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Sheriff Sale Location and Time
The third Tuesday of every month promptly at 9:30 a.m. (with the exception of Goods & Chattels Sales). In the event that County offices are closed for inclement weather the day of a scheduled Sheriff Sale or Goods & Chattels Sale, the sale will be rescheduled.
Sussex County Sheriff's Office
Main Conference Room (2nd floor)
22215 N. Dupont Blvd (Rt. 113 North)
Georgetown, DE 19947
Property Notification
Notices posted on foreclosed property and public buildings prior to sale. Advertised in the Sussex Post and one local newspaper two weeks prior to sale. Full list of advertising locations
RISKS TO BIDDERS: Buyer Beware!!!
TAX (MONITION) SALES: Entire bid amount (100%) is due on date of sale by 3 PM. You MUST research the property through the Sussex County Recorder of Deeds Office and the Prothonotary's Office. Click here to search the online deeds database. We do NOT guarantee clear title! The owner has the right to redeem their property any time within 60 days from the day the sale is confirmed by the court, which is approximately one month after sale.
When purchasing a monition sale, this is the purchase of property identified by the tax parcel number. This is not the purchase of a tax lien.
MORTGAGE SALES: 20% of bid is due on the date of sale by 3 PM, with the balance due the third Monday of the month following the sale. Failure to pay the balance will result in forfeiture of sale and the 20% deposit. Sale deposits are non-refundable. We do NOT guarantee clear title! Your bid does not necessarily negate other debts on the property.
You MUST research the property through the Recorder of Deeds Office and the Prothonotary's Office. Click here to search the online deeds database.
Access to the property is not granted until after confirmation of the mortgage foreclosure. For monitions, an additional 60 days after confirmation is required before access to the property is granted.
Terms and Regulations:
ALL sales can be stopped (STAYED) until 9:30 AM on sale day. All properties are purchased on an "as-is" basis, sight unseen (no trespassing on properties). Your bid makes you responsible for any possible liens.
Tenants/Owners of properties are not automatically evicted from Sheriff Sale properties. Confirmation of the sale occurs the first Friday after the third Monday of the following month of sale.
Change of ownership of the property does not occur until a proper deed is recorded.
Terms of Monition Sale (Tax Sale)
100 percent of the purchase money will be demanded on the day of the sale by 3 PM. Cash, Certified Check or Cashier's Check, is required. Sale subject to confirmation by the Superior Court and also subject to the owner's right of redemption pursuant to 9 Del. C. § 8728. This sale is subject to the approval of the Department or Finance or the chief county financial officer, pursuant to Title 9 Delaware Code § 8726. Also subject to a 2 1/2 (2.5) percent Delaware Realty Transfer Tax; 1 1/4 (1.25) percent to be paid by the Seller and 1 1/4 (1.25) percent to be paid by the Purchaser and subject to 1 1/2 (1.5) percent Sussex County Realty Tax, 3/4 (.75) percent to be paid by the Seller and 3/4 (.75) percent to be paid by the Purchaser. Any further Transfer Tax is the responsibility of the Purchaser. The Purchaser will be required to pay the cost of the deed. Please make checks payable to: Sheriff of Sussex County.
Goods & Chattels Terms of Sale
100% of the bid amount is due at the time of the sale. Cash, Cashiers or Certified Check is required.
Sheriff Sale Registration Information
All bidders will be required to register between 9am - 9:30am, prior to the start of the Sheriff Sale. To register you will need a $4,000.00 deposit. Your deposit must be paid with cash or a cashiers/certified check made payable to the Sheriff of Sussex County. You will also need your driver's license or a valid photo I.D. Both items are required in order to receive a bidder number. You MUST have this bidder number to place a bid. Your cash/check will be held on deposit until the completion of the sale at which time your cash/check will be refunded if you are not a successful bidder. Same bid number must be returned to Auctioneer/Clerk for return of deposit. The successful bidder's deposit will be applied to the 20% deposit required for the purchase of the property. The remaining amount of the 20% deposit must be paid before 3:00 P.M. on the day of sale or you will forfeit your deposit and the property will be resold.
Please make Certified Check or Cashier's Check payable to: Sheriff, Sussex County.


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Soybean product
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subset: commoncrawl


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KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) A Johnson County man was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution for his part in a scheme to fraudulently obtain millions of dollar in mortgage loans.
Federal prosecutors say 55-year-old John T. Bradfield, of Overland Park, was sentenced Tuesday. He admitted that he submitted fraudulent information to mortgage lenders.
One co-defendant, Paul Hartfield of Overland Park, obtained $4.9 million in loans to rehabilitate more than 40 homes in the Kansas City metro area. After he stopped rehabilitating the homes in October 2006, he persuaded friends and family to buy properties he claimed to fix.
Hartfield was sentenced last October to about six years in prison and ordered to pay $2.6 million restitution.
Two other men were convicted in the scheme.


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Prosecutor's Action a "Tremendous Setback for Counter-Trafficking Efforts"
NOTE TO EDITORS: Human trafficking – sometimes called trafficking in persons – involves buying, selling, and transporting human beings into the commercial sex industry, forced labor or other slavery-like conditions.
WASHINGTON – United States Helsinki Commission Co-Chairman Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) today expressed outrage that criminal charges were dropped against four men in Montenegro, including a deputy state prosecutor, in a human trafficking case in which a Moldovan woman was raped, tortured and severely beaten for more than three years while enslaved in prostitution.
The prosecutor dropped the charges in a case many believe could have exposed corrupt, high-level government officials' involvement in human trafficking. Co-Chairman Smith indicated that an attempted cover-up may negatively affect Montenegro's standing if the Government's respect for the rule of law is deficient.
"A woman was physically brutalized and emotionally traumatized for the profit and gain of criminal thugs," said Smith. "She will suffer for the rest of her life. That no one will be held accountable for this barbarity is outrageous. The municipal court prosecutor's decision to drop all charges in this case is a clear denial of justice."
The trafficking victim, known publicly as S.C., was allegedly held against her will for more than three years in various locations throughout Serbia and Montenegro. She was forced to perform sexual and other services for a multitude of clients, including her traffickers. While captive, S.C. was beaten, burned, drugged, raped and sexually abused. After attempting several times to escape from her traffickers, S.C. managed to obtain refuge in a safe house in October 2002.
The prosecutor claims a lack of evidence, conflicting statements and other problems necessitated dropping the charges. Prosecuting human trafficking cases is difficult anywhere, given the level to which criminals will stoop to cover their crimes. But, instead of allowing this case to go to trial where the evidence could be examined by a court of law, Montenegrin officials contributed to verbal attacks against the victim through the press and suggested the case was fabricated for political purposes. Now these same officials appear content to see the case disappear.
"The manner in which this was handled makes me highly suspicious that the authorities ever intended for the case to see the light of day," Smith said. "Montenegro's image abroad suffers if the handling of this case reveals a lack of respect for the rule of law among government officials."
Despite poor physical health and the emotional trauma of being trafficked, the victim cooperated with police and investigators, placing herself and her family at risk. "The failure of the judiciary to conduct an open, transparent, and fair trial is a tremendous setback for counter-trafficking efforts in Montenegro and beyond," Smith said. "This decision could discourage other trafficking victims from coming forward with information leading to the prosecution and conviction of other human traffickers," stated Smith.


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Stay connected and sign-up for emails to get exclusive deals and event info.
You know the guy – the fella who knows what he likes and sticks his nose up at everything else (they can be a real pain). Luckily, we do too and have assembled a bunch of goodies that we will go over smashingly well for any occasion. Whether it's a birthday, the holidays, or just a simple, thanks for being there, we've got the aficionado in mind. Sure you could go elsewhere, but why throw darts at a board? Check out the aficionado gift selection below, and go for the bull's-eye!


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Feb 07, 2014 | Carpet One Floor & Home
Are you looking to make some updates to keep your home décor on trend for 2014? Not sure which direction to go? We've got some expert trend predictions to help you out. Don't forget to download the recent issue of our Beautiful Design Made Simple digital magazine for the full story.
We asked five designers about their trend predictions from 2014. They'll be incorporating these trends in their designs and we got them to share some ideas on how you can incorporate them into your home décor too.
Glen Peloso
Glen Peloso is the Principal of Peloso Alexander Interiors and a design expert on the Marilyn Denis Show weekdays on CTV. As a design journalist, he contributes regularly, and has been profiled in many national magazines and Newspapers, as well as other International design publications, where his work has been featured.
Glen shared that the element of reclaimed will be very big in 2014. He uses reclaimed pieces in all design styles from industrial chic to elegant room scapes.
Tracy Bross
Tracy Bross is the owner of Tracy Bross Decorating and Styling. She has established herself as a premier decorator in both New York and Los Angeles. Her work can be found everywhere from the Hamptons to exotic vacation retreats. Her luxurious style is also comfortable and functional.
Tracy is seeing colorful graphic patters and bold colors popping up in home design this year.
James Davie
Having left a career in the banking sector in 2001 James moved to New York and enrolled in the Parsons School of Design. Upon completing his degree, he worked for a few prestigious New York design firms doing extremely high end residential design. In 2012 James returned to his native Toronto to establish his own design firm, renovate his own dream house, and start a family.
James predicts that 2014 is a time to re-embrace color. Rich, bold colors will be appearing more often in home design.
Evelyn Eshun
Evelyn Eshun has been providing creative Interior Design solutions for her Residential Clients in the Toronto area for over 15 years. Always striving for a unique and personalized solution for each Client, Evelyn prides herself on creating interiors which will stand the test of time. Whether transforming an old and tired property into a vibrant home or simply finishing a home with the decorating touches which make a house a home, the goal is always to collaborate with Homeowner, Trades and Suppliers to finish the project successfully.
Evelyn is loving the longevity of the trending Transitional style. It's a blend of Contemporary, which can sometimes be too cold and harsh, with warmer elements of Traditional style.
Paul Semkuley
Re:source lifestyles, created by Paul Semkuley, is an interior styling and decorating firm, combining the love of art, fashion and design, dedicated to creating beautiful, distinct and uniquely personal interiors. Focusing on fresh lifestyle based designs, re:source lifestyles will infuse your personality and understated luxuries, to inspire you and provide the comforts to enrich your daily experience of living.
For 2014, Paul is seeing a new use of a monochromatic palette which can sometimes seem dull and boring, but within such a color scheme there are always highs and lows to add interest and keep the eye intrigued.
Learn how to get this look in your home and see more 2014 home decor trends. Read the full article in the current issue of the Beautiful Design Made Simple digital magazine and find .


