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|2011-09-06, 20:33
|Link #1
Beta by Accident
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Maine
Age: 46
Nanoha Force Manga Theories & Speculation Thread
Not to put too fine a point on it, but can we keep the Force theories/speculation/discussion to the Force thread? This thread is for questions and answers for things that have fixed answers, and...pretty much anything about the Huckebein and the Eclipse are way too amorphous at this point.
[Mod edit]: Good idea, but instead of overburdening the Force thread, the theories and speculation can move here where they won't get in the way of the discussion about the manga itself.
Last edited by CrowKenobi; 2011-09-06 at 22:33. Reason: Edited thread open.
|2011-09-07, 21:47
|Link #5
Goat Herder
Join Date: Jun 2008
Age: 31
There's nothing current about Force at the moment. We get some spotty details about the latest raws, which we aren't allowed to post, and the translations are still 3 to 4 chapters behind. We debate and speculate on what information we get in that thread already--making it so this thread is the place to move that discussion to pretty much eliminates the need for that thread. You can't have both of them at the same time. We already proved that with the general Nanoha manga thread being active while there was a dedicated ViVid thread. One gets ignored in favor of the other. Ultimately, the point of this thread is wasted.
|2011-09-07, 23:24
|Link #6
Burst Mode
With this division doesn't it mean that in the Force thread now we can only say "this is what happened" and we then have to come to this thread in order to say "this is what I think what just happened means"? The unnecessary step is self evident.
|2011-09-10, 18:59
|Link #8
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
So, can someone explain that one Huckebein's teleportation abilities to me?
He's capable of quick, rapid short-range teleportation, right? Is this presented as something which should be impossible? Is there any reason given for why he's good at it?
Is he capable of long-range or interstellar teleportation, like the Wolkenritter?
|2011-09-10, 19:12
|Link #9
Adeptus Animus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Age: 30
Teleportation has never been explained at all, so we don't really have a clear answer on this. But the basics should be the same as any other teleportation you've seen. You disappear at one place and re-appear at another, traversing long distances in the blink of an eye.
Also, considering this is a discussion of current events and not future ones, where does this particular tidbit go? This thread or the other Force thread?
|2011-09-10, 20:51
|Link #12
Labda Prakarsa Nirwikara
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Pekanbaru (UTC+07:00)
Age: 31
The significance of his teleportation, if any, is that none of our teleport-capable protagonists seemed to remember that they have one, so someone using it after such a long time came as a surprise (or at least a "damn, I forgot personal teleportation existed in this universe!") for the readers
To those who can understand the yet-to-be-translated chapters, did Mobile Section 6 perform any after action review after their messy battle? Properly analyzing what happened, why it happened, how it can be done better - all the basics?
Because skimming through the untranslated chapters, all I'm seeing are them training the Force trio and Ginga (is she even officially a part of MS6?) talking to Caladfwelch folks about the clone troopers Raptors.
What lessons have they learned from the previous battle?
Did they find any weakness in the Hucks anti-magic? From the fight with Cypha, is seems her anti-magic is an active skill instead of passive, so is it possible to overwhelm or ambush her before she could actually activate them?
There was mention of a power source problem, that the new toys ran out of battery fast. Will the solution for this - I recall a mana-to-electricity converter or such - be ready for the next engagement, what changes will it bring and how effective will it be?
The last time they fought, several members got badly injured including their commanding officer. Being wounded may be an acknowledged risk of being a soldier but it doesn't change the fact that they need a moment to reflect themselves. How are they going to fight from now on knowing that their previous approach had been unsuccessful? What team composition would be effective against their enemy?
One more thing. I still don't know how Nanoha (and Tsuzuki) plan on keeping her no-kill policy with a Strike Cannon. She can't exactly use magic to set it to stun as she have before, and it will left a bad taste in the mouth if they end up with the Kenshin Solution ("Don't worry, I used the back-side of my sword. Blunt trauma? What's that?")
|2011-09-10, 21:41
|Link #13
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
So uh, maybe Ill bite.
Lets take a look at Touma. Nice guy, dangerous trigger to anger, still seems fairly normal even with all of the emotional baggage (and his own words of his magic being alright, chapter 3), so yeah, time to go over with a fine tooth comb (too much boredom! Bad project!)
Spoiler for Blah Blah Blah:
Now, question: Is there any reason why the theory thread that we already have is not suited to this, and in fact should have it instead of this thread?
More detailed discussion should probably go in the Military Decisions thread on page 2, I suppose.
Last edited by Kuze; 2011-09-10 at 21:52.
|2011-09-10, 23:16
|Link #14
Labda Prakarsa Nirwikara
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Pekanbaru (UTC+07:00)
Age: 31
It's glossed over? that's good!
Well actually it's kinda bad, since it highlights Tsuzuki's odd balancing of plot exposition and detail as usual (unless he's invoking Unspoken Plan Guarantee) BUT what's good about it is that it means we can speculate(thus fulfilling the criteria for this thread ) what MS6's future course of action will be.
What do you guys think? Any thought on how MS6 will address the aforementioned points?
NOTE: Yes my question could fit the Military Decisions thread too, but my question also fit here so it goes both ways, and like Sunder I want to give this thread a try
|2011-09-11, 00:22
|Link #15
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Canada, Sault Ste. Marie
I'm not sure it's such a good thing that we keep asking 'why' while we're reading this series.
Also, Aki said something in the TV Tropes thread about there being some explanation about why Section Six is the only one officially combating the Huckebein? Did it make any sense, or no?
|2011-09-11, 03:03
|Link #16
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: There's this dot on the world map...
|2011-09-11, 03:56
|Link #17
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Canada, Sault Ste. Marie
Well it's not like he was really going teleport-teleport-teleport every two seconds in the fight, was he? I only saw two obvious occurrences of it from him, anyway.
And yeah, that's what I meant. Compared to everything else the Hucks can do, it's hardly mind-blowing.
|2011-09-11, 04:06
|Link #18
The Flame Crussader
Join Date: Aug 2009
Considering he can keep up with Fate one-on-one while being a Big Muscled Guy holding a humongous Axe-anchor thing i think his instant teleport has something to do. Still, Deville's teleport abilities seems to be the fastest seeing in the franchise(faster than Yuuno, Lutecia, Caro and Shamal's at least).
|2011-09-11, 04:46
|Link #19
I'm here for the reason..
As Mao Zedong said: "The true power grows out of the barrel of a gun."
|2011-09-11, 09:23
|Link #20
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
It only makes sense that a short-range teleport to a place you can see would be faster, maybe even easier. Maybe even something that you learn as a intermediary step towards being able to teleport to other continents, let alone to other PLANETS.
Really it's probably the writers not wanting Yuuno to suddenly appear to support Nanoha against the Book of Darkness even when he totally could have.
Caro had various reasons why she didn't need to teleport or why she shouldn't.
Shamal was more valuable just outside of the battlefield than jumping into it, and her Windows of Travel allowed her to tele-attack with just her hands.
Fate has never demonstrated the ability to make a Dimensional Teleport that doesn't involve traveling to the Garden of Time, which might have had some sort of beacon or gateway to facilitate the spell for somemone who knew the password.
The Wolkenritter... Well, the side materials say that Dimensional Teleport isn't normally a spell Ancient Belkans learned or used, so short-range movement may be something they've never actively tried to master or incorporate into their fighting styles. Especially since they can already move pretty darn fast, conventionally. Probably went against their knightly idea of combat, just like shooting and bomdardment magic, and capture spells.
|Thread Tools


