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A long road ahead for Japan
Some humanitarian disasters occupy a few days worth of headlines -- if that -- and then quickly become a distant memory, if they're remembered at all.
The Japan quake and tsunami, in my opinion, has been the opposite. On March 11, we were instantly exposed to a flood of media coverage on the devastation in northeast Japan and the gravity of the nuclear crisis created by the crippled power plant. That coverage didn't subside much in the weeks to follow. On some level, the headlines and news clips about this historic natural disaster seem to have rendered the crisis more of an ongoing suspense film than a real-life story about human suffering.
One month after the disaster, I must remember to view the events in Japan in the latter context. Some 31 days since the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami, there are still thousands homeless, still thousands missing, and still thousands who must rebuild their lives from the rubble that this tremor has left behind. This isn't a movie or television program that I can turn on or off based upon my level of interest. The people of Japan certainly can't.
To that end, World Vision is still there -- and we will be, for the days, weeks, and months to come, helping children and families recover a sense of normalcy, stability, and independence. Japan's tragedy may eventually fade from the 24-hour news cycle, but our commitment will not. Check out the updates below on what we've done so far, and what we have planned over the long term.
World Vision: One month later, a long road to recovery awaits survivors in Japan
One month after the powerful 9.0-magnitude earthquake that unleashed a massive tsunami in northeastern Japan, hundreds of thousands of homeless face a long, painful road to recovery.
With a confirmed death toll of more than 12,800 and so much uncertainty remaining around the almost 15,000 still missing, the key to long-term recovery for the millions affected by the tsunami is to focus on restoring life to normal, as soon as possible.
'Need of people...is immense'
With staff responding within 48 hours of the disaster on March 11, World Vision has scaled up its response dramatically over the past month, already reaching more than 17,500 people with emergency relief items.
"The need of people in northeastern Japan is immense, and we are committed to help meeting it," said Nobuhiko Katayama, national director of World Vision in Japan.
"Survivors have a long road ahead as they face months in evacuation centers, then the process of rebuilding their lives. World Vision remains committed to supporting them every step of the way."
Read the rest of this post on www.worldvision.org.


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Interview with So You Think You Can Dance's Robert Roldan
This summer's SYTYCD cast had some of the most talent the show has ever seen. I got to chat with the Top 3 about their time on the show and life after SYTYCD. First up, 3rd place winner Robert Roldan!
[Photo courtesy of Mathieu Young/FOX]
Gawker.TV: What was your reaction when you found out you and Billy Bell were both going to be on the show as part of the first top 11 ever?
Robert: When I found out that I was gonna be on the show it was a huge shock, but when i found out Billy and I both made it and they said there is gonna be a top 11 it was like Christmas morning! I was so happy and excited that we were both going to be on the show.
For the first time ever, the finalists were all contemporary dancers. Actually... this season was heavily dominated by contemporary. How did being trained in contemporary better prepare you for the other genres of dance? What do you think made you stand out over the other contestants to make it to the top 3?
Being a contemporary dancer I think prepares you for almost any genre on the show because contemporary is a bit of every genre. I don't think you can classify contemporary into one style now a days. I think its a blend of all types of dance! Making it to the top 3 was a huge blessing and accomplishment for me, and what I think what made me stand out and make it that far as I did was my determination to get there and how I never gave up even though I was put in the bottom a lot. Also I think that the show helped me grow in many different ways as a dancer and also as a person so I think that people also saw that.
How has your life been since the show ended a few months ago?
My life since the show has been completely different, even though tour came right after the show it has changed completely. Seeing all the people that come to the tour and support the show is unbelievable and the biggest blessing in the world.
What was your favorite dance from the season? What made it so special to you? What was your least favorite?
My favorite dance from the season would have to be "Fix You" choreographed by Travis Wall and danced with Allison Holker. The reason why its my favorite is because the story behind the dance is very similar to what is happened in my life. As soon as I found out what I was doing and with who I had to take a second and stop because I didn't think it was actually happening, haha. The first day of rehearsals when I started learning the dance something in the rehearsal room just clicked. It felt like everything fell into place for me. My least favorite dance that I did on the show was probably the quickstep that I did with Ashley only because it was the "Quickstep". I loved working with Ashley and Jean Marc but it was just so hard to pick up and I kept on tripping on Ashley! Haha!
Having watched the show from start to finish, it's an understatement that you grew throughout the competition. Was there a specific moment that you felt yourself transform into the dancer you are now? If so, what was it?
For me, I don't think that there was any specific that it switched over, but I think with every challenge that was given to me each week made me mature and grow as a dancer. Even though some weeks I got my style or a genre close to my style there was never a dull moment that made me feel like I was improving on my dancing and who I was as a person, because every choreographer gives you something to learn from and improv on every week.
Which choreographer do you felt pushed you the hardest?
Jean Marc [Généreux], I think, pushed me the hardest because I had [him] twice and I think he expected a lot from me the second time we worked together. He choreographed both my Argentine Tango and Quickstep. He helped me so much and had fun but made me work for it!
What was it like working with the all stars vs. the other contestants? What did you learn from working with alumni who had been in your shoes just a few years before?
Working with the all stars was so incredible because there were already so wise, because they have gone through the process and they understand what you are going through to a certain degree. They always made me feel comfortable with them and made sure I was OK with the ending product of the routine. Working with a contestant was a little different because both of us were nervous about what genre we were going to get but it was also awesome because we were both in the same boat and we would always build each other up if something was wrong!
I'm assuming by now you've had a chance to watch the episodes. Looking back, what, if anything, would you have done differently?
The thing I would changed was how excited and crazy I was when I first got onto the show, other than that I don't think I would change anything because that's the way things were meant to be.
Out of all of the judges' praise and criticism, what words have stuck with you the most?
I think the words that stuck the most in my mind would have to be either when Nigel said "For the first time I wouldn't mind who won because they are all fantastic." Or when Mia said to me "I'm proud of you." There are a lot things that stick out in my mind but i think those are the phrases that pop into my head first.
What has been the craziest part of this whole experience? Best? Worst?
I think the best experience of this whole thing is making it to the top 3 with Lauren [Froderman] and Kent [Boyd]. That last week was really hard and I don't think I would have made it out alive without them. they have become two of my closet friends. I think the worst thing was pulling ballroom out of the box all the time. I love watching ballroom but actually learning and performing it is so hard! There was a plus side on pulling ballroom though, I got to dance with Anya [Garnis] twice :)!
How is the tour going? Do you have any funny stories to share?
Tour is so incredible. Its like a dream come true, I have been loving every second of it. A funny story......one city we were in (I can't really remember which on) it was right before Halloween. Allison was dressed up as Storm from X-Men and I was doing an interview, for TV, and she was walking around in the background making crazy poses and I started laughing and had to stop the interview! Haha.
Finally, what are your post-tour post-SYTYCD plans?
I plan on staying in LA and take up acting and singing as well as dancing. One of my biggest goals in life is to be a character on Glee!
The 2010 So You Think You Can Dance Live Tour is going on now through November 17th. Check here to see if there are still tour dates in your city!

subset: commoncrawl


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Yes, I DID Wrap All of My Christmas Presents in Newspaper and Brown Paper Bags
December 24th, 2012 | by Julie Finn
Store-bought wrapping paper offends me for a lot of reasons--the wasted money, the wasted resources, the energy misspent on buying ephemeral window dressing instead of focusing on family time. And yet brown paper bags and sheets of newspaper, the go-to gift wrap for the thrifty and eco-minded, aren't so much...well...cute. To solve the cuteness dilemma, I spent a lot of effort decorating my first several packages with various upcycled materials and stash components. And then... ...I did something different


text: "Absolute Monarchs sprawls across Europe and the Levant, over two millenniums, and with an impossibly immense cast: 265 popes, feral hordes of Vandals, Huns and Visigoths, expansionist emperors, Byzantine intriguers, Borgias and Medicis, heretic zealots, conspiring clerics, bestial inquisitors and more. Norwich manages to organize this crowded stage and produce a rollicking narrative. He keeps things moving at nearly beach-read pace."NYTBR (cover review)


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Which Hollywood Star Tried to Bribe the CIA for $50k of Cocaine?
In a new book written by John Rizzo, a 34-year CIA employee, he makes some shocking allegations about an unnamed Hollywood movie star who was willing to spy in exchange for "primo" drugs.
According to Radar Online, Rizzo's book, Company Man:Thirty Years of Controversy and Crisis in the CIA, claims that "the CIA has long had a special relationship with the entertainment industry, devoting considerable attention to fostering relationships with Hollywood movers and shakers: studio executives, producers, directors and big-name actors."
Rizzo explains that the CIA seeks these relationships because industry "movers and shakers" have an unusual amount of access:
'Their power and international celebrity can be valuable—it gives them entrée to people and places abroad. Heads of state want to meet and get cozy with them. Their film crews are given free rein everywhere, even in places where the U.S. government doesn't normally have it.'
He tells the story of a "major" Hollywood actor at the time who approached the agency and "somehow knew that another big star's production company had an association with the CIA's clandestine service over the years … Now this guy was offering his own name and services to us. Free of charge. Anything he could do. Just out of patriotic duty."
But the actor's CIA handler then approached Rizzo with a more specific request:
"There is one little kicker," Rizzo claims his underling said. "The actor refuses to take any money, but he told us that instead all he wants of us is to score him the best fifty-thousand-dollar stash of cocaine we can find. He seems to think we can get the real primo stuff. So that's why I'm here. Is it ok for us to do it?"
While the handler assured Rizzo they could easily get the cocaine, Rizzo says he rejected the offer, but "later learned that the actor did provide some assistance to the CIA on a particular project" without payment.
If it's indeed true, it seems like there are only a few obvious patriotic cocaine connoisseurs who would be bold enough to make such offers. Please feel free to take your speculation into the comments.
[Image by Jim Cooke]


