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The Quincy Music Theatre will present "Grease" Feb. 19-21 and 26-28. Friday and Saturday shows will begin at 8 p.m., while Sunday matinees will begin at 3 p.m. For ticket information, go online at www.qmtonline.com or call 875-9444.
The Gadsden County Tobacco-Free Partnership encourages all local businesses to be smoke-free. For more information, call 386-2065 or go e-mail email@example.com.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Gadsden County Times, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
|ZIP Code:


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The proliferation of cell phones equipped with video cameras has made shooting and sending x-rated videos easier than ever for teenagers.
The world of "sexting" -- sending sexually explicit text messages -- amongst teens that was once limited to raunchy words and pictures is increasingly moving into the video domain -- with devastating consequences.
Not a day goes by for 25 year-old Melanie Paradis that she doesn't think about the events that unfolded during her junior year of high school after an explicit video she made for a high school crush earned her the nickname "porn star."
"He asked me to send him a video using my webcam of me taking my clothes off." Paradis said. "I did it after school one day and sent it to him."
The video of then 15-year-old Paradis stripping was shared by her crush with another student, then uploaded to the school's computer lab; where it was viewed by other students, teachers, and even the principal.
"I'd be at the movie theater on the weekend with friends and someone would shout 'porn star' at me," Paradis said. "There was no escaping that I had made a mistake. I'd made a really big mistake."
According to a 2008 study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, more than 1 in 5 teenage girls have sent or posted nude images of themselves.
"It's a definite crisis," said Sgt. Thomas Rich, an Internet safety expert. "It's just modern day truth or dare with technology involved.
The pressure to send illicit material is also beginning at shockingly young ages.
"I was asked for a picture in seventh grade," said 15-year-old High School student Jessica Pereira.
The explicit images are often made between teens in a relationship, but after the teens break-up the videos can go viral.
When 16-year-old Julia Kirouac broke up with her boyfriend last fall, she shared the sexy images she says he pressured her into making for him.
"I felt like my whole entire world just, like, crumbled," Julia said. "I didn't—understand anything because the person that I had trusted the most did that to me."
The humiliation sent Julia into a deep depression and in early February Julia downed a bottle of pills -- in an attempt to kill herself.
She spent a week in the hospital recovering. Now, she says, she's learned a powerful lesson she wants to share with other teens.
"I just want them to know that they don't have to do anything that they don't want do," Julia said fighting back tears. " And if they think that they need to send pictures or videos, whatever it is, to a guy that they're dating or that they like, it's not worth it at all.

subset: commoncrawl


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Keepers and Sneezers: Two signals of branding success
The power of branding
I talked about defensible traffic in my previous post, but ultimately all your traffic sources can disappear, leaving you only with the visitors that remember your site, the ones that do not need to follow a link or click on a Google Ad. For me, those visitors are an excellent measure of the true success of my sites. Those visitors represent the strength of my brand.
There are two clear signals that tell me how strong a brand is: direct traffic and brand searches. Direct traffic visitors are visitors that simply type the URL or domain name in their browser. These visitors know the site. Brand search visitors are usually visitors that are not Web-savvy and go everywhere by searching. At least they remember the name of the site, but they don't remember the domain extension.
Both are indications that the site name is on the mind of the visitor. They are keepers: if every other traffic method disappeared, you will still get those visitors. Read more


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(Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard has closed a couple of miles of the upper Mississippi river near the confluence with the Missouri river after barges broke loose.
A filing with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency said loose barges floating adrift in the upper Mississippi river collided with Kirby Inland Marine barges, which were docked at the Marathon Oil Dock.
Coast Guard spokesman Colin Fogarty said the incident occurred around midnight and initial reports suggested there was a discharge of around 300 gallons of crude oil.
(Reporting by Arpan Varghese in Bangalore; Editing by Alison Birrane)


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Mô tả
STM32F100C6 Mainstream Value line, ARM Cortex-M3 MCU with 32 Kbytes Flash, 24 MHz CPU, motor control and CEC functions
The STM32F100x4, STM32F100x6, STM32F100x8 and STM32F100xB microcontrollers incorporate the high-performance ARM®Cortex®-M3 32-bit RISC core operating at a 24 MHz frequency, high-speed embedded memories (Flash memory up to 128 Kbytes and SRAM up to 8 Kbytes), and an extensive range of enhanced peripherals and I/Os connected to two APB buses. All devices offer standard communication interfaces (up to two I2Cs, two SPIs, one HDMI CEC, and up to three USARTs), one 12-bit ADC, two 12-bit DACs, up to six general-purpose 16-bit timers and an advanced-control PWM timer.
The STM32F100xx low- and medium-density devices operate in the – 40 to + 85 °C and – 40 to + 105 °C temperature ranges, from a 2.0 to 3.6 V power supply.
A comprehensive set of power-saving mode allows the design of low-power applications.
These microcontrollers include devices in three different packages ranging from 48 pins to 100 pins. Depending on the device chosen, different sets of peripherals are included.
These features make these microcontrollers suitable for a wide range of applications such as application control and user interfaces, medical and hand-held equipment, PC and gaming peripherals, GPS platforms, industrial applications, PLCs, inverters, printers, scanners, alarm systems, video intercoms, and HVACs.
Key Features
- Core: ARM® 32-bit Cortex® -M3 CPU
- 24 MHz maximum frequency,1.25 DMIPS/MHz (Dhrystone 2.1) performance
- Single-cycle multiplication and hardware division
- Memories
- 16 to 128 Kbytes of Flash memory
- 4 to 8 Kbytes of SRAM
- Clock, reset and supply management
- 2.0 to 3.6 V application supply and I/Os
- POR, PDR and programmable voltage detector (PVD)
- 4-to-24 MHz crystal oscillator
- Internal 8 MHz factory-trimmed RC
- Internal 40 kHz RC
- PLL for CPU clock
- 32 kHz oscillator for RTC with calibration
- Low power
- Sleep, Stop and Standby modes
- VBAT supply for RTC and backup registers
- Debug mode
- Serial wire debug (SWD) and JTAG interfaces
- 7-channel DMA controller
- Peripherals supported: timers, ADC, SPIs, I2 Cs, USARTs and DACs
- 1 × 12-bit, 1.2 μs A/D converter (up to 16 channels)
- Conversion range: 0 to 3.6 V
- Temperature sensor
- 2 × 12-bit D/A converters
- Up to 80 fast I/O ports
- 37/51/80 I/Os, all mappable on 16 external interrupt vectors and almost all 5 V-tolerant
- Up to 12 timers
- Up to three 16-bit timers, each with up to 4 IC/OC/PWM or pulse counter
- 16-bit, 6-channel advanced-control timer: up to 6 channels for PWM output, dead time generation and emergency stop
- One 16-bit timer, with 2 IC/OC, 1 OCN/PWM, dead-time generation and emergency stop
- Two 16-bit timers, each with IC/OC/OCN/PWM, dead-time generation and emergency stop
- 2 watchdog timers (Independent and Window)
- SysTick timer: 24-bit downcounter
- Two 16-bit basic timers to drive the DAC
- Up to 8 communications interfaces
- Up to two I2 C interfaces (SMBus/PMBus)
- Up to 3 USARTs (ISO 7816 interface, LIN, IrDA capability, modem control)
- Up to 2 SPIs (12 Mbit/s)
- Consumer electronics control (CEC) interface
- CRC calculation unit, 96-bit unique ID
- ECOPACK® packages


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Votto, Hanigan HRs lead Reds over Cubs 7-4
Votto, Hanigan HRs lead Reds over Cubs 7-4
Joey Votto extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a homer, and Ryan Hanigan and Brandon Phillips also homered on Friday night, powering the Cincinnati Reds to their fourth straight win, 7-4 over the Chicago Cubs.
The Reds have won 12 of their past 15 games, surging to a season-high 12 games over .500. They've dominated the Cubs, winning 15 of their past 17 in the series.
Chicago is last in the NL Central, having lost a season-high five straight. The Cubs (18-29) slid a season-low 11 games under .500.
Votto and Hanigan homered in the fourth inning off Scott Feldman (4-4). Phillips connected off Hector Rondon in the eighth.
Bronson Arroyo (5-4) gave up three runs in six innings, including Feldman's first career homer.


