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The seats were filling fast for a book reading last week by food personality Eddie Huang, and a Barnes & Noble employee came to address the crowd. Actually, it was to issue a disclaimer of sorts.
"We do not censor our guests here," said Maria Celis, a special-events coordinator. "If you're not comfortable with four-letter words or hip-hop references that may be over your head, this may not be your event. It's gonna be as freewheeling an event as we've ever hosted here."
Clearly this wasn't your typical celebrity chef book reading, from Huang's prize-fighter-like entrance in a red-white-and-blue hoodie — "What up, New York?" — to the hip-hop music and cheers from a young, hip fan base, to the cheerful profanity, to the occasionally brutally honest subject matter — including childhood beatings meted out by his father. And the book, "Fresh Off the Boat," is hardly your typical celebrity chef's memoir.
In fact, let's get the "celebrity chef" label out of the way right now, because Huang doesn't like it at all.
Sure, he's gained some fame through his tiny restaurant, Baohaus, which first opened on the Lower East Side in 2009 ("bao" are stuffed, steamed buns), but he doesn't see himself as mainly a chef or restaurateur, he explains. Among other things, he's an author, a blogger, an essayist, the star and host of a Web series, a sometime standup comic, a streetwear aficionado, and also a food-world provocateur who's taken aim at successful chef-entrepreneurs like David Chang and Marcus Samuelsson, for starters.
"I abstain from defining myself," Huang, 30, says in a freewheeling interview the day before the book reading, perched on a stool at Baohaus as guests munch on dishes like the Chairman Bao, a bun stuffed with pork belly and crushed peanuts, or sweet bao fries — bread that's steamed, then fried, then glazed. "I don't like labels. I don't understand the need for them. When you define yourself a certain way, people have expectations."
"And I didn't come here," he adds, "to be a great chef. I came here to talk about culture. Food is just a part of it."
When Huang says he "came here," it's not an accidental turn of phrase. Though he was born in the Washington, D.C. area and raised mainly in Orlando, Fla., he speaks — and writes — through the prism of life as the son of Taiwanese immigrants. And though he seems quite fulfilled in his emerging role as a New York food personality, he makes clear he's still angry about what he endured, and what many immigrants endure in this country.
"This book is about being an outcast in America," he says. "I wanted to write it while I was still mad. Because, you get rich, you get fat, and you say, it was cool. You look back through rose-colored glasses. I didn't want to do that."
If you don't believe that there's still pain behind the smile, just ask Huang about life in the third grade.
Every day, the 8-year-old Huang brought in his mother's pungent Chinese food for lunch. He was ridiculed by other kids for his smelly lunchbox. Wanting desperately to fit in, he convinced his mother to buy him an American lunch.
"I was so excited at the grocery store," he says now. "I was going to be like THEM." But the next day, when he got to the front of the microwave line, waiting proudly with his chicken nuggets, a kid grabbed him by the shirt and wrestled him to the ground, using a vicious racial slur. Eddie fought back, physically, and he was the one who got sent to the principal.
"It was like, nothing you could do was good enough," he says now. "They get you to wear their clothes, eat their food ... And it's never good enough." At the restaurant, recounting the episode, he begins to choke up.
When Huang was still a youngster the family moved to Orlando, where his father managed steak and seafood restaurants. After a checkered academic career and getting into more than his share of trouble, Huang eventually graduated from Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., and got a law degree at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
After being laid off from a law firm, less fruitful career attempts followed: selling sneakers and clothes, being a standup comic. Finally, he hit the restaurant business. Xiao Ye, which he opened in 2010, eventually failed, perhaps partly due to a scathing New York Times review in which critic Sam Sifton described Huang sitting at a table and texting with friends. "If Mr. Huang really wants to stand for delicious, he is going to need to work harder," Sifton wrote.
But the street food at Baohaus caught on, and in 2011 Huang moved it to a new location on 14th Street. He says he appreciated Sifton's review because it made him refocus attention on his food.
He's been less charitable about some fellow chefs. He's accused Chang, head of the growing Momofuku group of restaurants, as essentially a sellout. And he's had even sharper words for the very successful Samuelsson, the Ethiopian-born chef whose latest venture is the high-profile Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem. Huang (though he doesn't hail from Harlem either) finds both the place and the chef's memoir, "Yes Chef," inauthentic. To Samuelsson's description of Harlem in its glory days, Huang wrote in The Observer: "Thank you, Marcus, for that ride to the intersection of Stigma St. and Stereotype Blvd..."
Huang has even weighed in on the Tiger Mom author, Amy Chua. He responded to her book with an article on Salon.com, "In Defense of Chinese Dads," in which he argued that while his own Tiger Mom pushed him toward excellence, it was his dad's more relaxed, older-brother like approach that was essential — that in fact saved him.
But this same father is the subject of what many readers will find the most shocking element of his book. He describes a father who beat him frequently as punishment, chasing him with a whip, or even worse, a three-foot long rubber alligator with sharp scales. "There's something about crawling on the floor with your pops tracking you down by whip that grounds you as a human being," Huang writes. And yet he basically gives his dad a pass, citing cultural differences. "The bruises and puncture wounds ... were excessive, but I didn't think there was anything wrong with my dad hitting us," he writes.
This subject came up at the book reading, where a young woman rose and asked about the beatings. "This was the hardest part of the book — to shoot your parents in the face," Huang said. He described how authorities caught on while he was in school, and came to check him and his brother for bruises. The brothers never snitched, though.
"There were times I needed to be hit," Huang said to a suddenly hushed room. "I don't know if it is correct to say that it made me a stronger person."
At this point, chef Tom Colicchio, who was interviewing Huang at the reading, chimed in with his own story of being hit once as an older kid. "It is not good parenting," said Colicchio, famous for the Grammercy Tavern and Craft restaurants. "It's about losing control. It's a cycle that needs to stop."
Colicchio was full of praise for the honesty of Huang's memoir, and allowed that he has considered writing his own. "But I could never be as brutally honest as Eddie is, so I have to question whether I could ever write one," he told the crowd.
In an interview later, Colicchio marvels at the career Huang has created for himself at such a young age.
"He wanted a restaurant because that would give him a platform to spread his message, to get a voice," Colicchio says. "He wants to speak for Chinese-Americans. When you think about it — that he had this idea, and he's putting it all together and making it happen — it's amazing, really. This guy is really, really smart. Even if you don't like him, there's something there that you have to respect."
What comes next for Huang? Once the publicity blitz for his book dies down, he'll be back to his routine of writing during the day, keeping close tabs on Baohaus, taping his Web show one afternoon a week (and traveling for it two weeks per month), and dreaming up more plans. Like opening more Baohaus restaurants — but "not a chain," he says. "Each one will be different."
Huang loves living in New York, though he's clearly a downtown guy, scoffing at the stuffy Upper East Side. New York, Huang explains, is what the rest of America is supposed to be — but isn't.
"Here, I'm welcomed everywhere," he says. "But I'll never forget how people treated me before."


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there's a little place in the woods nearby that i've been aching to go to while the snow is fresh...pack along some firewood and warm food and a blanket...have a winter picnic! it was so nice to stay huddled up and warm together for an afternoon. sis stayed mesmerized by the fire flame light while matt smoked on his pipe and the whole thing made me feel nostalgic for my grandpa. oh, the happiness.
there's so much about this part of year that can bring about blues...it's a comfort to know that all it takes to wake me up on the inside is a couple of good people, cold air to breathe, and some warm soup.
hoping you all had a happy happy weekend!

subset: commoncrawl


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Mr. Speaker, yesterday authorities in Kyrgyzstan released Azimbek Beknazarov, a parliamentarian who had been in jail since January 5. The decision was made after disturbances in the Ak-Su District of Jalal-Abad, Mr. Beknazarov's native region in southern Kyrgyzstan. In an unprecedented outburst of violence on March 17, six people were killed and scores wounded when police opened fire on demonstrators. Mr. Beknazarov has pledged not to leave the area and his trial has been postponed indefinitely while the authorities and the public catch their breath and reassess the situation.
The incident and the events leading up to it are alarming–not only for Kyrgyzstan but for the United States, which is now basing troops in the country and expects to be in the region for the foreseeable future. Despite attempts by some Kyrgyz officials to pin the blame on a mob of demonstrators fired up by alcohol, the real cause of the bloody riot was popular discontent with an unresponsive government reaching the boiling point.
Kyrgyz authorities have accused Mr. Beknazarov of improperly handling a murder case when he was an investigator in a district prosecutor's office years ago. In fact, it is widely believed that Beknazarov's real transgression was to suggest that Kyrgyzstan's parliament discuss the country's border agreement with China, which would transfer some territory from the tiny Central Asian state to its giant neighbor.
This is reflective of Akaev's intensified efforts to consolidate his power while cracking down on dissent and opposition. In February 2000, President Akaev rigged the parliamentary election to keep his main rival–Felix Kulov, who had served as Vice President and in other high-level positions–from winning a seat in the legislature. The observation mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) openly questioned the results in Kulov's district, and said the election had fallen far short of international standards. Subsequently, Kulov was arrested and could not participate in the October 2000 presidential election, in which Akaev faced no serious contenders and was easily re-elected.
Kulov is serving a 7-year jail term and now faces new criminal charges. Amnesty International considers him a political prisoner. Last December I chaired a hearing of the Helsinki Commission which focused on the deterioration of human rights in Kyrgyzstan. Mr. Kulov's wife was able to attend the hearing and offered her perspective on the current political climate in her country.
