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President Barack Obama has vetoed a military authorization bill. Why would he do such a thing?
Was it because dumping $612 billion into a criminal enterprise just finally struck him as too grotesque?
Was it because he grew ashamed of holding the record for highest average annual military spending since World War II, not even counting Der Homeland Security Department or military spending by the State Department, the Energy Department, the Veterans Administration, interest on debt, etc.?
Nope. That would be crazy in a world where pretense is everything and the media has got everyone believing that military spending has gone down.
Was it because the disastrous war on Afghanistan gets more funding?
The disastrous war on Iraq and Syria?
The monstrous drone wars murdering 1 vaguely identified person for every 9 innocents slaughtered?
You kidding?
Oh, I've got it. Was it because building newer, bigger, and smaller more "usable" nuclear weapons is just too insane?
Um, nope. Nice guess, though.
Well what was it?
One reason that the President provided in his veto statement was that the bill doesn't allow him to "close" Guantanamo by moving it -- remember that prison still full of people whom he, the President, chooses to keep there despite their having been cleared for release?
Another reason: Obama wants more money in the standard budget and less in his slush fund for the War on the Middle East, which he renamed Overseas Contingency Operations. Obama's language suggests that he wants the base budget increased by more than he wants the slush fund reduced by. The slush fund got a piddley little $38 billion in the vetoed bill. Yet the standard budget is deemed so deficient by Obama that, according to him, it "threatens the readiness and capabilities of our military and fails to provide the support our men and women in uniform deserve." For real? Can you name a man or woman in uniform who would receive a dime if you jumped the funding of the most expensive military in the history of the known universe by another $100 billion? The President also complains that the bill he's vetoed did not allow him to "slow growth in compensation."
Another reason: Obama is worried that if you leave limits in place on military spending in the "Defense" Department, that will mean too little military spending in other departments as well: "The decision reflected in this bill to circumvent rather than reverse sequestration further harms our national security by locking in unacceptable funding cuts for crucial national security activities carried out by non-defense agencies."
Hope and Change, people! Here's a full list of the areas in which Senator Bernie Sanders has expressed disagreement with President Obama's preferences on military spending:
Three cheers for Reuters pointing out that the Pentagon can't explain what it did with $8.5 trillion that taxpayers gave it between 1996 and 2013.
Three trillion cheers for a blogger who is pointing out that this fact renders many other concerns ludicrous, and recommending that people bring it up at every opportunity:
"What's that? Body cameras for all cops will be too expensive? How about we find 1/10,000th of the money we sent to the Pentagon."
"Oh really? There's 500 million in provable food stamp fraud going to poor people how about the $8.5 TRILLION the pentagon can't account for?"
"Oh really? You think Obamacare is going to cost us almost a trillion dollars over 15 years? How about the 8.5 Trillion that just disappeared into the ether at the Pentagon? What's your take on that?"
"Oh really, you're concerned about deficit spending and the debt? Fully 1/3 of the national debt is money we sent the Pentagon and they can't tell us where it went. It's just gone."
"College for everyone will cost too much? You must be really pissed at the 8.5 Trillion, with a 't', dollars the pentagon's spent and can't tell us where it went."
This is all very good as far as it goes, whether you like the body cameras or corporate health insurance or other items or not. We could add an unlimited number of items including some expressing our concern for the other 96% of humanity:
"You can end starvation and unclean water for tens of billions of dollars; what about that $8.5 trillion?"
Et cetera.
But here's my real concern. The $8.5 trillion is just the bit that the Pentagon can't account for. That's far from all the money it was given. U.S. military spending, spread across several departments with the biggest chunk of it to the Department of so-called Defense, is upwards of $1 trillion every year. Over 17 years at the current rate, which rose sharply after 2001, that's upwards of $17 trillion.
Imagine that the Pentagon accounted for every dime of that missing $8.5 trillion, named every profiteer, documented the life history of every man, woman, and child killed, and passed the strictest audit by an independent team of 1,000 accountants reporting to 35 Nobel Laureates -- if that happened, I ask you, exactly what difference would it make?
Why is the $8.5 trillion that went to unknown purposes worse than the other trillions that went to known and named weapons and dictators and militants and recruitment campaigns? The documented and accounted for spending all went to evil purposes. Presumably the unaccounted for "waste" did the same. What's the difference between the two?
As World Beyond War points out, war has a huge direct financial cost, the vast majority of which is in funds spent on the preparation for war — or what's thought of as ordinary, non-war military spending. Very roughly, the world spends $2 trillion every year on militarism, of which the United States spends about half, or $1 trillion. This U.S. spending also accounts for roughly half of the U.S. government's discretionary budget each year and is distributed through several departments and agencies. Much of the rest of world spending is by members of NATO and other allies of the United States, although China ranks second in the world.
Wars can cost even an aggressor nation that fights wars far from its shores twice as much in indirect expenses as in direct expenditures. The costs to the aggressor, enormous as they are, can be small in comparison to those of the nation attacked.
It is common to think that, because many people have jobs in the war industry, spending on war and preparations for war benefits an economy. In reality, spending those same dollars on peaceful industries, on education, on infrastructure, or even on tax cuts for working people would produce more jobs and in most cases better paying jobs — with enough savings to help everyone make the transition from war work to peace work.
Military spending diverts public funds into increasingly privatized industries through the least accountable public enterprise and one that is hugely profitable for the owners and directors of the corporations involved -- thus concentrating wealth.
While war impoverishes the war making nation, can it nonetheless enrich that nation more substantially by facilitating the exploitation of other nations? Not in a manner that can be sustained.
Green energy and infrastructure would surpass their advocates' wildest fantasies if the funds now invested in war were transferred there.
Salvatore Babones' proposals in Sixteen for '16: A Progressive Agenda for a Better America are not bad, assuming a progressive agenda can limit itself to one nation.
But these sorts of proposals tend to be -- and this one is no exception -- smart, compassionate takes on the topics that are in the corporate media. The topics that aren't already on your television also aren't in this book or others like it.
What should the U.S. public budget be? Is nearly double the 2001 level too much military spending, too little, or just right? Who knows. Babones doesn't say.
Why not consult someone on "the other 54% of the budget" that all such literature ignores (the military's 54% of discretionary spending, as calculated by the National Priorities Project)? Just a quick consultation with someone aware of the existence of the single largest public project of the United States would add something to all of these pseudo-electoral platforms.
Item number 14 in Babones' list is "Stop torturing, stop assassinating, and close down the NSA." He goes through the common pretense that Obama "banned torture," as if it weren't a felony that was simply going unpunished on Obama's orders. He follows this up with the usual pretense that the limited "ban" on torture opened up loopholes for torturing "legally." Babones does a bit better on drone murders. But what about manned-aircraft murders? Tank murders? Gun murders? What about war? Is war "progressive"? Who knows!
Should we, as the other 15 points propose, create jobs, build America's infrastructure, support public education, extend Medicare to everyone, raise taxes on top incomes, refinance social security, take down Wall Street, make it easy to join a union, set a living minimum wage, upgrade to 10-10-10, put an end to the prison state, pass a national abortion law, let people vote, suffer the refugee children, and save the earth? Of course, we should.
But if you're willing to end the prison state (and as the text expands on that, to end the militarization of local police) then you are willing to make significant change, and you are aware of the problem of militarization. So how does that little item that takes up 54% of the budget go AWOL from all of these projects?
If U.S. military spending were merely returned to 2001 levels, the savings of $213 billion per year could fund education, a new justice system, aid for refugees, an open and fair and verifiable election system, and the saving of the earth -- with a good bit of change left over.
Whence the nearly unanimous decision to avoid the topic? The Institute for Policy Studies, which published this book, does not ignore the topic elsewhere. Why does it not manage to infiltrate these progressive platforms? Perhaps peace is just not progressive.
The House of Representatives has headed out of town to memorialize wars without managing to achieve agreement with the Senate on reauthorizing some of the most abusive "temporary" measures of the PATRIOT Act. Three cheers for Congressional vacations!
What if not just our civil liberties but our budget got a little bit of 2001 back?
In 2001, U.S. military spending was $397 billion, from which it soared to a peak of $720 billion in 2010, and is now at $610 billion in 2015. These figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (in constant 2011 dollars) exclude debt payments, veterans costs, and civil defense, which raise the figure to over $1 trillion a year now, not counting state and local spending on the military.
Military spending is now 54% of U.S. federal discretionary spending according to the National Priorities Project. Everything else -- and the entire debate in which liberals want more spending and conservatives want less! -- is contained within the other 46% of the budget.
