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View 609 February 8 - 14, 2010
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|This week:
February 8, 2010
This morning's Wall Street Journal has an op ed by John Hofmeister "Why the US needs an industrial policy." Hofmeister is the former President of Shell Oil.
All this is true, and I've been saying this for years. The problem here is that phrase "Industrial Policy", which means many things to many people. There is a socialist Industrial Policy that would make things worse.
There are several reasons why the United States is not competitive with the third world, and the phrase "industrial policy" doesn't specify what the remedy is. Mr. Hofmeister concludes:
I'm not sure what all this means. While I agree that creating manufacturing incentives would be a good idea, the devil is in the details: do we mean subsidies? And does paying for worker training mean paying even more money to the Department of Education and the enormous unionized education establishment? That's the kind of Industrial Policy that the Obama administration sees, and taking more of the poison that's killing us is probably not such a good idea.
One reason we are not competitive is our regulations. Some are worker safety regulations. Others are economic. Many are "product safety" regulations. Some are environmental protection regulations. All of these are arguably useful in small doses; but need they be Federal? In particular the economic regulations that impose minimum wages and the like do far more harm than good, and are probably unconstitutional in the bargain. By unconstitutional I don't mean the cases haven't been decided by the Supreme Court, of course; I mean that the very idea of a Federal minimum wage would have horrified not only the Framers at the Convention of 1787, but everyone in Congress who voted for the Civil War Amendments that the Court uses to justify the enormous expansions of federal power that happened during the 20th Century, and everyone in the state legislatures when the relevant amendments were ratified.
My proposal for an Industrial Policy is to repeal nearly all the federal regulations and leave those matters to the States. Yes, we need some environmental regulation, yes we need some product safety regulations, but we don't need enormous federal bureaucracies who continuously add more "protections" and thus more expenses to production. Some states like California are likely to continue the insanity, but here and there will be states that have goals other than government by and for government.
The alternative would be a serious reform of federal regulation and that's not likely to work. We have all seen the absurdities: stickers on lawn mowers warning people not to put their fingers under the mower while it is running. Is there a single human being likely not to already know that putting your fingers under a lawn mower while it is running is not a good idea but who, on seeing that sticker, would have an epiphany and avoid that foolish act? But so far have we come: if we don't put that sticker on there and someone manages to lose a finger or two, he can't say he wasn't warned. Those warnings add to the cost of the mower, but so what?
I can come up with endless examples of how regulations needlessly add to the cost of manufacture. We can either remove those -- not likely, given the Iron Law; decentralize and let competition among the states insert some sanity into the regulation process; or accept the regulated world and add an import tariff to compensate for the overseas competitive advantage our crazy regulations and labor laws confer on them.
I've more than once said that we need a compensatory across the board import tariff to protect jobs. It's not that Americans can't compete; it's that regulated America can't compete. Tariff during a depression is not a good economic idea, and it's very easy to get protective tariffs too high; but if we are going to insist on our goofy regulations such as the Americans with Disabilities Act specifying that alcoholism is a disability and thus you can't fire someone for always showing up drunk on the job, then we are going to have to pay for this foolishness somehow. A company required to keep non-competitive workers on the job isn't going to be competitive against countries that can hire the most productive workers and no one else. I know that's hard lines on the handicapped. I also know that in some cases the handicapped worker is the most productive in the shop, and he wouldn't have got the job in the first place if there hadn't been the disabilities act. I know that companies will pollute if they can save money that way. I know all the horror stories. The fact remains that unrestricted free trade in a highly regulated society is a job export machine.
We can't have all these regulations and unrestricted free trade, and until everyone recognizes that any Industrial Policy we are likely to adopt may make things worse, not better.
The same is true for education: without some stiff competition, education will stultify, and our Federal education policies eliminate competition, take away local control, and reward credentialism rather than educational productivity. Bill Gates has discovered that bringing in excellent teachers and getting rid of really bad teachers is the most effective way to improve education. This isn't precisely a new discovery, but his foundation had the resources to remove all doubt. What does this do to policy? At the moment the quest for "better" teachers sparks even more credentialism. Bad teachers can become good teachers by going to workshops; so goes the national educational wisdom. We all know this doesn't work, and that bad teachers with more and more credentials remain bad teachers only now it's even more difficult to get rid of them. Everyone knows this. But the workshops and credential factories continue and multiply.
Regulate and impose tariffs; deregulate and leave it to the states; those are the real choices for an Industrial Policy. It's probably not what we will do. I suspect we'll flounder about with subsidies and more credentialism and in general take a lot more of the poison in the hopes that more will cure us.
Subsidiarity and transparency.
The editorial in today's Wall Street Journal "Democratic Climate Revolt" is cause for some rejoicing: even the Democrats are getting concerned about the consequences of "green" legislation, and even more so about the EPA trying to regulate CO2. Alas, the cost of getting the EPA out of the CO2 regulation business is likely to be even more earmarks for subsidies on turning food into fuel, which will make food prices higher. It's probably true that "this is the first good thing ethanol has done," and that as the Journal concludes it's better than nothing, but note that doing something sensible -- actually, undoing something that everyone knows is just wrong, namely declaring CO2 a pollutant and letting the EPA regulate it -- has a cost.
Remember that when you're thinking about Industrial Policy. The more we regulate the more this kind of horse trading becomes inevitable.
Subsidiarity and transparency.
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|This week:
February 9, 2010
Press Conferences and Tea Parties
I don't do breaking news, but this one was unusual: President Obama took over the morning White House press conference.
This was his first press conference since last July. That in itself is worth comment. He held the record for the number of press conferences held by a President-elect, and as of July he was headed for a new record -- even though he hasn't held a press conference since last July, his number for the first year wasn't far below that of Clinton and Bush -- but then, suddenly, he stopped. For a while no one noticed, and despite his promises about open government, the Washington press corps didn't have much to say on the subject. Perhaps one reason for the sudden halt in press conferences was the lack of the teleprompter: it was in a press conference that Obama said the Massachusetts policeman who arrested his Harvard friend and forced the President to hold the hastily arranged "beer summit". Since then the teleprompter has been his almost constant companion, even in small meetings with only a couple of dozen people. There may be a message in there somewhere.
Apparently the President went out to make headlines to support his upcoming "Summit" on healthcare. He's also frightened by the Tea Party movement and his continually plummeting popularity in the polls. His charm is his best weapon, and he want chances to use it in places where he can take his teleprompter.
The "Summit" is a trap, of course. One hopes that the Republicans will understand this and not be trapped. There are indications that they do. In an open letter to Rom Emmanuel, the Republican leadership said
The President's press conference this morning made it clear that the starting point is exactly this, and what Obama wants is some kind of bargaining session that will allow what these plans -- schemes is a better word -- to pass.
The Republican response ought to be a polite regret and a decline of the invitation. The "summit" can't help them or the American people, and becoming implementers for the enormous Democrat majority that can't agree on anything is terrible politics. It will lose most of the momentum built up in the last few months.
It may be that the Republican leadership is finally learning the true lesson of the Massachusetts election: it wasn't a Republican win, it was a Democrat loss, just as 2008 was largely a Republican loss helped along by the charm and personal magnetism of President Obama. The Republicans have got to shed any delusions of grandeur about their sudden popularity. They aren't popular. They're just less unpopular than the Democrats. The real news is that the latest polls show the US population's approval of Congress at about 10%, and actual hatred of the Congress somewhere near 40%, with Obama's personal popularity around half but his political approval considerably lower.
In a word the nation has lost confidence in the ability of the political class to govern. With good reason.
The Tea Party movement is still a "good government" -- googoo, in professional political science terms** -- movement, and probably ought to remain so; but it's not going to last without getting involved in party building. It should be cautious about that. The best thing that could happen to the country would be for the Tea Party movement to bring the Democratic Party back to the center from its McGovern Wing capture, while helping to liberate the Republican Party from the rapacious wolves who took over after Newt Gingrich resigned. At the moment the two parties have become the Nuts and the Creeps; see my essay on that. Getting back to saner government 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished...
If you want to see why we have to get out of the mess we are in, see for example today's articles on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Try "No exit in sight for US as Fannie, Freddie, flail." It opens:
When you're in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging, but the Democrat leadership and in particular Barney Frank and Chris Dodd don't believe that -- or perhaps they do believe it and don't care.
Then there's Elizabeth Warren's "Wall Street's Race to the Bottom" which begins
Her remedy is creation of the CFPA, a new bureaucracy which will regulate things to protect consumers.
She's a smart lady, but she also believes that government can fix things, and apparently believes that we can create bureaucracies that will operate differently and won't be subject to the voracious wolves. It's the latest in a long series of promises by those of the regulatory persuasion. My experience is that the only winner is The Iron Law.
All of which is depressing. The Tea Party movement and populism have no idea of what they are taking on. Unfortunately the party leaders do, or think they do. Both parties can go mad on regulation that is intended to do one thing and accomplishes quite another without actually doing much about what it was intended to stop: if you don't believe that, contemplate Sarbanes-Oxley, passed with overwhelming bi-partisan support and big Republican enthusiasm in the wake of the Enron scandals. It's easy to generate populist enthusiasm for revenge on the big guys in Wall Street, but building government power to do that is not a good idea.
My advice to the Tea Party leadership is to be cautious, but caution can't rule forever. The movement exists on enthusiasm, and as Boss Flynn noted in his book, that enthusiasm doesn't last all that long. GooGoos come and go. The machine remains.
All that said, the Massachusetts victory was bracing, and makes it clear that there's still a good chance for these United States. Maybe God does look out for us. We've got a chance to get out of this hole. Have some tea. A tea summit is better than a beer summit.