The independent and opposition media in Kyrgyzstan have also been under severe pressure, usually in the form of libel cases which official authorities use to fine newspapers out of existence so they cannot report on corruption. In January 2002, the authorities issued Decree No. 20, which would introduce mandatory official inventory and government registration of all typographical and printing equipment, while imposing stricter controls on its imports. Decree No. 20 would also threaten U.S. Government plans to establish an independent printing press in Kyrgyzstan. Furthermore, the decree will be used against religious groups, both Muslim and Christian, by blocking their ability to produce religious material and by calling for an "auditing" of all religious communities that create publications. While the pretext of the decree is to combat "religious extremists," the decree has clear implications for religious communities out of favor with the government, as well as with opposition groups. The State Department has urged Kyrgyzstan to repeal Decree No. 20 but so far, Bishkek has stubbornly refused.
So when legislator Azimbek Beknazarov was arrested on January 5, his colleagues in parliament, members of opposition parties and human rights activists reacted strongly to the latest step in an ongoing campaign to clamp down on civil society. Since January, hundreds of people, including parliamentarians, have gone on hunger strikes to demand his release. Protests and demonstrations have continued throughout, which the police have either ignored or roughly dispersed. The U.S. Government, the OSCE and international human rights groups have called for Beknazarov's release, but President Akaev, hiding behind the fig leaf of "executive non-interference in judicial deliberations," contends that the case must be decided by the courts. His position is an absurd pretense in a country where the courts are under state influence, especially in sensitive political cases. More to the point, this stance is simply no longer credible, considering the widespread belief that Beknazarov's imprisonment was politically motivated and the public's lack of confidence in the government's good faith.
Finally, pent-up tensions exploded two days ago, when demonstrators and police clashed, with tragic consequences. Kyrgyz officials have accused organizers of unauthorized pickets and rallies of responsibility for the violence. In an address to the nation, President Akaev described the events as "an apparent plot [in which] a group of people, including prominent politicians, staged unauthorized mass rallies simultaneously." He said the events were "another move in the targeted activities of opposition forces to destabilize the situation in the country. They have been engaged in these activities for the last few years."
Mr. Speaker, I would contend that the riots in Jalal-Abad Region were the predictable outcome of frustration and desperation. Askar Akaev, by falsifying elections and repressing freedom of expression, has made normal politics impossible in Kyrgyzstan. A long-suffering populace, which has seen its living standard plummet while corrupt officials grow rich, has signaled that enough is enough. The authorities have heard the message and now have to make a critical decision: either to try to find a common language with society or to crack down. If they choose the former, Kyrgyzstan may yet realize its promise of the early 1990s; if they choose the latter, more confrontations are likely, with unpredictable ramifications for Kyrgyzstan and its neighbors.
The United States has a real stake in the outcome. We are in Central Asia to make sure terrorists cannot use the region to plan attacks on us or recruit new members. But all the region's states are led by men determined to stay in power indefinitely. This means they cannot allow society to challenge the state, which, in turn, insures that discontented, impoverished people with no other outlets could well be attracted by radical ideologies.
We must make it plain to President Akaev that we are serious when we declare that our war on terrorism has not put democracy and human rights on the back burner. And we must insist that he implement his OSCE commitments, as well as the pledge he made in last month's bilateral Memorandum of Understanding with the United States. That document obligates Kyrgyzstan to "confirm its commitment to continue to take demonstrable measures to strengthen the development of democratic institutions and to respect basic human and civil rights, among which are freedom of speech and of the media, freedom of association and public assembly, and freedom of religion."
The events earlier this week have given us a wake-up call. We had better understand properly all its implications.


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Feel-Good Photo: Gabrielle Giffords Atop A Mountain In France
After four days of sadly serious news about what happened in Aurora, Colo., here's a photo that may lift your heart.
Reuters explains that former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., rode a two-stage cable car on Monday to the peak of Aiguille du Midi in the French Alps. That's 12,605-feet above sea level.
Then, as you can see from the photo, she and her husband Mark Kelly enjoyed the view.
Giffords was critically wounded on Jan. 8, 2011, when a gunman attacked a meet-and-greet event she was holding in Tucson. Six people were killed. Thirteen, including the then-congresswoman, were injured. Giffords, who was shot in the head, can walk again but often uses a wheelchair.
Kelly, a former astronaut, was in Chamonix with other astronauts to install a plaque at a mountain research station. The plaque commemorates the last U.S. space shuttle mission. Kelly and the crew of the shuttle Endeavour took a particle detector developed at the nearby European Nuclear Research Center to the International Space Station.


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Here's another roundup post of things I've read recently and found interesting! (Previous lists, all chock full of good readin', are here, here, and here.)
The last time I posted a list like this, back in March, I promised that the next one would be "ALL POLITICS, ALL THE TIME."
Now, if you're like me, you vacillate between being grotesquely fascinated with our current political theater-fire and completely disgusted by the entire catastrophe. A lot of the articles I've saved in my own Instapaper queue over the intervening months have been related to Trump, or the Trump phenomenon, or an examination of some facet of the whole Trump thing…
A GOOD TIME TO NOTE: I was asked, and was pleased, to contribute to a little book called
The Ghastlytrump Tinies, spearheaded by Mike Selinker of Lone Shark Games. It's an Edward Gorey parody book, printed in limited edition, which can be yours for either regular cash money or a donation to help defeat Trump at the polls:
AND SO. For this list in particular, I decided that articles expounding at length on The Trump Thing are pretty easy to find, and if you're interested you've probably already read your fill. Here are a few good ones if you really would like more perspectives on Trump.
The list below is populated with articles I found interesting about politics, but by design, none of them are elaborate meditations on Trump per se. You're welcome.
The Day We Discovered Our Parents Were Russian Spies (The Guardian)
Alex presumed there had been some mistake –- the wrong house, or a mix-up over his father's consultancy work. Donald travelled frequently for his job; perhaps this had been confused with espionage. At worst, perhaps he had been tricked by an international client. Even when the brothers heard on the radio a few days later that 10 Russian spies had been rounded up across the US, in an FBI operation dubbed Ghost Stories, they remained sure there had been a terrible mistake.
But the FBI had not made a mistake, and the truth was so outlandish, it defied comprehension. Not only were their parents indeed Russian spies, they were Russians. The man and woman the boys knew as Mom and Dad really were their parents, but their names were not Donald Heathfield and Tracey Foley. Those were Canadians who had died long ago, as children; their identities had been stolen and adopted by the boys' parents.
The Long Con (The Baffler)
Via the battery of promotional appeals that overran my email inbox, I mainlined a right-wing id that was invisible to readers who encounter conservative opinion at face value. […]
Back in our great-grandparents' day, the peddlers of such miracle cures and get-rich-quick schemes were known as snake-oil salesmen. You don't see stuff like this much in mainstream culture any more; it hardly seems possible such déclassé effronteries could get anywhere in a society with a high school completion rate of 90 percent. But tenders of a 23-Cent Heart Miracle seem to work just fine on the readers of the magazine where Ann Coulter began her journalistic ascent in the late nineties by pimping the notion that liberals are all gullible rubes. […]
The strategic alliance of snake-oil vendors and conservative true believers points up evidence of another successful long march, of tactics designed to corral fleeceable multitudes all in one place –and the formation of a cast of mind that makes it hard for either them or us to discern where the ideological con ended and the money con began.
Two days later, after a decent interval, we say, "Mr. President, we have to tell you, with all respect to your blue-suited generals, the Ho Chi Minh trail doesn't look anything like I-66 or I-95. You can't see most of it from the air, with the [jungle] canopy and stuff, and besides it's not one, it's about 161 trails. No matter how many big bombs, you're not going to be able to interdict the flow of men and supplies. And No. 2, we know Ho Chi Minh. Sam here literally took him into Hanoi after the war [World War II] on his shoulders. He's a nationalist before he's a communist. He's not going to give up. As a matter of fact, Mr. President, No. 3, nobody ever gives up just on the bombing."
So what's the lesson from that? The lesson from that is, man, we did our job! But the president? Well, the president had other considerations. He didn't want to be the first president to lose a war. So he disregarded our advice and became the first president to lose a war. […]
From my perspective as an intelligence officer, undue weight is given to political considerations of a domestic variety. That's why we didn't end Vietnam when we should have. That's why we did a lot of things that we shouldn't have. Domestic considerations prevail. The system is such that that's the way it should be. So what's the answer? We have to elect presidents with integrity and with some kind of feel for who their advisers should be.
God and Country (MTV)
You probably haven't heard of the Constitution Party. They have no seats in the House or the Senate, and probably never will. They don't have any spokespeople telegenic enough for Fox News. They've only been around since 1991, and they've only been called the Constitution Party since 1999. (They were the Taxpayers' Party before that.) Basically, it's a party for conservatives who think Republicans are too secular. […]
Constitution Party candidates don't win anything, and they don't make a big show out of losing anything. I hadn't heard of them, either, until about two weeks before the convention. And about all I knew walking in was that their current chairman is named Frank Fluckiger and their vice-chairman is named Randy Stufflebeam. These cannot be real names. These can only be rival magicians in a World War II–era English children's novel.
Trump, the University of Chicago, and the Collapse of Public Language (The New Yorker)
…I couldn't see where ideological disputes actually arose. Protesters painted themselves as grass-roots liberals, speaking up for poor, creative, or countercultural outsiders. The techies involved also considered themselves grass-roots liberals, creating apps to fight the Man, effect philanthropic efficacy, and support the same outsiders.