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I have always talked about how Bengalis love bitterness, not in life but definitely in their food. A traditional Bengali lunch will almost always begin with some bitter preparation of Bitter Gourd or bitter tender Neem leaves. This is in sync with Ayurveda, with the concept of cleansing your palate before you delve into more complex and rich food.
Of all the bitter foods that we Bengalis are subjected to since childhood, I would say Bitter Gourd or Uchche is the meekest. After years of being subjected to chirotar jal ( chirota, a plant whose leaves were soaked in water to make a bitter concoction), first thing in the morning on weekends you do start appreciating uchche. Even thinking of chirotar ras gives me the shudders and makes me glad that I grew up and have enough liberty to declare a chirota free house.
And then there was Kalmegh, the nightmare. See the name, KalMegh loosely translates to Dark Cloud. How could something that sounded so ominous be pleasant ? As a child if my nature at any times turned from sunny to irate or my tantrums over exceeded the usual quota my Ma attributed the behavior to worms in my tummy rather than behavioral dysfunction(??). Backed with my Dida's support she treated me to kalmegh er bori (crushed leaves of the dreaded kalmegh shaped into pellets) or kalmegh er ros(juice of kalmegh leaves) which were supposed to be potent enough to get rid of worms. Actually she even got a bottle of Kalmegh extract for S which of course I did not dare to use on the unsuspecting child
Truth be told these herbs/medicinal plants did work wonders for the system and my Ma went through a lot of effort to prepare such concoctions. If only I drank them religiously instead of pouring them on the Tulsi in our balcony, I would have flourished today instead of the "still growing strong" Tulsi
Though I have got over those bitter plants, bitter gourd or uchche is a staple on the menu at my home almost every other week. D loves it(yewww !!) and S eats it dipping it in a bowl of yogurt.
Uchche bhaate or Bitter gourd boiled/steamed and then mashed with potatoes, drizzled with mustard oil and salt is the most common thing on the menu. Though we don't add the potatoes any more and serve it just with little mustard oil and salt
Uchche Bhaja or Fried bittergourd is another simple preparation where you chop the bitter gourd in thin slices, smear them with little turmeric and salt and let it sit for 15-20 minutes. You then fry them in smoking mustard oil(any other white oil works) till they are crisp. I usually shallow fry and so mine are not as crispy as my Mom's
Next is the Uchche Begun which is a dry preparation of Bitter Gourd and soft velvety eggplants. Cooked with minimum spices, the eggplant complements the bitter gourd beautifully and yet does not undermine it. When had with steaming rice it is a beautiful starter preparing your palate for better things to come
Read more...
Prep: Wash and chop two medium sized bitter gourd to small pieces. Wash and chop two medium sized Japanese eggplants, the long slender ones, in small cubes
Start Cooking:
Heat Oil(preferably Mustard Oil but others work fine) in a Kadhai/Frying pan
Fry the eggplants with 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder till they are soft and lightly browned. Do NOT deep fry as in begun bhaja
Remove and keep aside
Temper the oil with 1/2 tsp of Kalonji/Nigella seeds and 5-6 slit hot Indian Green Chillies
Add the bitter gourd, sprinkle a little turmeric and saute till they are soft. Usually I cover and stir in between with a sprinkle of water to hasten the process and not to make the bitter gourd crunchy
Once they are soft, add the eggplants
Add salt, mix all nicely together and cook till both the veggies are done
The end result is a bitter medley of eggplant and bitter gourd. Standard way of eating is mixed with white rice
Other dishes with bitter gourd:
Uchche Posto Jhuri


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Sinuous plants, youthful maidens and venomous dragons are among the forms that curl around the art pottery known as Art Nouveau Amphora.
Art Nouveau or the "New Art" emerged in the late 19th century and is recognized for the use of curvilinear forms inspired by nature and a focus on aesthetic beauty. Developing out of the Aesthetic Movement, Art Nouveau gained international popularity and influenced art, architecture, illustration and the decorative arts.
During this period, Louis Comfort Tiffany and his studios created stained glass windows and iridescent art glass, while inTurn-Teplitz, Austria (now the Czech Republic), the manufacturer Riessner, Stellmacher and Kessel (RSt&K), later called Amphora, produced distinctive art pottery.
Amphora's elaborate creations ranged from the elegant to the bizarre and often were finished with striking glazes and gold accents. Some artisans sculpted beautiful women and mythical beasts, while others decorated vessels with images of beautiful women.
While Amphora is best known for their pottery in the Art Nouveau style, they produced a range of work demonstrating shifting tastes and artistic styles during the era.
Image credit: Reissner, Stellmacher & Kessel (RSt&K), known as Amphora. Turn-Teplitz, Bohemia, Austria, 1892–1905. Maiden with Dragonfly Earrings, model # 0241, circa 1894. The Collection of Robert Grant and Sandra Zeck
Our Sponsors
In kind support provided by members of Amphora Collectors International


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Promo Crunch and its sister web site USA Custom Flash specialize in creation unique promotional products for business and b2b.
We work with marketing directors and promotional product specialist in the art of taking their logo or product and turning it into a custom usb flash drive.
These ideas show here are just a small sample of the many 1000's of custom jobs we have done for clients around the world.


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The Palo Alto grassroots group CARRD recently made a public records request for this important material. Thanks to their persistence, the system requirements have now been made public:
- System Requirements Index by Subsystem (161 kB PDF)
- System Requirements Index by Package (161 kB PDF)
- System Requirements Text (770 kB PDF)
A large portion of the requirements is a hodgepodge of existing FRA regulatory requirements (Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations), AREMA (U.S. industry) recommended practices, and TSI (European Technical Standards for Interoperability) requirements. The European requirements are featured prominently because there is no existing regulatory framework for very high-speed rail in the United States, and California must blaze the regulatory trail.
As the high-speed rail system comes under ever-increasing scrutiny, these requirements will reveal where and why the CHSRA and its prime contractor (Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas) might resist design suggestions made by communities along the rail corridor.


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I got a box full of gifts!!
These were the prizes I won with my sake panna cotta at the event hosted by my lovely friend Clarice. She sent all these amazing things all the way from Japan. Thank you, dear!
I had Clarice in mind while making these mini cakes – they are delicate and pretty, just like her. She loves all things cornmeal, but the wonderful cinnamon she sent was such an inspiration and I felt like baking with that flavor.
Clarice, my friend, I wish I could personally serve you these cakes, on a beautifully set table; since I can't, I virtually offer them to you, with love!
Spiced yogurt mini cakes
from a Brazilian cookbook
1/3 cup skinned almonds, coarsely chopped
225g granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
180g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
90g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200g plain yogurt
1 cup (140g) icing sugar
2 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons sliced almonds, slightly toasted
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF; generously butter a 12-cup muffin pan.
In a bowl, place the chopped almonds, 4 tablespoons of the granulated sugar, the cinnamon and nutmeg.
In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Using a stand mixer, cream together butter and remaining granulated sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well. Fold in 1/3 of the sifted ingredients and half the yogurt. Proceed with the remaining dry ingredients and yogurt in 2 additions.
Place a heaped tablespoon of batter in the bottom of each muffin cup. Generously sprinkle with the almond and spice mixture. Cover with cake batter (don't fill the pan too much or it might overflow while in the oven)
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely before unmolding.
Make the icing: mix sugar and milk together until smooth and runny – add more milk if necessary. Pour the icing over the cooled cakes and sprinkle with the sliced almonds.
Makes 12


