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Cheyenne - Mount Airy, NC
02/09/2016Reviewer is A current student here. Reviewer has not been to campus.
1 of 10
Categories Comments In three sentences Surry Community College has a wide variety of classes to attend. It ranges from mechanics and industrial classes to art and science. This college has great instructors who will work with their students and their needs.
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Shane from Hamptonville, NC
05/04/2015Reviewer is A current student here.
2 of 10
Categories Comments Campus Safety The on-site police force is very good at what they do. They are always friendly and willing to help someone in need.
Greek Life None
Clubs and Activities There is an honor society, student government and several clubs based on subjects, such as art, history, math, etc.
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus There are multiple celebrations, special gatherings, and festivals for different things throughout the year.
Bang for the buck I think that the education you get here is well worth the money, which isn't very much due to it being a community college.
What to do for fun There isn't too much to do to be honest. There are baseball, softball, golf and volleyball teams here. There are tennis courts, but they are small and in need of repair, there are movies you can rent from the library. And the surrounding town doesn't have much either.
Food and Dining The Knight's Grill is the on-campus cafeteria. The food is pretty good, and it is cheap. They have daily specials, along with an everyday reakfast and lunch menu
Dorm Life There are no dorms here, since it is a community college.
Academic Rigor The rigor can be quite stressful if you are not careful, but just with most colleges, if your time management is good, you shouldn't have many issues.
In three sentences It is a good school for students who want to stay in the region where it is located. It has many classes that other colleges or universities have, but the atmosphere there is much more laid back. Aside from accidemics, that's about it though.
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Surry Student from Elkin,NC
07/20/2013Reviewer is A current student here.
1 out of 1 people found this review useful. 3 of 10
Categories Comments Campus Safety The campus security makes sure that everyone is safe at all times. There is also cameras at every parking lot and building.
Clubs and Activities Lots of various clubs and activities to do.
Bang for the buck Very worth the money you invest here.
What to do for fun There are numerous sports you can do at Surry. There is a really big gym with lots of workout and weight rooms. There is also a tennis court, track and baseball field.
Food and Dining The food at Surry is spectacular! Great deals and great meals :)
Dorm Life There are no dorms available so I gave this one star.
Academic Rigor Some of the courses are tough but the teachers at Surry make learning fun and easy. If you are looking for a challenge this college is also a great choice.
Tips for prospective students This is a great college to choose, even if you are wanting to go to a four-year college. You can always go to a community college first and transfer later. Surry Community College has an awesome transfer program. It will save bunches of money!
In three sentences This is a wonderful college! The teachers are great at what they do and they really take the time to help students be successful. The campus is also very neat.
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Daniel from Yadkinville, NC
07/16/2013Reviewer is A current student here.
1 out of 1 people found this review useful. 4 of 10
Categories Comments Great for these types of students ALL!
What to do for fun Al kinds of eca that you would want.
Tips for prospective students Asked what ever you need to know and they will help you.
In three sentences The teachers here are GREAT! The campus has everything I need, bookstore and library. Everyone is very helpful and friendly
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Amanda from Mount Airy, NC
04/05/2013Reviewer is A current student here.
1 out of 1 people found this review useful. 5 of 10
Categories Comments What to do for fun I walked around the campus and talked to friends outside at the picknick areas that are around the campus. I also were to the library and worked on the computers in there to finish up some work for class.
Food and Dining The food at Surry Community is the best that you will find on a community college campus. The atmosphere is open and free to have a snack and study for a test.
Dorm Life I didnt have a dorm life, I communited between there and home. I liked with my parents through all two years I attended Surry Community.
Academic Rigor Stay focused and study!! If you do that you will succeed in college.
Tips for prospective students Talk you your teachers and advisior every step of the way. Focus on working hard and get in the books.
In three sentences Surry Community College is a great school. The staff will help you in any way that they can. It is a great learning atmosphere and I have enjoyed starting my college career there.
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Matthew from Siloam, NC
10/16/2012Reviewer is A current student here.
1 out of 1 people found this review useful. 6 of 10
Categories Comments Campus Safety The campus is very safe and I have never saw a wreck, fight or anything of that matter occur. They have police officers on duty across the campus at all times.
Clubs and Activities There is a club here for every major, so no matter what you're there to study you will be able to join a very exciting and involved club.
Great for these types of students This college is great for students who do not want to leave home quite yet or don't have the money to. It's perfect for those who want a great education for a lot less money.
Bang for the buck This college is very inexpensive compared to all of the four year colleges and even to most other community colleges.
What to do for fun Surry Community has many after school activities to do for fun such as; Clubs, Sports, Intramural Sports and social gatherings
Food and Dining I have visited many colleges when I was trying to make my decision and out of all the meals I've ate, Surry Community has to have the best food and they have plenty of places to sit inside and outside.
Dorm Life There are actually not dorms offered at Surry Community College but that gives you the opportunity to live at home or you are able to rent apartments or small houses for cheap right down the road from the college.
Academic Rigor The level of academic Rigor was very difficult when I first started classes because I didn't know where to get help or how to. It was a very big transition from High School but I've been doing better in college than I ever was in High School.
Tips for prospective students One of the biggest transitions from High School to college is the amount of homework and the difficulty of the test. Make sure that you start studying from day one and do not stop til the last day of the semester.
In three sentences Surry Community College is the perfect institute to further my education. All of the staff is very willing to help stay after or come before class and help so that you understand everything perfectly. This college is a 10 out of 10 on my scale and i would rather go here than anywhere else!
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Mariah from Union Grove, NC
08/12/2012Reviewer is A current student here.
1 out of 1 people found this review useful. 7 of 10
Categories Comments What to do for fun They have a small gym, tennis courts and plenty of opportunities to be in a club.
Food and Dining They have very good food, you have the choice of healthy, or comforting food.
Dorm Life No on campus living.
Academic Rigor It's very challenging but then again, if you need any help, it's there for you.
Tips for prospective students Apply, apply, apply!!!!
In three sentences All of the staff is very friendly and takes the time to answer any of my questions. The campus is well laid out, so you don't get to lost. The college isn't to big so you feel welcome and at home.
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Brittany from Elkin, NC
08/01/2012Reviewer is A past student here.
1 out of 1 people found this review useful. 8 of 10
Categories Comments Campus Safety SCC is a very safe campus and located in a safe town. SCC is located in a very small town called Dobson, NC. Not much goes on around their so you really don't have anything to worry about. And the campus security is constantly driving around the campus.
Greek Life Surry has no Greek Life.
Clubs and Activities Activity at SCC include Volleyball, Softball, Baseball, golf, and even Corn hole. SCC also has many clubs that other major universities have.
Great for these types of students If you are a Science or math major SCC is the perfect school for you! SCC is known mostly for their science and math department. All the teachers are very well educated in their area and do a great job of teaching the material. Most of the students that come out of SCC go on to be engineers, math teachers, physicists, nurses, etc.
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus Nothing unusual goes on at SCC. Pretty basic.
Bang for the buck Although tuition keeps rising everywhere, for the degree, classes, etc it's a great school! I definitely got all my moneys worth and more!
What to do for fun SCC isn't what you would call a college town. There are no clubs, bars, big restaurants, or anything like that. The most excitement you might have is at a volleyball game or baseball game.
Food and Dining The Knights Grill is amazing! They can make anything you want! The prices can be a little on the higher side but the food is great! The have chicken tenders, fries, BBQ, corn dogs, mac and cheese, and much much more!
Dorm Life SCC has no on campus housing.
Academic Rigor SCC teachers are very passionate about teaching but, they are hard! They are always more than willing to help with anything you need. I have heard horror stories about how strict some of the teachers are but, when you leave that class (or if you leave) you know stuff. Many of the transfer students at SCC who go off to universities say that their professors approach them and tell them that students who come from SCC are often more organized, show better form with problems, and say that all around they are better prepared.
Tips for prospective students 1. Get to school early. Parking is horrible at SCC and if you don't give yourself enough time to find a parking spot then you will be late. 2. Sign up for classes ASAP! As with all schools right now budget cuts lead to class cuts. If you don't sign up the second you get the chance more than likely you're not going to get the classes you need. 3. If you get Financial Aid, you're good to go. SCC gives plenty Financial Aid and often times you receive a refund check.
In three sentences SCC is an excellent school! All the teachers are very passionate about teaching, very tough, and encourage you to visit them with questions about the course. The campus is beautiful.
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Tina from East Bend, NC
04/25/2012Reviewer is A current student here.
1 out of 1 people found this review useful. 9 of 10
Categories Comments Campus Safety NA to me
Greek Life NA to me
Clubs and Activities NA to me
Great for these types of students Adult, non-traditional students who wish to transfer to four-year undergraduate programs. SCC partners with many of our leading four-year institutions in North Carolina and credits are easily transferable.
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus NA to me
Bang for the buck I am a non-traditional adult learner enrolled in online/distance education programs. However, the online/distance education programs should not be taken lightly. These are college level classes with excellent, experienced instructors. My classes thus far have served me well, and I look forward to completing degree programs in both business administration and accounting.
What to do for fun NA to me
Food and Dining NA to me
Dorm Life this is a two-year community college that does not have dorms
Academic Rigor The business administration and accounting curriculums are rigorous, even the online classes.
Tips for prospective students Find your advisor early and stay in contact throughout your enrollment. You will benefit from their advice and guidance. Advisors are assigned in each field of study.
In three sentences Surry Community College has wonderful business administration and accounting departments and excellent instructors in their faculty. They offer online classes for both degree programs. The distance education instructors are dedicated professionals who are devoted to student success.
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Brandi from Mount Airy, NC
10/07/2010Reviewer is A current student here.
1 out of 1 people found this review useful. 10 of 10
Categories Comments Great for these types of students Surry Community is great for students who are not sure what degree they are going for and for those who have decided, but do not wish to being in a 4-year school.
Tips for prospective students The only tip I have for any students coming to Surry Community is to search a few other places for your books. You can find exactly what you need at other bookstores and even on eBay occasionally.
Bang for the buck Tuition and fees are a fair price for the courses being received. While the books are not the best price they are far cheaper than you would find at a 4-year college.
Am enjoying being here Since I live near the college I love that I don't have to drive far to get there. The campus is fairly easy to navigate and the classes are easy to locate. The campus is perfect for those who want to be in a small class and have one-on-one time with the instructor without the fear of falling behind.
Am learning a lot My chosen degree is Criminal Justice Technology and I have to say that my instructor is one of the best that I have ever had. She makes the classes interesting and entertaining while making sure we are able to retain the information needed.
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By Roger J. Perlstadt | 62 Am. U. L. Rev. 201 (2012)
Arbitrators determine facts and apply law to those facts to bindingly resolve disputes between two or more parties, a task normally reserved for judges. The Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) makes agreements to arbitrate disputes enforceable, including disputes that would normally be heard by an Article III judge, such as those arising under federal law or between parties of diverse citizenship. Accordingly, disputes subject to an arbitration agreement brought before a federal court for adjudication must instead, pursuant to the FAA, be resolved by an arbitrator. Yet, while Article III ostensibly mandates that life-tenured and salary-protected judges decide such disputes, arbitrators—selected and compensated by one or more of the parties—enjoy neither protection. A literal reading of Article III thus suggests that sending federal disputes to non-Article III arbitrators under the FAA is unconstitutional. Although courts and scholars have roundly rejected Article III literalism and have adopted various theories justifying non-Article III adjudication of Article III disputes, whether the FAA is consistent with Article III has received little analysis.
By Josie Foehrenbach Brown | 62 Am. U. L. Rev. 253 (2012)
First Amendment doctrine acknowledges the constructive potential of citizens' criticism of public officials and governmental policies by offering such speech vigilant protection. However, when students speak out about perceived injustice or dysfunction in their public schools, teachers and administrators too often react by squelching and even punishing student-critics. To counteract school officials' reflexively repressive responses to student protest and petition activities, this Article explains why the faithful performance of public schools' responsibility to prepare students for constitutional citizenship demands the adoption of a more receptive and respectful attitude toward student dissent. After documenting how both educators and courts have mistakenly devalued important messages from young dissenters, the Article explores how to reformulate the doctrinal approaches used to resolve challenges to the suppression of student-critics and urges courts to recalibrate overly deferential assessments of educators' claims that student dissent compromises effective learning.
Click here to view this Article.
By Catherine Cone | 62 Am. U. L. Rev. 333 (2012)
The Supreme Court, in its 2011 decision in Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, closed the door under the Fourth Amendment on a material witness's ability to argue that the government pretextually held the witness for individual investigation rather than for testimony in an upcoming criminal proceeding. Although traditionally pretext was raised as a Fourth Amendment argument, a material witness can also claim pretext under the federal material witness statute by arguing that detaining officers did not comply with the statute, and thus, avoid the constitutional argument altogether. In al-Kidd, the Court did not address whether a material witness can instead argue pretext through the federal material witness statute directly.
By Joseph W. Gross | 62 Am. U. L. Rev. 383 (2012)
Since the Nixon Administration, the U.S. government has attempted to promote tribal self-determination among Native Americans. Under the Indian Self-Determination Act, the tribes can enter into agreements with the federal government to take over services previously provided to the tribes by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). By entering into these contracts, the tribes have been able to administer a wide variety of services, including construction and law enforcement, which bring income and employment to Indian country. These contracts do not always run smoothly, however, and sometimes people get injured. Under a series of amendments to the Indian Self-Determination Act, when tribal contractors commit torts, the federal government steps in and defends the tribal contractors under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) as if they were employees of the government. The government pays out any settlements or judgments from the Judgment Fund. This scenario is a complete departure from the traditional FTCA rule whereby contractors are only treated as government employees in exceedingly limited circumstances.