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Verifying the Verification
Often raised is the question of proof correctness: how can we be certain that a proof is correct? After all, a large percentage of proofs published in the mathematical literature are faulty. Could we also have introduced such faults in one of our proofs?
Faulty proofs are generally traditional "pen-and-paper" proofs, and are prone to human error, such as typos, oversights, or incorrect or incomplete applications of mathematical transformations. No such errors are possible in a theorem prover; it will only apply a transformation if permitted by the underlying mathematical logic.
The correctness of the proof then depends on the mathematical logic itself, and the prover's core, its proof verifier. Both are independent of the project, and have been used for countless proofs across a wide range of problems. The logic and verification approach itself is the result of more than 30 years of research in theorem proving, and theorem proving can now achieve a degree of trustworthiness for a formal, machine-checked proof that far surpasses confidence levels relied upon in engineering or mathematics for our daily survival (e.g., in most safety-critical or life-critical systems). Furthermore, the Isabelle prover allows extracting a prover-independent representation of the proof, which can be fed into an independently-developed proof verifier. Such a tool can be relatively simple, implemented in a few kLoC, and could be further used to increase the level of confidence in the proof, for example, as part of a formal security evaluation.
The remaining assumptions we made are the correctness of the compiler, a few small sequences of assembly code in the kernel and the hardware. Each of them, if faulty, could lead to an incorrect operation of the kernel, even if its implementation is correct. Unavoidably, if underlying hardware operates incorrectly, it is impossible to offer guarantees about the operation of the software.
Dependence on the compiler can be removed by the use of a verified compiler, proven to produce correct code. An optimizing verified compiler for the ARM architecture was recently developed by researchers at the INRIA lab in France. Compiling our kernel with that the INRIA compiler will eliminate the C compiler as a source of incorrect implementation.
Trusting assembler code in the kernel is a temporary restriction. The team understands how to verify these assembly sequences, and will do so in the near future.
Cost of Verification
Much of the cost involved in our project constituted a one-time expenditure. The experience gained can further reduce the cost of repeating the exercise on a similar object. We estimate that we could now design, implement, and verify similar systems at a cost that is a tiny fraction of the cost of high-assurance software. Cost calculations included kernel design (which itself includes many innovative features, beyond the scope of this article), implementation, development of proof tools, techniques and libraries, and the proof itself. This costs runs about an order of magnitude less than typical development, quality-assurance, and evaluation cost of software evaluated at the highest levels of Common Criteria (which provides much weaker assurance than our proof).
Our approach is thereby very attractive, and opens the possibility of deploying truly bulletproof software in areas where high assurance has been considered far too expensive.
What the result means is that OK Labs and its partners have completed a rigorous mathematical proof that kernel implementation (i.e., C code compiled into the kernel image that executes on a target platform) is consistent with its formal specification (a mathematical representation of the kernel ABI). The proof assures that all possible behaviors of the kernel are a subset of what is allowed by the specification. Such assurance makes a very strong statement, much stronger than ever achieved for a general-purpose OS kernel.
In particular, the proof explicitly rules out the possibility of typical bugs, such as typos, buffer overflows, and null-pointer de-references. The proof shows that the kernel cannot deadlock, enter into infinite loops, take exceptions, or otherwise crash. It also shows that no code injection into the kernel is possible. The kernel can only "misbehave" if underlying assumptions are invalidated (such as a hardware fault or a compiler bug).
This proof surpasses by far what other formal-verification projects have achieved. For example, there have been a small number of systems subjected to similar processes, but with verification of a model of the kernel, rather than the kernel code itself. This approach leaves a gap to be bridged by informal (and thus imprecise and not completely reliable) correspondence arguments between model and code.
The proof also surpasses the capability of static analysis techniques, which automatically analyze programs to detect possible bugs, using a mathematical technique called model checking. Such techniques can only check for specific properties, and cannot produce a general statement of complete adherence to the specification as performed by team.
The team not only analyzed specific aspects of the kernel, such as safe execution, but also provided a full specification and proof for precise kernel behavior. We have shown the correctness of a very detailed, low-level design of OK:Verified and have formally verified its C implementation. We assumed the correctness of the compiler, assembly code, boot code, management of caches, and the hardware; we proved everything else.
In addition, we have created a methodology for rapid kernel design and implementation that is a fusion of traditional OSes and formal methods techniques. We found that our verification focus improved the design and was surprisingly often not in conflict with achieving performance.


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Cyclura collei
|Scope: Global
Language: English
|Scientific Name:
|Cyclura collei Gray, 1845
Common Name(s):
|Red List Category & Criteria:
|Critically Endangered B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii) ver 3.1
|Year Published:
|Date Assessed:
|Grant, T.D., Gibson, R. & Wilson, B.S.
|Hudson, R.D. & Hoffmann, M.
|Lung, N.P., van Veen, R. & Robinson, O.F.
Although suitable vegetation still exists, extensive recent surveying has not located iguanas far from the central core protected zone (<10 km²). Habitat in the Hellshire Hills continues to be degraded by human encroachment from the periphery. The Jamaican Iguana is therefore listed as Critically Endangered given its extremely small range in a single location where there is a continuing decline in habitat.
|Previously published Red List assessments:
|Range Description:
|According to Sloane (1725), who visited the island in 1688, iguanas were once common in Jamaica although their distribution seems to have been restricted to the drier sections of the south coast. The Jamaican Iguana declined dramatically during the second half of the 19th century, probably due to the introduction of the Indian Mongoose (Herpestes javanicus [=auropunctatus]) in 1872, changing land use patterns, and human population growth. Today, the iguana survives only in the Hellshire Hills, a rugged limestone area with suitable habitat totalling 114 km². However, extensive surveying has shown that iguanas are only found near the central core area that is protected from mongoose (<10 km²). Despite the proximity to Jamaica's densely populated capital Kingston, the Hellshire Hills persist as a wilderness area because of its ruggedness and lack of surface water, making the area unsuitable for agriculture and large-scale settlement. The species was recorded to occur from sea level up to 200 m.
|Countries occurrence:
|Additional data:
|Range Map:
|Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Jamaican Iguana was thought to have survived only on the Goat Islands, two small islets offshore from the Hellshire Hills. The iguana was believed extinct after this population disappeared in the 1940s. However, the continued survival of the Jamaican Iguana in the Hellshire Hills was confirmed in 1970 (Woodley 1980) from a single individual and again in 1990, both found by hunter's dogs. A preliminary survey in 1990 revealed a small surviving population of fewer than 100 animals living in the least disturbed central and western sections of the Hellshire Hills. Two active nesting sites were also found though juvenile recruitment appeared to be minimal. Iguanas appear to have disappeared from northern and eastern sections of the Hellshire Hills because of extensive logging for charcoal production, use of dogs for pig hunting, and human settlements (CBSG 1993, B. Wilson and R. van Veen pers. comms. 2010).
Today, because of intensive predator control and the reintroduction of headstarted iguanas, the population in the central core area only is increasing. Field research has documented several milestones in the core area including: a greater than two-fold increase in the number of nesting females, successful reproduction among repatriated releases, and long-term survival and reproductive maturation of hatchlings (B. Wilson and R. van Veen pers. comms. 2010). The population trend for iguanas wandering outside the area protected by the mongoose trapline is unknown.
|Current Population Trend:
|Additional data:
|Habitat and Ecology:
Rugged limestone outcroppings comprise much of the Hellshire Hills with coarse red ferralic soil accumulating in crevices and depressions. Soil suitable for nesting is comparatively scarce. The vegetation of the Hellshire Hills consists of tropical dry forest, one of the world's most threatened ecosystems. Jamaican Iguanas are found only in the remotest sections of the Hellshire Hills where the forest remains in good condition. The Jamaican Iguana feeds on leaves, fruits, and flowers of a wide variety of plant species, supplemented occasionally by animal matter, including snails and insects.
Since 1991 the known communal nest sites have been observed intensively (Vogel 1994, Wilson et al. 2004) and individuals have been marked. Nesting occurs in underground burrows, filled with loose soil, and is guarded for several days. Gravid female iguanas begin digging trial holes long before egg laying. Females deposit their eggs in mid-June, and hatchlings emerge approximately 85-87 days later. Clutch sizes range from 6-20 eggs depending on the size and age of the female. Hatching success varies from 0 to 100% and appears to be related to maternal body size and seasonal rainfall extremes (B. Wilson and R. van Veen pers. comms. 2010).
|Continuing decline in area, extent and/or quality of habitat:
|Generation Length (years):
|Use and Trade:
|The Jamaican Iguana is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This iguana has not been utilized by humans since well before the late 1800s.
|Major Threat(s):
The most significant pressure on the remaining population in areas of intact forest are alien invasive predators, including mongooses, cats, stray dogs, and possibly feral pigs. Mongooses are very common throughout the Hellshire Hills and field observations indicate they prey on both young iguanas and iguana eggs. Cats occur throughout the area and are also known predators of juvenile iguanas. The dogs used to hunt feral pigs are of particular concern, as they are able to kill adult iguanas (Woodley 1980). Although feral pigs have not been observed disturbing iguana nests in the Hellshire Hills, evidence from Mona Island suggests they are potentially important egg predators (Wiewandt 1977).
Another significant problem is illegal tree cutting in the forest for use in charcoal production, a local industry that provides income to an estimated 10,000 Jamaicans. Approximately one-third of the Hellshire Hills is badly degraded as a result of this enterprise. Development projects proposing large-scale limestone mining, human settlements, and tourism also threaten the eastern half of the Hellshire Hills. Although a few localized limestone quarries might have only limited impact on the iguanas and their habitat, the new roads that would be constructed to facilitate the mining process would undoubtedly allow charcoal burners, pig hunters, and other forest users to migrate further into the forest.
The Jamaican Iguana is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), however, this iguana has not been utilized by humans since well before the late 1800s.
|Conservation Actions:
Although most of Jamaica's remaining ecologically important forests, including the Hellshire Hills, are owned by the government and protected by law under the Forest Act of 1996, the Act has received little enforcement. The Hellshire Hills is currently part of the Portland Bight Protected Area (PBPA). Declared in 1999, the PBPA is Jamaica's largest protected area and includes both of the Goat Islands. Designation as a protected area provides a promising legal instrument to prevent the expansion of large-scale development projects in the Hellshire Hills.
Following the rediscovery of the species in 1990, a local Jamaican Iguana Research and Conservation Group (JIRCG) was formed, comprising representatives from the University of the West Indies, the Natural Resources Conservation Authority, Hope Zoological Gardens, and the Institute of Jamaica. Together with a group of international iguana specialists, the JIRCG held an IUCN-sponsored workshop in Kingston in 1993, which developed a Population and Habitat Viability Assessment and a comprehensive plan for recovering this species in the wild (CBSG 1993). During the workshop, it became clear the current mortality level of juvenile iguanas in the wild was too high to permit survival of the population. This led to recommendations for a captive headstarting program at the Hope Zoo, which has resulted in the release of 138 iguanas back into the Hellshire Hills from 1996 through 2010.
The JIRCG is now known as the Jamaican Iguana Recovery Group (JIRG) and includes international collaborators. In addition to captive headstarting and release, the group continues to survey the wider Hellshire Hills, monitors individuals in the core area centered around the known nesting sites, and is detailing a complete natural history of the species (Wilson et al. 2004; Wilson and van Veen 2005, 2008). Repatriated animals have demonstrated high survivorship and are now integrated into the breeding population. Complementary predator control in the core area has resulted in improved recruitment attributable to enhanced survival among younger age classes. The group also focuses on education, international awareness, and habitat protection and improvement.
In 1994, an ex situ captive population was initiated with the importation of 12 iguanas to three U.S. institutions (Indianapolis Zoo, Fort Worth Zoo, and Gladys Porter Zoo). In 1996, this group was supplemented by a second importation of 12 iguanas to the San Diego Zoo, Central Florida Zoo, and Sedgwick County Zoo. After successful breeding in the U.S., the program has expanded to Fresno, Miami, and St. Louis zoos. The primary purpose of the U.S. captive population is to promote education, awareness, and provide support for the ongoing recovery effort of the wild population. Additionally, the captive colony is managed for long-term maintenance of genetic diversity in the event of catastrophic loss in the wild population (Grant 2010).
As a further safeguard against extinction, captive-reared juvenile iguanas may also be used to establish satellite populations on the Goat Islands, provided the islands can be rendered free of predators and goats. A priority goal, highlighted in the 2006 Jamaican Iguana Species Recovery Plan, outlines establishing a dry forest biodiversity reserve on these offshore islets and is arguably the single most critical conservation activity ensuring the long-term recovery of the Jamaican Iguana.
The species is listed on CITES Appendix I.
|Grant, T.D., Gibson, R. & Wilson, B.S. 2010. Cyclura collei. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T6027A12337339. . Downloaded on 24 September 2018.
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|If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown on this page, please provide us with feedback so that we can correct or extend the information provided


