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This is a long post but it's worth the read. In short, Google and Dell have teamed up to install some software on Dell computers that borders on being spyware. I say spyware because it's hard to figure out what it is and is even harder to remove. It also breaks all kinds of OpenDNS functionality. At the end, I'll tell you what we're doing about it.
About a year ago Google and Dell announced a partnership to include the Google Toolbar on new Dell computers. At the same time, Google was trying to convince the Department of Justice that changing the default search engine in the (then) new IE7 was too difficult (when in reality it's really simple). Installing the toolbar meant that users would have Google as their default search engine in IE7. It also meant that Dell and Google would share some of the revenue from the advertising clicks that resulted from these installations, much like The Mozilla Foundation does with its Firefox browser.
The computer hardware business has razor-thin margins which means making a profit is tough. So the opportunity for Dell to get a recurring revenue stream from an existing customer long after the sale of the computer is more than just enticing, it's huge. It also means a couple other things:
- Dell and Google have an incentive to make it very hard for users to turn this off.
- Because users can't get rid of it, Dell and Google can get away with putting more ads on the page and pushing user-relevant content off the page.
They're now doing both of these things.
The screenshot below shows what the Dell-branded Google search results page looks like when you make a typo in your address bar. You can't even see the search results in the picture (800×600 resolution) because the entire top of the page and right side are plastered with ads.
This page isn't being shown to Dell owners just because they have the Google Toolbar. In fact, uninstalling the Google Toolbar won't get rid of it. Dell and Google are now installing a second program on computers that intercepts all sorts of queries that the browser would normally try to resolve. This program has no clear name and is very hard to uninstall. In some circles, people would call this spyware.
Google tries to explain the hidden software with this ambiguous statement:
Wow. Are you kidding me? In order for a user to get rid of this brokenness the person has to remove a piece of software called "Browser Address Error Redirector?" That barely makes sense to techies and it makes no sense to normal people. Would your Mom uninstall something with a name like that? I don't think so.
Not only that, but due to some support inquiries we've gotten it seems like this software is being installed on older Dell computers that use some sort of automatic update service from Dell. Is this thing spreading? Ugh. How bad is it?
Let's see what happens with certain queries and what shows up above the fold. For good measure, I've included what we do too, for comparison.
Typed Dell/Google OpenDNS Digg.xom Paid results Automatically typo-corrected Digg Paid results Shortcut / Search results Digg,com Paid results Search results
As an aside, for every single one of these pages, OpenDNS provides an unpaid link at the top of the page asking, "Did you mean Digg.com?" If Google and Dell were really trying to give users a good experience, they would offer that, at the very least. They are certainly smart enough.
Is Google being true to their roots?
I love Google's technology, don't get me wrong. But I think Google has turned a page here. They have now enabled a piece of software that is hard to remove and forces users to look at a really bad page. In fact, Google knows that this provides users with a dramatically worse experience.
Here's a press release that talks about what people look at while using Google. (You can be sure Google uses similar technology internally.) Here's a screenshot, with a red-line indicating what is below the fold.
The Dell-branded page doesn't look anything like that at all. If you were to put a heatmap on the Dell-branded page… well, users can only look at ads. Dell and Google's behavior here isn't okay. Users never asked for this experience and they can't get rid of it!
Moreover, this new "functionality" breaks things. Instead of making DNS requests, the address bar now sends single word queries to Google. This application breaks a lot of OpenDNS functionality our users love. Typo correction? Broken. Shortcuts? Broken. Google's application breaks just about every user-benefiting feature we provide with client software that no user ever asked for.
We enjoy challenging problems at OpenDNS. But we'd rather spend our time making the Internet better rather than solving problems that shouldn't have been created in the first place. We know that Google is capable of launching great products and services, but this isn't one of them.
How is OpenDNS solving this problem?
Fortunately, we have a fix which does not require more client software. OpenDNS applies intelligence to the network, and we've stretched a bit beyond DNS itself to work around Google's mis-directed efforts. Before I get into that, let me digress for a second:
Many of you have toolbars installed on your computer. Some of you have the Google toolbar, some have the Yahoo toolbar, and some of you have Zwinky (Don't ask… I think little kids use it). These toolbars are able to see every single website you visit when you surf the web. Most report your surfing habits back to the company that operates the toolbar. Toolbars are something worthy to be concerned about, if only because so little attention is paid to them.
Okay, back to our solution. We did not want to enter the toolbar market. We don't have any interest in it, and we don't believe more software installations are the answer.
The solution to this problem was to route Google requests through a machine we run to check if the request is a typo or one of your shortcuts. If it is a typo or shortcut then we do what we always do, just fix the typo or launch your shortcut and send you off on your way. If it's not one of those two things, we pass it on to Google for them to give you search results. This solution provides the best of both worlds: OpenDNS users get back the features that they love and Google continues to operate without problems.
I want people to know (and be sure) that we aren't doing anything shady. We're not spying on you. We don't care what websites you visit. (Check our privacy policy.) Solving the issue like this allows us to fix the problems with Google (and future similar services) without having to route all your traffic through a toolbar or other service.
Below, there is a mini-FAQ.
Update: Danny Sullivan has a great write-up on this too.
No. We are doing this URL redirection on all of our servers in all of our locations. Loading Google should take no longer than it took before we made this change. Also, all of Google's other domains like like gmail.com and even subdomains like reader.google.com still work as they did before. We don't re-route any of those.
No way. Absolutely not. We don't keep copies of your cookies, your search history or anything else that would cause an AOL Search disaster. Any logs we have for technical debugging are wiped within an hour of the request, usually much sooner. We also aren't in a position to log it for the government, and we aren't a front for the CIA. "The Feds" already know that if they want to know what websites you visit they can just talk to your ISP, unfortunately.
Nope, but let us know if you see anything awry.
No. Typically when people try to proxy SSL pages it creates an error. We didn't want that to happen so we did something we think is pretty clever. We actually just forward your packets on to Google when you are doing anything that is secure. This keeps your data encrypted and ensures we can't perform a Man in the middle attack on you.
We contacted a couple of friends who work on the security side of things at Google to give them a friendly heads up. They said it's not a technical or security problem on their end. Based on that we don't think Google has any problem with it. The technology we're using is pretty standard stuff.


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The Secret Beyond Matter
Satan tries to impose feelings of insecurity, despair over the future and a pessimistic view of events in those who adopt him as their friend. He does not want people to have faith, to be obedient to Allah, to submit to destiny or to be people who place their trust in Allah and are optimistic and filled with enthusiasm. Because these things are all characteristics that are pleasing to Allah and draw one closer to Him, and that are essential if one is to live by the moral values of the religion. Satan does not want people to draw close to Allah or to live by His religion in an enthusiastic and determined manner. For that reason, he always tries to instill feelings of weariness, pessimism and despair in people by encouraging hopelessness.
One of the things that satan wants to make believers do, but cannot is to cause them to fall into despair in the face of seemingly unwelcome conditions. Satan has no power over sincere believers and cannot draw them to his side. Because of believers' faith they always abide by the commandments and advice of Allah. Optimism is a commandment that Allah has definitively revealed in the Qur'an. There is therefore no question of believers behaving in any other manner on the subject. Because in His verses Allah tells believers, "... Do not despair of solace from Allah. No one despairs of solace from Allah except people who are unbelievers." (Surah Yusuf, 87) Believers therefore strongly avoid entering any such state of mind.
Pessimism is also condemned in other verses of the Qur'an and described as a negative attribute of deniers. We are told in verses that:
Man never tires of praying for the good and if evil touches him, he despairs and loses hope. But if We let him taste mercy from Us after he has suffered hardship, then he says, 'This is my due. I do not think that the Hour is going to come. And if am returned to my Lord, I will definitely find the best reward with Him.' But We will inform those who do not believe of what they did and make them suffer a ruthless punishment. (Surah Fussilat, 49-50)
People who fall into hopelessness and rebellion have fallen into satan's trap and are obeying his command. But believers, who are always optimistic and look hopefully toward the future win Allah's approval and the merit of the Hereafter, as well as living a healthy and happy life in this world as a blessing from Allah. Since they are optimistic under all circumstances, cling tightly to the Qur'an and close friends of Allah, satan will be unable to deceive them and inflict despair upon them. Since this is one of the important issues that constitute the essence of the moral values of the religion, believers are very scrupulous regarding it, as they are in all other Qur'anic matters.
Another aspect of the subject is that satan, who is unwilling for anyone to live by Allah's religion, always wants people to adopt irreligious life styles, of which model pessimism is one component. So much so that in some societies pessimism literally becomes a philosophy of life. People whom satan manages to bring under his influence come to delight in songs, films and writings that express pessimism and despair.
Yet pessimism is incompatible with human reason, logic and the power to make healthy decisions. Pessimism damages mental and physical health and is a psychological disorder that can even lead to suicide, depending on its severity. One cannot, of course, expect such people to live by the moral values of the Qur'an. And this suits satan's purposes very well. Because in this way he leads people astray from the moral values of the religion in such a way that they have no expectation of the Hereafter, and condemns them to eternal suffering alongside him. This has been satan's greatest aim throughout the course of human history.
A hopeless person also spreads negativity and pessimism to those around him. With this attitude he literally acts like satan's helpmate. Because through him satan encourages the kind of state of mind he wants to instill in people. By adopting such an attitude, a person has, willingly or otherwise, entered into the service of satan. But man is created to serve Allah and His religion, not satan.

subset: commoncrawl


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NFA (Never Forgive Action)
Never Forgive Action (NFA) is a monthly dance party that's been running strong since 2004. Spinning quality Hip-Hop and R&B anthems from the 80s, 90s, 2000s, and beyond. Music provided by resident DJs Numeric and Dalia, plus special guests! Hosted by More or Les. NFA takes place the first Saturday of every month!