I stayed in the Bay Area awhile, interviewed forty or fifty people, watched protests, attended tech events and community meetings, and flew to New York City to tear out my hair. Writing long articles always involves muscle strain, but the parturition of this piece (which ran in the summer of 2014) was excruciating, because the material seemed to lack any conceptual edges. The ferment had been billed in the press as a "culture war." And yet the two sides of the conflict — in terms of beliefs, ideological lineage, and language — were almost entirely the same.
I'm With The Banned (Welcome to the Scream Room)
Milo Yiannopoulos is a charming devil and one of the worst people I know. I have seen the death of political discourse reflected in his designer sunglasses. It chills me. We met four years ago, before he was the self-styled "most fabulous supervillain on the internet," when he was just another floppy-haired right-wing pundit and we were guests on opposing sides of a panel show whose topic I don't remember and can't be bothered to look up. Afterwards we got hammered in the green room and ran around the BBC talking about boys. It was fun.
Since that day, there is absolutely nothing I have been able to say to Milo to persuade him that we are not friends. The more famous he gets off the back of extravagantly abusing women and minorities, the more I tell him I hate him and everything he stands for, the more he laughs and asks when we're drinking. I'm a radical queer feminist leftist writer burdened with actual principles. He thinks that's funny and invites me to his parties.
The Secret Justice System That Lets Executives Escape Their Crimes (BuzzFeed)
Say a nation tries to prosecute a corrupt CEO or ban dangerous pollution. Imagine that a company could turn to this super court and sue the whole country for daring to interfere with its profits, demanding hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars as retribution.
Imagine that this court is so powerful that nations often must heed its rulings as if they came from their own supreme courts, with no meaningful way to appeal. That it operates unconstrained by precedent or any significant public oversight, often keeping its proceedings and sometimes even its decisions secret. That the people who decide its cases are largely elite Western corporate attorneys who have a vested interest in expanding the court's authority because they profit from it directly, arguing cases one day and then sitting in judgment another. That some of them half-jokingly refer to themselves as "The Club" or "The Mafia."
And imagine that the penalties this court has imposed have been so crushing — and its decisions so unpredictable — that some nations dare not risk a trial, responding to the mere threat of a lawsuit by offering vast concessions, such as rolling back their own laws or even wiping away the punishments of convicted criminals.
This system is already in place, operating behind closed doors in office buildings and conference rooms in cities around the world.
None Dare Call It Treason (The Nation)
The Court majority, after knowingly transforming the votes of 50 million Americans into nothing and throwing out all of the Florida undervotes (around 60,000), actually wrote that their ruling [in Bush v. Gore] was intended to preserve "the fundamental right" to vote. This elevates audacity to symphonic and operatic levels. The Court went on to say, after stealing the election from the American people, "None are more conscious of the vital limits on its judicial authority than are the members of this Court, and none stand more in admiration of the Constitution's design to leave the selection of the President to the people." Can you imagine that? As they say, "It's enough to drive you to drink." […]
Varying methods to cast and count votes have been going on in every state of the union for the past two centuries, and the Supreme Court has been as silent as a church mouse on the matter, never even hinting that there might be a right under the equal protection clause that was being violated. Georgetown University law professor David Cole said, "[The Court] created a new right out of whole cloth and made sure it ultimately protected only one person — George Bush."
All right. Lots of those were kind of depressing.
We'll end with this last one, which is no less honest about the political realities we face, but which, rather than leave me despondent and floundering in a whirlpool beyond my control or comprehension, left me reeling — but in a useful way, in a way that reordered my thinking on a lot of issues, in a similar way to Jonathan Haidt's book The Righteous Mind (discussed here).
I Can Tolerate Anything Except The Outgroup (SlateStarCodex)
If I had to define "tolerance" it would be something like "respect and kindness toward members of an outgroup".
And today we have an almost unprecedented situation.
We have a lot of people…boasting of being able to tolerate everyone from every outgroup they can imagine, loving the outgroup, writing long paeans to how great the outgroup is, staying up at night fretting that somebody else might not like the outgroup enough.
This is really surprising. It's a total reversal of everything we know about human psychology up to this point. No one did any genetic engineering. No one passed out weird glowing pills in the public schools. And yet suddenly we get an entire group of people who conspicuously promote and defend their outgroups, the outer the better.
What is going on here?
Enjoy the reads!


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We're having a contest at PB today!
We're on FACEBOOK at last but...
We're there (really a miracle since we understand ZIP)
And it took us ages (BEAR & moi)
For one PB's FB is NOT connected to PB.
Go figure
There are no annoying widgets (Fs) all over so you can
"Really, really LIKE me"
How do I do that?
Another thing is my FB PHOTO STRIP is bummed - the photos disappeared
WHY did U do that to me FB?
PBers can U help?
See how unconnected I am?
So here is the contest.
You know we rarely have contests at PB so we must be desperate!
PLEASE Leave helpful tips to fix my FB in the COMMENTS!
If your tips is TERRIFIC it will merit a prize!
The prizes are PARIS TRASH! YAY
Who does not love REAL Paris Trash?
This is good stuff from Pierre Herme-Jean-Paul Hevin etc.
Prize #1 - a Jean-Paul Hevin macaron guide + signature ribbon
Prize #2 - an 8" x 8" foldout macaron guide + signature ribbon + biz card
Prize #3 - a Pierre Herme ORIGINAL Jour du Macaron guide from 2010 It's Vintage!!
Prize #4 - A very vintage Pierre Herme macaron illustrated guide to flavors!
Last but not least, Prize #5 - if you can give me major help with Facebook = an original Paris breakfast watercolor sketch, 6" x 9 1/2"


text:
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The Deseret News is proud to bring you live streaming coverage of high school events as part of our concerted effort to catch kids doing great things. This game is part of our coverage for Friday, Feb. 1, 2013.
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Hornady 6mm 100gn Interlock BTSP (Code #2453)
The InterLock is designed to be a devastating hunting bullet and nothing less. The InterLock Ring - a Hornady exclusive - ensures that the core and jacket remain locked during expansion. The InterLock retains more mass, energy and momentum after impact and transfers that energy to the target. Its reliable stopping power has earned the InterLock a worldwide reputation as a bullet for serious hunters. This is not loaded ammunition.


text: CELEBRITY POLITICS - FBI files on Marilyn Monroe that could not be located earlier this year have been found and re-issued, revealing the names of some of the movie star's communist-leaning acquaintances who drew concern from government officials and her own entourage.But the files, which previously had been heavily redacted, do not contain any new information about Monroe's death 50 years ago. Letters and news clippings included in the file show the bureau was aware of theories the actress had been killed, but they do not show that any effort was undertaken to investigate the claims. Los Angeles authorities concluded Monroe's death was a probable suicide. Recently obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act, the updated FBI files do show the extent the agency was monitoring Monroe for ties to communism in the years before her death in August 1962.The records reveal that some in Monroe's inner circle were concerned about her association with Frederick Vanderbilt Field, who was disinherited from his wealthy family over his leftist views.A trip to Mexico earlier that year to shop for furniture brought Monroe in contact with Field, who was living in the country with his wife in self-imposed exile. Informants reported to the FBI that a "mutual infatuation" had developed between Field and Monroe, which caused concern among some in her inner circle, including her therapist, the files state."This situation caused considerable dismay among Miss Monroe's entourage and also among the (American Communist Group in Mexico)," the file states. It includes references to an interior decorator who worked with Monroe's analyst reporting her connection to Field to the doctor.Field's autobiography devotes an entire chapter to Monroe's Mexico trip, "An Indian Summer Interlude." He mentions that he and his wife accompanied Monroe on shopping trips and meals and he only mentions politics once in a passage on their dinnertime conversations."She talked mostly about herself and some of the people who had been or still were important to her," Field wrote in "From Right to Left." "She told us about her strong feelings for civil rights, for black equality, as well as her admiration for what was being done in China, her anger at red-baiting and McCarthyism and her hatred of (FBI director) J. Edgar Hoover."Under Hoover's watch, the FBI kept tabs on the political and social lives of many celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Charlie Chaplin and Monroe's ex-husband Arthur Miller. The bureau has also been involved in numerous investigations about crimes against celebrities, including threats against Elizabeth Taylor, an extortion case involving Clark Gable and more recently, trying to solve who killed rapper Notorious BIG.The AP had sought the removal of redactions from Monroe's FBI files earlier this year as part of a series of stories on the 50th anniversary of Monroe's death. The FBI had reported that it had transferred the files to a National Archives facility in Maryland, but archivists said the documents had not been received. A few months after requesting details on the transfer, the FBI released an updated version of the files that eliminate dozens of redactions.For years, the files have intrigued investigators, biographers and those who don't believe Monroe's death at her Los Angeles area home was a suicide.A 1982 investigation by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office found no evidence of foul play after reviewing all available investigative records, but noted that the FBI files were "heavily censored."That characterization intrigued the man who performed Monroe's autopsy, Dr. Thomas Noguchi. While the DA investigation concluded he conducted a thorough autopsy, Noguchi has conceded that no one will likely ever know all the details of Monroe's death. The FBI files and confidential interviews conducted with the actress' friends that have never been made public might help, he wrote in his 1983 memoir "Coroner.""On the basis of my own involvement in the case, beginning with the autopsy, I would call Monroe's suicide 'very probable,'" Noguchi wrote. "But I also believe that until the complete FBI files are made public and the notes and interviews of the suicide panel released, controversy will continue to swirl around her death."Monroe's file begins in 1955 and mostly focuses on her travels and associations, searching for signs of leftist views and possible ties to communism. One entry, which previously had been almost completely redacted, concerned intelligence that Monroe and other entertainers sought visas to visit Russia that year.The file continues up until the months before her death, and also includes several news stories and references to Norman Mailer's biography of the actress, which focused on questions about whether Monroe was killed by the government.For all the focus on Monroe's closeness to suspected communists, the bureau never found any proof she was a member of the party."Subject's views are very positively and concisely leftist; however, if she is being actively used by the Communist Party, it is not general knowledge among those working with the movement in Los Angeles," a July 1962 entry in Monroe's file states.(Anthony McCartney writes for the Associated Press. This report was posted earlier at HuffingtonPost.com)-cwCityWatchVol 11 Issue 1Pub: Jan 1, 2013


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text:
A cookie - and the world seems in perfect balance. Watch the tears of a young child dry up and a smile light up his face when he is offered a cookie. See the remorse disappear from an elderly persons eyes replaced by blithe, as they are presented a bag full of cookies. Feel your friends' warm smile across borders and oceans as you imagine them opening the box filled with delicate cookies. Cookies and their healing powers - there is no exaggeration here.