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Wholesale Organic Clothing - Soul Flower
Soul Flower is an eco-conscious apparel company with a simple philosophy: Be Kind, Be Soulful, and Be Yourself. Our passion is creating eco-friendly, comfort-focused fashions that reflect your spirit and respect mother earth. Founded in 1999 in Minnesota, we have followed the path of enriching the lifestyles of our customers by offering cool threads for kind heads. Today we continue to spread this positive vibe by offering wholesale organic clothing to other like-minded boutiques and yoga studios across the country and abroad.


text:
Business How To: Create Spreadsheets on iPad and iPhone (English)
Thursday, September 27
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Apple Halifax Shopping Centre
Go to My Reservations to cancel your reservation
You don't have to be a spreadsheet expert to use Numbers. We'll show you all the great things you can do, like create to-do lists, set a personal budget, organize travel plans, track meals, plan a party and more. Learn how to use tables, formulas, charts and graphs — then export or share your spreadsheets with ease.
7001 Mumford Road
Halifax, NS B3L 4N9


text:
Started 0-1? Your Season Is Basically Over
The defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens are one of 16 winless teams after Week 1 with the audacity to think they can still win the Lombardi Trophy. But is their first loss already one too many?
Despite how much football there is left to be played, a team's performance in its season opener may be a good indicator of future success: Only eight teams in NFL history have lost their first game and gone on to win the Super Bowl. The champions' record in their first games is 38-8-1 since 1966, according to Stats LLC.
That isn't exactly encouraging for the Ravens, who found themselves on the wrong end of Peyton Manning's seven touchdowns for the Denver Broncos on Thursday. Week 1 losers this year also included several other Super Bowl contenders, including the Green Bay Packers, who lost in San Francisco, and the Atlanta Falcons, who fell to the New Orleans Saints.
As hard as is it is to believe, though, there still is time for the Ravens to sort things out. Three Super Bowl winners—the 2007 New York Giants, 2001 New England Patriots and 1993 Dallas Cowboys—lost their first two games of the season before getting into their groove.
The other good news for Baltimore: its Week 2 opponent is Cleveland. Their quarterback, Brandon Weeden, has never been confused with any member of the Manning family.
—Ben Cohen
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NYC's Subways Are Slow, Crowded and Smelly—Officials Say Part of the Problem Is You


text:
9:00 pm
Who Live In Texas '75 Roger Daltrey, Pete Townsend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon are captured by the Summit Arena's two-camera system in Houston, Texas, on November 20, 1975. The video has been cleaned and the sound remixed by longtime Who collaborator John Astley. The performance stretches across the band's early career as well as featuring songs from their then new album, The Who by Numbers. Some of the classic selections include "Pinball Wizard," "Behind Blue Eyes," "Baba O'Riley (Teenage Wasteland)" and "Won't Get Fooled Again."G
10:00 pm
The Artist Toolbox "Sam Gilliam" "You go someplace so that you can learn something that is not in front of you." Sam Gilliam, known as one of America's leading abstract artists, discusses the importance of exploration and a curious mind, a need for 'investigation' in art. Says Gilliam, "Let's call it spirit. D
10:30 pm
Sun Studio Sessions "The Bo-Keys" The Bo-Keys embody the traditions of the Memphis "soul sound" and include legendary STAX and Hi Records sessions players Ben Cauley and Howard Grimes. In this episode, the Bo-Keys joined by vocalists Percy Wiggins and William Bell perform several fan favorites including "Hi Roller.". D
11:00 pm
Austin City Limits "Robert Earl Keen/Hayes Carll" Two Texas singer/songwriters take the stage. Veteran Keen, a frequent visitor to AUSTIN CITY LIMITS, demonstrates his flinty songwriting, distinctive voice and dry wit. He is followed by up-and-comer Carll.G


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When Superheroes grow old...
So Captain America sold his Harley Davidson, retired to the coast and now pootles about in an old VW campervan with a cool paint job. Seen here in a supermarket car park in Beccles. "I am loyal to nothing.. except the dream - and my Tesco Clubcard" is his new catchphrase. Possibly.
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New Weird Tales Podcast
Episode #34 - 20th September of the Weird Tales Radio Show podcast (available on iTunes, Spotify etc) contains part two of our interview with Brendan Keane on Celtic Revivalism, the Occult & the Irish Dimension. We look at the surprisingly recent origins of English church Harvest Festivals and the curious folklore of Chalk Back Thursday. And Inanna Arthen offers a handy guide to North American Neo-Pagan & Wiccan resources, including books and websites.
Follow this link to access all episodes of the Weird Tales Radio Show podcasts. The page also contains links to all our other podcast platforms. Click the player button below to hear latest show.
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TOMORROW, thousands of voters will go to the polls in East Lancashire, supposedly to vote for their local councillors and eight north west Euro-MPs.
However, for many it will be a chance to give their view on the main parties and register a protest vote.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage hopes tomorrow's polls will see a massive vote against membership of the European Union and be the springboard for major gains in the general election next year.
Tory leader David Cameron, in Pendle last week, hopes that the feel-good factor from economic recovery will start to show.
Labour strategists need evidence that their appeal has not faltered, while the Liberal Democrats are just hoping they have some voters left after a disastrous year.
The results in East Lancashire will be studied carefully by the experts of every party because they could hold the key to what happens next May.
The area includes some of the key marginals which will decide who wins power at Westminster.
Good Tory performances in Pendle, Rossendale and Darwen are vital if Tory MPs Andrew Stephenson and Jake Berry are to keep their seats.
For Burnley's Liberal Democrat MP Gordon Birtwistle, constantly trumpeting the town revival under the coalition government, a poor result means he has just 12 months left at Westminster.
Local issues and feuds will cloud the issue as Hyndburn yesterday proved. UKIP and the Greens hope to benefit from Labour's chaos in the borough.
Labour hopes that its stewardship of Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Rossendale and Burnley will allow it to tighten its grip on local politics and give it a fair wind, not just to keep its current seats but win new ones next year.
With limited hopes for the council polls, the LibDems hope that leader Nick Clegg's challenge to UKIP leader Nigel Farage will give it a boost despite poor poll ratings.
Mr Farage is confident of a second north west Euro-MP and hopes to see grassroots councillors give his party boots on the ground for next year.
Labour leader Ed Miliband has played the 'cost of living card' saying the economic revival has not helped hard-working Britain and sent his deputy Harriet Harman and shadow chancellor Ed Balls to Pendle to hammer home the message.
Mr Cameron came to the constituency himself - to Silentnight in Barnoldswick - to show he cared and promised that ordinary people would get the benefit of the growing wealth his government's austerity programme had paved the way for.
With no elections in Ribble Valley tomorrow, voters across the rest of East Lancashire will deliver a poll verdict that everyone else in the country will listen to.