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One of the worst disasters in American history happened today, and is mostly forgotten.
It was the Johnstown Flood. And unless you grew up in Pennsylvania, you may have never heard of it.
Johnstown, Pennsylvania had a population of 30,000 in 1889, and was growing rapidly due to the steel industry. Because of geography the area was prone to flooding, and so the South Fork Dam had been built to protect the city.
When the dam was built (1838 to 1853) it was considered quite solid, but by 1889 had fallen into disrepair. A group of businessmen had lowered the top of the dam to build a road over it, and occasional small leaks were patched with simple materials (like mud). The iron spillways (used to release water in order to prevent collapse) had actually been sold for scrap. Concerns had been raised about its safety several times, but, as always seems to be the case, nothing was done to correct them until it was too late.
On May 30, 1889 a HUGE rainstorm struck, dumping 10 inches (22 cm) of rain over several hours. Elias Unger, the president of a local hunting and fishing club, awoke the next morning to see the lake was almost to the top of the dam.
He quickly assembled a group of men, and, in the pouring rain, with the dam threatening to collapse and kill them, they frantically struggled to prevent disaster. Some worked at the top, piling muddy earth higher to raise its height. Others tried a create a new spillway to relieve pressure. On 2 occasions John Parke rode his horse to the nearest telegraph station, sending messages to Johnstown to warn them of the impending disaster. Both messages were ignored, as there had previously been similar false alarms during storms.
By 1:30 in the afternoon, Unger and his men realized that their efforts were futile, and disaster was inevitable. They gave up and retreated to high ground, and hoped that downriver in Johnstown their messages had been heeded.
At 3:10 p.m. the dam collapsed explosively.
20 millions tons of water from Lake Conemaugh were sent raging downhill toward Johnstown. As it poured down it picked up anything in its path, turning into a gigantic blob of debris. Trees. Homes. Barns. Farm animals. Boulders. It destroyed several smaller towns on the way to Johnstown, and a witness described it as "a huge hill rolling over and over". One small town of 40-50 homes utterly vanished, with nothing but bare rock left behind.
Locomotive engineer John Hess saved many lives in the community of East Conemaugh. He tied his train whistle down, and drove backwards toward the town, hoping they'd hear its screeching. Hess miraculously survived when he was thrown from his train as it was overtaken by the flood.
The flood struck the Conemaugh Viaduct- and stopped as debris blocked its way through the arches under it. But after a few minutes this structure collapsed, and the downhill torrent resumed. This brief stop, then resumption, actually increased the force of the water as it headed downhill.
Just outside Johnstown the flood became even more deadly. It hit the Cambria Iron Works, picking up buildings, railroad cars, factory machines, furnaces, piles of coal, metal plates, and LOTS of barbed wire- and added them to its swirling mass.
At 4:07 p.m. a wall of water and debris, 60 feet (18 m) high, traveling at roughly 40 miles per hour, struck Johnstown. Some frantically ran for attics, only to find the water was too high. Many were crushed or trapped by trees, barbed wire, and other debris that were part of the flood. A large portion of the town was utterly destroyed.
The Johnstown Stone Bridge (still standing today) partially stopped the flood's progression, as debris blocked the arches under it. Unlike the Conemaugh Viaduct, however, this held- and as a result a second flood wave was directed backwards at Johnstown, striking the ruined city from the opposite direction.
To make matters worse, the huge pile of debris trapped at the stone bridge (covering 30 acres and 70 feet [21 m] high) somehow caught fire. It killed 80 people who were seeking shelter on the bridge, and the flames quickly spread back into Johnstown, going to the structures that were still dry and standing. It burned for 3 days, killing many who had escaped the waters.
Two of the most courageous figures in the disaster were Hettie Ogle and her daughter, Minnie. Hettie was a Civil War widow, and she and Minnie were Johnstown's telegraph operators. As the flood roared down, Hettie frantically sent warnings to communities further downriver, saving countless lives. Rather than trying to save themselves the two stayed at their post, tapping out updates and repeated alarms until she sent "this is my last message" as the waters surrounded them.
All together 2,209 people died in a few hours. 396 were children.
800 of the bodies found weren't identifiable, and are today buried in a large "plot of the unknowns" in Westmont, Pennsylvania. An eternal flame is kept alight there in their memory.
The American Red Cross was only 8 years old, and had never handled a large disaster before. Clara Barton, its founder, personally led the efforts. She and her staff arrived in Johnstown as soon as they safely could (5 days later) and stayed there for 5 months. Their tireless work in such circumstances brought the Red Cross great recognition, helping to build it into the organization it is today.
None of the businessmen who'd owned (and neglected) the dam could be held responsible under the prevailing legal actions. American law was subsequently changed to make such people responsible for their actions, and the laws remain in effect today. It forever changed the American system of legal liability.
The stone bridge that partially stopped the flood still stands 122 years later, a grim reminder of the tragedy.


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Gov. Chris Christie dropped his fight against gay marriage in New Jersey on Monday, framing the decision in a pragmatic way: No point in fighting a losing battle.
Just hours after gay couples began exchanging vows with the blessing of New Jersey's Supreme Court, Christie announced he was withdrawing his appeal to the high court.
New Jersey is the 14th state to legalize gay marriage.
As the Republican governor seeks re-election two weeks from now and ponders a run for president in 2016, Christie's decision holds both risks and benefits for him.
It delighted gay rights activists and could enhance Christie's appeal to independents and moderates of both parties. But it angered members of the GOP's conservative wing, which already distrusts Christie and wields outsized influence in some state primaries.
Bob McAlister, a veteran Republican strategist in South Carolina, said Christie's latest move "is absolutely going to hurt him."
"Abandoning foundational principles that go beyond politics is not the way to get positive attention in South Carolina," he said.
Brian Brown, president of the conservative National Organization for Marriage, said he was "extremely disappointed" with Christie's decision, which he portrayed as "effectively throwing in the towel on marriage."
Last year, the New Jersey Legislature passed a bill to legalize gay marriage, but Christie vetoed it. The issue ended up before Christie again after a trial-level judge ruled last month that the state must allow same-sex couples to wed.
Christie appealed that ruling to the state Supreme Court. The court agreed to take up the case but unanimously refused on Friday to delay the start of gay weddings in the meantime, saying the state had little chance of prevailing in its appeal. Same-sex couples began exchanging vows Monday just after midnight.
Advisers to the governor said that in dropping the appeal, Christie had stayed true to his principles.
"Although the governor strongly disagrees with the court substituting its judgment for the constitutional process of the elected branches or a vote of the people, the court has now spoken clearly as to their view of the New Jersey Constitution and, therefore, same-sex marriage is the law," Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said in a statement.
"The governor will do his constitutional duty and ensure his administration enforces the law as dictated by the New Jersey Supreme Court."
Although New Jersey is a Democratic-leaning state, polls show Christie holds a commanding lead against Democratic state Sen. Barbara Buono ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
The governor has positioned himself as a straight-talking pragmatist who can win support across the political spectrum.
Even as he has opposed gay marriage, Christie has preached tolerance. He nominated an openly gay judge to the Supreme Court and signed legislation last summer barring therapists from trying to turn gay youngsters straight.
During a debate last week, Christie said if one of his children came out as gay, he would "grab them and hug them and tell them that I love them."
Many conservatives distrusted Christie at least as far back as a year ago, just before Election Day, when he praised President Barack Obama in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.
When conservatives gathered in Washington recently for the Family Research Council's annual Value Voters summit, the ballroom heard from such potential presidential candidates as Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. Christie was not invited.
But many establishment Republicans contend that social issues ultimately will take a back seat to economic ones as gay marriage becomes more widely accepted in America.
"Opposing the freedom to marry is a loser for our party and serves to drive away a growing number of voters who have turned the page," said David Kochel, a top adviser to Republican Mitt Romney in Iowa during the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.
Some Republicans said Christie's decision won't hurt him much if he decides to seek the White House, especially in a crowded primary field populated with several conservatives who could end up splitting the vote.
Conservatives "were never going to be his voters anyway," said John Ullyot, a Republican strategist and former Senate aide.
Thomas reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Angela Delli Santi in Trenton, Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Bill Barrow in Atlanta and Charles Babington in Washington contributed to this report.
Follow Mulvihill at httpss://twitter.com/geoffmulvihill and Thomas at httpss://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas
Copyright © 2013 Capitol Hill Blue
Copyright © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