text:
Business Partners at Biesse Headquarters
Biesse invited its Business Partners to show all the latest Made in Biesse technologies, attending interesting training and visiting the production plants in Pesaro.
The meeting has been a great opportunity to share with our Partners the Biesse Group results, the coming projects and the target for 2015. Our Product Managers presented the new Biesse solutions, new features on existing machines and effective sells tools. All engineered to succeed. Furthermore the 150 attendees got a glance on the novelties Biesse will launch at the main world woodworking machineries show at Ligna (Hannover) next 11-15 May 2015.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Warrant? I Don't Need no Stinking Warrant!
- Jim Mason, Esq. Senior Counsel, HSLDA
- 2013 2 Jan
What would you do if a police officer came to the door of your home and demanded to be allowed inside? Would you ask to see a warrant? Or would you simply stand aside?
This was the situation that 23-year-old Joseph Batt faced on Tuesday, April 17, 2012. At the time, Joe lived at home with his parents, Tim and LuAnn, and younger siblings in Orchard Park, New York.
A few months earlier, the Batts had taken in LuAnn's father, Fred, who had dementia and other chronic illnesses. On April 16, LuAnn had had a discussion with a relative about some of Fred's personal possessions.
On Tuesday afternoon, Joe's mom was at a doctor's appointment and his dad was on his way home from work, leaving Joe to tend to Grandpa Fred. When Joe saw two police cars parked in front of his house, he did not feel alarm, only curiosity about why they were there.
He approached the two officers, who were casually chatting outside their cars, and asked if there was a problem.
Lieutenant Joseph Buccilli demanded that Joe produce his driver's license, which Joe had left in the house. The officer then demanded to know his full name and date of birth. After answering the question, Joe again asked why the officers were at his home. Buccilli said they were there to perform a "welfare check" on behalf of adult protective services. He then demanded to be allowed inside.
"You do not have permission to come in"
The Batts have been members of Home School Legal Defense Association since Joe was a child, so he grew up reading about his Fourth Amendment rights in The Home School Court Report. Furthermore, Joe's older brother, Dan, is a federal law-enforcement agent, a profession which the Batt family holds in high regard.
Joe respectfully refused Officer Buccilli's demand to enter the home. He told the officer that his grandfather had just been seen by a nurse's aide who reported that all was well.
Lt. Buccilli angrily told Joe that he didn't need a warrant to conduct a welfare check. He said he would enter without permission and arrest Joe if he obstructed him in any way.
When Joe stepped inside to call his older brother on his cell phone, Lt. Buccilli followed him. "Please don't come in," said Joe. "I am making a private call. You do not have permission to come in."
But the officer stuck his foot into the doorway and prevented Joe from closing it. He then pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Inside the home, one of Joe's younger siblings finally reached Dan on the home phone and handed the receiver to Lt. Buccilli.
Lt. Buccilli announced over the phone that he didn't need a warrant and hung up, saying that Joe didn't know the law and that Buccilli had a right to come in without a warrant.
"You should not pretend to know the law!"
The officer pushed past Joe and went into the next room to see Fred. He lectured poor Fred—who had been visibly upset by the commotion—about how he had the right to forcibly enter a home when checking on the welfare of an adult.
As Lt. Buccilli finally left, he told Joe that he would "inform adult protective services about [your] lack of cooperation." His parting shot was, "You should not pretend to know the law."
In the meantime, Tim and LuAnn Batt heard about what was happening and hurried home. By the time LuAnn arrived, there were three policemen standing outside her home, including the police chief.
The police were soon joined by an adult protective services social worker who said she had received a report of an adult in need of services.
LuAnn invited her inside, and explained that her father was in hospice care and was seen regularly by a nurse, social worker, and nurse's aide.
The social worker saw that LuAnn's father was fine. She left in a few minutes, telling LuAnn that she was doing a good job. Fred has since passed away while in the comfort of his family's home.
What's really going on here?
I teach my children to be respectful toward and thankful for police officers and others in government service—those whose job is to keep the peace and serve the public. In fact, before I became a lawyer, I served in law enforcement for many years. In that time, I personally conducted just about every kind of search known to man.
So what was really going on in Orchard Park on April 17, 2012? We don't know everything for sure, but here is what we surmise:
- First, adult protective services received a vague, anonymous report about Fred's care.
- Second, the social worker called the police and asked them to meet her at the home. In our experience, investigative social workers, whether for children or adults, frequently call the police to accompany them to ensure "cooperation" when they arrive.
- Third, the police officers arrived first and were chatting with each other while waiting for the social worker. We suspect that they did not know the precise nature of the report—only that one had been made.
- Fourth, when he was approached by a young man asking why they were at his house, Lt. Buccilli decided to not wait for the social worker.
Here is what we do know: the Fourth Amendment does not permit the police to enter anyone's home without a warrant unless there is a real emergency—even if it's called a "welfare check."
A civil rights lawsuit
After much prayer and thought, the Batts decided to sue Lt. Buccilli for violating their Fourth Amendment "right … to be secure in their house."
They did not make that decision lightly, since they deeply respect law enforcement personnel in a real and personal sense. But they also hold the rule of law in high regard. They understand that police must respect citizens' rights, and that when they don't, they should be held to account.
The family hopes that their experience will result in good legal precedent, so that others will not be mistreated in the same way.
On December 11, 2012, HSLDA filed a civil rights suit against Lt. Buccilli in federal court. You may read the complaint here.
The battle for the front door
This case presents a new twist on an old story. In the early days of the homeschool movement, homeschooling was (wrongly) assumed to be illegal in many states. Homeschooling as an educational option was not as well-known as it is now, and far fewer children were being homeschooled back then.
Too often, early homeschoolers found an investigative social worker at their front door, often accompanied by uniformed police officers. These authorities were typically investigating anonymous tips that didn't have much to do with homeschooling itself—often something like this: "The children are always home, they don't go to school, and the family seems really religious."
Homeschoolers soon learned that front-door encounters with an investigative social worker could be traumatic for both parents and children alike. Protecting our member families from such unwarranted investigations was what drew HSLDA into what we call "the battle for the front door"—defending Fourth Amendment rights.
Now, as many homeschooling families are beginning to care for aging relatives, we are seeing new challenges in the battle for the front door.
HSLDA has long believed that it is important to dispel the notion among police and other authorities that all Fourth Amendment bets are off when they demand to enter a home to conduct a "welfare check."
Read about our other precedent-setting cases in which courageous homeschooling families changed the law and practices around the country, including the Calabretta case, the Stumbo case, and the Gauthier case. And please pray for the success of our appeal in the Loudermilk case, which we expect will be decided in summer 2013.
To all of our members whose dues support our mission to defend the rights of homes and families, thank you! If you are not already a member, please consider joining HSLDA to stand with the Batt family for freedom.
If you are considering end-of-the year giving, please consider donating to the Homeschool Freedom Fund. Your tax-deductible donation will be used specifically to fund HSLDA's freedom-advancing cases such as this one.
Our homeschooling freedom depends on our remaining a free people, secure in our own homes.
Senior Counsel James R. Mason is a member of HSLDA's litigation team, which helps homeschool families who are facing legal challenges. He and his wife homeschool.
Home School Legal Defense Association is a nonprofit advocacy organization established to defend and advance the constitutional right of parents to direct the education of their children and to protect family freedoms. Through annual memberships, HSLDA is tens of thousands of families united in service together, providing a strong voice when and where needed.
Publication date: January 2, 2013


text:
The Senate Thursday voted 68-32 to overhaul the nation's immigration system, an ambitious plan that creates a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants while requiring tough new steps to secure the nation's borders.
The measure, the most sweeping changes to immigration law since the 1980s, now faces a perilous path in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said flatly, "The House is not going to take up and vote on whatever the Senate passes. We're going to do our own bill."
Though the outcome of the vote was long known, Senate leaders created fresh drama by having members take the unusual step of voting in their seats, a practice reserved for only the most momentous occasions. One by one, senators rose from their seats to declare their votes, as a packed Senate gallery looked on, including an entire section of college students and parents wearing bright blue "United We Dream" T-shirts.
The Senate vote was a robust endorsement to a thousand-page bill painstakingly crafted by a "Gang of Eight" senators from both parties and amended this week to bring in some skeptics. Fourteen Republicans joined 52 Democrats and two independents in voting yes Thursday, while 32 Republicans voted no.
Debate was unusually impassioned.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., invoked the spirit of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, who worked feverishly to enact immigration legislation before his death in 2009.
"Senator Kennedy knew the day would come when a group of senators divided by party, but united by love of country, would see this fight to the finish," Reid said as he closed the debate.
"That day is today. And while I am sad that Senator Kennedy isn't here to see history made, I know he is looking down on us proudly. He is not alone."
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a key architect of the bill, had endured sharp criticism from conservatives for his efforts to find common ground. Before he voted yes Thursday, he recalled his parents, who came to this country from Cuba.
"Well before they became citizens, in their hearts they had already become Americans," he said. "It reminds us that sometimes we focus so much on how immigrants could change America, that we forget that America changes immigrants even more.
"This is not just my story," Rubio said. "This is our story. It reminds us that we are 'E Pluribus Unum.' Out of many, one."
Under the legislation, employers would have to check on a potential employee's legal status, and the number of visas available for skilled worked needed by the technology industry would be increased.
The measure would create a 13-year path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants. Those eligible could first apply for Registered Provisional Immigrant status, and achieve that status if they pass a background check, have not been convicted of a serious crime, pay any taxes owed and pay a $500 fine.
The registration would be valid for six years, allowing the immigrants to work and travel. After that time, the status could be renewed, as long as the same conditions are met. They also would have to show they had been regularly employed and had sufficient financial resources.
After 10 years, the status could again be adjusted. Immigrants would have to meet new requirements, including proficiency in English and a new $1,000 fine. Three years after that, in most cases, they could achieve citizenship.
Before green cards are issued to those with provisional legal status, though, five security-related conditions would need to be met.
Most notably, top executive branch officials would have to certify that certain steps had been taken to secure borders. Those include towers, ground sensors, thermal imaging, unmanned aircraft systems, Blackhawk helicopters and marine vessels. A 700-mile fence would be built.
Twenty thousand additional Border Patrol agents would be added to the 18,400 already in place.
Opponents saw the plan as de facto amnesty and questioned whether the security provisions were realistic.
"The promises of an open and fair process have been as hollow as the promises that this bill is the toughest ever and will end the lawlessness in the future. It's amnesty first and plainly lacks any mechanism, any commitment, to enforcement," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who led the opposition.
Other Republicans had a different take. They tend to represent states with large and growing Hispanic populations, and they were bowing to political reality. They saw their presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, win only about one-fourth of the Hispanic vote last year and are concerned that constituency is slipping away.
"If someone is going to be here in this country for 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 years, I want them to assimilate," said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. "I want them to have the rights, and more importantly, the responsibilities that come with citizenship."
Senate supporters had hoped that Thursday's vote would provide momentum heading to the House, but it wasn't immediately evident.
Boehner scheduled a July 10 meeting of House Republicans to plot the way forward. Finding bipartisan agreement is likely to be tough, since the House Republican caucus is dominated by conservatives unenthusiastic about a sweeping path to citizenship.
House Republican immigration writers have expressed a desire to present a series of bills, rather than a single comprehensive approach. The thinking is that allowing representatives to vote on several measures would make it easier to pass tough border security measures without forcing skeptical members to back a path to citizenship.
It remained unclear how much sentiment existed for any kind of program that could bring millions of undocumented immigrants to legal status.
"We are actually sending the right message to the American people that we are tolerant, but we are first a nation of laws," said Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho. "That's what the American people want to make sure, that we enforce the laws that are in the books, not that we're creating this atmosphere where we're encouraging the people to violate the laws."
But what, he was asked, would he do with the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants? "We don't have to answer every question right now," Labrador said.