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Tool Test: Affordable HVLP
Improve your game with a low-cost spray finishing system from Earlex.
By Glen D. Huey
Page: 16
From the October 2010 issue # 185
Buy this issue now
Finishing is often the "make it, or break it" part of a project. To improve your finishing abilities, it's time to stop relying on wipe-on and brush-on fi nishes and get busy spraying. When it comes to spray finishing, HVLP is king.
Earlex has made High-Volume Low-Pressure spraying affordable for most woodworkers. At less than $300, money should no longer be a barrier. The Earlex HV5000 Spray Station has a two-stage turbine, and the system works.
From the October 2010 issue # 185
Buy this issue now


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Reverend Fred C. Bennette, Jr. issues the bi-annual report for the Atlanta Chapter of Operation Breadbasket. Reverend Bennette expounds on the mission of Dr. King and the SCLC to create economic opportunities through advances in employment.
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SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Former Auburn golfer Cydney Clanton picked up her first professional victory Sunday, surviving seven playoff holes to take the title at the Symetra Tour Four Winds Invitational at the Blackthorn Golf Course in South Bend, Ind.
Clanton, a native of Concord, N.C. and a 2011 Auburn graduate, carded rounds of 69-69-70—208 to finish the tournament in a three-way tie for the lead at 8-under-par.
She carded 15 birdies on the tournament, including five in the final round as she moved from a tie for second into a tie for the lead.
Tied with Marissa Steen and Marina Alex after 54 holes, the trio went to a sudden-death playoff that went on for seven holes.
The three golfers played the par-4 No. 18 over and over until only one was left. All three carded pars on the first three tries while Alex notched a bogey on the fourth attempt, leaving just Clanton and Steen.
Pars continued on the fifth and sixth attempts with Clanton stepping up for a birdie on the seventh to take the win. After Steen missed her putt, Clanton knew it was her opportunity as she lined up to drain her 10-fott birdie putt.
"I didn't think it was going to go in at first," said Clanton. "It came in the bottom lip and once it went I thought oh my gosh, thank you Lord for being there, it went in. There weren't very many thoughts going through my mind because I thought we were going to be going again. It was a very exciting moment."
The victory is the first of Clanton's professional career and her best finish since tying for third earlier this year at the VisitMesa.com Gateway Classic at Longbow Golf Club.
Source: Auburn University Media Relations


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Pier Bridge #57May 23. 2013 3:05PM
Concord & Claremont Railroad Line
Newport, NH
The current bridge was built in 1907 by the Boston and Maine Railroad to replace a wood lattice bridge constructed in 1871-1872 by the Sugar River Railroad. The double Town/Pratt lattice trusses with laminated arches were long favored on the branch lines of the Boston & Maine Railroad, largely under the influence of engineer J.P. Snow. In 1900 at least one hundred of this type were in use on the Boston & Maine system. This bridge is also known as the Chandler Station Bridge.
Year of Construction: - 1907
Original Cost: - Unknown
East of Chandler Station and west of N.H. Route 103 on the Concord and Claremont Railroad line in Newport spanning the Sugar River.
Double Town-Pratt lattice truss. The bridge is 216'7" long with clear spans of 103'0" and 98'0" with a center pier. It has an overall width of 20'9" with a railbed width of 15'0", and a maximum vertical clearance of 21'1". This section of rail line has been abandoned.
* e-Edition subscription required


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Two S.C. Valedictorians Choose CIU
Two young South Carolina women who finished at the top of their class will be freshmen in the fall at Columbia International University.
Rebekah Thomas is the valedictorian for the class of 2011 at Northwood Academy in North Charleston. Rebekah says she will be majoring in Bible and Applied English with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies. She also told the Charleston Post & Courier newspaper that she hopes to one day be a missionary in the Middle East or Eastern Europe, as well as a teacher and a mom. Rebekah would also like to know at least five languages.
Meanwhile, the 2011 valedictorian at Calhoun County High School is also coming to CIU. Kerry Ann Stout plans to major in Intercultural Studies and Bible.


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Juan Cole has written a misguided article [1] comparing the "right-wind populism" of Palin and Ahmadinejad. Thoreau at Unqualified Offerings, who should know better, buys into this and writes [2]:
No doubt he's playing up some parallels and downplaying some differences, but it's nonetheless true that Red Province political factions around the world have a great deal in common.
This would be a lot more persuasive if Ahmadinejad were the leader of such a faction, unless we want to change what we now mean by "red," which has absurdly come to be identified with the main faction of what passes for the center-right here. If you look past a few superficial and ultimately meaningless similarities, it becomes very difficult to see how Ahmadinejad is anything like Palin. Ahmadinejad is more like Huey Long with an engineering degree (not normally the profile of a right-wing populist), whose power base is the rural and urban poor, and who has pushed for redistribution of wealth in his campaign rhetoric and in his governing policies. In other words, when it comes to actual policy Ahmadinejad is an actual economic, and even left-leaning, populist. Because of the peculiarities of Alaskan sources of state revenue, Palin was able to play at this for a time with her tax hikes on oil companies, but in her incarnation as a national political figure she has become the antithesis of all of this.
The "right-wing populism" Cole disdains when critiquing Palin has no real populist policies behind it. Palin and Ahmadinejad have both railed against corruption in principle, but even here we see a crucial difference. Despite her reformer mantra, Palin has been the political ally of Ted Stevens, and Ahmadinejad has been a stern critic and opponent of Rafsanjani and the wealthy elite of the country. Superficial electoral stunts aside, on the national stage Palin was one of the candidates of a predominantly middle- and upper-class coalition, and Ahmadinejad has been the candidate of the lower-class majority arrayed against an alliance of predominantly middle-class reformers and wealthy establishment figures such as Rafsanjani. Would anyone seriously claim that Palin is a sort of American Hugo Chavez? No, not really. So we shouldn't make a similarly silly mistake by comparing her to Ahmadinejad. Whatever they may purport to represent, their respective constituencies are as different as can be.
I suppose both do adopt a working-class Everyman/woman shtick, but once again when it comes to substance Palin endorses the usual pro-corporate economic policies of her party. Ahmadinejad's tenure has been an economic disaster as he has tried to buy his way out of economic woes with easy credit and spending, but this is a function of his genuine, if poorly-conceived and even more poorly-executed, economic populism. Palin's populism is purely rhetorical and symbolic: she is a journalism major who rails against journalists, and a politician who rails against the political class. Even if Ahmadinejad intends merely to replace one entrenched, corrupt establishment with his own cronies, and there is every reason to believe this is what he has been doing and will continue to try to do, this has much more in common with Chavismo than it does with Republican pseudo-populism.
Prof. Cole says at one point:
Both appeal to a sort of wounded nationalism, speaking of the sacrifice of dedicated troops for an often feckless public, and identifying themselves with the common soldier.
An important difference here would have to be that Ahmadinejad actually served in the Revolutionary Guards and trained members of the Basij militia [3] during a very bloody war. As we saw in her resignation speech, Palin's praise for the military is often enough self-serving: "soldiers risk their lives for your rights, so don't say mean things about me in the press!" Whatever else one might say about it, Ahmadinejad's "wounded nationalism" appeals to an entire generation that experienced a foreign invasion, while Palin's conventional pro-military refrains are boilerplate for politicians of both parties as they back any and all uses of force around the world. In Palin's defense, at least she does have one of her own children serving in wartime.change_me
Cole's comparison would work a lot better if Ahmadinejad were right-wing or if Palin were a populist.


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Congress Warns DOJ That If It Doesn't Support NSA Reform Plan, It Won't Renew Key Patriot Act Provision
from the get-your-act-together dept
And it's not just Sensenbrenner making those claims. Many others -- across the political spectrum -- made it clear during the hearing that the NSA's actions with regards to Section 215 were unacceptable and Congress is going to make them change things. Yes, nothing has happened yet, and Congressional bluster doesn't always lead to results, but it's becoming increasingly clear that the NSA (and the President's) desire to keep collecting everyone's metadata is not convincing anyone.