subset: commoncrawl


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Penguins Add 'Commemorative Ticket' Giveaway To Final Regular Season Game at Mellon Arena
by Staff Writer / Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins will distribute a 'commemorative ticket' to all fans in attendance on Thursday, April 8 when the final regular season game in Mellon Arena's history is played.
Each one-of-a-kind, aluminum ticket, presented by Trib Total Media, will be handmade by local artisans and craftsmen at Grove City-based Wendell August Forge.
The commemorative ticket will feature Mellon Arena using a design similar to the actual game ticket used by Season Ticket Holders that evening.
Wendell August Forge, America's oldest and largest forge, has been producing hand-wrought ornamental metalware since 1923. The business suffered a catastrophic loss on March 6, 2010 when a fire destroyed the company's workshop, offices and store in Grove City – burning them to the ground.
"When we received the order from the Penguins in early March, we were euphoric," said Wendell August Forge's president Will Knecht. "Days later, tragedy hit and our company's immediate future was uncertain until the Penguins reached out to offer their support. This order is historic not only because it is the single-largest order in the Forge's history, but will also be the first piece produced since the fire. I can assure you there is a lot of pride going into each ticket."
"The Penguins and Trib Total Media are looking forward to celebrating the final regular season game at Mellon Arena with our fans and this commemorative ticket," said Penguins vice president of marketing James Santilli. "We are grateful to have the opportunity to work with a local company like Wendell August Forge that offers such unique products."
Watch a video below of how the tickets are made:


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Have a little princess in your life? Planning a princess birthday party? In my latest video craft tutorial with JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores, as their Creativity Made Simple Craft Influencer for the month of May, I share how to make simple princess cupcakes with just a few supplies from the scrapbook section. My favorite finds, which you'll see in the video, were the crown embellishments from Martha Stewart Crafts and the chevron papers from a new DCWV birthday party pack. For more easy and creative craft video tutorials visit my You Tube channel. And I'd love for you to subscribe so you don't miss a thing. I have tons of new tutorials planned! And if you'd like to learn more about JoAnn Fabric and Craft Store's Creativity Made Simple campaign, which is all about finding the ... [Read More]
how to make a cupcake topper
how to make cupcake pick toppers
Customers often share that they're not crafters and they're nervous about trying to "make" something for their child's birthday or friend's baby shower. So this morning, I'm sharing just how simple it is to make a cupcake pick opper. It's as simple as 1, 2, 3 or: Print on #100 cardstock, Cut and punch out the round shape, Attach to a lollipop stick with either a white round sticker or hot glue You can find more tips for crafting party printable templates on our DIY page and you can shop my designs in The Celebration Shoppe. As always, I hope you're inspired to craft, bake, create and celebrate! Join The Celebration Shoppe on facebook, sign-up for the daily ideas to come right to your inbox (never miss an idea, giveaway or free printable!), follow us on twitter, ... [Read More]


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In a press conference, yesterday, Libya's transitional leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil said that Sharia law will become the "main source" of legislation in a post-Gadhafi era.
The AP reports on the news:
Islamic law, or Sharia, is enshrined as the basis of the constitution in a number of Middle Eastern countries with Muslim majorities. Most Gulf nations' constitutions state that Sharia is a main source of legislation, while Egypt says it is "the source.
Using Sharia as the basis for legislation will place Libya alongside Arab nations such as Egypt and Iraq that ensure that no laws contradict the tenets of Islam, but don't necessarily implement all provisions of Sharia. Egyptian laws remain largely secular as Sharia does not cover all aspects of modern life.
Obviously a decree like this provoked waves today. As the Washington Post's religion blog puts it, Sharia Law "has become shorthand for extremism…" The AFP reports that some of the more secular people within the country "expressed surprise" and the European Union's foreign policy chief said "Libya's introduction of sharia law must respect human rights and democratic principles."
Al Jazeera spoke to a political sociologist characterized the decree as Abdul-Jalil's first step toward trying to find middle ground between Western liberalism and Islamic rule:
Younes Abouyoub, research scholar at Columbia University, told Al Jazeera that the speech was "important" and "extremely timely" because schisms have begun to emerge among those who supported the toppling of Gaddafi.
"I think he [Abdul-Jalil] wanted to make sure that people understand that this revolution is not going to steer the state towards either a liberal, western-style state or an extremist-style like some people would like to have – which I believe is a minority."
Describing most Libyans as "moderate", Abouyoub said that the purpose of the revolution was to let more voices and opinions be heard.
"Absolutely, there will be tensions. There will be different views. That's the whole point of the revolution… The main thing now is how to solve these conflicts in a peaceful way, not resort to armed fighting."
Blake Hounshell at Foreign Policy wrote that he wasn't surprised that Libya would move in a more religious direction, what surprised him was that Abdul-Jalil would make such a decree without the consent of his people:
If Libyans want to outlaw interest and bring back polygamy, fine, but let them do so in a democratic and transparent way: Write a new constitution and let the country vote on it.
What's amazing is that Abdel Jalil's speech happened on a day when, next door, Tunisians lined up to vote in what look to be free and fair elections to choose a constitutional assembly. Maybe they'll end up granting a plurality to the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, and maybe a coalition of liberal and leftist parties will emerge to promote a secular state. Either way, the important thing is that the people are getting a chance to choose in an open and institutionalized process. After today, the gnawing doubts that Libyans will be able to do the same will only grow.


