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Your cellphone is a tracking device collecting a lot more information about you than you may think, says ProPublica investigative reporter Peter Maass.
"They are collecting where we are — not just at one particular moment in the day, but at virtually every moment of the day," Maass tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies. "They are also taking note of what we are buying, how we're purchasing it, how often we're purchasing it."
Maass says cellphone companies collect some of this information — such as location data — to monitor patterns of phone use and ensure that their networks operate properly. But while some cellphone providers eventually delete this data, other providers retain it for essentially "indefinite periods of time," he says.
And because there aren't any federal laws on how long wireless providers can retain information, wireless providers may "do as they wish," Maass says.
He calls the information "potentially a gold mine of data-mining information."
"When you know where somebody is, what they're doing, how long you're there for — that could be commercially useful, if not for the cellphone company, at least to other third-party companies who have things to sell," Maass says.
Cell data is also very useful to law enforcement during the course of an investigation and, Maass says, not difficult to access. A report released in July by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., revealed that wireless carriers responded to more than 1.3 million cell data requests from law enforcement in 2011.
"Back in the day with landlines, [there] were pretty clear, pretty strict laws about what the police could access, when it could access it, and what sort of judicial oversight was required," he says. "These days, because cellphone technology in particular and the data it produces is relatively new and so abundant, the law hasn't really kept up with it, so law enforcement is really not faced with as many limits as it used to be."
Maass says regulators at the Federal Trade Commission do not have as much authority or impact as European regulators do — not because they don't wish to uncover privacy violations, but because of a lack of relevant, up-to-date laws and inadequate funding.
While people can reduce the amount of cellphone tracking by not using location applications and turning off their cellphones, Maass says, there is only one way to prevent a cellphone from collecting information: "The answer, pretty much, is don't use a cellphone at all."
Interview Highlights
On the outsourcing of technology regulation to Europe
"This is one of the very useful aspects of the global nature of Web use. For example, Facebook, of course, has about 900 million customers, and a huge number of those quite obviously are not in the United States. Now, when European regulators ask Facebook to make a change, or levy a fine against Facebook — and I'm just using Facebook as an example here. Facebook tends to apply all these changes, positive changes, to all of its customers.
"So the advantage of this — in a way, it's outsourcing regulation — is when a European regulator gets a major technology company, and most of the major ones are American — we're talking about Google, we're talking about Facebook, Twitter, etc. — when European regulators ask them to make a change, those changes are applied in most cases to all of the technology companies' clients, including those in the United States.
"So we here in America benefit when a European regulator leans for privacy purposes on an American company. And that's one way these days our privacy is protected, because it's not just the federal government, which has its hands obviously quite full, but also European regulators who have influence over American companies. ...
"And there are not the same kinds of concerns as there are in Europe — for example, how is this going to affect Google's bottom line? — as there might be in America among Washington politicians and other folks who do need to be aware of America's, who are aware of America's competitive position and do take that into consideration."
On how privacy violations in the U.S. were discovered by European regulators
"The best example is Google Street View. ... In America there was some opposition to Google taking pictures of everyone's house, but basically the program went ahead fine. ... Google said, 'Don't worry, we're just taking pictures of houses, it's not [a] big deal, we're not downloading any data.'
"In Europe, where there's much more recent history in the 20th century of abuses of personal information, there was a lot more opposition, because people were saying, 'Wait a minute, what are you doing? Do you really have the right to take pictures of our houses? Is that all you're doing with these fancy cars that have all this machinery in them?' And there was a data commissioner — or data protection officer — in Hamburg [Germany] who insisted that Google let him — his office — inspect the hard drive of one of these cars to make sure that all it was doing was taking pictures, and, to make a long story short, what he found out was that Google wasn't just taking pictures. Google was also downloading data from open Wi-Fi networks as its cars went down these streets, and Google had said it wasn't doing this. ... Now, Google had also been doing this in the United States, but American authorities had not really pushed Google to the wall enough on what its cars were doing. ...
"Now, this is the kind of thing one would ideally want our own regulators to be aware of and to have surfaced and punished Google for if indeed this was a privacy violation. But, in fact, it was European authorities who really led the way on this, and I talked with officials at the FTC and they admitted, yes, the Europeans were the ones who found out Google was downloading personal data, not them. And one of the reasons why is European authorities have a bit more authority in some important cases, in important areas, than American authorities do. There are folks in the FTC who are real privacy hounds, who come from the privacy sphere, but they don't have necessarily the funding and they don't necessarily have the authority to get the information and to do what they might like to do in a more ideal situation."
On why we should call our cellphones "trackers"
"We think they should be called trackers because we're no longer using them as phones. There was a study done by a British cellphone carrier quite recently, which asked smartphone users, 'What are you actually using these devices for?' And making phone calls was actually the fifth most popular thing that smartphones are being used for. More popular was checking your email, checking your social media, listening to music, playing games, things of that sort. So phoning people on your smartphone is really not what most of us are using these devices for, so it's not accurate, in a way, to refer to them as phones, when what we're using them for are things other than making phone calls.
"But, more important than that, in some ways, is our understanding of what these things are. When we call them phones, we think of them as phones. This is the whole idea of framing. In politics, if you call something a death panel, that influences what people think about it. If you call something Obamacare, that influences what people think about it, positively or negatively. So with these smartphones, given that they do so much tracking, in the sense of, 'We're keeping track of our lives, we're keeping track of the news, we're keeping track of our friends, and corporate and government entities are keeping track of us,' if we call them trackers, then we're doing a much better job of informing ourselves what these devices are actually doing, and what we're really using them for."
We're constantly discovering new uses for our smartphones. We write texts and emails, follow maps, order clothes and food, surf the Internet and, of course, make calls. But while we're doing all of this, our phone carriers are gathering enormous amounts of information about us.
Our guest, reporter Peter Maass, says we should be thinking more about what they're doing with that information. Maass wrote in The New York Times in July that the device in your purse or jeans that you think is a cellphone is really a tracking device that happens to make calls. He suggests we stop calling them phones and call them trackers.
Cellphone carriers are holding on to all the information collected in smart phones, including text messages and locations. And it was reported this summer that last year cellphone carriers responded to more than a million requests for information from law enforcement agencies.
Peter Maass has been reporting on issues of technology and privacy for the investigative reporting nonprofit ProPublica. He spoke with FRESH AIR contributor Dave Davies.
Peter Maass, welcome back to FRESH AIR. What kind of information are our cellphones collecting about us?
PETER MAASS: Our cellphones are collecting a heck of a lot more information than we expect them to be collecting about us. They are collecting where we are - not just at one particular moment in the day, but at virtually every moment of the day. This is location information that the cellphone carriers collect and most importantly retain for sometimes quite long periods of time. They are also taking note of what we are buying, how we are purchasing it, how often we are purchasing it. That's just kind of a starting point of the sorts of various sensitive, very important things that these phones take note of - including, I should add, and this is very important, our text messages.
DAVIES: Right. And when we're talking about location information, we're talking about not just where we were when we were on the phone talking or texting, but where we were all the time? Is that right?
MAASS: Yes. As a matter of just kind of their networks operating properly, they need to kind of check to make sure we're people's phones are. So basically through either GPS tracking or through triangulation of the cellphone towers, they are at different intervals depending on which phone company we're talking about, depending on where your location is, they are checking to see where you are and they are recording this information and they do hold on to it. That's very important information for them to have.
DAVIES: And retain for some period of time?
MAASS: It depends on your provider. Some providers keep for an indefinite period of time. Some providers do delete it or say they delete it. But the thing is that they really are able to do as they wish because there are no rules, federal rules, federal laws on how long they can or should retain this information for. And the thing is that for them it's useful information technologically understandably because they need to know kind of what the patterns of phone use are so that if they need to build more towers in a particular place they know how many to build, things of that sort. But it's also potentially a gold mine of data mining information.
When you know when and where somebody is, what they're doing, how long they are there for, that could be commercially useful if not to the cellphone company, at least two other third-party companies that have things to sell. In addition to which this is all very useful to law enforcement because if they are investigating somebody or something and they need to find out where they were, they can get that information from the cellphone companies.
DAVIES: Now for a long time we've known that law enforcement will go to the phone company when they're doing an investigation. If someone is a suspect in a murder case they'll pull phone records and see who they've been talking to frequently for leads and valuable information. Does that now extend widely to geo-tracking information? Are they going to these cellphone companies to find out where we are?