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Separate names with a comma.
Discussion in 'Thumpers' started by Bike Nomad, Oct 24, 2011.
Hmmmm...hadn't considered that, but not too sure I'll be exploring that either? :eek1
Why do you think it would hydroplane anymore than a similar conventional rear wheel drive bike with similar tires?
The simple answer is you would have both tires digging for traction and could maintain a higher SOW. And speed is what you need to stay up. Clear as mud.
What is SOW? I went to my old stand by http://www.acronymattic.com/SOW.html and out of 59 definitions only seepage of water seemed close?
Finally got a chance to ride it off road yesterday. The bike worked great, made it all the way to the top of Pat's trail, which is a rocky, steep switchbacked hill climb . About the top 25% was about 6" of melting, heavy snow churned up by 4x4 quads, but the Christini mowed through it, no problem. Even with 15psi in the 50/50 dual sport tires, it easily climbed up the steep switchback trail with rocks, roots and a snow topping.
At the top I rode a ways up the fire road, which was about 10" deep in the untracked parts. It was actually easier to cut throught the untracked snow than trying to follow the quad tracks, which were hard to stay centered in and caused the bike to wag. The bike would spin both tires and just motor through the deep, heavy snow, but it did cause the steering to feel very stiff, like you turned the damper all the way up. Not sure if it was the snow or AWD or both?
The bike felt pretty normal otherwise on the average trails, but a little stiff. I need to adjust the suspension a little more and it is probably still breaking in too. It does have slightly less steering lock than my CRF, but I really didn't motice it much. The drive ration, 64% under drive to the front, seems a little low? It allowed quite a bit of sideways drifting before the front pulled it backwhen flat tracking on Peter Burns road. I think some adjustment there will also make it better, maybe about 75-80%?
Hopefully I will have my Rekluse clutch and hand brake for the next ride. It was weird having to operate a clutch and using my foot to engage the rear brake?!? Some more suspension adjustments should also smooth things out. More to come! <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
I have one of the 2 KX450F Christinis , I had the drift you mentioned, so I switched the top sprocket near the gas tank to a 15 tooth from 16,,, which left too much slack,,,so I went back to the 16 and added 2 teeth to the rear wheel sprocket. I have been quite satisfied with this ratio.
I'm subscribed to this thread now so I'll be interested to read your comments on the Christini. I use the KX mainly on mountain trails, but plan to Dual Sport it. I just added a Rekluse and believe it's the greatest thing 2nd only to Steve Christini's brilliant all wheel drive system.
any news?
I've got the Rekluse EXP and will be doing the install of that, the rear hand brake, and my tall bars this weekend. Pics to follow.
Just an observation . . . I'm amazed at the firmness of judgmental, negative declarations expressed by individuals who've never ridden, perhaps never even seen, a Christini bike!
Their lists of hypothetical/theoretical reasons why the AWD system,won't work (all untested and none demonstrated) remain PROFOUND.
Similarly, Aesop's fox judged some grapes SOUR, without tasting them.
i'm planning to buy a 450ds in the near future.
how are the ergos for a 6'2" rider with a 32" inseam and week knees?
Well said, XDR, but new tech is always derided by some, at least initially.
TDR, I'm not sure what ergos work for bad knees, thankfully!, but it fits me pretty well with my 34" inseam. It also seems to have proper springs for a rider weight af about 200+ lbs?! The handle bar clamps are adjustable front to back in 4 positions, much like a KTM. The seat feels a little like a KTM too (hard)?! :huh
i dont like a close seat to peg ratio, my knee is best less than a right angle
my back side likes a wider seat.
the 450ds looks like it uses crf450x body and seat parts, if thats the case seat concepts has a wider seat
any pix or video of single tracking your awd mc?
Great to see these bikes getting out there and reading some reviews.
Can't wait to get our 450 DS's in to start looking them over and prepping it for our first big test trip in WI.
Going from a 950 to a 450 is going to be a bit odd for me, but so looking forward to it.
Keep the updates coming Pete.
Very interested to see how this works on this bike. Did you get this direct from Steve? I've heard the standard REKLUSE units for the Honda won't work on the Christini 450. I'd rather run the EXP than the Z-start PRO if I can.
This was not the end I simply backed the bike up a little an blasted through and continued on.
Next to impossible to get here without a Christini,,, left everyone behind.Is it lonely, you might ask? A little but too much fun to notice.
No, I got it from Rekluse after I returned the Z-start Pro which wouldn't fit because of the slightly larger diameter clutch shaft. I hear that Steve is making hubs for the Asia Wing motor so you can use a Z-start Pro or CORE clutch? I'm curious to try the EXP too, since I've only run Z-starts in the past. I should have it together this weekend.
Howdy cjracer,
Has their been any progress in moving your 950 AWD conversion closer to production? I haven't noticed any updates on your threads for a bit. Have you given any consideration to converting a 650 class bike to AWD?
A note on increasing the front drive rate.
As mentioned gearing the rear sproket lower will help close the gap and engage the front earlier, my 530 had a 13/9 front and a 16 tcase input, 45T rear for about a 67% underdrive rate, going to the 52 rear sprocket raised it into the 70% range.
Then I tried the 13/10 front countershaft and 15 tcase input and am at about 80% (same length 420 chain), great in the deep snow on studs, but tends to climb out of the rut a bit too early as it hardly takes any rear spin for the front sprags to engage...
I may go back to 13/9 and 16 for summer (offroad) conditions. Put a 49 on for local dual sporting.
Ya, He's offering custom Rekluse Z-starts for these. Can't wait for the EXP update and see if STOCK fits. Getting all the little odds and ends sorted for the bike build-up when it arrives.
I've just been swamped in the shop and sick the last few weeks. More important things to do to catch up than dig through 100's of pics and post more, although I really want to.
The AWD 950 ADV is done and working great. I've been talking with Steve about maybe doing a batch in the future with some custom parts built to my specs, but that won't happen until either of us have more time to sit down and look this over. I want an AWD 950 SE so bad now, so I can see myself building more in the future, it's just when?
If I can see any place on Version 2 to make it better, I want to do it if I can.
I have thought about doing other bikes, it just takes someone with cash to say do this to my bike at whatever cost....
Then me to say, OK, I'll stop riding for 6 months while I sort this out and build it.
I don't have the R&D time to do it for free.
The BIG Adventure bikes are great and would be helped out so much by this system. It has been awesome on the KTM 950. Instead of having go full throttle up tuff stuff and bend rims or what-not, I can pick and choose my lines better and slower for safer travel. Plus 2-wheel roosts with 100 HP is so much fun.


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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The new self-titled album from Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros is late. Way late. More than a year overdue.
Frontman and producer Alex Ebert wouldn't have it any other way.
"I'm just glad we didn't put it out all the way back then because so much developed since then," Ebert said. "Not just the difference a year makes but the difference even an hour makes. We were in the studio while taking a break from mixing when I came up with this song 'Life Is Hard.' Songs developed at sort of the last minute."
Some of the 12 songs on the band's third album, released Tuesday, were recorded more than 18 months ago with the music that would eventually appear on the California-based folk-rock band's 2012 release, "Here."
Ebert had so much music, he considered making "Here" a double album. Then he thought he'd release the material a few months later as a second album. But summer came and went. Seasons ticked away.
These were eventful times for the band, which has a sliding lineup that usually numbers more than 10 around founders Ebert and Jade Castrinos. "Here" opened at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and the band played to larger and larger audiences in bigger and bigger venues. This was driven in part by the popularity of "Big Easy Express," Emmett Malloy's documentary that landed a Grammy Award for the Zeros, Mumford & Sons and Old Crow Medicine Show, and the open-armed nature of their music, which lends itself to large-crowd sing-a-longs.
All the while Ebert continued work on the album.
"The work was very, very sort of diligent and 16-hours-a-day sort of work. At least 12," he said in a phone interview. "There was very rarely a day off. So it wasn't like, 'Oh, let's take our time.' It just wasn't ready yet and stuff kept evolving."
Along with the appearance of new songs, the material recorded earlier evolved as well. Ebert might change his vocal or alter instruments. Some songs were stripped down and rebuilt like a custom car.
As an example, "In the Lion" started as "a completely different song called 'Help Somebody,' and with completely different lyrics, and a different arrangement and different sounds," Ebert said. "I spent a couple days mixing it and getting it pretty close, and just decided it wasn't quite right. So I started laying down an acoustic guitar over the whole thing and just instantly I realized that I needed to keep going in that direction."
By the time the process was over, the shimmering harmonies and sunny moods of "Edward Sharpe" evoke the folk movement of California in the early to mid-1960s. Ebert incorporates others' sounds and feelings as well, but for the most part, he's trying to inspire a certain communal feeling — the same that the band's many members share when they gather to make music.
"For me I want to start a new golden era," Ebert said. "I want to have stuff that contributes to a new golden era. To me that means that the production and the songwriting, it all needs to sort of change in order for that to happen. For me personally music has not been as good as it has been in the past. To me it's not necessarily about reaching back into the past."
Ebert said the reason he was able to form Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros was because he was able to get "a good footing songwriting-wise where I had to think back to when I was a child and music was truer to me."
He believes the same thing is true with music in general. "Sometimes you have to look back and remember a time when things were better or more pure or just more potent."
Follow AP Music Writer Chris Talbott: http://twitter.com/Chris_Talbott.


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23 Jun 2012 08:45:28 AM
UFC on FX 4 Aftermath: Up is Down, Black is White, Fans Cheer Gray Maynard
Our thoughts exactly. Props: MMAMania
Gray Maynard has never been the most popular UFC fighter. Maybe it's because it's almost impossible to picture him as an underdog; he's an enormous lightweight who lives up his "Bully" moniker. (His choice of entrance music probably doesn't do him any favors, either.) He's always Goliath, and in our society we're conditioned to root for David. That attitude was epitomized in Frankie Edgar's back-to-back comebacks against him, with the crowd firmly in favor of the smaller fighter who seemed to rely on his will and technique, while Maynard relied on his size and power. As long as Maynard's achievements were contextualized within that narrative, he would always be the villain.
Clay Guida won the first two rounds of their main event last night by constantly remaining out of Maynard's reach, dictating the pace, occasionally landing jabs, and landing a solid head kick in the latter half of the second round. The action had been sparse throughout, but it seemed understandable; Guida obviously didn't want to engage Maynard head on at first, he'd tire him out and then wear him down. Well, that didn't happen. For the majority of the third round, Guida squandered whatever momentum he may have built by circling, dancing, and circling some more. It was UFC 112 Anderson Silva on meth. By the end of the round, Maynard was flailing with power punches, frustrated by Guida's unwillingness to engage.
Midway through the fourth round, Maynard had enough. With Guida still circling and refusing to engage, Maynard finally grabbed a hold of him, landed some knees and then proceeding to embody the audience's frustrations by dropping his hands and bellowing epithets, daring Guida to just stop running and hit him. Guida proceeded to oblige him, only to have Maynard walk through a hard overhand right, stuff a takedown and almost secure an arm-in guillotine in an unprecedented display of attitude and badassery that it actually caused fans to cheer him. Round 5 was unfortunately more of the same, which is to say, not much at all.Read More DIGG THIS