text:
Employers should follow the Scots' lead on vehicle smoking ban
Different laws could cause headaches
Companies should order all employees not to smoke in any work vehicle and should follow the Scottish "no smoking" sign requirements because they are the most stringent when the English smoking ban comes into force one month from today.
On 1 July all four UK nations will have anti-smoking laws in place, but businesses will face four different and often conflicting sets of laws and regulations regarding smoking. While a building only has to comply with one set of laws, vehicles could be used in all four UK nations, posing a problem for managers.
According to a leading employment lawyer, it is possible to comply with all four sets of laws by adopting as company policy the strictest laws out of the four countries. Most cars are in fact exempt in Scotland, and the law varies in the other countries on what vehicles can be exempt.
"If you are a company whereby your employees drive to each of the four jurisdictions within the UK my advice would be to introduce a policy that all company vehicles should be smoke free," said Sara Sawicki, an employment law partner at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM.
"The signage that is included in the vehicle should be the international no smoking sign which should be at least 75 millimetres in diameter, which would meet the size requirement in Wales and Northern Ireland, but also to adopt the Scottish requirement as to wording," said Sawicki.
The Scottish law has no minimum size requirement for signs, but is the only law to say that there must be text along with the no smoking symbol, and that the sign must also carry the details of an owner or manager to whom complaints about smoking can be addressed.
There are a number of other differences between the laws in place across the UK. In Wales and Northern Ireland, signs must be 75 millimetres in diameter or larger. In England they only have to be 70mm across.
Signs must be visible in all vehicles used for business. Vehicles used primarily for private purposes are exempt, but business vehicles must carry no smoking signs even when they are not being used for work.
The legislation in England says that cars must be "smoke free", meaning that smoking never takes place in them. However, if only one person uses a particular car in England, the smoking ban does not apply.
The differences in national laws throw up curious potential legal problems. An employee driving a work car in Scotland could have a cigarette legally in the car and extinguish it. If that employee then drives to England he has committed no offence, but the vehicle is no longer a smoke free vehicle, which is an offence in England.
Other potential problems could arise, one company director with vehicles travelling to all four countries told OUT-LAW.COM. He said that if an employee in Scotland legally smoked in a work car there, that car would be the subject of an offence in England even if driven there purely for leisure purposes.
"A car used for work in Scotland could be liable in England even if not used for work in England," said the company director, who asked not to be identified. "That is my interpretation of it, because the law in England says that it applies to a no smoke vehicle used for work purposes, it doesn't say a vehicle used for work in England."
"The problem with these regulations is that we don't know how people will interpret those grey areas," said the director.
"The fact that you have lit a cigarette in Scotland; does that now become a smoking premises? I think it would be difficult to run that argument if somebody was stopped," said Sawicki. " But who knows? When you look into the regulations in the various different jurisdictions there are an awful lot of grey areas."
Copyright © 2007, OUT-LAW.com
OUT-LAW.COM is part of international law firm Pinsent Masons.
Related links
The Scottish law: Prohibition of Smoking in Certain Premises (Scotland) Regulations 2006
The English law: The Smoke-free (Exemptions and Vehicles) Regulations 2007 and the Health Act 2006
The Welsh law: Smoke-free premises, etc (Wales) regulations 2007 (pdf)
The Northern Irish law: The Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 (pdf)


text: Dear Folks People from all over the world were so kind to send me some Cryptostephanus vansoni. showing the utility of Email. I have measured from all 6 Cryptostephanus vansonii the nuclear DNA content. One out of six is an odd value I like to have your comment please no1. no2 from G. Duncan Kirstenbosch no3 Ken Smith Australia no4 fr Connie and James Abel S Africa no5 ( pink form!) from J Waddick USA All had nearly the same value 44.6 picogram DNA per nucleus. However a ""typical but large leaved white flowering form of J Waddick had 36.4 pg This suggests that it a = hybrid b.= a new species. It would have been simple if the pink form was the odd one ! Moreover a leaf of the other two species might trow some light here too! Ben J.M.Zonneveld Institute of Biology,Leiden University, Clusius lab Wassenaarse weg 64, 2333 AL Leiden, The Netherlands firstname.lastname@example.com Fax: +31-71-5274999. min temp -10C (15F)


text:
This treasure came from another newly acquired cousin. I have posted several times about connecting with cousin Steve through Ancestry. Little did I know this simple act of reaching out to a fellow genealogist would uncover so much family history.
Several days ago I received an email from Steve stating he contacted another possible relation living in Texas. Attached to the email were several photographs that could possibly be in reference to my 2nd great grand uncle, Charles Judd.
There were four photographs in all, two of a gentleman in his Civil War uniform, and two were his bible with inscription. You can't imagine my excitement when reading the screen and realizing this was indeed our Charles Judd!
Now Dee (still trying figure out exact relation) in Texas and I are communicating about shared heritage. She even made a list of names for our new family team. She has suggested "purveyors of the past", "missing linkers" or, "tree branchers".
Dee is a self titled "junky" for genealogy. How fortunate to find another family member that shares this passion and is willing to give open access to her records.
So on this Treasure Chest Thursday I wish to thank Steve & Dee, our families genealogy angels.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Treasure Chest Thursday - Civil War Photograph
2 comments:
Deb - I enjoyed reading about how you obtained this wonderful photo. It is an encouragement to reach out and makes as many contacts as possible. You never know where they will lead you. What a great picture.ReplyDelete
Thanks for the comment! It was amazing to connect with both these lines of the family.
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text:
Installing the Windows Operating System on the Pen drive is so easy. And it is necessary for those who want to take a preview of the Windows Operating System before installing in the System.
This trick will save the time from uninstalling and re-installing the Current Windows Operating System in the computer and more over we can use the Operating System installed on the pen drive in any Computer. And use the files with the interference of the installed Operating System on pen drive……And accessing operating system from the pen drive can help you to keep you away from the key-loggers while you are using public computers. So this trick can help you to access your bank accounts and sensitive data from public computer in secure way!
Getting Started: —-
Before starting to install the Windows 7 or Windows 8 on your Pen Drive you need to get some tools……
Get the original ISO copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8 or windows XP OS from Microsoft website..
If you already have the ISO image of the OS that's better and those who don't have… follow these steps
Get the Original disc of the Windows 7 OS or Windows 8 OS and make a ISO image file by using the NERO Burner or any other Image Burner
Then you need to have the extracting software just like (WinRar or 7Zip) and the main part is Pen drive of 16 GB(recommend with 3.0) storage capacity…or higher pen drive…
And finally the tool GimageX you can get this tool from here
Now the process starts….it will end in five simple steps
- Extract the ISO image onto local drive by using the WinRar or 7 Zip
- And now search for the file named "Sources"
- And then in that folder find the file "install.wim"
STEP 2: Preparing the Pen Drive
- Now plugin the Pen Drive to the Computer
- After the drivers are installed open your drive
- And backup your data to safe folder to the local drive….
- After taking the Backup of your files on pendrive you need to format completely (don't choose the Quick format mode ) to remove virus from pen drive
- After formatting your pen drive…
STEP 3: Installing the Windows 7 or Windows 8 or Windows XP
- Now fire up the GimageX and hit on the "Apply" tab
- Now in the source file enter the complete path of "install.wim"(extracted from the . ISO file enter the full path where the file is located on local disk)
- After getting the Source path file you need to enter the Destination of the USB drive.(USB volume label)
- After setting the Destination path you are recommend not to change the Settings (Leave them as they are)
- Now hit on the "Apply"
- After hitting on the "Apply" it will take some time to complete the process (Speed depends on the speed of the pendrive)
- After the Process is completed then it is the time to close the GimageX and jump to the Step 4
Step 4: After the Process
Now after completing the process you need to again fire up the Command Promote then need to enter the command as shown here bcdboot k:Windows /s k: (k is my pen drive letter change this with your drive letter) in command promote this will make your removable devices ready for receiving the booting files. and replace the above code with your drive letter……..
Now restart the system and enter into the BIOS settings and there you can choose the enable booting from the removable devices… (recommended to set the USB boot priority to First)
NOTE: The Speed of the operating system depends on speed of the pen drive.
Update: This tools may be helpful for you to Install Win 7 & other OS on a USB and CD/DVD.
- Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool (Only for Windows 7 32 & 64 Bit Versions)
- YUMI (Automated Universal MultiBoot UFD Creation Tool- You can create Multi Boot USB/CD)
For Download Links Please Look Below:
Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool (Click Here to Download)
YUMI (Automated Universal MultiBoot UFD Creation Tool- You can create Multi Boot USB/CD) (Click Here to Download)
Saikrishna is a student of Computer Science & Engineering and he is also a part time blogger who also blog at TSKSOFT. Started blogging in 2010 for fun and later its became a profession, helping co-bloggers and sharing the knowledge to everyone from what he learned.