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National Grid offers tool to compare ESCO prices
National Grid has added a tool that will allow its Upstate New York customers who receive their energy supply to shop and compare costs.
Such energy supply companies are known as an ESCO, an option that's been in place for a decade for both electric and natural gas customers.
The online tool is available through National Grid's web site.
The company said the tool will allow customers who are currently receiving their supply service from an ESCO to see what their 12-month ESCO bill history has been in comparison to what their bill would have been if they had not chosen an ESCO.
Find out more by clicking on the National Grid site.


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Search Sound FX
Flash Kit Sound Effects. A huge archive of royalty free effects for download and use in your multimedia projects. Powerful searching, awesome realtime previews make this the most advanced effect loop resource site around! Submit your orginal effects now, or explore and download!
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Length: 2.00 secs |
Sample Rate: 44100 |
16 bit |
Size 126k
Class: Soft
Added: 2002-08-05
Rating: 5.17 Votes:46
»Author: | Chris Robinson | Search by Chris Robinson |
»Website: | http://www.crobbo.com |
»License: | Freeware | Read Guidelines |
»Description: | A nice heartbeart effect that loops perfectly |
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Perfect for home, business or education, the Optoma DS-9092PWC 92 Pull Down Projector Screen offers a discrete and effective way make the most of your media. Quality construction The DS-9092PWC is composed of four different layers to help reduce the loss of light for precise colour reproduction and to prevent wrinkles and waves. The fabrics are fire, water, mould and water resistant and can be easily cleaned, making it the perfect addition to a busy office or school. Perfect picture Getting the perfect viewing size for your room is easy thanks to Selflock; simply pull the screen down to the desired level and hold for three seconds while the supplied mounting bracket lets you mount the screen on the roof or wall for a tidy installation. Make the most of your projector setup with the Optoma DS-9092PWC 92 Pull Down Projector Screen .
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GBFC Publications
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This section contains articles written by Consortium Team Members. For an article highlighting the key conclusions from the "Value Beyond Cost Savings " book, download "Ten Principles of Sustainable Property Valuation and Underwriting" written by Scott Muldavin and published in the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Property World Magazine in the Fall of 2009.
The New Math of Financing Sustainable Cities (Feb. 2011)
The Smart+Connected Communities Institute interview with Scott Muldavin about how developers, real estate professionals and city planners need to approach financing for sustainable cities.
Learning Curve (Rapid Progress--Gaps Remain), IP Real Estate, Nov-Dec 2010
This article summarizes key positive trends in institutional property sustainability and identifies gaps that remain.
Ten Principles for Sustainable Property Underwriting and Valuation, RICS Property World, Fall 2009
This article summarizes ten key conclusions from the Consortium's book: Value Beyond Cost Savings: How to Underwrite Sustainable Properties.
Financial Assessment of Sustainable Properties, Real Estate Publishers, 2008 European Yearbook
This article by Scott Muldavin provides a framework for thinking through the financial assessment of a sustainable property given the varied types of sustainable investment decisions and combinations of sustainable features on a given property.
Financing Green Development, Urban Land Green Magazine, Spring 2007
Article by Scott Muldavin and andy Fusscas discussing some of the key issues to consider in seeking financing for a sustainable project during the early days of private sustainable property development.
Putting Green in Your Pocket: Expectations and Market Realities 2008
Article summarizing some of the immediate and longer term actions real estate investors can undertake to "profit" from sustainable property investment.
GBFC Team Articles in Fall 2007 PREA Quarterly
Consortium team members wrote four articles for the PREA Quarterly covering valuation, organization strategy, legal issues, and the First Cost Question.
North American Youth Leadership for a Sustainable Future
Report of the January 2008 San Francisco Meeting and the sustainability recommendations of youth.
Green Builds a Head of Steam
Article written by Leanne Tobias for the March/April 2007 issue of IPE Real Estate
Tapping into the Green agenda
Guest column written by Scott Muldavin for the January 9, 2007 issue of IPE Real Estate
Scott Muldavin "Green Quotient" Interview
Interview of Scott Muldavin on sustainable finance and valuation featured in the October 2006 issue of Urban Land Magazine, published by the Urban Land Institute.
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© 2006 Green Building Finance Consortium


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OmniSistem Lights & Effects introduced PyroFog, a 1500W professional fog machine that shoots smoke 25' straight up, creating effects simulating pyrotechnics. DMX-512 control allows for electronic and choreographic synchronization of up to 100 units. The unit is safe for stage and close proximity productions. Features include a re-heating time of 10 minutes; smoke output of 20,000 cubic ft per minute; tank capacity of 0.5 gallons; and electronic temperature control. Each unit is supplied ...
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Espresso Machine and Coffee Maker Accessories
Brewing great coffee or pulling that perfect shot of crema starts with a great machine, perfectly roasted beans and pure water, but - as with all great things - the devil's in the details. That's where accessories from Seattle Coffee Gear come in!
Need a cup to hold your cuppa? A tamper to pat down your grounds? Or maybe you just need the collection of canisters it'll take to store your growing caffeine obsession? We have everything you need to complement your style of coffee consumption, right down to the best in cleaning products for whatever machine or system you have.
Milk to Perfection Latte Art Pitcher
The key to fancy latte art patterns like rosettas or double ferns start with velvety smooth microfoam. It can take months to perfect your steaming technique using standard frothing pitchers, but the Milk to Perfection Latte Art Pitcher will make you a pro from day one. Learn More$34.95 -
Everything but Espresso: Professional Coffee Brewing Techniques
Scott Rao turns his considerable expertise and focus on all the other ways to make coffee -- press pot and pour over geeks, this one's for you. Learn More$35.00 -
Coffee with Tim Wendelboe
Tim Wendelboe walks you through everything from selecting raw beans to brewing, with plenty of detailed photography to accompany informative text. While his opinion is laid out, this book certainly touches on the importance of finding your own personal preference when it comes to enjoying the little brown bean. Learn More$70.00 -
The Professional Barista's Handbook: An Expert's Guide to Preparing Espresso, Coffee and Tea
Considered by many to be the definitive guide to learning basics around espresso, coffee and tea preparation, Scott Rao's handbook is a comprehensive primer that teaches everything from the theory behind extraction to best practices behind the barista counter. Learn More$45.00 -
Coffee Catcha Dosing Tool
Make a mess when you grind into your portafilter? The Coffee Catcha tool is designed to keep coffee in your portafilter and off your counter top, preventing wastage and ensuring a consistent dose every time. Learn More -
Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Knockbox - Round with Rubber Base
This heavy gauge, stainless steel has a brushed finish and its rubber base easily removes for cleaning. The wider mouth of the box makes it easy to knock out your grounds without messy splatter. Learn More


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WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are plenty angry at Congress in the aftermath of the debt crisis and Republicans could pay the greatest price, a new Associated Press-GfK poll suggests.
The poll finds the tea party has lost support, Republican House Speaker John Boehner is increasingly unpopular and people are warming to the idea of not just cutting spending but also raising taxes — anathema to the GOP — just as both parties prepare for another struggle with deficit reduction.
To be sure, there is plenty of discontent to go around. The poll finds more people are down on their own member of Congress, not just the institution, an unusual finding in surveys and one bound to make incumbents particularly nervous. In interviews, some people said the debt standoff itself, which caused a crisis of confidence to ripple through world markets, made them wonder whether lawmakers are able to govern at all.
"I guess I long for the day back in the '70s and '80s when we could disagree but we could get a compromise worked out," said Republican Scott MacGregor, 45, a Windsor, Conn., police detective. "I don't think there's any compromise anymore."
The results point to a chilly autumn in Washington as the divided Congress returns to the same fiscal issues that almost halted other legislative business and are certain to influence the struggle for power in the 2012 elections. They suggest that politicians, regardless of party, have little to gain by prolonging the nation's most consequential policy debate. And they highlight the gap between the wider public's wishes now and the tea party's cut-it-or-shut-it philosophy that helped propel Republicans into the House majority last year.
The survey, conducted Aug. 18-22, found that approval of Congress has dropped to its lowest level in AP-GfK polling — 12 percent. That's down from 21 percent in June, before the debt deal reached fever pitch.
The results indicate, too, that the question of trust remains up for grabs — a sign that the government's stewardship of the economy over the next year will weigh heavily on the fortunes of both parties in the elections. Republicans and Democrats statistically tied, 40 percent to 43 percent respectively, when respondents were asked which party they trust more to handle the federal budget deficit. Nearly a third of independents said they trust neither party on the issue.
Much about the next election hinges on independent voters, the ever-growing group fiercely wooed by campaigns for years. These respondents, the poll found, were the least forgiving toward incumbents and shifted substantially toward the need to raise taxes as part of the deficit and debt solution.
Among them, 65 percent say they want their own House representative tossed out in 2012, compared with 53 percent of respondents generally.
This group, too, is helping fuel the shift toward raising taxes as a way to balance the budget. The poll found that among independents, 37 percent now say that increasing taxes should be the focus of the fiscal dealmakers, over cutting government services. That's up nine points from March, the poll found.
The backlash was personal, too. Boehner, the congressional veteran from Ohio who struggled to win enough members of his own party to pass the debt deal, won approval from 29 percent of the poll's respondents. That's the lowest such level of his tenure and also the first time his rating is more negative than positive. Forty-seven percent of Republican respondents said they approve of Boehner; only a fifth of independents have a favorable opinion of him.
"The tea party Republicans weren't going to let it happen, and Boehner kowtowed to them," said independent Dave Bernard, 51, a Santa Cruz, Calif., business owner. From across the country, it looked to Bernard like the GOP House members who refused to compromise weren't considering the substance of the deal and instead acted on a desire to "bring the president down."
"The old school Republican Party that my father was part of, they didn't work like that," Bernard said.
The tea party, too, took a hit, according to the poll. Unfavorable views of the tea party have climbed 10 percentage points since November, when they fueled the Republican resurgence. Of those, 32 percent have a deeply unfavorable impression of the movement and just a quarter of respondents say they consider themselves supporters of the tea party — the lowest in AP-GfK polling and a dip of 8 percentage points since June.
Overall, 87 percent disapproved of Congress' performance. Entrenched partisanship explained some of the discontent.
"They're so committed to their personal ways and party's way that they are having a hard time finding a middle road," Republican Frank Chase, 77, a military retiree from Hopkinton, Mass., said of both sides.
Democrat Laurie Lewis, a Rutgers University professor from Flemington, N.J., agreed with that much. "Elect those who are willing to make compromise on both sides of the hall," she said. Still, "I don't think it's smart to say throw out everyone."
On budget and debt policy, the poll finds a public warming to the idea of using tax increases to help solve the fiscal crisis, a potential boon to President Barack Obama and the congressional Democrats who want to end Bush-era tax breaks for the nation's wealthiest Americans. Republicans bristle at anything called a tax increase, though some acknowledge that more revenue must be raised.
It's perhaps the most difficult issue of the debate and carries tremendous influence over the nations' economic future and the political fortunes of the candidates next year, when the presidency and the House and Senate majorities are at stake. The problem now rests on the shoulders of a dozen House and Senate members named to a supercommittee that will spend the fall digging into the morass that the broader Congress couldn't solve.
Asked which should be the main focus of lawmakers trying to solve that problem, raising taxes or cutting government services, 53 percent of respondents said cutting services and 34 percent said increasing taxes. That's a shift toward raising taxes since March, when 29 percent said increasing taxes and 62 percent said cutting services.
Since then, more Democrats and independents have shifted toward taxes as a means of balancing the budget, while Republican views on the question have not moved, according to the poll. Half of Democrats polled said raising taxes should be the focus over cutting services, up 10 percentage points from March. Independents showed a clear preference for cutting services over raising taxes in March, 64 percent to 28 percent. Now, only 42 percent of independents say focus on cutting services while 37 percent say increase taxes, according to the poll.
Overall, 57 percent of respondents believe both that that taxes will rise and government services will be cut in order to balance the federal budget.
The poll was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
Poll results: http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com
Associated Press writers Ken Thomas, Kasie Hunt and Stacy A. Anderson and News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.