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Warm temperatures spared manatees in 2012 from the usual ravages of winter, with fewer dying in Florida than the previous three years. Local 6 partner Florida Today Reports.
At least 392 manatee died in state waters last year, of which a quarter died from human-related causes, according to data released this week by state wildlife officials.
That overall death toll was down from 453 in 2011, a 13 percent drop.
Only 28 manatees died statewide of stress from the cold in 2012. As many as 282 manatees died that way throughout Florida in 2010 and 114 in 2011.
State wildlife officials recorded 81 watercraft-related deaths last year, below the 88 watercraft-related deaths in 2011 and slightly below the average of 87 such deaths the past five years. Boats and other watercraft typically cause about 20 percent of all manatee deaths in Florida.
Lee County had the most watercraft-related manatee deaths: 19 of 79 deaths overall, or 24 percent.
In Brevard, they caused almost 9 percent last year. Eight manatees found within county waters died from water-craft related injuries in 2012, about an average year. Brevard had six water-craft related manatee deaths the previous year and averaged nine in the previous five years.
Overall, the county saw 91 manatee deaths in 2012, down from 99 the previous year.
Other causes of manatee deaths in Brevard included seven that died of cold stress, 18 from complications of birth, 18 from natural causes, 36 from undetermined causes, one crushed in a flood gate or canal lock, and two that died from other human causes. One carcass was not recovered.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and partners rescued 81 injured or sick manatees in 2012.
"Protecting manatees is a priority," Maj. Jack Daugherty, FWC's boating and waterways section leader, said in a release. "Our officers take time to patrol manatee zones, identify areas that have presented problems, and generally work with the public to educate them on how to boat safely and in a way that doesn't harm the environment."
Copyright 2013 by ClickOrlando.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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A few notes:
- Here are a few reasons why we should save PBS. Like you need any more. [Explore]
- Do we still expect our favorite writers to be nice people? Or as complex as their writing? Case in point: David Foster Wallace. [New York Times]
- Harlem schools are seeing a high turnover rate. Beth Fertig explores. [Schoolbook]
- Christina Lewis Halpern notices the shift between Jay-Z the entertainer and Jay-Z the Brooklyn realtor. [Dominion of New York]
- I agree that we don't have to be so caustic when it comes to speaking to each other, but let's be real: if all sides aren't equal, then the terms of engagement get a little skewed. In education or otherwise. [Living in Dialogue]
- At first, you're thinking: "They're not talking about Karen Lewis like that!" By the end, you're like, "This was fair." [Chicago Magazine]
"U can unfollow if u want but #YallGoneGetThisWork"
– Lupe Fiasco, in response to Roland Martin and DL Hughley's contention that Lupe will inevitably coerce people into not voting


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Back when P!nk began her career, she was known as the pop star who was a little rough around the edges.
But now that she's settled into motherhood with her 1-year-old, Willow Sage Hart, we're seeing a different side of the 32-year-old. She's softened up her hardened persona and even describes herself as "pillowy."
P!nk revealed to AMP/Los Angeles that this may be the reason why other musicians answered the call to work with her this time around. Her upcoming album The Truth About Love features several collaborations, including one track with Lily Allen.
"For the last 14 years, everyone has said no [to collaborations]. But this album, everyone said yes! And I think that's because people think I've softened. I think people maybe think I bite!"
Becoming a parent has impacted P!nk's songwriting process, but on The Truth About Love she still maintains her signature wild child charm.
"Now I'm like a mom, MILF girl. I talk about diapers and the color of her poop!" P!nk said. "That's fascinating to me and how am I going to make the world understand that? But no, it just happens. I'm aware of the cursing more. I haven't stopped yet, but I'm aware of it, so I just kind of yell loud in the house when something's playing and there's an F-bomb."
The lead single off the new album, "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)," may have some risqué lyrics that little Willow can't understand quite yet, but P!nk loved it from the second she first heard the melody.
"I just instantly wanted to rip my clothes off and dance and drink and just blow off steam. Yeah, it's a break up song. I'm still exercising some demons, but it's so fun and I feel like I wake up every morning and it's a dance party and that's kind of how my record is."
Willow loves the song too, but P!nk admitted, "Right now she's really into the Black Eyed Peas! She really likes 'Dirty Bit.'"
P!nk wrote about 40 songs for her album and she explained why only 13 will make the cut, "I like to put 13 songs on my record. It's my lucky number. I had my first kiss on Friday the 13thin a graveyard!"
One thing you won't be hearing on this album? Dance music, which seems to be the biggest trend in pop music right now.
"Honestly, when there's something that's so popular like that, that does my head in, I know better what I don't want than what I do want. And when there's something like that happening, I'm like, 'Cool, not that!' I've done a whole career of, 'Okay, not that! I don't know what, but not that!'"
P!nk was determined to create her best album yet, which meant breaking away from her usual routine.
"I've been on this video game, this level and I've collected all the gold coins and the talismans that you can collect. And my thing with this album was I either need to go to another level or quit the game because I feel like the people that do like me deserve better."
The Truth About Lovewill be released on September 18th.
-Sarah Carroll, 97.1 AMP Radio, Los Angeles


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full article
Don't Bet on it: How Complying with Federal Internet Gambling Law is not Enough
De-Identified Data and Third Party Data Mining: The Risk of Re-Identification of Personal Information
Whole Foods, Unwholesome Practices: Will Sock Puppeteers be Held Accountable for Pseudonymous Web Postings?
Equitable Recovery for Ashley Madison Hack Victims: The Federal Trade Commission as Executor of a Narrow Right to be Forgotten in the United States
How the Washington State Supreme Court Wrongly Applied the Communications Decency Act in Village Voice, and What it Means for Internet Service Providers
Neighborhood Watch 2.0: private Surveillance and the Internet of Things
Does the U.S. SAFE WEB Act Strike the Proper Balance Between Law Enforcement Interests and Privacy Interests?
Medical Advances, Criminal Disadvantages: The Tension Between Contemporary Antiretroviral Therapy and Criminal HIV Exposure Laws in the Workplace
A First Amendment Defense to the Federal Cyberstalking Statute in the Age of Twitter
Age Verification as a Shield for Minors on the Internet: A Quixotic Search?
Federal Tax Consequences of Virtual World Transactions
Ethical Duties to Prospective Clients Who Send Unsolicited Emails
MySpace or Yours? The Impact of the MySpace-Attorneys General Agreement on Online Businesses
Data Privacy and Breach Reporting: Compliance with Varying State Laws
Standardization in the European Information and Technology Sector: Official Procedures on the Verge of Being Overhauled
President George W. Bush's administration has outlined initial necessary steps to transform the healthcare delivery system through adoption of interoperable electronic health records ("EHRs") by the year 2014. This Article examines the nation's shift toward the use of EHR technology, which largely facilitates patient care by providing clinicians with the ability to review a more complete medical record at the time of treatment. Current legislation calls for financial support and technical standards. However, lawmakers neglect to fully address the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA") and the need to expand its application and enforcement. In addition, healthcare provider Anti-Kickback and physician self-referral statutes may continue to deter electronic connectivity progress in healthcare, despite recently finalized safe harbor regulations. The Article concludes that while lawmakers have demonstrated strong support for the health information technology ("HIT") initiatives, significant challenges remain to EHR adoption, including the lack of interoperability standards, financial obstacles, and privacy and security concerns.
You Can Send This But Not That: Creating and Enforcing Employer Email Policies Under Sections 7 and 8 of the National Labor Relations Act After Register Guard