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New legislation in the U.S. Senate targeted at reducing copyright piracy on the Internet would allow copyright owners to get court orders requiring Internet service providers and search engines to stop sending traffic to websites accused of trafficking in infringing goods.
The Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act, or PROTECT IP Act, introduced by 11 senators Thursday, would allow copyright owners and the U.S. Department of Justice to seek court orders ordering ISPs to block traffic and search engines to stop linking to sites allegedly infringing copyright.
The court orders would also apply to online advertising networks and payment processors doing business with the allegedly infringing sites.
The new bill is based on controversial 2010 legislation that would have formalized a process allowing the DOJ and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to seize domain names of websites accused of copyright legislation. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) in a 19-0 vote in November, but the bill failed to pass through the full Senate.
"Both law enforcement and rights holders are currently limited in the remedies available to combat websites dedicated to offering infringing content and products," Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat and chief sponsor of the bill, said in a statement. "American consumers are too often deceived into thinking the products they are purchasing at these websites are legitimate because they are easily accessed through their home's Internet service provider, found through well known search engines, and are complete with corporate advertising, credit card acceptance, and advertising links that make them appear legitimate."
Digital rights groups, including Public Knowledge and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), criticized COICA, saying the legislation didn't give website owners a chance to dispute the allegations of infringement before authorities seized their domain names.
The new bill raises similar concerns, said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). "It leaves open the door to a lot of abuse" by law enforcement agencies, he said.
The bill overreaches in several areas, added Sherwin Siy, deputy legal director of Public Knowledge. The bill allows for blacklists of websites and allows copyright holders to get court injunctions against credit card companies and other businesses, he said.
"The bill as written can still allow actions against sites that aren't infringing on copyright if the site is seen to 'enable or facilitate' infringement -- a definition that is far too broad," Siy said. "At the end of the day, the bill amounts to an acquiescence to the content lobby's idea that everyone whose systems touch their content has a price to pay -- if not in direct dollars, then in deputized vigilance on their behalf."
The new bill, aimed largely at foreign websites, improves COICA in several ways, Leahy said. The new bill narrows the definition of a website that could be targeted by the court orders, and it would give ISPs, search engines and other business legal protection if they voluntarily took action against an infringing site, according to a fact sheet from Leahy's office.
Several groups, including the American Federation of Musicians, the Directors Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, voiced support for the PROTECT IP Act.
The Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) also applauded the senators for introducing the bill.
"If criminals are disrupted from registering domain names or processing financial transactions, it will be much harder for them to rip off companies and prey on consumers," Keith Kupferschmid, SIIA's senior vice president for intellectual property, said in a statement. "The importance of this bill lies in the fact that it will eliminate critical technical and financial resources that are used to move pirated and counterfeit goods."
The National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), a trade group representing cable-based ISPs, also voiced support for the new bill.
"This bill is important to addressing the growing issues of online piracy and illegal content distribution that are hurting America's content industry and consumers," NCTA President and CEO Michael Powell said in a statement.
Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant's e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com.


