the FPA as calling for the public interest standard of review in this setting is not entitled to deference under Chevron because the Commission did not recognize that it had discretion. Contrary to respondents' assumption, there is no re quirement that an agency expressly acknowledge statu tory ambiguity in order to receive Chevron deference in interpreting a statute-the two-step analysis of Chevron is a methodology for reviewing courts, not a rule of ad ministrative drafting. In any event, the Commission in this case did not disclaim the existence of discretion in an effort "to avoid responsibility for its own policy choice." Baltimore & Ohio R.R. v. ICC, 826 F.2d 1125, 1129 (D.C. Cir. 1987). To the contrary, it recognized the policymaking responsibility imposed upon it by Con gress in the ambiguous language of the FPA, and it ex plained why it had determined that application of the public interest standard was appropriate: "This order," it said, "balances effective rate regulation with respect for the sanctity of contracts." J.A. 1229a; see J.A. 1245a (explaining that the public interest standard is applica ble to market-based rate contracts because "if we were required to examine every long-term service agreement as if the seller was seeking new market-based rate au thority, it would make the original grant of market- based rate authority (i.e., the original acceptance of the market-based rate tariff) a pointless exercise of no value to anyone"). While FERC also described the public in terest standard as "dictated by the U.S. Supreme Court under the Mobile-Sierra doctrine," J.A. 1229a, it can hardly be faulted for emphasizing, in its orders, that its interpretation of the FPA was consistent with that adopted by this Court.
B. The Court Of Appeals Erred In Imposing "Prerequisites" For The Application Of The Mobile-Sierra Public Interest Test
The court of appeals held that the modern regime of market-based rates made it appropriate to "modif[y]" the Mobile-Sierra standard. Pet. App. 66a. Specifically, the court imposed three "prerequisites" to the applica tion of that standard: (1) the contract must not preclude Mobile-Sierra review; (2) FERC must have an opportu nity for effective, timely review of the contracted rates; and (3) FERC's review must permit consideration of all factors relevant to the propriety of the contract's forma tion. Id. at 10a. As discussed in FERC's opening brief (at 26), the first prerequisite does not represent a modi fication of Mobile and Sierra, because contracting par ties have always been able to opt out of Mobile-Sierra protections. See Memphis, 358 U.S. at 112. Here, al though Memphis would have permitted the parties to address the possibility of market fluctuations by pre serving their right to bring a unilateral challenge to their contract rates, they instead decided to subject their contracts to Mobile-Sierra public interest review. Pet. App. 46a.
The court of appeals' latter two prerequisites did far more than "modify" the Mobile-Sierra doctrine, cf. MCI Telecommunications Corp. v. AT&T, 512 U.S. 218, 225- 228 (1994) (MCI), and respondents' efforts to defend its holding are unavailing. Nothing in the FPA or this Court's decisions in Mobile and Sierra compels the two prerequisites the court advanced, and the court of ap peals had no basis for substituting its judgment for that of the Commission-or this Court-on whether the ap plication of the public interest standard is an appropri ate way to implement the FPA.
1. As explained in FERC's opening brief (at 33-34), although the contracts in Mobile and Sierra had been filed with the Commission, the Commission made clear in its orders that it had not undertaken any substantive review of the contracts. Thus, this Court's decisions in those cases did not rest on the assumption that FERC had examined the rates in the contracts and found them to be reasonable. Respondents point out (Snohomish Br. 42 n.27) that the Commission in Mobile and Sierra "had the opportunity to review the contracts in the first in stance," but nothing in Mobile or Sierra suggests that that fact was significant. Nor is there any reason why the existence of an unseized opportunity to review the rates should have mattered to the Court's analysis. See United Gas Pipe Line Co., 5 F.P.C. 770 (1946); Pacific Gas & Elec. Co., 7 F.P.C. 832 (1948) (making clear that the Commission did not exercise its opportunity).
The adoption of a market-based rate regime does not require any change in the scope of Mobile and Sierra. Given that a market-based rate regime is a permissible way for FERC to discharge its duty to ensure just and reasonable rates, see Pet. App. 47a; California ex rel. Lockyer v. FERC, 383 F.3d 1006, 1017 (9th Cir. 2004), cert. denied, 127 S. Ct. 2972 (2007)-a conclusion not challenged in this case, see Snohomish Br. in Opp. 26- there is no reason why Mobile and Sierra should apply only in some far more constricted or watered-down way to contracts entered into under that regime. To the con trary, because a market-based regime depends critically on private contracts to function, the protection afforded the validity and enforceability of contracts under Mobile and Sierra is especially important in this context.
Respondents suggest (California Br. 46) that "oppor tunity for review of the application of a rate in practice" is required by this Court's decisions in Maislin Indus tries U.S., Inc. v. Primary Steel, Inc., 497 U.S. 116 (1990) (Maislin), and MCI. That argument has little to do with the application of Mobile and Sierra, but rather is essentially an attack on market-based rates in gen eral. But respondents have not challenged FERC's in stitution of market-based rates (or the authorization for petitioners to sell power at market-based rates), and the lawfulness of both should be taken as a given here. In any event, respondents' theory lacks merit because the Commission's interconnected program of ex ante find ings of no market power, coupled with post-approval reporting requirements, distinguishes the market-based rate program from those at issue in Maislin and MCI.
Maislin involved an ICC policy that allowed carriers to charge privately negotiated contract rates that dif fered from the filed tariff rate, that were never disclosed to or reviewed by the ICC, and that were not subject to any challenge for discrimination. 497 U.S. at 132-133. This Court found that the policy violated the filed-rate doctrine. See id. at 127. Here, in contrast, market- based sales are made in accordance with a market-based rate umbrella tariff, which is approved only after FERC determines, in a publicly-noticed proceeding with oppor tunity for interested parties to protest, that a seller lacks or has adequately mitigated market power. See Lockyer, 383 F.3d at 1009. As noted, after market-based rate authority is granted, parties can file complaints, or FERC can institute its own proceeding, to challenge market-based rates as unduly discriminatory or unjust or unreasonable, or to question whether the seller has market power.
Respondents' reliance on MCI is similarly misplaced. MCI rejected an FCC policy that relieved all nondom inant carriers of any requirement to file any of their rates with the agency. This Court held that such whole sale detariffing for nondominant carriers effectively removed all rate regulation wherever the FCC found competition to exist, in violation of specific language in the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. 151 et seq. MCI, 512 U.S. at 224-225, 231-232. FERC's market- based rate system, by contrast, requires every seller with market-based rate authority to have on file an um brella market-rate tariff and to file quarterly reports detailing the specific rates charged for each sale. See Lockyer, 383 F.3d at 1013. No detariffing occurs in these circumstances. As the MCI Court held, it would not violate the filed-rate doctrine for the FCC to "mod ify the form, contents, and location of required filings, and [to] defer filing or perhaps even waive it altogether in limited circumstances." 512 U.S. at 234. That is pre cisely what FERC did here.
Contrary to respondents' theory, Mobile and Sierra are not based on a mere rebuttable "presumption," Pet. App. 38a, that rates set by contract are lawful because they approximate what the Commission would deem just and reasonable in a regulatory proceeding. See Snoho mish Br. 35-37; Golden State Br. 44-45. Instead, they rest on a recognition that, under the FPA, "rates to par ticular customers may be set by individual contracts," Mobile, 350 U.S. at 338; see Sierra, 350 U.S. at 353, that rates negotiated in arms-length transactions are likely to be just and reasonable, and on the fundamental prin ciple that contracting parties are bound by the terms of their contracts, which can be varied only when necessary to effectuate the public interest, as opposed to the pri vate interests of the parties, see Mobile, 350 U.S. at 344; Sierra, 350 U.S. at 355 ("[As] the purpose of the power given the Commission by [the FPA] is the protection of the public interest, as distinguished from the private interests of the utilities," it is "clear that a contract may not be said to be either 'unjust' or 'unreasonable' simply because it is unprofitable to the public utility."). The change in regulatory context to market-based rates does not-and could not-alter the statutory authorization for rates to be set by contract, subject to FERC's over riding authority to alter such rates when they are con trary to the public interest. See Mobile, 350 U.S. at 338.
Respondents' arguments about the need for ongoing market oversight as a precondition for the application of the public interest standard rest on the erroneous prem ise that FERC's oversight must continually ensure that market-based rates bear some relationship (apparently) to a post hoc determination of costs plus a rate of return. See Snohomish Br. 36, 42-43; California Br. 45-46; Golden State Br. 46. Although the Commission main tains oversight over the markets in an effort to ensure that they are functioning properly, no initial review- whether of cost-based rates or market-based rates- could guarantee that approved rates will be just and reasonable (in the sense of being tied to cost) under all subsequent circumstances. Rather, in both situations, the initial review rests on a factual determination tied to then-existing circumstances that may change over time. When the circumstances that gave rise to the initial rate approval have allegedly changed, Section 824e specifies procedures for altering the rates authorized under ei ther a cost-based or market-based rate regime. In this case, for example, respondents could have availed them selves of those procedures to challenge FERC's grant of market-based rate authorization, and, if dissatisfied with the Commission's resolution of their challenge (Califor nia Br. 56), could have sought judicial review, see 16 U.S.C. 825l. Alternatively, they could have invoked Memphis to preserve their rights to modify the contract in the future. But where, as here, contracting parties do not take those steps, then their contract is subject to the Mobile-Sierra standard of review, and the Commission appropriately applies the Mobile-Sierra public interest standard in considering whether to modify it.
That is not to say that the Commission can or should turn a blind eye to the functioning of the market. See FERC Br. 31-32 (detailing statutory amendments and Commission actions subsequent to the events at issue in this case that enhance the Commission's ability to moni tor markets and prosecute manipulation). But nothing in Mobile or Sierra, or in the FPA, suggests that an al leged deficiency in the Commission's oversight can jus tify the abrogation of contracts that are not contrary to the public interest. Contracts are entered into by both parties in the context of the existing regulatory regime, and the parties are entitled to assume the validity of that regime insofar as the validity of their private con tracts is concerned. Deficiencies in FERC's oversight or other aspects of the regulatory regime should be ad dressed directly and prospectively, as both Congress and FERC have done. Respondents' criticisms of the Commission's market oversight during 2000-2001 (Sno homish Br. 42-43; California Br. 44, 51-54; Golden State Br. 45-47) are therefore not relevant to the enforce ability of the contracts here.
2. Respondents' efforts to justify the court of ap peals' imposition of a second prerequisite-"a determi nation that the challenged contract was initially formed free from the influence of improper factors," Pet. App. 57a-fare no better. Contrary to respondents' asser tion, the Commission did not "ignore[]" evidence of mar ket dysfunction (Snohomish Br. 39), nor did it deem such evidence to be "irrelevant" (California Br. 18). Instead, the Commission concluded that any evidence of market dysfunction should be considered along with the totality of the circumstances involving each challenged contract in determining whether the contract was contrary to the public interest. See, e.g., J.A. 1274a. The court of ap peals erred in rejecting that determination and holding that consideration of the circumstances of contracting was a necessary prerequisite to application of the Mobile-Sierra public interest test in the first instance. Pet. App. 41a.
Like the court of appeals, Pet. App. 41a, Golden State (Br. 51-52) claims to find support in Atlantic City, 295 F.3d at 14, which stated that Mobile-Sierra applies "assuming that there was no reason to question what transpired at the contract formation stage." Of course, under general principles of contract law, circumstances such as duress or mutual mistake in contract formation may prevent the formation of a valid contract. See Pub lic Util. Dist. No. 1 v. IDACORP, Inc., 379 F.3d 641, 648, 652 n.13 (9th Cir. 2004). There is no dispute that if a contract is void ab initio as a result of such circum stances, then the Mobile-Sierra doctrine is inapplicable, as there is no proper contract to preserve. See ibid.; see also, e.g., Town of Norwood v. FERC, 587 F.2d 1306, 1309-1310, 1313 (D.C. Cir. 1978) (Norwood) (remanding orders applying Mobile-Sierra where questions arose regarding parties' "fairness and good faith" at contract formation); PEPCO, 210 F.3d at 410 (Mobile-Sierra ap plies absent evidence of "unfairness or bad faith" in the original contract negotiations).
Here, however, the Commission found-and the court of appeals acknowledged-that there was no evi dence calling into question the good faith of all parties in the negotiations for the challenged contracts. See Pet. App. 301a (finding "no evidence of unfairness, bad faith, or duress in the original negotiations"); J.A. 1285a. As the court of appeals observed, "the local utilities do not allege that the energy companies manipulated their negotiations of the contracts here at issue; the local utili ties challenge the context, not the conduct of those nego tiations." Pet. App. 59a. In the absence of any evidence that the contracts were not validly formed, allegations regarding the "context" of the negotiations are not a basis for refusing to apply Mobile-Sierra. "[A]bsent any claim, much less evidence, of unfairness or bad faith in the original negotiations, it is reasonable for FERC to require parties 'to live with their bargains as time passes and various projections about the future are proved correct or incorrect.'" PEPCO, 210 F.3d at 410 (quoting Norwood, 587 F.2d at 1312).
Respondents fault the Commission for focusing on the individual contracts at issue (Snohomish Br. 46-47; California Br. 50), but it has long been the norm in ap plying Mobile-Sierra to focus on the challenged contract and its particular impact on the public interest. "[T]he public interest necessary to override a private contract * * * requires analysis of the manner in which the con tract harms the public interest and of the extent to which abrogation or reformation mitigates the contract's deleterious effect." Texaco Inc. v. FERC, 148 F.3d 1091, 1097 (D.C. Cir. 1998). See, e.g., Atlantic City, 295 F.3d at 14 (reversing FERC orders modifying contract for failure to make a particularized finding that the public interest required modification of the individual contract at issue).
The court of appeals therefore erred in holding that the Commission was required to evaluate the general dysfunction in the California spot markets before it could apply Mobile-Sierra to the challenged contracts and examine all of the circumstances bearing on the public interest. Under Mobile-Sierra and its progeny, the Commission reasonably determined that, even if allegations that the spot market dysfunctions generally had an effect on forward contracts were accepted as true, that alone would not answer the question whether the challenged contracts were contrary to the public interest. Pet. App. 292a.
Under respondents' theory, contracting parties would be free to avoid the contract rates they agreed to pay-even after having also agreed to the application of the Mobile-Sierra doctrine-based solely on a post hoc determination, perhaps several years later, that the market lacked competition sufficient to produce what FERC would have found to be just and reasonable rates in the first instance, presumably using a cost-based methodology. See Snohomish Br. 36; California Br. 27. That standard would essentially prevent parties from entering into long-term contracts, despite the obvious advantages such contracts provide. Respondents claim that their test would not allow reopening of all rates, but only those subject to circumstances "beyond ordinary supply-demand dynamics," (Snohomish Br. 58). That standard is so vague, however, that it would provide lit tle guidance to the Commission. Worse, it would make it difficult-if not impossible-for parties to determine at the time of contracting whether their contracts would be secure under the protection afforded by Mobile-Si erra. The Commission would be required to modify con tracts based on an array of factors or conditions that might have affected the marketplace at or around the time of contract formation, but that may have only an attenuated relation to the relative fairness of the con tract in the market and regulatory context in which it was formed. And because competition in practice sel dom conforms to textbook theory, there would be a sub stantial incentive for many parties who came to regret a deliberate contracting decision to invoke FERC's ju risdiction to overturn the deal-if only to obtain a settle ment from the other party.
Long-term contracts are a means by which both con tracting parties can allocate and control the risk of short-term market volatility. See San Diego Gas & Elec. Co. v. FERC, 904 F.2d 727, 730 (D.C. Cir. 1990) (San Diego). But under respondents' theory, it is pre cisely in times of volatility, when long-term contracts are most valuable, that such contracts would be most subject to challenge by whichever party turns out to be disappointed by subsequent events. That would defeat the purpose of the Mobile-Sierra doctrine, which is to promote contract stability by precluding contracting parties from unilaterally seeking to change their con tracts even though there was no fraud, duress, or mis take during the contracting process. See Mobile, 350 U.S. at 344.
C. The Commission Reasonably Applied The Public Interest Standard To Uphold The Challenged Contracts
Respondents contend that FERC improperly applied the public interest standard of Mobile and Sierra. Many of their arguments rest on the theory that the public interest standard is fundamentally asymmetrical, that is, that it makes it far easier for purchasers to challenge high rates than for sellers to challenge low rates. In addition, they take issue with the Commission's factual findings about the contracts at issue here and about the operation of the electricity markets more generally. Neither of those claims withstands scrutiny.
1. Like the court of appeals, Pet. App. 62a, 66a, re spondents contend (Snohomish Br. 34-35) that the "ex cessive burden" standard announced in Sierra is appli cable only in a "low-rate" case where a seller seeks a rate increase. In a "high-rate" case, where the buyer seeks a rate decrease, they suggest that the appropriate standard is whether customer's electric bills were "higher than they otherwise would have been had the challenged contracts called for rates within the just and reasonable range." Pet. App. 64a. Whether or not that approach might have been permissible, FERC was not required to adopt it.
The Commission has considerable discretion in de termining when the public interest calls for abrogation of a private contract, and respondents have not shown that it acted unreasonably here. Mobile and Sierra make clear that whether a contractually specified rate "adversely affect[s] the public interest" and therefore may be deemed unjust and unreasonable is "a question to be determined in the first instance by the Commis sion." Sierra, 350 U.S. at 355; see Northeast Utils. Serv. Co. v. FERC, 55 F.3d 686, 690 (1st Cir. 1995) (Northeast Utils. II) ("[N]owhere in [Mobile] is the term 'public in terest' defined," and, "[i]ndeed, the Court seems to as sume that the Commission decides what circumstances give rise to the public interest."); Metropolitan Edison Co. v. FERC, 595 F.2d 851, 859 (D.C. Cir. 1979) (deter mination of the public interest is reserved to FERC's discretion). The Commission has interpreted that stan dard, consistently with numerous decisions of this Court and the courts of appeals, to be a demanding one for sellers and buyers alike.
According to respondents (California Br. 31 n.19), this Court held in Permian Basin that the public inter est standard applies asymmetrically. Respondents mis read that decision. In Permian Basin, the Court em phasized that "the Commission was here without author ity to abrogate existing contracts unless it first con cluded that they 'adversely affect the public interest.'" 390 U.S. at 821 (quoting Sierra, 350 U.S. at 355). Al though the Court upheld the Commission's decision to set aside some of the contracts at issue in that case, it did so on the basis of the Commission's finding that the prices in those contracts did affect the public interest, and it concluded that there was no reason "to set aside the Commission's judgment." Ibid.; see id. at 783-784. Permian Basin demonstrates the breadth of the Com mission's discretion in applying the public interest stan dard; it does not force FERC to apply the standard dif ferently depending on which party to a contract is seek ing to alter the agreed-upon rates.
Respondents also assert (California Br. 30-32) that it is appropriate that Mobile-Sierra protections be asymmetrical, as the Commission is required to provide only the "constitutional minimum" rate of return to pro tect sellers from confiscatory rates but must protect consumers from any rates that exceed the zone of "rea sonableness." The Commission's role under the FPA is not so one-sided. Rather, the Commission is called upon to "balanc[e] . . . the investor and consumer interests." Permian Basin, 390 U.S. at 776 (quoting Hope Natural Gas, 320 U.S. at 603). The FPA's "core purpose" is not only preventing "excessive rates," but also facilitating the "orderly development of plentiful supplies of elec tricity," and protecting against inadequate service. Con solidated Edison of N.Y., Inc. v. FERC, 510 F.3d 333, 342 (D.C. Cir. 2007) (quoting Public Utils. Comm'n v. FERC, 367 F.3d 925, 929 (D.C. Cir. 2004)). In the long run, protecting the stability of supply arrangements benefits buyers as well as sellers. Mobile, 350 U.S. at 344. Moreover, long-term supply contracts today permit contracting parties to allocate and protect against the risk of short-term market volatility. San Diego, 904 F.2d at 730.
Thus, "[e]xcept as the exigencies of the public inter est demand[]," FERC is "no more at liberty to alter the * * * contract to the prejudice of the [sellers] than to do so in their favor." Public Serv. Comm'n v. FPC, 543 F.2d 757, 798 (D.C. Cir. 1974). As discussed in the Com mission's opening brief (at 40), the Commission properly concluded that the same public interest standard pro tects both buyers and sellers in high and low rate cases. See PEPCO, 210 F.3d at 406, 410 (applying Sierra pub lic interest factors in a case where rates were allegedly too high); Northeast Utils. I, 993 F.2d at 961 (holding, in a case alleging that contract rates were harmful to third parties, that the effect of the public interest standard, "as formulated by the Supreme Court, is the protection of outside parties from 'undu[e] discriminat[ion]' or im position of an 'excessive burden.'") (quoting Sierra, 350 U.S. at 355); Northeast Utils. II, 55 F.3d at 691 (same); see also Papago Tribal Util. Auth. v. FERC, 723 F.2d 950, 953 n.4 (D.C. Cir. 1983) (Scalia, J.) ("Discrimination or preference that operates against the contracting pur chaser can presumably be waived-just like unreason ableness-up to the point where it produces some inde pendent harm to the public interest.").
2. Respondents contend that the public interest did favor contract reformation in this case, but their argu ments rest on an impermissible second-guessing of the Commission's factual findings. Those findings are re viewed under the substantial evidence standard, see 16 U.S.C. 825l(b), and they may be set aside only if a "rea sonable factfinder would have to conclude" that the agency erred. INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 (1992). Respondents have not come close to meeting that standard.
According to respondents (Snohomish Br. 37-39), the purchasers lacked a choice of suppliers, and as a result the contracts at issue were unjust and unreasonable when they were signed. Those assertions are not sup ported by the evidence in the record. For example, the evidence showed that the respondents Nevada Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Power Co. purchased wholesale power from dozens of different providers, while respon dent Southern California Water Co. received three dif ferent responses to its request for proposals for a long- term contract. J.A. 1282a-1283a. Before it signed its contract, Snohomish received bids from five different suppliers, J.A. 1282a, and the record shows that it en gaged in protracted negotiations with Morgan Stanley, demonstrating that it hardly had "no options" (Snoho mish Br. 37) other than to accept the contract it was of fered. In any event, under a system of market-based rates, it is to be anticipated that there will be occasions when supply or demand is short. Accordingly, the valid ity and enforceability of a long-term contract such as those at issue here cannot depend on the range of op tions the particular buyer or seller had at the moment of contract formation.
Likewise, the claim that the contracts were unrea sonable when they were signed cannot be reconciled with Snohomish's statements at the time. In a newslet ter distributed to its customers in early 2001, Snohomish explained that the prices in its long-term contracts were "well under the forward market prices predicted for the third and fourth quarters of this year, as well as those forecast for next year," and that the contracts provided "a lot of security against the uncertainty of market fluc tuations," allowing Snohomish to "emerg[e] from the power crunch in strong financial condition." FERC Dkt. No. EL02-28-000, Exh. MSC-83, at 6. Snohomish gave no indication that it "could not get what it wanted" and "had to accept the bad deal" it now claims to have nego tiated. Snohomish Br. 38.
More broadly, respondents take issue with the Com mission's conclusion that the modification of contracts would impair the functioning of the electricity markets. According to respondents (Snohomish Br. 56), various academic economists have opined that setting aside these contracts would actually "improve market func tioning." Other economists disagree. See, e.g., Baumol Amicus Br. 21-25. It is not necessary for this Court to resolve the issue, however, because "[w]hen specialists express conflicting views, an agency must have discre tion to rely on the reasonable opinions of its own quali fied experts even if, as an original matter, a court might find contrary views more persuasive." Marsh v. Oregon Natural Res. Council, 490 U.S. 360, 378 (1989).
In this case, the Commission determined that "con tract modification will harm credit and investor confi dence by altering the perception of a formerly stable cash flow into an undependable, risky cash flow" and by reducing the willingness of investors "to invest in mer chant energy contracts, which, in turn, could have an adverse effect on infrastructure development, especially at a time when Western markets need new generation and transmission." J.A. 1260a-1261a; see PacifiCorp, 99 F.E.R.C. ¶ 61,381, at 62,614 (2002) ("Competitive power markets simply cannot attract the capital needed to build adequate generating infrastructure without regu latory certainty, including certainty that the Commis sion will not modify market-based contracts unless there are extraordinary circumstances."). Those are precisely the kinds of "predictive judgments about areas that are within the agency's field of discretion and expertise" that "are entitled to 'particularly deferential' review" under Marsh. In re Core Commc'ns, Inc., 455 F.3d 267, 282 (D.C. Cir. 2006) (quoting Milk Indus. Found. v. Glickman, 132 F.3d 1467, 1478 (D.C. Cir. 1998)).
The Commission also took account of the fact that the sellers under these contracts were themselves purchas ers of power in the same market and in the same price range to cover their contracts here. See J.A. 1261a. Moreover, attempting to unravel all of the transactions between the point of generation and the last wholesale purchaser would require "prolonged time and effort" and would be unlikely to produce "in the end, a fair re sult." Puget Sound Energy, Inc., 103 F.E.R.C. ¶ 61,348, at 62,369 (2003), petition for review granted in part and denied in part sub nom. Port of Seattle v. FERC, 499 F.3d 1016 (9th Cir. 2007). Respondents contend (Snoho mish Br. 46) that the "record evidence shows otherwise," but to support that claim they cite only the statement of a Snohomish witness who asserted that "[t]he contract modifications sought by Snohomish PUC would be quite easy to formulate and implement." C.A. E.R. 1086. Even if it would be easy to modify these contracts, it would be far from easy to unwind all of the contracts between the sellers in this case and the generators of the power. And it would hardly be equitable-or likely to promote the public interest-to offer relief only to the few purchasers who initiated this proceeding.
* * * * *
For the foregoing reasons and those stated in the opening brief, the judgment of the court of appeals should be reversed.
Respectfully submitted.
Solicitor General