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Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
2008 Volkswagen Jetta
adelvice Posts: 2Your comment about the Forester being the worse car you've experienced caught me by surprise. I currently drive an '04 XT Forester turbo and I have had not one single problem with it and it's at 55,000 miles. Of course, the gas mileage is another story.
That said, sorry about any problems you've had w/ yours.
I am personally looking at the Jetta as my next car b/c it's a lot of car for the money. I would invest in an ext. warranty if possible.
ndmike88 Posts: 155My wifes Wolfsburg is 1 month old. We decided to take it on a trip from Nashville to Rochester New York. We returned last night, put on over 1800 miles. The Jetta performed flawlessly. Very quite, good pick-up, lots of room, XM radio worked great and the mileage was unbelievable.
Going out I set the cruise for 72 and averaged 32.8 MPG. Coming back to Nashville, set the cruise for 70 and got 33.2 MPG. This is a great little car.
If I wanted car payments I would buy either the Jetta or Passat.
Yep, I think we got the one lemon Forester made -- a real dissapointment because we keep our vehicles for 12 to 15 years and always put in excess of 200K Miles on them. I wish we'd have leased it and dumped it. Leasing a Jetta SportWagen might be an idea, but that choice comes with a financial sacrifice too. Santa Fe, Mazda5 and Xterra are also on our manual transmission shop list.
m6user Posts: 3,175A friend had an Xterra and said it really sucked gas. You might want to check that out.
ram215 Posts: 1Can anyone tell me where I can locate the oil filter on my 2008 Jetta 2.0T?
Yep, the Xterra won't be anywhere near the fuel economy leauge of the Jetta. The Xterra Off Road is worst, as it's rear end ratio is set up for low end power. The Xterra X and S grades, especially in 4x2 aren't super terrible. My '06 Frontier 6-Speed has the exact same powertrain as these Xterras and I get 23 to 24 MPG on the highway at conservative speeds. But yes I agree -- I think the Jetta is a far better choice for my wife.
I'm uncertain, but perhaps it shares the same general location as the I-5. If so, you have to remove several fasteners to remove a large plastic shield under the engine. If the 2.0T is like the I-5, you replace only the paper filter element. It resides in a permanent (removable) metal casing with an oil drain to drain the oil within the casing before you remove it. The I-5's casing is equipped with a little toggle valve.
I'm not a Jetta owner (yet), but I saw something on this topic on a forum somewhere. It seemed pretty clear that you'd need to raise the front end on jack stands or ramps before beginning.
mblover2 Posts: 6what is a fair price to pay for a 2008 SE at this time when 2009 are in already.
kentj2 Posts: 1I'm considering purchasing this vehicle. I'm torn though—I own a 2000 Jetta 5-speed. At first I was really concerned with the oil consumption—1 quart per 2000 miles. However, as the engine ages it seems to have slowed a bit. The other problem is that nearly every interior piece of equipment has broke: cup holders, ash trays, glove box, console—you name it, it's broken. Wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience?
Also, anyone willing to share what they paid for an 08 wolfsburg with an automatic?
susan1989 Posts: 1How to change cabin air filter?
jazzcola1 Posts: 3The 2008 Jetta basic 5 speed is a great zippy and good gas mileage car for the highway and city. It's my fifth VW. I now have 15K. Seats are a great improvement. Drivers display is fantastic for night driving. I have some minor problems. Mileage settings are a pain to activate or change. The sunglass holder lock will release and open. It' located next to the courtesy lights on the roof. I had to replace it once. Still releases. If you don't turn the headlights off, they will not automatically turn off i. e. battery loss. You can't jump start the car because of the electric fuel pump. The new rear driver side Continental tire side wall blew out. I replace both rears with Firestone.
Does anyone know, or have opinions on, getting an extended warranty through the dealership (mine has always been nice and does good work) - is it worth it? Are there any major issues for me down the road? I have just over 40K miles and about to get new tires... Is the 40k service worth it? Needed?
Does anyone with this model at higher miles have any advice for PMaint? Issues? Problems? Any input is greatly appreciated!
bvdj84 Posts: 1,724I would get the warranty. I did on our 2008. You just never know what may happen. We haven't had any issues, but I know that costs are high for repairs. The oil changes are high enough. I opted to have it. It is great peace of mind. It is more expensive, but worth it. We just got new tires too! Keep up with the regular maintenance and you'll be find. Then let the warranty kick in for other issues if they arise.
Thanks so much!
HI All,
I am a delicate driver of a 2008 VW Jetta. After just 46,000 miles, my rear brakes are out
(so says my VW dealer). The pads have 0.3 mm on them.
He gave me a quote for both the brake pads + rotors. ( whoopping 370 $).
My VW does street parking.
Is it a must to change both the brake pads + Rotor or only the pads will do.
The pads are working fine and the car is braking fine as of now.
Any help will be highly appreciated !!
If rotors are still in-spec, there is no technical reason to replace the rotors when the pads are renewed. (As long as the pad 'technology' is not changing... like Metallac -to- Ceramic...in these cases, the rotors should be lightly sanded to prepare the metal surface for the new pads)
A dealer has other goals in mind. These may include:
*) Make more $$
*) In some cases, the person who *sold* you on the extra stuff gets a kickback too
*) They want to make CERTAIN your vehicle will not come back in for the same thing anytime soon.
Thanks bpeebles for your prompt reply.
I just took it to another VW dealer to do a cross check.
Just found out that the rear brakes are still 4/12 mm thick and the front ones are 6/12 mm after my 46 K on the Jetta. Should be good for another 5K miles.
The other dealer even measured my tires and gave me a good figure on that.
Pretty honest I would say.
This just shows that VW Jetta owners have to be very careful from the shark type dealers providing VW Service. And VW is going to loose their market share for the reputation these dealers are creating for VW.
Honda and Toyota takes care of this.
Hi All,
I have a Jetta 2008 and the 4 year 50,000 miles warranty is out.
How do you get an extended warranty on this car.
I am beginning to realize that any repair work on this car is going to be super expensive and the
VW service dealers are waiting there to induce that fear in you.
How do you get an extended warranty on this car and does it really help to have an extended warranty on this car !
Any help would be greatly appreciated !!
I have always believed that an "Extended warantee" is like "Insurance"... they are both gambling that something will go wrong.
I prefer to keep my money in the bank and pay for repairs if they are needed... and KEEP my money if not needed.
Do not forget that the companies selling "Extended warantee" are in business to make money. They are making that money off of your fear that your car will break.
I like that my vehicles are paid for and I am banking the $$ I used to pay the bank for them. This will easily pay for any repairs or make for a great down-payment on my next car.


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Book Report: Even far away, zombies the rage What's with the current zombie craze?
You can't turn on the TV without a commercial for an upcoming zombie movie.
Publishers are crazy for zombies, as in the novel I recently reviewed about the end of civilization, which is centered in Lower Manhattan and involves the paramilitary groups who are out to kill the zombies before the zombies eat their brains.
Where, indeed.
A young writer from rural Wisconsin has a somewhat different take on zombie land.
Scary but different.
"Huldredrom: Dream of the Hid-Folk," by Christopher R. Knutson (Tate Publishing, $12.99).
It's a folk tale of old Norway and is much more palatable than most of the zombie stuff about the supernatural that I've run across recently.
A friend passed Knutson's first novel on to me, saying that the young author lives near him in rural River Falls, and was home-schooled.
I confess a red flag went up immediately and I wondered what to expect.
Turns out I needn't have worried. His first effort is capably told and has a charming, almost Victorian edge to it. (Knutson is partial to the word "whilst.")
Here's a sample:
"The soft crackling of a warm fire made night within the house a welcome creature. A time when one could stretch ones limbs and slip into the Morphean abyss of sleep and dreams. In this hour of silence, all things hung for something they desire. So too was hunting the murky form that skulked behind the farmhouse."
Was that "murky form" a zombie? Well, sort of a Norwegian zombie. Actually, a huldre or troll.
And as the novel begins, one such little monster spirits away Vitholf, a new born babe, from his cradle and becomes one himself.
Matters, however, get complicated when Vitholf falls in love with a human, a herd girl down in the valley. What is Vitholf to do?
Enter Christianity.
I recently received a book I hadn't ordered, but I dipped into it anyway, thinking to take a moment or two away from a different book I planned to review.
Well, I've been dipping, dipping, and dipping into this fascinating book I never ordered ever since. I can't seem to get enough of it.
On the face of it "The Lives of the Novelists" (Yale University Press, $39.95), by English professor John Sutherland, doesn't seem very promising.
It's a door-stopper of 818 pages and the publisher compares it to Dr. Samuel Johnson's "Lives of the Poets," an 18th century snore if ever I read one.
Turns out the publisher's comparison isn't accurate at all. Johnson's "lives" only covered a few writers and in some detail.
Sutherland, on the other hand deals with 294 writers, beginning in the seventeenth century with John Bunyan and his "Pilgrim's Progress" the all-time best-seller and runs through the centuries to contemporaries like Martin Amis and Salman Rushdie.
And the almost 300 authors he selects are idiosyncratic indeed.
He leaves out writers like Charles Dickens and includes those who would never make it into a standard literary biography.
Like Mickey Spillane and Horatio Alger, Jr. He also includes writers who should be included in such biographies, but seldom are.
Like O. Henry, a marvelous storyteller, grossly underrated by "serious" scholars.
Sutherland races through the ages, dropping very funny lines like his take on "Pilgrim's Progress":
"At the outset...Christian claps [the volume] to his bosom, fingers in his ears, as he runs away from his amazed wife and family, shouting a 'Life, life, eternal' (and to hell with child support)."
And unlike many current "serious" scholars, Sutherland isn't afraid to add the minutiae of authors' lives, as his title suggests.
I learned, for instance, that Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner was too small to get into the Army air service. He was so anxious to get into the Great War, he went to Canada and joined the Royal Air Force, by lying about his age and adopting a British accent.
He never got to fly, but claimed he did when he returned to Oxford, Mississippi, where he illegally wore an RAF lieutenant's tunic and sported a swagger stick.
And what about Horatio Alger, Jr.? He began adulthood as a Unitarian preacher, but was immediately charged with pederasty and turned his attention to writing moralistic novels with strangely appropriate titles, like "Ragged Dick."
I was disappointed that one of my favorite Minnesota novelists, Louise Erdrich, didn't make the cut, but was happy for Northfield native Siri Hustvedt's appearance along with her husband Paul Auster, who takes up nine pages (compared to Mark Twain's three).


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Discussion in 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' started by Vulcan Princess, Oct 18, 2011.
did such fine fabric get
into your hands?"
"I'm a
sucker for a good chenille,"
Quark said slyly, "Plus it's
from a trader that had
a favor he owed me.
His ship was passing by
and I pointed out a
place on the star-chart where
he could get some tender
roast targ and a beer
. After enjoying himself he said
he had some cargo
he wanted to part with
but there was a catch.
I must sell them within
2 days or I'll forfeit
the remaining stock."
"I'll buy
whatever you can't unload for
eight bars of gold pressed
Separate names with a comma.


text:
Discussion in 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' started by Ln X, Jan 14, 2013.
Worf: What would Percy Bysshe Shelley do?
The DS9-Beach Blanket Bingo crossover was not well received.
Gul Statler: I loved it!
Major Waldorf: So what? You also loved the Dominion War!
Sisko (to self): "Hmmm...Kirk or Picard?"
Jadzia: "And when you're done with that, catch us some dinner. And when you're done with that, sweep this area. And when you're done with that, build a front door. And when you're done with that, do the laundry. And when you're done with that..."
Worf (to self): "Maybe I left the Enterprise a bit too quickly?"
Martok "There's the P'tak who put the clear plastic sheet over my toilet"
Kira "Jake is this true?"
Sisko "Maybe..."
Martok: "J'accuse..."
Bashir: "Hey--since when do Klingons speak French?"
Jadzia: "Of course I'm good for it. It's not like I--Jadzia--would ever in a million years leave the station."
Quark: Let's make a bet. If you lose, you have to take off your clothes, wear a blindfold, get tied to the table and spun around the world.
Dax: And if I win?
Quark: Same deal.
Dax: It's a bet.
Hmm, did I once try to punch a Q? Was I high?
Martok: Second star to the right, and straight on til Heghba'!
Bashir: Needs work.
Kira: I don't believe it...
Dukat: I told you!
Kira: Sisko takes Kassidy to the barren desert for romantic getaways?!
Dukat: Hm, it appears not everybody keeps their-
Kira: No! Dammit, let it die!
A new caption contest will be up in several hours time, yesterday I was sidetracked by the horror of a movie The Room and I am still nursing serious psychological trauma because of it...
1 Ferengi...1 Trill...1 Cup.
The next Caption Contest is up!
Separate names with a comma.