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In 2010, forty of New York's up-and-comer galleries sailed downstream to avoid the Armory's stench of death. Maybe it was the massive crowds or the lack of sunlight that made Thursday night's opening so grim, but, four iterations later, the Independent has unmistakably assumed the mantle of young establishment.
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John Quincy Adams
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"What is enlightenment, no, I mean really, like what is it?"
by Steven Norquist, the author of Haunted Universe: The True Knowledge of Enlightenment
Many friends and family have been after me for some time to write about my experience and understanding of this topic. I have hesitated to write about it not because enlightenment itself is so hard to describe, but because enlightenment tends to make one quite lazy. Before my change I was a busy beaver, reading and writing and playing music and sports and really actively getting out there. But after "the change" as I call it, there was a clear vision of how silly all this activity was and how much incredible effort is required to perform it.
But before I get ahead of myself let me lay out one basic fact, I am awake. I woke up about a year ago. I know what I am, what I have always been and what it is impossible to stop being. Some call this enlightenment or ultimate truth, unity consciousness, infinite mind and so on. But all those names don't tell the non-awake what it is. Even I calling it "the change" is not really accurate because nothing really changed, yet paradoxically, huge change took place. In simple terms I was once Steve living his life but now I am the experience of Steve living his life. It is a shift in perspective. Before this perspective shift occurred I had practiced about three years of medium intensity meditation consisting of some breath watching, a little mantra repetition and some light self inquiry Ramana Maharshi style. These techniques were coupled with an intense desire to find and know the truth. I read everything on enlightenment I could get my hands on.
After about three years of this I had my first experience of "nonduality" as it is called. I had just read a passage in Ken Wilber's "The Spectrum of Consciousness" where he points out that ordinary awareness is ultimate awareness. This struck a chord in me, I set the book down and stared at a paper that was sitting on the table in front of me, after about a minute or two an exciting and frightening thing happened, I disappeared! By that I mean the middle fell right out of the equation. Normally there would be Steve over here looking at the paper on the desk over there, now there was only the experience, "paper" but no Steve over here seeing it. It was clear that the middle that normally separated the paper from Steve did not really exist, there was only the experience, "paper."
Now let me try to make this more clear by giving an illustration.
Imagine as clearly as you can that you enter a large house that you have never been in before. You feel strange and kind of scared, there is furniture and drapes but no people. You wander around feeling the creepiness of being alone in this big house. You go from room to room not knowing what you will find. You start to get nervous and a little fearful being alone in this big house. You wonder how long it has been empty like this. In time the sense of the bigness and emptiness of the house starts to weigh heavily on your nerves. Finally, when you can not stand it any longer a shocking realization occurs to you, your not there either! Only the experience, "house" exists.
This is how nonduality feels and is the real truth of existence. Remember the question, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" Now you know the answer.
You see, with enlightenment comes the knowledge that even though there is much activity in the world, there are no doers. The universe is in a sense, lifeless. There is no one, only happenings and the experience of happenings. Enlightenment reveals that the universe emerges spontaneously. It's emergence and pattern are perfect in mathematics and symmetry and involve no chance. Nothing is random, everything emerges exactly as it has to. There is no random chance, or evolution based on chance. The universe is perfect, nothing is wrong or could be. There seems to be chance or unpredictability from a human perspective but that is only because our time frame reference can not see the universe emerge through its whole life span in a matter of minutes. If we could see that, then we would clearly see how every event was not only perfect and necessary but even predictable.
Now lets summarize so far, the universe is perfect, no one exists, yet the experience "universe" persists. How can this be? Consciousness. Consciousness is aware. If it were not, then there would be no universe. The very nature of existence implies consciousness. One can not exist without the other.
There can never be a universe that does not involve consciousness. There are no universes or dimensions where there is no consciousness. Matter and form would never arise without consciousness. Universe/Consciousness, Mind/Matter, Wave/Particle, call it what you will, the reality is that the manifestation, the very appearance we call the universe, is consciousness.
Now don't mistake me here, there is no observer. There are no persons in existence experiencing the universe, but more than that there is no Ultimate Person, God, Mind, or anything else observing the universe. There is only the experience of the universe being there with no experiencer.
This seems like a paradox but who cares, this is the way it is. Experience "is," that is all, that is the way the universe is, an experience by no one. The universe spontaneously arises out of consciousness yet at the same time is itself consciousness. We must lose the idea of matter being observed by something we call consciousness, that is not true. Some teachers talk of the Witness, the ultimate passive mind that observes all things moment to moment. This implies some level of separation, a witness over here watching the universe over there. It's not like this, there is only the experience, universe. There is no observer. Even if there were no manifestation the feeling would be the same. Once again let me make this clear: consciousness is not aware "of" the universe, consciousness is aware "as" the universe.
Now don't mistake that last sentence. Don't think, "Oh yeah Steve, I get it now, consciousness is not aware of the universe from a vantage point separate from it, like a disembodied soul, consciousness is instead aware of the universe as one of the billions of beings in it, like man, or dog, or fish." No! Such thoughts are false. When I say consciousness is aware "as" the universe I mean the very act of existence is consciousness. A carrot is itself consciousness, is itself awareness. There is not carrot aware of itself as carrot nor disembodied invisible consciousness aware of carrot as carrot, there is only the experience "carrot" and that is consciousness and that is enlightenment. There is no observer.
Let's talk now about how this fits in with human life. All people who do not know what's going on believe that they are the people that they are, an individual with thoughts and desires and hopes and dreams, a body and a house, a wife and a child. The list goes on but you get it.
Now the truth. Even though the above is happening, it is an automatic machine like emergence out of Universe/Consciousness and is following a strict nonchance pattern. More importantly, no one is performing any of the above and Universe/Consciousness is what is going on.
To make it more clear, stuff is happening but no one is doing it. Emergence proceeds and consciousness is aware. The unawake person, the person that doesn't know what's going on believes that they are acting, that the human them exists. The reality is, the body exists, the thoughts exist, the memories exist and that is consciousness and that is all.
Someone might say consciousness has temporarily mistaken it's experience of the body and the body's memories as a person. But even though that answer may seem to explain the why, really there is no mistake at all. Universe/Consciousness has never been confused. The person can fall away at any moment restoring the original state of matter and consciousness which has never actually been obscured. This happened to me, but in that happening nothing was lost because there never was a me to lose, only a confusion to correct that never existed.
Knowing this, I mean really knowing this, not intellectually, but as a direct experience of everyday life is enlightenment. Now once this is known it is impossible to go back. Once you have drawn the curtain and seen who Oz really is you can't cover him back up and pretend not to know the truth.
So how do we proceed once we know? We let experience manifest unmolested. As has been said, "The universe is perfect, intervene at your peril." The enlightened person never acts. This is the riddle of karma solved, there is no karma, never was, never could be. There is no reincarnation, how could there be? Who is there to reincarnate? There are no persons, there is no birth or death, there is ultimately nothing except Manifestation/Awareness.
99.999% of the spiritual books and teachers out there are completely wrong. They are wrong for one simple reason, they are not enlightened, they don't know what's going on. So in order to keep the illusion of personality, of the idea that there is something or someone, they invent stories, or theories, or ideas, wear special clothes, perform certain rituals and so on. They teach this stuff. But the truth is so simple, it is laughable.
Now let me make a clear distinction on one point, mystical experience is not enlightenment. You may have mystical experience, see God, get abducted by aliens, receive messages from an angel, contact your spirit guides, the list could go on. But always and forever, no matter what is going on the truth is, every experience, mystical or ordinary is a happening of Universe/Consciousness.
If I could teach the world a lesson it would be, no matter what you experience always remind yourself, "There is no experiencer, there is no observer." If you do this long enough and often enough you will one day know what's going on. When that day comes you will realize nothing has changed, yet everything has changed. It is a feeling and a knowing. An inescapable falling away of untruth. If you think you know it then you don't. When you know it, you do. And when you do know it, no one can take it away from you.
Some points to clear up. When I said the enlightened person never acts I did not mean such people sit in a cave and die of starvation and exposure. I mean the body can be quite active and manifest all manner of good and bad behavior, the mind can be racing with thoughts and feelings, but consciousness, now enlightened, knows no one is acting. It is only the universe blossoming forth spontaneously and perfectly.
As consciousness you are more aware of the feelings of the body, physically and emotionally. You don't feel these things but you are aware of them because there is no division between them and consciousness. The Universe and Consciousness are equivalent, remember the formula, U=C. Also the thing we call personality or ego does not totally vanish. It can remain intact along with the body. It behaves and interacts and changes over time like any person would but the enlightened one knows they are not that ego.
Some schools emphasize the destruction of the ego as the only means of liberation. All that is really required is the realization that you are not that ego. That the ego really doesn't exist, is an illusion of sorts that can be left to it's own designs. It's not really there, but it appears to be there and that is just fine, don't worry. If the ego begins to fade that's ok. Remember, there is no experiencer.
Let me talk briefly about practice. Meditation and book study are useful and can ripen an individual towards awakening, but the most important thing is to change your perspective. You must learn to see what is really going on. Understand, in reality everyone is enlightened, but not everyone knows how to perceive this. The reason is, enlightenment is so natural, so obvious, that from birth we have become accustomed to ignoring it in preference to anything else that manifests. Meditation can train you to still the mind and gain concentration but it will not give you enlightenment. A radical shift in perspective must occur, the habitual focus of your awareness and your way of perceiving must be changed.
Study of books will not get you there, you need a shock. The easiest way I know is for an enlightened person to talk you into this perspective shift. The best books I have read were the ones that talked you into enlightenment. Feeling experiments such as the house scenario above are good to help evoke the feeling of enlightenment. Feel what it is like to not be there. The real breakthrough will come when you "feel" the truth.
It's creepy, not blissful or ecstatic. It should scare you, the body should react defensively, or there could be uncontrolled laughter at how stupid you have been for so long. It's like one of those 3D dot pictures, you stare and stare at those dots until bingo the picture emerges! After that, you can always see it, you can't unlearn it. The same with enlightenment.
Basically any practice that can shock you into seeing what is really going on is acceptable. But understand, you want to know what's really going on, to feel it, to contact reality. It shouldn't take long, a few years at most, less for some. If a practice or a teacher tells you it will take 10 or 20 years, find a new practice or teacher. Remember you are your own salvation, ultimately it is you who will wake you up. Any method that can shock you into seeing what is really going on is acceptable but the perspective shift must occur.
Let me try to bring some clarity to the subject of enlightenment and morality. It has been said that enlightenment produces compassion and love and that many enlightened ones forgo release into Nirvana and reincarnate again and again until all souls have obtained enlightenment, the Bodhisattva vow and such. None of this is enlightenment. Enlightenment is not about morality or vows, it is simply existence in the truth, that is all.
Enlightenment carries no requirements and expects nothing, the universe manifests and just that is enlightenment. We don't seek enlightenment to be happy or to give our lives meaning or to feel bliss or ecstasy. Loyalty to a flag is not enlightenment, love is not enlightenment, hate is not enlightenment. If you see these as the fruit of enlightenment then you are wrong. Instead each of these are enlightenment themselves. Each of these are spontaneous emergences out of and as consciousness. Action, feeling, creation, performance, love, hate, murder, salvation, compassion, each is enlightenment itself. There is no doer, no experiencer, only manifestation. This is the truth, this is enlightenment.
I want you to understand that while nothing ultimately changes, in human terms much change takes place. This happens because once you recognize what's going on the main motivations of life begin to drop away. The level of dropping away is no doubt unique to the individual but is directly proportional to how much you desire to resolve into reality. What I mean is that it is possible to be enlightened and still try to retain a level of unconsciousness in order to interact in human affairs. As time passes this state will be harder to maintain.
It is similar to suspending your belief when watching a movie. You pretend to believe the reality of what is going on. You cry with the characters, you laugh with them, you hope with them etc. You do this for the entertainment, to get your moneys worth. This is the way real life is with enlightenment. You know there really is no one. You know that it is just a display, a machine like emergence out of and as consciousness. Yet you must believe it at some level or you will simply lose the ability to interact in the world.
I can see why some enlightened ones have isolated themselves or become hermits. For the last year this has been an issue I personally have struggled with. How to know the truth and continue to interact with the world as if you believe it? You basically have to employ a little Orwellian 1984 doublethink. You have to pretend to believe while always knowing the truth. Some things are unavoidable of course, I was an avid reader but now can barely open up a book. I loved and played the guitar for years but now have zero interest in picking one up. Even writing these few words is a colossal effort. The reason is that deliberate effort is an affront to reality where nothing is deliberate, everything is spontaneous, and nothing at all is going on.
Don't mistake me here, I have not invented a rule of behavior where I have decided I must act less because to do otherwise would be an affront to reality, rather the natural outcome of enlightenment is less and less action, less and less thought. This is a natural development within the enlightened person. Eventually all action will be spontaneous and the person will not be acting.
Of course to say this is not ultimately true, because in reality no one ever acts. But from the human vantage point this is how it plays out. Memory is also a tricky thing, the memories of your life are still there and can be jogged into awareness but as time progresses and enlightenment begins to dissolve you, your access to them becomes more difficult. Your awareness becomes centered in the events of the present as they manifest, this is natural since these are the only events that actually exist. The person and the ego are simply dissolving. They don't really exist but the illusion that they do becomes less a part of awareness. You don't remember and you don't care.
Let me make a point about Zen breath watching. Most people just don't get it and most Zen schools don't make it any easier for students to get it. There are all kinds of books on Zen meditation, catalogs where you can buy all the cool silk clothes, cushions, gongs, incense and a host of other aids to Zen breath watching. But once you have all that stuff and finally sit your butt down, close your eyes and start watching your breath what exactly are you doing? Why are you doing that? I ask people this all the time and really piss them off, "Why do you meditate? What are you trying to accomplish? Why do you watch your breath?" I have never met anyone that has given me the correct answer.
The reason they don't know is because they are not enlightened. If they were, then they might not even meditate anymore, or they might, it would make no difference. You see, the simple truth that is missed by almost every meditator is this, the act of sitting there watching your breath is enlightenment. That is all. You are not doing something to gain something, just sitting there is enlightenment. That still state with calmed mind, just that is enlightenment, yet that annoying gossip over there interrupting your meditation, just that is enlightenment and that guy flipping you off in commuter traffic, just that is enlightenment. There is no doer, no experiencer, no one who acts. Manifestation emerges, actless, mindless and just that is enlightenment.
People meditate today because it is popular or because they want to have a mystical experience or just relax. The latter reason may actually be the most legitimate for the average person. But no one I know says they meditate because they are deliberately engaging in an actless act, or attempting to resolve a false sense of being into a beingless existence. And of the many meditators out there, I suspect that the majority would be shocked if I told them the guy flipping them off in traffic is more enlightened than they.
The point I'm trying to make and have been trying to make is that enlightenment is so natural and so easy that any attempt at deliberate practice towards it will get you farther from it, yet paradoxically, you have never once not been enlightened and no matter how strained and deliberate your efforts towards it, you never once acted!
So in closing, Enlightenment can be talked about, it can be understood, it is not mysterious nor does it need to be cloaked in a secret "Boy's Only" club language. Enlightenment is the feeling/knowing that no one exists including you and that everything that happens does so spontaneously and perfectly. Enlightenment is the feeling/knowing that what exists is Universe/Consciousness, they are the same, U=C. Existence is itself consciousness and that is why there is something rather than nothing. This is the real state of things and because it is so natural, so simple and so obvious, we miss it daily.
Six years after writing "What is Enlightenment?" Steven Norquist published, The Haunted Universe, "a book that has the potential to guide 'he' or 'she'; to the place where they will have the chance to contact reality, to experience it." Though 200 pages long, it is a short book designed with few sentences per page. Written in a strong voice; it's just possible that some of its hammer-like phrasings might punch through your defenses….
The Haunted Universe is now available as an audiobook. Steven's measured reading gives space for the feeling behind his words to tug at your reality. The professionally produced CD is available from Haunted Press.
Lastly, as a thank you for visiting, enjoy free shipping and get a signed copy of my book Subtraction: The Simple Math of Enlightenment for only $12.95. If Steven's work appeals to you, my should as well.