MAASS: Absolutely. And that's one of the, you know, innovations that cellphones offer because previously when it was just landlines were talking about well, you know, you know where somebody is when you're calling from a landline because you know where that landline is. But now because people are calling from all sorts of locations, wherever they happen to be with their cellphones, police can find out where you are at the moment that you are calling even if it's not your home where the landline is or the office where your landline is. And if you're investigating whatever it is, a robbery, burglary, particularly things like kidnappings, of course, this is vital and really important information that they want to take advantage of and it has become - and this is kind of particularly important here - it has become particularly easy for them to access this information.
Because back in the day with landlines, there were pretty clear, pretty strict laws about what the police could access, when it could access it and what sort of judicial oversight was required. These days, because cellphone location technology in particular and the data that, you know, it produces is relatively new and so abundant the law hasn't really kept up with it. So law enforcement is really not faced with as many limits as they used to be and so they are availing themselves quite freely, it appears, in modest amounts, to get a hold of this information pretty much at the drop of the hat.
DAVIES: In general, is it believed that there's a different legal standard for a case where the police are actually wanting to listen to conversations, you know, or get the actual content of conversations as opposed to simply find out where you are? Is it clear that there is a different legal standard for those two kinds of information?
MAASS: Well, what you're talking about there is wiretapping, and there is kind of long established, very firm laws about what police need to do, what evidence they need to have, what kind of judicial approval needs to be assembled in order for that to happen. Whether you're doing that sort of wiretapping on a landline or a cell phone, it is my understanding that the same long established rules apply.
The twist these days is that it's not as important to know what somebody is saying on a phone. What's very important these days and very useful these days and much easier to get is where they were when they were making the call - who they were calling, how often they were calling, where they moved to while they were calling.
These things, for an investigator, turn out to be extremely important. So that what you're actually saying on the phone isn't as important as where you were when you were saying it and who you were saying it to. And law enforcement knows who you were saying it to because they know not only where you call from but also the number you are calling to.
DAVIES: If you wanted to find out, will your cell phone company tell you what they're doing with your data?
MAASS: You know, this is one of the marvelous things that we found out. I should say in particular my colleague, Megha Rajagopalan, found out. Megha contacted her carrier and then other people at ProPublica contacted their carriers, the different carriers, and everybody asked the same question. Could we please have our location information?
And the answer from every single one of these companies was no, you certainly cannot. So the bottom line is, they will provide that information to law enforcement. They may now or they may at some point in the future provide that information to companies that pay for it. At this moment they will not provide that information to you.
DAVIES: If you don't want to be tracked, is there anything you can do? Are there settings you can adjust or anything?
MAASS: Are there ways that you can limit the information that is collected on you? Sure. There are. Some of them are actually quite easy. You know, you cannot use the location apps. That will reduce the amount of location information that is provided to companies that control the apps.
You can turn off your cell phone, but you know, it is possible for malware to be used against you that indicates your cell phone is turned off whereas in fact it's not. So it's still pinging your information around. But if the question is, you know, how do we stop tracking from occurring on us with our cell phones, the answer pretty much is, don't use a cell phone at all.
DAVIES: Well, Peter, you've recently written about the Federal Trade Commission and the challenges it faces in privacy regulation, and one of the points you make is that a lot of the valuable information that is revealed about the way companies may be violating our privacy has come not from federal investigators but from other places. You want to give us an example and tell us about it?
MAASS: Sure. I think the best example and the most kind of well known one is Google Street View. And this is, of course, the application, the program that most people are familiar with, where Google has kind of gone around America and gone around some parts of the world, particularly Europe, and taken pictures of every street.
And so if you plug in an address into your browser you can get a picture of the street. Now, in America there is some opposition to Google taking pictures of everybody's house, but basically the program went ahead and everything was kind of copasetic with that and Google said don't worry, we're just taking pictures of houses. It's not a big deal. We're not downloading any data or anything like that.
In Europe, where there was a much more recent history, in the 20th century, of abuses of personal information, there was a lot more opposition because people were saying, wait a minute, what are you doing? Do you really have the right to take pictures of our houses? Is that all you're doing with these fancy cars that have all this machinery in them?
And there was a data commissioner, a data protection officer, in Hamburg who basically insisted that Google let his office inspect the hard drive of one of these cars to make sure that all it was doing was taking pictures. And to make a long story short, what he found out was that Google wasn't just taking pictures. Google was also downloading data from open Wi-Fi networks as its cars went down these streets.
And Google had said it wasn't doing this. Now, Google had also been doing this in the United States but American authorities had not pushed Google to the wall enough on what its cars were really doing. It was a German official who basically pushed Google to the wall and got it to admit that it wasn't just taking pictures, that it was also downloading data, some of it private.
And Google is in a lot of hot water now with American authorities, but much more so with European authorities over what the Europeans particularly regard as gross violations of privacy in its Street View program. Now, this is the kind of thing that, you know, one would ideally want our own regulators to have been aware of and to have kind of surfaced and punished Google for if indeed this is a privacy violation.
But in fact it was European authorities who really kind of led the way on this. And one of the reasons why is because European authorities have a bit more authority in some important cases and some important areas than the American authorities do. There are folks at the FTC who are real privacy hounds who come from the privacy sphere, but they don't have necessarily the funding and they don't have necessarily the authority to get the information and to do what they might like to do in a more ideal situation.
DAVIES: Now, just to be clear about this, what Google was doing was going down the street and sweeping data from people's personal Wi-Fi networks, meaning potentially passwords and other personal information?
MAASS: Anything that was flowing over an open Wi-Fi network as the Google Street View cars were driving past was downloaded by the Street View cars. Since they were moving from any one particular Wi-Fi network, unless the car happened to be stopped at a traffic light, most of the information that was downloaded was somewhat fragmentary, because they'd be in the Wi-Fi network and then, because they're moving, they'd be out of it.
But in that information there were passwords and there was more than passwords. There was partial financial information and there was more personal information than that as well. So anything that was going over one of these open Wi-Fi networks, whether it was passwords, whether it was a note to a loved one, whether it was financial information, the Google Street View cars could have, and in some cases did, capture.
DAVIES: We're speaking with investigative reporter Peter Maass. We'll talk more after a break. This is FRESH AIR.
DAVIES: If you're just joining us, we're speaking with investigative reporter Peter Maass. He writes for ProPublica, where he and his colleague, Megha Rajagopalan, have done some research on digital privacy issues, in particular how law enforcement are getting information from cell phones.
Now, in your assessment of the Federal Trade Commission, the FTC, and its efforts in this area, I mean it's clear that they seem to be less effective than they are in Europe, and you make the point it's not because, as is sometimes the case with government regulators, the regulators are too close to the industry that they regulate. There are people of goodwill trying to do a good job here, right?
MAASS: Absolutely. At the FTC in the last couple of years under the Obama-era chairman, Jon Leibowitz, there's been a lot of really top tier privacy talent recruited to the agency. The problem is that they don't have as much authority as, in some cases, for example, European regulators have.
Because since the - really since the Reagan era, not just in terms of funding but also in terms of, you know, regulations, what the regulators are allowed and encouraged to do, it's declined in many cases. So they don't have as much manpower to regulate as they did before the Reagan era and the whole kind of government move against - or political move, I should say, against regulation.
And then they don't have as much kind of authority. I mean, there are no privacy laws that are really written for most of the privacy violations that occur today, because we're talking, you know, stuff and technology that has developed just in the last decade or so that has been widely deployed only in some cases in the last couple of years. And the law hasn't kept up with it.
And it's difficult, one has to admit, for the law to keep up with it because the technology changes so quickly. So even if you write a law today to protect, you know, our privacy on, let's say, Web browsers on our laptops, well, more and more of us are using mobile phones to browse the Web than laptops. So you've got kind of apply things to this different technology.
So it is very difficult for the law to keep up with these areas and because of, you know, Congress may not be as efficient as it used to be in terms of passing law, they're not getting passed as much as perhaps one would want in order for actual guidelines, rules of the road, to exist for federal regulators to enforce.
DAVIES: You've written that the Europeans have been more aggressive in pursuing digital privacy issues than American regulators. When they have some success in this area, does that affect policy in the United States and regulation here as well?
MAASS: Well, this is one of the very useful aspects of kind of, you know, the global nature of Web use. For example, Facebook, of course, has about 900 million customers, and a huge number of those, quite obviously, are not in the United States. Now, when the European regulators ask Facebook to make a change or levy a fine against Facebook - and I'm just using Facebook as an example here - Facebook tends to apply all of these changes, positive changes, to all of its customers.
So the advantage of kind of this, you know, in a way it's outsourcing the regulation, is that when a European regulator gets a major technology company, and most of the major ones are American - we're talking about Google, we're talking about Facebook, Twitter, etc. - when European regulators ask them to make a change, those changes are applied in most cases to all of the technology company's clients, including those in the United States.
So we here in America benefit when a European regulator leans for privacy purposes on an American company. And that's one way in which our privacy is these days protected. Because it's not just the federal government, which has its hands obviously quite full, but also European regulators who have influence over American companies.
And there's an argument that actually the European regulators in some respects have more power or will use their power more willingly against American companies, because these are American companies that the Europeans are moving against, not European companies, and there are not the same kinds of concerns in Europe, for example, how is this going to affect Google's bottom line, as there might be in America amongst Washington politicians and other folks who do need to be aware of America's and who are aware of America's competitive position and do that that into consideration.
Nobody wants to shut down Google. Europeans don't necessarily want to shut down Google, but they're less concerned about Google's bottom line in Europe than they are in America.
DAVIES: Well, Peter Maass, thanks so much for speaking with us.
MAASS: Thank you.
GROSS: Peter Maass spoke with FRESH AIR contributor Dave Davies. Maass is a reporter for ProPublica. You'll find a link to his article about why cell phones are really tracking devices on our website, freshair.npr.org, where you can also download podcasts of our show. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.


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Recipes brought to you by Avanti Savoia
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Herb Omelet with Chicory (Endive) Salad
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(Recipe ID: 541)
Serves 4 ; Yields 4 omlettes
Preparation time: 20 minutes; Cook time: 15 minutes
Source: Vito De Carolis
Very elegant breakfast or luncheon dish.
Items indicated with an astrisk (*) available for purchase in the Avanti Savoia store. See below to add these items to your cart.
- 12 Medium eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg; freshly grated *
- Fine sea salt and black peppercorn, freshly ground to taste *
- 1 tablespoon Whole milk
- 3 Heads chicory
- 2 Medium tomatoes, peeled and seeded and medium diced
- 1/2 Small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar
- 1 Clove garlic, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoons Powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil *
- 1/2 tablespoon Fresh thyme, minced
- 1/2 tablespoon Fresh mint leaves, minced
- 1/2 tablespoon Fresh chives, chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon Fresh tarragon, chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon Fresh sage leaves, minced
- 1/2 tablespoon Fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 tablespoons Unsalted butter, divided
2 teaspoons Plum oil
Perles de Gascogne – suggested
- Break the eggs into a jug; add nutmeg, season with sea salt, and peppercorn; add milk and beat well.
- Arrange the outer leaves of the chicory (endive) on 4 individual plates.
- Quarter the hearts and add these as well.
- Scatter diced tomatoes, and red onion over the chicory.
- Combine Sherry vinegar, garlic, sugar and mustard, season with sea salt, black peppercorn, then whisk in the Extra Virgin Olive Oil and drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad.
- Mix all herbs.
- Heat an omelet pan over a high heat with a ½ tablespoon of butter and ½ teaspoon plum oil until it sizzles and then goes quiet.
- Add a quarter of the beaten egg, and cook lifting the sides of the mixture with a spatula so that the raw egg runs underneath, and drawing the cooked egg towards the center.
- When the underside is golden (after about 90 seconds) and the top is still fairly runny, sprinkle on a quarter of the herb mixture.
- Fold the omelet, then slide it out of the pan on to one of the salad plates.
- Repeat with the remaining egg to make 4 omelets.
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Despite being a few hundred miles away early Thursday morning, I was still in the loop of activity as the severe weather coming out of Oklahoma moved into Newton County and the City of Neosho.
Despite being a few hundred miles away early Thursday morning, I was still in the loop of activity as the severe weather coming out of Oklahoma moved into Newton County and the City of Neosho. Ever since the tornado of 1975 (which was on my birthday), I've always been the family member who calls and wakes up others to make sure they know about the weather. The only difference this time was I was on the receiving end of the first call.
The call came in at 1:48 a.m. I was asleep. When I saw the name (I'll omit it for this story), I figured something was very wrong. I was met with a "Why aren't the sirens sounding? A tornado is on the way!" By this time, the Weather Channel (which I'd left on all night) was showing the warning area and Melanie was on the phone with family in Neosho. My response was "I don't know, but I'll find out."
The city manager confirmed via text he was up. I put a call in to him and discussed the phone call about the sirens. He hung up to make some calls and the next 30 minutes or so was a scurry of calls and texts to and from family and city officials to make sure all were safe and aware. (For the record, my dad slept through it and called me back at 7:30 – seeing that I'd called.)
My first assumption on the sirens was something wasn't working correctly. My uncle told me they had come back on again. The city manager confirmed that as well. I was concerned primarily because I feared some would assume no sirens meant "all clear" for the weather. I've since learned a few more things about how warning sirens work and found out they worked perfectly — as designed. Let me explain.
First off, Neosho's emergency department has a specific policy regarding how and when the sirens in Neosho sound. It says: Outdoor warning sirens are activated when:
• The National Weather Service issues a tornado warning for Newton County, Jasper County or McDonald County in Missouri, Ottawa County in Oklahoma or Cherokee County in Kansas that is said to be moving directionally towards Neosho "or"
• A tornado is spotted by a trained weather spotter or emergency service personnel "or"
• When directed by the Emergency Management Director "or"
• The storm system approaching Neosho is producing sustained wind speeds of 75 mph or greater as indicated by the National Weather Service.
Knowing at least one of these conditions was met, my question was then — why did they stop? I had only to read the next paragraph of the policy to get the answer. "When storm sirens are activated due to storm alerts, the siren consists of a steady tone for duration of three (3) minutes. A second siren activation will occur if the initial warning had been sounded more than 10 minutes prior to the warned storm system arrival to the city. The second activation will be another three-minute sounding."
After further reading online, I soon discovered that the three-minute sounding time is practically a national standard. Furthermore, I found that most storm sirens ARE NOT designed for continuous sounding and doing so would likely cause damage to them. It was obvious I'd simply never paid attention in the past to how long and how many times the sirens sounded.
The last key thing I learned from the policy is probably the most important — "The City reminds residents that there is NO 'ALL CLEAR' sounded by the sirens."
With more convective weather certain to come over the next few weeks and months, I hope this has given you a better understanding of the when's and why's of our local warning sirens. If you don't have a weather radio, I'd highly recommend you get one. They are always "listening" for warnings and alerts. Also, websites like "weather.com" offer customized options to receiving text warnings on your phone based on the zip codes you provide them. Being prepared and informed is a big part of staying safe — please do your part. Your city will continue to do its part too!
Your council has given me another year to serve you as mayor. I'm honored and humbled to continue to serve my hometown. As always, your council and your city officials are here for you. Don't hesitate to contact any of us if you need any assistance.
Until next time: keep the faith, stay the course, and may God bless Neosho!
Richard Davidson is mayor of Neosho.


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photo 1 of 41
Eliot Marshall
TRAINING: The days vary. Mon Wed Fri is strength and conditioning. Mon Wed is wrestling. Tues Thurs Sat is sparring. Mon Wed Thur Fri is mitts and Tues Fri jiu jitsu
When and why did you start training for fighting? I started training BJJ in 1999 and competed a lot and figured the next step was MMA.
What titles have you held? Ring of Fire Light heavyweight Champion
Do you have any heroes? Renzo Gracie
What does it mean for you to fight in the UFC? It is the opportunity of a lifetime. It's what every fighter wants.
Did you go to college and if so what degree did you earn? I have a degree in mathematics from the University of Colorado
What was your job before you started fighting? I bar tended and taught BJJ
Specific accomplishments in amateur competition? 4x Pan American BJJ Champion and 9x Grapplers Quest Champ
Ranks in any martial arts styles: BJJ Black belt
Favorite grappling technique: Whatever gets the guy to tap
Favorite Striking technique: Left high kick
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Oregon's rural communities have struggled for decades, and even though, internationally, agriculture has done well over the last several years with increased trade opportunities and a growing middle class around the world, Oregon's farms and forests have faced unique challenges in this more competitive global market.
The 2014 Farm Bill that passed he House with overwhelming bipartisan support last week addresses many of these challenges, opening up new opportunities for jobs and prosperity where little hope existed before. The Pacific Northwest had two members on the House Committee on Agriculture, both of whom were appointed as members of the conference committee for final negotiations. In my position as the Ranking Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Horticulture and Trade, I was in a critical position to promote Oregon and Washington's diverse agricultural and forestry interests during the negotiations. Thanks to the conversations I had with many of you over the past few years, my team and I were well-prepared to make our case, and it paid off big time — for our farmers, our foresters and vulnerable Oregonians.
My subcommittee's jurisdiction over specialty crops was the only area to receive increased funding over the Farm Bill's five-year authorization period. In fact, during the final negotiations, we were able to get more funding for specialty crop block grants and research initiatives than either of the original House or Senate bills. These grants and research initiatives will pave the way for Northwest growers to be more innovative, competitive and have an edge on value-added product development that the global marketplace now demands.
Organic agriculture also falls under the jurisdiction of my subcommittee, and we were able to secure increased funding for organic research and extension initiatives, assistance for new growers who want organic certification, and funding for better market data and technology to help these farmers be more competitive. We also won the support of our colleagues in establishing an organic check-off program for research and promotion.
The Christmas tree growers also saw the value that a check-off program would have for their industry, which competes against imported artificial Christmas trees. Their effort to establish this much needed research and promotion program faced significant pushback from right wing groups, and a permanent delay from the administration, even though it's industry funded and results in no cost to the taxpayer. With the industry's help and bipartisan teamwork, we were successful in removing the final barrier for approval, and secured them a check-off program as well.
We also worked hard to make sure this is the best Farm Bill ever for our forestry community. Together with my Republican colleagues from Washington and Pennsylvania, we were able to include language in the bill declaring that logging roads are non-point sources, which the EPA agrees with. We even won the inclusion of forest products into the USDA's bio-based programs. And Commissioner Labhart of Tillamook County's suggestion that we scale forest projects rather than utilize the more costly process of marking individual trees was included in the bill as well.
The most contentious battles over dairy programs and SNAP funding were finally resolved, with major concessions on all sides of the negotiating table. This was no small feat in this highly partisan atmosphere. We were able to move dairy programs away from the unstable price support system to a margin insurance program that more accurately reflects market forces.
And we threw out the original House proposal to irresponsibly cut $40 billion from SNAP, which would have created unrealistic work requirements in areas of high unemployment and eliminated nearly 4 million people from the program. But given our country's fiscal constraints, and the fact that SNAP constitutes over three-quarters of the total cost of the Farm Bill, we had some tough decisions to make. In the end, we settled on $8.5 billion in potential reductions by improving a federal heating assistance program that was being used by the states to give folks increased SNAP benefits without any verification. No one will lose their base benefit, and if the states put at least $20 annually toward an eligible individual's heating bill, or a copy of one's heating bill is presented to the state, they can keep their increased benefit.
All in all, the 2014 Farm Bill is a huge win for Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. The bill's acknowledgment of the importance of specialty crops is unprecedented. We ended direct payments, and provided an update to many of our nation's agriculture policies that will save our country over $23 billion.
Farm Bills are always highly contentious, but the agriculture committees here in Congress showed that with perseverance and the spirit of bipartisanship, our system of government really can work, and represent the great diversity of interests across America. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the State of Oregon and all of the Pacific Northwest in this arduous but rewarding process.
Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., is a member of the House Agriculture Committee.


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Results for: 2008
Earth PerspectivesNovember 24, 2008
In 2008, as NASA celebrated its 50th anniversary, the Earth Observatory asked a number of Earth scientists what we have learned about our home planet by going into space. Read more
Correcting Ocean CoolingNovember 5, 2008
Scientists revise their conclusion that the ocean has cooled since 2003. Read more
When the Earth Moved KashmirOctober 22, 2008
Science and relief efforts come together in the aftermath of the Kashmir Earthquake. Read more
Rapid Retreat: Ice Shelf Loss along Canada's Ellesmere CoastSeptember 5, 2008
Beginning in late July 2008, the remaining ice shelves along the northern coast of Canada's Ellesmere Island underwent rapid retreat, losing a total of 214 square kilometers (83 square miles). Read more
Devastating Drought Settles on the High PlainsAugust 11, 2008
A drought to rival the Dust Bowl settled over the southern Great Plains in summer 2008. Read more
Siberia Blog 2008July 16, 2008
Scientists on a remote river in Siberia send field reports of their expedition to study the impacts of fire and climate change on northern forests and tundra. Read more
American Carbon: Vulcan Project Maps Nation's Fossil Fuel Emissions in DetailJuly 9, 2008
The Vulcan Project maps when and where Americans burn fossil fuels. Read more
The Ocean's Carbon BalanceJuly 1, 2008
The amount of carbon dioxide that the ocean can take from the atmosphere is controlled by both natural cycles and human activity. Read more
William Smith (1769-1839)May 8, 2008
William Smith discovered that he could identify rock layers by the unique fossils they held. His discovery helped later generations of scientists to understand the history of life on Earth. Read more
Cities at Night: The View from SpaceApril 22, 2008
Astronauts onboard the International Space Station capture nighttime photographs of city lights, spectacular evidence of humanity's existence, our distribution, and our ability to change our environment. Read more
Disintegration: Antarctic Warming Claims Another Ice ShelfMarch 26, 2008
In late February 2008, the Wilkins Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula disintegrated, an indication of warming temperatures in the region. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites provided some of the earliest evidence of the disintegration. Read more
Amazon Fires on the RiseMarch 7, 2008
In 2006, fires and smoke in the Amazon declined significantly for the first time in nearly a decade. Is Amazon burning under control? Read more
Ancient Forest to Modern CityFebruary 1, 2008
To understand how local weather shifted when the towering forests of the eastern United States gave way to fields and cities, scientists must reconstruct the region's historical landscapes. Read more
Browse Topics
World of Change
Satellite images showing how our world— forests, oceans,
cities, even the Sun— has changed in recent decades.
Read more
Blue Marble
Composite satellite images of the entire Earth.
Read more
Earth at Night
The night side of Earth twinkles with light in these composite global and regional views.
Read more
Hands-on educational activities.
Read more
Visible Earth
A catalog of NASA images and animations of our home planet.
Read more
NASA Earth Observations
View, download, and analyze imagery of Earth science data.
Read more


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Strike! ESPN Airs Gay Pro Bowler Kissing Husband
Last weekend, ESPN showed an out-professional bowler hugging and kissing his husband after winning a prestigious bowling tournament, Out Sports reported.
Scott Norton, 30, placed a wet one on his husband Craig Woodward, 37, after winning the 2012 PBA Chameleon Championship in Las Vegas. During the event, which was held in November but wasn't broadcast until Dec. 30, ESPN's announcers call Woodward Norton's husband. This was probably the first time an out athlete has been shown embracing his partner on a major network.
Norton, who defeated 2011 champion Jason Belmonte, married Woodward, a United Healthcare executive, on Oct. 22, 2011, in California.
"It is extremely important for me to come out to show other gay athletes, both current and future, that it is important to come out to show that we are just like everyone else," he said in a statement. "It's important to show people that being gay has nothing to do with one's ability to do anything as a man, least of all compete at the highest level of sports."
According to the Windy City Times, Norton, who is also an attorney, joined the Professional Bowlers Association in 2008. A year later, he was named the PBA West Region Rookie of the Year. In 2010, he won his first PBA Tour title, the PBA Championship.
He had already out to friends and family when he was a teenager. He only announced he is gay in the bowling world, often considered a blue-collar activity, in April 2012.
Norton called the PBA "the most wonderful experience I could ever ask for, competing against the best players in the world. It makes it all the better that the vast majority are indifferent, if not supportive, of me being an out gay man on tour. I came out when I was 18.
"At the beginning," he added, "it wasn't terrible, but wasn't great either. My parents were somewhat supportive, and most of my friends were either accepting or openly supportive. As time has gone on, everyone in my life [has been] incredibly supportive."
The out-gay bowling blogger who calls himself JW, wrote on his website that he was happy ESPN's announcers decided to "step into the 21st century and treat Scott's homosexuality as just a matter of fact and not a sensation.
"The focus was upon how well he was playing," he added. "They did mention that Scott came out after his win in 2011 during the telecast. His accomplishment is notable because this is his second win and that makes him a rising star on the PBA tour, who happens to be gay and married to a man. Just good stuff all around."
Watch the footage of Norton and Woodward below:


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What if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — clergyman, activist and African-American Civil Rights leader — hadn't been assassinated April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn.? What would the 84-year-old King be involved in today?
What if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — clergyman, activist and African-American Civil Rights leader — hadn't been assassinated April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn.? What would the 84-year-old King be involved in today?
That was the question Rufus Smith, Diversity Programs and Employee Concerns, U.S. Department of Energy-Oak Ridge Operations, presented to DOE-ORO chief counsels Colin Coverson and Kristopher Muse during an MLK program held Jan. 16 in the American Museum of Science & Energy titled "50 Years Later: The Evolution of the Dream."
Muse shared how many more millions live in poverty today than even in Dr. King's lifetime. And he also specifically referenced "housing and education" as examples of ongoing economic disparities in America.
"Dr. King was clearly aware of the 'haves' and the 'have nots,'" said Muse. "I believe that would be his focus today."
Colverson pointed out Dr. King's determination to pursue what is good and to go after that which is just.
"We have an enormous privilege in this country," Colverson conceded. But that doesn't mean an older Dr. King wouldn't still be pushing toward a greater equality — both nationally and globally.
Broader topics discussed by the panel of Colverson, Muse and Smith included gun control vs. gun violence, standing up for what's right without raising your fist, addressing disparities "within" America's black community as well as outside it, and voter ID laws.
"Is there a citizen right abridged?" asked Colverson.
Going to get a "legal" identification in order to vote may not be difficult for some — perhaps not even for the majority — but it remains difficult for some and in some states, such as Ohio and Florida ("not so much in Tennessee"), small percentages can change the outcome of elections, the panelists stated.
"There is a difference," Smith remarked, "between intent and impact."
And, Muse added, just because you don't see "overt discrimination" (perhaps like you would during Dr. King's lifetime?) doesn't mean discrimation doesn't exist (based on age, race, income, etc.).
"Just because you don't see something doesn't mean a deterrent isn't still necessary," Muse reiterated.
Regarding Dr. King's most famous "I Have A Dream" speech ("I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." …), Colverson says it is hard NOT to draw parallels between the "Dream" speech and the words and sentiment of our nation's Founding Fathers so many centuries ago.
"If we are to be a great nation, (Dr. King's) dream must be carried forward," Colverson stated.
Judging others by "the content of their character," said Muse, is an important message that must continue to be shared with … and understood by … our children and our children's children.
"We've made great strides, but there are steps we still need to take."
Darrell Richardson can be contacted at (865) 220-5510.


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The countdown has now concluded on the MechWarrior Tactics Website, revealing the announcement of this upcoming BattleTech game that looks to offer "everything you love about MechWarrior," with a combination of "turn-based strategy and blends tactical gameplay, deep collectability, and unique online features" when it launches sometime this year. Here's some concept art and here's a feature list:
The site is accepting registrations to reserve commander names
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CBN/Regent Toastmasters
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
12:35 p.m. - 1:35 p.m.
CBN/Regent Toastmasters meets the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Tuesdays of each month. Toastmasters is a world-wide organization that helps people with communication and leadership in an enjoyable, participatory format.
- Location:
- Second Floor Training Room at CBN's Corporate Support Building
- Cost:
- Event is Free
- Audience:
- Everyone
- RSVP not required
- Special Notes:
- Wear your Regent ID badge to get past the guard desk in the CSB lobby.


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Event Registration
|Little Listeners B: 15-28 mo.
Event Type: Youth Program
Date: No Dates Found!
Start Time: 6:30 PM
End Time: 7:00 PM
An Early Literacy program for adult-child couples incorporating rhymes, stories and language building activities. Registration is required. Call or visit the Youth Services department beginning May 2.Library: Lake Villa District Library
Location: Wilton Room
Presenter: Ms. Jean


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By BEN WINKLEY
LONDON -- An influential body of UK lawmakers said Friday it will open an inquiry into the challenges facing the country's oil-refining industry, to see if recent closures threaten security of supply.
The Energy and Climate Change Committee, which is appointed by parliament to examine government expenditure, administration and policy, said it was seeking evidence on what needs to be done to maintain a suitable baseline level of refining capacity.
The UK had 18 oil refineries in the late 1970s, but it has just seven in 2013.
The most recent to close, in 2012, was Coryton, one of the largest and most modern facilities in Europe that supplied 10% of the UK's fuel market. It was the second to shutter in the UK since the economic crisis hit in 2008.
Increased competition from ultra-modern refineries in Asia and the Middle East, and increasingly stringent environmental standards, are adversely affecting UK refineries, the committee said Wednesday.
Europe's economic woes are also playing their part, reducing demand for fuels such as diesel and gasoline. This combination of factors led to the insolvency of Swiss-based Petroplus, which owned Coryton.
Also, a continued spell of high crude prices has meant that refineries across Europe have struggled to make a profit. This week a French court ordered the liquidation of the Petit-Couronne refinery, which was part of Petroplus's stable, after rejecting two bids to take over the facility on the grounds that they didn't have the requisite investment financing.
The Energy and Climate Change Committee is seeking written evidence by May 20 on the reasons for UK refinery closures, the impact of domestic and European Union regulation on the industry and what mix of products is likely to be required in the future.
The committee is also seeking opinion on what factors will determine the future viability of the UK refining industry, the effect of closures on the country's energy security and what steps the government could take to maintain an appropriate level of refining capacity.
A spokeswoman for UKPIA, the industry group that represents the interests of the UK's refiners, described the decision to investigate the challenges facing the industry as "a very important step."
"The industry is going through a very difficult time," the spokeswoman said. "This is an important opportunity for us to get our voice heard." Dow Jones Newswires


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DUNSTABLE -- Ask Alan Chaney to show you the best of Dunstable's natural beauty, and he may take you to the bridge over Unkety Brook.
Since it was built in 2001, the bridge, in the midst of the 60-acre Unkety Woods Preserve off Route 113, has provided a vantage point for people to enjoy the view of the stream flowing between the thick trees that cast shadows on the water.
People would see beavers swim through under their feet and dragonflies glide through the air.
But such scenes can only be found in their memories since the bridge was found smashed to pieces in December.
The slabs of lumber that Carl Girouard, who built the bridge for his Eagle Scout project, and fellow Scouts had painstakingly cut to make the deck are ripped apart, leaving the beams exposed. The railings that have also been torn off are piled on the riverbed.
"This was built to last for 40 years," Chaney, who is chairman of Dunstable's Conservation Commission, said, his frustration obvious.
The destruction of the bridge followed a similar incident atop Blanchard Hill, preservation land off Main Street, more than a year ago. The wooden sign identifying the New Hampshire mountains visible from the hilltop -- which Eagle Scout Patrick Thomas created with the help of 110 Scouts -- was knocked down.
Members of the Conservation Commission also found one of the picnic tables that Thomas and his group built overturned and scorched.
"It's sad to see the disrespect," Michael Harney said of the destruction.
The 27-year-old grandson of the late John Kenny, who developed the Blanchard Hill Ski Area in the 1950s, said people from across the region have fond memories of skiing down the slopes.
"There is so much history here," Harney said.
Vandalism is not limited to the conservation land. Someone has broken off the chains that blocked the entrance to Larter Field off Groton Street three times over the past two years by tying their vehicle to the chains and posts and yanking them, according to Recreation Commissioner Jim Tully.
Each time, the transgressors drove onto the field and spun their tires on the grass surface. Some of the goal nets also disappeared from the complex.
But some residents are finding the vandalism on preservation properties particularly disturbing because Boy Scouts and community volunteers poured their hearts and souls into making the places better.
"So many people in town worked really hard to preserve Dunstable," Conservation Commissioner Leah Basbanes said. "It's malicious intent to go after something (like this)," she said.
"What makes these people do this? I don't know," Chaney said.
Conservation commissioners cleared the top of the town-owned Blanchard Hill to make space for Thomas' project in 2010. Carrying the materials in trucks, driving up the steep hill and building the tables and sign was a lot of work.
Scouts also made the trails on the hill.
But those who see the panoramic view of Mount Monadnock, Mount Watatic Mountain and the surrounding ridges would understand why the commission and Thomas thought it would be a good idea to create the hiking paths and the picnic area for all to enjoy.
The amenity didn't last long, however.
"I don't think these tables were here even for a month before (vandalized)," said Harney's mother, Jody Harney, who hiked up the hill on a recent afternoon.
Basbanes said a Boy Scout who was involved in the project was "furious" to hear about the vandalism.
The 2001 construction of the bridge at Unkety Woods Preserve, which the Dunstable Conservation Commission owns, took even more manpower than the Blanchard Hill project.
Police Chief James Downes said a resident reported the vandalism to the Police Department on Dec. 13. He said that while a tree fell on the bridge during a storm in October and caused some damage, the destruction from the vandalism was far more extensive.
Chaney, for one, believes it took multiple people to use tools to rip the bridge apart.
Sarath Krishnaswamy, Scoutmaster for Troop 28, said he hasn't told the existing Scouts about what happened to the bridge because he does not want them to think the various community projects on which they are working will be short-lived. Troop leaders hope to help clean up the mess and rebuild the bridge, Krishnaswamy said.
Downes said vandalism involving damage over $250 is felony. Officers looked at the damage and spoke with some neighbors. The case remains under investigation.
Downes said there has been no recent spike in vandalism cases in Dunstable.
Chaney and Basbanes said they don't know what may be motivating some people to vandalize.
Krishnaswamy doesn't believe the vandalism is targeted at the Boy Scouts.
In Hudson, N.H., police arrested three man -- a 19-year-old from Wilmington, Mass., and a 19- and 20-year-old from Nashua -- in December and charged them with spray-painting words, initials and symbols on the exterior walls of and rafters of the historic Gorilla Cage at Benson Park in June. The men were charged with felony criminal mischief/vandalism.
Girouard's father, Peter Girouard, said he told his son the bridge looked a little "ragged" after the vandalism. Carl Girouard then went to look and said to his father: "A little ragged?"
The good news is that the framework of the bridge is still there, said Peter Girouard, adding that he, his son and volunteers will reconstruct the bridge. This time, they'll use screws instead of nails, so it will be more difficult to take it apart, he said.
"Of course, we will rebuild it," Chaney said, looking at the bridge.
But getting across the message that such an act of vandalism is unacceptable is paramount, he said.
Conservation commissioners are hoping publicity about the incidents will help deter further vandalism. After all, it's hard to keep a secret in a small town like Dunstable.
"There's got to be more than one or two people who know about it," Chaney said.


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Sen. Larry Crowder, who attended Otero Junior College from 1966-1968, will be the speaker at OJC's 71st Commencement, to be held at 10 a.m. on May 4 in the McDivitt Center Gymnasium.
Sen. Larry Crowder, who attended Otero Junior College from 1966-1968, will be the speaker at OJC's 71st Commencement, to be held at 10 a.m. on May 4 in the McDivitt Center Gymnasium.
Larry Crowder, (R-Alamosa) was elected to serve in the Colorado State Senate in 2012. He represents 16 counties in rural Southeastern Colorado, the area he calls home and where – apart from his time in the military – he has lived his entire life.
Sen. Crowder puts people, instead of issues, at the forefront of his service. He believes the government should incorporate ideas from its citizens into its legislative efforts, rather than mandating from the top down. He thinks elected leaders from both parties should put politics aside and work together to find workable solutions for Coloradoans.
Sen. Crowder is especially interested in providing assistance to veterans and the elderly as well as making sure young people have access to education. To that end, he serves on the senate's State, Veterans' and Military Affairs Committee and the Health and Human Services Committee.
Before being elected to the Senate, he served as the Veteran's Service Officer in Rio Grande County. A Vietnam veteran himself, Sen. Crowder is also a member of the American Legion of Alamosa and the Disabled American Veterans of La Jara.
A fifth-generation Coloradoan, cattleman and farmer, Sen. Crowder lives in Alamosa with his wife of 41 years, Cheri. The couple has two adult sons and four grandchildren.
The theme of Sen. Crowder's speech will be obstacles, opportunity, and perseverance.
Jim Rizzuto, president of Otero Junior College, said that he was pleased that Sen. Crowder accepted the college's invitation to be the 2013 commencement speaker.
"We at Otero Junior College are excited that State Senator Larry Crowder will be delivering the commencement address at our graduation ceremony. As a former Otero Junior College student, Senator Crowder epitomizes the fact that all dreams are possible and that many people who have earned degrees or certificates at Otero Junior College have gone on to pursue important and meaningful careers," said Rizzuto
The Commencement ceremony at Otero Junior College will begin at 10 a.m. on May 4. Those unable to attend the graduation ceremony on May 4 can log onto the OJC website at www.ojc.edu to view the webcast of the ceremony. In order to view the webcast, viewers will need to have installed Windows Media Player on their computer. The program can be downloaded for free from the OJC website homepage.
Schedule of Events for the 2013 Otero Junior College Commencement Ceremonies
6:30 p.m. May 3, Ed Stafford Theatre
7 a.m. May 4, Honors Breakfast, by Invitation, Student Center
9:30 a.m. May 4, graduates line-up Student Center
9:30 a.m. May 4, faculty line-up Humanities Center
10 a.m. May 4, Commencement Ceremony, McDivitt Center Gym
Master of Ceremonies: President Otero Junior College, James T. Rizzuto
Commencement Speaker: Senator Larry Crowder
Special address: Sarah Pitt, President Associated Student Govt.
Dr. John Trefny, Chair, State Board for Community
Colleges and Occupational Education
Special music by: Clara Stafford, organist, and Dominic Pino
11 a.m. May 4, reception, Campus Lawn


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Version 5.0.4 is now live in World of Warcraft, adding account-wide achievements, a new world event, AOE looting, BattleTag support, and more to Blizzard's MMORPG. These patch notes have all the details, and there is also this handy version 5.0.4 Survival Guide that tells you more of what you need to know about all this.
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Death Notice: Gary Dale Beamer
Gary Dale Beamer, 51, of Paris, MO, died Monday, December 3, 2012, at Monroe Manor Nursing Home in Paris, after a lengthy illness. Funeral servics will be held at 2:00 p.m., Thursday, December 6, 2012, at AGNEW Funeral Home in Paris. Visitation will be held from noon until time of service on Thursday. Burial will be in Walnut Grove Cemetery at Paris.


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North Bergen resident Victoria Ryan was born and raised in the town of Brick in Ocean County – one of the communities heavily impacted by Hurricane Sandy. In the storm's aftermath, she wanted to do something to help, so she began collecting donations. After she created a Facebook page, what began as a small operation soon became bigger than she could have imagined. The donations began pouring in, and soon Ryan had a team of volunteers.
Jersey Strong
The term Jersey Strong has become synonymous with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and with people coming together to help those affected by the storm. But "strong" doesn't always mean "stoical." Ryan began to cry as she talked about many of her friends and their families who lost their homes.
Ryan reached out to Pennsylvania residents to lend their support and the donations soon followed. From there she wrote a small status update on Facebook, which is how "Brick By Brick And Beyond" was born.
Her team of volunteers includes former and current North Bergen residents like Jo Ann Finger, Commissioner Allen Pascual and his wife Paula, Pascual's sister Jody Capanear, and others. Some volunteers even came from other states to offer their support.
"We all enjoy the Jersey Shore and really wanted to do something to help the residents who were displaced and also to help in rebuilding a place that brought us so much happiness," said Paula Pascual.
Ryan asked for support from residents and businesses throughout New Jersey.
"I think anyone would do what I'm doing and so many have," said Ryan.
"The way that all communities have pulled together to help so many people, it's awe inspiring." – Victoria Ryan
"The more we started asking around, the more we found out that people really wanted to get involved and help out," said Finger.
"The way that all communities have pulled together to help so many people, it's awe inspiring," said Ryan. "I feel very blessed to be a part of [this community]."
With the funds collected, the group went to BJ's and Walmart in North Bergen for school supplies.
Once donations were collected, the next task was how to transport all the collected items.
"We got a huge response [for donations] that we knew our mini vans weren't going to cut it," said Paula.
After being contacted by Finger, North Bergen company Atlas Industries donated a truck and driver. Atlas owner Mike Dell'Aquila said that he was more than happy to help. The Atlas truck made pickups at multiple donation sites prior to going down the shore.
"It's just human nature to help people out when they're down," said Dell'Aquila. "We didn't do it for any type of recognition; we're just trying to help out. We want to continue to help."
Finger thanked Atlas for all their help and said they couldn't have done it without them.
With the assistance of Atlas, the team of volunteers sent donations to FEMA at Toms River's Church of the Visitation and Drum Point Elementary School in Brick on Sunday, Nov. 11. The team did not give up despite being turned away by several agencies such as the Red Cross, who were overwhelmed with donations.
Ryan and Paula met at the North Bergen Community Pool. Ryan thanked her friend for all her help and for recruiting volunteers to raise donations, and Paula thanked Victoria.
"She jumped in all by herself and ran with it," said Paula.
Paula donated $30 to the Red Cross but didn't feel like it was enough. She joined Ryan's cause after viewing a post on Facebook.
"She gave me the opportunity to really make a difference," said Paula.
Ryan also believes that Facebook was a great facilitator to expand the once small effort.
"If it wasn't for Facebook, none of this would have ever happened," said Ryan. "[It's] a people helping people site."
Ryan was pleased to know the donations would go to those who need them.
"It's great to know that it's going to go to the families that lost everything," said Ryan.
Dell'Aquila also thanked the group of ladies that make up "Brick By Brick And Beyond."
"They all were great and really put their hearts into it," said Dell'Aquila. "They spent the entire day getting [donations] into the hands of people that needed it."
The group is still taking donations and will make another trip soon.
To help or for more information visit www.facebook.com/pages/Brick-by-Brick-and-Beyond/370002716422856?fref=ts.
Vanessa Cruz can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com


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As I continue to watch what brings readers to my blog, I see that my first post on Paladin AoE Grinding Rotation still brings in more traffic than anything else. But that post only covered you up to level 40. This time, I am going to take you all the way up to level 70 and get you started off on the right foot for AoE grinding in Northrend. Since my paladin is sitting at level 70 himself, the third part of this series will cover levels 71-80 (after I reach that point myself).
While some people have voiced their disagreement that AoE Grinding is an effective method of leveling once you hit Northrend, I can testify both from my own experience, as well as my wife's, that AoE Grinding still works just fine in the great Frozen North. I am just getting my feet wet in Northrend, having used my AoE grinding methods in both Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra. My wife has been level 80 for a few weeks now and achieved that by gaining all of her levels through the use of AoE Grinding to help her speed through her quests. I don't support this method simply because I think it's cool, I support it because I know for a fact that it works.
One thing that I want to specifically point out in relation to the statement above, is that AoE Grinding is not the only means by which you should gain experience. The fastest way to level your paladin is to use AoE Grinding in conjunction with questing and farming. If you have quests that involve mobs in any way (basically everything except the "go talk to this guy" quests), then you have reason to AoE the mobs to take them out faster, thus gaining more experience in a shorter amount of time than you would by another means. If you have mats to gather for your professions, or your secondary skills (particularly cooking), or you need to gather mats for someone else to use to enchant your gear, then you will be able to do so faster if you AoE the mobs to get them. While it is certainly possible to do nothing but kill mobs constantly to gain your levels, it is definitely not the fastest way to do it.
Spending Talent Points
When leveling a paladin focused on AoE grinding as of 3.1, this is how I spend my talent points from 40-70:
- Lv 41-42: Spiritual Attunement 2/2 – Passive ability; when you are healed, you restore 10% of the healed amount as mana.
- Level 43: +1 Reckoning (4/5) – 8% chance after being hit with an attack, that your next 4 weapon swings will generate an extra attack
- Level 44: Divinity 1/1 – Healing you do, and healing that you receive are increased by 1%
- Lv 45-47: Redoubt 3/3 – +30% Block Value, also gives you a 10% chance when hit to get +30% chance to block
- Lv 48-49: Combat Expertise 2/3 – +4 Expertise, +4% Stamina and +4% crit chance
- Lv 50: Avenger's Shield 1/1 – Hurl your shield at the target dealing holy damage, and dazing them for 10 seconds. The shield jumps to hit up to 2 additional nearby enemies as well.
- Lv 51-53: Touched By the Light 3/3 -Bonus Spell Power equal to 30% of your Stamina, also adds 30% bonus healing to your critical heals
- Level 54: Guarded By the Light 1/2 – Reduces Spell Damage taken by 3%, also impacts Divine Plea which you don't have yet
- Lv 55-57: Shield of the Templar 3/3 – Damage taken reduced by 3%, Avenger's Shield gains a 100% chance to silence for 3 seconds when it hits
- Lv 58-59: Judgements of the Just 2/2 – Judgements reduce the target's attack speed by 20%, reduces cooldown of Hammer of Justice by 20 seconds
- Level 60: Hammer of the Righteous 1/1 – Hits the target and up to 2 additional nearby targets for 4x your weapon damage as Holy damage
- Level 61: +1 Guarded By the Light (2/2) – Reduces Spell Damage taken by 6%
- Level 62: +1 Combat Expertise (3/3) – +6 Expertise, +6% Stamina and +6% crit chance
- Lv 63-67: Deflection 5/5 – [Ret Tree] Increases your Parry chance by 5%
- Level 68: Improved Judgements 1/2 – Reduces the cooldown of your Judgements by 1 second
- Lv 69-70: Heart of the Crusader 2/3 – Judgements give you +2% crit chance against the target
Spiritual Attunement: The points in this talent can be moved if you desire to do so. Some people like it, some people hate it. Personally, I like it.
Divinity: The point I put in here can also be moved. This is one that a lot of people go crazy over and feel should be 5/5, but personally I don't find it necessary. You can take it away, or you can add more to it. Do as you please.
Judgements of the Just: This is another one that can have it's points shifted if you desire. I took it for a couple of reasons. First, because I like to solo elite mobs that are higher level than me and slowing down their attack speed helps me do that. Second, reducing the cooldown of HoJ is a nice bonus because of its use in interrupting spells.
Improved Judgements: There is a lot of discussion about whether you should put 1 point here or 2. Personally, I put 2 just because I like to have it available to me more often. For the 96969 rotation you only need 1 point in it, but other people feel that 2 is better. Decide for yourself. You can get by with 1, but it doesn't hurt to have 2. I find it useful when running low level characters through instances to be able to throw my judgements more often.
AoE Grinding Rotation: General
As I mentioned in the previous post, there really is no set rotation for AoE grinding, so I will once again stick to a general rotation for you here. If you find something that works better for where you are and what you are doing, then by all means feel free to use your own.
The most basic steps to AoE grinding are these: [Pull], Holy Shield, Judgement, Consecrate, Hammer of the Righteous, "Other Stuff"
Pulling includes each of the following: Exorcism, Avenger's Shield, Hand of Reckoning
If you have other mobs near where you are fighting your current group, and you aren't being overwhelmed, then feel free to pull them into the group as well. If there are not any stray mobs in the area to pull, then feel free to use your pull spell on one of the mobs you are currently fighting to help bring it to a close sooner. For this, I only suggest using Exorcism and Avenger's Shield since the damage from Hand of Reckoning is rarely enough to do anything other than kill critters.
You can look at my notes in the previous post about Pulling as part of your rotation for details as to why it is in my rotation as opposed to simply being part of AoE Grinding.
Holy Shield
Holy Shield always takes priority over Consecrate. It was true at level 40 when you got it, and it's still true at level 80. Holy Shield reduces the damage you take by increasing your Block, and it also deals significant damage to enemies when you block their attacks. Since Consecration only deals damage, and it costs nearly twice as much mana to cast, it is better to cast Holy Shield if your mana is low or the mobs you are fighting are all close to death.
Which Judgement you use is entirely up to you. By default I use Judgement of Light until level 60 because I have both Blessing of Sanctuary and Seal of Wisdom providing me with the mana that I need. Once I hit level 60 though my health starts to become less of a problem than my mana as I get more and more spells that help me grind down the mobs faster. At that point my default changes to Judgement of Wisdom instead.
Which Judgement you use is going to depend on your situation and may change from fight to fight even against two groups of the exact same mobs. The only time I use Judgement of Justice is when I am fighting humanoid mobs inside an instance and there are either caster mobs in the area, or I know that my healer could not handle me pulling more groups due to lack of mana or similar circumstance. I do not believe that I have used Judgement of Justice even once since I reached the Outlands.
Consecration is still, and always will be, the bread and butter of your run as a Prot Paladin. This is easily going to cover 40% of the damage that you do. I haven't kept a close eye on the percentages here lately, but up until I got my achievement for completing 90 quests in Hellfire Peninsula Consecrate averaged out to about 42% of my overall damage dealt.
This is best way to ensure that you continually deal damage to the mobs around you, and also helps you to maintain threat on all of them. With Righteous Fury both reducing the damage you deal and also increasing the threat you generate by 90%, pulling agro away from you is not easily done.
Hammer of the Righteous
This spell is an amazing contribution to how fast you are able to grind. Once you reach level 60 and pick this bad boy up you can finally start to move to a much more aggressive form of AoE Grinding. With already impressive amounts of damage coming from Consecrate and your reflective damage from items and Retribution Aura, the Hammer of the Righteous spell lays a powerful weapon-based beat down on the targeted enemy as well as two other mobs standing next to them.
With only a 6 second cooldown this spell gets fired off frequently, and with impressive results. Unless I have a very large group of mobs around me, or for some other reason feel that I might be forced to bubble or LoH, then I will use this spell in priority even before Holy Shield. I would not suggest that you do the same unless you are comfortable with your grinding and know the actions of the mobs you face. Otherwise, putting a higher priority on using this spell means that you grind through the mobs faster, which means more experience and more loot in shorter amounts of time.
"Other Stuff"
The "Other Stuff" that I have up there is where you throw in anything else that you might want to use. This includes Hammer of Justice, Hammer of Wrath, Exorcism, Arcane Torrent (Blood Elf only), item or trinket use, healing spells, potions, etc.
As you continue to get higher in levels, and you become practiced in pulling more and more mobs, you find that the "Other Stuff" tends to get left out quite a bit. The other spells mentioned in the rotation are the bread and butter of what you are doing, and they should be what you focus on if you are tanking a group of mobs. Once the numbers start to dwindle down as the fight progresses, then it's alright to throw the other things in there, but when you are fighting a group of high level mobs, it's better to spread your butter.
Healing: Special Note
If you need to heal, do not be afraid to go ahead and do it. It's alright to throw off your whole rotation for the sake of saving your own life. Be aware that spells that have a casting time (like Holy Light and Flash of Light) are going turn off your avoidance while you are casting them, so prepare to be hit more often and for a bit more damage while you are healing.
While you are still in your 40's and 50's you can probably manage to cast Holy Light without activating your bubble, so long as you are fighting a small group of mobs (around 5 or so) and you have enough health to take their hits throughout the cast time of the spell. If you are fighting a large group, then I suggest you resort to healing while bubbled, or by use of your Lay On Hands spell for a full heal.
After level 60, I no longer cast Holy Light without using my bubble first, and generally resort to Lay On Hands for my healing, or Bubble + Holy Light x2 if LoH is on cooldown. I also make use of bandages at this time to top my health off while I wait for my bubble duration to expire.
If you do use a bubble, then you have two primary options for healing. You can either cast Holy Light on yourself 1-3 times, depending on your total hit points, or you can cast Holy Light once and then use a bandage if you have kept up on your First Aid skill. Using bandages saves you the mana it would cost to cast a healing spell on yourself, and since you are bubbled you will not have its use interrupted. The higher level you are, the smaller percentage of healing you receive from a bandage, simply because they don't scale all that well. I still use them, but most often I stick with Holy Light.
AoE Grinding Rotation: Specific
At level 50 you finally start to be able to take mobs down at an increased speed with the addition of Avenger's Shield. It's a great tool for pulling mobs, but with Exorcism being able to target all enemies now as well as Hand of Reckoning, I very rarely actually use Avenger's Shield for pulling during my Solo Grinding. I will use it when I am in a group for the sake of establishing agro, but when I am going solo it is merely a tool for dealing massive damage to multiple mobs.
The general methods of gathering mobs that I mentioned in the last post still apply here, and will throughout. Find a method of pulling mobs that suits you and stick with it. If you are in a group then be sure to communicate with everyone else about how you intend to pull and when they should move into action. You don't want to be in the middle of a large body-pull and have your healer throw a small heal on you that grabs all the agro because you did nothing to establish it. Communication is key in anything you do.
In the list below [OS/P] indicates the use of "Other Stuff" and Pull spells. Use whichever you feel better fits the situation you are currently in.
The following examples assume that you are Solo AoE Grinding, and have already gathered the mobs you intend to grind via your preferred pulling methods:
Level 41-59, AoE Grinding on multiple mobs
1) Cast Holy Shield – it's better to start off with this to make sure your defense starts out high, than to worry about dealing damage with Consecrate. You increase your block, and those blocks do significant additional damage.
2) Cast Judgement of Light – restore your health while you attack your target. If you are high on health, go ahead and switch over to Judgement of Wisdom instead.
3) Cast Consecrate and reposition yourself if necessary to get all mobs in front of you – establish your primary source of damage and agro
4) Cast Avenger's Shield [OS/P] – "burst" damage to three targets. Though this is a ranged attack, you can use it in the middle of melee. If Avenger's Shield is on cooldown, choose one of the other OS/P spells. I almost always use Avenger's Shield as my first spell in the OS/P category.
5) Cast Arcane Torrent (if available) – restore 6% of your base mana, and a chance to silence nearby casters
6) "Other Stuff" – other attack spells such as Exorcism, or healing yourself if necessary
7) Repeat steps 1-6 as needed until the fight is over
Where the 96969 build optimizes it's cool downs, you really only have the 9's of that equation right now, so a lot of your cool downs are going to overlap.
At this stage in the game you need to set a priority for your spells. For me, I set my priority as Holy Shield > Judgement >< Consecrate. The reason why I do this is because HS provides more protection than either of the other two, it deals damage to multiple mobs (assuming you block their attacks), and it has a fairly low mana cost. Judgement and Consecrate are swappable in the priority list, depending on the situation. If you have a lot of mobs around you, then Consecrate is higher priority to take them all down. If you have only a few mobs around you, then Judgement is the higher priority to help you end with as much health and mana as possible when the fight is over.
Level 60+, AoE Grinding on multiple mobs
1) Cast Holy Shield – raise your block, and deal some damage while you do it
2) Hammer of the Righteous and Reposition to be in front of mobs – deal 4x weapon damage as Holy damage to 3 mobs within melee range.
3) Cast Judgement of Light – restore your health while you attack your target. If you are high on health, go ahead and switch over to Judgement of Wisdom instead.
4a) Cast Consecrate – If you want to get more into the rhythm of 96969, then go ahead and use OS/P here instead, and push Consecrate to the next step
4b) Cast Avenger's Shield [OS/P] – If you already used Consecrate, then throw the Avenger's Shield here, or one of the other OS/P spells if AvShield is on cooldown. I almost always use Avenger's Shield as my first spell in the OS/P category.
5) Cast Arcane Torrent (if available) – to restore mana and a chance to silence enemies.
6) Hammer of the Righteous – The 6 second cooldown of this amazing ability means it pops up multiple times in rotation.
7) Repeat steps 1-6 as needed until the fight is over
At level 60 you finally manage to get one of the 96969 components that fall under the "6" category, which is Hammer of the Righteous. This allows you to fall into the general rotation, using HotR as one of the 6's, and then the OS/P spells to fill the others.
Hammer of the Righteous is also the key to you becoming truly aggressive in your AoE Grinding instead of the defensive stance we've had to take for so many levels. Instead of having to rely so heavily on Consecrate and reflective damage, you can now deal a significant amount with HotR to help blow through the mobs more quickly. By no means does that justify no longer using Consecrate and the like, it simply means that you are not more aggressive than you have been up to this point.
I have found in getting closer to level 70 that I often times only manage to cast Consecrate once before my fights are over. If I manage to pull other mobs in during my rotations, then there will be additional castings as well, but I have been pulling for so long now that I rarely miss gathering all of the mobs I want from my initial pull unless I get dismounted very early in the pull. Even then, I have taken more to kiting the mobs around to gather more of them than I previously did now that I know I can get through the mobs faster with HotR.
Wrap Up
And there you have the rotations that I use from levels 40 through 70. As I mentioned before, when you are not fighting solo, there really is no such thing as a specific rotation because you have to be aware of everything that's going on around you, and you need to be able to react to the situation rather than trying to feel comfortable in a rotation. When grinding solo though, there's no reason not to have a rotation because you don't have to worry about other party members or anyone's actions other than your own.
As always, I appreciate any comments you care to share, and welcome any questions you might have.


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