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Metal All Stars
5th April, 2014
Arena Riga, Latvia
Review by Anna Dumpe
Photography by Vladislavs Punculs
When Metal All Stars tour was first announced, many people had doubts about the quality and legitimacy about this specific project simply because of how impressive the line-up was. In the very beginning Metal All Stars was a tour that would take many musicians, like Zakk Wylde, Tom Araya, Vince Neil, Cronos, Phil Anselmo and many more on a tour across Eastern and Northern Europe, but after few artists cancelling or denying their appearances on Metal All Stars tour, it was questioned by even more people.
The truth is, until the actual day of the show, many heavy metals fans of Latvia really had no clue if the performance is actually going to happen due to lack of advertisement and news about artists, like Vince Neil, Phil Anselmo, Cronos, etc cancelling their appearances just days before the tour kicks off. However the show DID happen and we were there to see it all for ourselves. Read the rest of this entry »


text:
I just want to say this, I feel bad for her and what she has to go though on a daily basis. There were dozens of paparazzi waiting to attack her all day and she couldnt even walk around without being covered. So in respect of that I dont want to get into every detail of her but I do want to say is it was pretty surreal to be in the same room, let alone 3 feet from her and that she really kicks ass as Joan Jett. She was very into her roll and she is a very very professional actress.
So yes thats it :]But yesterday was a blast. I listened to her sing "I love playing with fire" about 55 times. The girls in her band were very nice and very cool. Joan Jett was also there hanging out and giving rocking out tips all day. It was pretty amazing to see Kristen right next to Joan. She looked just like her.
Read the rest here.


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SNOHOMISH — Friends describe Carrol Walker as an amazing character.
Years later, he could still recall the day — Dec. 12, 1970 — that he first met student teacher Curtiss Johnson, who went on to become a Snohomish High School colleague.
Walker could remember the names of all the students he had in his physics, trigonometry and advanced algebra classes over his 32-year career there, the year he taught them, and where they sat in his class, Johnson said.
His sonorous voice and commanding classroom presence left him open to satiric imitation. One student, who walked to the front of the room on the premise of solving a math problem, launched into his Mr. Walker shtick — complete with his right hand at his cheek to underscore a key point. Some of the loudest laughter came from the back of the room, from Walker himself.
His lifelong frugality came despite a family inheritance that left him wealthy by many people's standards, Johnson said. Following Walker's death last year at age 84, Snohomish attorney Bruce Keithly began the work of carrying out the instructions of his will.
Nearly everything he had — close to $1 million — will be split among four hospitals, receiving about $233,000 each.
"It was important to him that it go to a worthwhile cause," said neighbor and fellow Snohomish High School teacher John Boling.
Years before his death, with no family of his own, Walker began thinking about what he could do with his money. At first, he thought he would make a donation to Seattle Children's Hospital "because they do good things," Johnson said.
Then, following his father's hospitalization at Valley General Hospital in Monroe and his own heart surgeries at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, he included them on his list, too.
And for reasons even his friends aren't quite sure of, there was one additional hospital included in his will, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, founded by Danny Thomas, in Memphis, Tennessee.
The fact that the contributions come from a single, retired schoolteacher wouldn't surprise his friends, Boling said. "He was a thrifty person, but not ungenerous."
One of his former students, James Brunner, who graduated from Snohomish High School in 1987, said he and Walker would sometimes spend a few minutes talking before his first-period class.
"He obviously had a pretty good impact on me," Brunner said. "You're a high school senior trying to figure out what to do with your life. I had an affinity with math and sciences. One of my options was to become a math or science teacher."
Brunner said he remembers Walker telling him that as a teacher he would be happy, "but you'll probably never be rich." Brunner now lives south of Denver and works as an electrical engineer. He said he still considers making a career switch to teaching.
Walker built a house on Dutch Hill near the Pilchuck River in 1963. He later installed a pipe organ in his living room, then replaced it with an electronic organ. He was good enough to play songs composed by Bach but declined Johnson's invitation to play publicly at his church.
Brunner said Walker's fastidiousness was displayed in many ways. One involved the pipe organ. "It was a fun toy for him," he said. Yet one of its low notes would cause vibrations throughout the house. He wasn't happy until he found the cause of each of the noises.
Walker lived fairly close to where Brunner grew up. "After every weekend jaunt, he'd vacuum out his vehicle," he said. "All his cars looked showroom-quality new."
Walker graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor's degree in education and earned a master's degree in education from Seattle University.
He began his teaching career in Naches, in Eastern Washington. But as his parents grew older and moved from Lake Forest Park to Duvall, Walker wanted to be closer to them. "He was very devoted," Boling said. "He was lucky enough to find a job in Snohomish."
It wasn't until after he retired that he finally loosened some of his self-imposed bounds on frugality. It began one day when Johnson, who owned a small sailboat, asked him to go sailing. When they returned and were walking on the dock, Walker spotted a boat that was for sale. "He said, 'You know, a man could have a lot of fun with those,' " Johnson said.
Walker soon became an enthusiastic boater and had a 32-foot American Tug commissioned in La Conner. "I was enjoying seeing him enjoy his life," Johnson said.
One of the few assets from Walker's estate that wasn't sold was his Rodgers 835 electronic organ, made in Hillsboro, Oregon. When Walker purchased it in 1992, it cost $28,500.
Walker's attorney initially put it up for sale on Craigslist. Marvin Horton, a member of Valley Baptist Church in McMinnville, Oregon, who repairs organs for a hobby, spotted it and contacted Keithly. The Snohomish attorney ultimately decided to donate it to the church. "There's no telling what it would cost new now," said Ronny Cooksey, the church's pastor.
Horton and his son drove to Snohomish and packed up the instrument in a 15-passenger van with the seats removed. The organ was in such good condition that about all he had to do was replace a couple light bulbs and hook up it to speakers.
Horton said he's eager for it to become part of the church's services. His first choice for a song to play on it might be the familiar hymn "My Faith Looks Up to Thee."
Brunner, Walker's former student, said he wasn't surprised to hear about the way Walker chose to use his money to benefit charitable organizations.
"He was a giving guy," he said. "You could see that in the way he gave back to the students in his classes in terms of respect, his teaching and his overall caring attitude."
Johnson, Walker's fellow teacher, said his friend had a strong moral compass. "He wouldn't lie to you, but he wouldn't lie for you either," he said.
"So, yup, he was a character … and he was well loved by a lot of people."
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486, firstname.lastname@example.com.


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I hope the mods don't mind that I'm doing two minor characters at once (if you do, go ahead and delete, I've saved a copy). Rosier and Crouch play similar roles in the fic I'm doing, basically they're Regulus's Slytherin friends and from what we know, future Death Eaters.
I need help with developing distinctive personalities from each other, instead of the typical card-board cutout of a bad-guy Death Eater. Their line of thoughts on Voldemort should be interesting and new and their relationships with Regulus should, at best, be dynamic--straining, yet satisfying in a way.
Info to consider:
- Crouch Sn. was a man working against Voldemort, so Barty jn. is a bit of a rebel.
- In the fic, Evan finds out a huge secret about Regulus and snitches.
- Both Barty and Evan are influential voices who often lead Regulus down the wrong path.
- Evan retains a smudge of self-loathing because he is half-blood.
- Sometimes Regulus has some weak moments of empathy, which they react to unpleasantly.
1. What do you expect them to look like?
2. How did they come to adopt the pureblood supremacy views?
3. How do you think they influence Regulus? In what ways?
4. Given the information I've enclosed, what do you expect their personalities to be like?
5. What kinds of friendships do they have with each other and Regulus (note, Regulus is mostly friends with them out of convenience)?