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Latest Headlines
Packers finding ways to win
Posted on 10 Oct 2011 by Noah Hanstedt.
The Green Bay Packers did not come out to play Sunday night against the Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome, but they did find a way to win the game 25-14. The game was a cliche tale of two halves for both the Packers and the Falcons. The Falcons offense came out early and dominated the Packers front seven pounding the ball with running back Michael Turner and controlling the tempo of the game ...
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Hot Seat for NFL Coaches – Take a Number
Posted on 3 Nov 2010 by Christopher Rowe.
Chan Gailey… Why was he hired by Buffalo? At midseason of 2010, it appears that a few realities have become apparent. First off, the Dallas Cowboys are not hosting the Super Bowl in their new palatial stadium. Next, the race for first pick in the 2011 Draft is more hotly contested than we expected. Most importantly, there are a lot of coaches on the hot seat and many of them could be ap...
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Can Shields handle the nickel back position?
Posted on 9 Sep 2010 by Mitch McLaughlin.
A defense's 12th player isn't usually such a crucial position, but for the Green Bay Packers, that player might determine the fate of this year's talented team. Heading into its Week 1 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, it appears Green Bay will be counting on undrafted rookie Sam Shields to play that vital role. And not just play it, play it well. Green Bay is in its second season run...
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Posted on 14 Sep 2009 by Steve Drumwright.
All of the preseason precision was missing once the bright lights of the NFL's regular season were turned on Sunday night. Luckily for the Packers, one finely executed play turned out to be the biggest. Coach Mike McCarthy's dramatic call on third-and-1 from the 50 with time precious commodity led to Aaron Rodgers' touchdown pass to Greg Jennings with 1 minute, 11 seconds lef...


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Offering a unique DJ-inspired experience to go alongside the use of the iPhone and its music storage is the new Mini Hi-Fi System from Philips. Featuring dual rotating decks that allow for the playback and charging of two iPhones or iPods, the system sports channel faders for swapping back and forth between the two inputs as well as an optional DJ app for more advanced users. Complete with the brand's MAX Sound technology for a maximization of volume performance sans distortion, the player also offers Digital Sound Control for optimal frequency ranges and even features a dynamic lighting system on the front of the unit. Retailing for £300 GBP (approximately $470 USD), the Philips Mini Hi-Fi System is now available online in the UK.
Source: Engadget


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History of the Federal Judiciary
Biographical Directory of Federal Judges
Gibbons, Julia Smith
Born 1950 in Pulaski, TN
Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee
Nominated by Ronald Reagan on April 12, 1983, to a seat vacated by Harry W. Wellford. Confirmed by the Senate on June 6, 1983, and received commission on June 7, 1983. Served as chief judge, 1994-2000. Service terminated on August 2, 2002, due to appointment to another judicial position.
Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Nominated by George W. Bush on October 9, 2001, to a seat vacated by Gilbert S. Merritt. Confirmed by the Senate on July 29, 2002, and received commission on July 31, 2002.
Vanderbilt University, B.A., 1972
University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 1975
Professional Career:
Law clerk, Hon. William E. Miller, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 1975-1976
Private practice, Memphis, Tennessee, 1976-1979
Legal advisor, Gov. Lamar Alexander, Tennessee, 1979-1981
Judge, Tennessee Circuit Court, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Division VI, 1981-1983
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Gibson returns, but Ducks pleased with Andersen in goal
April 25th, 2015, 2:32 pm by RICH HAMMONDANAHEIM -- Ducks goalie John Gibson returned to practice Saturday, and that's about as far as the Gibson storyline figures to go for a while. For that, the Ducks can thank Frederik Andersen.
Gibson missed the first round because of an upper-body injury, but seems on track to be active for the start of the second round in a few days. That seems less important to the Ducks than it did a couple weeks ago.
Andersen, who split time with Gibson (and Ilya Bryzgalov and Jason LaBarbera) in the regular season, was solid in the Ducks' sweep of Winnipeg. Andersen didn't steal any games, but that wasn't necessary. His 2.20 goals-against average and .924 save percentage were more than sufficient to avoid any goalie controversy.
''Thank God,'' Coach Bruce Boudreau deadpanned after Saturday's practice. ''Every time I put in a different goalie, they give me (grief) about moving my goalies around. So I'm glad we played one goalie.''
Not all coaches can say the same. Entering Saturday, eight of the 16 playoff teams had replaced their goalie at some point in the first round. Even a winning team such as Chicago has had some consternation.
Read the rest of this entry »