Last week it was all about cookies here in Weimar. I spent a larger part of the week and weekend baking old and loved recipes and experimenting with new ideas. Soeren, as he always is, was my little assistant chef in the kitchen, measuring and weighing out the ingredients and giving me a few ideas to play around with.
Soeren's class was also the scene for our annual cookie baking event. Under the wings of Lydia's wonderful cause Drop In & Decorate, Soeren and I have been organizing a cookie baking event at his school each year since pre-school. Last year we baked, decorated and sold the cookies to help raise money for Haiti. This year the children chose to donate the cookies to a senior home here in Weimar.
For three days, the third grade class cut out, baked and decorated several cookies with an eagerness found only in young 8 years olds. They lovingly packed the cookies in bags tied with colored ribbon as they practiced Christmas carols. On Friday, armed with boxes of cookies they brought joy and smiles to the elderly at the Sophienheim in Weimar.
I hope my own cookies will also bring joy and smiles to my friends, as little boxes filled with fresh baked treats make their way across the doorsteps, the borders and the seas around the world. Something from my kitchen to brighten their day.
Like I said: cookies and their healing powers - there is no exaggeration here.
In this post I am sharing the recipes of three of my favorite Christmas cookies - hazelnut and marzipan macaroons, jam drops and the famous German Spitzbuben. The hazelnut and marzipan macaroons are an experiment I am playing around and would love your feedback on them if you should give them a go. I loved the soft, chewy and very nutty flavor and actually preferred them to the usually coconut macaroons I make each year. Jam drops are tradition: this year, for some of the jam drops, I used a decadent Morello cherry and cognac preserve from Fortnum and Mason's to fill the little cookie holes and give it a slightly grown up flavor. The Spitzbuben recipe is a flawless and simple one from my mother-in-law that works every time and will never let you down.
Let the cookie galore begin!
Hazelnut Marzipan Macaroons
Printable version of recipe here
2 egg whites
200g marzipan, coarsely grated
150g fine granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
150g hazelnuts, ground with skins onMethod
- Preheat oven to 150 degrees C. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
- Using electric beaters whisk the egg whites with the lemon juice in a clean bowl until thick and foamy, then begin to add sugar and ground hazelnuts, beating all the while. Beat until egg whites form stiff peaks. Whisk in the grated marzipan.
- Spoon the macaroon batter into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe out the macaroons, about 4 cm in diameter, onto the baking trays.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the macaroons are golden. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Store in airtight container
Yields: 25 cookies
Jam Drops with Morello Cherry and Cognac Preserve
Printable version of recipe here
130g butter, softened
110g sugar
1 vanilla bean, inner seeds scraped out
1 large egg
25g cornflour
185g all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Approx. 100g jam or preserve of choice (I used two: Morello cherry and cognac preserve from Fortnum and Mason's and a raspberry jam)
Icing sugar, for dustingMethod
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
- Using an electric mixer or electric hand-beaters, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale, thick and creamy. Add the egg and continue beating until incorporated into the cookie batter.
- Sift in flour, cornflour and baking powder and with a wooden spoon stir the batter until combined. The consistency of the dough will be very soft. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
- Using a teaspoon portion heaped teaspoons of the mixture and roll into balls. Arrange on a lined baking tray. Make a deep hole in the centre of each ball. Use the end of the wooden spoon handle. Dip it in flour before making each indentation to keep the dough from sticking on the end.
- Fill each hole with about 1/2 teaspoon of jam/preserve. Make sure not to overfill the indentations or the jam will overflow during baking.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until the cookies are pale golden. Swap the trays around about halfway through the baking time so that the cookies bake evenly. Allow to cool on trays or a wire rack. Be careful as the jam/preserve will be extremely hot.
- Allow cookies to cool completely, dust with icing sugar then store in an airtight container.
Yields 25 cookies
German Spitzbuben
Printable version of recipe here
375g all purpose flour
200g sugar
1 level teaspoon baking powder
20g vanilla sugar
Pinch of salt
125g hazelnuts, ground
250g butter, very cold and diced
1 egg yolk
250g jam or preserve of choice
Icing sugar, for dustingMethod
- Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Line baking trays with baking paper.
- Knead (I do this with my hands, but you can use the kneading hooks of your electric whisk or stand mixer) all the ingredients except for the jam and the icing sugar to a dough ball. The dough should be smooth. Place the dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll out to approx. 2mm thickness.
- Transfer the rolled out dough on a baking tray and place in refrigerator for approx. 1 hour.
- Remove from refrigerator and using a round cookie cutter, cut out your cookies. Leave half of them as is. these are the cookie bases, and cut out decorative holes in the other half (you can cut one big hole or like I have done cut our 3 smaller holes), which are the cookie tops.
- Place on baking trays lined with baking paper and bake for 10-12 minutes until they are lightly colored.
- Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
- With a teaspoon, place small dollops of jam/reserve onto the cookie bases and gently spread with the back of the spoon. Place the cookie tops to sandwich the jam filling. Dust with icing sugar.
- Store in airtight containers lined with baking paper.
Yields 90 cookies
Yes cookies have a positively magical effect on people. The time of year adds another wisp of magic to the air. The dusting of icing sugar to coat the peaks of the cookies depict themselves in the snow topped hills outside my window. A coy grin, hands in the cookie jar and a bundle of giggles – cookies do that to you. Our cookie jars are full now and so are the gift boxes to our friends. Have you been baking cookies too?
As I promised December will be a sweet month. Next week I'll share a simply irresistible and sticky pudding for a decadent Christmas dessert.
Have a grand and relaxing weekend!
If you are wondering where I got the lovely bamboo prop displaying the pralines in the photos above let me direct you over to Restaurantware.com. It's a treasure chest for props. I especially love their Bamboo items.
More Christmas cookie cravings on WFLH:
Almond and Pink Praline Spekulatius | German Zimtsterne - Cinnamon Stars | Crumbly Ginger Shortbread |
All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2010 Meeta Khurana Wolff unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First


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The presentation of Princeton University's top awards for alumni and students highlighted the annual Alumni Day program on Saturday Feb. 23, an event that also featured faculty lectures, family activities and the opportunity for alumni to reconnect with the University, one another and current students.
Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., the president of Purdue University, the former governor of Indiana and a member of Princeton's Class of 1971, was honored with the highest undergraduate alumni honor, the Woodrow Wilson Award. Arminio Fraga, a financier and former governor of the central bank of Brazil who earned a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton in 1985, received the top honor for graduate alumni, the James Madison Medal.
Daniels and Fraga both presented morning lectures at Richardson Auditorium before being honored at a luncheon in Jadwin Gymnasium along with winners of the University's highest honors for undergraduate and graduate students. The audience of about 1,100 people also watched a surprise video tribute to President Shirley M. Tilghman.
Daniels focused his remarks on the challenges facing the nation and a question that also served as the title of his speech: "Do Princeton graduates match the moment?"
He said this is a "uniquely dangerous moment in our national life," citing fiscal and national security challenges along with questions about whether the nation has retained its focus on individual liberty and the promise of upward mobility for all.
"Is Princeton truly preparing students to be in the nation's service in this era?" asked Daniels, pointing to the need for students to learn about the risks of fiscal irresponsibility and the importance of a vibrant private economy. "Most importantly, has it produced in them not merely a sympathy but a proper respect for those they will soon serve in public or influential private capacities?
"By definition, I know that today's Princetonians have the talent they will need. I know they will have the networks and associations of influence through which effective public action becomes more likely. If they have developed a commitment also to solvency, to dignity and to unity, then they will be well-matched to a time with rare and grave consequences. If the nation ever needed leaders from this great university it is now."
Fraga, in a speech titled "Academic Research and Public Policy," addressed the fiscal and policy challenges facing central banks and governments around the world, with a focus on inflation.
He looked back at historical examples of inflation in the United States and hyperinflation in his native Brazil and Germany, and detailed how central banks have taken unprecedented steps during the financial crisis that began in 2008.
He also warned that central banks around the world are being asked to do too much.
"They are being told to keep inflation down, to smooth growth and in some cases to speed up the pace of growth," Fraga said. "We know that what provides for steady, long-term growth is more investment, more education and more productivity — not more money. They're being asked to keep exchange rates stable and weak and they're also in charge of financial stability. But they really can't do it all at the same time. They don't have the tools."