U.S. military spending, according to SIPRI, is 35% of the world total. U.S. and Europe make 56% of the world. The U.S. and its allies around the globe (it has troops in 175 countries, and most countries are armed in great part by U.S. companies) make up the bulk of world spending.
Iran spends 0.65% of world military spending (as of 2012, the last year available). China's military spending has been rising for years and has soared since 2008 and the U.S. pivot to Asia, from $107 billion in 2008 to now $216 billion. But that's still just 12% of world spending.
Per capita the U.S. now spends $1,891 current U.S. dollars for each person in the United States, as compared with $242 per capita worldwide, or $165 per capita in the world outside the U.S., or $155 per capita in China.
The dramatically increased U.S. military spending has not made the U.S. or the world safer. Early on in the "war on terror" the U.S. government ceased reporting on terrorism, as it increased. The Global Terrorism Index records a steady increase in terrorist attacks from 2001 to the present. A Gallup poll in 65 nations at the end of 2013 found the United States overwhelmingly viewed as the greatest threat to peace in the world. Iraq has been turned into hell, with Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia close behind. Newly embittered terrorist groups have arisen in direct response to U.S. terrorism and the devastation it's left behind. And arms races have been sparked that benefit only the arms dealers.
But the spending has had other consequences. The U.S. has risen into the top five nations in the world for disparity of wealth. The 10th wealthiest country on earth per capita doesn't look wealthy when you drive through it. And you do have to drive, with 0 miles of high-speed rail built; but local U.S. police have weapons of war now. And you have to be careful when you drive. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives U.S. infrastructure a D+. Areas of cities like Detroit have become wasteland. Residential areas lack water or are poisoned by environmental pollution -- most often from military operations. The U.S. now ranks 35th in freedom to choose what to do with your life, 36th in life expectancy, 47th in preventing infant mortality, 57th in employment, and trails in education by various measures.
If U.S. military spending were merely returned to 2001 levels, the savings of $213 billion per year could meet the following needs:
End hunger and starvation worldwide -- $30 billion per year.Provide clean drinking water worldwide -- $11 billion per year.Provide free college in the United States -- $70 billion per year (according to Senate legislation).Double U.S. foreign aid -- $23 billion per year.Build and maintain a high-speed rail system in the U.S. -- $30 billion per year.Invest in solar and renewable energy as never before -- $20 billion per year.Fund peace initiatives as never before -- $10 billion per year.
That would leave $19 billion left over per year with which to pay down debt.
You may say I'm a dreamer, but this is life and death. War kills more by how the money isn't spent than by how it is spent.
Noting that U.S. college costs have gone up 500% since 1985, the Washington Post recommends seven countries where U.S. students can go to college for free without bothering to learn the language of the natives or anything so primitive.
These are nations with less wealth than the United States has, but which make college free or nearly free, both for citizens and for dangerous illegals visiting their Homelands.
How do they do it?
Three of them have a higher top tax rate than the United States has, but four of them don't.
What does the United States spend its money on that these other countries do not? What is the largest public program in the United States? What makes up over 50% of federal discretionary spending in the United States?
If you said "war," it's possible you were educated in a fine foreign country.
A comprehensive calculation of U.S. military spending puts it at over $1 trillion a year. The International Institute for Strategic Studies puts it at $645.7 billion in 2012. Using that smaller number, let's compare the seven nations where Americans can find their human right to an education respected:
France $48.1 billion or 7.4% of U.S.Germany $40.4 billion or 6.3% of U.S.Brazil $35.3 billion or 5.5% of U.S.Norway $6.9 billion or 1.1% of U.S.Sweden $5.8 billion or 0.9% of U.S.Finland $3.6 billion or 0.6% of U.S.Slovenia $0.6 billion or 0.1% of U.S.
Oh, but those are smaller countries. Well, let's compare military spending per capita:
United States $2,057Norway $1,455 or 71% of U.S.France $733 or 35% of U.S.Finland $683 or 33% of U.S.Sweden $636 or 31% of U.S.Germany $496 or 24% of U.S.Slovenia $284 or 14% of U.S.Brazil $177 or 9% of U.S.
It's worth noting that in wealth per capita, Norway is wealthier than the United States. It still spends significantly less per capita on war preparations. The others all spend between 9% and 35%.
Now, you may be a believer in militarism, and you may be shouting right about now: "The United States provides these other nations' warmaking needs for them. When Germany or France has to destroy Iraq or Afghanistan or Libya, who does the heavy lifting?"
Or you may be an opponent of militarism, and you may be thinking about its many additional costs. Not only does the United States pay the most in dollars, but it generates the most hatred, kills the most people, does the most damage to the natural environment, and loses the most freedoms in the process.
Either way, the point is that these other countries have chosen education, while the United States has chosen a project that perhaps a well-educated populace would support, but we don't have any way to test that theory, and it doesn't look like we're going to any time soon.
We have a choice before us: free college or more war?
A note from David Swanson:
https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/talk-nation-radio-georgeGeorge Vradenburg is the Chairman and Co-Founder of http://USAgainstAlzheimers.org We discuss the new report finding Alzheimer's to be a leading cause of death in the U.S. We also ask Vradenburg whether perhaps a little money could move from the military to Alzheimer's research. Listen for the answer. Vradenburg is a member of the Private Sector Senior Advisory Committee, Homeland Security Advisory Council, Department of Homeland Security, and of the Council on Foreign Relations, and of the Economic Club of Washington.
Total run time: 29:00
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Maryland may soon join Oregon in exploring solutions to the crisis of student debt and unaffordable education.
Education is supposed to be a human right. But the United States puts people into deep debt to pay for it. Short of taxing billionaires or dismantling bombers (both of which we're all, I hope, working on), what's the solution?The state of Oregon has passed a law creating a commission to study a plan called "Pay it forward. Pay it back." See Katrina vanden Heuvel: An Oregon Trail to End Student Debt.This is not a plan to make education truly free, and that would probably be ideal. But this is not, I think, a step that would move us away from that goal -- in the way that strengthening but tweaking the private health insurance system arguably moves us away from a single-payer solution.
This is, however, a plan that makes college tuition at state universities initially free. Students would pay nothing up-front and borrow nothing from loan sharks. Then they would pay the state back 3% of their income for some number of years, possibly 20. The graduate who brings in $100 million per year would hand over $3 million. The graduate who brings in $10,000 would pay $300. While the purpose of an education for many students may not be related to money, in terms of money one is paying for what one gets. If you buy an unmarketable skill, you pay nothing for it. Some have responded by calling this perfect capitalism, while others have noted its correspondence with the ideal of "from each according to his/her means." This system also seems fair to those not interested in college: they pay nothing.
There are shortcomings, of course. Wealthy users of private universities contribute nothing to public universities under this scheme. Pursuers of high-paying careers might drift in greater numbers toward private universities, if they can afford to. A big investment is need to start this up, and then long-term trust in the public system is needed to keep it going in the face of inevitable pretenses that it's collapsing like Social Security (which -- breaking news! -- is not collapsing). Most importantly, perhaps, the Oregon model covers only tuition. Room and board and books should be included as well, or the problem of student debt won't be solved.
But this is a creative possible step forward that could someday spread to every state and to private institutions as well, which might discover it is needed for them to compete.
RootsAction.org members in every state and Washington, D.C., recently emailed their state legislators by the thousands asking them to set up commissions similar to Oregon's and to seriously pursue solutions to unaffordable education. You can do the same.
Here's the email that's being sent (you can edit it):
"As a constituent, I urge you to consider:"The state of Oregon has passed a law creating a commission to study a plan called "Pay it forward. Pay it back." Under this plan, tuition at state universities will not be paid upfront or borrowed from loan sharks. Graduates will pay the state back by handing over 3% of their income for some number of years."The Oregon model could be improved. As proposed it covers only tuition. Room and board and books should be included as well, or the problem of student debt won't be solved."Getting such a program started will take serious investment and political will."For our children and our grandchildren, please exercise the sort of leadership needed and move our state toward treating education as a right, not a privilege."
Almost immediately, RootsAction heard from Maryland State Delegate Kirill Reznik who said he had been considering this idea and wanted to move on it now. He sent out this announcement:
"(ANNAPOLIS, MD) August 2, 2013 – Following the recent passage of the 'Pay It Forward, Pay It Back' bill that overwhelmingly passed the Oregon State Legislature in July, Delegate Kirill Reznik (D- Germantown) plans to introduce a similar bill in Maryland. If passed, Maryland would become the second state to explore alternative options to the mounting student loan debt epidemic.
"'Pay It Forward, Pay It Back,' is an idea that originated out of a Capstone Seminar on student debt out of Portland State University, generating an innovative solution to student loan debt. Whereby students would go to college tuition free and then give back a small percentage of their gross annual income over the next 20-25 years until their tuition was paid in full. Ironically, Oregon passed the "Pay It Forward, Pay It Back" bill on the same day that Congress voted to double student loan rates.