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Posted by seesthru, TC Advisor on 5/7/2012, 3:34 pm, in reply to "Re: Okay, I've never heard this one before ..." A couple of years ago in winter when the power went out it was bitter cold. I SO wished I had that old wood stove that I grew up with. When I was a kid I thought it was silly and it made me smell like a wood fire. Now I know, having one of those in the home is a great idea for power outages when it is BRR cold! 237 Responses There are no responses to this message. « Back to index
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Three Words - Jimoh must go!
17 posts
• Page 2 of 2 • 1, 2
- Chris Luva Luva
- Posts: 18888
- Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 12:55 pm
- Location: AJT
I didn't say that we stopped it all game, definately not. But every so often they did, we just need to keep it up.
redskincity wrote:We would be better off using Terrell.
The fact that I can't disagree with that is proof of how 'shallow' our secondary depth is. We're better off putting in a BACKUP safety than our nickel back?
That's not good... I hope Rashad is feeling better this week.
Sean Taylor was one of a kind, may he rest in peace.
17 posts
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What to Watch For: Pens vs. Islanders
by Michelle Crechiolo / Pittsburgh PenguinsWHEN: March 29, 2012 - 7:00 pm | WHERE: Nassau Coliseum
WATCH: ROOT SPORTS | LISTEN: Penguins Radio 24/7, 105.9 FM
The New York Islanders staved off elimination from the playoffs for a fifth straight season with their 5-3 win over the Penguins on Tuesday. The Islanders will try to stay afloat for another few days when they host Pittsburgh in Long Island for a rematch on Thursday night. New York currently ranks third-to-last in the Eastern Conference standings, with the two teams below it (Toronto and Montreal) already officially done. A loss on Thursday would mean the Islanders are, too.
But though their outlook is bleak, the Islanders aren't going down without a fight. They needed just one point against the Panthers on Sunday to stay mathematically alive, and New York rallied twice from deficits to claw out a shootout win. And on Tuesday, the Islanders earned their fourth win in 10 games by scoring three goals in just over a five-minute span to break a 2-2 tie and defeat the Penguins.
The one constant through the Islanders' struggles has been the play of their top line. Matt Moulson, John Tavares and PA Parenteau were paired together at the start of last season and have been shouldering New York's offense ever since. The trio currently ranks 1-2-3 in team scoring, with Tavares' 75 points (31G-44A) leading the way. Parenteau ranks seventh in the NHL with 49 assists, while Moulson is having a career year with his third straight 30-goal season.
But while the Moulson-Tavares-Parenteau trio has been solid all season for New York, on Tuesday it was the team's second line that shined. Center Frans Nielsen led the way with two goals and an assist. Nielsen has carved a reputation throughout the league as one of the NHL's most underrated players, as the silky smooth center is an asset in both ends of the ice.
Nielsen is usually tasked with shutting down the opposing teams' top players, but he is a crafty playmaker that makes the players around him better. He also possesses lots of creativity, is their shootout specialist and is an asset on special teams. Josh Bailey also had a three-point effort with a trio of helpers and Kyle Okposo had a goal and an assist. Both players were top-10 draft picks their respective years and are developing young talents.
Their goaltending situation has been all over the place this season, with five different netminders seeing time between the pipes. While it steadied for a while, it's been shaken up again as Evgeni Nabokov left Tuesday's game with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. Al Montoya, who's appeared in 25 games this season for the Islanders and has a 7-7-5 record, replaced him between the pipes.
Montoya will likely start Thursday, and the Islanders recalled Kevin Poulin from their American Hockey League affiliate on an emergency basis Wednesday to back him up if need be. The Islanders announced Thursday morning that they had agreed to terms on an NHL contract with goaltender John Grahame for the remainder of the 2011-12 season, pending a physical.
Grahame, 36, has played in 224 career NHL games with the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes during his 13-year professional career. Last season, he played in the AHL for the Lake Erie Monsters.
Nielsen had a big night for the Islanders Tuesday, scoring twice and adding an assist to power New York past the Penguins. He now has eight points (4G-4A) in his last five outings. Nielsen may be a relative unknown to fans, but has established a reputation around the league as being one of – if not the – most underrated players in the NHL. Quite simply, he can do it all. First and foremost, he's defensively responsible and is usually tasked with shutting down the opposing teams' best players. But Nielsen is also a smooth operator that possesses a lot of creativity and playmaking ability, and thrives in the shootout (7-for-11 this season, 23-for-38 in his career). He's also an asset on special teams, averaging more than two minutes a game on both the power play and penalty kill. He's an all-around threat the Penguins will need to do a better job of shutting down Thursday.
The Penguins fired a season-high 54 shots on goal Tuesday against the Islanders, and Neal had 12 of them. TWELVE! That's a few games' worth of shots for most players. Neal converted two of those for a pair of goals, the latter being his 16th power-play marker of the year – tying him with Philadelphia's Scott Hartnell for the league lead. Over his last nine games, Neal has tallied seven goals, nine assists and 16 points. He has finished with multiple points in five of the nine games.
For the Islanders, Josh Bailey is on a five-game point streak (1G-6A). Kyle Okposo is on a three-game goal-scoring streak. Frans Nielsen has eight points (4G-4A) in his last five games. John Tavares has 12 points (5G-7A) in his last nine games. Mark Streit has eight points (1G-7A) in his last eight games. Matt Moulson has 14 points (9G-5A) in his last 15 games.
Despite New York's 5-3 victory in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, the Penguins have already clinched the season series for the fifth straight season. During that run the Penguins have gone 23-6-2.
Pittsburgh has gone 9-3-2 in its last 14 visits to Nassau Coliseum – including a perfect 2-0 mark this season. Pascal Dupuis has scored both of Pittsburgh's game-winning goals in its two wins at Nassau Coliseum this year.
The Penguins have gone 10-2-1 thus far in the month of March. They have outscored their opponents in regulation/overtime by a 53-34 margin in those 13 games. Pittsburgh has scored at least three goals in 10 of the 13 games; the Penguins have had five or more goals in seven of 13 contests.
Sidney Crosby sits three points shy of becoming just the sixth player in franchise history to reach 600 or more points. If Crosby is able to reach that milestone Thursday against the Islanders, he will become the sixth-fastest player to reach that mark in NHL history at 429 games played, tying Eric Lindros.
When Crosby (24 years, 235 days as of today) does reach 600 points, he will become the seventh-youngest player in NHL history to reach that mark. He will become the youngest player to 600 points since Pierre Turgeon (24 years, 177 days) did so with the New York Islanders back in 1994. –SOURCE: Elias Sports Bureau
Evgeni Malkin is red hot right now. The NHL's leading scorer with 99 points (46G-53A), Malkin has notched at least one point in eight of his last nine games, during which he has collected eight goals and 18 points for an average of two points per game. Malkin has had two-plus points in six of the nine games.
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is on the verge of a major personal milestone. With his next victory, Fleury will equal Tom Barrasso's franchise record of 226 career wins. On March 25, Fleury earned his career-best 41st win of the season – one more than his previous best of 40 wins in 2006-07. That leaves Fleury two wins shy of equaling Barrasso's single-season record of 43, which he established in 1992-93.
Fleury, whose 41 wins tie him with Nashville's Pekka Rinne for the league lead, is vying to become just the third netminder in team history to lead the league in wins (Barrasso, '92-93; Ken Wregget, 1994-95, 25 wins).
Kris Letang did not skate Wednesday and is still day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The defenseman will not make the trip to Long Island and Buffalo with the team.
Defenseman Matt Niskanen, who has missed the last three games with an upper body injury, is still skating on his own and will continue to do so during these two road games.
Joe Vitale, who has missed the last five games with an upper body injury, was back in full practice Wednesday. He will be on the trip with the team but is not yet ready to return to game action.
Goalie Brent Johnson, who has been cleared for full practice and participated in his first skate with the team on March 23, is also on the trip with the team. Bylsma said when Johnson is healthy, he will be the backup goalie to Marc-Andre Fleury.
G Brent Johnson, undisclosed (17)
D Kris Letang, lower body (1)
D Ben Lovejoy, knee (1)
D Matt Niskanen, upper-body (3)
F Joe Vitale, upper-body (6)
G Rick DiPietro, sports hernia/knee swelling (40)
G Evgeni Nabokov, lower-body (0)
Author: Michelle Crechiolo


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Marion Co TOC
Homepage What's New? Awards Cemeteries Census Records Courthouse Info Marion Co email list Family Genealogies Marion Geo Society Geo Soc's Newsletters History of Marion Co Look-Ups Maps Marion Co Timeline Marriages Mt Meadow Massacre Myths, Legends & Stories Newspapers Obits Photo Gallery Planning a Trip to Yellville Post Office History Queries Resources for Marion Co Reunions Transcribed Records Helpful Links Contact - Linda
Graphics by Rhio
MCAHS, PO Box 761, Yellville, AR 72687
The Bramble Bush is so named because the families of Marion County "don't make a forest of separate family trees; they make a thoroughly intertwined bramble bush - often as tangled as honeysuckle or as thorny as greenbriar"
Each issue of the Bramble Bush has a front page story written by Vicki Roberts each dealing with Marion county's past history. Vicki brings clarity, humor and makes history come alive to the reader in every issue.
Past Front Page Stories Include:
Each issue contains;
Feature Cover Story Families & Fairs (designed to announce dates and places of reunions, ancestor fairs and historical commemorations wherever they may be held) Service Directory (a place to advertise books, articles, products and services available that relate to historic and/or genealogical research) Recent Acquisitions (new items added to the Marion County Heritage Arkansas Society research room) Bits & Pieces (short bits of interesting information from the past) http://www.*.* (interesting web sites) Queries (freebies) Little Known Not Forgotten (all kinds of interesting history) Trivia (most anything) General Interest (Bios, stories of the past, family generation reports, articles from the Mt. Echo Newspaper. This section is apt to have about anything in it.)
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Company News: América Móvil, Google, Maersk, Carlyle, Intrade
byAmérica Móvil: A breakup threat
Carlos Slim's América Móvil, which has 70 percent of Mexico's mobile-phone subscribers and 80 percent of its land lines, may face a breakup, thanks to pending legislation to rein in the country's telecom monopolies. The proposed law would create an agency to regulate competition in Mexico's $30 billion phone and broadcasting industries, which are dominated by a handful of the nation's wealthiest people. Smaller carriers that have struggled to compete against América Móvil could seek takeovers from non-Mexican companies for the first time. The news sent shares of Slim's América Móvil to their lowest price in almost four years.
Google: Becoming the tablet leader
Google's mobile software is on track to run on more tablets than Apple's operating system for the first time this year, says research firm IDC. Devices running Google's Android software will climb to 49 percent of the market in 2013, up from 46 percent last year, while Apple's share will slip to 46 percent from 51 percent. Tablets starting at about $200 are gaining ground on Apple's iPads, which start at $329. On March 13, Google announced Sundar Pichai will replace Android co-founder Andy Rubin at the helm of the business.
Maersk Line: Adios, Panama
Starting in April, Maersk Line, the world's biggest shipper, will send Asian cargo to the U.S. East Coast through Egypt's Suez Canal rather than the Panama Canal. Vessels traveling the Suez carry as many as 9,000 20-foot boxes at a time—about twice the load that can ship via the Panama Canal. That will allow Maersk to pay fewer per-ship fees, even though the ships will be at sea longer. An expansion of the Panama Canal to allow for bigger ships has been delayed six months to a mid-2015 opening.
Carlyle Group: Opening to the slightly less wealthy
Carlyle Group, the world's second-biggest private equity firm by assets, is lowering the minimum a person can invest in a new buyout-focused fund as it seeks to expand its number of so-called limited partners. Wealthy investors will need to commit as little as $50,000 to buy into the fund. The previous minimum was at least $5 million. Carlyle co-founder David Rubenstein has said he expects individual investors will outpace pension funds and other public institutions in making commitments to private equity and other alternative-asset funds.
Intrade: An audit halts all betting
Intrade, a website that lets people bet on elections, the weather, and other events, stopped trading activity on March 11 as it investigated possible financial irregularities. The firm won't pay customers from their online accounts while the investigation is in progress. In November, Intrade ceased U.S. operations after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued it for allegedly offering improper options trading; in February, Intrade's auditors expressed concern over payments to the accounts of the firm's late founder.