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Contention has emerged on the international trade front, where generic firms are contesting pharma efforts to include hefty exclusivity provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and other trade pacts. At home, discord has been mounting over actions by brand manufacturers to block access to drug supplies needed for bioequivalence testing by generics makers. Pharma companies point to risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS) that impose strict controls on distribution of certain medicines, and that strategy seems to extend to products without limited distribution requirements. FDA officials have stated that REMS provisions are not intended to block generic drug development. Lawsuits are moving forward, with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) supporting generic company claims that blocking access to test supplies violates antitrust laws.
Citizens' petitions and lawsuits continue to pit manufacturers against each other and FDA. Teva Pharmaceutical, for example, is appealing a recent court decision denying patent protection for its lead multiple sclerosis treatment Copaxone, which opens the door to generic competition in May 2014. Teva could retain market share longer if FDA requires full, placebo-controlled clinical trials on generic versions, which Teva says are needed to ensure the safety and immunogenicity of this hard-to-characterize product.Similarly, GlaxoSmithKline faces generic competition for its asthma treatment Advair (fluticasone/salmeterol) following FDA publication of guidance last month for developing bioequivalent versions of this blockbuster inhaled powder. FDA calls for some clinical trials—in addition to in vitro and pharmacokinetic studies—to document bioequivalence. But Sanford Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson predicts generic versions of this lead Glaxo product by 2016, noting that FDA gives Sandoz and other generics firms three years to "iron out all the wrinkles" in their development programs.
FDA officials have come down hard on brand companies that file late or trivial citizens' petitions to delay generic drug approvals, as seen in its recent blast of Novartis for "misuse of the petition process" in seeking to block generic versions of bone-loss drug Reclast (zoledronic). The agency's harsh language, notes Hyman, Phelps, McNamara attorney Kurt Karst (fdalawblog.net/, August 28, 2013), could fuel private litigation.
Countering coupons
A prime target of payers and PBMS are co-pay coupons from innovator firms, which have become a popular alternative to drug samples for promoting new therapies. The coupons usually cover all or part of the patient's co-pay or coinsurance for a drug to equalize outlays for a new therapy compared to older brands or generics.
But the strategy is costly in the long run for plans and payers, according to a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine (August 28, 2013) that analyzed some 374 brand-name medicines offering coupons, 62 percent facing competition from generics or cheaper brands. While patients may benefit greatly from coupons for essential life-saving medicines that have no alternatives, the authors note that insurers still have to pay the higher cost of the promoted medicine. And that can add up when patients with chronic conditions become reluctant to switch to a less expensive generic or brand once comfortable with the new drug.
Co-pay coupons are regarded as kick-backs in federal health programs, and the HHS Inspector General is examining whether Medicare Part D plans have sufficient safeguards in place to ensure that beneficiaries don't use them. The Senate Finance Committee also has examined whether coupons encourage beneficiaries to choose more expensive brand drugs over low-cost generics and thus cause Medicare to pay more than necessary.


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Kiva fathers show their dedication to family each day through their hard work and love. This Father's Day we wanted to highlight three Kiva dads committed to making life better for their families.
Bernard (pictured in the top right of the above image) is a hard working entrepreneur in Zambia-- but to his family, he is the adoptive dad to 13 orphaned nieces and nephews he has raised as his own since losing eight of his own siblings. Later this year, the youngest two will complete their university studies. Bernard says he wanted to raise the children "to be independent and educated," and has taken on the responsibility of raising the children as his life's central purpose.
To support the family, Bernard operates three mobile money stalls, with Kiva lenders' support. He provides a secure method of transferring money from one person to another through the use of cellphones, for important payments like tuition and medical bills.
The stability of his income is vital to his ability to continue to provide for his not-so-traditional family.
Kahnu Charan lives in Odisha, India, and is married with five children. He had to overcome physical disability to provide for his family because his right leg was damaged in an accident so his economic opportunities were limited.
Today, he weaves bamboo baskets and used a Kiva loan to buy materials in bulk. Currently he can only afford to send two of his children to school but he is hoping that the extra profit from selling more baskets will make it possible for him to send all five children to school.
Joseph is a donut/mandazi-maker in Kibira, Kenya. He has two young children, a boy and a baby girl. Joseph's son is proud to 'help' his dad in his shop, cheerily running to get ingredients when his father asks. He has had three Zip loans and has used the loans to hire help and also expanded his product line. He saves on his expenses by buying in bulk and known for his friendly attitude.
Cheers to all the Kiva dads out there, borrowers and lenders, who have given us so much inspiration and love. Happy Father's Day!


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Minnesota Timberwolves small forward Corey Brewer has been fined $5,000 by the NBA for violating the league's anti-flopping rules for the second time this season.
The punishment was levied on Monday.
The incident occurred late in the first quarter of Minnesota's 103-82 loss to Miami on Saturday. Brewer was jockeying for rebounding position with Heat star LeBron James. After James bumped Brewer off the block, Brewer flailed his arms and thrust his body toward the free-throw line to act like he'd been pushed hard.
Brewer was warned by the NBA last month for flopping. The league instituted a crackdown on the practice prior to last season.
He's only the second player to receive a fine as James Harden was fined last month.


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Tag Archives: world's best jumper
The Daily Fetch
World's best jumper identified! How does your dog match up?
Discovery News reports that the animal world has a new jumping king — the copepod. A one- to two-millimeter-long crustacean, this tiny creature can "accelerate to a speed of 500 body-lengths per second when they perform an escape jump," according to a recent study.


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Inspiration Boards As Art
To train for this weekend's Walk To End Women's Cancers, I ditched the car and my bike and walked to work as much as possible. What I found most interesting about it was how different the same streets and sidewalks can be when you can take the time to notice things you wouldn't otherwise. I started taking a camera with me to capture some of these moments that were truly inspiring, which got me thinking about inspiration boards. It seems there is always a new way to use technology for filing and organizing, but there is something about the old-fashioned, tactile method of tacking images and mementos on a board that makes it like an ever-changing work of personal art.
I was recently in London visiting Colette van den Thillart, who is a principal in Nicky Haslam's design office and one of the most stylish people I know. (Look out for her amazing house in the January 2011 issue, and be sure to watch this video tour of her cottage.) Her inspiration wall is in her office, and I love that she hung framed room renderings of Nicky's from the 1970s on top of it. His renderings are so beautifully detailed; I just learned he was Princess Diana's cousin!
Part of what makes Colette's inspiration wall unique is that she has a section dedicated to silhouette cutouts of inspiring people. She includes design and life inspiration, plus things that make her smile — there are tons of shots of her kids. Check out the Queen in a McDonald's uniform in the top left corner!
Another pretty inspiration board is Rachel Ashwell's in her Shabby Chic store on Mercer Street in New York. She's a pioneer of the comfortable, flea-markety design aesthetic, characterized by chipped wood furniture, drippy crystal chandeliers, simple but luxurious linens and tea-stained florals. I love the mix of written words with 3D bits and bobs — everything from dried flowers and prize ribbons to lace hankies and paint chips.
Designer Thomas O'Brien's bulletin board in his New York apartment is anchored by a teak bookcase and makes a wonderful vignette. He has a knack for beautifully displaying his collections. I love the underlying inky blue colourway that holds it all together. The mix of loose casual pictures, valuable framed prints, a Javier Marin bronze sculpture and a Gio Ponti two-spout vase, along with other objets, makes this inspiration wall part of the decor.
Toronto stylist Sabrina Linn (her condo was featured in the August 2009 issue — see the tour here) also made her inspiration corkboard part of the decor by using it in place of a giant piece of art in her entryway. It becomes a design catch-all for all the bits you need to keep in one spot, making it a good cure for clutter, too!
Inspiration collages are also a great way to fill empty wall space, like the one featured in our October 2010 issue. It goes to show that you don't need an actual board and pushpins — your wall and a little bit of glue goop works just as well. I love the free-form pattern here that can easily be added on to as you collect new things.
This is design editor Joel Bray's own DIY inspiration board in his office. He built the frame and painted it grey to dress up a simple piece of corkboard. I like how he's used grosgrain ribbon to create different sections. (Joel demonstrates how to make it in this video.)
I love the cool grey of this mood board and the mix of pendants and mementos hung from ribbons, letters and business cards, along with photos and paint chips. Continuing the display around the outside of the board adds to the effect.
I tend to use the frame of this oval mirror in my bedroom to stick pictures and mementos. It's not really a proper inspiration board, but it's a good example that just about anything can become a place for your keepsakes. And it adds a sense of personality and intimacy to your decor.Photo credits: 1-3. Suzanne Dimma 4. Martyn Thompson via Aero Studios, as seen in House & Garden November 2007 5. House & Home August 2009 issue, photography by Michael Graydon 6. House & Home October 2010 issue, photography by John Cullen 7. House & Home March 2010 issue, photography by Leslie Williams
8. Jeltje Fotografie, from the Style Files 9. Rob Fiocca