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This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. Martha Grimes and her son, Ken Grimes, share memories, love, a skill with ideas and words, and a cruel common curse. Martha Grimes is the best-selling author of the Scotland Yard Inspector Richard Jury mystery series and other mystery novels. She won the 2012 Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award. Ken Grimes is a noted public relations man. They've had tough, trying times and now, mother and son have written a memoir about the infliction - or is a sickness or weakness; what is it that they share? - "Double Double: A Dual Memoir of Alcoholism." Martha and Ken Grimes join us in our studios. Thanks so much for being with us.
MARTHA GRIMES: Thank you for having me.
KEN GRIMES: Thank you, Scott.
SIMON: Let me talk a little bit about how it got started with each of you. And, Martha Grimes, I gather from reading the book, with you, it was martinis at home.
M. GRIMES: Yes. I was - what is the word for it - a...
K. GRIMES: Maintenance alcoholic?
M. GRIMES: ...maintenance drinker. So I didn't get falling down drunk, I never had blackouts. It did not affect my writing life. It didn't affect my teaching. And I was asked in the clinic that I went to, if it doesn't cause you any problem then why are you stopping, for heaven sake? And the reason I was stopping was because when I tried to stop, I couldn't.
SIMON: Now, Ken Grimes, in your case, it began - can I put it this way? - socially.
K. GRIMES: Sure.
SIMON: You were hanging out in a lot of places?
K. GRIMES: Yeah. So, I mean, you know, I had gotten drunk once or twice. I actually bartended one of my mother's parties for her - the faculty of the English department of the local college. And I loved...
M. GRIMES: He always makes that point.
K. GRIMES: Well, I was 12, you know, I was old enough to serve alcohol. You didn't have to be...
SIMON: You were bartending at the age of 12?
K. GRIMES: Well, once, you know, at a party for my mother. But I loved making the sidecars and the grasshoppers and all these weird drinks. And, of course, I was sneaking drinks. And I had a paper route, and I was actually late for work. And the papers are supposed to be done, I don't know if it was 6 a.m. or it was 8 a.m. And I'm cycling through this neighborhood, and it was hotter than Hades and I'm sweating, and I'm hung over. And I see one of my mother's friends opening the door after I nail it with the newspaper. And he looks at me; he's completely hung over. I look at him; I'm completely hung over. We just look at each other in a moment of understanding, and then I ride away.
I talk about sort of the age of yes, as opposed to Nancy Reagan's age of no. And this was a much more permissive era, in the late '70s. And I came of age in a high school that was a throwback school - kind of a hippie high school. And within 12 months, I was a completely different person.
SIMON: One of the questions your book keeps raising, I think, in the mind of anybody who reads it is, did you drink because there was an emptiness somewhere inside, or did drinking carve out a big emptiness inside?
M. GRIMES: Oh, well, that's a very good question. And it's - when you put it that way, it's a little difficult to answer. I think that I would say the drinking filled a big emptiness. I would imagine that in the course of filling this emptiness over a period of time, it created more. Well, I suppose I think there's an emptiness in everyone, and this is why there are so many different kinds of addictions.
K. GRIMES: But it's also a matter of extremes. So to answer your answer, Scott, I mean, it's yes to both. So, you know, I could look at my life and say, well, I didn't see my father for five or six years, growing up, until he got sober and he came back; or, you know, my mother was drinking, and then she was writing her books, and I was an only child, and we moved around a lot. I mean, I could give you the laundry list of things.
So was there an emptiness there? Absolutely. Did I feel a feeling of acceptance - and a kind of a hallelujah, I finally found it - when I first started drinking and partying? Absolutely. And then what ends up happening again, you come back to the beginning, to that same emptiness; except it's worse now because now I fritter away months, years of my life. I haven't accomplished anything. The guilt, the shame, the remorse, that's the conundrum or the paradox, the denial that, I think, all alcoholics or drug addicts face, and why it's so hard for them to stop. So hard for my mother and I to stop.
SIMON: We're speaking with Ken Grimes, Martha Grimes with their new book "Double Double: A Dual Memoir of Alcoholism." Martha Grimes, did you blame yourself for your son's problems?
M. GRIMES: No. Well, I'm sorry. I'm being a little frivolous. One thing that I certainly did wonder about was my inability to see what was going on...
SIMON: And you're a mystery writer.
M. GRIMES: And here I am, a mystery writer. Ken, incidentally, was - and this was one of the problems - he was very charming when he was a teenager.
SIMON: He's charming now.
M. GRIMES: You should have seen him as a teenager.
K. GRIMES: It's ebbing, I know, as I get older.
M. GRIMES: I can still remember standing in the kitchen face-to-face, and I was telling him things that I wanted him to do; and he was standing, looking right at me, and smiling and saying, OK, yeah.
K. GRIMES: Thinking to myself, when is she going to stop so I can go party? Yes, Mom, yes.
M. GRIMES: I'm thinking about later since he did one of these things. He didn't hear anything I said.
K. GRIMES: Not a word.
SIMON: Both of you seemed skeptical. One of the things you talk about in this book is that it's very difficult to reason with someone who has a drinking problem.
K. GRIMES: Impossible.
M. GRIMES: Yes.
SIMON: And that's because...
M. GRIMES: The addict you're trying to reason with is not in a state of any kind of reason. He or she wants to keep on doing what he's doing.
K. GRIMES: I've been sober almost 23 years, and I still have that thing inside of me, something that's got a finger on, you know, the pin of the hand grenade and it wants to pull it every single day. And, you know, I deal with it. And I know hundreds of thousands of other people who deal with it and have perfectly, you know, whatever productive life is - but I have a productive life. But that's still there. It never goes away.
SIMON: And towards the end of this book, you folks raise an almost startling question, which is: Is sobriety worth it?
K. GRIMES: Well, yeah. I mean, if you consider, is being alive worth it? I mean, I'd be dead if I wasn't sober. So that's a pretty simple answer there.
M. GRIMES: Well, I don't necessarily feel that way, that I'd be dead.
K. GRIMES: Oh, I definitely - I would have died a long time ago.
M. GRIMES: I'm a lot older than you are.
K. GRIMES: Yeah, but I would have either drunk myself to death or committed suicide. So yeah, it's definitely worth it. But I think maybe one of the mistakes or the illusions people have once they get sober is that somehow it's all going to be so much better. And it is better. But then, of course, you have to deal with life like everybody else who's walking around the street is dealing with it on a day-to-day basis without getting drunk - and that's the hard part.
M. GRIMES: You know, this sort of interests me. I have always been - and all the time I've been sober - extremely ambivalent, remembering what a good time I had and, you know, the connection it made me feel to writing and so forth. And then I saw this movie "Flight."
SIMON: This is Denzel Washington as the airline pilot, which I haven't seen yet.
M. GRIMES: And then I felt less ambivalent.
SIMON: Why? He's an airline pilot.
K. GRIMES: Drunk.
SIMON: Yeah, right.
K. GRIMES: Yes, I might add.
SIMON: Because you got, in watching that performance, you got a vision of what other people were seeing in your or...why did it make you less ambivalent?
M. GRIMES: I guess because it took so much of his time.
K. GRIMES: Full-time job.
M. GRIMES: Cocktail hour gets longer and longer.
SIMON: So, what's it like for you now every day?
M. GRIMES: Every day?
SIMON: Yeah.
M. GRIMES: Well, now there is this emptiness that has to be filled, and I haven't found a way to fill it. But I'm not really worried that I'll go back to drinking. And when I think of one drink, I don't stop thinking of one drink. I go to the second drink and the third and the fourth, and I know what's going to happen. That's the only thing that keeps me sober.
K. GRIMES: I guess for me, the challenge is, you know, if there's anything I know about alcoholics - sober or drunk - is that the anger and the sense of entitlement, that things should be the way I want them to be, all the time - you know, to get what I want when I want it, all the time - is so ingrained in me, it's - you know, I'll be that way I'm my mother's age.
SIMON: Martha Grimes and Ken Grimes - mother and son, mystery writer and PR man; their new book, "Double Double: A Dual Memoir of Alcoholism." Thanks so much for being with us.
M. GRIMES: Thank you.
K. GRIMES: Thank you very much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Laxaþjóð | A Salmon Nation
Our relationship with nature not only defines our history, it shapes our future, too. Yet beneath the surface of Iceland's fjords, an industrial fish farming method threatens to destroy one of Europe's last remaining wildernesses. Laxaþjóð | A Salmon Nation tells the story of a country united by its lands and waters, and the power of a community to protect the wild places and animals that helped forge its identity.
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Recipe Makeover: Bubble Up Enchilada Casserole
You may be thinking "haven't I see this recipe on here before?" and if you are, the answer is…kind of. Bubble Up Enchilada Casserole is one of the first recipes I ever posted and it's been one of the most popular as well. While I've always been a big fan of the flavors (what's not to like?) I never found the original very filling for the points. I actually wavered about whether to post it in the first place. When people would rave about the recipe, I used to think "really?" because although it was delicious, it just didn't satisfy me.
I've been meaning to make some adjustments to the recipe for a while now, especially since some of the ingredients I originally used have become difficult to find. This time I used leaner ground turkey (and more of it), regular (as opposed to reduced fat) biscuits, a little less cheese and I added a can of black beans to make the dish more filling. I know a lot of people really liked the original recipe, but I urge you to try it this way – it's so much better! I was definitely satisfied with one serving and I loved the addition of black beans to the flavor profile. This is the way I wish the recipe had turned out the first time! I'm keeping the old version on the site, but even if you loved it that way I think you should give this makeover a try. You won't regret it! To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
Recipe Makeover: Bubble Up Enchilada Casserole
- 1 ¼ lbs extra lean ground turkey breast
- 1 (10 oz can) enchilada sauce
- 1 (8 oz can) tomato sauce
- 1 (15 oz can) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (7.5 oz can) refrigerator biscuits, cut into quarters (I used my store brand Wegmans "Homestyle" biscuits)
- 1 cup shredded low fat Mexican Cheese, I used Weight Watchers brand
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Brown turkey in a large skillet or sauté pan.
- Add the enchilada sauce, tomato sauce and black beans and stir to combine. Stir the biscuit pieces into the meat mixture.
- Transfer the entire mixture to the prepared baking dish and spread out evenly. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake an additional 10 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
7 per serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)


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Application to K12b components
I have applied this idea to the K12b components. Here is the tree with no migration edges, using the Sub_Saharan component as an outgroup:
West Eurasian components that I've labeled "the Six" group together, but the Northwest African one is intermediate between the others and the two African components.
Now, let's allow one migration edge:
Now, the Northwest African component seems derived from what could be called "Indigenous Northwest Africans" but there is a migration edge going to it from a southern Caucasoid population.
Let's allow two migration edges:
Now, there appears to be some gene flow from what appears to be an early Proto-Eurasian population into Southwest Asians. This may be consistent with my idea that the Southwest Asian components represents an amalgam of Neolithic migrants from the "core area" with pre-existing inhabitants of the southern Near East.
With three migration edges:
There now appears to be some gene flow from East Africa to southern Caucasoids. One might speculate that this has something to do with the dispersal of Y-haplogroup E1b1b and/or mtDNA haplogroup M1?
With four migration edges:
There now appears gene flow from the Atlantic_Med into the North_European component. Does that indicate the absorption by the ancestors of the North Europeans of an Oetzi-like substratum?
With five migration edges:
There now appears some input into the Siberian component by a Proto-North European one. This may be related to steppe-related dispersals of northern Caucasoids in Siberia during the Eneolithic and later times, and/or Proto-Europoids like Kostenki and its eastern relatives?
Notice also, that it appears that the North_European input into Siberian precedes the Atlantic_Med input into North_European. So, this is consistent with an eastern origin of North_European which absorbed Atlantic_Med/Oetzi-like populations in Europe and contributed to the East Eurasian native population in Siberia.
Strength of the Edges
The strength of the edges (for the -m 5 run) is:
- 73% of Southwest_Asian -> Northwest_African
- 7% of East_African -> Southwest Asian/Caucasus/Atlantic_Med group
- 42% of Atlantic_Med -> North_European
- 18% Proto-Eurasian -> Southwest Asian
- 19% of North_European -> Siberian
Notice that these are inferred contributions between ADMIXTURE components. Extant populations are composed of different proportions of these components.
Technical Note
Here is how to convert ADMIXTURE output into TreeMix allele counts. This relies on the P and Q files output by ADMIXTURE software.
The P file is an MxK matrix, where:
M: number of SNPS
K: number of components
Suppose one entry in this array is, say, 0.6.
This is consistent with a 6,4 entry in the corresponding TreeMix input file, because the first allele has a frequency of 6/(6+4) = 0.6, and the other allele has a frequency of 0.4 = 4/(4+6).
But, it's also consistent with e.g., 12,8 or 24,16, etc.
You can figure out how many alleles in total to use, by exploiting the Q file, which is an IxK matrix, where
I: number of individuals
K: number of components
If you sum up one of the columns in this array, you get a number of equivalent "individuals" that each ADMIXTURE component corresponds to, based on the original ADMIXTURE run.
The entries in the TreeMix input file are then like this, for the k-th population and m-th SNP
2 * sum(Q[,k]) * P[m, k] , 2 * sum(Q[,k]) * (1-P[m, k])
You might want to round up these numbers, as they may not be exactly integer.
UPDATE (March 13): I've made a script to convert ADMIXTURE output into TreeMix input.