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Fewer Americans filed claims for unemployment benefits last week, showing employers are holding off on firings as growth prospects improve.
Jobless claims decreased by 5,000 to 343,000 in the week ended June 29 from a revised 348,000 in the prior period that was higher than initially reported, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The Bloomberg survey median called for 345,000 claims. No states were estimated and there was nothing unusual in the data, a Labor Department spokesman said shortly before the figures were released. The data were made public one day early due to the Independence Day holiday tomorrow.
Muted staff reductions are a sign that companies are keeping headcount steady even as economic growth struggles to gain strength. Greater demand in the second half of the year, buoyed by consumer purchases such as automobiles, may persuade employers to add to staff as the Federal Reserve weighs whether labor market progress is enough to reduce its monthly bond- buying.
"It's been trending at a moderately low level," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida, who projected 345,000 claims. Among employers "there's still some concern about hiring. Obviously they want to see an increase in demand for the goods and services they produce."
Stock-index futures trimmed earlier losses following better- than-projected ADP jobs data. The contract on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index maturing in September fell 0.3 percent to 1,602.7 at 8:35 a.m. in New York. It had been down as much as 0.8 percent on mounting political unrest in Egypt.
Top Forecaster
RBS is the top forecaster of jobless claims for the past two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Estimates in the Bloomberg survey of 50 economists ranged from 334,000 to 360,000 after a previously reported 346,000 in the prior week.
The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figures, decreased to 345,500 last week from 346,250.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits fell to 2.93 million in the week ended June 22 from 2.99 million in the prior period.
That continuing claims figure doesn't include Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs. The number of job seekers who have exhausted traditional benefits and are relying on emergency and federal extended aid dropped by about 39,300 to 1.67 million in the week ended June 15.
The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits held at 2.3 percent in the week ended June 22, today's report showed.
States, Territories
Thirty-one states and territories reported a decrease in claims and 22 reported an increase, according to data that are reported with a one-week lag.
Applications for jobless benefits, which track firings, typically fall before job growth can accelerate. Employers in the U.S. added 175,000 jobs in May while the jobless rate rose to 7.6 percent as more Americans, perhaps buoyed by improved prospects, looked for work.
Payrolls climbed by 165,000 in June, according to the Bloomberg survey median ahead of Labor Department data scheduled for release on July 5.
Automakers such as Ford Motor Co. are pointing to signs of strength in the economy as sales pick up.
"Economic indicators continue to improve," Jenny Lin, Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford's senior U.S. economist, said on a conference call yesterday. "The manufacturing sector moderation may be coming to an end. Housing sector recovery looks to continue. Consumer spending growth pace is slowly picking up."
Cars and light trucks sold at a 15.9 million seasonally adjusted annualized rate in June, the strongest level since November 2007.
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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A soybean powerhouse, Brazil is also a growing force in corn, as demonstrated last year when it increased corn production by 31% to almost 2.9 billion bushels. With that record crop, Brazil's exports also jumped. Now the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service expects Brazilian farmers to set another planting record for both corn and soybeans this year.
"High prices do encourage people to plant more corn," says Jerry Norton, a chair of the World Agricultural Outlook Board's Interagency Commodity Estimates committees. "We expect to see continued expansion this year, especially in Brazil."
So how big can Brazil be in corn?
Much of the answer lies in the Cerrado, a region of grasses and scrub suited to corn production. Brazil's corn acres have been farther south in Mato Grosso and Parana, where corn is either a second-season crop or the preferred rotational choice after soybeans. Last year's record corn plantings involved just 25 million of the Cerrado's 500 million acres.
"Brazil is the one country in the world with the greatest amount of arable land that could be brought into production," says Jay O'Neil, senior agricultural economist at Kansas State's International Grains program.
The top 10 U.S. corn-producing states combined are still smaller in size than the Cerrado, he says.
"Cerrado means closed or inaccessible. It's a big open area with limited roads or rail and a northern river system that is not yet fully developed," O'Neil says. "Brazil's problem is making the land accessible, but price will motivate many things. If world prices stay high, expansion will take place."
For now, Brazil's infrastructure limits its capacity to move corn through its port system to international markets, according to Kurt Shultz, regional director for the U.S. Grains Council.
"Brazil has so much more incentive to export soybeans that there's a backlog of storage and transportation to move soy, and corn gets pushed to the side," he says. "Really, the transport logistics aren't there to move more corn."
Marcelo Favarão, a Brazilian farmer, agronomist and Corn & Soybean Digest columnist from the southern Brazil state of Parana, explains what the Brazilian emphasis on soybeans means for farmers there.
"The elevators prefer to receive soybeans at harvest, so if they have five pits to dump grain, they will only leave one for corn, and farmers have to wait a long time to deliver."
Agronomic factors also complicate Brazilian corn production, he says. "Corn genetics require cool nights for corn to produce its best, but most of the Cerrado is in low-altitude areas, so corn in the summer is not a good choice." That may change, however, as seed companies develop hybrids that can yield better at low altitudes.
Corn is also a more expensive crop to produce, Farvarão says, citing the cost of fertilizer, seed, harvesting and transportation.
"With just a smell of fertilizer, we can produce 40 bu./acre soybeans, and if we want, we can save and plant our own soybean seed. That is impossible with corn."
Currently, Favarão believes corn is viable in the Cerrado because of government incentives. Brazil buys corn above market prices for its grain stocks and pays the freight costs to ship it to other regions of the country.
Norton sees another challenge for Brazil. "In terms of storage, they are growing their crops faster than their storage capacity. They are also operating in a different climate [than the U.S.] where they go into humid conditions that aren't good for storing grain."
Brazilians know they have logistical problems, O'Neil says. "There's major government funding going into building new ports in northern Brazil, whereas most of their ports have been in the south around Santos," he says. "Now, with development in the Cerrado, they are funding a number of ports, including on Amazon River tributaries that reach into the Cerrado.
"They want to make that a barge market. That will make them far more competitive."
Brazil's government is also targeting roads and railroads for investment, although Norton notes that Brazil doesn't have the industrial base to support railroads the way the U.S. does.
So far, the government's plans have yet to ease farmers' transportation challenges, according to Favarão. "The administration is all speech and no action," he says. "To have an idea of the problem, the port of Paranaguá (one of Brazil's largest for grain exports) had no maintenance dredging for 20 years. Ships had to load half of the payload, then complete their cargo somewhere else.
"Since the 1970s, they have been promising to pave the 1,000-mile road between Cuiabá and Santarem. During the rainy season it is a nightmare. The 600 miles of dirt can take 30 days to drive."
For 2012-2013, Brazilian sources say an outstanding crop could challenge the nation's ability to deliver. "This year will be the year when Brazil's logistics will truly be put to the test," says Marcos Rubin, Agroconsult, who thinks infrastructure problems could curb Brazil's corn exports by as much as 2 million metric tons (11% of its 2011-2012 exports). Agroconsult is a southern Brazilian market analysis company in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, that tracks major Brazilian commodities.
Brazil's statistics agency has estimated corn output could jump by 27%, and while a growing livestock sector will consume part of any increase, most will go to the export market, according to O'Neil.
"Domestic demand is not keeping up," he says. "International grain traders are investing heavily in infrastructure, especially in the Cerrado, and expanding their presence. They see the new lands as a major part of future production and Brazil as a major supplier of corn and soy to world markets."
To Favarão, logistics and storage are critical but (grower) profitability is more important.
"The corn trade is not as good as the soybean trade. We can hardly contract our corn, but soybeans are the opposite, so we imagine how much money we can make. There are very few corn buyers in Brazil, and they manipulate the prices.
"The major reason corn is not king in Brazil comes back to 'money in the pocket.' The profit we make on soybeans is better."


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Even though we assume they have unlimited bank accounts and never have to worry about finding an adequate place to live -- there are quite a few celebrities who have found themselves "homeless" at one point or another.
Whether it be because they were traveling too much to settle down in one place, evicted from their houses or lost them to foreclosure, or were victims of natural disasters -- famous folks aren't exempt from being kicked to the curb.
Heck, even Robert Pattinson admitted having no place to live on Jimmy Kimmel Live after he sold the home he once shared with Kristen Stewart. Instead of having a house at that point, he told Kimmel, "No, I rented this archway and I just lived behind it. In one of those trash cans."
Ok, so it's obvious he was joking. But he was still "homeless," in a sense.
And he's not alone.
Here are five other celebrities who lost their homes and had to resort to plan B.
Image via Splash