Governments are asking so much of central banks in part because of their reluctance to deal with long-term problems related to issues such as budgets, demographic changes and health care costs. "We're kicking the can way too much," he said.
Speaking of the United States, he said it is possible that the huge amounts of money poured into the economy by the Federal Reserve in the recession could be removed as economic conditions improve without negative consequences. But he warned risks of inflation remain.
Activities for alumni, parents of current students and families took place across campus throughout the day. University faculty members presented lectures on topics including the search for life beyond Earth, the changing demography of the United States and writing about science. In addition, Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye spoke on navigating the college admissions process. A service of remembrance at the University Chapel honored deceased Princeton alumni, students, faculty and staff members.
Along with Daniels and Fraga, top student award winners were recognized at the Alumni Day luncheon. Tilghman honored seniors Caroline Hanamirian and Jake Nebel as co-winners of the Moses Taylor Pyne Honor Prize, the highest general distinction conferred on an undergraduate. Angéle Christin, Laura Gandolfi, George Young and Jiaying Zhao were recognized as co-winners of the Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellowship, Princeton's top honor for graduate students.
The luncheon included the showing of a video that combined photographs and video clips from around the world of alumni expressing their admiration for Tilghman, who has announced she will step down as the University's 19th president at the end of the academic year.
She said Alumni Day represents many aspects of the Princeton experience: community, friendship and commitment to excellence and to public service.
Daniels concluded his remarks at the luncheon by praising Tilghman for her leadership. "In a room full of doers, President Tilghman, you're the greatest among us," he said.
Videos of Alumni Day lectures will be posted for later viewing on the University's Webmedia site.


text:
Red is the new HadCRUT4 blue is HadCRUT3. It is quite clear that in the new data set, the 2010 value exceeds the 1998 value (as indeed does 2005), in line with the NCDC and GISS analyses. This seems to be attributed to the use of a larger set of high-latitude observations, which was long recognised to be a weakness with HadCRUT3.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Not so fast!
Red is the new HadCRUT4 blue is HadCRUT3. It is quite clear that in the new data set, the 2010 value exceeds the 1998 value (as indeed does 2005), in line with the NCDC and GISS analyses. This seems to be attributed to the use of a larger set of high-latitude observations, which was long recognised to be a weakness with HadCRUT3.
42 comments:
- GS said...
Good to see perfectgreybody on your blog ;) He's running on of the best scientific blogs in Poland, explaining climate science to laymen (and discussing other scientists) for three years now, here: http://doskonaleszare.blox.pl/html (BTW, "doskonaleszare" is Polish for "perfectgrey")...
He chooses to remain anonymous, but certainly is a professional, and was recently endorsed by one of the best known Polish climate scientists, prof. Krzysztof Haman, a specialist on cloud physics. Even though for most readers of his blog professor was just stating the obvious ;) - 14/1/12 12:04 pm
- Carrick said...
Those years are the same within errors bars, aren't they (1998, 2005, 2010)?
- 14/1/12 8:24 pm
- James Annan said...
Those and many others besides, according to that graph. But the bet was never on whether there was a "significant" difference, despite Whitehouse's attempts at equivocation on that point - it was simply on whether the Hadley Centre analysis was hotter or colder.
- 15/1/12 1:44 am
- Paul Matthews said...
That's "climate science". If the theory and data don't agree, go back and adjust the data.
- 16/1/12 9:25 am
- James Annan said...
That's denialism - when the data are inconvenient, allege a conspiracy.
- 16/1/12 10:42 am
- Paul S said...
- 16/1/12 10:53 am
Dr Annan
While I do appreciate your 'put your money where your mouth is' attitude this is a temperature series which is not entirely a random phenomenon (even given the short timescales involved in your bet). As you put it earlier, you had a >85% chance of winning the 2008 bet. So it is not just that you lost a bet the odds of winning were 17:3 in your favour. It is that, if you look at the same data in a different perspective one (say Whitehouse) is able to offer a different prediction.
In other words, you should not have lost the bet at all. You should have won by a wide margin instead of coming so close by a narrow margin and still losing the bet. - 16/1/12 12:46 pm
- James Annan said...
It's not a matter of "margin". The question was whether there would be a higher temperature, or not. The new HadCRU analysis says there was.
- 16/1/12 12:51 pm
You did not expect to win because of a revision of the temperature record bringing down past temperatures, did you?
:) - 16/1/12 2:32 pm
- PLG said...
Laying the groundwork for the IPCC 5AR!
- 16/1/12 3:34 pm
- Paul S said...
Does James really win? Presumably the bet was made on the basis of HadCRUT3 results. The fact that HadCRUT4 shows 2010 as the warmest year leaves James with the moral victory but penniless, surely.
Otherwise how could you ever consider a bet closed? - 16/1/12 3:50 pm
Wow . . this is really important.
The Arctic is now almost as warm as it was in the 1930's & 40's.
Cool ! - 16/1/12 4:09 pm
- Paul Matthews said...
That's "climate science". When someone points out what's going on, resort to the 'd' word and the 'c' word, in the same sentence!
- 16/1/12 5:11 pm
- Electrical Engineer said...
"The Arctic is now almost as warm as it was in the 1930's & 40's."
If you say so, oh omniscient one. - 16/1/12 5:37 pm
- James Annan said...
nigguraths, you are right I did not expect to win in this manner. On the other hand, it has long been known that HadCRUT3 under-represents the Arctic warming, so it's hardly a surprise that (a) they should work to improve this, and (b) that this improvement increases the recent warming a little relative to earlier years.
Paul, there was no agreement to use HadCRUT3. We simply agreed to use the Hadley Centre analysis. It's not a very satisfactory situation. I did try back in 2008 to clarify the precise terms with David Whitehouse but he was unresponsive. Most established ad-hoc betting of this nature (eg the Foresight Exchange) would have a specified judgment date and (hopefully) a clear criterion but above all a named judge who has the final word. Of course, it is a rare case that is actually contentious. - 16/1/12 9:55 pm
- Shibui said...
So, you mean Whitehouse is not going to pay up?
- 17/1/12 2:57 am
- Carrick said...
James: it was simply on whether the Hadley Centre analysis was hotter or colder.
Then by my reading, absent a statistically significant difference, you don't know if it is hotter or colder, and the bet is nullified.
In any case, four years is a pretty short period to be placing any climate related bets (the variation over that short of a period is certainly dominated by natural variation, and you're rolling essentially unloaded dice). Even 10 years seems short to me, assuming that the NASA guys aren't right about the lack of pollution controls contributing to a long-term (circa 40 years) flattening of temperatures, as with the period 1945-1975.
James is certainly right that HadCrut3 under-represents the northern arctic, but it's not clear to me that adjustment for the sake of adjustment is good science either. (Making a "wrong" correction doesn't make your answer any more correct than making no correction. And if you're extrapolating into the unknown how do you know your correction is better than the uncorrected value.)
In any case, the effect of including that tiny additional area is really minute.
I realize this was for the sake of a bet, but only by ignoring the uncertainty in the reconstructed values is the recent differences between HadCrut3 and HadCrut4 even meaningful.
Or even HadCrut3 and GISTEMP for that matter.
Why is it that uncertainties seem to be so ubiquitously ignored in this field? Too many "citizen scientists" maybe? - 17/1/12 4:29 am
- James Annan said...
But the topic was never on the difference being "statistically significant" (which is not proof of anything anyway), just on whether the central estimate was higher or lower. I realise that of course this is of little scientific value, but it does appear to be of some public interest.
I don't think it is fair to say that they went looking for data in hot areas - there are additional grid cells filled in in colder areas too. It is not interpolation, but the use of more observations. However, given the obvious spatial coherence of anomalies, interpolation would be an obvious approach to take, and I'm rather surprised they haven't yet done this. They already average over 5x5 degree grid boxes, which relies on the same principle, only in a less precise and justifiable manner. There have been more accurate and sophisticated methods out there for decades. OTOH they may view bias correction and inhomogeneity as more of a priority than spatial averaging. The global mean is a bit of a byproduct that most scientists don't even use - direct comparison of the spatial pattern is more common and informative. - 17/1/12 6:17 am
- crandles said...
>"you are right I did not expect to win in this manner."
Does this mean you are claiming victory and refusing to pay up?
Arctic warming, increasing snow cover and widespread boreal winter cooling:
Should we expect further cooling of US & Eurasia over coming decade(s)? Is wondering if this could slightly reduce rate of global average temperate increase attaching too much importance to it? Or is there only so far the AO can be forced making future predictions about it rather speculative?
How important might unknowns like this have been in your win/loss? - 17/1/12 2:26 pm
- Carrick said...
James: But the topic was never on the difference being "statistically significant" (which is not proof of anything anyway)
Well, agreed, it's not "proof" (otherwise there wouldn't be so many 3+ sigma results that turned out to be wrong). But "statistical significance" is our usual standard for making generalizations from data, e.g.. whether any warming or cooling is statistically significant.
I get the point of using the central value for the bet...but as you can tell I find that vexing. Mostly because it leads to an enormous amount of interest from "citizen scientists" in something that isn't at all interesting scientifically.
I don't think it is fair to say that they went looking for data in hot areas - there are additional grid cells filled in in colder areas too. It is not interpolation, but the use of more observations
That's a good way of thinking about this. Thanks. - 17/1/12 3:19 pm
- James Annan said...
Chris, I'm not rushing to judgement. AIUI the HC hasn't actually released their analysis for 2011.
- 17/1/12 11:02 pm
- James Annan said...