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The Biggest Risks Facing Chesapeake Energy
Being in the oil and gas exploration and production business comes with many inherent risks. The prices of oil and natural gas are prone to massive swings, as illustrated by Brent crude oil's movement from over $140 per barrel in the summer of 2008 down to below $40 by the end of that year. Hence, companies that have exposure to these volatile commodities must find a way to mitigate the risk of price fluctuations, especially in the current macroeconomic environment of tremendous uncertainty.
Most companies hedge their risks through derivative instruments like swaps and collars, often for years into the future. For instance, Linn Energy , one of the most conservatively hedged upstream companies out there, has hedged 100% of its expected oil production through 2016 and 100% of natural gas production through 2017.
Sometimes these hedges work in the company's favor and sometimes they don't. For instance, SandRidge Energy realized a total gain of nearly $194 million from its commodity derivative contracts in the three-month period ending in September of this year, while it suffered a $596 million loss in the same period last year.
Chesapeake Energy has been noticeably less conservative in its hedging strategy going into this year. Expecting a rebound in natural gas prices in the first half of the year, the company removed its hedges. Since that rebound never materialized, the company reported a larger than expected loss in the first quarter.
To take a closer look at commodity price and other risks facing Chesapeake, I created a premium research report on the beleaguered natural gas producer. Hopefully, the report will help investors get a better picture of the company's future. It includes opportunities, major risks, crucial areas to watch, and a closer look at the company's management.
The following is an excerpt from the report that addresses the biggest risks facing the company. It's just a short sample of one section, but I hope you find it useful.
In addition to the above factors, by far the biggest risk Chesapeake faces is a prolonged period of depressed commodity prices, especially natural gas prices. Even though the company is clearly gearing up for increased liquids production, natural gas still comprises 72% of its volumes of estimated proved reserves and 80% of its sales volumes. In addition, the company has tended to be lightly hedged in recent years, which exacerbates the impact of downward price movements.
The overarching theme sprouting from Chesapeake Energy is its indebtedness. If the company cannot shore up its balance sheet and is forced to cut its production schedule, then it runs the risk of losing some extremely valuable liquids-rich leaseholds. While Chesapeake has a bountiful amount of natural gas acres that are "held by production," the company still has plenty of drilling to do to turn its acres of liquids into permanent assets.
Interested in other opportunities and risks facing Chesapeake?
That was just a sample of our new premium report on Chesapeake Energy. If you're debating whether the company is a buy or sell, the report may prove to be a crucial resource. In addition to an analysis of Chesapeake's risks, areas to watch, and its management, the report comes with complementary updates and delves into upside and downside catalysts looming on the horizon. To get started, simply click here now.
The article The Biggest Risks Facing Chesapeake Energy originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Arjun Sreekumar has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. The Motley Fool has options on Chesapeake Energy. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Manuel Álvarez Bravo
Our editors will review what you've submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
- Born:
- February 4, 1902 Mexico City Mexico
- Died:
- October 19, 2002 (aged 100) Mexico City Mexico
Manuel Álvarez Bravo, (born February 4, 1902, Mexico City, Mexico—died October 19, 2002, Mexico City), photographer who was most noted for his poetic images of Mexican people and places. He was part of the artistic renaissance that occurred after the Mexican Revolution (1910–20). Although he was influenced by international developments, notably Surrealism, his art remained profoundly Mexican.
Born into a family of artists and writers, Álvarez Bravo grew up in an "atmosphere in which art was breathed." He left school at age 13 and took a job as an office boy and then as a clerk in government offices in order to help his family during financially difficult times. His interest in literature and the arts prompted him to study these subjects at night school. After meeting German photographer Hugo Brehme in 1923, he purchased his first camera. He was largely self-taught, and other photographers played a major role in his development
Through his friendship with Italian photographer Tina Modotti, Álvarez Bravo met the American photographer Edward Weston and many of the leading artists of the Mexican renaissance, including Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Rufino Tamayo, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and José Clemente Orozco. He took over Modotti's job as photographer for the magazine Mexican Folkways after her deportation. He had his first one-man show in 1932. That same year his interest in cinema was piqued when he worked as a cameraman on Sergey Eisenstein's film Que viva Mexico! (never completed) and was furthered when he met Paul Strand just as the latter was completing the film Redes (1936). Like Strand's film, Álvarez Bravo's movie Tehuantepec (now lost) was based on a labour strike. But it was his still photography that made his reputation: he exhibited photographs regularly, and in 1935 he participated in a groundbreaking photo exhibition with the French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson and the American photographer Walker Evans at the avant-garde Julien Levy Gallery in New York City.
Álvarez Bravo's work went through several distinct phases. In the late 1920s, influenced by Weston, he took close-up photographs that transformed the subject (typically architecture or nature) into an artistic abstraction. By the early 1930s, however, he had begun to concentrate on the urban landscape of Mexico City, capturing everyday street life. The cacti and expansive horizon of Mexico's landscape later became frequent subjects, and, throughout his career, politics often informed his photographs, notably Striking Worker Assassinated (1934). In 1939 he was asked by André Breton, one of the founders of Surrealism, to provide a photograph for the cover of an exhibition catalog, and the resulting image, The Good Reputation Sleeping (1939), which depicted a bandaged nude lying amid cactus buds, was among Álvarez Bravo's best-known works. Breton also published many of Álvarez Bravo's photographs in the Surrealist review Minotaure.
Early in his career he was influenced by abstract and Cubist art from Europe, so his work displays a strong sense of formal design. His interest in Mexican religious rituals such as the Day of the Dead introduced an element of the fantastic into his work, which gives his images the kind of hidden symbolism that is common in Surrealism. As in Surrealist art, things are not what they seem but suggest mysterious meanings. In 1997 he was the subject of a major retrospective show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.


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Why Web radio faces another crisis
A deal with the recording industry that was supposed to enable popular services like Pandora to survive never got signed. Did Webcasters fumble a golden opportunity?
Few people know this but for a little while last year, the music-royalty rates that Web radio stations have complained about for years appeared to be behind them.
In a midtown Manhattan law office last November 6, representatives from Webcasting companies and SoundExchange, the group that collects royalties for recording artists and labels, struck a deal "in principle," said sources familiar with the negotiations. The agreement was designed to restructure the royalty rates Webcasters have long said would decimate the sector.
But a week ago, came word that a final deal was never signed. The Digital Media Association (DiMA), the group that represents most of the largest Webcasters, including Pandora, Live365 and Yahoo, announced that the parties failed to reach an agreement. How could that happen? Both sides told members of Congress in September that they were close to a deal. In November, the blog All Things Digital reported a settlement was within grasp and quoted Pandora founder Tim Westergren saying "all the hard stuff has been done."
After interviewing multiple sources on both sides of the issue, the picture that has taken shape is that Webcasters blew a golden opportunity to reach an accord that would have given them much of what they asked for. What appears to have happened is that some in Webcasting were willing to play a game of brinkmanship with SoundExchange. At the very least, the actions of some larger Webcasters undermine their claims that they can't afford to continue for much longer without a settlement.
There is still a chance the two sides can come to terms. Talks are ongoing. But as it stands, time is quickly running out and nothing has occurred to indicate a breakthrough is near, according to sources on both sides. If a settlement isn't reached, its conceivable that some Web radio stations that legitimately can't afford to pay the performance fees set by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) two years ago may be in jeopardy. Representatives from SoundExchange declined to comment. Westergren did not return repeated phone calls.
Did Real want a deal?
There's no doubt who the music side blames for derailing the agreement.
The November settlement only began to unravel after executives from RealNetworks reversed their position and informed SoundExchange weeks after the meeting that it no longer accepted the terms, according to music industry sources who requested anonymity because of ongoing negotiations. They say Real, the media-delivery software company, also lobbied other DiMA members, including some who didn't attend the November meeting, against accepting the agreement.
Michael King, Real's associate general counsel, denies the company stood in the way. He also noted that other Webcasters eventually rejected the terms.
"We would be happy to do a deal that is sane for the industry," King told CNET News on Friday. "We aren't willing to advocate for rates that are insane."
Insane? Maybe, but there's no arguing that at least one Real executive and other large Webcasters considered the deal sane enough to accept in November.
If there is anything that everyone involved can agree on it's this: Web radio is popular with the public and will only continue to grow. Webcasters typically offer fewer commercials than traditional over-the-air stations. Fans can choose to listen to countless music, news, or talk shows from across the globe.
The fight over how much Webcasting should compensate the music industry goes back to 2002. The two sides failed to reach an agreement and two years later, Congress passed a law creating a three-judge panel called the Copyright Royalty Board within the U.S. Copyright Office. The CRB was created to determine rates when and if the two sides couldn't agree.
In March 2007, after 18 months of hearing testimony from both sides, the CRB decided on an escalating rate structure much like the one suggested by SoundExchange. The decision was a win for the music industry. The CRB set rates retroactively for 2006 at 0.08 cents per song, per listener and climbed each year until finally reaching 0.19 cents in 2010.
Webcasters argue the rates are far too high. They claim the fee structure is what drove AOL and Yahoo out of the business. Both companies have contracted with CBS (parent company of CNET News), to take over their Web radio services. Westergren said last year that Pandora expected royalty payments to gobble up 70 percent of the $25 million the company expected in revenue.
Here's where it gets interesting. Following the CRB's decision, Congress began pressuring the music industry to find middle ground with the Webcasters. Congress was involved because in order for a deal to get done that covered the entire industry, a statutory license was needed. This would save startups entering the business from having to negotiate separate deals with SoundExchange but would also require them to pay the negotiated fees.
Back slapping and congratulations
Last fall, the road to a settlement seemed clear. The two sides had worked together on getting legislation passed that handed them the authority to negotiate a statutory licensing agreement while Congress was adjourned. They also joined forces to fend off an attempt to kill the legislation by the National Association of Broadcasters, the trade group representing traditional broadcast stations. These efforts show, say the music sources, that SoundExchange is negotiating with Webcasters in good faith. Otherwise, why would it bother riding shotgun for the legislation? Had the bill failed to pass, attempts to reduce CRB rates would have died there.
Leading up to the November meetings, there were scant signs of trouble, according to some of the attendees. Prior to the meeting, all the companies agreed to send decision makers so a final deal could be approved there and then. Most of the major stakeholders were represented. After two days, the meeting broke up on Nov. 7 with much back slapping and congratulations. The group had succeeded in forging an agreement that everyone in attendance indicated they could live with, according to the music sources.
The sources said that all that good cheer went out the window weeks later when Real informed SoundExchange that a mistake was made. Real told SoundExchange managers the person who attended the meeting on its behalf was without the authority to make a deal. The attorney who was supposed to attend was unable to appear because his wife had gone into labor. The bottomline was Real no longer accepted the terms.
Real's excuse didn't satisfy many on the music side. They argue that the Real exec who attended wasn't isolated. Throughout the meeting, the executive was on the phone with other Real managers, according to the music sources, some who were in attendance. Managers on the music team suspected something was wrong.
As more time went by, the music representatives sensed the November agreement was coming apart and many blamed Real.
In January, the DiMA board, whose members include representatives from Apple, Real, Yahoo, AOL, Live365, and Pandora, voted against accepting the agreement, according to Jonathan Potter, DiMA's executive director.
Potter defended Real. He said majority rules on the board and no one company killed the agreement. "(The music guys) are disappointed," said Potter. "It's hard and frustrating when this stuff happens but they're bitching and moaning about process, and now they're pointing fingers. The deal didn't get done because of substantive issues. That's the way it is."
The talks didn't end with the DiMA vote.
With weeks left to go before the Feb. 15 deadline, Potter wrote an e-mail to Washington lawmakers informing them that there was a stalemate. That was crucial. That indicated to the music side that DiMA, which struggled to get its members to agree amongst themselves on terms, was no longer a factor in the discussions. SoundExchange then began meeting with DiMA members to try and reach an agreement, one company at a time.
All or nothing
What's important to note is that the music industry was focused on signing all the major players or none at all. Unless everyone came aboard, SoundExchange faced expensive arbitrations with each company that declined to settle. Also, the terms of any agreements SoundExchange made could be used against it in arbitration hearings with companies that didn't sign.
On Sunday, with the deadline looming, talks again heated up. According to sources in the music sector, SoundExchange representatives again thought they had a deal. Again, Real appeared to backtrack at the last second.
King, one of Real's lawyers, denies that Real ever agreed to a deal on Sunday and makes no apologies for looking out for the best interest of his company and Webcasting. He said there is nothing to stop SoundExchange from striking one-off deals with other Webcasting companies. He said it isn't Real's fault that SoundExchange has chosen an "all-or-nothing" approach.
"If SoundExchange intends to do a deal that everyone agrees to then they have to satisfy RealNetworks," King said. "If that's the position they choose to take, then they should do deals that we will sign up for."
Regardless of who is at fault, Webcasting finds itself in a tenuous position.
SoundExchange has managed to cut deals with National Public Radio and the NAB. One of the ironies of the situation is that SoundExhange has an acrimonious relationship with the NAB, and was working closely with the Webcasters to thwart the NAB's attempt to stall their negotiations. Yet, NAB has a new rate deal and the Webcasters don't.
If things continue going the way they are, royalty rates for Webcasters will once again be set by the CRB and that hasn't worked out too well for them--or so they say.
While bigger companies like Real may be able to afford CRB rates, the question left unanswered is whether Pandora and similar players can afford them as well.
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text:
Call for Papers
o IPSN
o SPOTS
Call for Demonstration
Call for Work-In-Progress
Submission guidelines
for final manuscript submission
Technical Program
(htm, word,
Works-In-Progress listing
Conference venue, driving directions,
and parking information
Hotel information
Welcome to IPSN
2006 !
The Fifth International Conference
on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (IPSN 2006)
will continue the success of the previous four symposia
to bring together researchers from academia, industry, and
government to present and discuss recent work in this emerging
field. IPSN draws upon many disciplines including signal
and image processing, information and coding theory, networking
and protocols, distributed algorithms, wireless communications,
machine learning, embedded systems design, and data bases
and information management.
covered in technical sessions include, but are not limited
to, the following:
Selected papers from
the symposium will be invited to submit to the ACM Transactions
on Sensor Networks (http://www.acm.org/tosn).
Award Announcement:
IPSN '06 Best Paper Award
Near-optimal Sensor Placements: Maximizing Information
while Minimizing Communication Cost
Andreas Krause, Carlos Guestrin, Anupam Gupta, Jon Kleinberg
SPOTS Best Paper
Sdlib: A Sensor Network Data and Communications Library
for Rapid and Robust Application Development, David
Chu (UC Berkeley); Kaisen Lin (UC Berkeley); Alexandre Linares
(UC Berkeley); Giang Nguyen (UC Berkeley); Joe Hellerstein
(UC Berkeley)
Best demo awards:
Best large-scale integration demo:
Dirty Bomb Detection and Localization in a Crowd, Akos
Ledeczi (Vanderbilt) and David Resseguie (Oak Ridge National
Best indoor demo:
Demonstration of The Low Power Energy Aware Processing
(LEAP) Embedded
Networked Sensor System, Dustin McIntire, Kei Ho,
Bernie Yip, Sasank Reddy, Thomas Schmid, Amarjeet Singh,
Winston Wu, and William J. Kaiser (UCLA)
IPSN Papers
Abstract Registration: November 4, 2005
Full Manuscript Due: November 11, 2005 (11:59 PM Eastern
Standard Time)
Acceptance Notification: January 27, 2006
Camera-ready copy: February 17, 2006
SPOTS Special Track Papers
Abstract Registration: November 11, 2005
Full Manuscript Due: November 18, 2005 (11:59 PM Eastern
Standard Time)
Acceptance Notification: January 27, 2006
Camera-ready copy: February 17, 2006
Research Demos
Abstract Due Date: February 3, 2006
Notification: March 3, 2006
Two-Page Web Abstracts: March 27, 2006
Work-in-Progress (WIP)
Abstract due date: March 3, 2006 11:59 pm, EST *New
Notification: March 13, 2006
Two-Page Web Abstracts: March 27, 2006


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Merlin's weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.
Merlin's weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.
"What's 43 Folders?"
43Folders.com is Merlin Mann's website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.
10.4.3 update; Getting into "that backup habit"
Merlin Mann | Nov 1 2005
macosxhints - 10.4: OS X 10.4.3 update released
MacOSXHints covers a few of the 500+ 10.4.3 updates that are worth not missing. Two that popped out for me:
I'll take all the Mail.app updates I can get. Now will someone please make MailEnhancer work again!
Paranoia, Part I
I have, I must admit, become one of those people who waits a week before running OS X updates. I used to be "that excited guy" until I learned a) new cuts of Safari almost always break one or more of my (and Pimp My Safari's) must-have plugins (Saft, SafariStand, PithHelmet); b) there's nearly always at least one deal-killer booger that sends me into two days of hair-pulling kernel panics, restarts, font removals, DiskWarrior runs etc. (Yes, thanks, I actually have modded almost every aspect of my setup in incredibly haphazard ways.)
As ever, kids: do yourself a favor and run a Safety Backup using SuperDuper. If anything goes kerflooey, you can do a perfect rollback to the snapshot of your disk before updating, then you're back to work with almost zero downtime. Seriously, just get in the SuperDuper habit just in general.
Paranoia, Part II
A propos of nothing, here's my current backup and SuperDuper schedule:
My next, extraordinarily paranoid move; buy a 2nd 250GB external, clone from the current backup drive, and rotate offsite every other month.
Crazy? You bet. Just remember Merlin's Two Immutable Laws of Data Paranoia™:
Actually, you know what? Go backup now. Just burn your Documents onto a DVD or zip up your Preferences and Gmail them to yourself. All this talk is making me really nervous.
Merlin Sorreee(!) to get you all... by Clembo (not verified)
I've a question about how... by Ed Byrne (not verified)
About Merlin
Merlin Mann is an independent writer, speaker, and broadcaster. He's best known for being the guy who created the website you're reading right now. He lives in San Francisco, does lots of public speaking, and helps make cool things like You Look Nice Today, Back to Work, and Kung Fu Grippe. Also? He's writing this book, he lives with this face, he suffers from this hair, he answers these questions, and he's had this life. So far.
Merlin's favorite thing he's written in the past few years is an essay entitled, "Cranking."
|EXPLORE 43Folders


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KARNATAKA, INDIA – A mutated human? An alien hybrid? What is it?!
It's just Ashes, the hairless chimpanzee! Ashes is a 13 year old chimp that lives at the Mysore Zoo in India.
[image courtesy of richu]
Ashes was born with fur like any other chimpanzee. But by just a year old, he had lost all of it! While he is somewhat frightening, it is a wonderful opportunity to be able to see a chimp's musculature.
Ashes is not the only one of his rare kind. Another hairless chimp called Cinder was born at the Saint Louis Zoo in Missouri. Also born with full hair, she soon lost it but was still readily accepted by the other chimps.
Both animals suffer from alopecia universalis, which is also found among humans! Sadly, Cinder passed away this past February, so curious visitors will have to travel to India to get a peek at Ashes.
[polldaddy poll=1554042]


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Sargent 70-8227 LE1E 9 Mortise Lock Bright Bronze Clear Coated
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- Far Exceeds ANSI/BHMA A156.13 Series 1000 Grade 1 and Security Grade 1. Meets various higher security detention standards such as ASTM impact for deadbolt x latchbolt (Level 1) and latchbolt(Level 3) components
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text:
Fiscal Cliff Should Alter Budget Debate
Current situation shows previous assumptions have been incorrect
Other than the fact that we're now two weeks closer to its tax increases and spending cuts going into effect, not much has really changed about the fiscal cliff since my last column was published two weeks ago.
Yes, we've heard reports about staff discussions. Yes, four Republican senators — Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bob Corker of Tennessee — said publicly that they're willing to break the no-tax-increase pledge, although doing it by raising rates — the administration's preference — still doesn't seem to be acceptable. Yes, some CEOs of companies whose customers will have less to spend if the tax increases go into effect said the fiscal cliff should be prevented. And, yes, a number of Republican and Democratic governors whose states will lose some of the federal financial support they receive have said it would be a terrible thing.
All of that is largely irrelevant. Without the White House and House Republicans seeing eye to eye — and they still definitely don't — we're no closer to a deal to stop the fiscal cliff than we were before the start of the Thanksgiving recess.
But that doesn't mean the budget debate hasn't been substantially changed by what's already happened. To the contrary, some of the most commonly held budget beliefs and fiscal fish tales have now been shown to be deceptive, disingenuous, misleading and just plain wrong.
The most obvious of all the now clearly disproven common budget wisdom is that the federal deficit is always bad and therefore must always be reduced. The whole discussion about the fiscal cliff — indeed the creation of the phrase itself — is all based on what should now be considered absolutely incontrovertible: There are times — like now — when a federal budget deficit is a good thing and efforts to reduce it make no sense whatsoever.
This comes as an absolute shock to those who keep being told and have a religious-like belief that a deficit is a sign of corruption inside the Washington Beltway and a reason the other political party can't be trusted with the economy. The fiscal cliff debate has demonstrated that the presidents, representatives, senators, and Federal Reserve Board chairmen who fight for a deficit — or a higher deficit — when the economic situation calls for it are far more valuable than those who demand it always be reduced.
The second myth the fiscal cliff has exploded is that Wall Street understands what's happening with the federal budget. That's the only conclusion that can be drawn from the extraordinarily positive overreaction that took place on Nov. 16, when because congressional leaders emerged from a White House meeting on the fiscal cliff and used the word "constructive" to describe the session, the Dow Jones industrial average rallied by more than 100 points and went from negative to positive territory.
If Wall Street was so taken in by a statement that had no real meaning and very likely was choreographed to hide the fact that nothing was agreed on at the largely ceremonial meeting, it doesn't deserve its long-held reputation for being so all-knowing when it comes to fiscal policy politics.
Wall Street also no longer deserves its reputation for wanting deficit reduction all the time. The "bond market vigilantes" that were evident during the Clinton administration now have become the Bigfoots of the U.S. economic debate — much talked about but without any proof of existence.
On the contrary, the Wall Street CEOs who issued an open letter to the White House a few weeks ago demanding that the fiscal cliff be avoided and the deficit be higher than it otherwise will be under current law, as well as the investors who caused the market to rally Nov. 16, have made it clear that, if they ever actually existed, the bond market vigilantes of the 1990s were an exceedingly rare species.
The third budget fairy tale the fiscal cliff has now shown to be make-believe is the much- repeated concept that federal spending isn't good for the economy and spending cuts will have no negative consequences.
Much of the debate over the fiscal cliff has been about how the spending cuts that are scheduled to occur on Jan. 2 will result in thousands of private and public sector layoffs. We also have projections from the Congressional Budget Office and Wall Street that unemployment will increase to more than 9 percent. That's the opposite of the benign or even positive economic effect some have been saying federal budget cuts have no matter when or how they are made.
The sad part is that there's been very little admission by those involved in or commenting on the fiscal cliff about how it has shown many of the previous assumptions about the federal budget to be wrong. No matter what happens, changing this should be one of the goals of the debate. Otherwise, whenever this crisis has passed, the debate will go back to being dominated by the same lies that have made the current situation so difficult to deal with.
Stan Collender (@thebudgetguy) is a partner at Qorvis Communications and author of "The Guide to the Federal Budget." His blog is capitalgainsandgames.com.


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Redhead College Frat Guy Takes Bareback Cocks In Both Holes
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Brand New Limited Edition DC Collectibles BATMAN Arkham City JOKER Statue
After arriving on Arkham Island, Batman is greeted by Warden Sharp and security personnel. Although the Joker is securely strapped to a handcart for transfer to the deepest bowels of Arkham, he escapes nonetheless, and this is going to be the worst night of Batman's life. With the Joker free, inciting unrest among the inmates, Batman faces a riot from a cadre of Gotham City's most-wanted killers and psychopaths who are screaming for vengeance and out for blood… Batman's blood. His mission? Stop the Joker and his accomplices, at all costs!


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|Steininger Captures Third US Blind Title
|By Bruce Leverett
|August 26, 2012
Dan Steininger (of Indiana) captured the US Blind Championship (Pittsburgh, August 24-25) for the third year running. He defeated Michael Davis (the 2004 Champion) in round 3.
Pietrolungo was clear second place. The players mostly have older Braille clocks, which are analog, and don't have increment or delay, and this caused some trouble with the G/135 time control. Here's an instructive endgame that almost cost Steininger a whole point:
35 ... b6 (desperation); 36 b3? (36 h6 c6 37 h7 Kg7 38 Kxe6 Kxh7 39 Kd7 is easy) 36 ... a5 37 h6 c5 38 dxc5? (This is real trouble; 38 h7 is still good) 38 ... bxc5 39 a3 (39 h7 Kg7 40 Kxe6 d4 and Black wins) 39 ... Kg6 40 b4 axb4 41 axb4 (even here White can save it by 41 cxb4: 44 ... c4 45 Kd4 e5+ 46 Kc3 e4 47 Kd4) 41 ... d4! and Black is better. But after 42 h7 Kxh7 43 b5 dxc3 44 b6 c2 45 b7 c1=Q 46 b8=Q, Black's flag fell.
This year's sponsors included the U.S. Chess Trust, the US Chess Federation, and the U.S. Braille Chess Association, as well as several individual donors. I would like to commend the Myers family -- for the past three years Sterling (and his sister) have been game monitors, while Mom and Dad have arranged for lunch for the players, volunteers, and director.


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Prepare Your Skin For Winter With These Top Tips
The New Year is finally here and that means we are right in the midst of Winter too. Being the coldest time of year with plummeting temperatures, this prevents many of us from leaving the warmth of indoor heating.
If you love being outdoors during the frosty season, you know that your skin is subject to harsh, drying effects from the cold, bitter air. But did you know that even indoor heating can take a toll on your skin?
This can get frustrating because whether you are indoors or outdoors, you just don't seem to win when it comes to keeping your skin hydrated. This, however, is where you are wrong.
There are a few ways that you can amp up the moisture levels in your skin so that you can enjoy all the season has to offer without dealing with dry, flakey skin.
Follow these tips to enjoy hydrated skin that feels soothed and has a beautiful glow whether you choose to snuggle up on the couch or hit the slopes!
This tip may seem obvious, but you'll be surprised how many people skip the moisturizer as they just don't realize the benefits.
Whether your skin is oily or dry, a good moisturizer is essential to not only hydrate your skin, but to add a protective barrier that helps shield the skin against harsh weather conditions.
Apply a good moisturizer morning and night, and even reapply if you spend loads of time outdoors.
Choosing a moisturizer can be tricky, but here at Obagi we have various ones suited to your specific skin care needs.
Our Obagi Hydrate® provides 8 hour moisturization with innovative technology and all natural ingredients including avocado oil, shea butter, and mango butter.
Our Obagi Hydrate Luxe® provides ultra-rich, overnight moisturization and includes key biomimetic peptides that complements the body's natural biorhythms for a rejuvenated-looking complexion. It does its job while you sleep, adding deep hydration to help combat wrinkles.
If your skin is very oily and prone to breakouts, then our CLENZIderm M.D.™ Therapeutic Moisturizer is just what you need.
Drink Up
The last thing you may want to do when it's cold out, is sip on water all day, but a lack of hydration internally, will show up externally as dry, dull, and flakey skin.
You don't have to drink cold water to boost your hydration though! Herbal teas count towards your water content for the day, so take a break from caffeine and sugary drinks, and treat your body to a comforting mug of herbal tea. There are endless varieties so you are sure to find one that tickles your tastebuds!
Invest in a Humidifier
If you have no idea what a humidifier is, you'll want to know after learning how it can benefit your skin!
Humidifiers simply shoot a continual stream of moisture into the air, helping to put moisture back that may have been lost through artificial heating. This is a simple way to hydrate your skin without putting in any effort.
The bonus of humidifiers is that you can add essential oils into them. Add peppermint if you need to focus or lavender to help you relax at night. There's an essential oil for every mood!
By Obagi.


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Obama's National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has been aggressively reinterpreting the law to foist unions on workers—whether they want them or not. The Board famously filed charges against Boeing for creating jobs at a nonunion plant in South Carolina. Today the Board announced its most aggressive move yet: snap elections.
Currently the NLRB takes between five and six weeks to conduct unionizing elections. Under the procedures the Board just proposed that time would fall to between 10 and 21 days.
Employers usually have no idea that unions have begun an organizing drive until the union files for an election. By that point the union has spent months selling workers on the value of unionizing. It is during the election campaign that employers get to respond.
Snap elections short-circuit employers' ability to make their case. If the election takes place in a matter of days workers will base their decision (largely) on information received from the union. This does not benefit workers.
Union organizers do not impartially advocate workers' best interests. They are salesmen. They get paid to persuade workers to become dues-paying union members. Unions may legally use any number of misleading tactics to win worker support. Some organizers rely on aggressive sales tactics such as "SPIN selling." SPIN stands for Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need payoff–the four emotional states through which organizers lead employees in order to secure a signed union-authorization card. Through it organizers persuade workers that a union will solve their problems at work—whether or not a union could actually help. Unions also train organizers to avoid the potential downsides to unionization, like strike histories or dues increases.
Employees only get the full story when they hear from management. Employers are the ones who explain that unions often do not achieve their promised wage increases but always take 1-2 percent of wages in dues. Employers point out patterns of union corruption and clauses in union constitutions that levy stiff fines against workers who stray from union rules. Employers tell workers what the union organizers do not.
Unions want to stop that from happening. They want workers to hear a one-sided sales pitch and then vote, with as little time as possible to change their minds. That will do wonders for union membership, but hardly serves workers' interests. Workers need time to hear from management, and to discuss the consequences of organizing with one another.
Workers' deserve the right to hear from both sides and have time for reflection. The NLRB's proposed rule directly attacks their right to make an informed choice. It is the latest example of the Administration putting unions' institutional interests above the rights of workers.
Congress should step up for workers' rights. When Congress funds the NLRB this year it should include a rider preventing the agency from spending any money to conduct elections in anything less than five weeks. Employees have the right to an informed choice.