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This site holds the conversational corpora assembled by the ESRC Centre for Research on Bilingualism in Theory & Practice at University of Wales Bangor.
We are seeking to gain a greater understanding of how bilingual individuals in a variety of communities manage both their languages within the same conversation.
The questions we consider include:
To date, we have assembled three corpora:
Summary data for each corpus:
Welsh | English | Spanish | indeterminate | Total (words) | |
Siarad | 84% | 4% | --- | 13% | 447507 |
Patagonia | 78% | <0.5% | 17% | 5% | 193102 |
Miami | --- | 63% | 34% | 3% | 235871 |
A new search page is available, which returns 20 instances of a word from all conversations in the Siarad or Patagonia corpora. The conversations are combined into one file, but some information such as glosses and (optionally) transcription marking is removed.
A number of publications and presentations have resulted from mining the corpora for the linguistic information they contain.
The researchers have received input and assistance from a variety of collaborators around the world. We have also received help in translating the Miami corpus from a number of people, listed on this page.
Our corpus material is transcribed and annotated using the CHAT and CLAN applications developed by Prof Brian MacWhinney and Leonid Spektor at Carnegie Mellon University. Our Siarad data is also available via the Talkbank portal (although the version there differs slightly from the one on this website.)
To gloss the Miami and Patagonia corpora we are using autoglossing software we have developed in-house. To mine all three corpora we are using a variety of techniques, including the output from the autoglosser.
The ESRC Centre has collected these materials following the ethical guidelines set out in the Talkbank Code of Ethics.
The material on Talkbank and on this site is available under the Free Software Foundation's General Public License. This means that you can access it freely and use it however you like. We would be grateful, however, if any such use could also acknowledge the ESRC Centre.
The Siarad corpus
The Patagonia corpus
The Miami corpus
The support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) and the Welsh Government is gratefully acknowledged.


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Author:John Russell
From Wikisource
←Author Index: Ru | John Russell (1792–1878) |
British Whig and Liberal statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and from 1865 to 1866. |
- Resolutions intended to be proposed by Lord John Russell, in a committee of the whole house, relative to the affairs of Canada (March 2, 1837)
- Finality Speech (20 November 1837)
- The Annexation of Cracow (4 March 1847)
- Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence
- Life of Moore
- A letter to the Right Hon. Chichester Fortescue, M.P. on the state of Ireland (1868)
Works about Russell[edit]
- "Russell, Lord John, 1st Earl Russell," in A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John William Cousin, London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1910.
- "Russell, John (1792-1878)," in Dictionary of National Biography, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., (1885–1900) in 63 vols.
Works by this author published before January 1, 1923 are in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted. Posthumous works may be copyrighted based on how long they have been published in certain countries and areas.


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AU Press Releases
AU women's tennis team drops non-league match at Brockport 9/05/13 BROCKPORT, NY — The Alfred University women's tennis team lost a 7-2 decision at Brockport Wednesday afternoon, evening the Saxons' 2013 record at 1-1. Junior Brennan Ferguson (Destrechan, LA/Ursuline) recorded the Saxons' lone win in singles play, taking first singles 7-5, 1-6, 11-9. Ferguson teamed with junior Emily Eisenberg (Oyster Bay, NY/Oyster Bay), to claim an 8-5 win in second doubles. AU is in action next on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 4 p.m., when the Saxons open Empire 8 Conference play at St. John Fisher. |


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Gourmet Mon Petit is a delicious complete wet food. It is suitable for all adult cats. These tasty meals are made with delicious moist morsels of meat or fish The wet food is cooked in a delicious sauce and every variety is irresistible a real treat for any cat. Each portion comes in a handy meal-sized pouch so it is easy to give your pet something different every mealtime. Gourmet Mon Petit provides your cat with a balanced meal with all the vitamins minerals and nutrients your pet needs to stay healthy. Each mixed pack contains three different varieties and the portions are enough for one meal so you can serve your cat a fresh variety each time. Gourmet Mon Petit at a glance Tasty complete wet food for adult cats Appetising strips of meat and fish For a real feast Delicious sauce For an extra portion of taste Lots of different varieties To keep your cat happy Balanced holistic Rich in vitamins minerals and nutrients to help keep your cat healthy Small pouches Single serving size The Fish Mixed Pack 2 x with Tuna 2 x with Salmon 2 x with Trout The Meat Mixed Pack 2 x with Beef 2 x with Veal 2 x with Lamb The Poultry Mixed Pack 2 x with Duck 2 x with Chicken 2 x with Turkey
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The S&P 500 is gnawing at an all-time high. Bond proxy stocks are driving the rally and James Mackintosh, investment editor, warns that as companies opt for share buy-backs rather than reinvesting, future profits and investors will be the poorer.
© The Financial Times Ltd 2015 FT and 'Financial Times' are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.


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TAURUS (April 20-May 20) - Without meaning to, you could put yourself in the middle of two warring factions and end up the target of both. Even if you think you can help, stay out of a situation that's not your fight.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) - Leaving important chores to the last minute will put you in a tizzy and upset your plans for doing what you want later in the day. Take the time to plan a schedule, and stick to it.
CANCER (June 21-July 22) - Don't try to arrange a hard-core business deal in a social setting; the two won't mix. The deal will either be weak or unworkable because you won't be thinking in cold, steely-eyed terms.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) - No one should have to tell you to keep in-laws, relatives or even well-meaning friends out of your private squabbles, but that's what you might spontaneously do if you can't hold your tongue until the appropriate time.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) - Don't turn a good deed you should be doing out of the goodness of your heart into a deal-making episode. If you try to obligate the recipient, you're apt to make an enemy.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) - Don't be the treasurer for an extracurricular activity with friends. When you count up the funds you collect and come up short, you'll have to make up the difference.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) - Don't discuss issues when you know you and your mate hold opposing positions. Spend free time with each other so you don't ruin a perfectly good weekend.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) - You had better be sure that your skirts are clean before finding fault with another. You might start out with the upper hand, but your angry opponent will get the last word.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) - Don't build up your hopes about making a financial killing when it comes to dealings you're not handling personally. The negotiator might give the store away.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) - Unless you put your priorities in order before starting your to-do list, little is likely to be accomplished. Choosing what you do in a helter-skelter manner will put you miles behind.
PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) - There's a good chance you could rush to judgment based solely upon hearsay information and make a big mistake. Investigate all the facts before agreeing to anything important.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) - If your mind isn't on what you're doing when handling money, it's likely that you'll make an expensive mistake. Carelessness could be your undoing.


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I also want Max back, don't care about Legursky, but I wonder whether the coaches feel he won't be able to do the zone blocking scheme they are implementing. Speed and agility aren't Max's strengths.
Hopefully one or two of the UDFAs can surprise us. They seemed to have done alot of due diligence on UDFA Off Linemen to bring in that many so quickly after the draft. Obviously it was a position they were scouting.


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NYC Parks Events Calendar
Get up, get out, and do something! Just about any day of the year, you can find something fun, informative, and healthy to enjoy at an area park. Feel free to browse the listings below, or use the search tools to find an event that matches your interests and location.
Viewing 11–20 out of 14,559 events
from January 28, 2013 (x) to December 30, 2017
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
3 to 6 Club
at Walker Park, Staten Island
3:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.
Walker Park is offering various activities at the 3 to 6 Club, open to children ages 7 through 12 years, including art, literacy and sports.
Category: Best for Kids
Tour of Gracie Mansion
at Gracie Mansion (in Carl Schurz Park), Manhattan
3:00 p.m.–3:50 p.m.
Make your plans to tour the People's House, Gracie Mansion. Register for a visit today: on.nyc.gov/gracietour
Category: Education, Art, History, Tours, Black History Month
Ed Center Open Hours
at Environmental Education Center (in Brooklyn Bridge Park), Brooklyn
3:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
Get to know Brooklyn Bridge Park with our 250-gallon aquarium filled with critters from the East River, a 10'-scale model of Brooklyn Bridge Park, crafts, a reading corner, and more!
Category: Arts & Crafts, Education, Nature, Best for Kids
New York Road Runners Open Run: Run for Life in Silver Lake Park
at Reservoir Bridge (in Silver Lake Park), Staten Island
7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Join New York Road Runners for free weekly runs in your neighborhood! Open to all ages and experience levels. Walkers, strollers, and dogs on leash are welcome. No advance registration required.
Category: Fitness
Community Board 12 Parks Committee Meeting: Javits Playground Agenda Item
at CB12 Parks & Cultural Affairs Committee Meeting, Manhattan
7:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m.
ome with your questions and suggestions to help ensure the playground renovations meet your needs.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Greenmarket at Bartel-Pritchard Square
at Bartel-Pritchard Square, Brooklyn
8:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
The offerings range from a selection of vegetables, fruits, baked goods, plants, and flowers to fresh-caught fish and organic baked goods.
Category: Food
Will Eisner "The Spirit" Retrospective Exhibition
at Poe Park Visitor Center (in Poe Park), Bronx
8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
The Poe Park Visitor Center is proud to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Will Eisner's "The Spirit."
Category: Art, Women's History Month
The Orchid Show: Orchidelirium
at New York Botanical Garden, Bronx
10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
More thrilling than ever, the 14th annual Orchid Show transports visitors on a journey through orchid collecting history, each moment playing out against a stunning backdrop of orchids.
Category: Nature
Central Park Tour: Southern Welcome Tour
at Inside the Park at Fifth Avenue and 61st Street (in Central Park), Manhattan
11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Travel past the Pond and Gapstow Bridge, and on to the Dairy, with this tour of southern park highlights led by Central Park Conservancy tour guides.
Category: Education, Nature, Tours
Teen PASS
at Faber Park Field House (in Faber Pool and Park), Staten Island, Red Hook Recreation Center (in Red Hook Recreation Area), Brooklyn
3:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.
When school is out, Teen PASS offers FREE, exceptional clubs that focus on the areas of NYC Parks, arts, environmental science and sports that are tailored to the interests and talents…
Category: Education, Best for Kids
Related Information
- Get information on upcoming events directly in your inbox by signing up for our Email Newsletters.
- Know about an event that's not on the calendar? Send us a tip!
- Planning an event and considering hosting it in a park? Make sure to read our Planning an Event page.