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Dear Mr. Cameron, the natives are restless tonight…
British PM David Cameron is hip, hot and sexy. A little like that other perennial British pin-up – Elizabeth Hurley. What fun! They can be conveniently bracketed in the 'same same but different' category given their India connections. Hurley is married to Mr. Bandgala… and it sure looks like Cameron is ready to wear one. What better way to woo those restless natives. All for a good cause , of course! As photo-ops go, his 'namastey' in Bangalore made a few front pages. As good p.r.giri goes, his references to national icons and symbols ( SRK, Sachin, curry, lingo) during his Bangalore lecture for 2,000 techies, won him several extra brownie points. Cameron is a smart cookie, and it really was high time the British figured out how the cookie crumbles in India. A steamy Indo-British romance is heavily in the air. So far, we are reasonably pleased with the suitor's efforts. Cameron is on a mission to woo us – and we aren't being bashful or coy, either. In these crass and nakedly commercial times, nobody should shy away from discussing lolly. In fact, it should be the number one item on the agenda – money. How much are we going to make after getting into bed with Britain? I'm all for a pre-nup. That's the bottom line, everything else is secondary. Once those dirty filthy commercial details are taken care of, Manmohan Singh can also praise Lady Gaga, Elton John and their cricket captain. But he must never ever make the mistake of praising British food or else the world will know he is lying.
Courtship rituals vary, but Cameron and his band of merry men ( well, mostly…. there were very few saucy lassies on his team of 90), stayed with a fairly traditional, even predictable script. The mood was 'Hawk-ish' – the Rs.5,200 crore deal for advanced jet trainers is in the bag. There were several other 'farmaishes' on the British wish list – from UK law firms interested in setting up shop in India,to British banks and supermarket players like Tesco getting down to serious business here. Let's do a little singalong folks, " All I want is a deal somewhere…. far away from this cold nightmare…… oh, wouldn't it be loverly"?? This two-day visit – let's call it a quickie - spells (and smells of) just one thing – cash. But at least there is no fake attempt at making the whirlwind trip sound like anything other than what it is – a shopping jamboree.
Cameron's crack team is packed with cuties, too. George Osborne whizzed through Mumbai, all bright eyed and bushy tailed, despite his hysterical schedule. As always, Mumbai's unchallenged power couple,Parmesh and Adi Godrej pulled out all the stops and showed the visitors what the mega watt Mumbai magic is all about at a marvelously structured dinner party for sixty of their closest and dearest friends – other industrialists, Bollywood stars, fashionistas, socialites, writers, professionals. It was a dazzling line up of the city's best and brightest, to say nothing of the hottest. Since the dishy under-40 Chancellor of the Exchequer was the star invitee, Mumbai sat up and took notice, giving him the sort of 'bhav' generally reserved for Bollywood royalty and nobody else. An invitee who had flown in from Delhi especially for the soiree commented wryly, " Thank God for Adi and Parmesh. Thank God George's first impressions of India will be formed at an evening like this, rather than at a stuffy Delhi dinner,where guests often ignore the visiting chief guest and gherao the local politicians present. The Mumbai crowd is so much more blasé and cosmopolitan – the guy can relax and have a great time." Well, given that gallons of Dom were generously flowing and the dinner table was laden with baked crab and salmon, it must have been very difficult for Georgie Boy to concentrate on biz talk or even believe he was indeed in India. How many times did he pinch himself that night???The enticing stretch of the glittering Queen's Necklace glittered wickedly beyond the tranquil infinity pool of the Godrej mansion . Ironic! The Queen (Victoria) to whom this 'necklace' was dedicated was the Empress of British India at the time! And now every Mumbaikar believes this priceless necklace belongs to him \ her – as it indeed does. Members of Georges' team were caught ogling the lovely ladies present.The lucky visitors had the chance to feast on enough eye candy to give them a belly ache for weeks. Gorgeous men and women floated around dressed in the most eye popping couture. A mega industrialist's beautiful wife was sporting a whopper of a diamond ( not less than 40 carats )… and oh-so-casually at that ( over a classic black dress). Everywhere one turned, there was red hot glamour ( starting with the hostess dressed in a figure hugging red Herve Leger). Mercifully, there wasn't a behenji in sight, as the Dilliwalla observed, while he braced himself for round two of partying in the Capital the following night.
Well, the Big Boys from Britain have successfully pulled off a charm initiative. As a seasoned legal eagle who attended a cruelly timed (7 a.m) breakfast meeting with Osborne , the morning after the night before, commented, " He made all the right noises and kept repeating, 'We are here to learn'… that's a good place to start." You bet! Especially when you forget to add, "We are here to sell…." Let us watch how it goes once the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE), make it official.
It is pay back time, buddies. We know how to drive hard bargains and squeeze the testicles of trading partners when needed. Your time begins now - tick tick tick tock . The mouse ran up the clock. Big Ben and Rajabai Tower are the new BFFs in town.
Oye, Lucky, Oye!!


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Hi folks! I'm here today with a review and giveaway that would absolutely make my teenage self roll my eyes... but makes my adult home-owning self oh so happy! (See Mom, I do my chores!)
The huge prize up for grabs is... a steam mop from Oreck!
The Oreck Steam-It comes with six different attachments to help you clean a variety of surfaces... including floors, windows, floor or shower tile, carpets, upholstery, windows, glass showers, drapery, countertops, marble, and more.
The Steam-It retails for $179.99 and will be provided to the winner by Oreck. This review and giveaway is sponsored by The Freckled Citizen.
Why do I need a steam mop, you're asking yourself? Well, I asked myself the same question when the nice folks at Oreck contacted me about giving one away to a reader. Here's what I discovered as I tested the Steam-It in my own home: by utilizing the simple power of steam, I can deep-clean our home without the use of chemical cleaners that give me, for lack of a better term, the heebie-jeebies. In addition, the pads the Steam-It uses can be thrown in the washing machine and reused - the ultimate sustainable solution. Need more pads? Sure, you can order them online... but the universal clips on this tool will also hold any old washrag or handtowel you already own in place, and you can use those instead. No chemicals! No disposable pads to not-decompose in a landfill! I like it.
But how well does it work, you're asking yourself? I took the Steam-It on a spin in multiple areas of my house and took pictures for you.
The Steam-It freshens up carpets, too. This is our entryway carpet, which tends to get the most traffic in the house, and it was freshened up nicely with the steam. I'm looking forward to trying it on our cats' favorite sleeping chairs, too. Alert to anyone who might be battling pet stains on carpets or upholstery: this little device just might change your world:
Next up I wanted to try the Steam-It's spot brush. We tend to get soap scum build-up around our kitchen faucet. Check out the results I got not from scrubbing it with a toothbrush and a harsh abrasive cleaner, but using only steam. Pretty impressive, right?:
The squeegee attachment on the Steam-It would have been a godsend in our last two apartments that had glass showers. I decided to try it on the upper windows of our walk-out dining room windows, which are too tall for me to reach without a big ladder. While I need to improve my technique to avoid streaks, I was again impressed with the power of steam alone (no chemicals! I'm a broken record!) to make these windows shine:
For Additional Entries:
(Make sure you leave me separate comments for each of your additional entries. There should be one separate comment for each of your additional entry options.)
- Follow @oreck on Twitter
- Like Oreck on Facebook
- Sign up for Oreck's email list by clicking on "Sign up for Email" in the top navigation bar and entering your email address.
- Tweet about this giveaway and mention @oreck and @freckledcitizen.
Important Details and Rules: The giveaway winner must be a resident of the U.S. 48 contiguous states. You must be 18 years and older to enter. No duplicate comments. Winner will be determined via drawing on random.org. Odds of winning will be dependent upon total number of entries. Please leave a way for me to contact you if you win the Steam-It; otherwise, another winner will be chosen using random.org. This giveaway will run from October 26, 2011 until November 2, 2011.
Disclosure – I was given the Oreck DualMax Air Purifier to review and keep. All opinions stated in this post are entirely my own. Oreck Corporation provided the prize for the sweepstakes but is not the sponsor of the sweepstakes.