text:
Cuddyer heading to Arizona for rehab stint
Rockies outfielder fine after running bases; Rosario nearing return
By Robert Falkoff / Special to MLB.com
KANSAS CITY -- Rockies outfielder Michael Cuddyer, recovering from a left hamstring strain, ran the bases on Tuesday with no ill effects. That session provided the green light for Cuddyer to schedule a Wednesday flight to Arizona for a rehab assignment.
Cuddyer is scheduled to play in some extended spring games starting on Thursday.
"Hopefully, I'll be back for the Giants series [beginning May 20]," Cuddyer said. "You've got to play some games to make sure you are at game speed."
Cuddyer was hitting .317 through 16 games with three homers and 10 RBIs when he suffered the hamstring strain.
Rockies manager Walt Weiss said regular catcher Wilin Rosario, who has been on the disabled list because of a viral infection, is also progressing well.
"I think he and Cuddy both will be with us shortly," Weiss said. "Wilin is getting some at-bats down in Arizona. Within a week, we've got a chance of seeing both guys."
Morneau hopes to relive success against KC
KANSAS CITY -- Justin Morneau had many enjoyable days playing at Kauffman Stadium during his 11-year stint with the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central. In those 11 seasons, Morneau had 58 extra-base hits in 143 games against Kansas City (31 doubles, one triple, 26 home runs).
Now, Morneau is back in familiar territory for a two-game series against the Royals and swinging the type of hot bat that Kansas City fans remember from Morneau's AL days.
Morneau entered the two-game set with a .329 batting average, eight homers and 29 RBIs. Those numbers haven't surprised former Twins teammate Michael Cuddyer, who recommended that the Rockies sign Morneau. The early hitting surge by Morneau hasn't been Coors Field-inflated, as Morneau entered the Royals series with a .315 average, four homers and 13 RBIs on the road.
"This is what I envisioned for Justin," Cuddyer said. "He needed to get last year out of the way, as far as knowing he could play healthy again. That was the first obstacle. Now, he knows he's healthy and everything is fine, so it's just a matter of getting back to production."
Like Morneau, Cuddyer also has happy memories of Kauffman from Cuddyer's years with the Twins. But Cuddyer, who is on the disabled list, has to miss the Kauffman regular-season games this time around.
"One afternoon [Aug. 23, 2009], I hit two homers here in one inning and became the only Twin to do that," Cuddyer said. "That was pretty cool."
Rutledge activated from DL, sent to Triple-A
KANSAS CITY -- The Rockies took care of some roster housekeeping on Tuesday when they activated infielder Josh Rutledge from the 15-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Rutledge had been placed on the DL on May 2 because of a viral infection. He hit .318 in 11 games for Colorado with one homer and four RBIs.
"Rut is going to get his at-bats down in Triple-A," manager Walt Weiss said before Tuesday's series opener against the Royals.
Robert Falkoff is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Favorite pickups
I don't have a fave. I have a superstrat with DiMarzios (Evo Bridge and PAF Pro neck) that I have coil tapped, series parallel that I use for song songs.
I have a JB/ 59 in my EC 400 VF that is awesome for KISS/ AOR etc
I have EMG 81/60 in my Ouija and HET SET in my Truckster that I use for heavier stuff. I have ESP EMG passives in my KH Jr that I want to replace with 81/60 set.
They can all do what the others do (except for the coil tapped DiMarzios) but they do some things better...
I like to get different pick ups in each guitar (although the White IC I am getting has the HetSet ) That way I have a different sound with each geet - even if it is a subtle difference.
my favorite is the emg 81/60 but i've never owned a pair, however i have tried over 10 guitars with the set and i love them. my second favorite is the sd blackouts AHB-1 and i have them on my ec 50
My favorites are the EMG 81/81, 81/85 and 57/66.
Also I love the Hybrid of Seymour Duncan JB/Distotion and the three Seymour Duncan Hot Rails.
From Dimarzio the only that likes me are the X2N and the Fast Track.
My favorite bridge pickup is the Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck model. I use Seymour Duncan Jazz in the neck. The Jazz Is Okay. However, I'm looking for another neck humbucker to replace it.
Pickups, i've been fan of 'seymour duncan' and i'm not biased towards passive pickup ....for Drop C# in my ESP Eclipse II i use Seymour Duncan Black outs (bridge and neck)
and in my Other guitar same Drop C# i'm using Seymour Duncan JB and '59
I find mahogany to be very versatile its great with either active or passive where as my other guitar is made from paulownia (wood) and it hates active pickups
Being that I'm not a fan of EMGs has anyone ever changed out the pickups EC1000? mine came with EMGs and I think I might change them out, The reason is clean tones. Any ideas?
I keep hearing people say DiMarzio and I personally like the EMGs every time I use them in active form. I don't have much history with Seymour Duncan though so it's a tough call for me.


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Oh joy! The WonderCon is in SF.
Any fellow Arsians going to this event this weekend?
I'm most likely going since I live in the Bay Area and because they put together (kinda) two of my favorite things, SciFi and Anime (I hope I can get a pic and meet Richard Hatch and Herbert Jefferson Jr.)
The drive into the city really sucked because of the rain but after that, I think the trip was totally worth it. As promised (and the fulfilling the #1 rule of the Lounge) I've got pics..
Welcome to..
The first group of cosplayers I come across is the Resident Evil group
Here we have your Star Wars group
and some Blade cosplayers
"Ramen & Rice" - these two girls were awesome. They played songs from animes and video games right outside the entrance of the exhibit hall. I listened to them play the opening theme for Azumanga Daioh, "Simple and Clean" from Kingdom Hearts, and "Shinjitsu no Uta" from Inu Yasha (which I requested).
I'm surprised that this guy dressed as Shrek managed to get his costume intact considering it was raining kinda hard outside.
It's me, ChocoCat, in a hat.
Me with Richard Hatch ("Capt Apollo", BSG / "Tom Sarek", BSG 2004 series)
Me with Herbert Jefferson Jr. ("Lt. Boomer", BSG) I was psyched meeting the two of 'em.
Here are the autographed pics that I got from the both of them...
I also bought a Domokun shirt (Well I bought two. The other one was for my roomie who loves Domokun more than I do.)
Is this the reason you have a Princess Leia bikini outfit? I only ask because you mentioned that bet in another thread.
You are required to post pics of your visit to the con regardless, we all love cosplay in the Lounge.
No this is not the reason I was talking about the Princess Leia outfit. (The whole Princess Leia thing was for a bet my bestfriend wanted to make with me.)
/looks at watch
Guess I should get ready to leave...
Pics! Even if you're not in them.
Updated with pics.
I don't think it's possible to measure how jealous I am that you met the real Apollo and Boomer. Congrats!
Is there something to the whole "holding-up-two-fingers" thing? I see that all the time, but never understood why people (99% of the time it's young asian females) do that.
cool pics though! cosplayers crack me up.
The Domukun shirt is awesome. Hopefully I can buy/trade for one next week at Megacon in Orlando.
One part of the new job is that we exhibit and run tournaments at most of the major gaming and comic book cons. My schedule this year looks like this: Megacon (Orlando), GAMA (Las Vegas), Wizard World Los Angeles, Gen Con Indy, WW Chicago, WW Texas (Dallas), Gen Con So Cal, Canadian National Expo (Toronto), Origins, San Diego ComicCon, and Dragon*con.
Yeah, the Domo-kun shirt should make for some intimidating hugs. You have to sort of lumber toward your target, though.
Victory is mine! (or something...)
Ummm, peace out.
Don't y'all remember the 60s?
I've never seen that kind of Domokun shirt, and it rules.
V for victory. Remember the '40s?
60 is newer than 40... I win.
yeah wtf dude. Get with the program!
yes, cosplayers make me feel better about myself
Good cosplayers aren't very interesting, I much prefer laughing at the goofy ones. Does anybody remember that picture of an overweight guy in some sort of ninja/soldier costume with the caption "Don't worry ma'am, I'm from the internet"?
That Domokun shirt is several shades of awesome. : )
Yes, but pop culture Japan uses the "v" to mean victory, and since this is cosplay, I win.
V for victory is also from "V" which is the 80s, which is newer than the 60s.
Cool shirt ^_^. Your tummy can really eat now
Looks like a fun day. Thanks for remembering Ars' #1 rule
The picture of you in the hat reminds me of Super Smash Brothers Melee when Kirby eats Pikachu and gets the little hat.
I'm also jealous you got to see Apollo and Boomer. Way cool.
[edit] I think I'm going to get one of those Domokun shirts for my wife. That cracks me up.
awesome pictures, awesome shirt. Did you ask them what they thought of the changes to their characters? boomer specifically, being a Silon and all.
Except she didn't...
She didn't?
I think he was trying to be a smartass about the new show.
That's right. Because Apollo and Boomer are what you'd call fictional characters that appeared on a TV show. Whom ChocoCat met, in fact, were were the actors who played the fictional characters Apollo and Boomer on the said TV show.
Happysin: As you can see, I'm actually trying to be a smartass for entirely different reasons.
Or maybe just an ass.
Edit: Actually, I'd like to make an on-topic remark (for a change... ZING!). ChocoCat: very nice, but I think you need a few more faces in your repertoire.
Ah, sorry, but isn't sarcasm supposed to be funny as well?
I keed, I keed.
Why, what on earth are you talking about? I see at least two facial expressions:
The shirt is here and Jlist has one that's like it in a normal t-shirt cut (not babydoll.)
Yes, because we're the least bit familiar with them outside of their acting role on an old TV show.
When I approached Herbert I told him I was a fan of BSG and mentioned that it took some time for me getting used to a female Boomer. He said he felt the same when he found out that Boomer is a female in the new series.
Um. Ok. Noted.
Oh noes, Mandy Amano was there and I fucking missed it! Nooooooo!
(she's the Pepsi/iTunes girl)
GAH! I know more than a few people who are envious about that...
/me checks calendar
Sh*t, and one of them, her birthday is tomorrow...
/me sighs and whips out credit card...
(woah. I had to do a double-take to make sure you weren't one of my friends from UCSF for a second there...)
Wow. Boomer and Apollo are OLD!
"And how does that make you feel?"
Younger than them!
In 1978, I was 17.
This thread reminds me of how much I want to go to Norwescon this year...oh well, maybe next.


text:
The Omani port of Salalah, which is to be boosted by a free trade zone, aims to add two more berths and join the league of megaports catering for the world's biggest ships, its chief executive officer says.
Jack Helton, who signed a memorandum of understanding on the zone with the Omani government last week, told AFP that Salalah Port Services (SPS) has recommended the expansion to raise capacity to 3.5 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) by 2003.
The target is to join the world's top 10 in transshipment by the end of 2001 and the top 20 in total volume two years further down the road, he said, adding that the emphasis would be to address the trend toward using bigger ships.
With its four berths and nine cranes, and three more cranes on order to handle 12,000 TEU vessels, which no other port in the region can, Salalah's volume has increased to 93,000 TEUs a month, the Texan said.
The projected figures are 1.8 million TEUs for next year and 2.2 million TEUs in 2002, while the profit figure for 2000 is projected at 1.9 million rials (4.88 million dollars).
SPS posted losses of more than 9.6 million dollars in 1999, its first operational year, after taking into account start-up costs.
Turning to the free trade zone, Helton warned that the development would be slow but forecast it would lead within five years to "significant increase in import-export value through the port".
Salalah Port Free Zone Company is to be formed by end of 2000, he said, adding it would be closed stock at first but go public within three years.
SPS as project manager of the zone has a 20 percent share, the Dallas-based Hillwood as developers 40 percent, while the other 40 percent will be under Omani ownership.
The aim is to privatize within three years, with up to 100 percent private ownership, he said, admitting however that "financing is a challenge", without giving figures.
On the ground, 150,000 square metrers (more than 1.6 million square feet) in multi-purpose buildings are to be constructed by April 2001, and a free trade zone village of 5,800 homes to be developed over a 30-year period.
"It is up to the government to establish the free trade zone, amend legislation, set up a one-stop shop, and make it customer-friendly like neighboring Dubai's Jebel Ali port and free zone," he said.
Helton also regarded the southern Yemeni port of Aden, which like Salalah has a container port and free trade zone, as a competitor because of its geographic location.
But thanks to growth in demand and a recovery in rates following the end of the Asian economic crisis, "we think there's room for all of us," he said.
Helton saw the future in "bigger and bigger ships" and said that Salalah, with its huge cranes and deep-water facility, was "going for the megaships, which like 747s, go into megahubs".
"Salalah has a good chance of becoming a megahub ... if we don't screw up," he said, stressing the importance of productivity, customer friendliness and turnaround time for vessels.
SPS, which is 70 percent Omani and the rest owned by Maersk Sea Land of Denmark, operates the Salalah container port, which opened in November 1998, on the Europe-Asia shipping lanes.
Under the September 11 trade zone agreement, SPS now acts as overall port authority on behalf of the government, taking over operation of the India Ocean town's conventional cargo port – MUSCAT (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com [1])
[1] http://www.albawaba.com