"Delegate Reznik will be introducing legislation to authorize a study to determine whether or not such an idea will work and how best to roll it out.
"'Receiving a higher education is the most effective way to promote economic mobility. Unfortunately, the cost of education shuts out those opportunities for too many Marylanders. As the State with the best public education system in the country, we should also be on the forefront of expanding higher education. The economic opportunities that will come along with this innovative approach will make Maryland a top destination for business and industry,' said Delegate Reznik.
"Delegate Kirill Reznik is a member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing the 39th District in Montgomery County. His district includes the areas of Gaithersburg, Germantown, Montgomery Village, Washington Grove, North Potomac and segments of Darnestown, and Derwood. He began serving in the House of Delegates in October 2007, and sits on the Health Government Operations committee. He was currently appointed to serve as the Chair of the County Affairs Committee within the Montgomery County House Delegation."
Now, the question arises: What about your state?!
Spending cuts have been applied by Congress to both military and non-military spending.
In my view, the military cuts are much too small and the non-military cuts should not exist at all. In the view of most liberal organizations, the military cuts -- like the military spending and the military itself -- are to be ignored, while the non-military cuts are to be opposed by opposing all cuts in general.
But, guess what?
The spending limits on the military are being blatantly violated. Both houses of Congress have now passed military budgets larger than last year and larger than is allowed under the sequester.
Meanwhile the sequester is being used to cut away at all that is good and decent in public policy.
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Posted| Updated
Private health insurance premiums are set to increase by an average of 6.18 per cent from April, and Health Minister Sussan Ley is encouraging people to "shop around" for the best deal.
Topics: health-insurance, health, insurance, australia
Posted| Updated
A massive turnaround in fortune for QBE and a big profit for Oil Search contrast with Atlas Iron's $1 billion loss.
Topics: company-news, insurance, iron-ore, oil-and-gas, tourism, retail, australia
Hunter-based private health insurer, nib has released its results for the second half of 2014, with an after-tax profit of $41 million, slightly up on the same period the previous year.
Topics: insurance, business-economics-and-finance, newcastle-2300
Posted| Updated
The newly listed private health insurer Medibank Private posts a 10.8 per cent increase in net profit, but its shares have fallen in response to the result.
Topics: company-news, insurance, health-insurance, australia
Posted| Updated
AMP boosts its full year profit by 32 per cent to $884 million thanks to strong growth across all its key businesses.
Topics: company-news, insurance, banking, superannuation, australia
Posted| Updated
Seven West Media posts a $1 billion loss, ASIC hits Primary over its "goodwill", and IAG shares slide on a profit drop.
Topics: company-news, media, insurance, australia
Posted| Updated
The cost of damage caused by Brisbane's super cell storm reaches $1.1 billion and continues to mount, months after the system tore through the city.
Topics: storm-disaster, storm-event, insurance, brisbane-4000
A clean-up is still pending of asbestos from a fatal Tuncurry gas explosion in 2013.
Topics: asbestos, death, insurance, regional, tuncurry-2428, port-macquarie-2444, coffs-harbour-2450
Posted| Updated
Consumer groups call on the life insurance industry to ditch its reliance on commission payments.
Topics: insurance, industry, consumer-protection, business-economics-and-finance, australia
Posted| Updated
Medibank Private has surged 20 per cent since floating late last year, now UBS argues it is well overvalued.
Topics: insurance, company-news, australia
Posted| Updated
The insurer run by the Masters Builders Association is ordered to fix a number of problems in a newly built Canberra home, after a long running legal dispute.
Topics: building-and-construction, insurance, act, canberra-2600, franklin-2913
Posted| Updated
The Federal Government declares last month's Sydney siege a "terrorist incident" to ensure affected businesses can receive insurance payouts.
Topics: terrorism, insurance, federal-government, federal-parliament, sydney-2000, australia
Posted| Updated
Consumers need to ask questions if their financial planner recommends they switch insurance policies.
Topics: insurance, consumer-finance, consumer-protection, banking, australia
Dr Vince Smith, Professor of agricultural economics at Montana State University says multi peril crop insurance will only survive with Government subsidies. read more
Topics: insurance, agricultural-crops, agricultural-insurance, sydney-2000, united-states
Multi-peril crop insurance payouts by Latevo International, chief executive Andrew Trotter read more
Topics: insurance, agricultural-insurance, sydney-2000, horsham-3400, dirranbandi-4486
Sarina Locke reports on first payouts to farmers covered by multi-peril crop insurance, with Latevo International. John Cameron accountant RSM Bird Cameron supports the policy read more
Topics: agricultural-insurance, insurance, sydney-2000, horsham-3400, dirranbandi-4486
Posted| Updated
John Thomson, accountant Director of RSM Bird Cameron wrote of his support of MPC Insurance in a submission to the Government's White Paper on Agriculture read more
Topics: insurance, agricultural-insurance, sydney-2000, horsham-3400, dirranbandi-4486
Posted| Updated
A Queensland farmer is set to receive a $944,000 payout under Australia's first multi-peril crop insurance, after a failed season.
Topics: agricultural-prices, agricultural-policy, grain, insurance, agricultural-insurance, agricultural-crops, sydney-2000, horsham-3400, dirranbandi-4486
Hundreds of submissions are made on a plan to introduce a no-fault insurance scheme in Western Australia.
Topics: insurance, state-parliament, perth-6000, broome-6725, karratha-6714, geraldton-6530, kalgoorlie-6430, bunbury-6230, albany-6330
Posted| Updated
Until this year, insurance coverage for farmers, protecting their crops from natural disasters, has been in the too hard basket in Australia.
Topics: agricultural-prices, insurance, agricultural-insurance, agricultural-crops, sydney-2000
Posted| Updated
Recent storms throughout Brisbane have car owners confused about what constitutes a roadworthy vehicle after hail and storm damage.
Topics: storm-disaster, weather, storm-event, insurance, brisbane-4000
Topics: insurance, mental-health, stress, police, grafton-2460
Andrew Trotter of Latevo International, Garry Gale of NAB, David Taylor grain grower Coonamble, NSW
Topics: insurance, grain, agricultural-insurance, sydney-2000, horsham-3400
Topics: insurance, grain, sydney-2000
Posted| Updated
It's extraordinary that, in a country with floods and droughts, there has been no insurance for farmers to protect their investment.
Topics: agricultural-prices, disasters-and-accidents, agricultural-policy, insurance, grain, sydney-2000, roma-4455, horsham-3400

subset: commoncrawl


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|No No No!!!
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|Re:Could it be?
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|the best defense...
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|we made google
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|Internet Explorer?
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|I much rather have...
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|Re:Call me an alarmist, but...
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|attached to Remote Controlled Rats
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The wages of sin are unreported.


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Beginner Photography Guide is Undergoing a Complete Overhaul…
There are serious renovations going on behind the scenes, in order to deliver the best possible website and to support you in your photography experience.
What we DO HAVE posted, if you haven't checked it out yet and it's new… Wiki Definitions.
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Karst-O-Rama 2016
June 17, 18 & 19
Great Saltpetre Cave Preserve
Mt. Vernon, KY
Click here to visit our Facebook page and "like" us! (http://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/pages/Karst-O-Rama/353707542179)
In the past couple of KOR's we have added more cave trips, now we're adding more fun! The Rick House Band is back by popular demand. The Saturday night theme is "Grease /Saturday NightFever."
KOR 2016 would like to welcome cavers, their families and friends. To register bring the name of a grotto member that recommended you. Please be sure that your grotto member has registered prior to your registration! If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com (KOR2016 null@null karstorama NULL.com). Every year people come back to enjoy caving and all the events. But mostly they come back to see old friends and make new ones. It's a win win. We look forward to seeing the regulars and will hopefully be seeing the people whom have missed past KORs.
Your registration includes caving, fun, more caving, and then more fun. There will be a variety of cave trips, a photo contest, map contest, vertical contest. Caver kid's activities, door prizes, informational speaker, howdy party and Saturday night party with a live band. Your registration also includes camping fees for Friday and Saturday night, you are welcome to come earlier in the week and enjoy our caving area with self led trips. Additional camping fees are $6 for each person for each night. Saturday night dinner tickets and T-shirts are available for an extra cost and only guaranteed for pre-registered guests. Please note, Rockcastle County is a dry county.
Electric sites are an additional $6 per night per electric site with limited availability; if you want one, plan to preregister. You will be notified if we no longer have electric sites available. No air conditioners allowed, electric sites cannot handle large loads (in excess of 10 amps per site). You must be in an approved designated electric site along the pole to use electric; long extension cords will not be permitted.