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For the month of August, Morning Edition and The Race Card Project are looking back at a seminal moment in civil rights history: the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream Speech" Aug. 28, 1963. Approximately 250,000 people descended on the nation's capital from all over the country for the mass demonstration.
Through The Race Card Project's six-word stories, we'll meet some of the people who witnessed that history and hear their memories and reflections on race relations in America today.
This is the first in a two-part report about Clarence B. Jones and the March on Washington.
Ask Clarence B. Jones to identify himself, and he'll tick off a list of titles. "I live in Palo Alto, Calif., and I am a visiting professor at the University of San Francisco, and a scholar, writer-in-residence at Stanford University's Martin Luther King Jr. Institute."
Jones was also the first black man to make partner at a Wall Street investment bank, but he's leaving something else out, too. Jones, 81, was also the personal attorney and adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. during the height of the civil rights movement. Fifty years ago, on the eve of the March on Washington, Jones was working hard to make sure every detail went off without a hitch. Jones remembers it as "a stressful day."
For all the reminiscing over the years about King and his dream for a better America, the organizers of the march were not just stargazing about change. They had a long and highly specific set of demands. That 10-point list included "dignified jobs at decent wages," "desegregation of all school districts," and a ban on discrimination in "all housing supported by federal funds," among other things.
The Genesis Of 'The Promissory Note'
Jones knew that King would need strong words and strong imagery to make that case. So he suggested language based on a recent experience in Birmingham, Ala. When hundreds of children were arrested after the Children's March in Birmingham in May — where dogs and fire hoses were unleashed on youngsters — civil rights organizers needed cash to make bail.
"I got a call — an urgent call — from Harry Belafonte, because we were getting enormous pressure from the parents of these kids to get them out of jail," Jones recalls.
The Rockefeller family wanted to help, so Jones had to fly to New York, go to a bank vault and sign a promissory note in exchange for $100,000 in cash.
That means, Jones explains, that "when the creditor calls you and say[s], 'Pay me,' you pay that person."
So when he was helping King draft talking points for his speech, Jones suggested that event would make a powerful analogy.
"You know, coming here to Washington ... is like we are coming to our nation's capitol and ask[ing] to be repaid, or ask[ing]to be paid in full, on a promissory note," Jones says. "Well, there has to be sufficient funds in the vaults of justice in this country."
Indeed, King used that image of a bounced check to assert that America had failed to live up to its promise. "It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned," King intoned from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. "Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.' "
Jones has chronicled his work with King in his book, Behind the Dream, co-authored with Stuart Connelly. And while working on the memoir, Jones had some unlikely source material.
An Unexpected Historical Archive
"Little did we know until years later, that every single conference call we had, every single telephone conversation related to the march and other matters, was wiretapped and the contents transcribed by the FBI. So while we would be having so-called confidential conference calls, there was another party that was also a part of everything we did," Jones says. "The contents were wire recorded, transcribed and written into a daily running transcript."
Attorney General Robert Kennedy signed off on the wiretaps, Jones says. And because of those wiretaps, Jones now knows how the FBI viewed King's performance at the Lincoln Memorial.
Subsequently, Jones says, he was reviewing an internal top-secret FBI memo, when he learned that the FBI considered King dangerous.
Under a memo titled "Negro Question," the FBI memo said this about King: "He stands head and shoulders above all other Negro leaders put together when it comes to influencing great masses of Negroes. We must mark him now, if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation."
That memo was dated Aug. 30, 1963 — two days after the March on Washington. All these years later, Jones is actually grateful for those wiretaps. Thanks to the FBI, he has a vast — and accurate — archive of the time.
"If I have a fuzzy memory or hazy memory, I look at it, and there's a verbatim transcript of the conversations about a certain event, a certain person or a certain problem we were discussing," Jones says.
Jones always thought the government was listening. King, he says, didn't want to believe him.
"In his harshest moments, he would — not accuse me, but he would characterize me as being a 'left-wing McCarthyite.' That I was seeing FBI agents under the bed and all around, just like Joseph McCarthy saw Communists," Jones recalls. "It would come up because often we would have conference calls around 10:30, 11:00 at night, and that's after I had maybe two martinis and a shot of Jack Daniels. ...
"Anyway, I would get on the phone, and I would say, 'OK, is everybody ready now?' ... And I'd say, 'OK, Mr. FBI man or FBI woman, do you have your pencil ready? Do you have your pad ready now? Because we're gonna start this conference call.'
"And Dr. King would say, 'Clarence, why don't you stop that? ... They have much better things to do than to listen to our conversation.' "
Of course, Jones had the last laugh — and even now, 50 years later, he laughs as he recounts the conversation. "I said, 'Oh really?' And I was proven right."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Featured Model: Stephanie Bernota
Stephanie Bernota is a beautiful blonde bombshell that we met in South Florida. We photographed her on a hot and sunny day, and as you can see we got some incredible bikini and lingerie photos. Stephanie has a killer body and amazing eyes, and as you an see from these photos she loves being photographed. We're thrilled to introduce her as our new Featured Model.
Stats: 5' 6"/36-24-34/Blonde Hair/Blue eyes
Photography: Miller Photos
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Cucumber and red bell pepper were cut into matchsticks. Then, green beans and bean sprouts were blanched and added to the raw vegetables along with cilantro leaves, shredded basil leaves, chopped green onions, and chopped roasted peanuts. A quick dressing was made from lime juice, brown sugar, minced garlic, finely chopped red chiles, and more chopped roasted peanuts. As I mixed the dressing, I wondered if there should have been a little light vegetable oil included. With just lime juice as a liquid, I thought it might be too tart. However, the chopped peanuts rounded out the flavor perfectly without any added oil, and the bit of brown sugar took the edge off the lime juice's acidity.
I prepared the salad and let it sit in the refrigerator as the rest of the meal was put together, and it emerged cool and crisp with well-distributed flavor. I wished I had some Thai basil to use in this, but the genovese variety worked perfectly fine. The salad was delightfully crunchy with a good variety of tastes and textures. The spice level was mild, but the chile added another dimension. It was a nice surprise to find out how satisfying this salad was given its lightness. With bright, fresh flavors, good crunch, and the nuttiness, it didn't require anything else to make it great.


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Alexander (Mufarrij) of Ottawa
His Grace Most Reverend Bishop Alexander (Mufarrij) of Ottawa is the first Bishop of the Diocese of Ottawa, Eastern Canada, and Upstate New York of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.
Bishop Alexander was born in Lebanon in 1956. He attended Tripoli Boys' School in Tripoli, Lebanon. After passing the Lebanese Baccalaureates I and II examinations he enrolled in the American University in Beirut. Due to the civil unrest then on-going in Lebanon, he was not able to continue his education in Lebanon. He then moved to the United States and enrolled in the University of North Texas, from which he graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Continuing studying at North Texas he then earned a Master in Business Administration degree in 1980.
Following his graduation, he returned in 1981 to Lebanon. There, he worked for a raw materials importing company until October 1985 when he returned to the United States to work for the Prince George's Hospital Center near Washington, D.C. before continuing as an employee with a medical supplies export company followed by working for Federated Stores.
With the blessing of Metr. Philip, Alexander enrolled in St. Vladimir's Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York, from which he graduated in 2000. On January 9, 2000, he was ordained a deacon, followed by his ordination to the priesthood on April 9, 2000. Then, from 2000 to 2004, Fr. Alexander served as priest at St. Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Having become a monk, Fr. Alexander was elevated to the dignity of archimandrite on July 4, 2004.
On December 5, 2004, Fr. Alexander was consecrated to the episcopacy at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Damascus, Syria by a team of bishops including His Beatitude Ignatius IV the Patriarch of Antioch. Bp. Alexander was then enthroned as the first bishop of the Diocese of Ottawa, Eastern Canada, and Upstate New York on June 12, 2005 at St. Elias Cathedral in Ottawa.
Alexander (Mufarrij) of Ottawa | ||
Preceded by: — |
Bishop of Ottawa (Antiochian) 2004-Present |
Succeeded by: — |
Categories > Organizations > Educational Institutions
Categories > Organizations > Seminaries > St. Vladimir's Seminary Graduates
Categories > People
Categories > People > Clergy > Bishops
Categories > People > Clergy > Bishops > Bishops by century > 21st-century bishops
Categories > People > Clergy > Bishops > Bishops by city > Bishops of Ottawa


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Editor's note: This is Part IV in a series. Part I can be found here. Part II can be found here. Part III can be found here.
Among the many irrational ideas about racial and ethnic groups that have polarized societies over the centuries and around the world, few have been more irrational and counterproductive than the current dogmas of multiculturalism.
Intellectuals who imagine that they are helping racial or ethnic groups that lag behind by redefining their lags out of existence with multicultural rhetoric are in fact leading them into a blind alley.
Multiculturalism is a tempting quick fix for groups that lag by simply pronouncing their cultures to be equal, or "equally valid," in some vague and lofty sense. Cultural features are just different, not better or worse, according to this dogma.
Yet the borrowing of particular features from other cultures -- such as Arabic numerals that replaced Roman numerals, even in Western cultures that derived from Rome -- implies that some features are not simply different but better, including numbers. Some of the most advanced cultures in history have borrowed from other cultures, because no given collection of human beings has created the best answers to all the questions of life.
Nevertheless, since multiculturalists see all cultures as equal or "equally valid," they see no justification for schools to insist that black children learn standard English, for example. Instead, each group is encouraged to cling to its own culture and to take pride in its own past glories, real or imaginary.
In other words, members of minority groups that lag educationally, economically or otherwise are to continue to behave in the future as they have in the past -- and, if they do not get the same outcomes as others, it is society's fault. That is the bottom line message of multiculturalism.
George Orwell once said that some ideas are so foolish that only an intellectual could believe them. Multiculturalism is one of those ideas. The intelligentsia burst into indignation or outrage at "gaps" or "disparities" in educational, economic or other outcomes -- and denounce any cultural explanation of these group differences as "blaming the victim."
There is no question that some races or whole nations have been victimized by others, any more than there is any question that cancers can cause death. But that is very different from saying that deaths can automatically be blamed on cancer. You might think that intellectuals could make that distinction. But many do not.
Yet intellectuals see themselves as friends, allies and defenders of racial minorities, even as they paint them into a corner of cultural stagnation. This allows the intelligentsia to flatter themselves that they are on the side of the angels against the forces of evil that are conspiring to keep minorities down.
When they cannot come up with hard evidence in any particular case to support this theory today, that just proves to the intelligentsia how fiendishly clever and covert these pervasive efforts to hold down minorities are.
Why people with high levels of mental skills and rhetorical talents would tie themselves into knots with such reasoning is a mystery. Perhaps it is just that they cannot give up a social vision that is so flattering to themselves, despite how detrimental it may be to the people they claim to be helping.
Multiculturalism, like the caste system, paints people into the corner where they happened to have been born. But at least the caste system does not claim to benefit those at the bottom.
Multiculturalism not only serves the ego interests of intellectuals, it serves the political interests of elected officials, who have every incentive to promote a sense of victimhood, and even paranoia, among groups whose votes they want, in exchange for both material and psychic support.
The multicultural vision of the world also serves the interests of those in the media, who thrive on moral melodramas. So do whole departments of ethnic "studies" in academia and a whole industry of "diversity" consultants, community organizers and miscellaneous other race hustlers.
The biggest losers in all this are those members of racial minorities who allow themselves to be led into the blind alley of resentment and rage, even when there are broad avenues of opportunity available. And we all lose when society is polarized.


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Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors, and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:
Not A Feminist? Caitlin Moran Wants To Know Why Not: Moran believes that most women who don't want to be called feminists don't understand what feminism is. Her new book How to Be a Woman is a funny take on housework, high heels, body fat, abortion, marriage and, of course, Brazilian waxes.
Boban i Marko Markovic: Irresistible Party Music: The various music styles of Eastern Europe's Roma people, formerly known as gypsies, have become favorites with audiences around the world. Milo Miles says no group does a better job of blending tradition with innovation than the ensemble led by Boban Markovic and his son Marko.
Getting Old Is Hard, Even (And Especially) For Models: Supermodels open up about aging in a youth-obsessed industry in the HBO documentary About Face: The Supermodels Then and Now. "I really insisted that I not be retouched in Playboy," says Carol Alt. "... I'm 49 years old, and that was the point ... I let every bump and flaw show."
You can listen to the original interviews here:
Copyright 2021 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.