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"Real relief for real people," that is Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's slogan for distributing funds from the $25 Billion National Foreclosure Settlement with the five largest banks.
Florida's piece of the national settlement pie is an $8.4 Billion wedge. Of that, $170 million is slated to go directly to eligible borrowers this summer. Bondi just announced that $60 million will go towards down payment assistance, housing, counseling, State courts to help with the backlog of foreclosure cases, local Legal Aid, and the Florida State Attorney General's office to reimburse and to continue efforts to remedy abuses in the foreclosure process.
The next $200 million will be appropriated in the upcoming State legislative session, and could go towards foreclosure prevention, neighborhood revitalization, affordable housing, homebuyer or renter assistance, legal assistance, counseling and other housing-related programs.
Bondi stated that working together with the legislature, they have "ensured that the settlement funds to go the people who need it most—Florida homeowners."


text:
John -
This situation has been seen before and the office has been made aware of the issues with the Flea Market. Since the Flea Market is a specialized piece of add-on software, another company has been hired to make it work. That's all I know...but these issues are on the table.
Thanks for keeping the issue in front of us!


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Red Sox place Drew on disabled list
By Ian Browne / MLB.com
ANAHEIM -- Though his right hamstring strain continues to improve, Red Sox shortstop Stephen Drew was placed on the disabled list prior to Friday night's game against the Angels.
The move is retroactive to June 29, meaning Drew is eligible to return on July 14, the day before the All-Star break.
"It's getting better every day," said Drew. "It's just it's not quite there. I've been doing stuff on the field, feeling better, it's just -- it's almost been a week of doing drills, and I was doing everything I could to try to come back before trying to go on the DL. It just makes more sense just to let it heal up. That way when I'm out there, it doesn't come back."
By putting Drew on the DL, the Red Sox were able to go back to a 12-man pitching staff, recalling right-hander Jose De La Torre from Triple-A Pawtucket.
Jose Iglesias will continue to play shortstop while Drew is out, with Brandon Snyder getting most of the reps at third base. Jonathan Diaz is still on the roster as an extra infielder.
The Red Sox decided not to bring back third baseman Will Middlebrooks, who has performed well at Pawtucket since his demotion.
"Yeah, and the fact is, we need that secondary shortstop, so that's where Diaz's ability to play shortstop is there," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "So it was more about positional fit."
What kept Drew from being able to come back this weekend, as the team originally hoped?
"The most important thing in this is it's that last 10 percent of his explosiveness is where he doesn't have that confidence and to ask a player to play under control defensively where his instincts were going to naturally kick in, that's kind of hard to do right now," Farrell said.
Diaz likely to swap spots with Pawtucket's Holt
ANAHEIM -- Just six days after veteran Minor Leaguer Jonathan Diaz was promoted to the Major Leagues for the first time, he was apparently sent back to Triple-A Pawtucket by the Red Sox following Friday night's 6-2 win over the Angels.
Though the club didn't announce the move Friday night, Diaz was seen saying goodbye to several players after the game.
Infielder Brock Holt, who was acquired by the Red Sox back in December along with Joel Hanrahan in a trade with the Pirates, is the likely candidate to replace Diaz on the roster for Saturday's game against the Angels.
With shortstop Stephen Drew on the disabled list until at least the day before the All-Star break, Holt should get a chance to show the Sox what he can do over the next few days.
In 60 games with Pawtucket, Holt is hitting .263 with one homer and 18 RBIs.
Holt can play second, short and third. This would be his first Major League stint with the Red Sox.
Ortiz gets a rest; Napoli fills in at DH
ANAHEIM -- After playing in 29 straight games, Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was given his second game off in six days on Friday night against the Angels.
With lefty C.J. Wilson pitching for the Angels, Mike Napoli served as Boston's designated hitter. Daniel Nava started at first and Jonny Gomes got the nod in left field.
Ortiz has not fared well against Wilson in his career, going 2-for-16 with no homers.
"Yeah, David is fine," said manager John Farrell. "We've got a string of six right-handers, if it's true that [Jerome] Williams is starting tomorrow, so that will run six straight right-handers against us. Long travel here last night so it was more of a down day that we had previously discussed and then planned for."
The Angels announced Williams as Saturday's probable starter, despite the fact that he started on Wednesday.
Buchholz rehab start could be July 14
ANAHEIM -- Red Sox right-handed pitcher Clay Buchholz had a light throwing day on Friday, but will continue the process of ramping back up over the weekend.
If all goes well, Buchholz could throw a couple of bullpen sessions when the Sox are in Seattle for a four-game series Monday-Thursday.
Perhaps the ideal scenario, according to manager John Farrell, is for Buchholz to pitch in a Minor League rehab game on the Sunday before the All-Star break, which is July 14.
The right-hander would probably need two starts in the Minors before returning to the Red Sox. The earliest Buchholz slots back into Boston' s rotation would probably be around July 24, when Boston is in the middle of a four-game series against the Rays.
"There's some reconditioning that has to go on here and you can't shortcut that," said Farrell. "What we don't want to do is put Clay or us in a position to be limited by a certain pitch count that has the potential of overtaxing the bullpen."
Farrell touts Uehara, Nava for All-Star berths
ANAHEIM -- It is highly likely that Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz and second baseman Dustin Pedroia will be named to the American League All-Star team on Saturday.
There are a couple of other players Red Sox manager John Farrell would like to see rewarded with a trip to New York.
"Koji [Uehara] and I think Daniel Nava deserve consideration," Farrell said. "Those are the two guys that quickly come to mind."
Farrell did make some recommendations to AL manager Jim Leyland.
"It's more the opportunity to state your case. What are the reasons why? You take a couple minutes of his time and say your piece," said Farrell.
Nava, a regular outfielder, started at first base on Friday with a .284 batting average and 49 RBIs to his credit.
Uehara is 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA and five saves in 38 games this season.
Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Brownie Points, and follow him on Twitter @IanMBrowne. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Twenty restaurants will battle for first through third places in the categories of appetizer, entrée and dessert Nov. 8 at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center.
There are several "taste of" style events in Savannah, but "Taste of Savannah is unique in that it is a competition between participants," explains Marti Barrow, the Tourism Leadership Council's executive director.
"Not only do we have judges who select the best of the best in certain categories, but we also have guests' choice awards that are voted on by our guests," Barrow says. "In addition, since we theme the event each year, the participants get very creative with their booth decorating, and this brings out fun competition as well as an enhanced ambience."
Many of last year's participating restaurants will be back to defend their titles, such as Paul Kennedy's first place for an appetizer — Caribbean pork tenderloin — while Leopold's Ice Cream will try to wow again for first place after winning in 2011 for their Coastal Pecan Surprise.
This year marks the 12th year the TLC has put on this event, which also includes voting by attendees for the coveted "People's Choice Award" for both food and booth decoration. The event was created because "the TLC wanted to showcase the culinary talents of our member restaurants and caterers," Barrow says. "In addition, it is our largest event fundraiser, so it provides a critical funding source that enables us to serve the local tourism industry through educational programming and workforce development, a scholarship fund for students pursuing hospitality and culinary careers, advocacy efforts to ensure the industry remains strong and much more."
Sponsors, Barrow says, "are very supportive of the event because the participants are their biggest customers. It is great networking and just an overall fun way for the vendors and restaurants to interact." It also showcases the ever-growing restaurant scene in Savannah and includes many of our city's best fine dining establishments, including 700 Drayton, The Olde Pink House and Garibaldi's.
Savannah "continues to get more and more interesting with new restaurant concepts opening all the time," Barrow says. " I think we have an extensive variety of delicious options for a city of our size."
Tickets are $50. For more info, visit tasteofsavannah.org.
What: 12th annual Taste of Savannah
When: 7 to 10 p.m. Nov. 8
Where: Savannah International Trade and Convention Center, Hutchinson Island
Cost: $50
Info: tasteofsavannah.org


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Please clarify. When you say you have issues with underskirt charring do you mean the bottom is burning before the top is done baking or the other way around, the bottom isn't done?Don
If you already have issues with the bottom of your pies scorching, or charring too much, steel probably won't make that issue any better, and in fact could make it worse. Steel holds heat better and faster than stone, and is ideal for those that want faster and hotter bakes in home ovens, as in under 550F. If you are already burning the bottom of your pies, you need to look somewhere else for solutions, IMHO. Maybe if you went with 1/4" steel, heck even 1/8", you might have better results, but...I think maybe your issues might be better solved with lower preheat times and or dough formulations...? Maybe you can tell us more about your workflow and dough?
Actually, I would like to get more charring, and thus a steel plate may be a good thing for me to use.
I've been hearing more and more about using steel plates in home ovens and decided to give my local metal smith shop a call for a quote on a 1/2" X 14" X 16" hot rolled, mild steel, A-36 plate.
I found these rounds precut and ready to go on Ebay, if you can deal with 1/4" (though most will do better with 1/2"...)
As for how well it works, I can't say. I will say that unless I can get a steel plate pretty much for free, my cordierite stone will do just fine.
get a larger plate.
Steve, I know you're still feeling out what your new oven can do, but there's a chance the cordierite stone will top out at 5 minutes. 1/2" steel will get you a <3 minute bake, and, along with it, Neo-NY charring. Is a 3 minute bake time worth 30-70 bucks? I don't know. Maybe not for most people, but for you, with your love of Neapolitan charring, it might be
I probably should stay out of this topic if I'm not going to try the steel plate. I don't mean to discourage anyone from trying new ideas.
My apologies if this has been previously discussed, but if there's any chance your oven can fit a larger plate, get a larger plate.