text:
Find your State's Official Health Insurance Marketplace. Contact your states marketplace now to find out if you qualify for a special enrollment period. You must have coverage that started by May 1st, 2014 to avoid the per-month fee for not having health insurance.
District of Columbia
New Mexico
New York
Rhode Island
All Other States
The cost of health care is going up and more and more people are unable to afford increasing insurance premiums, but there is hope. Obama's health care plan under ObamaCare has started to curb the growth in health care costs with major reforms to the industry. If ObamaCare is not repealed health care costs will start to decrease for all Americans, greatly improving the quality of care in America provided through private insurance and programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
Health care costs for a family of four covered by workplace health insurance will exceed $20,000 for the first time ever this year
...Actually $20,728! According to a study released on 5/15/12. This is $1,335 more than at the same time in 2011. Premiums have been rising, but this will end when ObamaCare curbs premium increases in 2014.
(ObamaCare Image is Public Domain)
With a preferred provider organization plan (one of the most common plans), a family of four will pay $5,114 in premiums along with $3,470 in out-of-pocket costs like co-payments for prescription drugs and doctor visits. The remainder of the expenses will be paid by employers, according to the report issued by Milliman, a firm that consults with companies on employee benefits.
Increases in health care costs, which the federal government says rose to $2.6 trillion in 2011, is certainly affecting employers, workers, families and government budgets every year.
"The rate of increase is not as high as in the past but total dollar increase was still a record," the report says. "The dollar amount of the increase overshadows any relief consumers might derive from the slowing percentage increase." The health care reform law enacted by President Barack Obama in 2010 "has had only a limited effect" on health care costs, the report continues.
Family health care costs grew by 6.9 percent between 2011 and 2012, slower than in previous years, but Milliman suggests there's little comfort in that.
Spending on physician services will reach $6,647 and spending on hospital stays will rise to $6,531, making them the two biggest components of a typical family's annual health care expenses, the report says.
Health care costs varied among the 14 metropolitan areas that Milliman analyzed. Miami and New York City are the most expensive, with costs about 20 percent higher than the national average. The report says that Phoenix, Atlanta and Seattle were the only three cities where annual costs are projected to be less than $20,000 this year.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
- Advertisement -
Benjamin Percy: Red Moon
Features:Price: free
This month, Oregon-born Benjamin Percy will release his second novel, Red Moon, a horror novel about a werewolf epidemic that draws eerie parallels to our own War on Terror. Percy is the author of the 2011 novel The Wilding, as well as the acclaimed story collection Refresh, Refresh. Read our Q&A with Percy.
Phone: 503-228-4651
Website: powells.com/calendar
Event Categories: Books & Talks
Event Organizer: Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing
May 10, 2013 at 7pmShow more...
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd.
Portland, OR
Portland, OR
Phone: 503-228-4651
Website: powells.com
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The Sisters Brothers
by Patrick deWitt
The Sisters Brothers
by Author Name Patrick deWitt
- Book details for title
- List Price: €12.80
- Format: Paperback, 198 x 129 x 23mm, 325pp
- Publication date: 05 Jan 2012
- Publisher: Granta Books
Hermann Kermit Warm is going to die. Across 1000 miles of Oregon desert his assassins, the notorious Eli and Charlies Sisters, ride - fighting, shooting, and drinking their way to Sacramento. But their prey isn't an easy mark, the road is long and bloody, and somewhere along the path Eli begins to question what he does for a living - and whom he does it for. The Sisters Brothers pays homage to the classic Western, transforming it into an unforgettable ribald tour de force. Filled with a remarkable cast of losers, cheaters, and ne'er-do-wells from all stripes of life-and told by a complex and compelling narrator, it is a violent, lustful odyssey through the underworld of the 1850s frontier that beautifully captures the humor, melancholy, and grit of the Old West and two brothers bound by blood, violence, and love.