**Note: I think the origin of the term googoo comes from Edward J. Boss Flynn's political autobiography "You're the Boss". I note to my horror that the book is not only out of print, but that used copies sell for horrendous amounts. I once assigned that book as a text in a sophomore American Politics class, and I believe Heinlein drew from it in his "Take Back Your Government". I note that Heinlein's book isn't currently available through Amazon either. You can get an eBook copy from Baen. I'm a bit concerned that such basic works are out of print and not easily found. Flynn's book is easily read and fairly revealing. For those who don't know, Flynn was Tammany Hall president and political boss in Bronx, and accompanied Roosevelt to Yalta; his views of the American political process are still very much worth thinking about. It's the way politics used to work.
Tarnovsky figured out a way to break chips that carry a "Trusted Platform Module'; see mail
On security:
Fortunately protected mode is on by default, and this can't be the worm that got me; I never turn off protected mode. Does no harm to check, though.
Thanks to all who have responded to the pledge drive. The pledge drive continues: if you haven't subscribed or renewed your subscription since 2008, this is a really good time to do that. A number have, and I want to thank them again. This place can't stay open without subscribers.
This week:
February 10, 2010
I have a medical appointment at 1100, so today's View will be a bit late. I'll probably write some of it on the MacBook Air while I'm in the waiting room. I have a suggestion from Ron MacKinnon that I connect the infected drive I removed from Emily (see the column) to a Mac system running OS X; that should let me copy any files I like from any hidden or controlled folders, and that certainly won't have any danger of infection for a Mac.) I'll try that when I get back.
There's a Wall Street Journal op-ed by Newt Gingrich and John Goodman in today's WSJ that's worth your attention. It's mostly obvious things to do, of course, but it certainly makes it clear that the Republicans are not hiding their health care "ideas". As the pull quote for the piece says, "We don't have to study lawsuit reform one minute longer." Everyone in the nation understands what ought to be done about medical lawsuits, and just about everyone agrees that it should be done, but the Plaintiff Bar association owns a major share of the Democratic Party, and they're not going to allow that. Since legal reform is the easiest way to make major reductions in the cost of health care, and it's not going to happen, a good part of any discussion on health care is simply irrelevant.
The President's invitation to the Republican Leadership is either a trap or a naive cri de couer from an inexperienced president desperate to have something to show for his first term. One can feel sorry for him. Harry Truman once said that he got the to Oval Office, saw what needed to be done, issued the necessary orders -- and absolutely nothing happened. Of course Truman understood himself: it was Truman who told the story about Sam Rayburn coming to his office the night before he was sworn in.
"Harry," he said. "Guess this is the last time I can call you Harry. Harry, after you take office there are going to be all these really smart people come to you with the damndest complicated schemes you ever heard of on how to fix everything, and Harry, they're going to try to tell you that you're smart enough to understand them. Harry, you just keep remembering, you ain't that smart."
As I say, Truman told that story on himself. I do not suspect that the current President would ever say such a thing; he's pretty certain he's among the smartest people in the room. Perhaps he is, but if he isn't, there's no one around to tell him different. In a Roman triumph a slave stood behind the celebrant whispering in his ear "Remember that thou art but a man." We used to have something similar in the Invocations at inaugurations, but we've given that up. No one is going to tell Obama "You ain't that smart." They're more likely to tell him "They just don't understand things as well as we do."
Trap or plea for help, this is not the time for the Republicans to compromise on ramming through something that the American people hate. This is the time to screw up their courage and just politely say no. Common sense says health care costs can be reduced, but not with this enormous "reform". It's time to go at it one small piece at a time, and tort reform is the obvious beginning. Secondly we need to put decisions in the hands of the payers, not the consumers; but that will take longer and is more difficult. Tort reform first and look at what happens then.
After which it is time to apply common sense to the Global Warming and Climate questions. There again there are some obvious common sense measures all sensible realists can agree on. I suppose it's too much to hope for.
Now I have to get out of here. This is a quarterly meeting with the cancer specialist; so far as I know there's nothing to report.
The pledge drive continues this week. All those who have not subscribed should do so. All those who haven't renewed since 2008 should do so. Well, perhaps I put that a bit too strongly: really, I am not after anyone's rent money. This is a public site, and it will always be free, but it won't be here if we don't get subscriptions. There's no real danger just now -- thanks to all those who recently renewed or subscribed -- but it's always in the background. Thanks to all of you who keep this place open.
And now I'm off.
1330: back from Kaiser. The cancer specialist doesn't think he needs to see me again until August, but the lab did take about 8 vials of blood. If something is in there that shouldn't be, they'll want me sooner, but we can be hopeful. I'd have thought it made more sense to take the blood first, and next summer I'll remind them of that a week before I go. Should have thought of that myself. In any event, I don't seem to be deteriorating, although when I came home I got my doubts.
I have a MacBook Pro that I can only call schizophrenic. I log in as jerryp, in most places the machine thinks I am jerryp, but the home page is named jerrypournelle, and this causes a mess with some networking. I am not at all sure what's going on here. The problem seems to date from Snow Leopard. It will network with Windows machines, but the windows machines can see it but they can't log on to it although I have set sharing. I can share among Macs, and push and pull Windows systems with a Mac, but it doesn't go the other way.
I need also to rename my Macs. Is there any penalty for doing that? It's astonishing how much there is left to learn about these systems for me.
There is a simple solution to the Haiti missionaries. Hillary Clinton quietly tells them to pardon those people and send them home, or we are taking our marbles and going home. This farce has gone on long enough. The missionary people may have been arrogant, and the parents who handed over kids pretending they were orphans were understandably mistaken, but there was nothing criminal here, and Haiti has no business wasting scarce resources and good will on this prolonged exercise in "sovereignty". It is time to end the farce. It has already cost Haiti a great deal in donations and sympathy.
If you want an insight into the liberal mind, see Thomas Frank, The Tilting Yard, "Washington's Deficit of Trust", in today's Wall Street Journal. Frank is the journal's liberal fig leaf, and presumably is one of the more intelligent liberals, with his own weekly WSJ column; and he demonstrates that he has no idea of what conservatism is or much about conservative thought.
He says that last year we had a crisis for conservatives but they are making a comeback. He has no notion that those who were heaved out in 2008 were not conservatives at all. The losing party last year were Republicans, led by the country club wing. Neoconservatives have never been conservatives at all: they were hawkish in the Cold War, and have a preference to deregulation in finance, but they also went for "big government conservatism" -- and of course there is no such thing as "Big government Conservatism". Conservatives are not anti-government. We understand thoroughly that human nature is what it is, and many are led into temptation who cannot resist it; better to "bind them down with the chains of law and the constitution."
Frank speaks of his belief that the conservatives believe in "the essential villainy of government", proving once again that liberals simply do not understand. Government is not essentially evil; but given the fallen nature of man, you have to assume that if you give great power it will be used, and given enough power it will attract evil men. It is not a coincidence that the wicked brother often survives to become king -- one of the reasons for not having kings. Government is not villainy. It is, in the words of Franklin, "like fire a dangerous servant and a fearful master"; but he invented the Franklin Stove to make more efficient use of fire, and would no more have given up government than he would fire. That ancients always believed that good government was the gift of the gods, and the Framers understood that good government requires hard work and resistance to the temptation to try to accomplish too much. The knowledge of the world does not lead to perfection and attempts to establish perfection through knowledge -- through acquiring the gnosis and applying it -- have always been the door to disaster and worse.
Free men are not equal. Equal men are not free. You cannot have both freedom and equality imposed by law. You can have charity or you can have entitlements, but the more you have of the latter the less you will have of the former -- and the less you will have of freedom. This isn't really controversial; it's inherent in the terms. You are free to equalize yourself with the poor, but there is neither freedom nor charity in forcing that equalization, and we all know it. Moreover, equalization is done by a ruling class forcing others to share; little of their equalizations affects those who enact them. Not in their fundamentals. Ted Kennedy and Chris Dodd were generous, but still thought themselves powerful enough to play "waitress sandwich" games in DC restaurants -- and the press corps all knew it. Such is equality.
We used to learn these facts. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Free men are not equal. Equal men are not free. Now they are cliches -- but not less true for being ignored.
Thomas Frank sincerely believes that we face a crisis of confidence because the Republicans blackguarded government, and no wonder government is ineffective: the bureaucrats are hunkered down, afraid the tea party movement.
Read the column. It gives rare insight into the nonsense that a great number actually believe.
This week:
February 11, 2010
Rush Limbaugh today is concerned about Obama's recent statement that he is 'agnostic' on the subject of raising taxes on the middle class, which is to say those with family incomes of lower than $250,000 a year. You may recall that during his campaign the strongest promise he made was that if your family income was less than $250,000 a year you would not see one dime of tax increases. Not one dime.
Now Obama's "I am agnostic" statement was made without a teleprompter, and might just be a case of getting the wrong word. He may have meant 'adamant', one of Steve Jobs' favorite words. Adamant comes from Greek and denoted a very hard substance, as in the adamant sickle used by the Titan Chronos to castrate his father. If Obama really meant "agnostic" meaning literally without knowledge (as in ignoramus, or we know nothing, one possible finding of a grand jury) and usually taken to mean having no strong opinion or program of action on an issue, such as being agnostic as opposed to being atheist or religious, then it is a very major change in policy, and a probably disastrous one for the Democratic Party. If it is such a change in policy this is an odd way to announce it. It tells the ravenous wolves that they are free to raise taxes on the middle class. I expect it was a misstatement that is being allowed to stand as a trial balloon. If so, that balloon ought to be shot down, promptly and vigorously, and the Democrats should be put in a state of terror.
Note that the new Obama budget has a number of hidden budget increases built into it: it moves a number of "temporary" budget items into the permanent non-discretionary budget base, apparently enough to just about offset his "freeze" on future spending. Perhaps that too is a mistake, or some trick by staff officials, but the President ought to be asked about this at his next press conference. One supposes there will be press conferences? Alas, we have no equivalent of the British Parliament's 'Question time', so there's no requirement of press conferences other than public demand.
Given that Washington is shut down by the latest indicators of global warming, perhaps it will be a while before there can be a press conference? On the other hand, maybe this is the right time. Surely the press can get to the White House, the President is already there, if there is Internet connection anywhere on Earth it ought to be from the White House, and the President isn't going to be traveling for a few days. Ideal press conference time.