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After pregnancy one is so busy with the joy and full time requirements of one's new baby that one often forgets to spend a bit of time focusing on oneself. It is important for you to feel your best so that you can give all your love to your precious baby. Many stars have stepped out recently after giving birth with some great figure flattering options that are functional, comfy, and sure to make you look and feel your best!
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Miranda Kerr recently stepped out in a gorgeous patterned maxi dress. The pattern creates eye catching detail that pulls the attention away from your post baby belly. However, what really makes this outfit perfect is that she pairs it with a structured blazer. The structured blazer camouflages the post baby belly bump perfectly, creating an incredibly slimming look. For a similar look, try the Japanese Weekend Maternity and Nursing Maxi Dress. With easy and discreet nursing access, it creates a flattering and functional look. Pair it with a cute blazer and strappy sandals and you will look incredible while maintaining a high level of comfort.
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looked fabulous in a casual striped top and jeans. A top that is slightly looser allows room for one's post baby weight but the lightness of the fabric does not add bulk. The 1 in the Oven's ¾ Length Sleeve Striped Nursing Henley is the perfect choice. A built in frame provides for discreet nursing and the super soft fabric will feel incredible against your skin. Pair it with jeans and sneakers for a casual, mom-on-the-go look and you will look and feel your best!
By choosing clothing that is functional, easy to wear, yet very flattering, one is sure to be comfy and confident throughout the day.


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Miguel And Bruno Mars Face Off For NAACP Image Award, KEM Leads All NomsThe NAACP Image Awards nominees have been announced with several exciting competitions, including Bruno Mars facing off agains Miguel in one category. However, the show is light on rapper noms and "Page 6" regulars.
Miguel, New Edition And 2 Chainz Ride The 'Soul Train Awards 2012'The venerable Soul Train made a stop over the holiday weekend to celebrate music. The event honored the year's brightest new stars in including Frank Ocean and Miguel, as well acts who rose to fame decades ago, such as New Edition and Aretha Franklin.