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Meeting Minutes
Meeting Minutes
June 04, 2024
2024_June_Board_Meeting - Meeting agenda and notes
May 07, 2024
2024_May_Board_Meeting - Meeting agenda and notes
April 02, 2024
2024_April_Board_Meeting - Meeting agenda and notes
March 05, 2024
2024_March_Board_Meeting - Meeting agenda and notes
Feb 24th, 2024
2024_Yearly_Meeting - Meeting agenda and notes
March 4th, 2023
2023_Yearly_Meeting - Meeting agenda and notes
March 12th, 2022
2022_Yearly_Meeting - Meeting agenda and notes
2021 Yearly Meeting Agenda/notes???
2021_Yearly_Meeting - These notes appear to have not been posted, stubbed in basic info on 3-12-2022
February 9th, 2020
2020_Yearly_Meeting_Agenda - Meeting agenda and notes together
Dec 15, 2019 Members Meeting
2019-12-15_meeting_agenda_with_notes - An agenda for the meeting and minutes to be added afterwords
Sept 22, 2019 Members Meeting
To insert more notes here upon conversion to MediaWiki format
March 9, 2019 Yearly Meeting
July 18th, 2018 Members Meeting
June 13th, 2018 Members Meeting
March 21st, 2018 Members Meeting
February 18th, 2018
2018_Yearly_Meeting - Meeting agenda
2018_Yearly_Meeting_Notes - Meeting notes
February 11th, 2017
2017_Yearly_Meeting - Meeting agenda
2017_Yearly_Meeting_Notes - Meeting notes
December 14th, 2016
September 14th, 2016
2016-09-14_meeting_minutes Primary topics: identifying and dealing with items taking up space in the workshop, ideas for how to make the Purgatory concept work better, and the potential for a metal casting workshop.
June 8th, 2016
2016-06-08_meeting_minutes July 4th parade entry, air compressor purchase, dust collection accessory purchase, 3D printer purchase
March 10th, 2016
2016-03-10_meeting_minutes Workshop planning session
August 5th, 2015
2015-08-05_meeting_minutes Car lift location, large donation of mini-computers, Makevention & The Resale Trail.
July 29th, 2015
2015-07-29_meeting_minutes Meeting to decide renting the warehouse next door.
July 22nd, 2015
2015-07-22_meeting_notes Meeting to discuss possible expansion into warehouse next door.
July 16, 2015
2015-07-16_meeting_notes Meeting to discuss acquiring the car lift from Nick and installation.
June 3rd, 2015
2015-06-03_meeting_minutes School Factory, Treasurer's Report, July 4th Parade, Logo, Upcoming Workshops, Car Lift, Temporary Memberships
January 25th, 2015
Yearly meeting, 2015_Annual_Meeting info here.
January 21th, 2015
- Meeting to vote on bylaw amendment to support 2 at-large officers
September 10th, 2014
- Discussed dumpster and internet status. Also discussed amending our by-laws to include conflict-of-interest article needed for when we apply for 501c3 status as well as some other minor changes.
July, 2014
No meetings, but relocated to South Rogers warehouse during this month. Much activity and discussions occurred during this time despite the lack of formal meetings to document.
March 9th, 2014
Meeting agenda:
- Discuss viability of leasing the warehouse Adam Nahas would like to sublet to us (different from the previous warehouse he originally proposed).
- Positives: double our current space, more ability to expand as needed later on
- Negatives: much more expensive, buildout costs are a concern, AC not available (heat questionable), not being able to get onto the main lease as we requested was a large problem.
A final vote a week after this meeting decided against this move.
January 11th, 2014
Yearly meeting, 2014_Yearly_Meeting info here.
October 16th 2013
Meeting agenda:
- Stolen PC found in dumpster behind building, reported to police
- Physical space re-org
- Starting with storage room - 4'x8' shelving unit will be removed, Nathan has 7 steel shelves which can be used to line the walls. This should open the room up more and also allow it to have a workbench so it can be used more.
- Will plan to move Nathans shelves on-site on 10-23, will start before public meeting opens up
September 11th, 2013
Met with Adam Nahas at a warehouse he intends to rent and sublet on West 11th street. Open meeting for any Blabs members who want to check it out.
July 17th, 2013
Meeting agenda:
- Treasurers report
- Makevention
- where are things at
- laser cut badge design status (Dan)
- T-shirt printing for Makevention and Bloominglabs
- fund raising ideas for Bloominglabs at Makevention (selling Rage-face ink stampers, Jay's turned wooden pens, etc)
- other things?
- Bloominglabs
- We should make plans about the space independent of the firehouse, will be some time before that project moves forwards
- The old Mother Hubbard Cupboard location on 3rd street may be available for us to check out soon, lessor wants to rent it to a non-profit
- 1300sq ft, our current space is 1000sq ft
- Workshops - how the June workshops worked out (blue barrels, machining workshops)
- Maby think of some ideas for workshops after Makevention
- We've had a lot of new members in the past few months, questions and comments from the new folks? (or old folks)
- Allyn's space reorg drafts - discuss reorganization of the new space
- We should make plans about the space independent of the firehouse, will be some time before that project moves forwards
- Vic brought up the idea of a rocket launch Saturday in September, more info TBA
March 14th, 2013
- Proposed, voted on, and ratified bylaws to support two membership classes, new class supports a hardship/student/reduced membership rate
- Announced we can start taking donations for the laser cutter
February 27th, 2013
- Members meeting about outreach
- Got input from everyone and talked about our 501(c)(3) tax status and how that relates to outreach
- Discussed the laser fundraising, model to focus on
February 3rd, 2013
- We need to update this for the 2012 meetings.
- 2013_Yearly_Meeting - 2013 Yearly Meeting Outline
- YearlyMeeting2013Notes - Notes Notes from the 2013 Yearly Meeting
There are no notes from meetings that happened in 2012. Rest assured that lots happened this year. See the Bloominglabs Log for details on activities during this period.
December 7th, 2011
- Discussed treasurers report and the upcoming yearly meeting date. Previously the 21st was suggested, however Saturday January 7th is the only date that works for everyone who has spoken up at this time (in the morning hours).
- Discussed workshop ideas for 2012. First idea was to have a two-part soldering workshop in February. First part would have a basic kit led by Nathan, second part would have a surface-mount focus led by Nick. Current dates for this are Feb 16th and the 23rd.
- Attempted to hand-out RFID fobs, however a technical issue prevented us getting them programmed into the RFID access controller. This has been rectified as of this writing (12/28/11).
October 19, 2011
New people
- Joe
- Aaron
- Steve
- Mark
- Andrew
- Jonathan
- Daniel
- dosman
- Barry
- Nick
dosman Rumble Challenge Demo.
Rex brought Pixis 2000 pharmaceutical dispensing cabinet (Pentium based) for hacking purposes, storing projects, part vending.
August 10th, 2011
Treasurers report Discussed bills Misc. items
July 6, 2011
Move stuff
- Most of the move done July 4th
- Tables and chairs acquired for the new space
- Met at the Collaboration Room and packed up everything left at this location, moved to new space on Roll Ave.
Post-move Discussion
- Round-table between all members on how we plan to use the different rooms of the new space
- New costs associated with the new space
- Ways to increase security
2011 1304
Geocache stuff
- Steve showed everybody his Twilio-based geocache-logging-by-cellphone app, which folks liked.
- Jennet and Steve looked into GPS simulators for testing the reverse geocache. Steve brought in the wooden box he proposes to use.
- Steve looked at some sample code and making sure all the libraries including the SD card library will work together properly (sometimes libraries will need the same pin, and you have to go in and change the C code or be otherwise creative).
- Some members successfully geocached before the meeting.
July 4th Parade
- Charlie and Ross did some more work on the strandbeest. They've built 3 legs now. Mechanical engineering challenges are being addressed.
- More fun with Twinkie cannons including some 'safety testing'
- some experimentation with the set of IR LEDs being considered for use in the IR sign
- Rex printed up some nice circuit boards for the IR sign using Nick's design.
Other Stuff
- A new visitor, Nick, worked on a kit to build a temperature controller for a fridge or other controlled temperature environment. He soldered it up completely by the end of the meeting.
- Some playing around with the electric wheelchair. It seems to lose power pretty fast. One of the 3 Nathans is looking into working out the control protocol.
- Rex has done some more research on the robot platform in the storage room and has ideas for that.
2011 0902
July 4th Parade
- Meetings for 4th of July Topics to come
- New channel announced, #july4
- what kind of float will we have? A theremin on a standbeest?
- july 4 project proposal: giant smoke ring generators from barrels and shower curtain
- cupcake challenge: send a cupcake 1000km away, get points for packaging, presentation, cupcake itself, etc. gps+ez-bake?
- video cameras at the 4th: manipulate the videographers with infrared. Make something that only video cameras can see using far-ir leds.
October 13, 2010
Attendees: Jenett, Nathan, Brent, Justin, Barry, Jenn, and others
Topics covered:
- Treasurer's report
- Update on insurance - provider located who is willing to cover us
- Bylaws
September 15, 2010
Attendees: Jenett, Nathan, Brent, Nick
Topics covered:
- Treasurer presented financial report up to this point
- Insurance for the space is still being investigated
- Bylaw additions
- Add 2nd membership class, $20 dues with key access and no voting rights
- Bloominglabs termination article to govern a conversion to a non-profit; and to govern a termination of the organization all-together
August 11, 2010
Attendees: Jenett, Steve, Nathan, Will, Joe, Barry, Jenn, Brent, Justin
Collected membership dues from core group, collected member addresses to have on file. Discussed liability waivers (everyone signed one), and safety guidelines that the space should adopt. Discussed meeting with lawyer. Discussed possibility of getting a RedCross instructor to teach first-aid to the group. Discussed meeting rules (with intent to keep them focused and as short as possible). Everyone shown location of fire extinguisher, smoke detector, and first-aid kit.
Membership Agreement
- Contact info - emergency contact info as well
- Will knows a woman, Merridith, who says their hackerspace made $80K a year teaching classes
- Their may be issues if we dissolve the LLC with the equipment - we may need to get rid of it.
- Nathan and Jenett will try to meet with a tax advisor next week
Safety Training
- As a group, go through how to use equipment
- Trained group then trains future members
- Barry - Should have some sort of requirements for being a trainer like proof they can use the equipment and we should all take a first aid course
- Will - Red Cross will do training and what kind of safety equipment should we have?
- Barry - Glasses, ear plugs, gloves, apron
- Nathan - Menards has rated glasses for $1
- Will - Note when to use safety equipment and when not to
- Nathan pointed out the fire extinguisher and the first aid kit
- Questions about where the breakers are (we should find them!)
New Members
- Make new members attend public meetings for a while
- Have them get a recommendation from a current member
- Barry - make sure new members know the house rules and we should be prepared to kick people out if needed
- Will - We may need to remove people who are "damaging the harmony of the group"
- Nathan - Always be excellent to each other.
- Will - limit the number of full members and does making people members mean a difference in liability?
- Barry - Perhaps there could be different levels of membership
June 30, 2010
Attendees: Nathan, Joe, Nick, Jon, Steve, Will.
Discussed possible names. See the wiki page for details Possible_Names.
Discussed the possibility of naming a President, Treasurer, etc. Decided not to do that at this time, but Stephen Charlesworth was named Secretary.
Discussion of dues and rent. In order to make the room/space a reality we need a plan to fund this. We will not at this time set a definite rate for monthly dues, but the number $40 for full membership was thrown out there. Will possibly have different tiers.
Also, it'd be good to have other conditions for membership (existing members vote on new members).
Pondered possibly starting an LLC, talking with a lawyer, etc. to make things more formal and official.
Q: are their free consultations for non-profits offered thru I.U.?
Informal Meetings January through June 2010
Many informal meetings held between these dates, general topics.
December 1st, 2009
Rex worked on his X-Y stepper motor rig. Discussed having a surface mount class with Nick, need to acquire some hardware first. Rex offered his place up for a future meeting location, discussed having this early 2010 on a Friday evening.
November 24th, 2009
Nathan assisted Will on the fringe detector circuit, tested out different photo-transistors. Barry got his CD-R laser operational (removed from the drive).
November 17th, 2009
Met at Barry & Jenn's house while Jenett was away at SC09. Rex and Will got the Laser_Interferometer fringe detector circuit operational. Steve tested an RFID reader on his Arduino. Jenn worked on her LED bracelet. Barry extracted a high power laser from a CD burner.
November 10th, 2009
Will brought his Laser_Interferometer gear and set it up with Nathan's green laser pointer. Started working on building a detector to count fringes. Rex worked on an old Oscilloscope.
November 3rd, 2009
General topics covered.
October 27th, 2009
10th meeting. General topics covered. Nathan setup a laptop to run Graffiti Research Lab's Laser Tag projector/laser tracking program for use at Phreaknic 13. Jenett disassembled a VCR to get a motor as well as worked on a costume. Also worked on her laser harp project.
October 20th, 2009
9th meeting. General topics covered.
October 13th, 2009
No meeting
October 6th, 2009
8th meeting, 10 attendees. Jenett tested out Will's telescope CCD with the microscope. Will brought his Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and showed off his new ability to control the X-Y axis control through Scheme.
September 29th, 2009
7th meeting, 9 attendees. Started off by making speakers out of wire coils attached to the bottom of plastic cups. Jenett tested out a microscope. Nathan demoed his Arduino kiosk input device he's working on. Several of us debugged a few of the AVR programmers and got them back into working condition again.
September 22nd, 2009
Sixth meeting, 9 attendees. Started off by reconfiguring WiFi for easier access of attendees. Next 1.5 hours was a formal discussion about the direction of the space, what projects people are working on, and about continued use of Jenett's basement. At the end, Rex showed us the complete process of how he etches circuit boards, creating 6 ATiny programmer boards in the process.
Discussion points:
- We may continue using Jenett's basement for another 6 months (until Apr 2010), at that time we will re-evaluate if use of the basement is still acceptable or meeting our needs. If we have enough interest we may begin discussing becoming more formal as a group and finding a space to rent.
- If we get to a point that we have shared tools stored in the space then unattended use of the basement can be accommodated by installing an outside door lock and a door at the top of the stairs.
- All agreed that we need to have our weekly meeting even if the basement is configured to allow unattended access, a large part of this group is sharing knowledge while we are all together at the same time.
- All agreed that for now, while meeting in Jenett's basement, the space will be invite only (read: we are not advertising the group or otherwise publicly seeking more attendees. However, if you found us and are interested ask us if you can attend a meeting and you will more than likely be invited). Unattended access to the basement, if configured, would only be provided to attendees that have been to several meetings and are in good standing.
- The issue of a more formal name for our group and moving the wiki/mailing list to a new name was raised, it was decided it was not a critical issue at this point. At the 6 month mark we can revisit the issue if/when a more formal entity is started.
- Mark discussed the makerbot and how he intends to buy one in the near future; also that if we where interested he could bring it in to a meeting so we can try using it
- Discussed the idea of having regular presentations on our own areas of expertise, Nathan volunteered to do this first on a small Arduino program he wrote at the next meeting
- Round table discussion of what projects each of us wants to work on and accomplish
September 15th, 2009
Fifth meeting, 9 attendees. General AVR and Arduino free-for-all.
September 8th, 2009
Fourth meeting, 6 attendees. More AVR programming, discussed microcontroller projects for True Dungeon. N64 power cord repairs. Nathan setup his 5V 20A regulated power supply so each person can power their breadboard without having to find an outlet to plug-in a power brick. Uploaded more AVR code to the wiki for easy access. At 9:16pm we watched the International Space Station and the shuttle Discovery fly over Bloomington together, quite fantastic!
September 1st, 2009
Third meeting (Jenett's basement - all future meetings will be here unless otherwise specified), 9 attendees. Setup tables and chairs in the basement, moved in mini fridge from the garage. Everyone setup proto boards with AVR/ATMega chips, worked out problems with ATTiny USB programmers and avr_dude/gcc software. Uploaded AVR blinky test code to the wiki (AVR). Looked at Jupiter with Jenett's 8" telescope at the end of the evening.
August 19th, 2009
Second meeting (Max's Place), 9 attendees. Discussed what it is we want to accomplish with this group and what people want to get out of it. Agreed to meet at Jenett's house for our next meeting to learn AVR programming and discuss using her basement as a future meeting location and potential hacker space.
June 6th, 2009
First meeting (Bakehouse), 4 attendees. Discussed forming a group of people before moving forwards with the space. Also discussed having an informal "group tool sharing" program.