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Climate Research
More moisture in the air due to a warmer atmosphere fueled by increased
greenhouse gas emissions will make extreme precipitation events more intense.
That's according to a NOAA-led study published in Geophysical Research Letters.
The study also finds that if carbon dioxide levels continue to rise at a high
emission rate, we can expect a 20 – 30 percent increase in the maximum
precipitation possible in large sections of the Northern Hemisphere by the end of
this century.
This Week in Climate News
Winter Is Finally Releasing Its Chilly Grip on the U.S.Clouds Helped Enhance Greenland's Record MeltingU.S. Dominated Global Disaster Losses in 2012: Swiss Re
The Archives
Click here to see past issues for each participating market.
Tweetable Fact
Data shows that in the Roanoke area, spring leaf-out has arrived five days earlieron avg since 1982 http://bit.ly/16z05gq
orMAP: How spring leaf-out, a sign that winter is finally over, has varied on avg. across the U.S. http://bit.ly/16z05gq
For More Information
Contact Us: email@example.com
Click here for a high-resolution version
The time when leaves start turning green is one sign that winter is finally over, and spring is here to stay.
But the date that trees turn green changes every year, and depends a lot on temperature. A warm spring can cause leaves to bloom earlier than normal, while a cold spring can let winter cling to the forests for few more drab weeks.
However, the story gets more complicated than that. A spring that gets too warm too quickly can actually delay the process, since the mild temperatures can leave the trees vulnerable to a late-winter freeze. Similarly, if the entire winter is warmer than average, then trees that require a certain amount of "winter chilling" to bloom on time, may also be delayed in the spring.
The map above shows trends in the date when entire forests starting turning green, over the 26-year period from 1982-2008. The data comes from satellite observations of the overall color of the forest. This is a rough measurement, but it allows scientists to make judgments about ecosystems and climate at a broad scale.
The map shows that leaves are coming earlier in some parts of the country like the Rocky Mountains and Appalachians, but that spring leaf-out has been delayed over time in parts of the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest. This is consistent with climate research that shows that many types of plants have not been blooming uniformly earlier over time.
We looked at the difference between when this time arrived during the first five years and the last five years of the study. In the Roanoke area, this date is coming about five days earlier on average since 1982.
Rising temperatures may actually be behind the way this date shifts in both directions. New research suggests that the response of spring leaves to warming temperatures may not be linear, due to the effects of reduced winter chilling, and increased vulnerability to late-winter freezes.
A continuing trend of warming winters may lead to further changes in the familiar timing of the seasons.
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Address750 Chase Pkwy Waterbury, CT 06708 Website (203) 575-8000
Naugatuck Valley Community College (NVCC) offers an enriching educational experience for degree-seeking students and those who are committed to lifelong learning. We offer a real alternative for students who want to save money and earn their associate degree without accruing large amounts of student debt.
Learn more about the unique programs and facilities offered at our College, or find out different ways you can pay for college to minimize your debt after graduation.
NVCC is a public, two-year, associate degree granting, co-educational, non-residential college and is one of 17 institutions comprising Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU). NVCC is governed by the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education.
We are a mostly open admission institution, offering more than 100 accredited programs leading to associate degrees or professional certification and over 120 continuing education/lifelong learning courses for professional development and workforce training. We are the only Connecticut community college to offer associate degree programs in aviation science, horticulture, digital arts and visual and performing arts, dance option. Courses are offered during days, evenings and weekends and individuals may enroll as full- or part-time students.


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How Do You Leave and Cleave?
- Dr. Greg & Michael Smalley, M.A. The Smalley Relationship Center
- 2001 20 Jul
There are many ways to cleave to one another physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. Lets take a look at some of these individually.
In the process remember that what works for some people doesnt always work for others. However we surveyed hundreds of couples and came up with the following techniques that seemed to rank among the most popular ways to cleave in those early days and weeks of marriage.
Physical Distance
We asked couples what helped them physically cleave to one another after getting married. The top response was geographical distance between the couple and extended family.
For some people this was merely a matter of doing what weve already talked about taking time away from extended family in order to strengthen the brand new marital bond between the two of you. Physical distance from extended family during this initial stage of marriage causes the following benefits, all of which help develop the cleaving time.
- You will need one another for daily support
- Neither of you can go to your former home, even if you want to.
- Privacy
- Knowing that when you get back together with extended family you can share experiences and bond over again to reconnect.
- You will be forced to depend on each other.
- You wont rely on parents to solve problems.
It was a wonderful time of developing our own lifestyle as well as dependence on each other.
Establish Boundaries
On an emotional level, the cleaving period is when you will share your feelings and hearts desires with your husband or wife rather than your parents. Of course you will have discussed many of these feelings during this, the engagement period. But situations will come up than can only take place once you are sharing a home together.
We recommend that you use this time to set limits on the involvement of outsiders, whether from extended family or friends or co-workers. Spend as much time as possible talking together, getting to know each other as husband and wife. This is the beauty of cleaving.
The following are some of the benefits that come from this type of emotional cleaving:
- You will learn to keep personal issues between you and your spouse.
- You will learn to say no to excessive demands outside the marriage relationship. husbands wisdom help protect from interference.
- You will feel committed to holding your spouse first in important decision-making and points of change in your life.
Leaving Past Behind
It is crucial that this cleaving period involve the fact that your spouse is now your central relationship. Perhaps you had a serious relationship prior to getting married. That is fine and probably has contributed greatly to the getting-to-know-each-other period that leads up to engagement.
Now, however, it is time to put the past behind you and press on to what is ahead. And that means your relationship with your spouse. If you always remembered your old girlfriends birthday with a dozen roses stop the flower delivery immediately. Nothing is more damaging to the cleaving period than making your spouse believe they are not after God first place in your heart.
The following is a list of things that might be involved in letting past relationships go as you cleave to the single most important relationship you will have in your life from this point on.
- Get rid of old letters and pictures of past relationships.
- If a possession was from a former relationship, perhaps sell it or give it away.
- Be sensitive to your spouses feelings when talking about the past and past relationships.
- If necessary, attend counseling together to work through issues that might have come up as a result of past relationships.
Depending on Your Spouse Spiritually
Spirituality is a very important part of your impending marriage. If you are not both believers, now is the best time to talk through those issues. There is nothing more heartbreaking than believing ahead of time that you will be likeminded spiritually only to find out that after the wedding vows one spouse has a completely different viewpoint than the other.
Talk through all issues of spirituality now. Include traditions, biblical interpretations, biblical translations, church attendance habits, prayer habits, Bible study habits, and any other issue important to you.
We knew one couple wherein the husband would not allow the wife to talk about God or put Scripture verses in any visible place in their home. We asked if theyd discussed spiritual matters ahead of time, and the wife shrugged.
I told him I couldnt marry him unless he believed in the Lord like I did. She glanced at her husband. And I told her I believed.
We looked at him, confusion clearly written across our faces. But you dont believe in God, isnt that right?
The man nodded. Yes.
We were beginning to wonder if wed stumbled onto the set of a Candid Camera shoot. Okay, then whyd you tell her you believed back when you were dating. The man frowned. That was the only way shed marry me.
Whatever you do, dont lie to your fiancé this way. Issues can be talked through, differences can be examined. But a lie can only cause irreparable harm.
Once you think alike when it comes to matters of God, realize that this will be the holy cement that will truly bind you together during this cleaving period. The following is a list of things that will help you cleave spiritually:
- Prayer for each other.
- Prayer together.
- Church attendance together.
- Serving in some type of church or mission service together.
- Bible reading together.
- Scripture memorization together.
We know one couple who memorized Scriptures together and then played a game whenever they were in the car. One at a time they would recite a verse until one of them was stumped. They spent hours this way, laughing, memorizing Gods word, and having fun at the same time.
This is a perfect example of spiritual cleaving.


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Birmingham: Indian pacer Ishant Sharma, whose 18th over proved to be the turning point in the ICC Champions Trophy final, said Sunday that he was "quite nervous" when things were not going India's way during the match.
England needed 28 runs from the last three overs with middle order batsmen Ravi Bopara (30) and Eoin Morgan (33) striking an important fifth wicket partnership, looking like taking their team home.
But the lanky pacer came into bowl the 18th over and struck immediately to send both batsmen back to the pavilion.
"I was quite nervous, things were not going my way but I held my nerve. I've done it in the past so maybe that's why (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni thought I could do it," said the Delhi bowler, after India beat the hosts by five runs in the final here at Edgbaston.
"We have to say thanks to the crowd, they have been tremendous; there are no words for them," added Ishant.
India had set a target of 130 in 20 overs which the hosts failed to chase down, finishing 124/8 in the rain-marred match.
India were also the joint winners, with Sri Lanka, of the 2002 Champions Trophy.


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Isabelle Fuhrman: 'Hitman: Absolution' Out November 20th!
Isabelle Fuhrman walks alongside her mom while out at Farmers Market at the Grove in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon (November 11).
The 15-year-old actress was just revealed as the voice of Veronica for the Hitman Absolution game — out on November 20th.
The game takes place in the United States, and follows Agent 47 as he is betrayed by those he once trusted and now hunted by the police, he suddenly finds himself at the center of a dark conspiracy and must embark on a personal journey through a corrupt and twisted world, in his search for the truth.
Posted to: Isabelle Fuhrman