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Matthew Agency models are Made in Michigan.
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I know this dude from High School.
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Barneys Beanery Pasadena??
- Foodandwine Apr 19, 2008 08:32 AM
Every other month 6 friends of mine get together for dinner. We have been doing this for 8 years or so. One guy whom lives in Sierra Madre ( his turn to decide ) just let us know that we are eating at Barneys Beanery this Monday Night. What do you think? We normally go to much nicer places, am I missing something here??
barney's beanery is my husbands favorite place to drink a beer and watch the steelers game in pasadena. i have to agree that it's a great place just for that and only that. the several times i've gone with him and his buddy to watch the game i've tried the following. the burger; meh, i've had much better. pizza; too much cheese and greasy and just blah! chicken wings; once again i've had better like at big wangs. huevos rancheros; not bad, obviously had better. i've learned to set my bar lower when i go here b/c it's beer and sports first then the food. i'd stick to burgers, fries, and onion rings.
I've had the fish and chips here and the fish was actually pretty good.... chips were a bit soggy for me. Great place to share with friends.
Tell em to take you to Lucky Baldwin's for the Barleywine fest instead. Better beer, food is OK. Atmosphere is less "almost a chain"
re: Foodandwine
what kind of evening are you looking for and how much are you looking to spend. you mention you usually go to nicer places...where would that be? parkway grill?
re: ipsedixit
Or even Buca Di Beppo!
It's not really a proper dinner place, and doesn't sound like it fits the bill of what you and your friends usually do. But I guess it will be more calm on a Monday night.
re: slacker
Hopefully that is it. Even though I'm not a fan of Barneys Limited, it is much better than Beanery. The food isn't good at either place though.
re: andytseng
Update: Thanks for all of your feedback. One member of the group had spoken up and the host changed the Venue to Smittys Grill. Looks much better than the former.. Thanks
re: Foodandwine
Ohhhh, I hate Smitty's too. Apparently some folks here just love it. But I just hate big food from cans, overloaded with salt. That was my experience anyway.
re: andytseng
I disagree about Barneys Ltd, as far as their turkey dip goes. I love their turkey dip, one of the best I've had. Also, their housemade potato salad is excellent. Plus I had breakfast recently at the Sierra Madre location, and that too was very good.
re: slacker
I just wish they would shrink their menu down to like 20-30 things, because I actually enjoy watching sports there. They have a cheesecake factory-sized menu in a tiny spot.
Lucky Baldwon's food is awful! If you want good beer and pub grub go to Brits on Colorado Blvd. near Allen. Nicer atmosphere. Don't be put off by the motto "Warm Beer-Losy Food" Nothing could be further from the truth. I really like their steak & mushroom pie. Nothing like the watery version at Lucky Baldwins.
The other place I would reccomend is unfortunately not open on Mondays. It's called Lily's Cuban Buffet. All you can eat Cuban Food! And very good Cuban food!. The buffet is only for lunch during the week but all day during the weekend it's all day. It's a good way to sample Cuban cusine.
re: SeaCook
Lordy, not Brits. The beer selection just PALES in comparison.
I gotta admit, most of Lucky B's food is pretty standard pub fare, and not spectacular. But the huge variety of amazing beer and OK food is allright.


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Welcome to HCOA stfisher62, if you have not done so, drop down to new members and tell us a little about yourself. Welcome aboard.
Take the charger with you and go to a Reliable Quality Tool Store. Ask for a bit that will fit these screws. Did you call their Customer Service for help on locating or purchasing the correct bit. Come to think of it you most likely can find a bit at ACE hardware stores. You have learned a GOOD lesson about Tough-Test tools. Stay away from them. Have you viewed any of their Video's yet. If you do look at the brand of tools they use. You will never see a Tough-Test tool being used by the Handy Staff. Now I wonder why that is.
You say you just bought this set. Don't they have a warranty on that set. Check the paper work and call "Customer Service" for a replacement/refund.
"Oldman" Wishing ALL a good day and a better one tomorrow from the central town of Owosso, Mi.48867


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;; ANSWER SECTION:mx1.comcast.net. 600 IN AAAA 2001:558:fe14:70::22It appears they are using IPv6 for there MX1 record. It wont return me an A record only an AAAA record.
I stand corrected.That would make sense.
I wonder why they are using IPv6 on the MX1 record? I guess maybe for IPv6 only people but that doesn't appear to be so yet.Really not sure


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One of the scribes contracted by World Car Fans just wrapped up some seat time in the supercharged MTM Audi RTT, and says, despite the love-fest going on over the Audi R8, its MTM-massaged baby brother can give it more than a run for its money.
Focusing more on outright speed than competent handling, our tuner tour guide provides us a straight-forward account of the RTT's accelerative qualities, citing a 0-62 MPH time of 4.1 seconds, a half-second less than Audi's high-dollar mid-engine masterpiece. Beyond the blower, which brings output up to 415 HP and 368 lb.-ft. of torque, the RTT also benefits from an R8-inspired body kit (€2000), although surprisingly, MTM has left the stock suspension in its place – something they'll rectify with the right amount of cash.
With an entry fee of just under €73,000, it certainly isn't for the faint of heart. But then again, neither is its performance.
[Source: World Car Fans]


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School Overview
|School Membership(s)School Assoc.
|Western States Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
|Religious Affiliation
|Grades Offered
|Grades Kindergarten - 12
|Offers Post-Graduate Year
|Learning Difference Programs
|Learning Programs Supported
|Year Founded
Student Body
|Total Students
|94 students
|Student Body Type
|% Students of Color
State avg.: 41%
|Students by Grade
Academics and Faculty
|Total Classroom Teachers
|20 teachers
|Student : Teacher Ratio
National avg.: 13:1
|% Faculty w/Advanced Degree
|Average Class Size
|8 students
|Number of AP Courses
|5 courses
|List of Courses Offered
|Link to List of Courses
|Average SAT score
|Matriculation DataMatric. Data
|Link to Matriculation Data
|Classroom Dress Code
(neat and clean; plain shirts )
Finances and Admission
|Admission Deadline
|None / Rolling
|Yearly Tuition Cost
|% on Financial Aid
|Average Financial Aid Grant
|Acceptance Rate
National avg.: 85%
|Admissions Director
|Stephen Parker
|Admissions Associate
|Monica Castro
|Total Sports Offered
|4 sports
|Basketball, Flag Football, Softball, Track and FieldBasketball, Flag Football,
Softball, Track and Field,
School Notes:
BCS specializes in finding latent talent among its students. Many are gifted. Often students will excel in their area of interest but fail in other subjects. We provide a structured environment within which they may pursue their interests in computers, music, art and writing. In addition, we provide support and remediation in areas of weakness.
Nearby Schools:
- School Location Miles Students Grades
San Diego City Tree Christian School
320 Date St
San Diego , CA , 92101
(619)232-3794(Christian)0.3 mi | 162 students | Gr. PK-8
San DiegoKiddie Hall
600 B Street, Suite 300
San Diego , CA , 92101
(619)696-5042Early Childhood / Day Cares0.8 mi | students | Gr. NS-PK
San DiegoThe Cambridge School
12855 Black Mountain Rd
San Diego , CA , 92129
(858)484-3488(Christian)0.8 mi | 157 students | Gr. PK-8
San DiegoMontessori School Of San Diego
1323 W Spruce St
San Diego , CA , 92103
(619)295-7591Montessori School1.1 mi | 46 students | Gr. PK-3
San DiegoAll Saints' Episcopal Preschool
3674 7th Avenue
San Diego , CA , 92103
(619)298-1671(Episcopal)1.2 mi | 63 students | Gr. PK
School Reviews
- August 19, 2013 - While preparing to teach American Literature at Huashan High School in Korla, China this Fall, I have a had the unique opportunity to do my prep work at Balboa City School, a college preparatory K-12 school on the western border of Balboa Park in San Diego, California. Each day I have observed students engaged in small classes, working with their peers and teachers who do not just disseminate information or "teach to the test", but are emphasizing the importance of questions such as "....how, why and what if...". This type of teaching encourages students to expand their minds and critically and think about how to arrive at logical solutions. In my opinion, this style of teaching is becoming more and more rare these days, with many schools focusing on test results only. Balboa City School encourages its students to use their Critical Thinking skills to solve real world problems such as which engine to use in a rocket and bookwork too. This higher form of critical thinking is very important for the future of our children as they navigate through their school career to college and into their chosen careers. While working in many schools for the last 12 years, I have seen the decline in using interesting education activities, such as Balboa Park, Old Town, local museums, etc. At BCS the students are exposed regularly to Balboa Park, Old Town, museums, the world famous San Diego Zoo among other educational resources that enhances their education experience while at BCS. Examples of this "think outside the box" teaching is seen everyday, the BCS classroom doesn''t stop at the four walls of the classroom, the typical BCS classroom extends beyond the four walls. Going into the community and using all that San Diego has to offer, whether its studying in a museum about an era in history, or observing animals at the world famous San Diego Zoo, in a way much like Socrates taught his students. The students study for the SAT, build rockets for national contests, study robotics, develop original video games, among other many interesting and compelling subjects. BCS is a uniquely different school, it focuses on the student, not only as an individual, but also as a team member in the classroom, the classroom experience extends beyond the brick and mortar of the school building. The staff constantly is encouraging the students to explore "outside the box" in their way of thinking, which better prepares them for the world - Posted by Teacher
- August 02, 2013 - Many students in the graduating class have been accepting to top universities. Students of all grade levels earned numerous awards and accolades. Our curriculum is now being used in several schools in China. Younger students are often working at above grade level after just a year in our program. STEM programs include rocketry, where our team was a finalist in TARC, and robotics taught as part of the curriculum. Our new website is balboaschool.com - Posted by Administrator
- February 17, 2013 - I have taught (substitute) all over San Diego and Riverside Counties. I have been to many public schools, charter schools and private schools, but the culture, student population, teaching approach and leadership at Balboa City School is unique and effective. The class sizes are small, giving the teachers a lot of time to learn about their students as individuals. The access to technology is top of the line. There is a sense of community that I have not seen at other schools, clearly the atmosphere is not lost on the students, because they are all highly motivated young adults. The diversity of the student population is interesting because it gives students from different types of backgrounds a chance to intermingle in an intimate setting without the judgement of peers that often comes with larger public schools. Overall, this is a great environment both academic and social. - Posted by Teacher
- January 31, 2013 - We searched and searched for the perfect school, and we finally found it! I have one child enrolled currently. I love the small class sizes! My child can''t wait to get to school. My child is in 5th grade, and in addition to their amazing classroom teachers, they have robotics, computer classes, a science teacher that makes science so interesting and fun. They get to go to a great science lab! How many elementary students get to do that? - Posted by Parent
- July 27, 2012 - The academic programs thoroughly prepared my child for college. They have music classes, art, and do sports every day if you want. They have 1,700 acres of Balboa Park which they use as extended facilities. They should be called School in the Park. They have EXCELLENT multimedia programs. - Posted by Parent


text:
|See It
Local Sellers
Product Details
25 Foot Plastic Brick Edging - No lights. Circle a tree in minutes. Product will automatically curve or go straight. No hauling, digging, mixing mortar. Just Snap together & Press in ground. It's that easy.Dimensions: 2.0 IN x 8.0 IN x 3.0 IN
Product Title: Argee RG825 Lets Edge It Decorative Plastic Brick Edging, no lights, 25
Manufacturer: Argee
Lowest Price: $44.94 from Quill
Power Score: 4.4 | 82 Reviews
Additional Specifications
Parent Retsku: B0013LL96O
Product Reviews (10)
very nice product
once I put it together was real nice border around tree in Condo complex. Many people asked where I found this item
By nancyb0305 on Home Depot - Jun 18, 2013
need better color/ mixed color
mixed color and look like old fashion. price is too high, compare too plastic edges
By patrick on Home Depot - Jun 4, 2013
this product is very easy to use and looks great. i used it to edge a flower garden with a retaining wall on one side and used the edging on the yard side looks great goes around curves fantistic
By missouriyardie on Home Depot - May 16, 2013
Look pretty real and were very easy to install. They certainly were more cost effective than stone!
By Hu241 on Home Depot - May 14, 2013
Really easy and cool
Love it. Simple, quick, easy, great result. Will buy some more.
By redoitall on Home Depot - May 14, 2013


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vulnerable in an unstable job market, frequently the first fired or working in temporary jobs with no employer-based insurance coverage.
Access to health care can include concerns beyond mere financial issues. Transportation, convenience, and cultural sensitivity are also factors. In addition, parental support and encouragement, as well as understanding the importance of health care and how to approach the system, influence students' access to health care.
Even with access to health care, young people may not be receiving the attention they need. When adolescents with access to physicians are asked what they want to discuss and what they actually discuss with the physician, the percentage drops on virtually every topic from nutrition, to sex, to drug use (Marks et al., 1983). Even those adolescents with insurance and family doctors do not seek help from health care professionals for problems of greatest importance for their high-risk behaviors. In fact, doctors themselves do not feel qualified to discuss most adolescent health behaviors—only 38 percent feel they have adequate training in alcohol and drug abuse, and a mere 11 percent feel qualified to discuss depression with a youth (Beringer, 1990). Studies have shown that an initial history and physical examination for a new adolescent patient should require 30 to 45 minutes. Although 23 percent of adolescent physician visits are first encounters, half of all visits last 10 minutes or less, 30 percent last 11 to 15 minutes, and only 4 percent are 30 minutes or longer (Klein et al., 1993).
The comprehensive school health program is seen as a new paradigm needed to deal with the problems of today's children and families. It became clear to the IOM committee at the onset of its study that although a variety of conceptions and models exist, coordinated comprehensive programs are still essentially an unrealized ideal in most communities. The committee members themselves came into the study with a range of backgrounds and experiences, and the committee determined that it needed to establish its own working definition of the term "comprehensive school health program," which would guide further work. This definition was published and distributed in the committee's interim statement in the spring of 1995, along with additional background information and an outline of issues the committee planned to address in its study. The definition of a CSHP, as well as various program models and essential components, is further discussed in Chapter 2 of this report.


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Battlefield Hardline beta impressions: not looking goodJune 26, 2014 | C. Custer | 2 Comments
After spending more time with the Hardline beta, I'm sad to report that it feels more like a disappointing re-skin than a new game.Read More
Battlefield Hardline beta: a tale of robbery gone wrongJune 20, 2014 | C. Custer | 4 Comments
I tried to rob an armored car in Battlefield Hardline, and it went horribly wrong.Read More
Asia release dates for the Sims 4, FIFA 15, and Battlefield HardlineJune 10, 2014 | C. Custer | One Comment
Interested in the games EA just announced at E3? Here are the Asian release dates!Read More
China will get EA titles for mobile this year via PopCap ChinaJanuary 14, 2014 | Mary-Anne Lee | 2 Comments
PopCap China in Shanghai may be one of the only two PopCap offices worldwide still run independently of EA, but it is finally getting a finger in the Electronic Arts pie this year.
Once its 2014 fiscal year begins in … Read More
China declares Battlefield 4 illegalDecember 28, 2013 | C. Custer | 7 Comments
I really liked Battlefield 4, but apparently China's Ministry of Culture disagrees. The Ministry announced Friday that the game is illegal. Its crimes? Containing content that harms China's national security interests, constituting a sort of 'cultural invasion'. Websites and companies … Read More
Chinese player buys Battlefield 4 on Taobao, gets link to download pirated copyOctober 31, 2013 | C. Custer
Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao may not be the Wild West it once was, but despite the fact that if has been dropped from the US's notorious piracy list, there's still plenty of sketchy business going on there. Read More
Singapore eSports team [Bf.Nut] talks about its futureOctober 30, 2013 | Mary-Anne Lee | 2 Comments
Singapore eSports team [Bf.Nut] had always wanted to do something for the Battlefield games, but little did they think that their wish could turn into a plausible and profitable future. Last Tuesday's Battlefield 4 launch, was just the start of … Read More
Battlefield 4 review: a little acting goes a long wayOctober 29, 2013 | C. Custer | 12 Comments
You'd have to be living under a rock to be unaware that Battlefield 4, DICE and EA's answer to the blockbuster behmoth that is the Call of Duty series, was coming out this fall. Read More
What happened at Singapore's Battlefield 4 Launch? (PICS)October 29, 2013 | Mary-Anne Lee | 2 Comments
Tuesday, 12pm. Level 5 of the normally quiet Bugis+ mall explodes into life with pop music. The patiently waiting queue outside of the Colosseum LAN shop starts to snake inside. The sound of gunfire fills the air. Local eSports team [Bf.Nut] have officially kicked off their first event: the launch of Battlefield 4 in Singapore. Read More
Singapore's Changi Airport features in Battlefield 4October 24, 2013 | Mary-Anne Lee | 2 Comments
Singapore's edging her way into popular culture with her latest inclusion in video games: a signboard in the latest Battlefield 4 (BF4) trailer points to Changi Airport. Read More
Battlefield 4 launch in Singapore hosted by competitive eSports teamOctober 24, 2013 | Mary-Anne Lee | 2 Comments
Battlefield 4 is launching this October 29th, and in Singapore, it won't arrive without fanfare.
Together with distributor Ingram Micro, the competitive Battlefield team [Bf.Nut] has organised hands-on gaming sessions for the public over at the Colosseum LAN shop.
The … Read More
Is EA's Battlefield 3 Disappearing From China's Internet?July 6, 2012 | C. Custer
Some days, the internet here is a weird thing. This morning, we came across a tweet (via @chassit) that suggested searches for Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 3 — EA's flagship first-person shooting games — were blocked from Sina Weibo, and … Read More


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What is the Meaning of the Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-32)?
What is 1 Corinthians About?
Why Did Paul "Count Everything as Rubbish" (Philippians 3:8)?
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software. (Lexham English Bible)


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Melinda Coleman and her children left town after a social and legal disaster involving allegations of sexual assault by Coleman's 14-year-old daughter, Daisy, against a 17-year-old high school senior and football player.
The football player, Matthew Barnett, was quickly arrested and charged with sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, but after a series of victim blaming, the charges were dropped without explanation. Six months after Coleman took her family out of Maryville, her house burned down.
After a firestorm of criticism following a story by The Kansas City Star with the decision not to file any charges, Nodaway County Prosecutor Robert Rice has reversed himself. On Wednesday, Rice announced that he has asked a judge to appoint a special prosecutor to look into the case. Daisy Coleman may have her day in court after all.Read the full article here and the original story here.
This happens all the time. Shame and blame the victim, drag her through the mud and hope she'll give up, have to relive...
Ugh this situation makes me so angry..
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As Puerto Rico is battered by a wave of drugs and brazen murders, Houston and other continental U.S. cities feel the blowback.
The Cronicas exhibit, highlighted by Fernando Brito's photos, offers strong indictments of drug-related violence.
Mexicans pay in blood for America's War on Drugs.
What Would Comprehensive Immigration Reform Look Like If the Feds Got Off Their Duffs?
Juarez kids surrounded by violence, dead bodies.
Unlike refugees from other troubled countries, only a fraction of Mexicans seeking U.S. asylum are accepted no matter how horrible their wounds or their stories.
As Mexican drug cartels increasingly recruit American teens as runners, a Sugar Land teen goes across the border and ends up dead.
On the front line of the U.S. war on drugs, a Mexican city bleeds to death.
Making Change
The Mexican replies