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Your choir will really love learning and performing this exciting arrangement of the well-known spiritual. Original material sets up the spiritual, which opens with unison children's choir, giving the piece a sense of innocence. The energy and excitement that builds is unbelievable, and when you reach that final verse, the added hand-claps just put it "over the top!"
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Year: | Junior |
Hometown: | Ogden, Utah |
High School: | Weber |
Position: | 141 |
Major: | Human Development & Regenerative Biology |
House Affiliation: | Leverett |
Spent the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons serving his Mormon mission in Mexico.
2011-12 (Junior)
Went 1-2 at the Binghamton Open ... Posted a 1-2 record at the
Keystone Classic ... Defeated Bucknell's Derrik Russell, 4-3, in
the first round of the EIWA Championships.
2010-11 (Sophomore):
Competed at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and
multiple dual meets at 133 pounds ... Compiled an 8-8 record.
2007-08 (Freshman)
Went 3-8 to start the season at 133 pounds ... Was plagued by
injury during the season and seeing limited action.
Before Harvard
Ranked No. 11 at 125 pounds by Intermat out of high school
… A four-time Utah state champion … A Brute adidas
national champion (junior) and Tulsa national champion (sophomore)
… A three-time Warrior All Around Athlete … Named
Outstanding Wrestler at the Evanston Invitational and Warrior Duals
as a junior and senior ... Won the Outstanding Wrestler award at
the Region 1 and 5A State Championships as a senior … A
Junior National Greco Roman All-American … Went 42-0 as a
senior … Team went undefeated and won first team state title
in 51 years in 2007 … Also ran cross country …
Three-year team captain of wrestling team and captain of cross
county team as a senior… Earned academic all-region and
academic all-state in both cross country and wrestling as a senior
… Member of the National Honor Society and Health Occupation
Students of America ... Eagle Scout … Father, Jody, wrestled
at Weber State.


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Our friends at Tech4Learning have generously offered to give all interested STAR Discovery Educators a free copy of their very popular program, WebBlender.
WebBlender is a great tool for combining all of the great content you find in Discovery Education streaming. Web authoring, podcasting, digital storytelling and more! From videos and images, to sound effects and music, WebBlender helps you combine the content you find to construct the story you want to share. To receive your free gift, click here to receive your free gift.
More Free Stuff!


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Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), is the most common childhood arthropathy which affects hundreds of thousands of children in the United States and around the world. Although the evidence for a genetic predisposition to JIA is strong, success in identifying loci that influence susceptibility to JIA has hitherto been limited. Most prior studies have focused on case-control studies of unrelated individuals with JIA. Using Utah Population Database (UPDB) a unique genealogy database, we have identified several multigenerational families in which there are four to thirteen affected children with JIA. We propose to study distantly related individuals with JIA in these large pedigrees to test the hypothesis that distantly-related children with JIA will exhibit extended identity by descent (IBD) sharing in regions surrounding variants which predispose to JIA. We propose the following specific aims.
Aim 1 : Identify and characterize distantly related children with JIA in extended multiplex pedigrees. Using the UPDB we will identify additional extended pedigrees where the founders have a significantly higher risk of having descendants with JIA. We will select 200 cases with JIA that are distantly related to each other. Using our large cohort of autoimmunity free controls, we will similarly identify 100 distantly-related unaffected control individuals from a separate set of non-JIA pedigrees.
Aim 2 : Identify candidate genomic regions as revealed by excessive IBD sharing among JIA cases in extended multiplex pedigrees. We will use the Affymetrix 6.0 Array to genotype ~900K common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 200 distantly-related affected cases from the extended multiplex JIA pedigrees, and the 100 distantly-related unaffected controls. We will use the resulting genotypes to identify genomic regions with greater-than-expected IBD sharing between pairs of cases as compared to pairs of controls. We will generate a list of candidate genomic regions from within these IBD regions for subsequent validation in Aim 3.
Aim 3 : Validate high priority candidate genomic regions identified in Aim 2 in an independent case-control study of a cohort of 1000 JIA cases and 1000 matched controls. We will use the Illumina GoldenGate assay to genotype high-priority variants in regions with excessive IBD sharing identified in specific aim 2 in a well-characterized independent cohort of unrelated children with JIA and a large group of autoimmunity free healthy controls matched for ethnicity. Our proposal builds on existing well characterized cohorts of cases with JIA and controls, as well as several large multigenerational families with multiple affected children with JIA to identify genes associated with JIA susceptibility. We believe that applying high density genotype data and modern analytical approaches to familial cases of JIA offers an innovative approach to the identification of genetic variants predisposing to JIA. Identification of variants associated with JIA will improve the understanding of the pathophysiology of JIA, and improve the diagnosis and treatment of JIA.
We seek to identify genetic factors that cause juvenile idiopathic arthritis, a chronic painful condition that affects thousands of children. We will accomplish this by studying genetic variation in families we have identified with higher rates of juvenile idiopathic arthritis than expected. We will confirm the findings in other children with juvenile arthritis. Identification of the causes of juvenile arthritis will lead to improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of this chronic and debilitating condition.
Ferrell, Emily G; Ponder, Lori A; Minor, Lauren S et al. (2014) Limitations in the classification of childhood-onset rheumatoid arthritis. J Rheumatol 41:547-53 |
Pelajo, Christina F; Angeles-Han, Sheila T; Prahalad, Sampath et al. (2013) Evaluation of the association between Hispanic ethnicity and disease activity and severity in a large cohort of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Rheumatol Int 33:2549-54 |


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High school prom can either be the most exciting moment of a young girl's life or, if you don't have the right dress, the perfect shoes or the dream date, one of the most angst-ridden.
The moment is so important that one Pennsylvania woman has made it her mission to make sure no girl has to skip her high school prom just because she has nothing to wear.
Fairy Godmothers Inc., a non-profit that hosts pop-up shops around the country each March where high school juniors and seniors can buy a prom dress for just $10.
Her name is Joyce Jesko, but to the thousands of girls she's dressed in sparkly gowns since 2001, she's better known as "Fairy Godmother." Jesko is the one-woman dynamo behind"The prom is a big thing," Jesko, a mother of one son who splits her time between Doylestown, Pa., and Carefree, Ariz., with her husband, Paul, told ABCNews.com.
"It's your next stepping stone before you get into the real world and to be able to party and have fun and feel like a princess for a day. That's why I do this," she said.
Jesko got the idea after reading an article in 2000 about an Arizona woman who collected and donated lightly used evening gowns. Jesko got the woman's phone number, took her to lunch and then took her idea back to Pennsylvania where she hosted the first prom dress event the next year.
Twelve years later, Fairy Godmothers Inc. has "sister branches" in seven states that every year open temporary storefronts for girls to come and shop.
All the girls need is their high school ID and then, thanks to volunteers recruited from colleges and the community, for a moment in time they are treated like princesses.
"Each girl gets a personal shopper who pulls dresses and stays with them until they find a match," Jesko said. "We don't allow moms in the back, just the girls, and then they can show their mom their favorite choice for the final say."
Once the dress is picked, the girls go on to select shoes, handbags, makeup and hair accessories, all priced under $10. The gowns are mostly new, donated by David's Bridal, which has its headquarters in Pennsylvania, and the makeup and other items are mostly purchased by Jesko and her team wholesale, to get the best deal.
For Jesko, every time she sees a girl's face light up when just the right dress is found, she thinks back to her own high school prom in 1971 as a scholarship student at an all-girls Catholic high school in Philadelphia.
"It was a fight because I'm one of three other siblings and my father was the only one working at the time and my dad just said, 'You know, we can't afford for you to go to prom,'" she recalled. "And my mom said, 'She's going if we have to eat hot dogs for a month.'"
Jesko went to her prom in a $25 turquoise dress she, her mom and grandmother found, and says she now works full-time, with no pay helping Fairy Godmothers Inc. grow to make sure every high school girl's dream is fulfilled.
"The girls are so happy. They'll say to us, 'Never in my dreams did I think I'd be able to go to senior prom,'" she said. "And the moms say, 'My daughter has worked so hard and she's a good student and we were trying to figure out how we could do this.'"
"They're hugging us and they're crying and they make us cry," she said.
Click HERE for more information on Fairy Godmothers Inc., and how you can help.
- Fashion
- Arts & Entertainment


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The GR8's are indeed plastic I believe. Wow the sound on these is incredible. I will reserve judgement on the durability of these until I've had theme for a few months. Bass is impressive for a single armature. Mids are definitely very strong/forward and very very nice in these. I would be interested in hearing the GR10, but the durability has to be proven to me first. No response from Grado on out of warranty repairs. Cable has same feel as my 'kevlar' ie7's the stress reliefs on the monitors themselves is questionable, and I HATE straight jacks. If these can hold up for me I will purchase the GR10's eventually. Sound-wise, these are really fantastic IEM's . A little less sensitive than I would like, but we are going to be spending some quality time together.
Some tracks are harsh, isolation better than expected, vocals are as lifelike as I've heard. Very impressive.