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Iowa City, November 27, 2011. Published on ZNet on November 23, 2011. Consistent with their roles as propaganda assets of the rich, many local newspapers last week ran on their front pages an Associated Press (AP) story that accused the Occupy Movement of costing American taxpayers a lot of money. "During the first two months of the nationwide Occupy protests, the movement that is demanding more out of the wealthiest Americans," the story reported, "cost local taxpayers at least $13 million in police overtimes and other municipal services." The AP arrived at this figure by surveying 18 cities with active protests through November 15, when New York City Mayor and Wall Street chieftain Michael Bloomberg (the twelfth richest person in the U.S.) evicted the nation's occupiers from his city's financial district.
At the Quad City Times (Rock Island, IL and Davenport, IA), the story bore a provocative headline: "PRICE OF PROTESTS: Occupy Movement Costs Cities $13 Million." A photo of an Oakland protestor with a Mohawk haircut and his son with the same was pictured above the following caption on the front page of the Quad City Times (QTC) on Thanksgiving Day: "Cities across the country will spend at least $13 million because of the Occupy movement." This supposedly exorbitant cost was attributed to "policing, cleaning, and repairing property at dozens of 24-hour encampments" and "cities hav[ing] to monitor frequent rallies and calls." According to the AP, a disproportionate share of this terrible taxpayer expense was carried by cash-strapped Oakland, whose city government "has spent more than $2.4 million responding to the protests."
The story included rueful comments from Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and Sgt. Don Arotzarena, president of the Oakland Police Officers Association. "The costs of the encampments is growing and putting a strain on our already fragile resources," Quan was quoted as saying. "We will continue to be vigilant and ensure that public safety remains our first priority."
Arotzarena complained to the AP that "Occupy-related costs" will surpass $3 million. The city, he said, had to pay more for mutual aid (to surrounding police departments) when police removed the encampment at City Hall for a second time on Nov. 14, nearly three weeks after its first early morning raid, "A lot of this could've been avoided if we stood our ground when we went in there in the first place," Arotzarena said. "I know we would've saved the city a significant amount of money."
"The price of the protests is rising by the day," the story read, "along with taxpayer ire in some places." The AP backed up the second assertion with a comment from a downtown Oakland resident named Rodger Mawhinney. "'What is their real agenda?' Mawhinney asked the AP, as he watched police remove an encampment outside his apartment complex in downtown Oakland. I've gone up and asked them, 'What are you truly trying to accomplish?' I'm still waiting for an answer."
The excited headline and story was clearly designed to provoke citizen anger at "those nasty and expensive protestors, who are costing us money with their pointless actions!"
The Cost of Homeland Repression
But how expensive have the protestors really been to taxpayers? A more detailed and extended version of the AP story than the one that QCT made available in print noted that more than half of the total reported "cost of Occupy" was spent by New York City, where "the police department has spent $7 million in overtime on the protests. But that's small change given the department's $4.5 billion budget, which allots money for emergency overtime," the AP added, "Last year, the NYPD spent about $550 million on overtime." The more detailed AP version further noted that: Boston's overtime costs for policing Occupy Boston has amounted to no more than 2 percent of this year's $30 million police overtime budget' a number of cities (including St. Louis, Des Moines, Providence, R.I., and Burlington, VT) reported costs of less than $10,000; Occupy Des Moines saved taxpayer money by taking its garbage out of its city park and shoveling sidewalks after the first snow.
Especially important, the more detailed AP story (available later and online[[1]]) cited sources who suggested that excessive repression contributed significantly to taxpayer costs. The extended version quoted New York city activist Pete Dutro, who told the AP that the NYPD's brutal response had been "completely unnecessary….it's $7 million of taxpayers' money that's being spent to stifle our First Amendment rights." Dutros added that "they've consistently overreacted." The more detailed AP story also quoted Portland, Oregon city commission Randy Leonard, who noted that the protest could have cost his city far more but for Portland's restrained police response: "The amount of money we're saving by (our) very strategic response versus sending police out en masse to arrest people and cause confrontations dwarfs whatever we've spent so far."
Here the AP might have elaborated. Leonard was certainly thinking about Oakland and New York City. The first repression in Oakland (where Sgt. Arotzarena wishes his city had "saved taxpayer money" by letting the cops "stand our ground") was described by a downtown security guard who witnessed a massive, Nazi-like police rush on 100 or so hundred peaceful occupiers last October 25th:
"It was terrifying to see …there were just so many policeman… the numbers were incredible….they lined up almost like in a phalanx, on the street, and then they moved in…. There were helicopters flying about and with high beams on the camps…the beams were moving across every which way…there were young people in these camps and children, infants in a lot of the tents and this was just…completely out of whack with the situation….they shot…tear gas into the middle of the camp, and at the time, there were dumpsters lined up in front, at the entrance, on the corner because the occupiers were trying to conform to the new regulations that the city of Oakland had given to them….the police moved those dumpsters to the side and then they moved to the next stage of taking the barricades and kicking them down. And then they moved in and the first thing they hit was the information tent, and they just started just tearing everything down… this was a military type operation, the way they moved in. It harkened back to old footage I had seen of Nazi Germany where you know you had the Nazis, the SS going in and picking up innocent people. It had that tenor. …the helicopters, and the lights, and the loud speaker, all those were all intended to create panic and terror for the people inside….It was something like out of a Star Wars movie except instead of being in white they were all in black. …they were all in riot gear…with the visors, they looked like automatons, they just moved in, in a line…They had these vehicles that looked like armored boxes, black, special riot vehicles….the thing that stays in my minds eye is in the middle ground with the lights from the helicopters, the police moving in and just stomping on these tents, and moving in one layer, after another, moving in deeper and deeper."[[2]]
Oakland's over-the-top later October exercise in militarized policing put a U.S. military veteran (Scott Olson) in intensive care with a fractured skull and inflicted numerous other injuries. It also provoked subsequent large-scale protests (including an attempted and partially successful local General Strike) that added to the costs of policing Occupy.
One can only guess at the taxpayer expense involved in the quasi-totalitarian crackdown conducted in the name of public safety at the orders of the financial titan Michael Bloomberg in lower Manhattan in the dead of night two Tuesdays ago. By one eyewitness account:
"The area around Zuccotti Park was subject last night to a 9/11-level lockdown over peaceful, lawful protests by a small number of people…Martial law level restrictions were in place. Subways were shut down. Local residents were not allowed to leave their buildings. People were allowed into the area only if they showed ID with an address in the 'hood. Media access was limited to those with official press credentials, which is almost certainly a small minority of those who wanted to cover the crackdown (the Times' Media Decoder blog says that journalists are describing the tactics as a media blackout)…reading the various news stories, it appears they were kept well away from the actual confrontation (for instance, the reported tear gassing of the Occupiers in what had been the kitchen, as well as separate accounts of the use of pepper spray and batons). News helicopters were forced to land. As of 10 AM, reader Wentworth reported that police helicopters were out in force buzzing lower Manhattan."
Repression like this costs a lot of taxpayer money.
On a less dramatic scale, I will never forget a curious revelation communicated to me by a neighbor during one of the early General Assemblies (GAs) of Occupy Iowa City (OIC). The GAs were conducted at the site of the occupiers' encampment, in a pleasant little city park surrounded by middle class homes just off the liberal campus town's downtown. According to my neighbor, city police had recently gone around to local homeowners and asked if they might please be allowed to set up elaborate electronic surveillance equipment to monitor OIC's activities around the clock. How many thousands of dollars have to be taken out of taxpayers' pocketbooks to fund such Orwellian excess?
A Drop in the Bucket Compared to Other Forms of Corporate Welfare
A deeper investigation than that conducted by the Associated Press (even for its more detailed and much less widely read story) would have compared the taxpayer costs of "the Occupy movement" – really the costs of repressing that movement – with various forms of corporate welfare that Occupy has consistently criticized as part of its hardly unclear opposition to the wealthy elite's control of American politics and policy. Thirteen million dollars (short of the annual salaries of some sports stars today[[3]]) is chump change compared to:
* The $80 billion that leading U.S. oil corporations are due (by the careful calculations of Taxpayers for Common Sense [TCS]) to receive thanks to special tax breaks between now and 2015.
- The $199 billion in deferral of taxes on the income of U.S. controlled corporations abroad that (the careful calculations of Citizens for Tax Justice [CTJ]) big business will enjoy between now and 2015.
- The $141 billion that business will receive through the "accelerated depreciation on equipment" tax break over the same years (TCS estimate).
- The $76.6 billion tax deduction for domestic manufacturing that big business will enjoy in the same years (CTJ)
- The $24.2 billion in unpaid taxes that big business will garner from the use of the "Last-In, First-Out" (LIFO) accounting method corporations employ to hide their true profits (CTJ).
- The $52 billion in federal subsidies to corporate agribusiness that will be paid through 2020 (TCS).
- The $158 billion that big pharmaceutical corporations will garner in profit from the ban on the federal government's right to negotiate drug prices for Medicare through 2021 (Congressional Progressive Caucus estimate).
- The $50 billion that Big Pharma will garner from its tax break for "direct-to-consumer" advertising through 2020 (estimate from the office of Representative Jerrold Nadler).
- The $650 billion that Wall Street's financial service giants will enjoy from the federal government's failure to pass even a tiny Derivatives and Speculation Tax through 2020 (Congressional Progressive Caucus) – a failure that reflects (as do all of the above and other forms of corporate welfare) the remarkable political power of the Occupy Movement's clearly defined enemy: the upper 1 percent that owns more than a third of the nation's wealth and a certainly much larger share of its elected officials.
- The $4.76 trillion disbursed so far by the federal government in the Wall Street bailouts of 2008-July 2011 (according to the meticulous and ongoing calculations of SourceWatch[[4]]).
The corporate welfare list goes far beyond this of course and should include vast segments of the $1-trillion-a-year Pentagon budget, which amounts among other things to a giant taxpayer subsidy to high-tech "defense" corporations like (to mention just a few) Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Xe Services (formerly Blackwater) and KBR. Beyond direct transfer payments, the giant American military empire (responsible for more than 1000 U.S. military installations spread across more than 120 nations and nearly half the world's military spending) functions as a giant indirect subsidy to American multinational businesses, particularly in protecting and advancing Big Oil companies' access to ever-more scarce and ecologically cancerous petroleum resources around the world. American taxpayers have spent trillions of dollars over the last six decades on the deadly deployment of a petro-imperialist military protection service in and around the world's energy heartland, the oil-rich Middle East.
A recent New York Times article reports that the U.S. under Obama has entered "A New Era of Gunboat Diplomacy" in pursuit of oil under the South China Sea. The chief naval enemy in this new age is China, which is naturally "enraged by what it view[s and is in fact] American meddling" in coastal waters off Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, Times reporter Mark Landler notes, the U.S. is vying with Russia and Canada in "eagerly circling the Arctic, where fuel-hungry economic powers, newly accessible undersea energy riches and even changes in the earth's climate are conspiring to create a 21st-centuty contest for the seas". (Never mind the uncomfortable fact that, as Landler fails to mention, corporate capitalist "fuel-hunger" has perversely created the eco-cidal climate changes that do so much to make Arctic Sea oil available for further planet-heating exploitation.)++ The sending of the U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington to the Yellow Sea for joint exercises with South Korea last fall certainly cost more taxpayer dollars in three days of sailing than the entire "cost of [repressing] the Occupy Movement." One thing is for sure: taxpayers can expect their bill for Uncle Sam's Navy's oil protection game to rise into the trillions in coming years as a rising share of global oil production comes from "offshore fields" (such fields already account for a third of that production). U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Landler that "This hunt for resources is going to consume large bodies of water around the world for at least the next couple of decades." [[5]]
The Repression of Occupy as Corporate Welfare
But comparing (a) the costs of repressing Occupy with (b) the costs of U.S. corporate welfare is a bit like comparing the costs of prisons in Iowa with the costs of prisons in the U.S. as a whole. As the title of this essay suggests, (a) is a subset of (b). The AP-calculated $13 million "cost of [repressing] Occupy" is actually itself a type of corporate welfare expenditure. Contrary to the claims that it has no clear target or aims, Occupy arose in clear and unambiguous opposition to corporate ownership and management of American society and politics. Contrary to the AP's Oakland taxpayer Rodger Mawhinney, there's nothing really all that vague or difficult to understand about the focus of the movement's anger as articulated in Occupy Wall Street's early Declaration of the Occupation of New York City: "We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies….We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments." The Declaration's list of grievances against corporations includes the following:
"They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process…."
"They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses."
"They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions."
"They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right."
"They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers' health care and pay."
"They have sold our privacy as a commodity"
"They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil."
"They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through control of the media."
"They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce."
"They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them."
All of these and other grievances against rich and corporate masters are widely shared across the working class majority of Americans. That has made the Occupy Movement a clear and present danger to the American corporate and financial elite – the unelected dictatorship of money that exercises wildly disproportionate influence over the campaigns, budgets, policy agendas, political ambitions, and world views of city, state, and federal officials in the U.S. The repression of the genuinely populist, grassroots, and largely anti-corporate Occupy Movement can quite reasonably be seen as a corporate welfare expenditure, an attempt to police "homeland" urban areas in accord with the perceived domestic investment stability and related social control needs of the corporate sector and its financial directorate. While the Seventh Fleet patrols and Persian Gulf and the U.S.S. George Washington makes the rounds of the South China Sea in defense of Exxon and other leading oil corporations, militarized police defend the domestic business elite in the eye of the imperial hurricane, where the plutocracy that rules behind the façade of democracy seeks to impose an austerity agenda on an increasingly recalcitrant and newly rebellious populace.
Whether the repression actually works on behalf of corporate power is another question, to be sure. OWS garnered significant increased popular support when Bloomberg's gendarmes attacked it on Brooklyn Bridge in early October. Jean Quan's original armed assault on Occupy Oakland (the chilling storm-trooper-like night-raid that Sgt. Arotzarena wishes the city had stood behind and stayed with) helped Occupy activists bring thousands of workers and citizens out of the their homes and workplaces in a partly successful General Strike that certainly increased repression costs last November 2nd). The eviction of hundreds from Zucotti Park by the Wall Street baron-turned-NYC chief executive Michael Bloomberg in the early morning of Monday, November 14th produced an interesting outcome on the evening of Thursday, November 17th: tens of thousands took to New York City's streets in a defiant show of popular support the cause upheld by the protestors (the New York Police Department estimated that night's protest crowd at 32,500). Many thousands more mobilized the same day in at least 30 U.S. cities. The OWS Web site could with reason crow that "Following Bloomberg's action, the slogan 'You can't evict an idea whose time has come' became the new meme of the 99% movement overnight."
In a recent thoughtful reflection, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof asks rhetorically if Bloomberg and "police chiefs around the country" are "secretly backing the Occupy Wall Street movement." Their repressive actions have if anything "built popular support" for the movement they wish to crush. At the same time, Kristof argues that anger over the recent armed-force evictions from public spaces is something of a distraction. "Occupy Wall Street isn't about real estate, and its signal achievement was not assembling shivering sleepers in a park," Kristof argues." The high ground that the protestors seized is not an archipelago of parks in America, but the national agenda. The movement has planted economic inequality on the nation's consciousness, and it will be difficult for any mayor or police force to dislodge it."[[6]] Indeed, the evictions may help speed the spread of the populist, egalitarian, and anti-corporate occupation contagion across a broader range of contested societal terrains at home and abroad.
Paul Street (www.paulstreet.org) is the author of many books, including Empire and Inequality: America and the World Since 9/11 (Paradigm, 2004), The Empire's New Clothes: Barack Obama in the Real World of Power (Paradigm, 2010), and (co-authored with Anthony DiMaggio) Crashing the Tea Party: Mass Media and the Campaign to Remake American Politics (Paradigm, 2011). Street can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com
Selected Endnotes
[1] See http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpps/news/Occupy-Protests-Cost-Cities-13-Million-dollars-20111123-APX_16084623
[2] Dennis Bernstein, "What The Cops Really Did in Oakland," Counterpunch (November 2, 2011) at http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/11/02/what-the-cops-really-did-in-oakland/
[3] The epic basketball choke-artist LeBron James made $15 million just from his annual salary alone (he made many millions more from product endorsements and other sources) last year. See Jonathan Zimmerman, "LeBron James: Where's the Outrage About His Salary" Christian Science Monitor, July 9. 2010, read at http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2010/0709/LeBron-James-Where-s-the-outrage-about-his-salary. As Zimmerman writes: "At a time when 15 million Americans have no job at all, we should be indignant about pro athletes like LeBron James earning more than $15 million a year."
[4] www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Total_Wall_Street_Bailout_Cost
[5] Mark Landler, "A New Era of Gunboat Diplomacy," New York Times, November 12, 2011.
[6] Nicholas Kristof, "Occupy the Agenda," New York Times, November 20, 2011, Sunday Review section, 11.