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The Up-and-Comers
The Bethesda area is home to lots of movers and shakers with long careers in business, politics and the arts. But it also has a number of rising stars who are making their mark before they're even 40.
We celebrate six up-and-comers, from a chef with all the ingredients of success to a local politician making waves in Annapolis.
Carrie Fox
33, owner of C.Fox Communications
Shortly after Carrie Fox founded C.Fox Communications, she met with several high-profile executives on behalf of Balducci's, the upscale grocery chain her public relations firm represented.
Just 25 at the time, Fox walked into the meeting confident she could handle any question thrown at her. But there was one she wasn't expecting: "Is your boss going to be joining you?"
Now 33, the petite woman with the angular bob is no stranger to proving herself in a field of older, more experienced colleagues. She was hired as communications director for Cal and Bill Ripken's Ripken Baseball during her junior year at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore. Two years later, she became a junior associate at Prism Public Affairs in Washington, D.C., a firm co-founded by longtime political strategist Don Foley.
Foley was so impressed by Fox's "finely honed" business skills and acumen that he now works as a senior counselor for her Silver Spring firm.
Fox founded C.Fox in 2004 while doing contract work for Prism after moving to Hartford, Conn. In 2006, she relocated to Maryland and expanded her firm, netting clients such as AARP and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Fox has focused on providing services for "mission-driven organizations." Each year, C.Fox donates up to $30,000 in pro bono services to a different area nonprofit.
David Humphries, communications director for Silver Spring-based CHF International, says the relief agency received more media coverage in a year after hiring C.Fox in 2009 than it had in the previous 58 years.
He says Fox has "a serious ability to absorb knowledge quickly and pitch it in a way that's interesting."
Fox, who lives in Silver Spring with her husband, Brian, and 2-year-old daughter, Sophia, says it's really a matter of attitude.
"If you carry yourself with confidence and speak with knowledge and authority," she says, "no one can break you down."
Dennis Friedman
33, chef-owner of Newton's Table
It wasn't that long ago that Dennis Friedman was a Walt Whitman High School student waiting tables at Ledo Pizza on River Road in Bethesda.
Even then, Friedman loved the restaurant industry and felt a connection to the people he served.
"Interacting with customers came naturally to me," the soft-spoken Bethesda resident says.
Now 33, Friedman is connecting with customers on a much larger scale as chef-owner of Newton's Table, which opened a year ago on Elm Street in Bethesda. The modern-American restaurant has received many positive reviews and is often packed on Friday and Saturday nights.
Friedman always believed he had a gift for the service industry. But he only considered becoming a chef after realizing that his heart wasn't in attending law school as he'd initially planned.
Instead, he attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. That led to a stint with renowned chef Daniel Boulud at the restaurant Daniel in New York, where Friedman says the 100-hour workweeks were "the hardest but best thing I've ever done."
He later worked at Michel Richard Citronelle and Kinkead's in Washington, D.C., before becoming chef and co-owner of Bezu Restaurant & Bar in Potomac. He left Bezu to open Newton's Table, and has since worked 14-hour days. He lives near the restaurant with fiancée Patty Pedroza.
Judith Mazza, spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C., chapter of the international culinary society Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, says Friedman possesses the culinary chops to be a star, and the business acumen required for long-term success.
"His techniques are spot-on, and he has a sensitivity to ingredients that's just tremendous," Mazza says. "He's also personable and kind, and is defined as much by the way he interacts with his customers and colleagues as he is defined by his cuisine."
Bill Frick
37, representing District 16 in the Maryland House of Delegates
When Bethesda's Bill Frick was chosen in 2007 to replace retiring state Delegate Marilyn Goldwater, not many people knew who he was. The political activist and attorney surprised everyone—including himself—by winning out over 10 rivals in a special process conducted by the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee.
But all that has changed in the nearly five years that the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduate has served in Annapolis.
Shortly after being sworn in to represent parts of Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac, Frick played a key role in a contentious General Assembly special session over a state budget crisis, served on the instrumental Ways and Means Committee and helped Majority Leader Kumar Barve defend Gov. Martin O'Malley's legislative package on the floor.
"Within weeks, he made the kind of impact on the Legislature that would have taken most people years," says state Delegate Brian Feldman, who represents District 15 and is House chair of the Montgomery County delegation.
Frick, a senior attorney with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington, D.C., has maintained that momentum. He tackled credit-card reform and consumer-protection issues, and successfully sponsored legislation requiring lenders to clearly disclose the terms of tax-refund anticipation loans.
Ginanne Italiano, president of The Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce, says Frick has a reputation for being highly responsive to constituents, and often calls chamber members to discuss proposed legislation.
The Harvard Law School graduate is also known as a family man more likely to talk about his wife, Bethany, or his kids—Katie, 6, and Charlie, 3—than his own accomplishments. And despite Kennedy-esque good looks that led the blog Maryland Politics Watch to dub him "The Stud of the Statehouse," Frick doesn't take himself too seriously.
"He's very up front and real," Italiano says.
Lisa Fadden
30, vice president of public affairs for The Chevy Chase Land Company
Lisa Fadden's office at The Chevy Chase Land Company is decked out with tributes to running—from a poster of the 2007 Boston Marathon in which she ran to framed photos of the running team she coaches.
The pictures remind her of how running can bring together disparate personalities—and of how coaching can mean assuaging conflicting points of view.
That particular skill has served her well at the 122-year-old, low-profile firm that hired her in August 2011 to be its public face and help shepherd its controversial proposal to build a large mixed-use development at Chevy Chase Lake.
With her long brown hair and 5-foot stature, Fadden looks much younger than her 30 years and it's difficult to imagine her going toe-to-toe with longtime community leaders. But that's what she has done ever since she was hired six years ago as public affairs and communications coordinator, and 18 months later as vice president of public affairs, at the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce.
Gigi Godwin, chamber president and CEO, says Fadden excelled at "getting into the weeds" of complicated legislation when she served as a liaison between the chamber and local lawmakers.
And in her new role, Fadden has helped smooth the contentious public debate over The Land Company's development proposal for Chevy Chase Lake, says Chevy Chase Mayor David Lublin.
"People are now engaging in a meaningful discussion about the issues rather than simply arguing," Lublin says. "She reaches out to people in a very meaningful way, listening to understand, not just to pay lip service. I wish she were working for my side."
Fadden, who lives in Northwest Washington, D.C., with fiancé Dale Nelson, attributes her success to her "fearless" nature.
"Honestly," she says, "it's pretty difficult to intimidate me."
Michael Bobbitt
39, producing artistic director of Adventure Theatre
A chase is unfolding onstage at Adventure Theatre, and the few dozen preschoolers in the audience are going wild.
"Do you hear that?" Michael Bobbitt says as laughter and shrieks pour from the theater. "That's the best part of my job."
Tall and stocky with big brown eyes, a goatee and a soft, honey tenor voice, Bobbitt, 39, makes his job as producing artistic director sound like child's play. But transforming the Glen Echo Park children's theater from a board-run operation to one with a professional staff and a revamped operating system was anything but.
Bobbitt, who took over in 2006 after working as a professional actor and director in Washington, D.C., and New York, also changed the focus of theater productions from grade-school kids to preschoolers and younger children.
And he aggressively pursued adaptations of big-name children's books, including If You Give a Pig a Pancake, which won the theater its first Helen Hayes Award last year.
During Bobbitt's tenure, the theater's annual attendance has skyrocketed from 18,000 in 2007 to 71,000 in 2011.
Jerry Whiddon, a former artistic director at Bethesda's Round House Theatre, says Bobbitt has increased Adventure Theatre's visibility "in a wonderful way."
"What he's done with the theater got my attention, and got the attention of a lot of other professional artists who are well into their careers," says Whiddon, who has directed plays for Bobbitt at Adventure Theatre.
Bobbitt, who lives in Glen Echo with his partner, Craig Hanna, and his Vietnamese adopted son, Sang Bobbitt Hanna, 10, is working to diversify the theater's audience. He has developed a "sensory-friendly" performance model for autistic children and held special events, including one for adoptive families.
Bobbitt's "fearless nature and healthy sense of competition" motivate him to seek new challenges. "I thrive on the fun of those challenges, and in the success that comes in their wake," he says.
Anna Hargrave
31, deputy director of The Community Foundation for Montgomery County
When Anna Hargrave attends board meetings for The Community Foundation of Montgomery County, she often finds herself sitting with parents of childhood playmates.
That's because the 31-year-old with the big brown eyes and wide smile has lived in the county almost her entire life. A Springbrook High School graduate, she grew up in Silver Spring influenced by parents who were committed to serving their community. Her father, Thomas Hargrave, served as president of the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington, and her mother, Meredith Higgins, often brought her daughter along to serve breakfast to the homeless and volunteer for various causes.
These days, it's Hargrave who's serving her community as deputy director of The Community Foundation, working one-on-one with its more than 260 donors.
Hired as a donor services associate in 2006, Hargrave assumed her current role in late 2010. She focuses on uniting government agencies, businesses, philanthropists and nonprofits, and she makes sure that donors are giving in a way that's fiscally smart and emotionally satisfying. For example, she might pair a dentist's widow with an organization that provides free dental care for kids.
"What's special about Anna is the way she takes her talent and her love for this community and uses it to engage philanthropists in conversations about why they should give where they live," Executive Director Sally Rudney says. "Anna really pays attention to who donors are and what they're about."
Before joining the foundation, Hargrave worked with various social service organizations in the area, including the Jewish Social Service Agency in Silver Spring, and the Montgomery Youth Works program at MontgomeryWorks in Wheaton.
Hargrave, who lives in Silver Spring with her husband, Jimmy Hernandez, says she loves "learning what inspires people, and what pulls on their heartstrings."
Amy Reinink's work has appeared in The Washington Post, Entrepreneur and Women's Running. She lives in Silver Spring.


text: You typically see a rich chess or pecan pie served in smaller portions on buffets at hotels and restaurants. I agree that if you are ordering it off the menu, they are going to bring you a bigger piece, but for buffet service, those are going to be cut smaller. Otherwise, people take a "normal" sized slice and only eat two or three bites because it is so rich. Like wise with those decadent chocolate cakes that are gluten-free, and I know there must be a real name for these other than gluten-free, they are made with melted dark chocolate and egg yolks and cream - anyone? anyone? Beuller? They are fudgy and rich and a 6 inch round cake feeds 6-8. Another factor is using a thin commercial crust vs. a homemade one that would probably stand up better to multiple cuts. That and keeping warm water handy to wash the knife off with every couple of cuts. Christianna Veteran of MANY a buffet line <snip> Do you actually have a traditional recipe for pecan pie from say 1910-1940 that says it serves 12-20? (Can you even cut an 8 or 9 inch pie that thinly?) I would guess that appetites were rather hearty then and that a pecan pie served 6-8. Wouldn't a hostess serving pecan pie and cutting it in so many small slices be seen as miserly? Scrooge-like? If you went to a restaurant and ordered a slice and they gave you one twentieth of a pie, wouldn't you be upset? What actual evidence can you offer in terms of serving instructions or actual recipes? Johnnae > > Keep in mind that portion sizes are smaller than you're probably > thinking. One pecan pie can serve, not the "usual" six or eight > slices, but 12-20 slices. Also, you don't eat it alone, you eat it > after a nice healthy meal that includes protein, which helps your > body process the extra carbs. > > Judith / no SCA name yet _____________________________________________


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New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday the creation of a database that will be used by social networking sites to keep child pornography off the internet. The database finds offensive pictures and stops the images from ending up on the site. Facebook and MySpace have already agreed to use the database to stop the sharing of these images on their social networks. Cuomo is also asking 13 other social networking companies to use the database.
"The sites that are screening for this garbage are safer," said Cuomo. "The marketplace works if the sites know parents demand it, young people will demand it, then they will provide it."
The new database will be maintained and supervised by the Attorney General's Office, and the Division of Criminal Justice Services.