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very very happy to be included in this issue . . .check it out . . some cool poetry in there . .
some of my poem plays in So and So magazine
Published by Marcus Slease
Marcus Slease is a (mostly) absurdist, surrealist, and fabulist writer from Portadown, N. Ireland. He is the author of The Spirit of the Bathtub (Apocalypse Party), Play Yr Kardz Right (Dostoyevsky Wannabe), Rides (Blart Books), Mu (dream) So (Window) (Poor Claudia), and Godzenie (Blazevox), among others. His poetry has been translated into Danish and Polish, featured in the Best British Poetry series, and he has performed his work at various festivals and events in Prague, Madrid, London, Bristol, Manchester, North Carolina, and Ireland. He has made his home in such places as Turkey, Poland, Italy, South Korea, the United States, Spain, and the United Kingdom – experiences that inform his nomadic surrealist writing. Currently, he lives in Castelldefels, Spain and teaches literature at ES International High School. He is working on a trilogy of nomadic surrealist novels entitled The Autobiography of Don Whiskers. His newest book, The Green Monk, is forthcoming from Boiler House Press in November 2018. View all posts by Marcus Slease


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Citrus Basil Manhattan
Citrus Basil Manhattan
We're shaking up old Manhattan with this wonderfully unique recipe. Just add Maker's Mark® for a real taste of sweet and sour sophistication.
- 2 parts Maker's Mark® Bourbon
- 1 part fresh lemon juice
- 1 part simple syrup
- 2 basil leaves
- 1 dash Angostura® Bitters
- Basil leaf and lemon twist for garnish
- Add lemon juice, basil leaves and simple syrup to mixing glass.
- Add Maker's Mark® and fill with ice.
- Shake well and strain into chilled martini glass.
- Garnish with basil leaf and lemon twist.
Tags: Cocktails, Martinis, Citrus Basil Manhattan, Lemons, Simple Syrup, Basil, Angostura Bitters, Thirsty, Manhattan


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Michel Levesque's Sweet Sugar (1972) is a movie with a split personality. On the one hand it plays out like a weird attempt at a spoof of Women-in-Prison flicks, with a staff of guards who come off more like bumbling teens in an 80s sex comedy than the sadistic keepers they're meant to be, an eccentric but largely ineffective warden-cum-mad scientist, and a two-dimensional heroine as quick with a sassy double-entendre put-down as she is to drop her top. On the other hand, the oddball comedy of the guards and summer-camp camaraderie of the girls is punctuated by sick ideas and gore scenes that are less shocking for their presentation than for their stark incongruity in tone. As a result the whole is not really equal to the sum of the parts, but those parts are kind of interesting in their own right and keep the flick from being a complete waste.
As the film opens, our heroine Sugar (Phyllis Davis of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls [1970]), who is either a prostitute or just a super-aggressive girl who knows what she wants, is bringing a prospective john/pickup back to her apartment for a little slap and tickle. Her male companion fends off her advances and laughs in heavily Spanish-accented English, "Can't you keep your hands to yourself, Sugar? There are more important things in life than sex!" Sugar raises an eyebrow and challenges, "Name three." Yes folks, that's our girl!
Unfortunately Sugar has been a little careless in selecting her bar pickup--not Diane Keaton-careless, but still. Providing her with a big fat spliff and then excusing himself to the powder room, Sugar's male friend quickly returns with the vice squad in tow, who promptly arrest her for possession of illicit drugs and an outstanding rack. These are serious offenses in the unnamed Latin American country we find ourselves in, and after rejecting the police chief's offer of tat-for-tit, Sugar's only chance of staying out of prison is to agree to work in the government-owned sugar cane fields as unpaid labor. The irony of a girl named Sugar being sentenced to cut cane for two years is--dare I say it?--delicious.
Next thing you know Sugar and a group of other wayward girls are loaded into the back of a flatbed truck for transport to the sugar plantation, all to the strains of an earnest title-track theme song of the sort we just don't get enough of these days, imo. Along the way she meets fellow female ne'er-do-wells Simone (Ella Edwards), a sassy black hooker with attitude, and Dolores (Pamela Collins), a 17-year-old blonde bombshell of a virgin who has basically been sold into slavery by her old man. The girls get their first taste of what life on the plantation will be like when a wide-eyed innocent tries to escape the truck, only to be brutalized by the guards, who then make as though to rape her. But Simone, possessing the heart of gold her profession obviously requires, steps in to lure the lecherous lugs away and jumps on the...um, grenade? in her stead.
Once at the plantation proper we meet the guards who will be watching over our girls: old hand Max (Albert Cole, who looks and acts like All in the Family-era Rob Reiner) and new kid Ricky (James Houghton). It's here we get to see the beginning of the movie's somewhat tiresome running gag, as Ricky, who has apparently never seen a "women in chains" movie before, behaves like a bashful, lovestruck teenager on getting his first look at Sugar, and tells Max he'd "really like to get to know her." Similarly unclear on the whole sadistic guard/helpless captive relationship, Max sets about peddling a variety of products to Ricky he guarantees will win over the ladies and make him a man.
Not unclear on the concept at all are head guard Burgos (Cliff Osmond) and plantation boss Dr. John (Angus Duncan). Burgos is a disciplinarian of the old school, not above checking the new recruits' teeth as if they were horses nor whipping them when they get out of line. Dr. John doesn't wield his authority quite as strongly (an early scene where he propositions Sugar from his bubble bath starts out promisingly, with the good doctor boasting, "I know the secrets of UNDREAMED-OF pleasures!"--but when she refuses he merely pouts and sends her away in a huff), but makes up for it with his interest in ethnopharmacology (the study of traditional tribal remedies to see if they have modern application), which sets the stage for some subsequent mad-science flavored goodness.
The rest of the movie plays out along the well-worn path of WiP flicks, with the girls alternately catfighting one another and bonding in opposition to oppression. Sugar cements her hero status by mouthing off to the guards and taking up extra work for Dolores, who can't handle the strain, and when a platoon of male laborers is brought in, Simone starts a relationship with Mojo (Timothy Brown), a musclebound voodoo priest with strangely boyish charm.
However, despite the recognizable trappings, there's something about the movie that feels like it's not taking its genre all that seriously, or else just doesn't know enough about it to hit the notes. First of all, there's the continuing oddball humor, mostly centered around huckster Max and gullible mark Ricky, as they try and fail first to seduce Sugar and then several of the other girls. Also, this has to be one of the only captive women films I've seen where after the work day is over, the guards and laborers of both sexes gather round a bonfire for a folk-guitar singalong and beach party-style dance! Rather than guarding the prisoners and quashing joy, which is usually in the guard job description, Max sells them liquor from a huge overcoat and coaches Ricky on how to score with the nearly-raped innocent from the transport scene. And the ease with which Sugar and the other girls can go to and from their bunkhouse after curfew is fairly shocking--to say nothing of Sugar's encounter with a PUMA OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE, whom she's able to tame with her feminine wiles. Seriously.
All this would make the movie seem like a PG-13 attempt at a WiP flick remake, except for periodic and totally incongruous scenes of nastyness or outright batshittery. For instance, Dr. John's "experiments" all seem to involve ancient cures for frigidity, a malady none of his test subjects seem to suffer from. But that doesn't stop him from strapping Sugar to a table, hooking her up to a mad science headpiece, and injecting her with an herbal extract that causes her to have a spontaneous orgasm so strong it sends smoke billowing out of the orgasmometer! A later experiment has Dr. John injecting several domestic cats with a "primitivizing agent," then having the guards toss the cats on the girls to teach them a lesson. I thought we were going to get the elusive "death by cats" scene here, but instead the kitties just scratch the girls up--or rather, sit around looking confused while the girls shriek and rub fake blood all over their arms, which is almost as good.
On the nasty side, right after the aforementioned scene the doc similarly straps down Dolores, and upon finding out she's a virgin, paws her while whispering discomfiting things in her ear before finally carrying out a (blessedly off-screen) rape. Later when Sugar tries to seduce other guard Carlos into helping her escape, Burgos strings her up outside and whips her like he means it. When her would-be lover tries to interfere, the chief guns him down, pumping the corpse full of lead while some rather pyrotechnic squibs spray blood all over! After the Hogan's Heroes-esque tone of Ricky's aw-shucks shyness and Max's good-natured aphrodisiac-peddling, this comes as quite a shock.
Later Mojo uses his...um, powers...to locate a mass grave of previous failed experiments, and the girls try to use the skulls to blackmail Dr. John into better treatment. Instead he has Burgos hunt down Mojo, who hides successfully for a while in the ladies' shower room, which gives the director the opportunity for more Hogan's Heroes-like comedy as the naked girls shriek and toss the embarrassed guards out to cover their (also naked) compadre. This gives Mojo the opportunity to score with Simone before going out to perform a voodoo ritual to "ask the gods" what to do. Apparently the answer is "DIE!" because Burgos captures him (but not before he magically DODGES A BULLET from Burgos's gun) and burns him at the stake while Dr. John laughs maniacally. Later in Mess Hall, Burgos informs the ladies that they've been dining on Mojo's roasted flesh, which is nicely sick but really crossing the line in terms of the overall tone.
Of course it all leads to the expected jailbreak, with Dolores and Sugar seducing the guns off a couple of guards, Max and Ricky joining the ladies in their run for the border, and Sugar running Burgos through with a machete. Somewhere in there Dr. John gets a knock on the head and starts talking about himself in the Maniacal Third Person, shouting "Dr. John cannot die! DR. JOHN IS INDESTRUCTIBLE!" before Simone sacrifices herself in a fiery cataclysm, presumably just to shut the dude up.
Oh, and there's an out-of-nowhere lesbian love scene in a river halfway through, just for spice.
As I said, it's kind of hard to know where this flick came from, or what the director might have had in mind mixing TV sit-com comedy with BDSM, cannibalism, and kitty torture (and a few admittedly zang-worthy nude scenes), but it has to be said the strange juxtaposition makes the movie much more interesting (if confusing) than it would have been playing straight one way or the other. The acting is all pretty bad, making me wonder whether Phyllis Davis was the money-man's squeeze and this vanity vehicle was a gift to her. (Note: probably not.) Duncan is entertainingly eccentric as Dr. John, and Albert Cole as Max seems to have a knack for the kind of skit-show comedy he does throughout, ill-placed as it might be. Still, for the most part it just leaves one scratching one's head.
I would call this an average entry in the rather dubious genre, which would earn it a 1.5 thumb rating on a good day; however, the weirdness, Dr. John's mad science, and the sight of slow-motion cat hurling lifts it another quarter point to 1.75 thumbs. Because when you can't get the big things, the little things can still get you through.
Credit where credit's due--I shamelessly stole the poster graphic from Samuel Wilson's review of the same flick on his excellent blog, Mondo 70, which you should check out for this and other cinematic treasures, not to mention scholarly and insightful writing on same.
A few more stills from SWEET SUGAR (1972):
"Freeze frame! FREEZE FRAME!"
Church of Meathead
"Is that a machete in your pocket? Oh."
Cougar Town
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Sweet Sugar (1972): or My Mojo's Working, But It Won't Work On You
Posted by The Vicar of VHS at 12:09 PM
Labels: '70s, 1-2 Thumbs, Fiery Cataclysm, J. Geils Band, Mad Science, Prison, Voodoo
5 comments:
- Jenn said...
The title sounds blaxsploitation-y a little bit, non? On paper, this sounds kinda interesting - unclear binaries, random lesbian sequences, delicious ironies that turn into puns - I can dig it!
- January 6, 2010 at 3:01 PM
- The Vicar of VHS said...
@Jenn--I actually thought it was a blaxploitation flick until I actually started watching it, but turns out it's more a Franco/Russ Meyer mish-mash, though without the skill or vision of either of those two directors. MONDO70'S review says the director went on to work for Meyer on some of his movies, so probably that similarity is no coincidence.
- January 6, 2010 at 3:10 PM
- Samuel Wilson said...
Vicar, I think Sweet Sugar was my very first review, back before I realized that I had a Snipping Tool for screen captures on my computer -- though that sounds like something they'd use in that prison, and not for rehabilitation, either. Your review reminds me of the pile-it-on zaniness that endeared the film to me back then. And Dr. John will never die!
- January 6, 2010 at 5:13 PM
- uzi9mm said...
Rapidshare Download Link?
- May 22, 2010 at 11:50 AM
- The Vicar of VHS said...
@uzi9mm--I'm sure there is one, somewhere. :P But that's really beyond our purview here.
- May 24, 2010 at 5:41 AM