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Detroit – The Latest on Wednesday's Democratic presidential debate (all times local):
10:45 p.m.
Democratic presidential candidates are closing their second primary debate by focusing on President Donald Trump.
After taking on each other for more than two hours, all 10 candidates have mentioned the Republican president as the real opponent.
Former Vice President Joe Biden says the 2020 election is "a battle for the soul of America."
Sen. Kamala Harris calls the president a "predator" and a "coward" and says she's the ideal nominee to debate him next fall.
Sen. Cory Booker says the nation's "crisis is Donald Trump, but not only Donald Trump." Booker says beating Trump "is the floor, not the ceiling."
10:30 p.m.
California Sen. Kamala Harris says President Donald Trump "needs to be held accountable" for what she sees as 10 prosecutable offenses in special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Harris spoke Wednesday during an impeachment discussion at the Detroit debate. On the trail, the former prosecutor regularly talks about the need to "prosecute the case" against Trump.
Former Housing Secretary Julian Castro says the "evidence is plain and clear." New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is calling on lawmakers to "begin impeachment proceedings immediately."
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is issuing a cautionary note, saying he supports impeachment but elected officials shouldn't get so wrapped up in the debate they neglect the "people's business."
10:25 p.m.
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is blasting former Vice President Joe Biden for once opposing a decades-old tax credit for working mothers and fathers.
Gillibrand is suggesting that meant that Biden opposed women working outside the home.
Biden responds, "That was a long time ago." He says he now supports an $8,000 tax credit for working families.
Gillibrand kept pressing, prompting Biden to note that she had previously traveled with him to promote his work supporting equal pay for women.
Biden adds of Gillibrand's seeming change of heart, "I don't know what's happening except that you're now running for president."
Gillibrand says, "I respect you deeply." But she is asking if Biden believed there was a problem with women working outside the home. Biden says, "I never believed it."
10:15 p.m.
Former Vice President Joe Biden is distancing himself from a trade deal that was a centerpiece of the Obama administration.
Biden said on the debate stage in Detroit on Wednesday that he would "renegotiate" the Trans-Pacific Partnership but not simply rejoin the pact "as it was initially put forward."
President Donald Trump pulled out of the Obama-era deal two years ago.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is noting that then-Sen. Biden supported the original NAFTA trade deal, and challenged Biden on a new Trump proposal he termed "NAFTA 2.0."
That led to a back-and-forth with Biden, whom de Blasio has previously called out of touch.
"We believe in redemption in this party," de Blasio said.
Biden replied, "Well, I hope you're part of it."
10:05 p.m.
Democratic presidential candidates have plenty of theories about why President Donald Trump won the Midwest and how they can take it away from him in 2020.
Joe Biden is reminding a Detroit debate audience that he helped implement bills during the Great Recession that helped bail out General Motors.
Sen. Cory Booker says Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were lost because of Russian meddling and Republican suppression of black votes, and Booker says he'd prioritize nonwhite voters to flip those states.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand notes her electoral success in upstate New York to prove she can reach swing voters.
Andrew Yang says winning requires making a case to Midwesterners that the growing economy "has left them behind."
10 p.m.
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says engaging with climate change will be her top priority if elected president — but the first thing she'll do if elected is "Clorox the Oval office."
Democratic presidential candidates are largely agreeing on the overall goal of addressing climate change but differing in degrees of urgency.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says former Vice President Joe Biden's climate plan doesn't move the nation fast enough off of fossil fuels. Inslee says "middle-ground solutions like the vice president has proposed … are not going to save us. Too little, too late is too dangerous."
Biden says he is committed to re-engaging the international community on combating climate change and re-joining the Paris Climate Accord.
9:55 p.m.
The Democratic presidential candidates are being asked about water crisis in Flint, Michigan, about 70 miles from where the Detroit debate is occurring.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is being asked about children living in his city's public housing who tested positive for elevated levels of lead in their bloodstream. Flint residents had similar problems, caused by lead in their drinking water.
De Blasio says the problem is decades old but declining, and he is vowing to eradicate it.
Former Obama administration housing secretary Julián Castro says he'd spend $50 billion to combat lead as a public health threat.
Flint's water crisis was a major issue in Michigan during the 2016 election, when Donald Trump won the state.
9:50 p.m.
Julián Castro is the second Democratic presidential candidate in Wednesday's debate to explicitly label President Donald Trump a "racist."
The former Obama Cabinet secretary was among several candidates hammering Trump as they sought to stand out on issues of race.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called Trump a "white nationalist."
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says she feels responsibility as "a white woman" to challenge institutional racism. She says it's not just up to the two leading black candidates, Sens. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, to talk about race.
Sen. Michael Bennet is chiding CNN moderators for asking questions about former Vice President Joe Biden's position on federally mandated busing in the 1970s when "our schools are as segregated today as they were 50 years ago."
9:35 p.m.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is likening former Vice President Joe Biden's stance on immigration to that of President Donald Trump.
Booker says Biden's proposal to allow immigrants who attend American universities and earn doctorate degrees to remain in the country for seven years plays into the hands of Republicans.
He is comparing it to Trump's preference for immigrants from countries like Sweden and Norway over immigrants from African and Caribbean nations — which the president referred to as "shithole countries."
Booker says Biden "can't have it both ways."
He is also telling Biden: "You invoke President Obama more than anybody in this campaign. You can't do it when it's convenient and then dodge it when it's not."
9:25 p.m.
Former Vice President Joe Biden is again defending his lengthy legislative record on criminal justice reform, this time from criticism by New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.
Biden is responding on Wednesday night's debate stage in Detroit to a critique that his current plan is "inadequate." He is advocating for more rehabilitative alternatives to incarceration for drug crimes.
Booker says Biden's imprint has been on "every crime bill since the 1970s," saying little real progress has been made.
Biden says "nothing happened" in Newark under Booker's leadership as mayor following reforms to drug laws.
Booker says Biden is trying to shift the focus from himself with "tough-on-crime, phony rhetoric that got a lot of people elected but destroyed communities like mine."
9:15 p.m.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is the first candidate on Wednesday's Democratic presidential debate stage to call President Donald Trump a racist.
"We can no longer allow a white nationalist to be in the White House," Inslee said as candidates debated immigration policy.
Democrats and some Republicans have criticized Trump in recent weeks for using Twitter to say four Democratic women in Congress should "go back" to their countries of origin. All four are U.S. citizens, and three were born in the country.
9:10 p.m.
Former Vice President Joe Biden and former Obama administration housing secretary Julián Castro are clashing over immigration policy.
Castro has promised to make illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border punishable by a civil penalty and is repeating that call Wednesday.
He says that doesn't mean endorsing "open borders," but says some in his party, including some on the debate stage, have "taken the bait" and fallen for a Republican talking point.
Biden says he doesn't support decriminalizing such border crossing. He also says he never heard Castro "talk about any of this while he was secretary."
Castro responds, "It looks like one of us has learned the lessons of the past and one of us hasn't."
9 p.m.
Joe Biden is criticizing Medicare-for-All backers as he argues in the Democratic presidential debate for his "public option" proposal to expand the Affordable Care Act without ending job-based insurance.
Biden is mocking California Sen. Kamala Harris and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio for downplaying the taxpayer costs of their proposals for single-payer government insurance.
Biden says he doesn't "know what kind of math you do in New York" or "in California" as he points to estimates that single-payer insurance could cost about $30 trillion over 10 years.
Harris is responding by noting private insurers' billions of dollars in profits.
Single-payer supporters note that their approach would replace Americans' premium and out-of-pocket costs for private insurance. Harris also insists her pitch would not require middle-class tax increases.
8:55 p.m.
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet is going after California Sen. Kamala Harris on health care, suggesting she hasn't been up-front about planks of her Medicare for All plan.
Bennet is charging that the plan would mean a tax increase for the middle class and outlaw private insurance, and tells Harris that "we need to be honest about what's in this plan."
Harris released details of her health care plan earlier this week. It would allow private Medicare plans that follow certain federal guidelines, and it would include a tax on household income over $100,000.
Harris is accusing Bennet of using "Republican talking points" and is defending her plan by insisting it doesn't make anything illegal, but rather "separates the employer from health care."
8:40 p.m.
Former Vice President Joe Biden and California Sen. Kamala Harris are clashing over their dueling health care plans during the opening moments of the Democratic presidential debate in Detroit.
The pair had a tense exchange during the opening debates last month in Miami — and wasted little time before going at it again Wednesday.
Harris says her proposal would extend health insurance to all Americans, while Biden's would "leave out" almost 10 million.
Biden says her plan is too expensive and would cause many people to lose their current, employer-based health insurance. He says Harris isn't being straight about that, adding, "You can't beat President Trump with double-talk."
Harris says Biden is "simply inaccurate."
8:30 p.m.
President Donald Trump and some of the leading Democratic presidential candidates are the targets of opening statements at the second night of the Detroit debates.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is going after Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for not promising enough change to the country's structure.
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet says Trump "frankly doesn't give a damn about your kids or mine."
Harris is repeating her pledge to "prosecute the case" against Trump, while Biden is sticking to his promise to "restore the soul of this country" after four years of Trump.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker was forced to pause for hecklers shouting "fire Pantaleo," a reference to the New York City police officer officials opted not to charge in the death of Eric Garner.
8:20 p.m.
Joe Biden greeted Kamala Harris with a handshake and a smile Wednesday night while asking her to "Go easy on me, kid."
The California senator called Biden by his first name as she smiled in return.
Harris is one of the former vice president's top rivals and sharpest critics. Biden is a 76-year-old white man. Harris is a 54-year-old black woman.
Their generational and racial differences were on display last month in the first debate, when Harris hammered Biden for his opposition to federal court-ordered busing in the 1970s as a way to desegregate public schools like Harris's elementary school in California.
Biden has promised to defend his record more forcefully in this debate.
8:05 p.m.
Night two of Democrats' second set of presidential primary debates is underway in Detroit, with Joe Biden flanked by Kamala Harris and Cory Booker.
The lineup puts the white former vice president between two black senators who have sharply criticized Biden's record on matters of race.
Biden has promised he'll counter more aggressively than he did in the June debate.
Harris hammered Biden in that opening round for opposing federal busing orders issued in the 1970s to desegregate public schools like hers in California.
Booker has blasted Biden for helping write a 1994 law blamed for accelerating mass incarceration.
Biden could look to highlight Harris' evolving positions on health care as she argues for a "Medicare for All" plan but insists she won't raise middle-class taxes to pay for it.
7:55 p.m.
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is again complaining about what she describes as lopsided allocation of time among candidates at the Democratic presidential debates.
In a tweet apparently composed by her sister, Gabbard on Wednesday tweeted that, if the second debate night in Detroit "is as biased/unfair as last night," then the Democratic National Committee "needs to reconsider CNN hosting future debates."
The tweet from Gabbard says questions were "very biased and lopsided in favor of certain candidates" and says the network "should not be picking winners and losers."
It's the second time Gabbard has gone after a host network for alleged unfairness. Following the previous round of debates, Gabbard's sister wrote from the congresswoman's Twitter account that "it's clear who MSNBC wants to be president: Elizabeth Warren."
5:10 p.m.
Joe Biden knows the attacks will be coming. The question for the former vice president in Wednesday's Democratic presidential debate will be whether he handles them in a way that restores confidence to his anxious supporters.
Biden will be forced to defend his record as nine eager rivals fight to knock him from his front-runner perch in the increasingly combative primary.
Biden's advisers say he expects to face pointed questions about race in particular, having stumbled in the opening debate when confronted by California Sen. Kamala Harris over his record on school integration. The pair will be joined onstage by a second senator of color, Cory Booker of New Jersey, who in recent days seized on Biden's decades-old support for criminal justice laws that disproportionately hurt minorities.
As reported by Vos Iz Neias


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January 15, 2013
Walk-in portraits at Dole Hall cancelled today
Submitted by Communications and Marketing
The walk-in portrait session at Dole Hall photo studios scheduled for today is cancelled. Communications and marketing apologizes for any inconvenience. The next walk-in portrait date is Monday, Feb. 4. Call 785-532-2535 or email firstname.lastname@example.com for more information.