text:
902gr's Massive Black Tourmaline Crystals Rough LOOK
902gr's Massive Black Tourmaline Crystals Rough LOOK
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Sold Date: 08/27/2008
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Source: eBay
Category: Antiquities
Pictured as is, and photographed wet, this is a great example of a tourmaline Crystal. Nice dark black, and huge, truely a collector's piece. Use for crafts, healing, dispaly or jewelry. Thanx for looking and check out my store for other buy it now items. I will be listing lots of differnet Lapidary, Mineral, fossil, opal and bead related items. As always shipping will be exact charges, with no handling or packing fee.
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Our next class will begin on October 29th from 4 to 6 PM on Monday and Wednesday. This course will last 7 weeks. Students must complete classroom and driving in 11 weeks. There will be a Parent/Student orientation on Saturday, October 25th at 10 AM. Please call Dan at 360-975-2799 for more information.
Old news!
Our next class will begin on October 2 from 6 to 8 PM on Tuesday and Thursday. There will be a Parent/Student Orientation on September 27 at 10 AM. For more information call Dan at 360-975-2799.
Our next class will begin on September 8 from 4-6 PM on Monday and Wednesday. This will be a 7 week class. There will be a Parent/Student Orientation on Saturday, September 6 at 10 AM. For further information please contact me at 360-975.2799.
Old news!
Our next class will begin on July 28th from 10:00 am to noon Monday-Thursdays. This will be about 4 weeks to completion. There will be a parent/student orientation meeting July 26th at 10 am. For further information please contact me at 360-975-2799.
Visit our Facebook and like us!!! Top Gear Driving School. Share with your friends!
Top Gear Driving School is coming to Lyle for the Summer at the Lyle Activity Center. Classes will begin on June 23. There will be a parent/student orientation meeting on June 21 at 10 AM. This class will be a Monday-Wednesday-Friday class from 10 to noon. It will last for 5 weeks. Drives will be scheduled before and after class, and on other days when available.
Old news!
Top Gear Driving School is now approved and authorized by the Department of Licensing to give the knowledge and driving(skills) tests. As of December 31, 2012 the DOL in White Salmon and Goldendale will no longer give the knowledge test and the skills (driving) test. Testing will now be done at Top Gear Driving School. This will benefit patrons who previously had to go to Goldendale, White Salmon or Vancouver for testing.
This service will be available not only for beginning drivers, but for anyone needing the testing. Testing will be available by appointment only until set times are discovered that will work for the community. Testing locations will not be able to take pictures, or issue a driver's license. It will be necessary to visit a Department of Licensing location in White Salmon, Goldendale, or Vancouver.
** Very important!!! Before you come to test, you must visit the Department of Licensing Website to get your Washington Driver's License number.
Learn From the Best
With over 20 years of experience, we take pride in our skilled and safe drivers. Top Gear Driving School is dedicated to serving youth as well as older drivers who need Drivers Training in the Gorge. We provide the best traffic safety training available at an affordable price.
Classes Are Starting Soon
Washington State requires that Driver Training programs include 30 hours of classroom instruction, with a maximum of 2 hours per day.
We have classes that begin nearly every 3 weeks. Check the course schedule and sign up today!
Drive Times
Behind the wheel training is part of the course for beginning students.
Washington State requires a minimum of 6 hours of behind-the-wheel training, with a maximum of 1 hour per day. A minimum of 1 hour of behind-the-wheel observation is also required.
We also offer behind the wheel training to anyone who may wish to learn to drive, or improve their skills.
Want to schedule a drive time? Sign up or check the schedule here.
Find Us
PO Box 71 Stevenson, WA 98648


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In response to:
Superb analysis from Morgan: She understands, as do Romney and Ryan, unlike the clueless Barry Soetoro. The government would never have built a nationwide highway system had it not been for Ford making the automobile accessible to the 99%. Nor would we be having this conversation on the internet were it not for Gates and Jobs making desktop computers available to the 99%.
In response to:
Thank you Comrade tblankman for the eclectic analysis. Read Thomas Sowell on Marxism -- it has failed everywhere it has been tried. Incidentally, your ignorance wouldn't be quite so obvious if you knew the difference between "their" and "there" and the difference between "tail" and tale. Of course we need working people, just as we need professional people, teachers, managers, farmers, and entrepreneurs. Working people have not constituted 99% of our population in well over a century. But then, you are stuck in the nineteenth century.
In response to:
I think that Saunders is also walking a narrow line -- we all must be careful not to put ourselves in a place where there is any hint of racism. D'Souza clearly was walking that same thin line. (I try to, as well). This limits what he can say and do. Also, this is a movie. Time is limited, and it is difficult to translate concepts such as "anti-colonialism" visually. Ms. Saunders should read the book as well. Finally, it is always problematic when anybody tries to get "inside someone else's head" as D'Souza does. I would like to add, however, that the MSM had no problem when many pundits "psycho-analyzed" "W" and found him to be a dimwit, trigger-happy, cowboy.
In response to:
The Progressive Handbook: If a progressive uses satire, he's witty; if a conservative uses satire, he's crazy. If a conservative points out failings of the administration, he's racist; if a progressive points out failings of the administration, oops, they're not allowed to do that. If a conservative use facts and speaks the truth, a progressive scratches his head and says "What is that?"
In response to:
Robert1824 doesn't have a clue as to what America is about. I have no problem with non-Christians, nor does any thinking Christians. We all have a right to our opinions, our beliefs, and our actions as long as they do not harm others, and promote a viable society. I wish he would explain to me, however, how killing babies, promoting pornography, and debasing marriage promote a viable society. On the matter of "gay rights," I have no problem with any combination of people living together in an intimate union, except when groups exceed two, or include children, or are both of the same sex want to call their union marriage, and expect the rest of us to accord them with the same honor as a linguistically valid married couple.
In response to:
Apparently many Americans don't understand America, its history, or what the prophets were about. Dr. Youssef does. We should heed what he's writing, because every society that has abandoned its core values, from Attica (ancient Greece) to France, has paid the price of sliding from greatness to mediocrity or disappearance. We strayed terribly and foolishly when we let glib secularists convince us that a prohibition of a state religion (the First Amendment) is the same as a denial of our Christian foundation. We must do everything we can to prove that when Barry Soetoro claimed that America is no longer a Christian nation it was just another of his myriad lies.
Let's hope that the voters in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, where hundreds of thousands of jobs depend on coal, directly or indirectly, and vote to keep their insustry and jobs.
Wonderful point. Remember what happened in the Soviet Union, which Lech Walesa, John Paul II, Maggie Thatcher, and Ronald Reagan, assisted by millions of brave souls behind the Iron Curtain, particularly in Solidarity, decapitated. Let us not forget the lessons the USSR taught us. In the end, when all the wealth had been destroyed, who still lived like the Tsars? Lenin, Stalin, Khruschev, et al. The same thing will happen here if we let it. Soetoro (aka Obama), Pelosi, and Reid will still live high off the hog, while telling us that they saved us from pollution and greed.
I love it, particularly the App! Why not? It's time the adults drove home the idiocy of the children currently mismanaging the federal government.
I think John653 and Waisboy missed the point. Charles SWVA should be congratulated on delicious satire.
The 10th Amendment is the crux of the entire problem we're grappling with. Apparently when Chief Justice Roberts got his mail-order JD they only sent him the first nine amendments. Maybe Nancy Pelosi stole it from his mailman. We lost this battle long ago, with the XVIth amendment and Madison v. Marbury. As Ress wrote below, it's going to take a long time to undo all the harm we've done to ourselves. But, let's believe that we can do it. The TEA party movement is a great start. Writers like Mr. Mitchell certainly help.


text:
Dr. Riva L. Collins, MD
Dermatology, Kelsey-Seybold West Clinic
- 1111 Augusta Dr
Houston, TX 77057
- 1 Office Location
- Email a Friend
- (713) 442-2400
Dr. Riva L. Collins has been practicing medicine for 22 years. Dr. Collins graduated from the SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine in 1992. She practices medicine in Houston, TX and specializes in Dermatology. Dr. Collins is affiliated with The Womans Hospital Of Texas, Texas Childrens Hospital and St Lukes Medical Center. She speaks English and Spanish.
Gender: Female
Years in Practice: 22 Years
Languages Spoken: English, Spanish
Medical School: SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine
Graduation Date: 1992
Hospital Affiliations: The Womans Hospital Of Texas, Texas Childrens Hospital, St Lukes Medical Center
Specialties: Dermatology
©2005-2014 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
WebMD does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.


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haddad alwi - astaghfirullah.mp3
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nurhadi_tri 1 year ago Reply Spam SpamCancel
lagu ini bagus, dan iramanya enak.
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bagus .,.!
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