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21st Century Sex: the shape of things to come
Are bits and bytes changing what we do with our bits and bobs?
Power up
Unnecessary lag may well be the least of your problems. As E-Stim's Wayne Allen explains, sex equipment needs power just like any other gadget. And, not surprisingly, many people feel a little uneasy when it comes to plugging toys into the mains, preferring battery power instead.
With many devices relying on motors or other mechanics to provide sensation, power is likely to remain a key issue to overcome, just as it is for other tech like mobile phones – you don't want your robo-partner suddenly grinding to a halt at an unexpected moment. A trailing mains cable snaking out from under the duvet isn't terribly erotic.
Your plastic pal: Jean-Claude Forest's original Barbarella enjoys robot relations
Barbarella™ © The Estate of Jean-Claude Forest
Robots as sexual partners? On the face of it, there's no reason a robot couldn't be equipped with various bits of sex tech. But don't hold your breath for an android lover. While a robot that can spoon feed a person has already been developed in Japan, such devices aren't cheap. To successfully replace a human sex partner, a robot's going to need a lot of sensors and processing power – just think of all the sensations and processing of feedback involved in real sex – to be able to be anywhere near proficient.
It will happen, but not for a long while yet.
But do we even want that? Culturally, while some have seen vibrators as a means of female emancipation, there's not really an equivalent for men. For many, physically interacting with a partner is an important part of their sexuality and masculinity. Culturally, male solo sex is still frowned upon.
Sharif Mowlabocus points out that much of the experimentation with new technology is about creating a tactile sense of someone else being there, which perhaps shows just how central that idea is to how we feel about sex. Is feeling good on our own enough, or are we ultimately seeking ways to feel good in relation to someone else?
Judgement day
Cultural taboos take a long time to change. Even now there are those who consider the contraceptive pill as an agent of promiscuity rather than liberation, or look on as Viagra as an enabler of dirty old men. So while technology makes it possible, for example, to virtualise taboo desires with no one being hurt, don't expect others - or the law - to suddenly find certain tastes acceptable.
Law makers have tended to the conservative where technology's concerned, with an assumption that seeing inevitably leads to doing underlying both the UK's extreme porn laws and the inclusion of 'pseudo photographs' in regulations regarding child pornography. As technology becomes more sophisticated, questions about sex will only become more tricky.
If you're having remote sex with someone, and go further than they want, is that assault? Does connecting imply consent? If someone else takes the controls without telling you, is that rape? Or is it something else? And if your partner won't do something that really turns you on, is it adultery if a machine does it for you instead?
Some of these issues aren't, of course, related just to sex. As telepresence, robotics and other smart technologies evolve, the law will inevitably have to address them sooner or later. Meanwhile, the choice is yours: jump in and experience bliss in novel ways, or sit back and marvel at the shape of things to come. ®


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I know it's a bit early to give out this week's coveted Green Weenie, having just given it to Tom Friedman on Sunday, but I can declare this week's competition over already: Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, has blown away the competition with Usain Bolt-like speed in his op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal arguing that conservatives and Republicans need to jump on board the climate change bandwagon. This represents one of the leaders of the climate campaign saying "No mas!" By the way, does anyone in the climate campaign yet recognize that if John McCain had won the 2008 election, we'd probably have some form of cap and trade under way by now? (More on this below.)
Krupp, whom one environmental leader once characterized to me as "the Richard Nixon of the environmental movement," is tacitly acknowledging that the climate campaign's preferred strategy of ramming through climate legislation in the same partisan way Obama rammed through Obamacare has failed. Back in 2006 I reported in National Review about a meeting the climateers held in Aspen (naturally) where, according to the conference report, strategists recommended that "the only way to proceed is to exercise raw political power, wake up the public about the urgent nature of the issue, create a major public demand for action comparable to that which stimulated major environmental legislation in the 1970s, pursue outright victory at the polls." In other words, we need to boot out those evil Republicans and roll over them. (I don't have the attendance list handy just now, but I am reasonably confident Krupp was one of the attendees.)
Well, the voters did that in 2006 and 2008. How'd that work out for the climate campaign, eh? Turns out Obama didn't really love you enough to push for your priority now, did he? Not even the BP oil spill could move the climate agenda down the field. As Eric Pooley reported in his book The Climate War, the reason was a lack of enthusiasm at the White House:
When corporate and environmental leaders from the U.S. Climate Action Partnership went to the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing for a late spring 2009 meeting with [Rahm] Emanuel, they could see that he didn't much care about climate change. What he cared about was winning—acquiring and maintaining presidential power over an eight-year arc. Climate and energy were agenda items to him, pieces on a legislative chessboard; he was willing to play them only in ways that enhanced Obama's larger objectives. He saw no point in squandering capital on a lost cause. (Emphasis added.)
Pooley's bottom line: "The chief of staff was an obstacle to climate action."
This is why I've compared environmentalists to "battered spouses," returning again and again to their Democratic Party abusers no matter how badly they are treated. Meanwhile, Krupp ought to turn his sights on the relentless partisanship of environmentalists, as I outlined in this Weekly Standard article, in which I note how the League of Conservation Voters clearly games its vote-scoring system to make Republicans look bad and Democrats look good. How, for example, did John McCain, so-sponsor of two cap and trade bills and also a higher CAFE standard (with John Kerry!) somehow get Zero scores from LCV? Here's an excerpt from my Standard article:
Politico's environmental reporter Darren Samuelsohn quoted an anonymous White House official speaking disdainfully about the climate campaign's efforts: "They didn't deliver a single Republican. They spent like $100 million, and they weren't able to get a single Republican convert on the bill." . . .
The greens have been so relentlessly hostile to all Republicans–even ones with conventionally pro-environment records–that Republicans have little reason to accommodate their views. Senator Lindsey Graham, a possible convert on cap and trade, laid it out clearly to Samuelsohn: "So when you hear the environmental community is mad at you, everyone says, 'Tell me something new.' It's not like a support group you've lost." . . .
The final irony for the greens is that had John McCain (who received zeroes on League of Conservation Voters scorecards in 2007 and 2008) been elected president instead of Obama (who almost always scored perfectly for the League of Conservation Voters–when he was around to cast a Senate vote), we'd likely have a cap and trade bill in place right now, as McCain would have made it a higher priority than health care reform. He had co-sponsored earlier cap and trade proposals with Senator Joe Lieberman.
So now Krupp is kinda-sorta trying to show some love to Republicans. Good luck with that Freddie. But enjoy your Green Weenie.