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Top executives at one of Switzerland's biggest banks said today they're sincerely trying to prevent tax evasion by U.S. citizens. They also said conflicting laws in the two countries make it almost impossible to do that. The chief executive of Credit Suisse appeared before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which has been looking into the use of secret Swiss bank accounts by Americans.
Here's NPR's Jim Zarroli.
JIM ZARROLI, BYLINE: In 2009, the subcommittee began a marathon investigation into overseas tax havens, one that eventually led to the prosecution of the Swiss bank UBS. At the time, says subcommittee Chairman Carl Levin of Michigan, it looked as though the world was ready to crack down on secret accounts.
SENATOR CARL LEVIN: Well, it's five years later and the sad truth is that the era of bank secrecy is not over. Bank secrecy has been discredited and condemned but it isn't gone.
ZARROLI: Before him sat Brady Dougan who, despite being American himself, is CEO of Credit Suisse. The subcommittee says Credit Suisse at one time had 22,000 accounts held by Americans, the vast majority of which were never disclosed to the IRS. Dougan conceded that a few rogue bankers had helped American accountholders conceal their assets. But he said the bank as a whole remains committed to complying with U.S. law.
BRADY DOUGAN: And for me personally, it has been one of my highest priorities to get this fixed, to get it right, and I believe we have made significant progress towards that goal.
ZARROLI: But Dougan and other executives pointed out that the Senate had yet to ratify what's called the Double Taxation Treaty. The agreement would establish a process enabling the U.S. to get the names of tax evaders with Swiss accounts in some cases. Until the treaty is ratified, Credit Suisse officials insisted that the bank is caught between a rock and a hard place.
General Counsel Romeo Cerutti said the bank wants to obey U.S. regulations.
ROMEO CERUTTI: This has not been easy. Given that we need to comply with the laws of both United States and Switzerland and these laws are sometimes directly conflicting.
ZARROLI: Under questioning by Arizona Senator John McCain, Cerutti says current Swiss law continues to block the release of accountholders' names in most cases.
CERUTTI: This is subject to imprisonment and fines. So...
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN: And so, any real idea that the government of Switzerland is cooperating with us is a joke, right?
ZARROLI: Meanwhile, Senator Levin insisted that banks such as Credit Suisse are hiding behind Swiss law. If they want to do business in the United States, he said they have to comply with U.S. regulations. As for the Double Taxation Treaty, Levin said it will have at best a limited impact on curbing tax evasion. For one thing, he says it doesn't apply to accounts opened before 2009.
LEVIN: It doesn't apply to thousands of accounts of people who owe us money. And that means that we lose billions of dollars in tax collections and that's unacceptable to us.
ZARROLI: Levin and other senators also criticized the Justice Department, saying it hadn't pursued tax invaders aggressively enough. But Justice Department officials said, since 2009, they have charged 73 bank customers and 35 executives and advisors for tax evasion. And they are investigating 14 Swiss banks that could be indicted down the road.
Jim Zarroli, NPR News.
This is NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.