Karst-O-Rama (KOR) is an annual caving convention hosted by the Greater Cincinnati Grotto (http://www NULL.gcgcavers NULL.com/) (GCG). It takes place at the historic Great Saltpetre Cave Preserve (GSP) near MT Vernon KY in June or July, depending on when the NSS convention falls that year. KOR is a social event presented by cavers, for cavers and runs from Friday through Sunday featuring led cave trips, cave equipment vendors, rope climbing contest, cave box, speleocourse, photo contest, and cave map contest, among other things. There is a "Howdy Party" Friday evening for everyone to get reacquainted and on Saturday evening there is a banquet, program, and door prizes followed by a DJ or live band. Proceeds from KOR benefit both GCG and GSP.


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Head frames: a century and more ago, they were part of daily life of Butte, Montana. They were the way miners went down to their work, and what brought them back up again. Today, these metal structures stand as witness and reminder of history.
Gold, at first, then silver, and then copper made Butte a crossroads, a town with mansions built by copper barons in high Victorian style, a wide open place for adventurers to make their mark, a place immigrants to make a new life, to make a stand, and to make money to send home.
When Seamus Egan's band, Solas, ws invited to play a music festival in Butte a few years back, Egan called his dad. "I knew there was a grand uncle who had gone out west," he says. Sure enough, that was true, his dad confirmed, and asked Egan to see what he could learn The stories Seamus found led through tales of the Butte his great uncle Michael Conway knew, tales of travel, friendship, family, work, change, loss, and murder, in a place that, a century ago, was known as the richest hill on earth. It was also known as the most Irish town in America. In those days, Butte had the nickname Shamrock City.
The stories of Michael Conway and the town he knew, pieced together from newspaper accounts, museum collections, history books and tales handed down, fired up the imaginations of of Egan and his band mates, Winifred Horan, Mick McAuley, Eamon McElholm, and Niamh Varian-Berry.
Bringing their own gifts as musicians and experiences of being Irish and irish American, they have made the album Shamrock City.
Starting with a song in Irish and English, a bit taken from an old recording that is at once both lament and benediction for a the traveler, they weave tales new and old, tunes Conway might have heard or played or danced to, sounds of the ring of miners' tools on rock and chisel, the voices of children at play, into their own songs and tunes.
Far Americay connects the lives and stories of those who left Ireland with those who stayed, in graceful connection to that Irish lament.
With four and twenty shillings
we sent him on his way
now my blood runs through the mountains
of far Americay
Varian-Berry sings.
The courage and rough hewn devil may care ways people often come to doing a dangerous work so far from home are in the words and melody of Tell God and the Devil. Lay Your Money Down tells of the women working the line in Butte. The details of Michael Conway's own story — a mystery still, some of it — unfold in a song named for him. Fiddler Winifred Horan does a masterful job of cresting a piece with no words at al that gets to the emotions of those making lives so far from all they've known in the tune called Welcome to the Unknown. High Wide and Handsome again lifts up the pace. There are songs of labor and working people, a hint of family life, and a haunting take on an old spiritual that ties back to the traveler's lament at the opening. All the threads of the hard life of miners in Butte, Montana at the turn of the century and the courage it took to live it come together in No Forgotten Man.
As you walk streets in Butte named Copper, Silver, and Gold, as you see those Victorian era buildings, as you pass by the head frames, perhaps this music will come to your mind, and you'll remember the people of Shamrock City.
Photographs were made at the Celtic Connections Festival with the permission of the artists, the festival, and the venue. They are by Kerry Dexter and are copyrighted. Thank you for respecting this.
Consider subscribing to Perceptive Travel through email or
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text:
Activity-regulated changes in synapse function lie at the heart of molecular theories of learning and neural development, and are the targets of diseases and disorders including Alzheimer's Disease, schizophrenia, and epilepsy. At glutamatergic synapses of the brain, multi-domain proteins establish the core of the postsynaptic density (PSD), the structure which links neurotransmitter receptors to the actin cytoskeleton and to intracellular signaling pathways. It has been proposed that such PSD proteins control synaptic strength by controlling the anchoring or mobility of synaptic receptors, but direct evidence regarding how this might be accomplished within the PSD has been lacking. Furthermore, though PSD size and shape correlate with synaptic receptor levels when assayed as a population at single time points, it is not known whether single PSDs transition among various morphologies, or whether such transformations mediate weakening of synapses during long-term depression. We have established a novel fluorescence morphometry approach for examining single, living PSDs, and have developed two high-resolution photobleaching assays for monitoring the movement of proteins within them. We have found that PSDs undergo a large degree of continuous morphological change, contrary to expectations for a simple scaffold. However, mobility of core protein within the complex is extremely limited, indicating that internal structure is nevertheless maintained. We therefore hypothesize that dynamic adjustment of PSD form continuously alters synapse function, and that long-term synaptic depression requires the disruption of this structure to accommodate the removal of receptors. In this proposal, we will clarify the role of PSD internal dynamics in synaptic function and plasticity. In cultured neurons from rat hippocampus, we will use quantitative fluorescence microscopy along with patch-clamp electrophysiology, photolysis, and time-resolved electron microscopy to address the following specific aims. First, is PSD morphological change coordinated with presynaptic structure? Second, do these changes dynamically alter synaptic strength? Third, does actin control the internal stability of the postsynaptic scaffold? Fourth, does the PSD undergo regulated changes in morphology or dynamics before or after receptor loss in long-term depression? The answers to these questions will fill large gaps in our understanding of the synaptic structure-function relationship. Further, they will provide an important platform on which to test hypotheses regarding the molecular basis of disorders that disrupt synaptic transmission.
|Lu, Hsiangmin E; MacGillavry, Harold D; Frost, Nicholas A et al. (2014) Multiple spatial and kinetic subpopulations of CaMKII in spines and dendrites as resolved by single-molecule tracking PALM. J Neurosci 34:7600-10
|MacGillavry, Harold D; Song, Yu; Raghavachari, Sridhar et al. (2013) Nanoscale scaffolding domains within the postsynaptic density concentrate synaptic AMPA receptors. Neuron 78:615-22
|Lieberman, Joshua A; Frost, Nicholas A; Hoppert, Michael et al. (2012) Outer membrane targeting, ultrastructure, and single molecule localization of the enteropathogenic Escherichia coli type IV pilus secretin BfpB. J Bacteriol 194:1646-58
|Kerr, Justin M; Blanpied, Thomas A (2012) Subsynaptic AMPA receptor distribution is acutely regulated by actin-driven reorganization of the postsynaptic density. J Neurosci 32:658-73
|Weinman, Edward J; Steplock, Deborah; Shenolikar, Shirish et al. (2011) Dynamics of PTH-induced disassembly of Npt2a/NHERF-1 complexes in living OK cells. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 300:F231-5
|MacGillavry, Harold D; Kerr, Justin M; Blanpied, Thomas A (2011) Lateral organization of the postsynaptic density. Mol Cell Neurosci 48:321-31
|Frost, Nicholas A; Shroff, Hari; Kong, Huihui et al. (2010) Single-molecule discrimination of discrete perisynaptic and distributed sites of actin filament assembly within dendritic spines. Neuron 67:86-99
|Frost, Nicholas A; Kerr, Justin M; Lu, Hsiangmin E et al. (2010) A network of networks: cytoskeletal control of compartmentalized function within dendritic spines. Curr Opin Neurobiol 20:578-87
|Weinman, Edward J; Steplock, Deborah; Cha, Boyoung et al. (2009) PTH transiently increases the percent mobile fraction of Npt2a in OK cells as determined by FRAP. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 297:F1560-5
|Blanpied, Thomas A; Kerr, Justin M; Ehlers, Michael D (2008) Structural plasticity with preserved topology in the postsynaptic protein network. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105:12587-92


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Check out Stephanie F. Black's photos of Wild Flag playing at Webster Hall on April 1 in New York, N.Y.
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As further confirmation of his leadership abilities, Mr Singleton was recently re-elected as President of the Australian Outdoor Power Equipment Association (OPEA).
Director Robert Toscano praised the new incumbent; 'Mr Singleton will bring his wealth of experience and new enthusiasm to the role of General Manager Power Equipment & Marine Division and will help ensure Honda remains a strong player in the Australian market'.
The Directors of Honda Australia Motorcycles & Power Equipment Pty Ltd have no doubt Peter Singleton will provide excellent leadership to an already strong Power Equipment & Marine Division and would also like to wish Vikram Pawah all the best for the future.
More at www.honda.com.au


text:
Free personalized radio that
plays the music you love
Xiomara Alfaro
While there are men whose performances have been compared to Diana Ross, Joan Jett, and/or Carmen Miranda, a thoroughly enjoyable way to positively prove it's a she-omara is to watch the exotic 1958 film Mambo, in which Alfaro and Sylvana Mangano are the two sultry female leads. Born in Havana, Alfaro's performing background was in musical theater, cabaret, radio, and television. She eventually began touring internationally, leaving Cuba for the United States and widening her repertoire to include anything remotely Latin.
She was a singer and dancer with the touring Katherine Dunham troupe and performed in the chorus at Las Vegas venues such as the Flamingo. Alfaro is married to the pianist Rafael Benitez. Her sister, the late Olympia Alfaro or Omí Sanyá, was a priestess or "apuón" in the Lukumí Orisha religious community, performing a type of gospel music particular to this following. In the '70s, Xiomara Alfaro herself became ordained by her sister in the Oshún faith. She continues to perform and record Latin music and often takes part in workshops and educational events with her husband. ~ Eugene Chadbourne
Selected Discography
Track List: Una Leyenda Cubana
Track List: Moliendo Café
Track List: En Gira
Track List: Xiomara Alfaro, Cubana
Track List: Lo Mejor De Xiomara Alfaro Vol. 1
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By Veronica Roth | Hardback | 0 Review(s)
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One choice can transform you or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves and herself while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty,... read more politics and love. Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so. New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature. "
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214 E 19th ST apt 5-Townhouse
Beautiful Historic North Maple Ridge Home converted to apartments. Close to walking and hiking trails. Newly remodeled separate townhouse unit available. Granite kitchen counters, new kitchen cabinets, Central Heat and Air,...view the listing
1212 S Florence Ave., Tulsa, Oklahoma
2 Bedroom, 1 Bath. Quiet Neighborhood, close to Tulsa University, Florence Park area, between Delaware and Harvard. This home features: beautiful hardwood floors, central heat and air, refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, washer and...view the listing
1401/1403 S Florence Pl. Tulsa, Oklahoma
Quiet Neighborhood off Cherry ST and near the TU. Duplex with Beautiful Hard Wood Floors, Central Heat and Air, FF Fridge, Stove, dishwasher with Washer and Dryer Hookups, carport.view the listing


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31 Will St, Nashua, NH 03060Request info Add to list
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Neal B.
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Building Details:
• Year Built: 1950
31 Will St is an industrial property for lease in Nashua, NH.
We are pleased to present this 11,180± SF industrial building available for sale. This free standing building sits on 2.76± acres and features 2,400± SF of office space and 8,780± SF of industrial space with a 16'± clear height. The building layout and the Park Industrial zoning allow for a variety of uses, including manufacturing, warehouse and others needing outside storage. Currently used as an operations, distribution and maintenance facility.
An ideal location with easy access off of Exit 5, Route 3/F.E. Everett Turnpike and less than 10 minutes to the NH/MA state border.
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Quiet building. Elevator. Laundry room. Rent stabilized. High-rise building. Lobby. Multi-family. Spacious. Modern kitchen. Upgraded kitchen cabinets. Granite counters. New appliances. Dishwasher. Bathtub. Modern bathroom. Vanity. Half-bath. Hardwood floors. Recently renovated. Large windows. Intercom. Lots of natural light. Great view. Air conditioning. Utilities included. Cable-ready. Laundry in building. Near subway. → Read More
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You Can Positively Impact Lives. Join the Kirkland Senior Council!
Established by the Kirkland City Council in 2002, The Kirkland Senior Council (KSC) is a group of concerned citizens like you, who are dedicated to ensuring that Kirkland is, and remains a safe, vibrant community for residents age 50+. As an advisory group to the City Council, they advocate, support, shape and create programs and services that meet the needs of adults age 50+ in the community.
The KSC meetings are the 2nd Tuesday of the month from 5:30-7:30pm at the Peter Kirk Community Center, 352 Kirkland Avenue in downtown Kirkland.
*Member terms are three years.
*Monthly commitment is approximately 4-6 hours.
*Meetings are the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 5:30-7:30pm, except in December.
*KSC members: Adults younger & older than age 50.
*For more information call Leslie Miller, 425-587-3322.
Application Packets are available at:
Peter Kirk Community Center, 352 Kirkland Avenue Kirkland, WA 98033. The packet is also available for download at Kirkland Senior Council Application
Return applications to:
Human Services Coordinator
505 Market Street Suite A
Kirkland, Washington 98033
Senior Council Videos
Falling into Fitness
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Elder Abuse
Aging in Place in Kirkland
Beware of Medicare and Wording
Parks Department Hours:
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123 5th Ave Kirkland, WA 98033
General Inquiries


text: Trussardi 1911 Menswear S/S10Backstage at Milan Menswear Fashion Week.FashionShow7 years ago7 years agoPhotographyGiovanni di Nunziox10Trussardi 1911 Menswear S/S10 Trussardi 1911 was a well-travelled Native America journey that resulted in the suede moccasin shoes, carpet bags, feather motif and patchwork denim. Backstage photography by Giovanni di Nunzio. FashionShowFashion WeekSpring / Summer 2010MenswearMilanGet updates direct to your inbox with the Dazed bi-weekly newsletter Share Tweet Whatsapp Pin Share Email Share Tweet Share Pin Email Email


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Tropical Fish Keeping - Aquarium fish care and resources (http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/forum.php)
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School Easter Holiday .
I'm wondering if there are any members here that are
from Florida. ?
if there are would you be able to tell me what the Easter holidays
are this year.
thanks in advance. :)
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LONDON -- The International Olympic Committee has sprung to the defense of China's teenage swim sensation Ye Shiwen, saying she passed a drug test after her world record win in the 400 medley.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams urged people to "get real" and said it is "very sad" if great performances cannot be applauded.
The 16-year-old shattered the world record in getting her gold Saturday. There has since been speculation about how she swam so fast.
Adams said: "I think we need to get real here."
"These are world class athletes competing at the very highest level with records being broken all over the place."
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Shopping Directory of The Fresh Pond Mall
Stores in the Fresh Pond Mall include: Staples, Modells, Cingular Wireless, Cambridge Wine and Spirits, T.J. Maxx, Whole Foods, McDonald's, Olympia Sports, Wainwright Bank & Trust, Radio Shack, Cambridge Wine and Spirits and Sleepy's.
For more great shopping throughout Boston check out JB's Boston Travel Guide. The Fresh Pond Mall is accessible by the MBTA via the Red Line, click here for a map of the T. Visitors can get off at Alewife Station and proceed directly to the nearby shops.


text:
What is it?
What do they call it?
When you talk to that person,
Who makes you laugh, before and after you have met.
Who makes you feel like you're worth it,
And gets you in snitches when they tell you
One of those really
Bad jokes?
What is it?
When your heart can't help but
Constantly and consistently
Thump, Thunp, Thump
And at first makes
Nearly jump
In shock?
In excitement?
In happiness?
Or is it all of them combined?
Again and again
Thump, thump, thump
Why, is it?
That now,
Every time I hear his gentle yet childish voice
I feel
Love struck
And maybe even in
© Copyright 2017 Haineko14. All rights reserved.
Status: Finished
Genre: Romance
I've been love struck before and it was my worst and best experiences ever but now I'm home schooled... So yeah.
Book / Romance
Poem / Romance
Shelves: 7
Paste the link to picture in the entry below:
Paste the link to Youtube video in the following entry:
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text:
redirection page keeping data of input form
This project was awarded to kultech for $30 USD.Get free quotes for a project like this
Project Budget$30 - $40 USD
Total Bids5
Project Description
Customers click a join button using a form (with 'form action="[url removed, login to view]" method="post" target="_blank"', 'input type=hidden name=.....value="........"' etc) ;
I want that, instead of being immediately led to hwere they are expected ([url removed, login to view]), they first go to another, intermediate page (located in members area of another site) where they will immediately redirected to [url removed, login to view]
The reason is that before paying for site A, they must also be members of site B.
The intermediary page verifies that.
I know how to make redirections with meta tag content rtefresh, but not with a form.
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Picacho Real Estate Overview
Picacho is located in the state of Arizona. Picacho, Arizona has a population of approximately 297.
Picacho, AZ has a median household income of $28,068. The median household income for the surrounding county is $50,164 compared to a national median of $53,046. The median age of people living in Picacho is 42 years.
Picacho Weather
The average high temperature is 103.6 degrees in July, with an average low temperature in January of 36.6 degrees. Picacho has an average rainfall of approximately 11.5 inches per year, with 0.9 inches of snow per year.