Carrick, I don't believe it is in principle not interesting to scientists. There is lots of academic work on extremes and record-breaking, and by its nature this cannot generally consider significance in this way, or else there is never a new record since the current best is almost never broken by a "significant" margin.
Incidentally, it is not at all clear from the graph what the error on the difference between two years is, as many of the errors are temporally correlated. - 17/1/12 11:06 pm
- Carrick said...
James: Incidentally, it is not at all clear from the graph what the error on the difference between two years is, as many of the errors are temporally correlated.
Well, of course that can be calculated (using reasonable assumptions about the underlying noise such as homoscedasticity), but this does expose a major weakness to using "records" (individual data points) to argue over trends (which I would argue is what eventually we really care about).
The uncertainty in the difference between the two data points in general doesn't improve by changes the separation between two points (there are exceptions, e.g., correlated noise that decorrelates as the interval between points increases).
On the other hand, if you compute the trend using OLS, for example, as the interval is increased, the rejection of short-period noise is improved. (This is the sort of curve I get using a Monte Carlo based approach... shown for comparison are results for four different methods generated by Lucia using e.g. ARIMA models of noise).
If I were to enter into what I considered a reasonable bet, it would involve (at the minimum) whether the sign of the temperature trend was positive or negative. In fact you could use this sort of model-based calculation of uncertainty to figure out your odds. If we assume 0.2°C/decade, even 20 years isn't a safe bet. - 18/1/12 4:31 pm
- Carrick said...
Screwed up my link.
Heres' the Monte Carlo based error analysis I was referring to. - 18/1/12 4:45 pm
- IcedVolvo said...
Gee lets think about whether we trust the Hadley CRU data; well lets see; they wont let anyone have access to the RAW data to verify the results, and I am pretty sure Jones reported that the original data was "lost". The "correction" algorithms are a state secret. The integrity of the dataset has been questioned over and over again with no detailed analysis as to what goes in and what gets left out. No surprises HADCRUT 4 supports the dogma!
When Hadley/Jones et al are completely transparent with the RAW data and algorithms then HADCRUT might be taken seriously by other than the IPCC converted. - 18/1/12 11:31 pm
- John M said...
If I understand this correctly, despite a shortage of Artic temperature stations with at least 15 years of data between 1961-90 - that's all HadCRUT3 requires! - someone figures they can estimate what it would have have been for each month.
Mind you, all of the HadCRUT3 data is an estimate because it's not based on mean temperatures but just the mean of the mean maximum and mean minimum for the month - an averaging technique not used in any other branch of science. - 19/1/12 9:54 am
- Carrick said...
IcedVolvo: Gee lets think about whether we trust the Hadley CRU data; well lets see; they wont let anyone have access to the RAW data to verify the results, and I am pretty sure Jones reported that the original data was "lost
Lost data is not going to be a problem. From The Met Center:
The underlying data used to generate the new HadCRUT4 dataset will be free from any restrictions to public distribution when the dataset is released. - 19/1/12 2:24 pm
- Maurizio Morabito said...
It's really really hard to avoid laughing when adjustments come out of thin air but anyway...let's consider HadCRUT4 less of a joke for a moment.
Since temperatures go up by including the upper Arctic, it is obvious that the rest of the world, and especially the inhabited regions, have not warmed as expected.
And a 5C increase in an area where the average is -20C is _not_ the same thing as a 5C increase where the average is +10C. The former is inconsequential, the latter a change in all seasons.
So HadCRUT4 simply confirms things are going as predicted only in faraway places where there are few measurements and nothing is really changing anyway. - 19/1/12 2:37 pm
- Carrick said...
Maurizo: Since temperatures go up by including the upper Arctic, it is obvious that the rest of the world, and especially the inhabited regions, have not warmed as expected.
Em... there's a decent theoretical argument for why you'd expect more warming (or cooling) at the North Pole (arctic amplification). That's not to say the magnitude is fully understood, but the fact that it happens isn't unexpected.
Secondly, if you look at temperature trends, you find the dominant effect is from a) latitude and b) whether you are at a marine (or coastal) site versus and in-land site. Regarding latitudinal bias on land, what you find is below 30°N, there isn't much variation in trend.
Adding more sites at lower latitude may reduce your noise slightly, because it mashes down temperature variability associated with site selection, but it isn't going to change your trend estimate in any meaningful way. It is easy to see from these sorts of analysis, that the biggest uncertainty comes from undersampling latitudinal bands, especially those of the high arctic, so not under-sampling by adding in more stations does help improve the accuracy of the reconstruction slightly.
As I pointed out upthread, the effect of adding the additional sites on Hadcrut is actually quite minute. It may matter for bets made on central values (and parlor style arguments).
Here are the trends from the current "big four" reconstructions (°C/decade), 1980-2009 inclusive:
HADcrut3gl 0.163
The largest difference in trend amounts to only 0.004°C/decade or 0.04°C change in a century. This is likely inside the measurement uncertainty associated with the reconstruction algorithm. (As opposed to the larger uncertainty associated with the effect of short-period climate on your estimate of central trend, which is much larger, but doesn't affect the differences in reconstruction trends at first order.)
While it is interesting scientifically why HADcrut3 is lower than GISTEMP, I would argue there are no policy-related ramifications from the fact that they even differ. - 19/1/12 3:31 pm
- Maurizio Morabito said...
Thank you Carrick...however my point was not about the effect of adding sites at lower latitudes, rather the effect of removing sites at higher ones...in fact if we take HadCRUT4 and remove the new Arctic and Russian sites, we get HadCRUT3 and a lower trend.
- 19/1/12 4:57 pm
- Carrick said...
Maurizo: in fact if we take HadCRUT4 and remove the new Arctic and Russian sites, we get HadCRUT3 and a lower trend.
I'd predict by maybe as much as 0.004°C/decade.
Interesting from a "seeing how many thermometers you can fit on the head of a pin" perspective, but policy wise, it's inconsequential...
which is really what I was suggesting.
It, is by the way, possible to compute the global temperature trend in a way that is robust against adding or dropping stations over time. (I'm thinking of something more than just 5°x5° gridded average.)
The trick is in deciding it is trend you are interested in measuring, and in recognizing and factoring in the latitudinal bias in temperature trend associated with arctic amplification. (Something similar to pre-whitening.) - 19/1/12 5:58 pm
- Electrical Engineer said...
Since temperatures go up by including the upper Arctic, it is obvious that the rest of the world, and especially the inhabited regions, have not warmed as expected.
No, the rest of the world was expected to warm less rapidly than the upper Arctic. - 20/1/12 6:58 am
- IcedVolvo said...
Carrick: read the press release AGAIN! They are not releasing the RAW data; rather they are releasing the "massaged" data. Further no station ID or position data will be available!
Even disregarding the climate gate emails which clearly show collusion to "massage" data the lack of ability to verify results is a breach of all the basic principles of science!
So what I said stands: I DONT TRUST THE CRU! - 21/1/12 3:05 am
- Electrical Engineer said...
Iced Vovo:
When Hadley/Jones et al are completely transparent with the RAW data and algorithms then HADCRUT might be taken seriously by other than the IPCC converted.
Actually, HADCRUT is the dataset of choice by fake sceptics who like to say there has been no warming since 1998. They couldn't be choosing the dataset based on the result it gives, surely. - 21/1/12 11:36 am
- doskonaleszare said...
FIY, HadCRUT4 is PIP at JGR (acronym overload!)
http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/pip/2011JD017139.shtml - 30/1/12 9:52 pm
- doskonaleszare said...
Ahh it's the land-only CRUTEM4... they haven't finished the merged product yet.
- 30/1/12 9:54 pm
- James Annan said...
Yes, that's not the Morice et al paper that we are all waiting for...HadCRUT3 is still the official record.
- 31/1/12 8:09 am
- Hank Roberts said...
- 6/2/12 6:36 am
- crandles said...
published in JGR?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17432194 - 19/3/12 6:32 pm
- Unknown said...
According to Hadcrut4 2010 has a temp anomaly of 0.53. So does 2005. Errors are 0.1.
Even if you retrospectively apply the climate bet to HadCrut4 (and who in their right mind retrospectively applies bets) I would have still won because no new record was achieved by 2011. - 19/3/12 6:59 pm
- crandles said...
> "Even if you retrospectively apply"
Interesting phase. If you are suggesting that James has paid up but now want his money back twice over then you would have a strong point. If however the bet is still unsettled, then you either use the data specified or the latest data.
IMO David Whitehouse is in a much weaker position now. He should have pushed for settlement as soon as HadCRUT3 Dec 11 data was published.
Is it clear whether the wording was new annual temperature record or temperature higher than 1998 between 2008 and 2011 inclusive?
If it clearly was a new record then James is perhaps being naughty referring to it being all about since 1998. But if the wording wasn't sorted when James tried (assuming he did) then maybe DW should get what he deserves. - 21/3/12 4:17 pm
- James Annan said...
I did actually pay up, because the HC did initially publish the HadCRUT3 analysis for 2011. Perhaps a more honourable opponent would consider the bet void, given the premise (of 1998 not having been beaten when we made it) is now clearly seen to have been invalid.
Of course, I'm not holding my breath. - 22/3/12 1:05 am


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In this post we're going to cover whatever you need to understand about Where Did Tony Robbins Go to College.
Not everyone has the opportunity of being recognized as one of the top earners with a high net worth without a certificate just skill.
It requires great deals of worth, understanding, and assistance from experienced successful authors.
The likes of Tony Robbins are the ones one need to admire and try replicating their struggle mood. Their lives and the story of how they climbed up from zero to absolutely nothing should be copied and implemented to achieve a fantastic height.