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COVER STORY / EDITORIAL: Mining tax will hit Australian industry and super
CANBERRA OBSERVED: PM Gillard buys herself some breathing space
NATIONAL AFFAIRS: Treasurer Swan's budget cuts hit unwaged mothers
QUEENSLAND: Labor's dying wish: to bury marriage once and for all
WATER: Time to protest over second Basin plan
NEW ZEALAND: John Key's National Party increases its vote
GLOBAL WARMING: Durban conference switches tack on climate change
EUROPEAN UNION: EU's options for tackling the eurozone crisis
UNITED STATES: Sarah Palin castigates congressional corruption
RUSSIA: What Russia's presidential election portends
FAMILY LAW: Labor and Greens creating a fatherless society
SOCIETY: Social engineering and the abuse of children
YOUTH AFFAIRS: Schoolies week excesses: public debate needed
ABORTION: Deceptive advertising of the abortion industry
CINEMA: A ringing affirmation of fatherhood
BOOK REVIEW: Forbidden reading
BOOK REVIEW Dickens: the early years
Books promotion page
As the international media become ever more preoccupied with the forthcoming US presidential election, it is vital that we pay no less attention to Russia's presidential election, scheduled for March 4, 2012.
Not for a moment have I ever doubted that the leading contender and probable winner will be Vladimir Putin, Russian President for two consecutive terms following the rule of Boris Yeltsin; and President Putin's Prime Minister will be his predecessor Dmitry Medvedev, President for the past four years.
This will represent a consolidation of the politics and policies of the Putinist ruling class. Both have had the support of the major Russian political party, United Russia. As some cynical observers might say, it has been all according to plan.
At this stage, the only declared challenger is the perennial communist candidate, 67-year-old Gennadiy Zyuganov, who has no realistic hope of taking the election to a second round of voting, especially as Putin remains very popular among the Russian people and is viewed as a strong leader in a way that Russians appreciate.
Many Russians, especially outside the major cities, still retain nostalgic memories for the stability and certainty of communism; but, realistically, most Russians today have a longer life span, enjoy freedom of travel and religion and, like many citizens in the West, are perplexed by economic cycles and vagaries of life.
Over the past few years, there has been intermittent academic speculation about the prospects for a new Cold War. Some of Putin's more intemperate utterances about the West have done little to kill off this speculation.
However, a new Cold War is something of a non-issue, in the sense that Russia is no longer a superpower and has as many reasons to adopt a more reasonable tone in its dealings with the West, and the US in particular, than to throw its weight around in international affairs.
For example, the threat of Islamic fundamentalism is as real for Russia as for the West, irrespective of whether this is recognised in the Kremlin. In the eyes of Islamic fundamentalists, Russians are no less infidels than are the Americans. Moreover, the Russians are closer to the Middle East and the Afghan-Pakistan region. Furthermore, al Qaeda and linked organisations have strong support in many of the former Soviet states such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Tatarstan, Turkmenstan, Uzbekistan and, closer to home, in the Caucasus, especially Chechnya, North Ossetia, Abkhazia and Dagestan, home to the disparate arms of the Caucasus Emirate, now a proscribed terrorist organisation.
I have little information on the much-touted intelligence cooperation between the Russian FSB, the American FBI and other Western anti-terrorist groupings. I would like to see a cost-benefit analysis of any information exchange, probably out of curiosity.
Russia and the West have so many pressing issue they face in common, especially the threat from global terrorism, that the Russians would be well advised to cut back on the high levels of espionage operations which they are still directing against the West.
Russia is notoriously difficult for the West to work with, even 21 years after the collapse of communism. Developments in foreign affairs, especially in relation to Libya, Syria and Iran, have show that there is no desire in Moscow to follow the Western lead, and Russia still gains from selling weapons systems to countries hostile to the West.
The Texas-based think tank, Strategic Forecasting, Inc., which prides itself on providing timely intelligence, recently claimed that Russia was rebuilding an empire while it could. (See Lauren Goodrich's article in Stratfor magazine, October 31, 2011).
In light of this warning, it would do well to be sceptical about the likelihood of the US "becoming friends" with Russia any time soon.
Indeed, we should heed the testimony of the late Colonel Sergei Tretyakov, a former KGB/SVR intelligence officer who defected to the US in 2000, and whose remarkable story is recounted in Pete Earley's book, Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy in America After the End of the Cold War (2008). Tretyakov bluntly and convincingly warned that Russia would never be America's friend.
While Lauren Goodrich's Stratfor analysis makes some valid points about Russia's nostalgia for its lost empire, it is perhaps better to regard current Russian actions as consolidation of economic power and strategic alliances that could give it more international clout.
Countering Stratfor's view was a recent trenchant editorial in the Russian business daily, Vedomosti [The Record], entitled "The Kremlin's imaginary world" (reproduced in the Moscow Times, November 22, 2011). In plain language that no Russian would have dared to use during the time of communism, the Vedomosti editorial ridiculed Moscow's imperial delusions.
It said: "In the Kremlin's imaginary, utopian world, Russia is the core of a powerful regional alliance stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. That union is a force with which the whole world must reckon, especially because the Russian military will be armed with cutting-edge technology and weapons and will overwhelm the entire world."
While I regard the Russian election as being won four months out, there have been some indications of domestic discontent with Putin, but it could scarcely be described as organised or particularly substantial. A few accounts from BBC reporters in Moscow and St Petersburg reflect the stirrings perhaps of a desire for more change rather than a reversion to the past.
What troubles me most is the fairly generalised groupthink in Western academic circles, which routinely seems to preclude any in-depth analysis of Russian intentions and long-range goals. Probably nothing is more discouraging to foreign affairs realists than the number of articles written by those who still persist in seeing Russia through rose-tinted spectacles.
Other commentators of a more conspiratorial disposition dismiss the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring), and claim that the dissolution of the USSR was little more than a very clever Russian tactic to outflank the US.
In light of this latter view, it is rather ironical — tragic, even — that Mr Gorbachev has tried to set up in Russia a European-style social democratic party, but has been quietly discouraged by powers from behind the scenes.
Western diplomacy also appears to succumb to more wishful thinking than sober appreciation of the moves among the Russian ruling classes. Important developments are routinely overlooked. Added to that, the quality and depth of Western commentary on the forthcoming Russian election reflect a degree of academic inertia.
The US conservative publication National Review recently produced an article entitled, "Whither Russia?" (November 21, 2011). It consisted of a two-part discussion which purported to assess the personalities of Putin and Medvedev as well as the future prospects for Russia's shaky democracy.
The Kremlin's third man? Vladislav Surkov.
The arguments have very little to commend the publication, but, in discussing the change of leadership from Putin to Medvedev and back to Putin, mention was made of a significant background figure working for the Putin campaign — a person jocularly described as a Karl Rove-like figure.
This mysterious person has been described elsewhere as "the grey Cardinal of the Kremlin". He is Vladislav Yuryevich Surkov, and has been described by the all-knowing New York Times as the third-ranked power figure in the Kremlin after Putin and Medvedev.
It has been speculated that he has political plans of his own, described by some as reformist.
Among the few things we know about Surkov is that he is a somewhat retiring 47-year-old, who formerly worked as "an agent for a crack intelligence special operations unit in the Red Army's intelligence corps" (World Politics Review, August 9, 2007).
In the language of intelligence services, this translates into the Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye, or GRU, the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (formerly the Soviet High Command).
The GRU's existence was practically unknown in Russia until the time of Mr Gorbachev's perestroika.
During my service in Western intelligence, I observed some Soviet GRU officers in action. Their level of professionalism was generally exceptional and there were far fewer defectors from the GRU's ranks than from the better-known KGB's, or from other branches of the Soviet government.
Having a former GRU officer close to the locus of power in Russia is something new and interesting.
The GRU has survived every major upheaval in Russia since the early years of Bolshevik rule and still prospers today.
John Miller is a former senior intelligence officer.
Kevin Daniel Leahy, "Vladislav Surkov: Putin aide could be Russian kingmaker", World Politics Review, August 9, 2007. URL: www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/1008/vladislav-surkov-putin-aide-could-be-russian-kingmaker
Pete Earley, Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy in America After the End of the Cold War (New York: G.P. Putnam's / Penguin Group, 2008).
Lauren Goodrich, "Russia: rebuilding an empire while it can", Stratfor (Strategic Forecasting, Inc., Austin, Texas), October 31, 2011. URL: www.Stratfor.com/weekly/20111031-russia-rebuilding-empire-while-it-can
Ellen Barry, "Operating in the shadows of power in Russia", New York Times, November 4, 2011. URL: www.nytimes.com/2011/11/05/world/europe/after-putin-and-medvedev-vladislav-surkov-is-russias-power-broker.html?pagewanted=all
John Dunlop and Daniel Foster, "Whither Russia?", National Review (New York), November 21, 2011. URL: www.nationalreview.com/articles/283603/whither-russia-interview
"The Kremlin's imaginary world", editorial in Vedomosti [The Record] (Moscow), reproduced in Moscow Times, November 22, 2011. URL: www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/the-kremlins-imaginary-world/448303.html
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