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text:
Air Date: 2001-03-24 00:00:00
#0112: Paging Martha Stewart
This week on Car Talk, it's Martha Stewart to the rescue! The Doyenne of Domesticality graces Car Talk Plaza to answer some pressing questions, like how to rid a car of excessive dog drool, and how long to cook a chicken on the engine. Grab your knitting needles and steep yourself a cup of Earl Gray for this week's crafty edition of Car Talk.
See all reviews for this show...
Rate this show or add a review...
Air Date: 1999-10-24 00:00:00
#9943: Flush It for Sure
So, you're a guy out romping around in the desert with your girlfriend in your Jeep. And your engine overheats. You don't have any water to fill up the radiator. Or do you? We delve into the DIY solution to a pee-posterous car problem.
Air Date: 1999-04-10 00:00:00
#9915: The New Ford Excursion
In this show the brothers demystify real estate closings, outdoor education and how to install a steering rack with a hammer.
Air Date: 1999-03-20 00:00:00
#9912: Cheapskates & Duct Tape
This week on Car Talk, Tom and Ray counsel the poor suffering mate of a cheapskate. Then it's off to enjoy the results of a couple's creative writing assignment. And they get to the bottom of Gretchen's accidental off-road excursion.
Air Date: 1998-10-03 00:00:00
#9840: Ich bin ein Berliner
This week on Car Talk, we get a call of historic importance. It seems one caller needs help getting a one-ton chunk of the Berlin Wall out of the trunk of his new BMW. How's that for a souvenir?
Air Date: 1998-09-26 00:00:00
#9839: A BMW Z3 for a 16-Year-Old?
Janet from Charlotte, NC wants to buy her 16-year-old daughter a brand-new BMW Z3 Roadster. Boy, did we end up in the wrong family! After failing to convince Janet to adopt them, the brothers tell her why that's such a bad idea.
Cartalk.com is a production of Tappet Brothers LLC d/b/a Dewey, Cheetham and Howe. Contents © 2017 Tappet Brothers LLC.
CAR TALK, DEWEY, CHEETHAM & HOWE, SHAMELESS COMMERCE, WARPED DISCS, and CLICK AND CLACK are registered trademarks of Tappet Brothers LLC.


text:
Published in The New York Times Magazine
April 6, 2008
The Obama for President headquarters in Levittown, Pa., is set on a busy thoroughfare just to the east of where all the houses begin ?17,311 of them built by the developer William Levitt between 1952 and 1957. Right next door is the Dairy Delite, which began selling soft-serve ice cream 50 years ago and is still going strong. About four miles north, along the Delaware River, is what Levittowners have always just called "the mill??the mighty Fairless Works, a U.S. Steel plant that grew up alongside the town and at its peak employed some 10,000 workers.
Any longtime resident could lead you to the other sites where the men of Levittown found muscular, good-paying work ?Vulcanized Rubber and Plastics; Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M); Thiokol, a defense contractor; the big General Motors plant across the river in Trenton. They worked their shifts and came home to their young families and their little patches of green. Many had moved here from the cramped neighborhoods of Philadelphia's blue-collar "river wards?or from coal country in upstate Pennsylvania.
You could call the Levittown experience the American dream, but that does not get to what was best about it: its concrete, earthbound specificity. The union wage. The house you could purchase in the mid-1950s for $8,990, with a down payment of $100. The elementary schools that Levitt & Sons put right in the neighborhoods, so that no young child would have to ride a bus. The Olympic-size public pools and the Levittown Shop-a-Rama, with its department stores and soda fountains and its parking for 6,000 cars.
Last month, as the epic struggle for the Democratic presidential nomination between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton reached Pennsylvania, I came to watch it through the prism of Levittown ?its past and present. The dream is vanishing in the same specific ways it came to life. The young men of the community no longer follow their fathers into the mill, because the work force at U.S. Steel has dwindled to fewer than 100. A Spanish-owned company now occupies part of the site, where it makes wind turbines. The old 3M plant has become something called the Bristol Commerce Center, and most of the other manufacturers are long gone. The town's main intersection, Five Points, is dotted with check-cashing agencies and pawnshops. The original Shop-a-Rama was leveled.
I was focused primarily on Levittown's response to Obama. Here, after all, was a place that needed a big change, a new dream, which for many voters Obama ?with his mixed race, international background, inspiring life story and his soaring rhetoric ?represents. But Levittown, while largely Democratic, is composed of many white, working-class "Reagan Democrats,?exactly the part of the electorate that has been least receptive to him ?even before the controversy over the incendiary remarks by Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright.
And on matters of race Levittown has a particularly shameful history. It was billed as "the most perfectly planned community in America,?and part of the plan was for it to be whites-only: 5,500 acres, stretching across three Pennsylvania townships and one borough, closed off to blacks. The first development of mass-produced homes by Levitt & Sons, Levittown, N.Y., on Long Island, which dates from 1947, had the same exclusionary policies. William Levitt weakly insisted that he would love to sell houses to black families but had "come to know that if we sell one house to a Negro family, then 90 to 95 percent of our white customers will not buy into the community. That is their attitude, not ours.?/font>
In 1957, when a black family, the Myers, finally did move into Levittown, Pa., after buying from an original owner, their home was besieged for several nights by a mob that numbered in the hundreds. Rocks were hurled through the windows. In seeking a court order to stop the harassment, Daisy Myers referred to "annoying practices,?which included parades of cars rolling by her home as the occupants sang "Old Black Joe?and "Dixie.?/font>
That was a half-century ago. Still, by the numbers, Levittown is not much changed. According to the last U.S. Census, just 2 percent of its 54,000 residents are African-American; about an equal percentage are Hispanic. The town's white population includes many second- and even third-generation residents. Could Obama connect here? When his impassioned volunteers came around, would people open their screen doors and talk to them? And if Levittown seemed to prefer Hillary Clinton, did that make it a place that remained wary of blacks ?or one that, for whatever economic or cultural reasons, was just not attuned to his message?
At 6 p.m. on a weekday evening in mid-March, about 15 people crowded into a small conference room at Obama's Levittown headquarters. A half-dozen more spilled over into an adjoining area, where they stood near a whiteboard on which someone had written the oft-quoted ?and oft-mocked ?line from one of Obama's speeches: "We are the ones we have been waiting for.?Meetings of Obama volunteers begin with what his professional field organizers call "relationship building.?Everyone talks about what brought them together and what they have in common, which, of course, is Obama.
The first to testify, as if in church, was Jack Field, a soft-spoken 78-year-old retiree who said that he had been a Republican for nearly 60 years but had changed his registration so he could vote in Pennsylvania's Democratic presidential primary on April 22. "I read both of Obama's books,?he said. "I thought to myself, Here's a guy I can believe in.?/font>
Next was John Annunziata, a former politician who had once been council president in Bristol Township, one of Levittown's four municipalities. "I got disillusioned with the process and dropped out,?he said. "This is something special. I saw his Jefferson-Jackson Day speech, and it just blew me away.?Then came Rose Abondio, a native of Sudan who works in banking. "I am very far out of my comfort zone,?she said in a gentle lilt, referring to her new political activism. "But all I've been doing is watching CNN and MSNBC. I'm addicted to cable news.?/font>
One of the last to contribute was Rich Cucarese, a 41-year-old second-generation Levittowner who described himself as one of the last employees of U.S. Steel at Fairless Works. "There's about 75 of us left,?he said. "It's nice to hear a candidate talk about the blue-collar worker. We're the ones who built this country up.?/font>
This was Obama's "Team No. 7.5?in Bucks County. Its members had come together through his campaign Web site. They were a mix of volunteers from Levittown and nearby towns, split about evenly among blacks and whites (with one Hispanic man and one Asian man). Most of them were in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
Their mission, at this meeting, was to organize a drive to identify Obama supporters among voters registered as independents and persuade them to change their registrations so they could vote in Pennsylvania's "closed?Democratic primary. This is painstaking, low-yield work, but the Obama campaign's strategy everywhere has been to try to expand the universe beyond traditional voters.
Rachel Levine, a recent college graduate and paid field organizer who had earlier worked for Obama in South Carolina and other primary states, stood in a corner of the room but said very little. In each new state, the campaign tries to build leadership from the ranks of volunteers, and it considers taking over from them to be "disempowering.?Whenever Levine joined the conversation, she did so skillfully and almost apologetically, at one point saying, "Rachel Levine from Bethesda, Md., is not going to be able to convince the people here to vote for Barack Obama.?/font>
Ersula Cosby became the co-leader of Team No. 7.5 because she seemed to have energy and a talent for organizing. She had worked as a technical writer while attending Temple University's law school at night and was living in a newer condominium complex in Levittown. The only time that Cosby, a black woman raised in Pittsburgh, betrayed an awareness of the tough terrain they were stepping into was when she mentioned where she hoped to open a law practice. "People have advised me I definitely need to get north of Route 1,?she told me, meaning out of Levittown and toward the middle part of Bucks County, which is perceived as being more socially tolerant.
Annunziata, the former council president, was probably the most politically astute of the volunteers. "It's silly to ignore it or pretend Obama's race isn't a factor, especially for some of the older people,?he said. Annunziata lives in Levittown with his 78-year-old father, Carmine, but said he had not yet been able to make him an Obama voter. "I have to realize that this is a big change for him,?he said. "So far, the best I've been able to do is move him from Hillary to undecided.?/font>
Annunziata had been a motel manager but is not currently working. He thought Obama needed to "touch people in the wallet?in Levittown, but he was not primarily attracted by detailed campaign proposals. At times, he sounded almost mesmerized. The very challenge that Obama faced in Levittown and similar places ?winning the hearts and votes of people who may never have dreamed they would vote for a black man for president ?is part of what entices Annunziata. "When he won Iowa, it touched my soul,?he said. "I was very emotional. I felt like we were moving toward what this country should be.?/font>
A few days after this meeting, Cosby and her team were joined by a large number of out-of-towners that included college students from Princeton and Philadelphia, as well as Peggy Kerry, the sister of Senator John Kerry, and her husband, George Kaler. Sophia Danenberg drove down from Connecticut with her husband, Dave, and her background seemed particularly apt for the difficult job of conquering Levittown for Obama: she was the first African-American to climb to the top of Mount Everest.
My parents moved to Levittown in 1955 from their one-bedroom Philadelphia apartment, even though my father's first impression of the new suburb was distinctly negative. A young lawyer and World War II veteran, he had traveled there from the city to represent a home buyer, and the freshly built town reminded him of a huge Army camp. Houses sprawled in every direction over bare terrain, with newly strung electrical wires crisscrossing overhead. The baby trees planted by William Levitt's workers were not yet much taller than the Fords, Chevys and Studebakers parked in the driveways.
But Levittown was what my parents could afford. The purchase price of their two-story, three-bedroom house, which Levitt called a "Jubilee,?was $11,250. They borrowed their $100 down payment from my mother's father, a grocer, and paid a mortgage of $65 a month.
I was born the following year, the second of three children, and spent my entire childhood in that house. Nearly everything about Levittown seemed normal to me. Even the name of our street, Vulcan Road, seemed normal enough. (All Levittown streets started with the first letter of the name of their section. We lived in Violetwood, which probably presented a challenge, especially since there was also a section called Vermillion Hills.)
A newspaper account from the era described typical Levittown home buyers as "young persons of moderate financial circumstances who had small children and might expect others.?They not only expected them but also produced them. In the early years, close to 30 percent of Levittown's population was under 5 years old. On summer nights, we played hide-and-seek in backyards and kick-the-can in the street. When the trees matured, we found that they produced pears, a fruit too exotic to appeal to most of the families (a rare miscalculation on Levitt's part), so we had great fun throwing them at one another.
Like every boy I knew in Levittown, I learned how to do manual labor and to value work, and workers, of all kinds. During my high-school summers, I cut grass in parks and on the medians of highways, unloaded trucks and walked beside road-paving equipment with a rake to smooth the hot asphalt along the curbs. During a long strike by the schoolteachers, I found a job in one of the area's small steel plants. Even for kids, there was good money to be made. My best friend took a year off from college to mix big vats of chemicals at the 3M plant, where an old-timer told him, "Remember, don't take all your money and buy a boat with it; buy property.?When times were good at the steel mill and overtime was plentiful, it seemed as if half of Levittown had Winnebagos or other gargantuan recreational vehicles parked in their driveways. Land boats.
My parents were deeply involved in local politics. They worked the polls every election, and my brother, sister and I stood alongside them, handing out literature and helping keep track of who voted and who needed to be reminded or picked up and delivered to the election site. When I turned 18, my mother instructed me on everything she believed I needed to know about voting. "Just pull the big lever,?she said, by which she meant the Democratic lever that automatically cast votes for the party's entire ticket.
There were a few small black neighborhoods on the fringes of town, non-Levitt-built houses, and their children attended our schools, but not comfortably. Periodically, brawls broke out between white and black students, and I spent parts of my high-school years with police and police dogs stationed in our corridors to keep the races apart. The word "nigger?rolled off the tongues of many of my classmates, and sometimes I would object, which had no effect other than to give me an adolescent's fleeting sense of superiority.
I felt of Levittown ?and apart from it. I was always among just a small handful of Jewish kids at my schools, and my father was the rare college-educated person on our side of town. (There were more Jewish families in the other end of town, which fed into a different school district.) He belonged to the N.A.A.C.P. and A.C.L.U., and he hired into his small firm the first black lawyer in Bucks County, a graduate of Yale Law School who had been turned away at numerous other firms and went on to be the county's first African-American judge. I saw my father take stands that were not always in his personal interest, and although he did not talk about it much, I knew the Bronze Star he kept in a little plastic case came to him for breaking cover and risking artillery fire to come to the aid of a wounded fellow soldier.
My father became a judge in 1981, and soon after my parents moved away from Levittown and closer to the county courthouse. In the course of researching this article, I asked my parents for their memories of when the Myers family broke Levittown's color line. "That case is very sensitive to me,?said my father, who is 82. "I think it represented a show of cowardice on my part.?/font>
A small group of Levittowners stood vigil in front of the Myers home in opposition to the mob and in support of the family. My father said he wanted to join them but was running for township commissioner, the equivalent of city council. "My political friends very easily talked me out of going over to that house,?he said. "They said it would be a disaster for my prospects to be elected. They were probably right. But I took the easy way out and sat back.?
I went along on a Saturday with a group of Obama canvassers in the Plumbridge section of Levittown. Ersula Cosby led seven others in the group, including Marjory Apollon-Shields and four of her children. Things did not start out in a promising way. "I'm not interested!?a man called out loudly enough to be heard through a closed door. If barking dogs could register to vote, the canvassers would have really been in business, because there seemed to be many more of them at home than actual residents ?though sometimes those residents apparently just weren't coming to the door.
But the day picked up, and they found a warmer reception than I might have imagined. "I like him ?how do you say his name??Carol Bianchini, a home health aide, said. "I like how he presents himself. I don't think he's for the black community or the white community. I think he's for everyone. And I don't like Hillary. I don't like the way she talks to him. He looks so sad when she does that. He's my guy.?/font>
Bianchini said she did not need a form to switch her registration from independent; she had already done so in order to vote in the Democratic primary. She was approached while walking out to her car with her 26-year-old daughter, Melissa Lauver, who also said she was for Obama. "I liked him the first time I saw him on television,?she said. "He was on ?a title="More articles about Oprah Winfrey." href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/oprah_winfrey/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Oprah,?I think. He just seemed honest.?I asked her if Obama's race was a factor at all. "Not for me or any of my friends,?she answered. "The older people, I don't know.?/font>
The lists the canvassers worked from were supposed to contain only the addresses of independent voters, but they found some Democrats as well as unregistered residents at the homes they visited. Colin Radicke, who is 23 and works in the produce section at a supermarket, signed up to vote as a Democrat, telling one volunteer, "I want to get out of Iraq.?As for his candidate, he said, "I think I would go with Obama.?/font>
Michael Branigan came to the door with his young son, whom he is raising alone after the death of his wife. He seemed just about euphoric when told that he could change his registration right on the spot. "Awesome ?thank you!?he said. "I was going to do this, but I thought it would be a pain and take too much time, so I was just going to blow it off.?/font>
Branigan, who is 36, works in Philadelphia as a civil rights investigator for the U.S. Department of Education, looking into complaints of discrimination. "I didn't think this would happen in my lifetime, or at least not this soon,?he said, referring to a black man's being a serious contender for the presidency. "It's, like, futuristic. By the time this came, I thought I'd be flying around in a spaceship or driving in some kind of little Jetsons vehicle.?/font>
When the canvassers came to the door of Harry Berko, a union electrician and former employee at the steel mill, they got a more grounded response, although friendly enough. He said he was "doing good?and making a decent living, but he added: "We need change. We need to end the war. We need better jobs.?He was already a Democrat and did not reveal whom he favored. As they walked off, he called out to them, "Good luck to yas.?/font>
As topsy-turvy as the Obama-Clinton race has seemed at times, the demographic alignments have been mostly static. Obama dominates among black voters, while Clinton has big margins with white women and Hispanic voters of both sexes. The one segment that has swung back and forth is white men. In some states where Obama won by double-digit margins ?Wisconsin, Maryland, Virginia ?he captured close to, or better than, 50 percent of white male voters. He did best in Wisconsin, winning 63 percent of the votes cast by white men. But they flocked back to Clinton in Ohio, where she won 58 percent of their votes and an even higher percentage among those with less education and lower incomes, according to exit polls by Edison/Mitofsky. Overall, Clinton won by 10 percentage points and nearly 230,000 votes. A headline on Yahoo News declared, "Obama Momentum Slowed by 'Archie Bunker?Voters.?/font>
Levittown is whiter, older and less educated than the rest of the nation ?and Pennsylvania is made up of many Levittowns. The Democratic governor, Ed Rendell, said in February that some in his state were "probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate,?a remark that many would accept as self-evident but that nonetheless earned him sharp criticism. Rendell and most of the state's Democratic establishment support Clinton, although Senator Bob Casey, a socially conservative, anti-abortion Democrat, endorsed Obama late last month just as Obama began a six-day bus tour across the state.
Campaigns do not much like talking about what parts of the electorate they are struggling to connect with because that only highlights what's not working. If the issue involves race, they are even more reluctant. "She did better in Ohio than we did?is how Sean Smith, the Obama campaign's spokesman in Pennsylvania, put it to me. "I don't think that means she is automatically assigned that part of the electorate. He's going to introduce himself to the people of Pennsylvania.?/font>
Neil Oxman is a political consultant in Philadelphia and may know Pennsylvania better than any political professional. He was the media consultant for Rendell in his campaigns for governor, as well as for the current mayors of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. (He consulted for Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, before Richardson dropped out of the presidential race and has not stated a preference for either of the remaining Democrats.) "Pennsylvania is like a home game for Hillary,?Oxman told me. "In places like Levittown, he was cutting into her demographic. The blue-collar males were available to him partly because they did not like her. But about four or five days before the Ohio and Texas primaries, she turned the election from a referendum on change to a referendum on experience, and he lost them.?/font>
More than 200,000 people have registered to vote as Democrats in Pennsylvania in the last five months. "I think it's fair to say probably two-thirds of them are Obama voters,?Oxman said. "That changes the math by 4 to 8 percentage points. But that's not enough. He has to regain the magic he had to change the campaign back from experience to change and to connect the change message with all the financial things that blue-collar people are worried about.?/font>
Obama's most important ally in the Levittown area is the first-term congressman Patrick Murphy, the son of a Philadelphia cop, an Iraq war veteran and a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of self-identified Democratic moderates and conservatives. His Eighth Congressional district is among the more volatile in the nation and regularly swings back and forth between Democrats and Republicans. (Even Murphy's wife is a Republican and a swing voter. She switched parties to vote for Obama in the primary and plans to switch back. "I pick my spots,?Murphy told me in explaining why he did not think it was worth trying to prevail upon her to stay a Democrat. "She voted for me, or at least she says she did.?
Murphy, who is 34, says he believes that Obama offers the best chance for quickly ending the American involvement in Iraq, which he fervently opposes. He told me, "Barack Obama is going to win Levittown.?I asked him if he really believed that. "Yes, I do,?he said. "He will win it.?/font>
The number of adults in Levittown with college degrees was 13 percent, according to the 2000 census, roughly half of the national figure. Its median income was $52,514, a little more than $10,000 above the national level then. Some of that money came in pension payments from old union jobs, and some people worked multiple jobs. "You've got four or five jobs in a household now,?Carl LaVO, a longtime Levittown resident and an editor at The Bucks County Courier Times, told me. "The jobs are retail clerks, painters, warehouse clerks, truck drivers.?/font>
On one of my days in Levittown, I visited with Janet Keyser, a childhood friend from the next street over who is now chairwoman of the local Democratic Party and the director of the water and sewer authority. "There's not many $25-an-hour jobs anymore,?she said. "It's very, very sad in Levittown right now. It's not like it was, where the father got his son a job in the mill, and then when the son got out of high school, he came into the mill full time. We get the list of foreclosures and sheriff's sales at the authority, and every month, it's more. And these aren't bums or people on drugs. They're good people.?/font>
Near the end of our visit, Keyser asked me if I remembered the milk trucks that came around and dropped bottles into boxes we had in front of our houses. She rhapsodized about the schools that we could walk to, the now-closed public pools and the Woolworth's and W. T. Grant's at the old shopping center. Neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama is bringing back any of that. But Hillary Clinton evokes memories of eight years of better times, and she would bring back Bill ?who, here in Levittown, is not a damper on her campaign but rather a security blanket.
In early March, Keyser's Democratic Party endorsed Hillary Clinton. "She's got the experience of being in the White House,?Keyser said. "That's part of the asset. And she has Bill with her.?/font>
From the diner where I talked to Keyser, I drove over to Gleason's Bar, around the corner from my old house. That, too, was a sort of a reality check after spending a few days dwelling with Obama's devout enthusiasts. Eight men sat around the bar, and not one of them supported Obama.
The cascade down the job ladder ?with one job not as good as the last ?is a particularly working-class syndrome. It is the sort of slide that makes a person less likely to take a chance and more prone to cling to the familiar. Marty Clark, whom I knew in high school, worked at the mill and then as a longshoreman and now has a nonunion job driving a truck. "I don't know Obama that well,?he said as he sat at the bar at midafternoon on St. Patrick's Day. "It seems to me like he's got no experience. She'd be the way I'd go.?/font>
Steve Woods sat drinking a Coors Light and talking with his buddies. A Philadelphia Phillies spring-training game was on TV, and he glanced up at it every time the audio picked up the crack of the bat. I asked him if the presidential campaign interested him. "Absolutely,?he said. Rapid fire, he told me the issues he cared about: "No. 1, gas prices. It's killing everybody. No. 2, immigrants. They should go back to Mexico. Three, guns. Everybody should have the right to bear arms. In fact, everyone should have a gun in this day and age.?/font>
I wondered if he was a Republican. "Are you kidding??he said. "I'm a Democrat all the way. I hate Republicans.?/font>
Woods, who is 32, said that he had been trained at the local technical high school as a land surveyor but had been working only sporadically. He had been picking up "side jobs,?a term I heard over and over again in Levittown. It refers to temporary labor: carpentry, landscaping, junk hauling.
Woods was for Hillary Clinton, and if Obama was the Democratic nominee, he said he would vote for the Republican, John McCain, in November. "Hillary all the way,?he said. "We need Hillary. She knows the game. Obama has no experience. He talks about change, change, change. Everybody says he's new; he's refreshing; he's charismatic. I don't think he's got a clue.?/font>
Obama's lofty rhetoric did not move these men, but neither did it go over their heads, exactly. They heard it, and it seemed to have the opposite of its intended effect. It bothered them. All insisted that his race had nothing to do with their coolness to him. "The guy does a lot of talking, but I haven't heard him say anything great yet,?said Dennis Haines, a 38-year-old self-employed electrical contractor and a Democrat who thought he would vote for Clinton in the primary but probably for McCain in November.
The real language of Levittown is arithmetic. The hourly wage. The mortgage payment. How to make ends meet or, better yet, get ahead. Another of the men in the bar, Brian Foley, was a Teamsters truck driver. He explained to me the difficult math for a driver who owns his own rig: "Diesel fuel is up to $4.19 a gallon. Let's say you're fully loaded at 80,000 pounds. You get four miles a gallon, five max. You tell me how that works??/font>
One day I watched as Barack Obama, his dark blue suit smartly tailored, his stride confident, walked onto a factory floor at U.S. Steel's old Fairless Works, the mill, to promote his environmental and economic initiatives. "Green jobs are the jobs of the future,?he told workers employed by Gamesa, the Spanish-owned manufacturer of wind turbines. This was an entirely conventional political event, a town-hall-style meeting of the kind that has become a ritual in modern presidential campaigns. Except that nothing involving Obama is really conventional. That is part of his allure ?and his challenge.
Here was a man with roots in Kenya and a childhood split between Hawaii and Indonesia saying why he should be president as he stood squarely within what was once the industrial heart of an all-white town. Obama's remarkable personal narrative, his stirring American journey, has certainly won him votes from Americans who see in him hope for a better nation. But that is an abstract political desire. Levittowners and other blue-collar voters, with their own pressing concerns ?and their ear for the specific and concrete ?are less easily romanced by an interesting life story. I remember my hometown as a place that craved the familiar. The normal. Its racism was hard-edged and overt. Like everywhere in America, it is more tolerant than it once was, but still, Obama's differences probably do not help him in Levittown. The question that remains is how much they hurt him.
Copyright ?2007
Michael Sokolove
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