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Our second opinion may give you a second chance.
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Performance-enhancing-drug (PED) cheating in sports is getting out of control. The Ryan Braun/ Alex Rodriguez/ Biogenesis scandal is but the latest in what is becoming an increasingly long line of performance-enhancing-drug-related episodes.
Performance-enhancing-drug (PED) cheating in sports is getting out of control. The Ryan Braun/ Alex Rodriguez/ Biogenesis scandal is but the latest in what is becoming an increasingly long line of performance-enhancing-drug-related episodes.
Major league baseball has certainly had its share, with the late 1980s through the early 2000s now even being semi-officially referred to as the "Steroid Era." Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Rafael Palmeiro and Gary Sheffield are some of the names that immediately come to mind when one thinks of MLB stars who have been linked with PEDs.
Steroids were banned from MLB in 1991, but there was no league-wide testing until 2003, meaning that players used violated the ban on PEDs were unlikely to get caught. Jose Canseco's autobiography Juiced indicated that PED use was widespread in MLB, and subsequent events have certainly verified that allegation.
Other sports have also seen scandals as some of their stars have also been caught doping. Think Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis-bicycling; Ben Johnson and Marion Jones-track and field; Ray Lewis and Shawn Merriman-NFL; etc.
And that's just a brief sampling of names-sports from the professional level. What about the all the allegations of systemic steroid use in college athletic programs like Clemson? Even high school athletes have been known to try to gain a competitive edge by using various questionable substances.
What's the answer to this apparently growing problem in sports? To answer that, I believe we have to identify what the root cause of all the cheating is. There's an old saying, "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying." I HATE that saying.
What I believe is, "If you're cheating, it's because you've lost your perspective." There are two reasons people cheat at sports: (1) At the amateur level, one cheats in order to win. (2) At the professional level, one cheats in order to get the financial rewards that result from winning and/or being perceived as a good player (endorsements, lucrative contracts etc.).
At the amateur level, if you cheat in order to win, you are taking it way too seriously. You have forgotten what sports are SUPPOSED to be about. Dedication, self-improvement, friendly yet fair competition, learning teamwork, physical fitness, having FUN playing a game…these are some of the benefits theoretically accruing from participation in amateur sports. You can enjoy all those benefits without "winning."
Of course, winning is great. Everyone likes to win. But if one thinks its ok to resort to cheating in order to win, one needs to re-evaluate one's priorities. It shouldn't be that important to you, and if it is, there's something out of balance in your value system.
It is somewhat easier to understand why professional athletes cheat. There are millions of dollars at stake in advertising endorsements and lucrative multi-year contracts. And whose fault is that?
What it comes down to is, the viewing public—the fan— is at fault. Again, it comes down to a lack of perspective. The reason there is so much money in professional sports is because we, the viewing public, have made professional sports too important. We are willing to part with way too much of our hard-earned cash to support our favorite teams, and (with the possible exception of Cubs fans) no one is willing to accept "their team" being a loser.
If fans wouldn't pay huge fees to park their car, ridiculous amounts for a beverage at the stadium, and hundreds of dollars (in some cases) for tickets, there wouldn't be as much money in the pot. If fans wouldn't buy the products that sponsor televised broadcasts of sporting events, there wouldn't be as much money in the pot. And there would be less reason for athletes to cheat.
But because we fans ARE willing to part with that money, there are gigantic paydays in the world of professional sports. And 'winners' get even bigger paydays, so there exist financial reasons to cheat.
It's an economic issue, a supply and demand issue. As long as there is high demand for professional athletes who excel—and the athletes who excel the most get the most pay, there are going to be athletes who cheat in order to become more "excellent' so they can reap the extra financial rewards.
I have seen articles that argue that fans don't care if pro athletes cheat as long as their team wins. That's just sad, but it proves my point. Pro athletes aren't going to quit cheating as long as they perceive that they stand to benefit financially from cheating.
I am all in favor of the 'death penalty' for athletes who use PED. But let's not forget that we fans are the reason they do it. Unless we are willing to exercise some perspective, sports figures are going to continue to reap ridiculous financial rewards, and use whatever methods they must in order to achieve them.


text: Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - Qatar: rich, third world country Get TEFL Certified & Start Your Adventure Today! Job Discussion Forums"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!" FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Register Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in Qatar: rich, third world country Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Qatar View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message WantToKnowJoined: 18 Dec 2010Posts: 41 Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 6:08 pm Post subject: Qatar: rich, third world country MANY organizational and human rights problems. Considered as subject indicates by MANY other Arabs in other countries, too. Expensive to live there. Not convenient or concerned about meeting human needs. Very aggressive drivers. Beware. Back to top banana007Joined: 15 May 2011Posts: 4 Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2011 5:00 pm Post subject: Did you like anything about the country? Back to top lollaerdJoined: 03 Jul 2009Posts: 337 Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:15 am Post subject: Green Sheikh This sheikh is going the right way. http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/163413-green-sheikh-reaches-out-to-the-young.html Back to top wilberforceJoined: 27 Dec 2008Posts: 647 Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 6:52 pm Post subject: The evidence of wealth is everywhere - the buildings, the schools, the universities, the shopping malls!! Money galore! New buildings and corporations. The Lusail project is absolutely incredible! Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Qatar All times are GMT Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Where to Begin----------------General DiscussionNewbie ForumCurrent Events ForumTechnology ForumOnline Teaching Forum Africa Forums----------------General Africa Forum Asia Forums----------------CambodiaChina (Job-related Posts Only)China (Off-Topic)Hong KongIndiaIndonesiaJapanMalaysiaPhilippinesSingaporeTaiwanThailandGeneral Asia ForumVietnam Caribbean Forums----------------General Caribbean Forum Europe Forums----------------Czech RepublicFranceGermanyGreeceItalyMacedonia and the BalkansPolandRomaniaRussia & C.I.S.SpainTurkeyUkraineUnited KingdomGeneral Europe Forum Latin America Forums----------------ArgentinaBrazilChileColombiaCosta RicaMexicoMexico (off-topic)PeruGeneral Latin America Forum The Middle East Forums----------------BahrainEgyptIsraelKuwaitOmanQatarSaudi ArabiaUnited Arab EmiratesGeneral Middle East Forum North America Forums----------------General North America Forum Oceania----------------Australia/New Zealand You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling. Contact Dave's ESL Cafe Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved. Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group Teaching Jobs in China


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The Lodge at Crystal Palace
The iconic, world famous Crystal Palace National Sports Centre was opened in 1964 and today is a listed heritage building. Set within 200 acres of parkland, the facility provides a unique London venue steeped in sporting tradition.
The Lodge provides excellent value for money with options of single, twin and triple rooms. With 87 rooms across 10 floors with views over Crystal Palace Park and South London.
Continental breakfast is included with all bookings and dependant on other bookings residents have the option of lunch and dinner at an extra cost.
With its world class sporting facilities the on site accommodation is ideal for sports training camps and can cater for upto 144 athletes, coaches and support staff.
The National Sports Centre is operated by GLL, Leisure's most successful social enterprise, managing over 100 sports and leisure facilities across London. Visit www.gll.org for more information.
Fancy running on the same athletics track graced by the likes of Usain Bolt or Tyson Gay? Or swim in an International FINA accredited 50m Racing Pool? With the National Sports Centre itself just a short walk away there is the opportunity to make use of international sports facilities and take part in a wide variety of activities such as racquet sports, climbing, or football on offer at an additional cost.
Our guests can take advantage of some of these first class sports facilities for just £10 per day. This allows access to our state of the art 100 station fitness centre, a public swim session and use of the athletics track. We are also proud to be a member of www.payasugym.com which would enable visitors discounted access to the Fitness Centre.
The Lodge is a short walk into Crystal Palace itself which has a host of bars, restaurants and shops to entertain our residents. Crystal Palace Football Club are a 10 minute bus ride away where during the regular season games take place every other weekend.
The park itself has a lake and dinosaur trail as well as The Crystal Palace Museum and maze. The Horniman Museum is also just a short bus ride away from the Lodge in Forest Hill.
Central London is 25 minutes by train for London Victoria or London Bridge.
All bookings are accepted on the understanding that any regulations made by Greenwich Leisure Limited (building operators) for the safety or convenience of those using facilities, wil be observed and no liability whatsoever shall attach to Greenwich Leisure Limited or their servants or agents for any damage, loss or injury howsoever incurred.
Residents will have access to their rooms from 2.00pm Monday-Saturday and 3.00pm Sunday on the day of arrival unless otherwise agreed.
On the morning of departure residents must vacate rooms by 9.30am Monday-Saturday and 10.00am Sunday unless otherwise agreed. Please note that luggage can be stored at the risk of of residents only.
Any breakages or damage to property will be charged to the lead party member at a reasonable cost of repair / replacement.
Sports facilities can be booked as part of any group booking. Please contact centre staff directly to discuss this further.
The Lodge operates a no-smoking policy in all rooms and in communal areas.
Availability & RatesTo view availability and prices please select dates and click 'Update Dates'
Hostel Facilities & Policies
- 24 Hour Reception
- 24 Hour Security
- Free Breakfast
- Common Room
- Credit Cards Accepted
- Elevator
- Free Internet Access
- Free Parking
- Fitness Centre
- Linen Included
- No Curfew
- Parking
- Pool Table
- Reading Light
- Steam Room
- Swimming Pool
Cancellation PolicyThis property has a 1 day cancellation policy. Failure to cancel within this time will result in a cancellation charge equal to the first night of your stay.
DirectionsShow MapHide Map
The Lodge is within the 26 acre grounds of the National Sports Centre and is a 5 minute walk, 400m, from Crystal Palace Station which is just 25 minutes by mainline train from either London Bridge or London Victoria.
The local bus station is served by buses from all across South London including Clapham, Croydon, Blackheath as well as night buses from Central London. Crystal Palace is approximately 35 minutes from junctions 6,7 and 8 of the M25 and The Lodge has ample parking.
Located Near
The Lodge is set within the 200 acre grounds of Crystal Palace Park in South London. It is part of the famous Crystal Palace National Sports Centre which has hosted some legendary sporting events. The centre is open to the general public all year round and includes swimming pools, fitness centre, indoor and outdoor racquet sports as well as group exercise classes and a brand new climbing wall. Please visit www.gll.org for more information.
The Lodge is a short walk into Crystal Palace itself which has a host of bars, restaurants and shops to entertain our residents. Crystal Palace Football Club are a 10 minute bus ride away where during the regular season games take place every other weekend.
The park itself has a lake and dinosaur trail as well as The Crystal Palace Museum and maze. The Horniman Museum is also just a short bus ride away from the Lodge in Forest Hill.
Central London is 25 minutes by train for London Victoria or London Bridge.


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ROME (AP) — An Italian political candidate has asked prosecutors to investigate former Premier Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly defending fascism after the media mogul praised Benito Mussolini for doing "good" despite the dictator's anti-Jewish laws.
Gianfranco Mascia, who has led an anti-Berlusconi movement for decades, says he filed the complaint Monday with Rome courthouse officials, citing a 1952 law that forbids actions defending fascism.
Berlusconi sparked outrage at a Milan ceremony Sunday to commemorate the Holocaust by saying Mussolini had accomplished good in many aspects of his Fascist dictatorship. Berlusconi also defended Italy's alliance with Hitler's Germany, though he later stressed he condemns dictatorships.
Berlusconi was forced to resign in 2011 by Italy's debt crisis. He is aiming for a comeback in next month's national elections. Mascia is running in a regional race.


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The greatest problem our nation faces can be summed up in one word: leadership. OK, make that three words: lack of leadership.
America's corporate, political, media, academic and other leaders aren't. They're not leaders — because they refuse to stand tall, be bold, offer vision, inspire and ... well, lead. We've got too many 5-watt bulbs sitting in 100-watt sockets. They're squishing the historic can-do spirit of the American people, reducing it to a dispiriting ethic of surrender that says we-shouldn't-even-try.
Start with our leaders' willful abdication of the American dream. They've given up on the notion of producing a shared prosperity that creates a broad middle class. For more than a decade now, Wall Street and Washington have let millions of jobs disappear and pushed wages down. They now yawn at the entrenched jobs crisis that is eating the middle class, and rather than responding to the plight of millions of hard-hit families, they're trying to bust unions and kill minimum-wage laws.
They call it "the new normal," in which the workaday majority of folks should simply ratchet down their hopes and expectations. A national commitment to quality education, health care for all and a decent retirement has been reduced to a "YO-YO" program: You're on Your Own.
What about creating a vibrant new green economy based on renewable energy? Let China build it, they shrug. How about constructing a bold, nationwide, job-creating network of high-speed trains? Spain built a great one and even France has one, but we're told it's too much for America. Our deteriorating and dangerous infrastructure? Better that we cut taxes for the super-rich and pray for God to take care of infrastructure.
These people are pathetic. And shameful. You can't call yourself a leader if you're too weak and too afraid to lead.
One of the worst examples of their inability to lead is the new Securities and Exchange Commission's crackdown on the egregious pay packages that the elites of Wall Street keep grabbing.
By a three-to-two vote, SEC commissioners socked the money-grubbing bankers with a new "say on pay" rule. Rather than let top executives lavish money on themselves unchecked, the new rule lets shareholders of those financial giants vote on extravagant salaries, bonuses and perks. That'll rein in the excess, right?
Probably not. You see, the SEC has long been a gentle regulator, never wanting to hear a Wall Streeter say "ouch." Thus, the say-on-pay rule has no bite. Shareholders can indeed have their say, but it's a non-binding vote! Bank big-shots can simply ignore it. Yet even this velvet harness was too rough for the two soft-on-greed Republican commissioners, Kathleen Casey and Troy Paredes. Both voted no, with Casey explaining that the new rules "are unduly restrictive and impose unnecessary burdens" on bankers.
Don't despair, though, for justice still might be served. The SEC has since approved another compensation crackdown, this time specifically targeting outrageous multimillion-dollar bonuses. For the first time, big banks will henceforth be compelled to restrain themselves. How? By filing detailed annual reports about the bonuses they pay. Ouch, that'll sting, won't it?
Again, though, even this tiny pinch was too harsh for the compassionate Republican members. Both sided with the poor bankers, wailing that requiring reports is a big-government intrusion into the private sector, overreaching the SEC's authority.
Real leaders aren't in Washington — they're fighting for us on Main Street. Luckily, a public interest group named Bankster USA is rallying grass-roots support to curb banker greed. To find our nation's real leaders and have your own say and push for real reform, contact www.banksterusa.org.


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Climate Research
This study takes a look at how controlling greenhouse gases can affect global temperature, finding that the Montreal Protocol's reduction in ozone depleting CFC's may have contributed to the recent warming slow down. The Study | Our Coverage
This Week in Climate News
Inland States Most Likely to Ignore Climate Hazards: Study
Typhoon Haiyan's Deadly Surge Noted in Warsaw Talks
Super Typhoon Haiyan: A Hint of What's to Come?
NOAA's New Tool Puts Climate on View for All
From NASA
Visuals of climate change projections for the U.S. will be available on the Cloud through an agreement with Amazon Web Services - including NASA Earth Exchange satellite and global change data sets (temperature, precipitation, forest cover).
From NOAA
The U.S. October numbers are in. The contiguous U.S. was 0.6 degrees below average, while Alaska had it's hottest October ever at 8.8 degrees above average.
The global numbers are also in. So far, 2013 is tied for the 7th warmest year on record globally and on track to be one of the top ten warmest since records began in 1850.
Tweetable Fact
The globe's average temperature has risen 1.6° since 1900. Take a look at how it relates to CO2: http://bit.ly/1aTvm2Y
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Story Highlights
The average global temperature can fluctuate from year to year, but there is a distinct upward trend: a rise of 1.6°F since 1900.
While forms of natural variability such as El Niño account for year-to-year variability, they can't fully explain the overall warming trend.
This animation shows you how the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has a strong correlation with rising temperatures.
Using various methods, scientists have identified that it's more than just a correlation. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are the key driver behind global warming.
This week's graphic is an animation and available in two different sizes:
720 | 1080 It is also available as a still: WITH a title - WITHOUT a title
The average global temperature fluctuates every year. However, when you look at a snapshot of the global temperature trend, it's on the rise - particularly since 1970. The main cause? Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.
There are plenty of factors that influence temperatures in different regions across the globe. El Niño is one of the biggest drivers of year-to-year variability, increasing the likelihood of warm weather in the Pacific Northwest and cooler weather in the Southeast as well as a host of other global impacts. Longer-term fluctuations such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and aerosols from natural and human sources can further affect regional climate. Solar cycles also have global temperature implications, although on a much smaller scale.
These shifts taken individually and together account for the year-to-year variability seen in the global average temperatures. They can't fully explain why the globe has warmed about 1.6°F since 1880, though.
Overlaying the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere shows a clear correlation with that rise in temperatures. Of course correlation doesn't always equal causation.
However, reams of peer-reviewed research, basic physics, the ability to track the specific chemical fingerprint of fossil fuel-driven carbon, and the fact that no models can replicate this century's warming without pumping up carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere give scientists confidence that human carbon emissions are driving the globe's temperature higher. Other indicators such as ocean acidification, increasing deep ocean heat, melting ice and permafrost, shrinking snow pack, and sea level rise further make the case that the additional carbon dioxide is affecting the global climate system.
There are periods when other factors might temporarily slow that rise such as the much-discussed global warming "pause" of the last decade, but the overall connection is clear. If greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, the globe's average temperature is projected to follow suit. The worst-case emissions scenario, the track that we are currently on, estimates a rise in temperature of 4.7° to 8.6°F by 2100. International negotiators are at a meeting in Warsaw that continues through November 22 in an effort to lay the groundwork for a global climate treaty that aims to limit the temperature from rising more than 3.6°F above pre-industrial levels.
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A new report examines why dropout rates at the state's vocational technical high schools are on average lower than dropout rates at comprehensive high schools.
The statewide dropout rate at regular/comprehensive high schools was 2.8 percent in 2011. Among the state's 39 vocational technical high schools, the rate was 1.6 percent and 0.9 percent among regional vocational technical schools.
Vocational technical school superintendents say the difference is because students choose to attend a vocational school, choosing their area of study, and the academic and applied learning environment keeps students' attention, causing them to stay on through graduation.
The study from Pioneer Institute, a Boston-based think thank, examined dropout rate data from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The study recommends that more regional vocational technical high schools be opened, more money be invested in regional vocational schools to upgrade technology and equipment and an awareness campaign about vocational technical education be started.
Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School in Fitchburg, Shawsheen Valley Technical High School in Billerica and Nashoba Valley Technical High School in Westford each placed in the top 10 schools for lowest dropout rate.
Monty Tech's dropout rate for the 2010-2011 academic year was 0.4 percent, according to the report.
"We're lucky. We have a lot of kids that want to go to our school," said DeSimone.
Monty Tech houses 1,400 students. The long list of applicants means the students who are admitted are expected to maintain a certain level of performance, said DeSimone.
"They know that not everyone gets to go here," he said. "It's a plain and simple fact."
DeSimone said the school employs adjustment counselors and school psychologists to help students from the 18 member communities cope with being thrust into a new environment in which they may not know many of their classmates.
Both Shawsheen, with an enrollment of 1,324, and Nashoba, with an enrollment of 665, had a dropout rate of 0.6 percent last year.
Vocational technical high schools have strict admission requirements for students. Applicants are given a score based on attendance, grades and behavior in seventh and eighth grades.
In the 1995-96 school year, the dropout rate for both vocational technical schools and regular/comprehensive schools was 3.4 percent. Since then, vocational schools have posted consistently lower rates, the Pioneer Institute found.
Once known as trade schools for students who did not plan to go to college, vocational schools now have programs like engineering and robotics. Half of the students' time is spent in a trade area, alternating a full week of career education and a week of academics.
"The real world focus and the relevance is really important for them," said DeSimone.
Nashoba Valley Technical High School, which serves the communities of Chelmsford, Westford, Littleton, Groton, Pepperell, Shirley and Townsend, produced low dropout rates and raised enrollment by revamping its course offerings.
"We had to do things differently," said Superintendent Judith Klimkiewicz. "We had to address programs that were more attractive to the communities we serve. We got rid of welding, painting and decorating, and brought in pre-engineering, robotics and dental assisting. We modeled our schools after the communities we serve."
The district encompassing Nashoba Tech has the second-highest median income of all the regional vocational technical schools in state. Since 2006, the dropout rate at Nashoba has dropped from 5.1 percent to 0.6 percent last year.
For some certificate requirements at technical high schools, students are required to fulfill a certain number of hours. If the hours are not fulfilled, they do not receive certification and may have to go to a program and pay for it to complete their hours.
Every child absent from school receives a call from the dean of students. Three unexcused absences in a trimester and the student fails.
"We don't want to bring a student in here that's not going to graduate with a technical certificate and a high school diploma," said Klimkiewicz.
Reporter Michael Hartwell contributed to this report. Follow Sarah Favot on Twitter @sarahfavot.


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Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul on Wednesday implored Senate colleagues to support a sweeping overhaul of federal sentencing guidelines, saying they disproportionately affect minorities and are reminiscent of Jim Crow-era laws.
"There is no justice here," said the libertarian and potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate. "It is wrong and it needs to change."
Paul recounted from memory to a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee several cases he said he'd learned about where mandatory minimums had resulted in a miscarriage of justice
He said one man, Edward Clay, was arrested with less than 2 ounces of cocaine. Even as a first-time offender, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison because of mandatory sentencing guidelines, Paul said.
"Each case should be judged on its own merits," Paul said. "Mandatory minimums prevent this from happening."
Paul has drafted legislation with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy to give judges wider latitude to craft their own sentences as one way to relieve prison overcrowding and bring down the exploding costs of running prisons. The committee is looking at that bill and another that focuses on waiving mandatory minimum prison terms in some drug cases.
There are more than 218,000 federal prisoners, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a number that grown from about 25,000 federal prisoners in the 1980s, when many mandatory penalties were put in place.
Wednesday's hearing was the first step in what supporters hope will be legislative action by the end of the year. The Senate Judiciary Committee has not yet scheduled a meeting to discuss the bills affecting mandatory sentences. But Leahy has said repeatedly he would like to press forward on the issue.
In the House, there are no comparable sentencing reform bills and the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., has voiced skepticism. But a number of House Republicans have backed different reform efforts and have said they are watching closely what the Senate does.
At Wednesday's hearing, the committee heard from two supporters of reform efforts, Brett Tolman, a former U.S. attorney in Utah, and Marc Levin, the policy director for the Right on Crime Initiative at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
But another witness, Scott Burns, the executive director of the National District Attorneys Association, said mandatory minimums had been a useful tool for state and local prosecutors and questioned the push to change them.
"Why now?" Burns said. "With crime at record lows, why are we looking at sweeping changes?"
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas said efforts to correct problems were noble, but "we have to be careful not to legislate by anecdote. We have all heard legal horror stories."
Leahy pleaded with his colleagues to work together on the issue, saying it is one of the most important the committee is considering. To bring home the impact, he asked a dozen or so family members of prisoners sentenced to mandatory minimums to stand up.
The family members, who had traveled from Montana, Texas, Utah and Illinois, among other places, stood and clutched photos of their loved ones as Leahy closed the committee hearing.


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There are nanosize particles in your food. Does this make you nervous?
Food companies have been interested in using nanotechnology to intensify flavors and make products creamier without added fat. But that has nothing to do with the titanium dioxide nanoparticles, less than 10 nanometers across, that were found recently in the powdered-sugar coating on doughnuts from Dunkin' Donuts and the now defunct Hostess. The microscopic flakes may have ended up there by happenstance—a result of the milling process used on the powdered-sugar mixture. We may have been ingesting them for years.
The environmental health group As You Sow found the nanoparticles in samples it sent to an independent laboratory. The tiny particles are worrisome, health advocates argue, because they are so small they can enter cells throughout the human body more readily than larger particles. If the particles are toxic in cells, they could cause trouble. So far no one knows whether these titanium dioxide particles or other nanomaterials in food or food packaging pose a health risk. The European Union requires foods that contain nanomaterials to be labeled, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said it did not have enough information to determine if such products are safe.
Many companies appear not to know if their food contains nanoparticles or may be reluctant to submit to scrutiny. As You Sow attempted to survey 2,500 food companies for its report. Only 26 responded, and only two had specific policies regarding nanoparticles. Ten of the companies did not know whether they used nanoparticles, and two admitted to intentionally incorporating them in packaging. "We plan to work with scientists to understand if they will leach into food," says As You Sow chief executive Andrew Behar.
As You Sow is now trying to crowdfund further testing of M&Ms, Pop-Tarts, Trident gum and other comestibles—all likely to employ the same titanium dioxide found in the doughnuts and equally likely to be unintentional. "What are the health implications of nanomaterials that we know are in our food supply?" Behar asks. "How do we set up a system to make sure that they are safe?" As You Sow argues that nanoparticles of any kind have no business in food until safety testing is done.


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If Sen. Blanche Lincoln has her way, Congress will pass a supplemental appropriations bill that includes an additional Agricultural Market Transition Act payment for the 2001 crop year sooner rather than later in this legislative session.
"I have already been talking to some of my colleagues on the Senate Ag Committee as well as members of the Appropriations Committee about another disaster package to prevent market loss during 2001," she said in a speech at the National Cotton Council's annual meeting in San Diego.
"The response I've been receiving so far has been positive, and I'm hopeful that Congress will pass a supplemental appropriations bill early this year that includes an additional AMTA payment.
The Arkansas Democrat said she is supporting a supplemental AMTA payment that, at the least, would be equal to last year's supplemental payment, which was made at 1999 rates or 5.1 cents per pound for cotton. Under the 1996 FAIR Act, the 2001 AMTA payment is scheduled to decline to 3.8 cents per pound.
"I did not support the 1996 farm bill," she said. "I did not feel that it had all the components it needed to be successful. I don't have a problem with giving our farmers more flexibility. But we also need to give them the support they need, not only on trade issues but with programs that improve profitability."
Senator Lincoln, whose family has farmed near Helena in the Arkansas Delta for seven generations, said nothing is set in stone as the evenly divided Senate and the House with its slim Republican majority try to get down to the business of resolving issues.
"Don't take that to the bank quite yet, because nothing is guaranteed in Washington," she said. "But I can assure you that farm-state senators like myself will be pushing for providing the assistance our farmers need to stay in business."
Longer term, she said she and her colleagues must take a "deep look" at new farm legislation.
"Chairman Combest of the House Ag Committee has taken the first step toward this process, calling for hearings on agricultural policy that will begin in February," she said. (The first hearings were scheduled for Feb. 14 and 15.)
"Without a doubt the farm bill has not been as productive as we would like, not only for producers, but for us in the government," said Lincoln, who in 1998 became the youngest woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate.
"We spent more in the last three years for disaster payments than we ever spent before," she noted.
Change needed
"We need to change that, to give farmers something they can depend on and that they know they can take to the bank. I've said before that farmers need to know what they can expect from the federal government at the beginning of the year, not at the middle of the year or the end."
Watching and waiting as Congress turns the disaster package into a hodge-podge at Christmas is not productive for agriculture, she said. "You have to be able to go to that banker with a business plan in hand and say 'this is what I'm going to do and this is what I expect from Washington.'"
Responding to a question from the audience, Sen. Lincoln said she continues to favor easing payment limitations on all farmers, but especially those from the southern tier of states.
Hard sale
"It is really hard for me to translate to my Midwestern colleagues on the Agriculture Committee and in the Congress in general that cotton and rice — our major crops in the Sunbelt — are capital-intensive crops," she said.
"You make a large investment when you plant cotton — you're not just broadcasting wheat seed out in a field somewhere. You make a huge investment in energy, for example, and in herbicides and pesticides."
She noted that the Commission on 21st Century Agriculture, which issued its report on Jan. 30, was calling for lifting of caps on farm program payments.
"We have fought that fight, and we spend a lot of time to make sure that people understand that the way that we farm and the crops that we farm are completely different in terms of that capital intensity and the investments that we make and the limb you have to walk out on," she said.
"I think we have an opportunity in the new farm bill to make some changes, particularly in light of the 21st Century Agriculture Commission's recommendations."
E-mail: [email protected]


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Hello, I'm trying to grasp the concept of multiple pointers in C++.
For example, say we have a:
class A () { foo; }
...and later on in the program we have:
A* function1();
A** &operator[](char ) const {}
A*** var;
Now is the succession like this:
function1 --> &operator[] --> var
...or vice-versa?
At this point, the more I try to figure it out the more I'm asking, "Who's on first? What's on second, etc"