Tony Robbins is an author that has actually been included to have a high net worth.
This is due to the fact that aside from just writing and sitting gets further extended his reach to other profitable areas where he later on developed and developed a lasting profession on. Where Did Tony Robbins Go to College
He has developed and retained a high net worth. New authors in his area of specialization look up to him and follow his every step into becoming excellent. Just before we jump right into his net worth, let's take a quick summary of him.
Who is Tony Robbins
Tony Robbins has actually been acknowledged on Wikipedia as an Author and an American Coach, speaker, and philanthropist. He specializes in writing his own books. He's constantly being employed for helpful seminars and events.
He was born on the 29th of February 1960 and was raised in America. Automatically he is 61yrs old. Tony Robbins later relocated to Azusa, California, where he attended Glendora High School. That occurred to be the last phase of his academics.
Tony started as a broke janitor at 17yrs old. He was from a bad home and had a horrible childhood years because he might not manage what most of his mates had. This made a few of his mates despise associating with him.
He continued his janitor work and helped out with some minor tasks to make money. At 17 with no high-paying job, he was still supporting his household. With that, he began adding more minor jobs along with his janitor's work wishing to increase the quantity of money he made. Where Did Tony Robbins Go to College
After a while, he took a vibrant action that would have been thought about an unwise one. Due to the outcome of that action, it has been considered as the biggest step anyone would afford to take.
Tony got paid for his janitor's work and instead of investing or taking it house, he took a huge part of it to attend a Jim Rohn seminar.
The seminar opened his eyes to greater possibilities of making more income. Because after that day he ended up being too curious that he had to meet Rohn and asked for a personal mentorship on training, the seminar seemed to draw him in.
It was Rohn that later assisted establish his special style of Tony coaching that has actually acquired him a high track record in his 20s – 30s and has led him to a greater height even without a degree or specialization certificate.
Much like every coach who wishes to pass his message throughout to everyone, he ventured into authoring and today his books have actually been awarded the best self mentorship book.
Tony Robbins never ever began rich or had the very best journey. He had a few problems and bumps that have considerably contributed to making him a high earner without a degree however just his skills as an Author, Coach, mentor, and Infomercial activities.
Tony Robbins Marriage, Love Life and Family
In 1984, Robbins married Rebecca "Becky" Jenkins after meeting her at a seminar. Jenkins had three children from two former marital relationships, whom Robbins adopted. Robbins and Jenkins filed for divorce in 1998.
They were married for fourteen years.
In 1984, Robbins fathered a child with former girlfriend Liz Acosta. The son, Jairek Robbins, is also a personal empowerment coach. Where Did Tony Robbins Go to College
In October 2001, Robbins married Bonnie "Sage" Robbins (née Humphrey) in Fiji. They live in Manalapan, Florida.
Although, Sage and Tony do not have any kids of their own (as at when this was written).
In overall, Tony Robbins has four (4) children from previous marriages– 3 children with his first wife and the last child with his former girlfriend.
Tony Robbins Books
As of 2017 Robbins has actually authored 5 books, 4 of them best-sellers, including Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within.
In 2014, inspired by the monetary crisis that cost lots of Americans their retirement cost savings, he released Money: Master the Game, which reached # 1 on the New York Times very popular list in December. Where Did Tony Robbins Go to College
Here are the Tony books since today:
Book # 1: Unlimited Power (Published 1986).
In his book -Unlimited Power, Tony Robbins teaches you how to utilize NLP Neuro-linguistic Programming) along with your sub-modalities to inspire yourself or alter your beliefs.
It likewise teaches many NLP techniques. Strategies which comprises of ruining a habit or something that holds you back.
Book # 2: Awake The Giant in You (Published 1991).
This is another effective book by Tony Robbins. One of the goals of this book is that we can control our nervous system so that our actions are configured. Where Did Tony Robbins Go to College
Another essential teaching of this book is our ability to model the behavior of successful people so that we can attain the exact same outcomes.
Book # 3: Giant Steps (Published 1994).
This book consists of a useful approach on how to get maximum results in a minimum amount of time, using those methods such as from simple decision-making abilities to more specific tools that help you redefine the quality of your relationships, financial conditions, health, and feelings.
Book # 4: Money: Master The Game (Published 2014).
This book offers you valuable information and important practices to help you manage your finances, and construct a monetary home in the long run.
After years of interviews with at 50 of the world's most financial experts, and years of substantial research, Tony Robbins came up with a 7– Step practical plan to catapult your finance to the next level.
Book # 5: Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook (Published 2017).
A book Tony co-authored with Peter Mallouk.
Whether you're a fan of Tony Robbins or not, so long you're on a path to financial liberty, this sure is the best piece you will have come across in a while. Where Did Tony Robbins Go to College
Regardless of your earnings, lifestyle, and start-up, this book will provide you with the right tools to help you reach your monetary objectives much faster than you could ever have thought.
This step-by-step guide from Robbins will take you on a journey to alter your monetary life and accelerate your path to financial freedom in no range time.
Tony's Teachings & Events
Here are a few of some of Tony Robbins teachings (you might be familiar with), including his seminars and brand-new course & 5 days challenges with Dean:
# 1: Personal performance.
Throughout his speeches, seminars, and writings , Robbins upholds perspectives, methods, and other practices he asserts can help followers improve their lives.
He speaks about numerous "human needs, affects that affect a lot of people, the power of making decisions" and the need to achieve " psychological mastery".
# 2: Seminars.
Robbins holds numerous seminars annually, most of them with a "self-help" and "positive thinking" style, with firewalk involvement ( insane one!), massages, a great deal of audience participation and physical exercises.
These seminars include Unleash the Power Within (my favorite), Date with Destiny, Life and Wealth Mastery, Business Mastery and Leadership Academy. Where Did Tony Robbins Go to College
Expenses to attend these seminars differ from US$ 2,500 (for a 3.5 days "Unleash the power within" program) to US$ 5,000 (for the "Date with Destiny" workshop).
# 3: Health and energy.
" Energy: The Fuel of Excellence", a chapter in Unlimited Power, is dedicated to a conversation of health and energy.
It backs the 'Fit For Life' program of Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, combining food and deep breathing. Robbins refers to Harvey and Marilyn Diamond as his " previous partners".
Tony Robbins Net Worth
His net worth has been scaled to be 60% of his hire charges and 40% of his authorship fee. He has actually composed lots of books of which two are currently making $9 million annually.
Tony is currently worth $500million dollars. That is his current net worth. The net worth is an estimate of his properties. Where Did Tony Robbins Go to College
He makes over $300,000 from being hired to offer a speech in an event. It was reported that he has a design of talking that affects the physiological state of the listeners making them take in everything with a favorable mindset.
With his writing profession, he has composed books worth reading of which most are strongly committed to constructing oneself. His books have the potential of making one believe in his abilities and move on continuing.
It was just recently reported that he makes over $9 million from a few of his publications – Awaken the Giant Within, Unlimited Power, Giant steps, Notes from a friend, Money Master the Game, Lesson in the mastery, Unlimited Power: A Black Choice.
Tony Robbins On Social Media
Trying to find a place to catch Tony Robbins up? No better place than his social media accounts.
Tony Robbins actively utilizes his social media handles to share golden information. Below are links to his social media accounts.
Tony Robbins Twitter Where Did Tony Robbins Go to College
Tony Robbins has over 3.1 million fans on Twitter. He's pretty much active on Twitter.
Tony Robbins Instagram
Tony has over 5.6 million followers on Instagram. He frequently shares quotes and personal stories on his Instagram account.
Tony Robbins YouTube
One of the best places to catch up on Tony Robbins is his Youtube channel where he shares brief videos on success, business, and relationships.
Some of these videos are extracts from his webinars, seminars, and presentations . He also shares some lengthy videos too on his Youtube channel.
Tony Robbins Facebook
Tony is most active on his Facebook page compared to other social media platforms. He actively posts life hacks and suggestions. He likewise shares business advice for business owners.
When he posts new content, you can follow and like his page to get a notification.
Tony Robbins LinkedIn
Tony Robbins is highly recognized as one of the best and effective Authors. In the LinkedIn blog, his posts on company, self-development, and posts are constantly released there the minute he posts them on his account.
You can quickly find and follow his posts and advice on LinkedIn by typing "Tony Robbins". You will easily find it in the very first result.
Tony Robbins Quotes
Every successful man has a story to tell. This story is told in the form of Quotes that he released to the public to assist young business owners who aspire to greatness pick, secret into, and accomplish exceptional success.
Tony Robbins is one of the many successful men that choose to help everyone with his story that serves as a guide. These guides are in the form of Quotes and worth keying and viewing into.
These quotes are listed below.
Every successful man has a story to tell. This story is told in the form of Quotes that he released to the public to help young entrepreneurs who aspire to greatness pick, key into, and achieve great success.
Tony Robbins is one of the many successful men that choose to help everyone with his story that serves as a guide. These guides are in the form of Quotes and worth viewing and keying into. These quotes are listed below.