Karl Rove today advises the Republicans to accept the President's invitation to the health care summit. "Republicans and the Health-Care Pow-Wow". He thinks it's a good idea and will provide some good Republican sound bites, a show case for proposals on tort reform (probably the single most needed health care reform) and other Republican "ideas".
I'm not so sure. It's a political spectacle, and Obama's people control all the rules. One has no choice but to be respectful to the President -- he is, as Clinton once observed, the only President we have -- and the President has all the power to set the rules on what is covered, what is recorded, what is televised. Newt Gingrich was usually able to hold his own in some of those shows, but Clinton snookered him on more than one occasion -- and they had mutual respect for each other as well as for their offices. They also thoroughly understood each other. I don't think the current Republicans have the skills -- and the whole thing is kabuki theater to begin with. What purpose is served? The President wants any bill he can get. The Democrats want some way to escape the general hatred of Congress -- bad enough that the people hate the Congress, but it's clear that the Democrats run it with their extraordinary majorities of 2008. "We put you guys in charge, and you blew it," is a fair summary of the tea party movement. Why help bail the Democrats out?
I have mail from tea party hosts -- they don't like to be called leaders -- reminding me that the tea parties are not nailed to the Republican Party. I understand that. Neither am I. At the moment, though, the Republican vector is toward less government, as historically it was until the Big Government Conservatives after Gingrich changed that. Presumably they have learned a lesson; it is one we should not let them forget. Reagan intended to eliminate the Department of Education (a consummation devoutly to be wished); he was thwarted by the ravenous wolves, and he had the Cold War to end. No one is talking about eliminating whole government departments now, but if anyone is going to do it, it will probably be Republicans, not Democrats.
But let me repeat: if we don't have a viable two party system, a way to turn out unsatisfactory political leaders without the election being taken as an invitation to remake the fundamentals of the nation -- as the 2008 election was interpreted as a mandate to turn the nation into a European model socialist state with socialized medicine and expanded welfare and a huge increase in the portion of GDP disposed of by the government, with full Industrial Policy and the rest -- we are in deep trouble. If each election is an institutional revolution, and the stakes escalate with each election until losing the election is ruin for a large number of people -- the subsequent history is pretty clear. Institutional civil war is not stable.
Conservatism is enjoyment, not permanent revolution. It took a while to get into this hole. It will take longer to get out. First we stop digging. Then we begin to dismantle parts of the huge structure. But we must not do it by turning out all the civil servants. Devolving many of their tasks to lower levels, subsidiarity and transparency, those are vectors. The Department of Education is, I think, an exception; but most government programs began with good intentions, few of those who run them for us are villains, and people made dependent on government cannot simple be turned out to starve. Transitions take a long time: what's important is to get the vector in the right direction, and it's very likely that the only way to do that is to completely change the leadership in both parties. We have to make elections a way to choose those who will lead, not simply choose between the Creeps and the Nuts.
If you want to hear about impasses and compromise, try this"
For some pictures of the snow, try:
Of course it's global warming.
Now do understand: there's some sense in the notion that it takes increased energy, coming from somewhere, to transport the gigatons of water so that it can become glacial ice. There are also obvious feedback loops. Ice is reflective. How do you get the water from the seas, and from lower latitudes, up to the higher latitudes so that the glacial creep begins? And what causes it to run away, so that in under 100 years Britain went from deciduous trees to tens of meters, then kilometers, of ice? That ice has to start with evaporation, and that takes heat and lots of it. Needless to say, none of the great comprehensive climate models can explain the sudden transition from temperate to Ice Age, nor do they show any mechanism for recovery from an Ice Age once begun.
Clearly there has to be an energy source for an Ice Age climate change. What we don't have are good and valid theories on what causes the Ice Ages. Benjamin Franklin speculated volcanic clouds making the world colder -- he came up with that theory when observing a volcanic eruption in Iceland while on passage to (possibly from, I forget) a diplomatic mission to Europe. Franklin speculated on global cooling; he didn't think about the energy required to transport all that water to the glacial area. Other since have thought about it, but few that I know of have any testable hypotheses.
I note that current global warming theories are now accepting the unprecedented snowfalls as evidence of the truth of AGW. There seems to be no real consensus among them, though, and some are still showing the lack of snow for the Winter Olympics also as evidence for AGW. Apparently anything is evidence for AGW to some who call themselves scientists, but this isn't science. Note the similarity to Freudianism which was once a science by consensus even though there wasn't a falsifiable hypothesis in the doctrine: whatever happened could be explained, including results directly contradictory to previous predictions. Freudianism was accepted as science for a long time, and even today few denounce it: it has been "superseded" is about the worst any will say -- but it is as dead as the dodo, having wreaked its corrosive effect on the culture -- and having raked in an awful lot of money for its practitioners.
Meanwhile, Washington is still shut down. If, after this, we have an early spring, you may be sure that this is a sure sign of global warming -- or if we have a late spring, why that too will be support for the AGW hypothesis. It might be a good time to nail down the AGW consensus people: what might happen that will not be support for the AGW hypothesis. If they say that AGW cannot produce flying purple people eaters before next fall, that at least is falsifiable, and we should be on the lookout in places where purple people eaters are usually seen.
There's mail today including a discussion of tariff and regulation, and some observations about the new DSM.
This week:
February 12, 2010
Today is the last day of the Winter pledge drive. This site operates on the public radio model: it's free, but unless we get enough subscribers it will not stay open. Subscribe today! If you have not renewed since 2008 or before, renew your subscription today! That way you can be sure we'll still be here, day after day -- well, all right, I'm sort of repeating the KUSC announcer. KUSC is the local classical music radio station here, and I have used it as the financial model, including the pledge drives. They're successful, so why shouldn't I be? Of course they have both more listeners and larger expenses than I do. Anyway, my thanks to all those who have recently subscribed or renewed. Subscribe now. It only takes a moment.
It's time for our walk. See Mail on free trade and industrial policy from yesterday and this morning. Back later. You can subscribe while I'm out...
1115: We are back. It is a bright sunny day in Los Angeles, not a cloud in the sky and warm enough that some neighbors were out in tee shirts.
While we were out one of my neighbors was jubilant because Philip Campbell, editor of Nature, "was forced to resign", and that meant global warming was unraveling and --
Actually, it's not that much of a story. You can read it all at:
and I don't have a lot more comment. Campbell is certainly an expert on the peer review process, and as an editor of a major magazine he was expected to comment on Climategate. His comment was not one I would have made, but choosing an investigative panel of people who had no opinion on the subject but were familiar with the subject matter would be impossible. The important point is not that AGW believers were appointed to the panel, because of course they would be; what I don't know is if there are any "deniers" of stature on that panel, and that we haven't seen.
There ought to be an investigation into the Climategate affair. More than one. I predict an impartial investigation will find that there is no unambiguous evidence for human induced global warming, and that the warming we are experiencing, such as it is, is a lot less dangerous than the cooling we feared a generation ago. Cold is scarier than warm. Way lots more CO2 is probably dangerous, but some increases in CO2 are beneficial to plants, and some warming plus more CO2 is good for crop yields. It was a lot warmer in the period when the Vikings planted their colonies, and it was a lot colder during the Little Ice Age.
Of course having said that I suppose I have disqualified myself from having an opinion, since Deniers aren't worth listening to...
You all know: Google scanned all the books in several libraries. Most of those books were still under copyright. In some cases the copyright owners were known, In many more they were not known.
There was a firestorm of protest from copyright owners, and a lawsuit by a consortium of some copyright holders, The Authors Guild, and the Publishers Association. They then negotiated a settlement with Google, purportedly on behalf of all copyright holders.
The settlement basically says that for any author who agrees with the settlement (opts in), they will pay a nominal amount (about $50) for having copied the work without permission -- I call that paying for the insult -- and authors may then opt out of the Google Books publication scheme. Authors must claim their insult money by opting in to the settlement. Those who do that and don't opt out of Google Books accept that Google gets to "publish" the work non-exclusively, sell a copy to anyone who wants to buy it, and split the money with the copyright holder. There are other details, but that's the essence of the settlement.
The settlement is under fire from many authors -- Ursula Le Guin resigned from the Authors Guild over it, and SFWA opposes it. The Authors Guild defends the settlement.
Google's defense of their book scanning operation is given here:
The article is worth reading. He states the case for Google's actions and the proposed settlement as well as anywhere I have seen.
I have mixed emotions on all this. My original impulse was to opt out. Up to now I have done nothing, but I am now inclined to accept the insult money, then opt out of the Google Books publishing operation because I think I have better publishing options. At the moment all that's moot because the settlement is under fire from the government, and the Court hasn't accepted it yet, and there will be appeals. I doubt I will live to see any of the settlement money, and I suspect that neither will my children. The only people who are going to be paid are lawyers, most of whom have already benefited, and will get lots more.
Google's concern was sparked by a move by libraries to discard unwanted books. Many of those are copyright orphans -- someone probably owns the copyright, but doesn't know it, and many copyright owners don't know the work exists. Those who say Google ought to have asked people to "opt in" on having the works scanned must not have thought too hard about this: how can you choose all but only those works whose copyright owners don't know they are copyright holders? The search would be prohibitive, which is why Google decided to "scan them all, let the owners sort them out."
A number of my friends are so incensed over Google making this copy without their permission that they never get beyond that. The fact is, though, that most of our works have been scanned many times by many people, and often published on pirate sites. Everything the late authors Jack Chalker and Poul Anderson ever wrote was posted on scribd, a commercial profit making site which was perfectly willing to respect valid DMCA takedown notices, but wouldn't pay attention to anything else. A DMCA notice requires the one sending the notice to say under penalty of perjury that he is either the copyright owner or authorized to act for the owner. The scribd flap and the strange actions of the Electronic Frontier Foundation who sent a threatening attorney's letter to the Science Fiction Writers of America defending scribd's right to leave the entire estates of Jack Chalker and Poul Anderson on their site until the widows sent the proper paperwork is given in my daybook, and summarized in a column, and need not be repeated here. SFWA caved and abolished it's copyright committee, and authors are now on their own; the Guild does more to defend author rights than SFWA now. My point is that Google isn't the only offender, and Google is at least trying to do the right thing, unlike straight out pirates, and places like scribd who are "defending your right to post what you want to post" (even if you don't own it, unless the owner sends the right paperwork). The Guild, the publishers, and Google haven't reached the perfect agreement for protecting author rights while saving orphan works from extinction; but they are trying, and I think in good faith.
And, note, there are many who think it's all moot to begin with. Eric Flint of Baen Books, who has more data on the actual results of piracy than anyone else I know, is convinced that efforts to suppress piracy is a waste of time. I don't know his exact position on the Google Settlement. I'd think that given his conclusions on electronic piracy -- it doesn't have much effect on real sales, and for some authors may even serve as free advertising, and authors are probably better off writing more and ignoring piracy -- I'd think it would be "take the money and run." It's certainly what I am tempted to do.
Yet another chapter in the evolving world of publishing. It's all fascinating and this is certainly not the last of the discussion.
|This week:
February 13, 2010
PIIGS is PIIGS, or California is Greece
Greece is in the spotlight, but Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain are all in the sinking boats: they owe far more than they can pay, their economies are headed down, unemployment is up, and they can't get out of the problem by devaluing their currency because they don't have a currency. They're all using Euros now.
Greece is showing the way. They are very nearly dead broke, and their only hope is that Germany will "loan" them money to bail them out. Everyone knows that these "loans" won't be paid back; how can they? Greece's obligations in public spending and pensions exceed their economic abilities, their population is aging without replacement, and the chances of getting a new economy going while keeping on with their present economic policies are approximately nil. The German voters know this and are weary of working their tails off to bail people out. They went from the rubble of 1945 through the Economic Miracle, then they took in the economic wreck that communism had made of East Germany and more or less rehabilitated that -- at least made a pretty good start of it, and the path out of those woods seems clear -- and now they are invited to "loan" money to bail out the PIIGS.
So there are signs that Germany is going to opt out -- at least to impose some economic conditions on "loaning" that money to bail out Greece. Greece is going to have to make some economic reforms and adjustments. The response in Greece is predictable: the public service unions have taken to the streets. How dare Germany put any conditions on bailing out the Greek economy?
It will be interesting to see how that game plays out. If you want more on this including pictures of the Greek civil servants in the streets, see "The Greek Tragedy that Changed Europe" by Simon Johnson and Peter Boone in the Saturday (today) Wall Street Journal. The pull quote from that article is
Hardly an unexpected revelation, but it seems to have been forgotten.
Meanwhile, California is broke, and Los Angeles even more immediately so. There is no way Los Angeles can meet its obligations; shortly it will not even be able to pay its civil servants. Some have to be laid off, and the enormous pension benefit obligations have to be got under control, salaries have to be cut, so the response of the Public Service Union is to go disrupt a City Council meeting and call for demonstrations. The analogy with Greece is interesting.
The United States has a number of states that are disaster areas, with public spending far exceeding their economic ability. They can't devalue their currency because they don't have a currency, and the Constitution says they can't make one:
Bankrupt states can't raise taxes because there's not much left to tax: already anyone who can is fleeing. California has a 20% higher cost of doing business than the average in the US, and businesses know this. Capital is fleeing the state. Interestingly the entertainment industry is mostly capital driven; this could get pretty painful. Michigan and New Jersey are in similar straits. And unlike Greece, US States can't even go to the International Monetary Fund, no matter how humiliating it is to have to go there.
Margaret Thatcher once said that the trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money. Taxation without representation is tyranny -- and also pretty difficult if you can possibly flee the jurisdiction. To your tents, O Israel!
The current administration's remedy for all this is, well, to make the American economy more like that of the European Union. Add socialism and public service unions (e.g. card check). The results can be interesting. In Spain, as an example, the average salary of an air traffic controller is about half a million dollars a year, or so I have heard (I find it nearly incredible, but then I look at some of the California civil servant salaries). It is hardly surprising that the demand for a free good is infinite, and the demand for higher wages and more economic protection has a similar vector. One can't blame people for trying, but the result is generally the same and you can see it in the PIIGS, and in California as well.
What happens to Greece, the PIIGS, and the European Union may or may not furnish some warnings for the United States, and our leaders may or may not pay attention to them; but however things go, it's hard to see an economic boom coming, not this year, and not next. Irish banks are nearly all insolvent, housing prices plummet, wages fall and unemployment rises; is Ireland in a death spiral?
You can't spend what you don't have unless someone will loan you the money. You can't build a boom by cutting spending. If you can find some money -- borrow it -- you might make some investments. The trick is to invest in things that will help build an economy. Inflated pensions and salaries aren't the way to do that. There are investment programs that help build an economy; for all the opposition to it, TVA generated energy and kept energy prices low -- a cent and a half a kw/hour when I was a lad. Low cost energy and freedom builds economies. That's an easy conclusion. Incidentally, "investing" by paying out pensions to stimulate spending and thus rebuild an economy doesn't seem to work: see the history of the Townsend Plan and look at Washington State for data on that. Massive environmental regulations don't help economies: look again at Washington State and the aluminum industry. Over-regulated public power doesn't work too well. And so forth.
Public investment doesn't work as well as private investment, but it can help a lot -- if it's investment. The Keynes suggestion of burying jugs of money and paying people to go look for them is not an investment, and we've done some things that are equivalent. They don't work.
All told, it looks to be an interesting year. There are more and more articles about The Great Depression of 2010-2011. We haven't got there yet, but Washington, Sacramento, Trenton, and Lansing can get us there. They seem determined, too.
|This week:
February 14. 2010
Happy Valentine's Day
I'm more or less taking the day off, but over in mail there's a comment on Ireland and a query as to what happened to the previous boom.
This is a day book. It's not all that well edited. I try to keep this up daily, but sometimes I can't. I'll keep trying. See also the weekly COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR column, 8,000 - 12,000 words, depending. (Older columns here.) For more on what this page is about, please go to the VIEW PAGE. If you have never read the explanatory material on that page, please do so. If you got here through a link that didn't take you to the front page of this site, click here for a better explanation of what we're trying to do here. This site is run on the "public radio" model; see below.
If you have no idea what you are doing here, see the What is this place?, which tries to make order of chaos.
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The awards that our businesses win recognise their success and celebrate their achievements. Here are some of our recent awards.
Hong Kong Green Awards
Our joint venture, Gammon Construction, won three awards at the Hong Kong Green Awards: 'The Green Purchaswi$e Award (Corporate) – Gold', 'Green Management Award (Corporate) – Gold' and 'Sustained Performance (5 years+)'.
HR Excellence Awards 2014
Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management awarded Gammon Construction 'Grand Award of the Year' and 'Excellent Business Partner Award in the Strategic HR Category'. The Grand Award of the Year proves Gammon's extraordinary achievement in nurturing its people.
2014 Climate Performance Leadership Index
Balfour Beatty was awarded a position on the CDP's Index for its actions to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the business risks of climate change. Our score of 94A provides recognition for how much we have already achieved in reaching our carbon reduction targets.
CarbonCare® Label
Gammon Construction was awarded the CarbonCare® Label for all of its operations in Hong Kong (except joint venture projects), Head Office in Singapore and Steel Fabrication Yard in China.
Sustainable Project of the Year
The Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, built by Balfour Beatty company Howard S. Wright, was named the 2014 Sustainable Project of the Year by the Portland Business Journal.
Commercial Innovation of the Year
Construction Services UK won this award at the Construction News Awards 2014 for its King Sheet Piling innovation; a system that revolutionises 120 years of sheet piling practice, saving typically 35% to 40% of steel that would normally be used without a reduction in performance.
Most Sustainable Project of 2014
Skanska Balfour Beatty, a construction joint venture working on behalf of Connect Plus for the Highways Agency, won a prestigious sustainability award at the Construction News Awards for its project to upgrade 12 miles of the M25.
Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence
Joint venture Gammon Construction's Midfield Concourse Work project won the Gold Award (Construction Industry). This is the fourth time that the company has won this prestigious award.
Gas Industry Award
We won a Special Recognition Award for Solutions for the Planet and Balfour Beatty Services' programme in schools in Yorkshire and the North East.
Considerate Contractors Site Award Scheme 2013
Gammon Construction in Hong Kong won one silver, two bronze and three Merit of Considerate Contractor Site Awards (CCSA), and two Merit of Outstanding Environmental Management & Performance Awards (OEMPA).?
Considerate Constructors Scheme's National Sites Awards
Four Balfour Beatty sites in the UK won Gold Awards, 21 were given Silver Awards and 10 were Bronze Award winners. These included two Most Considerate Site Runner-up Awards.
Most Innovative Transport Project of the Year
Track Partnership, a strategic alliance between London Underground and Balfour Beatty Rail, was awarded 'Most Innovative Transport Project' at the 2014 London Transport Awards.
Six Civic Trust Awards
Balfour Beatty was the main contractor on six projects recognised for their significant contribution to the quality and appearance of the UK built environment.
Four Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Yorkshire and Humber Awards
The ICE awards recognise civil engineering projects with a regional dimension, for their achievement, excellence and innovation.
Infrastructure Project of the Year
Regional Rail Link was recognised as the best Australian Project of the Year at Infrastructure Partnerships Australia's National Infrastructure Awards.
Construction News 'Concrete Specialist of the Year'
Balfour Beatty Regional was named 'Concrete Specialist of the Year', recognising the quality of its best projects, commitment to staff development, safety record and performance on sustainability.
Distinguished Supplier for 2014
Dutco Balfour Beatty was named "The Green Supplier" by Dubai Municipality.
National Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) Award
Howard S. Wright in the US won a national award of merit for the Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in the Building Renovation category.
North East Better Health at Work Award
Balfour Beatty WorkSmart won this UK regional award as recognition of the effort they put into enhancing the work environment to help maintain and improve employees' health and wellbeing.
Sustainability Circle of Excellence Award
Waste Management recognised Balfour Beatty for the third year in a row as one of its top customers in the US construction industry whose various projects achieved outstanding sustainability milestones.
Multifamily Project of the Year
Balfour Beatty Communities won top prize at the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) 2014 International Builders Show. The NAHBGreen Award for 'Project of the Year: Low-rise Multifamily' recognises excellence in building for the Rio Bravo/Van Horn development at Fort Bliss, Texas.

subset: commoncrawl


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Shop online at Bonprix Direct and discover top quality fashion at unbeatable value for money. Great fashion for women, men and kids plus a huge range of footwear.
Buy Direct from Bonprix Catalogue ...
Bonprix Catalogue, Official Website: www.Bonprix.co.ukOnline shopping with Amazon UK has never been easier, and now, from one handy website, you can shop with Bonprix Catalogue online store too. Bonprix Catalogue, operated by the Otto group, has thousands of great fashion products available for women, men, and children too. Whether you're looking for something casual, or more formal fashion, Bonprix has a wide selection of clothing and accessories to choose from.
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If you've previously shopped with any of the Otto brands, then shopping with Bonprix will feel familiar; offering not only a stylish selection of fashion and accessories, but also traditional good service, Bonprix is a one-stop shop for the latest affordable fashion.
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text:
VideoHive Landscape Logo 178921
After Effects Project \ Logo Stings \ Nature
Plugins \ Rendered \ Widescreen \ Version \ Plugin \ Reveal \ Effects \ Cinematic
After Effects Project - Landscape Logo 178921 by yocreative @ VideoHive
After Effects Project \ Logo Stings \ Nature
A beautifull logo reveal, made using After Effects CS4, CS5 in Full HD ( 1920 X 1080 px ).
- Complete helpful instructions. Very easy to use! ( File with comments and tips )
- No additional Plugins needed. Flares are maded with the VideoCopilot plugin, however the file comes with pre rendered version and original plugin version, if you need. Cycore plugins that comes with the After Effects, must be installed.
- 5 resolutions options pre defined, ready to render!
*FULL HD ( 1920 X 1080 ) *HD ( 1280×720 ) *DV NTSC Widescreen ( 720×480 ) *DV PAL Widescreen ( 720×576 ) * Half Size (960×540)
- Cornfield layers are pre rendered.
Credits / Thanks
- The great music used in this project from kristijanmusic don't included, but you can be purchased separately here.
- Please rate if you enjoy
Featured Projects!
Follow us!
Requires Plugins: No; After Effects Version: CS4, CS5, CS5.5, CS6, CC; Resolution: 1920x1080; File Size: 415mb.
Flat Logo Pack; Christmas and New Year Greetings; Good Feelings v3; Minimal Promo; Minimal Logo; Selfie; Labour of Love.
Keywords: butterfly, cinematic, cornfield, ending, intro, introduction, landscape, logo, logo reveal, three dimensional.


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Steven Seagal Bailing on Joe Arpaio's "Training" Session, Says Something "Important" Came Up
Steven Seagal actually won't be taking part in the latest episode of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's months-long exploitation of the school-shooting tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut.
Seagal, putting out a statement through the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office -- which, honestly, doesn't even sound strange at all at this point -- says he has something "very important" he has to do, forbidding him from attending Arpaio's publicity event.
See also:
-Joe Arpaio Not Done Exploiting Newtown; Seagal to Lead More "Training"
-Joe Arpaio's Posse Doing a School-Shooting Simulation, Seagal's Supervising
-New Times Rolls With Joe Arpaio's School-Patrol Posse; Nobody Dies
-Joe Arpaio Releases List of Posse-Patrolled Schools, Talks Publicity Stunts
-Joe Arpaio's Posse: The COPS Episode (Kind of)
-Joe Arpaio's School-Patrolling Posse Not POST Certified; I.E., They Ain't Cops
Gee, Arpaio told the media this was a totally-serious exercise in protecting schoolchildren from being shot by madmen. What could possibly be more "important" than that?
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It was just a couple months ago that Seagal supposedly led "all-day training exercises on various aspects on shooting scene management including room entry tactics and hand to hand tactics," as if Seagal's ninja kicks and neck-snappings are going to stop a madman from shooting children.
Oh well, Arpaio's exploitation stunt is foiled.
In case you missed Arpaio's
shameless self-promotion reasoning behind the latest stunt, check it out below:
Since the Sandy Hook disaster, the Sheriff's Office has made three separate arrests of student suspects in three different schools for threats to fellow students, including two involving weapons, during a six week period. On December 20, 2012, Arpaio announced the arrest of a 16-year-old female student at Red Mountain High School in Mesa after uncovering a plot to gun down schoolmates and then kill herself. On January 23, 2013, a fifth-grade student at Frank Elementary in Guadalupe was arrested for making threats to stab another student and was found to have a knife in his backpack while on school grounds. On February 6, 2013, a 16-yr-old male student was arrested by Sheriff's Deputies for carrying a loaded weapon on a school bus and campus and for allegedly making threats against a fellow student at Dysart High School in Youngtown.
"This training is essential for the posse protection plan that will involve schools throughout the county," said Sheriff Arpaio. "As previous arrests in school related threats show, the safety of our school children is not to be taken lightly or with inadequate measures."
This past February a vacated and non-use school in Fountain Hills served as the working backdrop for the first time simulation paces of the School Protection Posse. Sheriff Arpaio developed the posse to act as a deterrent to potential threats to school children, teachers and administrators in the wake of the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., which tragically took the lives of many young students and adults in Sandy Hook Elementary in early December 2012.
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text:
Kortan: One of the only three Immortals not to take the Oath, declared himself the winner of the Game and took control of the earth. Rules from his city fortress of Mogonda.
| Some or all of the information and/or categories on this page may have come from another site such as the Villains Wikia or TVTropes.org. This may include previous edits that are different than the current version. Changes to this page to provide original content are welcomed and encouraged, but this notice must remain on the page at all times.
To visit this page on the Villains Wikia, click here.


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Just returned from 3 nights at The Residence. What a fabulous hotel! The staff were friendly and nothing was too much trouble for them. The hotel was amazing, immaculate, luxurious and peaceful. We were half board and the food at all the restaurants was excellent.
This was our first trip to Dubai and we were looking for quiet luxury and The Residence was perfect. Will definitely return.
- Official Description (provided by the hotel):
- Residence & Spa is an intimate sanctuary for those who wish to indulge in the comforts of prosperity with its own private reception and Dining Room and Library exclusive to guests staying in any of the 48 rooms and suites or the free-standing beachfront Garden Villa.The Arabian-styled private residences, each cared for by a specifically-selected, dedicated team, house a retreat of 1 Garden Villa, 16 Suites and 32 Prestige Rooms. Spacious and created with the finest detailing, all are sea facing with private balcony or terrace, and the elegant Garden Villa also provides a luxurious and ornate environment within the most exclusive part of the resort.Within the elegant courtyard entrance of Residence & Spa, guests will find the Health and Beauty Institute, an oasis of relaxation featuring the One&Only Spa, Oriental Hammam, the Pedi:Mani:Cure Studio by Bastien Gonzalez and hair salon by Alexandre Zouari. ... more less
- Reservation Options:
- TripAdvisor is proud to partner with Hotels.com, Expedia, DerbySoft Ltd Shanghai HQ, Orbitz, Booking.com, Agoda and Travelocity so you can book your Residence & Spa at One&Only Royal Mirage Dubai reservations with confidence. We help millions of travelers each month to find the perfect hotel for both vacation and business trips, always with the best discounts and special offers.
- Also Known As:
- Residence&Spa At One And Only Royal Mirage Dubai
- Residence&Spa At One&Only Royal Mirage Dubai Hotel Dubai
- Residence Hotel Dubai
- Residence Resort Dubai


text:
The Urquiola faucet was created in order to tell a story. This single hole faucet, designed by Patricia Urquiola, was designed with the idea in mind that it would inspire. Its' curves would attract the urge to touch rather than just act a visual decor. It's polished nickel finish provides a complementary style to a number of different bathroom setups.
- Ceramic cartridge, boltic handle lock
- Includes pop-up assembly
- Cascade no-clog aerator
- Flow rate 1.5 GPM: 30 percent water savings


text:
Get involved. Volunteer. Work With Us. Make a Gift.
It takes a village to raise a child — and to support families in need. In Berkshire, Hampshire and Hampden Counties, Berkshire Children and Families relies on partnerships and collaborations with individuals, businesses, partner organizations and schools to do this important work.
Foster and adoptive families are our most important collaborators. Learn about making a home for a child in need.
Volunteers are vital for our various outreach and support programs. Explore how you can help families and children.
Donations and gifts — from businesses and individuals — are crucial to fill gaps in our funding to support innovation and growth efforts — both in programs and facilities. Make a gift.
Motivated, dedicated employees are invaluable to our organization and to the children and families we serve. Work with us.
Berkshire Children and Families sponsors public events, benefits and Kids 4 Harmony concerts. Please join our newsletter to keep in touch!


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There would be no first-round playoff disappointment this time around.
After advancing to the Class 5A semifinals in 2012, the Acadiana Wrecking Rams had suffered losses in the opening round in back-to-back years. There was the 1-0 defeat to Jesuit in 2013 and then the 10-0 loss to Sulphur last season.
Behind a strong pitching performance by Derek Boutin, No. 13 Acadiana defeated No. 20 St. Amant 7-2 in the opening-round game at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field on Tuesday.
Acadiana will face No. 4 Lafayette, a 2-1 winner over No. 29 East Ascension, in the best-of-three series in the regional round.
"It feels awesome due to the fact that we were 10-run ruled in the first round last year," Acadiana's John Joslin said. "Being able to come out here and win in the first round is a relief."
Acadiana (20-11) struck first in the bottom of the third inning.
Alex Courtier led off with an infield single and was joined on the base paths by Brandon Duhon, who reached on an error.
Ethan Bellman laid down a sacrifice bunt toward third base, which moved both runners into scoring position.
Joslin, who struck out in the first inning, then tripled off St. Amant's Hayden Mallory. Two batters later, Joslin scored on a sacrifice fly by Hill Babineaux.
"I was expecting him to throw something off-speed," Joslin said of Mallory. "He threw fastballs and splitters to me the first time around. After I fouled out a few fastballs, I just waited for him to throw another fastball."
After scratching out a run in the fourth, St. Amant (17-14) cut Acadiana's lead to one run in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Ivan Prejean got on with a double and scored on a double by Brock Gonzales.
The Rams answered in the bottom of the inning with four runs. That would be plenty of enough run support for Boutin, who picked up the win after giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.
"I just wanted to go out with the mentality of throwing strikes," Boutin said. "I pitched well today, but I have to give my defense a lot of credit. They made some great plays today."
Acadiana will now focus on the regional series, taking it one game at a time.
"We've been preaching about it," Acadiana coach Jay Hodges said. "The game that day is the most important game."
"We just need to keep our intensity and focus," Boutin said. "We just have to stay focused during practice this week and not look past our next game."


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Unemployment has risen to over 2.5 million in the UK and with the future of many public service workers jobs in doubt, is expected to rise to levels of over three million by Christmas.
Todays official figures show levels of unemployment last enjoyed under Margaret Thatcher's Tory Government of the Eighties.
Youth unemployment is at its highest level for 19 years.
Womens unemployment is at its highest level for over 23 years.
The public sector is traditionally a large employer of both these groups.
The Governments argument that the private sector creating new jobs will prop up the public sector has proven to be widely inaccurate.
David Miliband pointed out that for every two jobs lost in the public sector only one was being created in the private sector.
The result is that the economy is in a downward spiral and the public sector job cuts are fuelling the maelstrom.
Maybe our public schools are failing as well, because it is obvious that neither David Cameron or the Chancellor bloke, whose name Insurance Blog can't remember, have even the basic skills in macro economics!
When there was a global depression in the USA in the late 1920′s, FD Rooseveldt's 'New Deal' of public works and public sector employment, brought America out of the downward spiral and introduced infrastructure which gave the post war US a massive competitive advantage.
President Obama has finally realised that cuts don't work and has announced a massive Federal investment in public works. Alex Salmond, Leader of the Scottish Parliament today said that unemployment was down in Scotland during the last three months due to a large public building program.
David Cameron is carrying on making people and public sector workers unemployed.
If you work in the Public Sector there is still time to get unemployment insurance and income protection however you must hurry.
Income Protection Insurance is available to eveyone in full time employment. As long as you have not been informed by your employer that your job is at risk, you can still take out an income protection policy.
Act quickly and you can protect your mortgage, rent and other regular payments such as council tax, utilities bills, finance agreements and even gym memberships and satellite/cable tv bills. With low monthly payments you have a choice of cover between accident, sickness and unemployment, accident and sickness or unemployment only, with 12 or 18 month benefit options.


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- Description
We haven't seen the numbers to confirm it, but we are pretty sure that the Marmot Precip Jacket is the best-selling raincoat in all of history. Its popularity is well-founded; it's light enough to take on a hike, waterproof enough to shield you from a thunderstorm, and affordable enough to not break the bank. The PreCip Jacket now features Marmot's most comfortable waterproof/breathable coating technology ever. NanoPro's™ superior microporous structure is dynamically air permeable, allowing for air exchange to help shed excess moisture vapor without compromising the waterproofness or windproofness of the garment. Angel-Wing Movement™ allows uninhibited motion. PitZips™ and Pack Pockets™ round out the features of this high-value weather-tested jacket.Features:
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- Additional Information
Additional Information
Material Synthetic Properties Uninsulated, Waterproof
- Reviews


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- Warrioress
- Warrioress \War"rior*ess\, n. A female warrior. [Obs.] --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
warrioress — noun A female warrior … Wiktionary
warrioress — war·rior·ess … English syllables
warrioress — ]ərə̇s noun ( es) Etymology: warrior + ess : a female warrior … Useful english dictionary
Ojibwa — Infobox Ethnic group group=Ojibwa Crest of the Ojibwa people poptime=175,000 popplace=United States, Canada rels=Catholicism, Methodism, Midewiwin langs=English, Ojibwe related=Ottawa, Potawatomi and other Algonquian peoples The Ojibwa or… … Wikipedia
Ojibwe people — This article is about the native North American people. For other uses of Ojibwe , Ojibway , or Ojibwa , see Ojibway (disambiguation). Chippewa redirects here. For other uses, see Chippewa (disambiguation). Ojibwe Symbol of the Anishinaabe people … Wikipedia
Thorgal — is a Belgian comic book series by the Belgian writer Jean Van Hamme and the Polish graphic artist Grzegorz Rosiński. It has first appeared in serial form in Tintin, and was later published in hardcover volumes by Le Lombard from 1980 on.… … Wikipedia
Gamma Orionis — Starbox begin name=Gamma Orionis Starbox observe epoch=J2000 constell=Orion ra=05h 25m 07.9s dec=+06° 20 59 appmag v=1.64 Starbox character class=B2 III b v= 0.22 u b= 0.87 variable=Eruptive Starbox astrometry radial v=+18.2 prop mo ra= 8.75 prop … Wikipedia
USS Bellatrix (AKA-3) — USS Bellatrix (AK 20/AKA 3) was an Arcturus class attack cargo ship in the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War. The ship was named after the star Bellatrix in the constellation Orion. The name means warrioress, and the star… … Wikipedia
Starblazer — Star Blazers is also the name for the American dub of the anime series Space Battleship Yamato Starblazer The Early Style of Starblazer cover with the single pane colour cover This is Issue 1, released in 1979. Publication information … Wikipedia
Virtual Dark Fortress — The Virtual Dark Fortress was the secondary base of Grimlord , the main villain of Saban s VR Troopers , created with the activation of an energy prism containing a download of Tyler Steele s knowledge of Virtual Reality. The Fortress takes the… … Wikipedia


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Also now picking up playing bass now its been fun. I am a smartass I am and can be very blunt.
Books( authors): dean koontz, Eric Nylund, RA Salvatore, Joe McKinny
Food: pizza, Chinese food, chicken, bbq, sushi
Shows:dexter, family guy, american dad, Tera nova(even though it got canceled), walking dead (love the comic). How I met your mother, big bang theory, anime!


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Definition Edit
A spambot is a program designed to collect, or harvest, e-mail addresses from the Internet in order to build mailing lists for sending unsolicited commercial e-mail, also known as spam.
Overview Edit
| Many spambots crawl Web sites for login forms to create free e-mail addresses from which to send spam or to spam blogs, guestbooks, wikis, and forums to boost the search engine rankings of a particular Web site. * * *
Often, spambots ignore robots.txt and search for email addresses on the Web site and/or forms to which they can submit spam-related content. Spambots that merely scan the Web site typically do not affect its availability. Nevertheless, it may be beneficial to prevent them from harvesting e-mail addresses by performing address munging — displaying e-mail addresses in an alternative human-readable format, such as listing firstname.lastname@example.com as <name at mywww dot gov>. Unfortunately, these techniques do not stop all spambots. The best defense against address harvesting is not to display e-mail addresses.
Spambots searching for Web forms to submit spam-related content are a direct threat to the Web site. They can affect the organization's image if visitors view the submitted content as an endorsement. They may also affect the Web site's availability by making it difficult for users to find necessary content.[1]
References Edit
- ↑ NIST Special Publication 800-44, at 5-7 and 5-8.


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By Mary Brophy Marcus, USA TODAY
A boom in medical technology over the past decade or two has led to a surge in certain medical tests and increased prescription drug use, say authors of a report that provides a snapshot of Americans' health today.
Imaging, assisted reproductive technologies, prescription drugs and knee replacements have all seen a dramatic rise since the early '90s, says Amy Bernstein, the report's lead author, a health scientist for the National Center for Health Statistics. The center, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released the 33rd annual Report on the Nation's Health Wednesday. It includes a special section on health technology.
"There are newer and better technologies all the time, and they're changing the face of health care and practice patterns," Bernstein says.
She points to report findings that show the use of statin drugs, which lower cholesterol, increased almost tenfold from 1994 to 2006 in adults over age 45.
"One of the reasons cholesterol is declining and people are living longer with heart disease is because we have better drugs. Technologies can be very helpful," she says.
Other indications from the report of how medical technology has heavily influenced medical treatments Americans receive:
•Imaging: Rate of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and CT/PET (computed tomography/positron emission tomography) scans ordered or provided in doctors offices and emergency departments tripled from 1996 to 2007.
•Knee replacement: Rate of adults 45 and over discharged from the hospital after receiving at least one knee replacement increased 70% from 1996 to 2006 (26.5 per 10,000 in 1996 vs. 45.2 per 10,000 in 2006).
•Diabetes medicines: Anti-diabetic drug use by people 45 and up increased about 55% when comparing 1988-1994 with 2003-2006 figures.
•Kidney transplants: New kidney transplants per 1 million people have risen 31% (43.7 per 1 million in 1997 vs. 57.2 in 2006).
•Liver transplants: They rose 42% from 1997 to 2006 (15.6 per 1 million in 1997 vs. 22.2 in 2006).
•Prescription drugs: The percentage of the population taking at least one prescription drug during the previous month increased from 38% in 1988-1994 to 47% in 2003-2006, and the percentage taking three or more prescription drugs increased from 11% to 21%.
In general, the report sends a positive message, says Phil Hagen, vice chair of the division of preventive medicine at Mayo Clinic. "We're winning the battle in some diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease."
There's still room for improvement, says Lloyd Michener, director of the Duke Center for Community Research. "The report helps us rethink where we're headed," he says. "It's a call for accelerated efforts that will build partnerships between academic medical centers and public health groups in order to address some of our persistent health issues."
Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more.


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Please check back in early 2017 for an updated website with more information on our grantmaking.


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Friday, March 21, 2008
How to cheat at voting
"What [the Electoral Commission] needs to do now is follow [Mr Justice Mawrey's] robust lead and accept that seven years of experimentation with postal voting on demand has undermined our democracy to an unacceptable degree. Far from being outmoded pieces of victoriana, the polling station and the secret ballot are priceless 19th century inventions that we should never have dreamed of abolishing. What the Electoral Commission should do is stand up for voters and recommend an end to postal voting on demand, reversing the so-called reform voted by parliament in 2000. Convenience voting, like convenience food, leaves a nasty taste in the mouth." —John Morrison
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If an item you ordered from TextbookRush does not meet your expectations due to an error on our part, simply fill out a return request and then return it by mail within 30 days of ordering it for a full refund of item cost.
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Description: When you see the connections, you#x19;ll see the chemistry. Today#x19;s students use textbooks differently than in the past; and Chemistry , Sixth Editionis designed to map to the way you seek and process information. This book is known for a smart, precise presentation that blends the quantitative and visual aspects of general chemistry. Features like Remember&, Conceptual Problems, Conceptual Worked Examples, Inquiry and Worked Examples make these critical connections clear and visible, so you#x19;ll really seethe chemistry the first time. This edition features the exact same content as the traditional text in a convenient, three-hole- punched, loose-leaf version. Books #xE0; la Carte also offer a great value-this format costs 35% less than a new textbook.
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John E. McMurry received his B.A. from Harvard University and his Ph.D. at Columbia University. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Foundation Fellow. He has received several awards, which include the National Institutes of Health Career Development Award, the Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist Award, and the Max Planck Research Award. In addition to ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, he is also the author or coauthor of ORGANIC CHEMISTRY: A BIOLOGICAL APPROACH, FUNDAMENTALS OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, THE ORGANIC CHEMISTRY OF BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS.
JOHN MCMURRY, educated at Harvard and Columbia, has taught approximately 17,000 students in general and organic chemistry over a 30-year period. A Professor of Chemistry at Cornell University since 1980, Dr. McMurry previously spent 13 years on the faculty at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He as received numerous awards, including the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (1969-71), the National Institute of Health Career Development Award (1975-80), the Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist Award (1986-87), and the Max Planck Research Award (1991). ROBERT C. FAY, Professor of Chemistry at Cornell University, has been teaching general and inorganic chemistry at Cornell since 1962. Known for his clear, well-organized lectures, Dr. Fay was the 1980 recipient of the Clark Distinguished Teaching Award. He has also taught as a visiting professor at Harvard University and at the University of Bologna (Italy). A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Oberlin College, Fay received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. He has been an NSF Science Faculty Fellow at the University of East Anglia and the University of Sussex (England) and a NATO/Heineman Senior Fellow at Oxford University.
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To buy jewelry with signs that the gold grade has been hacked to know
If you intend to buy gold jewelry market're going to need to know that buying it should be done by knowing some information. The more we can tell you the key information to buy gold jewelry to buy a good experience.
No matter what purpose you go to buy jewelry, in any case buy jewelry a pleasurable experience for you. It must be said gold is a precious metal that retains its value over time, but buy it is very costly and is an investment in one's life. That is why you should buy it carefully and patiently to apply to have fun in life and, if necessary, with minimal loss sell it.
If you intend to buy gold jewelry market're going to need to know that buying it should be done by knowing some information. The more we can tell you the key information to buy gold jewelry to buy a good experience. In this regard, the individual must be aware of the principles and points of purchase and production of gold, to build a successful purchase and well experienced. In this regard, M. Rezaei, Managing Forums Iran's jewelry This article has some tips for buying jewelry.
Before you set out to buy jewelry, the gold grade in the grade learn and know what effect it will have on the price of jewelry and durability and hardness
You should know that gold is 24 karat gold and valuable raw gold. In fact, gold is very soft in its raw form, so as to achieve the desired strength and rigidity to the types of metals such as carbon, silver, zinc or nickel combined. We need to know what it is and how determined carat gold.
Crude-grade gold for jewelry is not appropriate 24. If gold is a perfect 10 This means that if gold is 24 parts gold and 14 parts to 10 parts other metals.
Jewelry in Iran are prepared using 18 carat gold. Thus, the description is clear that the higher the carat gold, gold is softer and more expensive.
To buy jewelry with signs that the gold grade has been hacked to know
Often the signs that indicate karat gold jewelry is gold used to be hacked. These symptoms are usually not part of the gold hack that front. As noted in Iran because gold is 18 carat, you should be looking for the 18k on your jewelry. In fact, the first word is k Karat or the same grade.
And its impact on the price of gold weight note
Gold is usually based on the warm sales that the weight is more naturally higher price.Note for everyday use should be thicker and heavier gold to buy to be more resistant, so you should pay more fees.
To buy a golden color that you want to buy Think
The most common color of gold and jewels of the same color is golden. But in the market, with a base of white gold jewelery and Rzgld there as well. But can gold brown, green and blue also find that certain techniques plating and colors have come to the goldsmith.
Do not rush to buy and visited several galleries to find your desired model
To buy gold jewelry retail shops are common, but today choose and buy gold and jewelry buying jewelry online is convenient.
Gold sales have questions about the terms of restoring the gold and the silver certificate request
Conditions for gold is very important for you as a customer, how much harm you or benefit you when selling jewelry. In addition, identification of jewelry gives you the confidence that jewelry bought with originality.


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Mobile Go Center
Closing the gaps in the Coastal Bend
The Mobile Go Center travels to Coastal Bend schools and community events to promote college awareness and readiness among K-12 students, parents and the community.
The 42-foot trailer, pulled by a 2010 Chevy Crew Cab truck, is equipped with 20 Dell laptop computers with internet access, printer and large flat-screen television.
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• Bridges Reach Farther Software Copyright © 2011 XAP Corporation. All Rights Reserved
• Education & Career Planning for High School & Middle Schools (including Choices Explorer & Choices Planner) and Elemetary Schools (including Paws in Jobland)
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Auto enthusiasts know that long-lasting service is built into each Hyundai, and know that only the highest quality replacement XG300 parts will suffice when maintenance needs to be done. You purchased your XG300 because its fuel efficiency and driver satisfaction struck a chord inside you; so why would you be okay with second best when it comes to the highest quality auto parts? Obviously, you didn't buy your XG300 unless you understood you would be getting a great manufacturer's warranty and dependability both rolled up into one automobile. The vehicle in your driveway symbolizes the best in class compared to all the other cars, trucks, and SUVs currently being driven today.
Keeping your engine cool during regular operation is the job of several components, and when one stops working your engine is in trouble. If you look behind your radiator you'll find your Hyundai XG300 cooling fan motor, blade, and shroud all put together in one large assembly. The purpose of the cooling fan motor is to pull air through the radiator fins in order to reduce the temperature of the coolant inside before it returns to the engine. When your Hyundai XG300 is traveling so slowly that no air flow can pass through the radiator, your cooling fan motor is supposed to turn on and help.
Bring your XG300 back to life with the highest quality replacement parts from the experts at Car Parts Discount. Don't let a Cooling Fan Motor repair spell the end of your car, truck, or SUV, and don't risk lowering its resale value by installing anything but the highest quality repair parts. Trust in the value of the parts you get from carpartsdiscount.com and save time and money on all your upcoming repairs. Just choose your year from the list below to find the right Hyundai XG300 Cooling Fan Motor for your 2001 model.


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Organizing Photos
Expand Messages
- Please note that your reply will now only go to
the original sender
Hi All;
This site was recommended on the Comments and Testimonials forum at
FamilyHistory CD site, for organizing all your photos. I haven't used it but
it sounds good.
Donna Snyder
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Categories: Celebrity
Bo Derek - Nymph Of Wish
Bo Derek without bra lounging in couch with a man as he smooches her, during steamy romp vignette. Then we witness Bo Derek nude totally sunbathing on the deck of a sailboat, unveil thicket and extraordinaire fun bags. From Damsel Of Wish.581 Views
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Is everyone done weighing in on Ricky Gervais' Golden Globes appearance? Because now it's his turn.
Gervais says he thought he did better than last time around. "I think I had better gags," he writes in his blog.
And, he says, "I enjoyed the Globes more this year."
Reports of organizers delaying him from taking the stage are "rubbish," he writes, and as for all the other buzz, he sets the record straight by writing:
All the same conspiracy theories as last year too... "So and so was offended"... "hasn't been invited back yet"... exactly the same as last time. "Paul McCartney was furious"... no he wasn't. And nor was Tim Allen and Tom Hanks. I was drinking with them after.
Why do people have to embellish? They're allowed to say they hated it. They're allowed to say they didn't find it funny, that it was tasteless, over the top, or whatever. But why do they speculate and make stuff up?
Don't worry, I know the answer. Because it's more interesting than "it went fine and some people won some awards and then went to a party". But that's all that happened.
Actually, I see what they mean. Boring. So here's what really happened. Bruce Willis and Sly Stallone started a fight with me but Alec Baldwin and Mark Walberg stepped in and helped me out. That's what happened.
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|29 Nov 2013
Laptop display turns off at welcome screen.
I own a HP pavilion g6 2132tx. For last 2 days, my laptop screen turned off on reaching welcome screen. So I decided to clean install Windows 7 again, Since I thought its because of virus problem and Avg and Norton didn't detect anything. After clean install formatted my whole hdd after backup. I am installing drivers and restarting after each driver. After installing Amd driver from hp, the same problem occurred again. So I went into safe mode and uninstalled amd driver. My laptop became normal. I also tried with latest driver from amd, Problem occurred again.
My laptop spec:
i3 processor
4gb ram
amd Radeon 7670m + intel hd 3000
Now Intel Hd 3000 driver is installed any my laptop is working fine. It shows Standard VGA Adapter in device manager since no driver is installed for ATI Radeon graphics.
Please help me.
|My System Specs
|30 Nov 2013
It could be possible that your AMD Radeon HD 7670m is failing because it has got physical problems (the card is faulty).
|My System Specs
|30 Nov 2013
Also when I download amd autodetect tool, it said unable to detect.
If this is a physical problem, is there a way to change mobile graphics with a same one. I heard that graphic card cannot be replaced.
I am out of warranty, I have to fix this myself or use my lappy without amd graphics without Aero themes.
|My System Specs
|01 Dec 2013
You can't replace the HD 7670m because it is part of your laptop's motherboard, so you should replace the motherboard.
However, you can use your notebbok only with Intel HD 3000 Graphics, which provides smooth desktop features and it is capable of HD videos.
Also it supports Aero themes, so you will be able to use your pc normally but with less performance in 3D games or apps.
Simply go in control panel/device manager, disable the Radeon HD 7670m GPU and keep running only Intel HD 3000 Graphics.
|My System Specs
|Thread Tools
|Similar help and support threads
My netbook turns on, but won't display anything on screen.
Would it be that the cell battery needs replacing? I replace the AC adapter a few months ago.
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Screen display on laptop offset so not all of screen visible
The image displayed on the screen of my Toshiba Satellite laptop is offset so that not all of the tray at the bottom is visible, and there is about 3/4" of black screen at the right side of the display. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BRmC8nkCMAECwmw.jpg:large It seems to have coincided with my...
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Win 7 Pro x64 NVIDIA Quadro K1000M For the six months that I've owned this Lenovo W530, it's worked this way: I bring it home, put it in the dock (closed), and I use my external keyboard and display. Yesterday, for no reason I know of, I couldn't get any video signal to the monitor. In an...
|Graphic Cards
No video display on laptop until login screen
Recently and all of a sudden (perhaps after using a VGS projector) when i boot my laptop i do not get any video display - not even my TOSHIBA POST or the "starting windows" screen. But when the boot gets to the login screen it dispalys on my laptop and from thereon everything is fine and normal ...
|General Discussion
Laptop randomly freezes and screen turns black after
I'm not sure if this is the right section to post this but, ever since I reformatted my laptop, it randomly freezes for about a second and a stuttering noise comes up. Then the screen turns black. It doesn't shut off because I could see the back light, it just turns completely black. What's causing...
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Screen flash/ disconnect on external display & laptop
Hello, I have a HP pavillion Dv9308nr laptop, hooked up through s video to my panasonic plasma as an external display. This issue did not happen with same exact set up before I upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate from Vista ultimate. So it has something to do with windows 7. Heres what happens. Every...
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login with
Mine have done that too!
Oh my goodness! That is so funny...and he is just the cutest!
About LaNel Robertson
Current: Bethesda, Maryland
Birth: June 26
On Moms.com since: Aug 15, 2014
My name is LaNel and I am a mom of two beautiful little ones. I'm also a military wife and a caregiver to my husband.


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Barbara Campbell NYC Milk Bath Green Tea _ Skin Care
Barbara Campbell NYC Milk Bath Green Tea _ Skin Care
32 Bubbling Oz Moisturizing Milkbath
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