"I've come to believe that all my past failure and frustration were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy." – Tony Robbins
"Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more." – Tony Robbins
"A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided." – Tony Robbins
"New Year = A New Life! Decide today who you will become, what you will give, how you will live." – Tony Robbins
"Leaders spend 5% of their time on the problem & 95% of their time on the solution. Get over it & crush it!" – Tony Robbins
"The only problem we really have is we think we're not supposed to have problems! Problems call us to a higher level- – face & solve them now!" – Tony Robbins
"Your past does not equal your future." – Tony Robbins
"For changes to be of any true value, they've got to be lasting and consistent." – Tony Robbins
"I discovered a long time ago that if I helped enough people get what they wanted, I would always get what I wanted and I would never have to worry." – Tony Robbins
"Your life changes the moment you make a new, congruent, and committed decision." – Tony Robbins
"If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." – Tony Robbins
"It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped." – Tony Robbins
"In life, you need either inspiration or desperation." – Tony Robbins
"Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible." – Tony Robbins
"Only those who have learned the power of sincere and selfless contribution experience life's deepest joy: true fulfillment." – Tony Robbins
"If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you'll achieve the same results." – Tony Robbins
"I challenge you to make your life a masterpiece. I challenge you to join the ranks of those people who live what they teach, who walk their talk." – Tony Robbins
"It is not what we get. But who we become, what we contribute… that gives meaning to our lives." – Tony Robbins
"People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals – that is, goals that do not inspire them." – Tony Robbins
"We can change our lives. We can do, have, and be exactly what we wish." – Tony Robbins
"We will act consistently with our view of who we truly are, whether that view is accurate or not." – Tony Robbins
"Everybody's life is either rewarding or an example." – Tony Robbins
"To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others." – Tony Robbins
"It's your unlimited power to care and to love that can make the biggest difference in the quality of your life." – Tony Robbins
"Lack of emotion causes lack of progress and lack of motivation." – Tony Robbins
"If you believe you are right, or you believe you are wrong, you're right. Whenever you are certain about it, you will support it. Remember that." – Tony Robbins
"If you can't, you must. If you must, you can." – Tony Robbins
"Most people fail in life because they major in minor things." – Tony Robbins
"Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives." – Tony Robbins
"Success is doing what you want to do when you want, where you want, with whom you want, as much as you want." – Tony Robbins
"The only people without problems are those in cemeteries." – Tony Robbins
"Nothing has any power over me other than that which I give it through my conscious thoughts." – Tony Robbins
"It's not knowing what to do; it's doing what you know." – Tony Robbins
"The path to success is to take massive, determined action." – Tony Robbins
"It's what you practice in private that you will be rewarded for in public." – Tony Robbins
"The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships." – Tony Robbins
"Your income right now is a result of your standards, it is not the industry, it is not the economy." – Tony Robbins
"There is no greatness without a passion to be great, whether it's the aspiration of an athlete or an artist, a scientist, a parent, or a businessperson." – Tony Robbins
"Once you have mastered time, you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year – and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade." – Tony Robbins
"Commit to CANI! – Constant And Never-ending Improvement." – Tony Robbins
"Where focus goes, energy flows." – Tony Robbins
"The meeting of preparation with opportunity generates the offspring we call luck." – Tony Robbins
"You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action." – Tony Robbins
Final Thoughts on Where Did Tony Robbins Go to College
Lastly, haven't gone through a detailed story about Tony Robbins, it's clear Tony Robbins isn't a scam.
With his accomplishment and recognition world-wide, he certainly knows a thing about success, self-development, relationship, and business . Where Did Tony Robbins Go to College
He's a New York Finest selling author with other awards under his belt. You can bet he's worth listening to.


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WASHINGTON (AP) — Global warming is already changing America from sea to rising sea and is affecting how Americans live, a massive new federally commissioned report says.
A special panel of scientists convened by the government issued Friday a 1,146-page draft report that details in dozens of ways how climate change is already disrupting the health, homes and other facets of daily American life. It warns that those disruptions will increase in the future.
"Climate change affects everything that you do," said report co-author Susan Cutter, director of the Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South Carolina. "It affects where you live, where you work and where you play and the infrastructure that you need to do all these things. It's more than just the polar bears."
The blunt report takes a global environmental issue and explains what it means for different U.S. regions, for various sectors of the economy and for future generations.
The National Climate Assessment doesn't say what should be done about global warming. White House science adviser John Holdren writes that it will help leaders, regulators, city planners and even farmers figure out what to do to cope with coming changes.
And climate change is more than hotter temperatures, the report said.
"Human-induced climate change means much more than just hotter weather," the report says, listing rising-seas, downpours, melting glaciers and permafrost, and worsening storms. "These changes and other climatic changes have affected and will continue to affect human health, water supply, agriculture, transportation, energy, and many other aspects of society."
The report uses the word "threat" or variations of it 198 times and versions of the word "disrupt" another 120 times.
If someone were to list every aspect of life changed or likely to be altered from global warming, it would easily be more than 100, said two of the report's authors.
The report, written by team of 240 scientists, is required every four years by law. The first report was written in 2000. No report was issued while George W. Bush was president. The next one came out in 2009. This report, paid for by the federal government, is still a draft and not officially a government report yet. Officials are seeking public comments for the next three months.
"There is so much that is already happening today," said study co-author Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. "This is no longer a future issue. It's an issue that is staring us in the face today"
This version of the report is far more blunt and confident in its assessments than previous ones, Hayhoe said: "The bluntness reflects the increasing confidence we have" in the science and day-to-day realities of climate change.
The report emphasizes that man-made global warming is doing more than just altering the environment we live in, it's a threat to our bodies, homes, offices, roads, airports, power plants, water systems and farms.
"Climate change threatens human health and well-being in many ways, including impacts from increased extreme weather events, wildfire, decreased air quality, diseases transmitted by insects, food and water, and threats to mental health," the report said.
"Climate change and its impacts threaten the well-being of urban residents in all 13 regions of the U.S.," the report said. "Essential local and regional infrastructure systems such as water, energy supply, and transportation will increasingly be compromised by interrelated climate change impacts."
For example, the report details 13 airports that have runways that could be inundated by rising sea level. It mentions that thawing Alaskan ground means 50 percent less time to drill for oil. And overall it says up to $6.1 billion in repairs need to be made to Alaskan roads, pipelines, sewer systems, buildings and airports to keep up with global warming.
Sewer systems across America may overflow more, causing damages and fouling lakes and waterways because of climate change, the report said. The sewer overflows into Lake Michigan alone will more than double by the year 2100, the report said.
While warmer weather may help some crops, others will be hurt because of "weeds, diseases, insect pests and other climate change-induced stresses," the report said. It said weeds like kudzu do better with warmer weather and are far more likely to spread north.
"Several populations - including children, the elderly, the sick, the poor, tribes and other indigenous people - are especially vulnerable to one or more aspects of climate change," the report said.
The National Climate Assessment: http://ncadac.globalchange.gov.
Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears


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The issue of parking in Old Town, similar to religion and politics, has become one of those forbidden topics to discuss during local social engagements. Even before the recent meter rate increase from $1 to $1.75 per hour, the mere mention of it could set off some very heated debates between and among business owners and residents.
To its credit, the city is addressing the issue and, last winter, completed an 80-block study of parking in the Old Town business district and the adjacent residential area. Through this study the city now has a reliable summary of parking availability and trends in Old Town and a viable plan for mitigating both real and perceived parking challenges. Yes, thats perceived challenges.
The study concluded that, overall, there isnt a severe parking problem in Old Town. There are, however, certain times on certain days that metered and residential parking is at or near capacity. We have about 7,300 spaces available and about 4,400 of those are on the street. The remaining spaces are located in public surface lots and public-access garages.
The problem area is that people are creatures of habit habitually looking for cheap or free parking, that is. Many people will take the extra time to find an open meter or strike gold in the nearby residential areas with a free space, rather than pay a premium to park in a garage. This is going to be a hard habit to break. What will persuade visitors to use garage parking instead of street parking or worse yet resident parking?
The bottom line is we have to find ways to make off-street parking more accessible and economical than street parking. We can do that by providing and directing people to safe, inexpensive off-street parking in public and privately owned off-street parking lots and garages.
The first tactic to shift people into garages is raising the meter rates. This increase has brought the price of metered street parking nearer to that of what one would pay in a garage if you plan to stay more than a couple of hours. Its generally a good idea that would help turn over spaces in the business blocks as well as encourage people to use off-street parking.
But without adding mitigating factors very soon such as decreasing the time limits in the residential neighborhoods, adding signs to find off-street parking and adding multi-space meters (who carries that many quarters?) the creatures of habit will only look harder for a free space in our neighborhoods.
The bigger challenge is considering the fact that public lots and garages are not evenly spread out along or near King Street from the waterfront to the Metro station. The city will have to determine pretty much block by block the appropriate hours, rates and time limits that should be set to strike the delicate balance for optimum parking conditions. This is no easy task.
In addition, the city will likely need the cooperation of private operators since an additional 2,600 parking spaces are in private lots and garages. If somehow these private garages would be willing to consistently open to the public with economical rates on weekday evenings and weekends, perhaps some of the real problems with parking could be mitigated especially late afternoon on Fridays which have shown to be one of worst parking timeframes.
The city has convened a Parking Study Work Group with various representatives of business and civic organizations, including the Chamber, in order to tackle these issues this summer. The group will make recommendations to City Council this fall about which tactics should be applied and when they should be implemented.
The Chamber will continue to closely monitor and participate in these efforts to make Alexandria a better place to do business while respecting the needs of residents. One of several recommendations we at the Chamber have made is to encourage the city to use a portion of the additional revenue collected from increased parking meter rates to fund multi-space meters and the directional signs to guide people to affordable off-street parking.
Please see our website, www.alexchamber.com, for more of our recommendations and background material and, for the complete parking study, please check out the citys website, www.alexandriava.gov/tes.
The writer is the President and CEO of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce